It is defined in the hopes of humanity somewhere in the vast universe, a planet if not many permits life. If not already inhabited by its resident race, then it would be the second home for humanity come a time Earth can no longer be home. That hope was realized eons in time and now, the myriad to pass since the first attempt of interstellar travel bore fruit─in the name of Whiskerhelm.
A revenant world of wonder lying by the distant star of Sirius.
Teeming with life when it was discovered, and still nourished not thrown into disorder from when humans stepped there barefoot. The familiar forest and grasslands claimed the glee of its new entrants, tinge of terror for the unnatural shimmering red horizon accompanied by two crying moons, and mystic for its fantastic beasts unearthly to roam the valorous terrains. In history, humanity has always survived, and in the testing times of venturing into an unknown world─it is without doubt forged in their existence. Time and time humanity progressed, they built as they formed the lands, civilization stood more fortified than their predecessors. Life teemed as it was meant to, and the ever thick record of their achievements buffed more and more.
Not yet to realize the standstill.
They were the words written on Sirius Walcott's paper as it sat unattended by his desk.
Sirius adored the lore he would pester his great grandfather, Thaddeus, committed it to heart and was going to pass it for his assignment on Interstellar Studies.
"I find it funny you were even loved by my little boy."
As a natural response, the father Matthew envied the ancient bone. "Maybe it had to do with humoring the older people, how Sirius clapped on your tales even if the blandness was imminent. Every child has it in dungeons and dragons, the impactful delivery of a bard, and grand acting worthy of the theater."
"Shut your trap, Matthew!" Thaddeus spat, highly and mightily. "My grandson has always been the person more invested in the technical. It's concerning, you know, how he even wrote it. It's not passable for an assignment. It needs to be more refined!"
"Then you should rewrite the piece and make it more so the university would accept."
Thaddeus winced at his grandson's proposal, staff and all swayed in deprecation to all idiocy as he thought. If they weren't "eavesdropping" from the other side, it would have been possible. In theory, it is possible by breaking the boundaries─but it causes the soul to disintegrate without being cleansed. Of course, Matthew knew but the invoice made it clear his elderly arse must fill the job.
Do you want me to disappear that badly!? His grip for the staff tightened, but anything which can lead to their usual bickering was reprimanded by the aggravation they brought in their footholds.
They escaped the Heavenly Realm to watch over their precious legacy one last time.
From where rose the surge for a holy war, and they were expected to bring peace for it once again.
But in every war, there comes death.
Funny how it sends them to die once more after their mortal deaths.
It can't be helped because it was how fate worked in their universe.
Sirius is the last of their bloodline, the source of both their hope and guilt.
As desired, they yearned for forgiveness to be given. Impossibility to do so only permitted them to kindle their spirits, first and foremost the abstraction necessitated.
"How do you think my child would thrive in his world?"
Matthew curated his ego for his son's well-being, for which Thaddeus curled his senescent lips in company of saddened eyes.
"Greatly, but I feel the misery of our clan would haunt him."
"Yeah, I think so too," Matthew seconded the opinion─in the lack of suspension thereof, blunt in its content their family falling down the indispensable scumbags. "It's not something to even ask, huh?"
Thaddeus wore his smile, blemished as to reckon the sadness. "Right? It would be a life forever followed by the politics of the Walcott Clan, which would cost him the freedom of space exploration. I can already foresee his future, the poor kid…"
Matthew had his eyes shift for the veteran, contempt in mind and body. "He did dream about becoming a space pirate, then afterwards a bandit."
"Ha ha ha, I worry about the desired choice for a fault! Exactly as you persecute me for it, I blame it on my part as well. I became a crook, and he displayed interest in my coolness."
"Which were not cool at all, and never were cool."
"Yeah yeah, I know and I always knew."
"I don't aim my fingers for people only doing their best to survive but you should be damned, my dearest grandfather!"
Fine, they couldn't help but bicker. However, in iteration, it could have been for the last time they could enjoy such luxury intended for the mundane everyday lives.
Thaddeus took the insult earnestly to a fault, but there was room for rebuttals. "So you might want to say if your son picks the path of a delinquent, you would tolerate it?"
"I won't, naturally."
Short was the answer, and it displayed his fatherly value of worth.
However.
"But what can we possibly do? If displaying our astral bodies to earthly beings is permitted, I would go down and slap him in the face."
"Heavenly rules are heavenly rules."
Thaddeus seconded, sighing at its end─thus far, thoughts spiraling naturally for many problems along the way. It was time they went back to their posts, and left their precious Sirius to his fate in the living realm.
"I'm sure he doesn't need the likes of ours for him to survive."
"You said it and I like that," Thaddeus enunciated, complacent in his place. "I believe in him to achieve greatness as his own person."
"My son is named after the Great Star, after all."
"That sounds cool and all, but does it have to do with anything?"
"You know there exists no connection, but if I have to force an analogy for it," Matthew paused for the sake of it, "then like the Great Star, he will shine the brightest among the people."