#passing on

My brain at two in the morning when I should be studying: Okay, BUT, what if the boys felt their older counterparts finding each other and passing on peacefully through their ninpo?

“So I died again.”

(content warning for allusions to death and burial)

You were taken all too suddenly, your soul slipping through the imperceptible gap betwixt light and dark... The void you leave, the shadow you cast, shall ache in the hearts of everyone you know for years to come.

...but isn't it strange, though your light should now be extinguished, and your journey now at its end, that my final task should only just be beginning?

You know of the custom, don't you? For a treasured object to be buried alongside the dust of their former owner? I wonder if they ever told you why... or if they themselves ever knew. Perhaps you could consider it a darkner's highest calling, to watch over and keep their beloved light company until the end of time. And so it is now for me... and so it shall be with you.

...does this seem barbaric to you? That a sapient being should be condemned, as you see it, to an eternal, lonely vigil over the dead and gone? But surely you must realise that for us, to be consecrated with the quintessence of our heart's greatest love is to become forever bound up with them? And from that union, something new and wondrous is born.

You seem confused, my light, but I assure you I speak the truth. Though your body and SOUL are gone, the love and memory of those who survive you will persist. They will tell stories of you, your triumphs and your tribulations, that echo down throughout generations - and in those stories you shall live on, reincarnated at your most vital, the best and truest version of yourself!

Do you understand? No-one truly dies, as long as there is one soul in the world who still adores them. After all, how do you suppose we are having this conversation right now?

That's right... there is nothing more to fear, my sweetest angel, for you are shielded from all mortal suffering. Now at long last you may sleep, knowing that I shall stand always by your side, swaddling you evermore amidst my immortal adoration.

______________________________

The Dark Menagerie No. 92

The woods of Drustvar have become familiar to Leandra. It was comforting to her, while being different enough to suppress the memories of Duskwood. She loves the woods, the wolves, the crows, the boars. The crimson forests were still recovering from the massive influx of drust that had inhabited these ruins. Blossoms on the trees started coming in, but the grass was forever red as it was stained with blood from eons of battles.

Striding through the dark woods, Leandra clutched her sword tightly in her left hand as the tip of the blade dragged across the ground. It wasn't that the sword was too heavy, quite the contrary, it was a habit that she never broke out of from her days as an young paladin wielding such a large sword.

"Matriarch Blacksorrow, the men cannot keep up like this. They are not used to-" A male voice pipped up. "I'm not interested in stopping. You and yours can stop, but I will not. I will find them." Leandra spat out. The tone was cold, callous.

"Yes Matriarch. We will continue on with you then. Your father would be disappointed to know that we left you alone." No further words were spoken as Leandra continued to lead the charge forth. As they proceeded further and further into the thicket, the sky grew darker and darker. The brush and trees became more and more lifeless. Dead, crumpled leaves littered the ground as the trees were now devoid of life. A gust of wind made the branches of the dying tries move, and the creaks of the dead trees echoed in the forest. Dark was upon them, and it was coming fast. Under the blanket of night did Leandra finally decide to stop for the day. She didn't stop because she wanted to, but because she had to. Shoving her large sword into the ground, she looked to the captain of the squadron. "We camp here tonight." The words were said forcefully, and the men who accompanied her seemed relieved for the opportunity to finally stop. "Thank you, Matriarch. My men thank you." the captain said.

"Thank me once the job is done, Captain. And not a moment sooner." Leandra stormed off into the woods. Within moments the men of the campsite began to set up camp.

As Leandra strode off into the woods, she kept her blue eyes shifting left and right as she heard the low growls of the wolves that threatened to prey upon her. Not once did they dare try and lunge at her, for beside her stood her long term companion. Songclaw, the large snowy white frostwolf had been beside her. What the wolves of the forest didn't know, was that Songclaw was nothing more than a ghost. But she still persisted beside her lifelong companion to protect her even now.

Once safely away from the men she was escorting, she found a large, olden oak tree and let her back collapse against it before sliding down to the red grass beneath. The blade came to rest across her lap, and her chain link glove came off of her hand. Those lithe fingers with sapphire blue nails came to her neck and pulled out the worn, gold crescent moon pendant. "Minn'da.. I miss you. Why did you have to leave me alone? You promised you'd never leave me." The steady trickle of tears came down her cheeks. Even as the sounds of wolves closed in, they dared not move while Songclaw watched over her.

In the early morning, the Captain who had been leading the charge beside Leandra found her. "Matriarch. It's time to go." The Captain said, gently shaking Leandra awake.

Leandra jolted awake, the tears still try upon her cheeks from the night before. "Right. We should go back then, Reynard." "Matriarch you have a little-" Reynard then brushed his own cheek, indicating to the dried crusty tears that were upon her cheek.

"Oh-Let me just-" With a quick hand, Leandra brushed the debris from her cheeks and slipped her glove back on. Moments later, the blade that dragged behind her was pointed to the sky and resting upon her shoulder. "Let us go, Reynard. And Reynard-" Reynard has started to turn back towards the path, suddenly finding himself peering over his shoulder at Leandra.

"You never saw me crying." "I don't know what you're talking about Matriarch. There's dirt upon your face. It is my duty to you to ensure you look your best."

Leandra gave a smug grin to the Captain before heading back to the campsite of the night before. Upon seeing the Matriarch, the men and women who joined her quickly straightened up in her sight and loudly said, "Matriarch" in unison.

Leandra gave a nod to the group, having found the campsite to be sufficiently dismantled. "We are almost there. By my calculations, we'll be there by noon. Do not be afraid. The beast we are fighting should still be sufficiently weak, making it easy prey. Come. We have much ground to cover and no time to waste."

The march resumed upon the crimson forest until Leandra led them to a beach front. To the group who followed her, this seemed quite strange and not at all what she had told them. Before they had a chance to take in the entirety of the sight, Leandra turned abruptly to the right down the sandy water front. In the distance was a large cave, and from within that cave came a terrifying howl. The men and women shivered from the sound while Leandra remained seemingly unphased.

Upon reaching the cave, Leandra's grip upon her sword grew tighter. Orbs of light began to swirl around her as the light began to imbue in the sword, causing it to glow vibrant yellow. Tears were streaming down Leandra's face, her free hand clutching the crescent moon pendant that was once her mothers.

Suddenly, a swirl of blood formed seemingly out of no where and created a portal for the manor in Duskwood. Stepping out of it was an elder Teremath. Despite everything, his hair was silver, his red eye still as vibrant now as it was when Leandra was a young girl. "Leandra stop!" Teremath bellowed out.

"I have to bring her justice, Ann'da!!" The new Matriarch screamed.

"Sweetheart, this isn't how you do it. She is gone, but she is never forgotten. Your mother loved you, and would never want you to go down this path."

Leandra stood there, determined to finish her task. Her eyes shifted to the dark cave before her where she knew the thing was living, the thing that ended her mother's life.

"Leadra. Come home. Let this go." Teremath's voice was pleading with his daughter as the men behind Leandra were relieved to have her Father here. They hoped she'd listen, hope she (and they) would go home.

Collapsing into her father's arms, the sword fell from her hand as the yellow glow diminished from it and her form. Together, Teremath and Leandra fell to the sands crying over the loss of the Archon.