Faris pauses in his drinking, the discussion too somber to devote anything less than his full attention to it. "K'da do not leave bodies behind when we die, so we honor those lost in song and story. There is a mourning period of four to twelve days, when the lost one's family and close friends gather together and weave their memories into the tapestry of the lost one's life. When all tales have been told, ashes are released from the ship's ejection port to end mourning. For Shontine, it is what remains. For K'da, it is symbolic only. For both, it is a symbol of falling beyond reach, both of loved ones and of enemies, leaving behind only memory."

"If the lost one was part of a symbiont pair, the mourning can be... difficult," he adds, his long ears laying back a little at the solemness of the topic. "A Shontin cannot become a host again until a symbiont is available, and she or he is no longer used to being alone. A K'da must partner with another host within hours, but this too can be difficult, if the new host was not familiar with the lost one's family and friends."