By Marcus Carline marcuscarline Twitter.
Cover art by RainbowLustDash rainbowlustdash Instagram.
Released 4/13/2020.
Art released 6/1/2020.
Duration: 3:33.

Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.

Read artist commentary.

Contributors:

• Marc Encabo (bass)
• Tom Kendall Hughes (drums)

Lyrics:

Smoke is all I breathe
Is all you hear, is all in me
Taste the drier air
There's nothing left

Letters fill the empty space
There's so much space that's left untouched
Running scares me more than God
But staying can't sustain

The sparks of fire, earthbound
Have found your home, be gone now
It's not your fault, you know this
But the leaving is just the same

I feel the wind beneath my arms
It's warmer now than I recall
Have you heard the news today?
They closed the school

You and I have been through this
Have been through that, have been at ease
Nothing scares me more than God
And Nothing cannot sustain

The sparks of fire, earthbound
Have found your home, be gone now
It's not your fault, you know this
But the leaving is still the same

You sent me fire
Fire, I'll tear my throat out
Burn my blackened lips
You gave me fire
Fire, I'll tear my heart out
I'd rather tear my heart out
But I can't stay here

The sparks of fire, earthbound
Have found your home, be gone now
It's not your fault, you know this
But you can't help but turn around
The embers haven't faded
The love you left, unmade
It's not your fault, you know this
But the leaving is still the same

Artist commentary:

Marcus Carline: (Twitter)

So I did a thing (was a small part in doing a thing). My track is The Leaving, but honestly give this whole thing a listen. I'm very proud to be included here. Happy Homestuck Day!

RainbowLustDash: (art anthology commentary)

When I first heard the song i thought about Rosebot leaving Kanaya, but as I listened to it I realized it could fit so many other characters as well. Especially Dirk, Terezi and Rose leaving earth C, Dirk thinking there is nothing left to do on Earth C and seeing leaving as the only way to move forward, Terezi leaving after John's death (mentions of air and wind), and Rose not wanting to hurt Kanaya by leaving but having no other choice. And as soon as I realized this, I had this picture in mind. Most of my WIPS shows the progress of the piece; sketch, color modifications, cleaning etc... Thanks to the beyond canon anthology team for their tips and advice!

RainbowLustDash: (art anthology WIPs)