Her named called her away from the conversation she was trying to strike with Tandavi, and her head turned towards it, confused. The child had risen, Amani hovering uncertainly near him. He didn't appear injured and yet he mewled like a distressed kitten. As a mother it tugged on Ampere, and she called back to him like a hand extended in the dark. "I'm here," she murmured, and that was the first time she really took note of the way his head moved around and his ears flicked back and forth. He had seemed off to her when they first met, but Destry and shyness had shielded him from her, as had her intent upon the missing armor and its involvement with the Whatch. Int his more exposed moment though she recognized that he was blind. She saw her own son in him then and her heart broke for his hardships so unfairly given by such a cruel world.

"Amani," Ampere intoned again, hoping her voice did not betray the level of emotion humming within. "Find Destry will you? I don't think she knows her boy has left the herd land." Her gaze flicked up from the child to hold Amani's, suggesting no room for argument. Continued attempts to try and usher the boy across on their own would be unsuccessful given his state, and now that she knew more of him, she doubted he was supposed to be out here alone. Why must children wander?

She thought to draw him too her with her magic, but decided that could be too terrifying even with sight. Instead she moved towards him, closing the gap with her muzzle.

Tandavi's voice drew her back to what had been her purpose here. That a clear "no" was her response to Ampere's question was not surprising, Ampere could see there was something bothering the normally solidly founded mare. That she was leaving however, was a shock.

Ampere says nothing at first, the blue of her gaze following the key as it slips from the aureate neck to the sands. It's such a small thing, she notices then, as if she'd never looked at the keys before. Too small she thinks with some amount of disbelief, too small to mean so much. It could just get lost in the sand like this, with the wind blowing granules over it, slowly burying it, it's weight insignificant compared to most and yet still heavy. Was that what had bothered Tandavi, the weight?

Ampere's gaze lifts up then, questioning. She wants to ask was it too heavy?, but settles on a searching silence. Tandavi is not the first to have left, and she likely won't be the last, yet her departure rankles Ampere. Maybe it's the ceremony here. Ampere had always thought she most hated those who just up and vanished with nary a word, but maybe she had just grown used to that, or maybe not saying goodbye made it less permanent, less cruel somehow. Maybe it had nothing to do with that, and had everything to do with the fact that it was Tandavi. After all, if she had to guess, Amaris wasn't staying either and that didn't phase her half as much.

Tandavi followed the Sun. She had been his seer. She had been his sultana. She had come back, so why now was she throwing it all away? How could she just drop all of that history, all of that weight so easily? Ampere wanted to yell at her, wanted to accuse her, wanted to guilt and shame her because damnit she was her sand sister and she was her friend (?) and her guide and she was, she was something! She meant something, and not just to Ampere.

She didn't though, because she was not innocent in this respect either. Ampere had been a sultana, she followed the sun, and yet she had left too. No one had asked her why, not then, not after, and not now. She had enjoyed that peace; it made living with it easier. She had extended similar courtesies to everyone else that had vanished and returned, because she knew what it was like. This time though she couldn't, because there had to be a reason, and she wanted it to be a good one. "Why?"