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A sparrow whips down along through the Divide rather effortlessly, the driver's cloak billowing out behind her as she rounds out the tight corners. The sun dips a somewhat low in the sky, indicating the late hour. It had to be a few hours past noon. She'd already stopped by the Mothyards for a quick meal atop the rusting skeletons of planes that had been grounded years prior, never to take to the air again.
Meal wrapped up and done, she had summoned her ground vehicle, double checking the bounties she'd taken for the day and headed out for the Rocketyard. The trip through is rather uneventful. A welcome change. The Guardian had gotten used to being shot at when moving through a variety of enemy controlled areas though it was pleasant when she dropped into a sector and wasn't immediately knocked off her ride. Still, she keeps an eye on both her motion tracker and surroundings in case a knight, posse in tow, were close.
She maneuvers her sparrow past a few old crates and hops off in search of materials for her armor and weapons. She needed to upgrade her gear and hadn't the chance for the past couple weeks, preoccupied with fireteam missions and... an unexpected guest at the Tower who brought up painful memories. She'd long since gotten used to it, as with anything, but that wasn't to say it still bothered her some. It would take a lot for the Fallen to gain her trust and when that happened... She shakes her head dispelling the theories. The Hunter would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she had other things to worry about. Like gathering up enough Spinmetal for her armor and not losing her head to a Vandal camping out somewhere up high. Oh, she'd easily return the favor after Luiseach revived her. It'd be the polite thing to do.
She readjusts her grip on her old Patience and Time, the weight familiar in her hands. It once belonged to her father before he and his squad, the Undying Watchers, had been ambushed by a group of Eliksni living in the old buildings on the Forgotten Shore nearly a decade prior. It was the only item she had left from him. The other Guardians' bodies had been found, dumped unceremoniously in a cave close by. Their Ghosts had been destroyed, preventing them from being revived. Only her father's body and Ghost hadn't been found. All that remained behind was his sniper rifle and he never went anywhere without it. Her mother often joked it was his second wife the way he treated it. Now it belonged to his daughter.
The Hunter looks off to the left and spots the silver glow of Spinmetal and walks over to gather upgrade material when a keening bark-like wail pierces the silence. The Guardian instantly whips around, rifle at the ready as she scans the area. Her white eyes narrow a fraction before several buckshot rounds sound off and an angry roar of a Hive Knight echoes through the air in response. The shotgun repeats again before the sector falls quiet once more as if nothing happened.
The woman remains on high alert and crouches down, activating Kephri Sting's short invisibility ability, combined with Patience and Time's active camouflage perk. Using the limited time she had, the Guardian darts across the open ground, moving as fast as she can before coming across a rundown building. She exchanges her rifle for her Vestian Dynasty and raises the weapon as she cautiously approaches it. Within in no time, she locates bits and pieces of Thrall and Knight armor. A thick trail of blood leaves the armor bits and leads away. Head tilting to the side, the Guardian takes one last look around the immediate area to make sure she wasn't being followed before stepping through to the interior of the building and follows the blood trail.
It was certainly Fallen gore. She'd seen enough of it to know the color all too well but where was it going? Ears trained to pick up on the faintest sounds, she continues to walk before the trail stops off at knee high hole in the wall, barricaded in a way that would make it appear to be just any other piece of scenery in the decrepit building. She crouches down and stares at it a moment longer before glancing behind her, noticing that the trail lead back to another room. The light inside is flickering steadily. The Hunter gets to her feet and moves to investigate, keeping her footsteps light and undetectable as she creeps up on it. She pokes the muzzle of her sidearm in before peering around the door frame.
Inside rests a fallen Baroness. Armor had been cut up and there were several deep gashes where the Hive must've gotten through past her tough skin. Her rifle lay by her side, all four arms laying limp on the ground. The Fallen's large head tucked in at her chest, the blood flow slowly coming to a stop.
The Guardian feels an odd tightness in her chest and realizes she had been clenching her jaw tightly and glances away briefly from the corpse, closing her eyes for a moment before looking back at her.
"Seems like you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, huh? I know how you feel but you won't be coming back from this one..." Why did she feel sad over a dead Fallen? She'd killed several before and never felt remorse. It was either them or her and she wasn't planning on dying permanently any time soon. Was it because of their new addition to their fireteam? Maybe... She wasn't going soft, she just felt... sad. That was the only way she could really describe it.
She goes to leave the Fallen before her eyes catch something amiss. The Baroness had no cloak hanging about her shoulders. The Guardian's brows furrow together in slight puzzlement before she remembers the small boarded up hole.
"Were you... Were you checking on something back there?" she asks the dead Baroness quietly as if she was afraid to disturb the silence that had fallen over the complex. "One way to find out." She turns on her heels and heads to the hole in the wall. The Hunter then kneels down and, keeping her firearm close at hand, begins to remove the barricade. It was a little difficult at first. Whatever the Baroness wished to keep hidden, it was certainly something of value. It was dark inside the hole and her HUD could only filter out so much. Her Ghost suddenly appears, as if on cue, over her left shoulder, shining its light from its eye into the crevice.
The first thing they both notice is the Baroness' cloak inside a box. It's a bit raggedy and dirty; all it really needed was a good patch up and cleaning. And it's wrapped up around something small. That something made a small squeak and wriggles around underneath the cloak. The Hunter blinks and shares a look with her Ghost before carefully reaching in and hesitantly pulls back part of the fabric toward the top. Revealing an Eliksni pup. The Baroness had been able to wrap the poor thing up in her cloak and hidden it, protecting it from both the cold and anyone meaning it harm.
"By the Traveler... That's..." her Ghost begins, dimming its optic's brightness to avoid upsetting the tiny creature.
"I know what it is..." the Guardian answers, chewing her bottom lip.
"I think its rather cute." That earned her Ghost a look and a cocked eyebrow, head tilting to the side a bit. The top part of her Ghost's triangular parts moves forward to make it appear like it was giving its Guardian a disapproving look.
"Nya, we can't very well leave it here. It will die. Either from frostbite, starvation or the Hive. Or a less understanding Guardian."
"And what makes you believe that I'm more understanding than someone else?" Nya sits back on her haunches, eyeing her Ghost.
"Because you didn't immediately dump it out in the cold or kill it."
"It's... It's..."
"It's a child and one that will need someone to look after."
"But it's Fallen. An Eliksni!"
"And look at how well you've been getting along with Var'nixx. You objected at first about his presence on the Tower and now you're both being civil with each other."
"If you can it that, yes."
There is a pause between them. The pup makes sleepy snuffling noises and yawns, pulling the Guardian's attention away from her Ghost and toward it.
"So...?" her Ghost asks expectantly.
"So what?" It tilts its body at the youngling.
"Oh, you can't be serious. Luiseach, I can't take of it!"
"What else can we do then?"
"We..." She lets out a frustrated sigh. "We wait. We'll hang out here a few days. See if the other Fallen here are just out on a patrol or something. If they are, we'll sneak out, knowing it's... safe."
"And if not?"
Nya rubs the front of her helmet and shakes her head.
"Cayde's going to freak..." Another exasperated sigh before she goes to sit cross legged in front of the box, pulling it out into the open. She then peels back another bit of the fabric to examine the pup. It looked healthy enough though its eyes were still closed. It must've just been only a few days old. "Okay buddy... Let's see. If we're going to do this thing..." She carefully reaches into the box again and rummages about the inside before unearthing what appeared to be food items for the pup. There weren't much and she recognizes what they are. She was grateful to had stuck around for her Warlock friend's brief lecture on the Fallen.
"Ah... Luiseach? See if you can find some more ether caps. Have a handful here but these probably won't last the week."
"I'll see what I can find."
"Don't go too far, okay?"
"I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"Hmpf..." The Guardian looks back at the pup who yawns again. If she closed her and listened to it, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and a human or awoken baby.
The two spend the next few days doing their best to take care of it, keeping the pup warm and fed while keeping an eye out for the rest of the Fallen House to return. By the fourth day, the pup's eyes were open and it had already climbed out of the box, beginning to try and move its way up Nya's back. The Guardian is a little unnerved before relenting somewhat and let's it, keeping the pup away from her head. It makes disgruntled noises whenever she brings it down off her shoulders to sit in her lap.
Neither Ghost nor Guardian had seen any sign of the Fallen living here. It wasn't a good sign. Had the two not come across the pup, it probably wouldn't have made it through the week.
Nya waits till nightfall before eventually deciding she sure that the Fallen are not returning to the structure and has her Ghost summon her ship. She then unclasps her cloak and bundles the Eliksni pup up in it along with the Baroness' cloak as well to keep it warm. Having fed it prior to transport, it's settled in and sleepy. The Guardian tucks the box under her arm and heads outside, sidearm in hand before hurrying out to her ship which is waiting close by. Her Ghost phases them both into blue flower like vessel and charts a course out to the Tower.
She was certainly going to have some explaining to do but at least they had their own resident Fallen to help.