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Hope, he didn't expect to feel it here of all places, the cave glowed with bioluminescent algae that stirred under his steps and dripped from the ceiling, he could hear the distant roars of Cabal behind them, a memory stirred,
“Oh please, you call that a good shot?”
“What are you talking about?”
“They're dead aren’t they?”
“Oh yeah, they may as well be rocks,”
“So?”
“So you let yourself be seen.”
“Oh, I'm sorry you didn’t see fit to-”
“You can’t blame others forever you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kid, tell me what you did.”
“No seriously I hit those shots your nit-picking is meaningless.”
“Ah, there it is!”
“What!?”
“You think it’s meaningless!”
“What?”
“You killed, what 15, 20 Cabal? And you see your movements as meaningless.”
“They-”
“Think, what do they see you as?”
“What does this have to do with learning the Void?”
“Answer, Y.”
“A silent end, something unseen the paranoia of eyes on you.”
“There's your problem.” “Ok, Gio what is-”
“You need to be a monster for the monsters.”
“That’s what I just said.”
“You said you wanted to be their fear,”
“Yes.”
“A monster isn’t some fear like darkness or dogs its the thing watching from the unknowable out of the light of a campfire you need to be unseen let the Void be your only guide, let them fear the night it will be their downfall.”
“Why didn’t you help?”
“This path is hard and few will walk it with you, let alone the same One as you.”
“ A lesson in loneliness?”
“No. Well, yes and no. You will be lonely for a while but you will learn to cherish the people you have by your side, no matter who.”
They found themselves sitting near a familiar pile of stacked stones, moss had grown on top of the final stone and he sighed, “Hey Gio.” He sat in silence listening to the distant calls of Cabal, “I have a story for you, I’d ask if you're ok with a long one, but, you got nothing but time.”
As Yamato told the tale of the last few years, AJ manifested over their shoulder and floated down to his lap and gently settled in his hands, humming a tune Arkes had gifted to the pair.
For almost an hour Yamato told his story when he came to regain his light their body stiffened, “I lost that last piece of you,” No more facade of a personal storyteller to what he truly felt, “I miss you.”
He was scared. “Maybe I shouldn't be as beat up about this as I am about this,” he sighed “But I forgot you once and that was enough.”
“It took losing another friend for me to hear the Voids’ call so I figured coming back to you would be the key, but nothing.” He tensed, “Nothing.”
“Jess, kiddo,” Yamato lifted his head to see a figure of light laying on the grave, “If I knew you missed me that much'd visit you more.” the voice, it was him confident, a bit annoying,
“Took you long enough.” Yamato laughed, poorly he concealed his sadness, he was glad he couldn’t cry, “Ha you were always impatient.”
“Somethings never change.” The two laughed for a while before the melancholy of the situation came back into focus, “I miss you every day.” the figure sat up,
“You really think that the light doesn't care?” Gio tilted his head, “I don't want to lose this last piece of you.”
“I know but you have to let go,” He sighed, “Listen I'm going to give you a start like a match but you have to go from there on your own.”
Yamato leaned back against the wall, “Well I'm keeping AJ with me so I won’t be truly alone.”
“What are Nightstalkers?”
Yamato sighed and began to breathe deep, an old technique “A monster for the monsters.”
“Will you fear the dark?”
Yamato closed his eyes, well stopped seeing, and he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder, “No.” His old friend's voice was different, another memory,
“Monsters need not fear the night. Do not hunt the monster. Become the monster.”
Yamato stood and felt the familiar build-focused on shaping the light in his hands,
“When the light starts to fade what will you do for others?”
They remembered the bow and from its form crafted it into something new, “Light the way.” He opened his eyes and found he held two long, fresh, deadly edges of Void light. He could feel the all too familiar comfort of the Void, they were back.