Through the Looking Glass: Chapter 12
Lied der Waldtaub: Chapter 12
**Tauben von Gurre! Sorge quält mich,
vom Weg über die Insel her!
Kommet! Lauschet!**
Nearly a week had passed since Tails disappeared. Everybody had gone back to their homes before the funeral, with Banjo, Kazooie, and Tooty staying with Rouge, Bottles and Humba staying with Amy, and T.T. and Mumbo with Knuckles. The entire group had come together in front of the funeral home now, where they knew Sonic's funeral was about to occur. It was a horrifically cloudy day, the perfect mood to match the clouds that gathered in everybody's thoughts that sorrowful day.
Rouge, Banjo, Kazooie, and Tooty were the first ones to arrive, everybody except Kazooie dressed in black. Banjo had foregone the backpack for the funeral, so Kazooie trotted alongside the small group.
They were joined really fast by Amy, herself dressed in black as she looked on with eyes of incredible sadness. Bottles and Humba were close by, the shamaness patting the girl's shoulder comfortingly. Upon seeing Amy, Rouge came forward and gave the pink hedgehog a friendly hug.
"I..." choked Amy, shaking her head. "I still can't believe he's gone... I want to wake up..."
Rouge pulled away, and it was then that Amy realized that the bat had foregone makeup. "I think we all feel that way, Amy," said Rouge softly. "I think we all feel the same."
Banjo nodded solemnly as he put his arm over the bat he loved so much. He then looked to Bottles and Humba. "I'm sorry I had to pull you two into this," said the bear apologetically. "I mean, L.O.G.'s death was enough, but to have to postpone his funeral until this..."
"Nonsense," replied the mole. "We're way too far from town, and, well, you know how things go. Shadow's going to take us back later, but until then we had nothing to do. So don't worry about it."
"Humba no mind," added the shamaness with a slight nod.
Banjo nodded as Tooty came from behind Banjo. The pink hedgehog looked down at the younger of the two bear siblings, Tooty nodding softly. "I'm sorry for what happened, Amy," she said softly.
The hedgehog fought to keep her tears back as she grasped the she-bear's hand. "It's not your fault..." she said, her voice cracking. "Oh... I can't believe this!"
She let out a whimper of sadness right as Knuckles, Shade, Trophy Thomas, and Mumbo walked in on the scene.
"Wow, she must have really felt for this guy," said the cheetah as he pulled his shades off of his face and stored them in the breast pocket of his black shirt. "I hope someone's like this at my funeral."
"Can it, pride face," replied Kazooie half-heartedly. "This isn't the time or the place for that crap."
"You can say that again," said Knuckles as he came forward and patted Amy's shoulder comfortingly.
The guardian's tan-furred counterpart nodded. "I still can't believe he's dead."
Banjo shrugged hesitatingly. "I don't think any of us can," repied the bear. "At any rate, we should probably step inside."
"We're still waiting for Cream, Silver, Shadow, and Vanilla to show up, though," replied Rouge.
A whoosh of wind was heard, and suddenly the black hedgehog was standing next to the group, nodding softly.
"I'm here," said the hedgehog as he rubbed his chin. "It's surreal that Sonic is dead, I'll be honest. He had such will..."
Raising one of her eyebrows, Kazooie was the first one to speak. "Are you saying you were jealous of him?"
"To a point, yes," replied the black hedgehog as he closed his eyes. "He was annoying sometimes, but... there's no denying that he was a good person."
Everybody nodded to this sentiment. "That's the truth," added Knuckles solemnly as a tear slipped out of Amy's eye.
A car pulled up to the funeral home rather slowly after the echidna had said this. When it stopped outside the funeral home, they looked to it to see Cream and Silver jump out first, and then they saw Vanilla step out of the driver's seat as she looked on.
"So, what's the story with everything after this?" asked Shadow.
"I managed to keep them from having a public memorial," replied the older rabbit softly. "They really fought until the end, I can tell you that much. But, it'll just be a burial now."
Everybody nodded at this. "Good," said Knuckles. "I don't think Sonic would've liked a public funeral, anyway."
Heads nodded again. The fight to keep Sonic from having a public memorial had been a hard one ever since the city commissioner had asked for one to be held. Thankfully, everybody stood on their ground, and Sonic would be buried peacefully the next day.
"I still can't believe Mr. Sonic's gone..." complained Cream softly.
"None of us can, dear," replied Vanilla as she patted her daughter's shoulder. "None of us can."
"I... I only wish Tails was still here..." she said innocently.
The mention of Tails' name made most of the people in the vicinity cringe ever so slightly. Heads nodded all around as they though of the kitsune's departure from Station Square.
"Sonic's gonna miss his presence there..." said Knuckles. "Chaos knows he will."
"Yeah..." said Banjo as he looked to the funeral home. "Let's go inside."
The group slowly entered the funeral home, their procession quite sad as they all either had their heads hanging, or were otherwise leaning against each other for support.
**Tot ist Tove! Nacht auf ihrem Auge,
das der Tag des Königs war!
Still ist ihr Herz,
doch des Königs Herz schlägt wild,
tot und doch wild!**
The lighting in the room where Sonic's funeral was going to be was rather dim. A bunch of chairs were set up in front of the casket, all looking at i as a podium stood off to the side. The casket was open, revealing the deceased hedgehog with his arms layed out over his belly as his closed eyes looked up towards the ceiling. On the side of the casket opposite the podium, a posterboard was set up, where many, many pictures of Sonic smiling with his friends in the same frame were attached. All of them showed the hedgehog at his happiest.
It only made things that much difficult for Amy as she looked longingly into the casket where her beloved lay dead. Tears were beginning to dry on her cheeks as she looked into the casket, her hands gripping the edge as she saw Sonic's still form laying in there. He seemed almost too peaceful, really.
When Knuckles simply patted her shoulder, the female hedgehog knew she had to move along. Reluctantly, she did so, glancing back at the casket again as she took a seat in the front row of the chairs that were set up there. Soon, the others paraded past the casket, all of them looking in.
Amy tried to peek in between each person to get just one extra glance at the hedgehog she loved so much.
**Seltsam gleichend einem Boot
auf der Woge,
wenn der, zu dess' Empfang
die Planken huldigend
sich gekrümmt,
des Schiffes Steurer tot liegt,
verstrickt in der Tiefe Tang.
Keiner bringt ihnen Botschaft,
unwegsam der Weg.**
She was unfortunate in this regard, as then some people started coming in, and then everybody obscured her view. The group Amy had come in with was the only group that was at the funeral home, and yet, everything seemed to be working against her already. Sonic stayed in her thoughts even after his death, like a phantom that needed to be released.
**Wie zwei Ströme
waren ihre Gedanken,
Ströme gleitend Seit' an Seite.
Wo strömen nun Toves Gedanken?**
Looking on to Sonic's body longingly, the hedgehog half expected this to be one of Sonic's jokes. She was sure he would jump out of the casket and act as if nothing happened. And yet, she knew that what she had seen in Eggman's base when Sonic died was exactly the opposite of this.
**Die des Königs winden sich
seltsam dahin,
suchen nach denen Toves,
finden sie nicht.**
And with these thoughts running through her mind, a new batch of tears came to Amy's face, despite all of her attempts to look strong in front of everybody. Knuckles simply patted her shoulder comfortingly, whispering words of comfort that did not register in Amy's brain no matter how hard she tried to listen.
**Weit flog ich, Klage sucht' ich,
fand gar viel!**
Shadow was standing outside of the room when the first group to arrive at the funeral other than them pulled up. Shadow knew who it was the instant he saw a rather tall humanoid bird step out.
"Oh, Falco, you made it!" said Shadow as he also noticed the figures of Snake and Bowser walking out of the car. All three of the Smashers were dressed in black and they walked over to Shadow.
"Yeah, you know how things roll," said the bird as he shook Shadow's hand solemnly. "I... I can't believe he's gone... he's like the younger brother I never had... I don't believe it. I'm not gonna believe it until I see things."
The black hedgehog looked at the group. "I'm actually surprised you're here, Bowser," observed the hedgehog. "I figured you'd be too busy doing something else to go here!"
"Well, what can I tell ya?" asked the koopa king with a shrug. "Sometimes a guy needs to take a break from kidnapping the princess. And I'm pretty sure Sonic would never forgive me if I didn't bring our friendly rivalry into this. Things are always in good fun for him, I tell ya."
Shadow nodded solemnly. "It's still tough to believe he's dead," said the hedgehog. "And yet... It happened so quickly."
The three smashers nodded solemnly. "Yeah," said Falco. "I actually heard from Samus, Captain Falcon, and Pit earlier today. They're all gonna try to make it to the funeral as quickly as they can."
"Samus and Pit I know are going to be here," added Snake. "Falcon has a previous engagement, though; he'll high-tail it over here as soon as he gets out of it, though."
"And that's about it?" asked Shadow.
Bowser nodded, shrugging as he did. "Yeah. Falco would be on a mission now, but he snuck out of it to come here, so Fox and Wolf are occupied, the swordsmen are behind the times and didn't find out about it until today, the Kongs are busy rebuilding the island after what K. Rool did to it, and most everyone else is busy with other things."
Shadow nodded solemnly. "At any rate, I'm sure Sonic would be pretty happy to see at least you three here."
"Hey, anything for the little bro," replied Falco with a gesture of his wing. "I'm sure he would've done the same for me. So, where's the funeral?"
"Follow me, please," replied the black hedgehog.
And Shadow led them into the room in the funeral home where the mourners were gathered. The three Smashers then went lumbering around, talking to Sonic's friends and acquaintances and reminiscing on old times.
**Den Sarg sah ich
auf Königs Schultern,
Henning stürzt' ihn;
finster war die Nacht,**
"Hey, Amy."
The pink hedgehog looked up, and when she saw Falco's eyes she knew who it was.
"Hey, Falco," she said, standing up.
The bird gave the pink hedgehog a small hug before they both looked at Sonic's body. Shaking his head, Falco left a wing on Amy's shoulder. "I can't imagine how hard this has gotta be for you," said the bird insightfully. "I can't believe that Eggman guy you guys talked about finally did something like this..."
**eine einzige Fackel
brannte am Weg;
die Königin hielt sie,
hoch auf dem Söller,
rachebegierigen Sinns.
Tränen,
die sie nicht weinen wollte,
funkelten im Auge.**
"I only saw a bit of it," said Amy. "But... I don't know... I feel like Eggman's staring into the scene right now..."
Falco nodded, patting her shoulder as he felt a tear come to his own eye. "Yeah," he said. "I... I wish he had stayed alive long enough to enter the next tourney... It's... I can't believe it myself."
Amy nodded, not having to hear Falco finish to see what he meant. It was at around this point that Rouge, Banjo, and Kazooie had walked over. Hearing the bird's last words, the bat commented. "Yeah, none of us can. It just happened so fast..."
The bird and hedgehog both looked to the bat, bear, and bird trio. Falco nodded, raising his hand in a friendly fashion. "Hey, Rouge," he said. "You okay?"
"Considering that I saw the entire thing happen right in front of my eyes?" asked the bat with a shrug. "Yeah, I think so..."
"I dunno," added Banjo. "I guess things haven't been so good. I'm Banjo, by the way."
"Falco Lombardi," replied the Starfox pilot, extending his wing. Banjo shook it slowly, solemnly. "Sonic was like a younger brother to me."
Banjo nodded as Kazooie strutted around, talking to some of the other people at the funeral. "I think he had that effect on all of us," said Banjo. "I mean, I never met him personally, but I still feel his presence."
"Yeah, Banjo's my boyfriend," added the bat before Falco could start yelling about that. "And he was very busy trying to save the rest of us when Sonic died."
"Yeah, I wish there was more I could've done to save him..." said Banjo.
Shaking his head, Falco looked at the honey bear. "When you think about it?" asked the bird. "You probably did the best you could. So at least there's that."
"Yeah, I still think Sonic would appreciate your presence here," said Rouge softly.
The bear smiled ever so tenderly as Amy nodded at this. "I wish Tails was here," she said.
All three of the other occupants looked over to the coffin in which Sonic rested before nodding in agreement. "That I think is the greatest blow Sonic could suffer here," said Falco.
Banjo shook his head. "His death really did something to Tails," he said softly.
"Yeah; the last I saw of him he was headed on a ferry away from here..." said Rouge, shaking her head.
"Shame..." said Falco. "Sonic really would've liked Tails to be here. They were more like brothers than Sonic and I ever could have been."
All three of the others in the room nodded in agreement, and they carried on the small idle chat softly.
**Weit flog ich, Klage sucht' ich,
fand gar viel!**
**Den König sah ich,
mit dem Sarge fuhr er,
im Bauernwams.
Sein Streitroß,
das oft zum Sieg ihn getragen,
zog den Sarg.**
Around half an hour had passed. Samus and Pit had indeed shown up, as well as a few other of Sonic's friends that nobody really cared much about. Now, everybody was seated in the chairs that had been laid out. The wake had just started, and Shadow had volunteered to be the first one to speak. Amy was beginning to look for a simple look, despite the fact that Rouge was sitting next to her, patting her back comfortingly as Banjo looked to her.
**Wild starrte des Königs Auge,
suchte nach einem Blick, **** seltsam lauschte des Königs Herz
nach einem Wort.**
"Sonic..." began Shadow as he stood at the podium. "What can I say about him. He was a little annoying, a bit of a bastard sometimes..." A few annoyed growls came out of the crowd as he said this. "But under that exterior... he was a good person. And I say that, mostly because it's true, but also because I know I'd never forgive myself if I didn't acknowledge that. He saved the world so many times, not out of greed, but because he felt it was the right thing to do. He did so many things for all of us... And even if I never really liked him all that much when he was still alive, I still respected him because he was intrinsically good. I'll miss that about him... Sonic, I hope there are plenty of places for you to run up in heaven. Knowing you, I don't think you'd be any happier."
The hedgehog nodded as he stepped away from the podium. He was met with the silence of heads nodding, with Amy sitting by as she shed tears.
**Henning sprach zum König,
aber noch immer suchte er
Wort und Blick.**
Pretty soon after Shadow spoke, it was Amy's turn to speak. She nodded, standing up and walking to the podium, trying her best to wipe her tears away as she sniffled. Her hands gripped the edge of the podium softly.
"I..." she began, choking up almost instantly. Hoping for confidence, she looked upon the face of the one she loved, praying that she could get some kind of confidence from him.
**Der König öffnet Toves Sarg,
starrt und lauscht
mit bebenden Lippen,**
But alas, Amy was only met with an anxious silence that seemed to choke the air at the funeral home.
Tove ist stumm!
"I..." began Amy as she turned back to the crowd. "I wish I had prepared something to say..." She continued on, now, knowing that Sonic would never forgive her if she didn't. "But... When you love someone... and they die... what can you prepare?" She cleared her thoat, tears beginning to come to her eyes. "I... I can't even begin to describe how much I loved him. I guess... the only thing that makes me angrier is... why didn't he tell me he loved me back sooner?" The pink hedgehog looked out to the audience, hoping for at least one gesture of agreement. Seeing Banjo and Rouge nodding to her, she swallowed and continued. "I... I can't tell you how much I'll miss him... B... but... I... I just wanted to say... Sonic... You were the best person I've ever known... I love you..."
And with this, Amy walked away, the tears streaming down her face as she took her seat next to Rouge. Looking at them, the pink hedgehog noticed that Rouge and Banjo were both having a tough time keeping themselves from crying in turn. Everybody else that had known Sonic really well spoke afterwards, but to Amy everything was drowned out by her own sorrow for Sonic.
**Weit flog ich, Klage sucht' ich,
fand gar viel!**
**Wollt' ein Mönch am Seile ziehn,
Abendsegen läuten;**
The burial the next day was pretty big. Thousands of fans of Sonic's were all trailing behind the main procession, which went mostly on foot. It was certainly a funeral for a hero, that was for certain, and the fans carrying signs showing their appreciation for Sonic was only that much more touching.
Banjo, Rouge, Amy, Knuckles, Cream, Vanilla, and Shadow were the closest to the hearse carrying Sonic's casket to the cemetary. The Smashers and Banjo's friends came in the formation next, and behind them the fans were all either holding candles or following with their hands folded in prayer. No matter the case, they all followed in great silence.
**Doch er sah den Wagenlenker
und vernahm die Trauerbotschaft:
Sonne sank, indes die Glocke
Grabgeläute tönte.**
The pink hedgehog could not train her gaze away from the hearse. Neither could Banjo or Rouge, for that matter, but as the hearse slowly pulled up to the cemetary where Sonic was to be buried the sadness inherent in the situation finally came to full fruition. She then cried profusely over Rouge's shoulder. Unable to think of any other solution she could use, the bat simply patted the hedgehog on the head as everybody else cried as well.
And the hearse pulled into the cemetary, the long procession following along in silence as the sun blazed over them with only a few clouds peppering the vast expanse of blue.
**Weit flog ich, Klage sucht' ich
und den Tod!
Helwigs Falke war's, der grausam
Gurres Taube zerriß.**