Amends

Amended Return

Ingressus has found his new norm travelling to the secluded fishing hole in Nestoria to hear the small Amantius' stories and find stability where he previously had none

But as the months turn to years, Ingressus is suspicious of Amantius' growing absence under the moonlight, until it comes to a head and he gets an answer

Author's note: I told you that they would return, and they have... Just much later than I expected. this was supposed to be a thing that I released like a couple of weeks after the conclusion, but brain went *splat* and I couldn't think of a plot for it literally until last week XD

but the bois are here again one last time, the chapter is chonk because I couldn't help myself, and just for the occasion, I have drawn for it

BtS wasn't a good way to end my time writing SoW despite the story ending itself; but this... this feels like the way to go

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After the first few full moons of sitting idly with dangling feet over the grassy cliff edge, allowing the salty sea spray of the ocean below dance and crash up to his feet and creeping up his scarred legs, faded over time along with the memories that came with them, part and parcel of what defined him to that day, Ingressus found that his hours with the young Amantius Nestoris dwindled as time wandered on, far from his reach, out of his grasp. They started eager, both for very different reasons.

Amantius refused to let Ingressus go after the week that he had spent with the former Deathsinger on his convoluted quest for answers of which he would not disclose to the small Ardoni, although in hindsight as he had gotten older, Amantius could understand Ingressus' secrecy. He couldn't at first, of course, because his naivety in the larger world around him barred him from seeing an invisible truth, and he struggled to accept a reason that could all but seem valid. "You would not understand," Ingressus had said a thousand times both to Amantius and to himself, and Amantius couldn't see that an excuse that his father had used simply to keep him happy was valid enough to accept.

Time changed that, however, and the younger Nestoris eventually saw reason. Some things simply weren't for him to understand, no matter how old he was, no matter how bright he was, no matter his experience. Not everyone had to understand everything. Not everyone could.

He learned that eventually.

As for Ingressus, his past moon walks had been along the same path for years - the abandoned mountain pass between Northwind and Nestoria - to an old but unforgettable, dormant spot in the woodlands between the Nestoris territory and the Sendaris. He would eventually don this 'no man's land' for nobody ever found their way through the dense foliage that shrouded the overgrown grasslands in shadows, cloaking even the moon's rays from seeping through the cracks between the leaves, between the branches; but he knew. How could he not? Here, he had buried more than secrets, more than memories. But when those very aspects vanished without reason, without trace, he could all but ignore it. The very reasons for his downfall were also the very reasons for his stability.

What was it that his mother had once told him?

"The fire will overtake you. Take stability where you can get it."

That fire did overtake him, but those enticing flames were what kept him on his feet; until they were doused in the waters of absence. He kept returning, hoping that he would one night return to a flame familiar to his aching eyes, tired from sleepless nights, from restless days. He never did.

Amantius became his new flame of stability, honed with new memories, packed with boggling thoughts that kept him awake at night, but for much more settling reasons: he never wanted to give them up. For someone labelled "Death" from a time long past, Ingressus was a man who loved to cherish; and that was exactly what he did during these full moons spent in a place with far more cherishable memories, and new ones being made each time he took the risk to venture out into enemy territory simply to spend a few calm hours with a small boy who simply would not give up his attachment to the labelled 'monster' who had only kept secrets.