It is a widely known fact that a Hunter's only companions are his wits and his gun. Ever since the first Guardian was risen, they have wandered the wilds alone searching for glory. Hunters are useful members of fireteams for their speed and accuracy, but it is no surprise to anyone that they seldom seek a team. They liberate themselves of the City's walls and disappear into the wilderness: to scout, to stalk, to hunt. It is quite unusual, then, for a Hunter to willingly work alongside another Guardian in the field. Even more unusual still is finding two Hunters joined at the hip, routinely working and fighting together on missions. With the number of successful kills under their belts, nobody in the Tower would dare breath a word arguing against the teamwork of Cayde-6 and Andal Brask. They were a rare pairing, but an exceedingly effective one.

"Andal." It was the first word he had spoken in hours. The Cosmodrome was completely silent. Not even the hum of ships going into orbit or the gentle chirping of bugs could be heard. Cayde leant forward, much to the protests of his stiff ligaments after being locked in the same place for so long. A cold wind rushed past him, leaving no sound.

"Andal." he whispered again in a slightly higher octane. He inched over to the edge of the outcrop where another figure was sitting. Another man, hunched over a sniper rifle, unmoving. If it weren't for the small clouds of breath in front of his mouth, Cayde could have thought that he was dead. "Andal."

"Cayde." His friend hissed back without even looking at him. He knew the tone of Andal's voice well, the We're on a mission right now, Cayde, don't do this shit tone. Andal was still looking down the sight of the rifle, focused on the task at hand. Cayde sighed, tucking his knees under his chin.

They had been sent out to the Cosmodrome on the request of the Vanguard to track down and eliminate a high value Fallen target, a key individual in the House of Devils. The intelligence was somewhat spotty, but it had sent them to a small nest among the industrial rubble of Skywatch where they would intercept the target in one of its regular meeting spots. It was a perfect task for Andal, who was methodical and clever and one of the best damn snipers the City had ever seen. He was just as deadly accurate with a high caliber rifle as he was with an Arc-imbued blade in his hands. Of course, every sniper needs a spotter so Cayde was here too, ready to put a bullet in any rogue Fallen or Hive that tried to jump a distracted Andal.

Yet, they had been here for nearly 8 hours and had seen no signs of life, much less the Fallen they were looking for. Cayde had put most of his internal systems on standby about 3 hours ago, just shy of full hibernation. Ever since they had arrived, Andal had been sitting there with the rifle, waiting and waiting and waiting. He is good at what he does but he could also be incredibly stubborn about missions like these. Andal might not mind sitting and waiting for hours on end but Cayde had inspected his handcannon for chipped paint so many times that he swore he was going to go mad soon.

"Andal, buddy, look. I know you're probably gonna lecture me on the importance of following the mission protocol and doing everything properly but it's been hours and nobody has shown up." No response, but Andal's fingers curled around the barrel tensed. "Come on, our guy isn't coming tonight. Just put the gun down."

Slowly, Andal pulled away from the rifle and sat up, letting out a sigh. "You think the intel was right?"

"Who knows. Maybe the Devils realised how shitty and cold Old Russia is and moved to Hawaii?"

The comment landee him a punch on the arm, and even though it doesn't really hurt, he uttered a little ouch. "Rude, Brask, very rude."

Andal grinned at him, the tiniest bit of tongue poking through his teeth. "You know I could report you for that? Compromising the integrity of the mission and talking back to a senior Guardian." Cayde knew that he was joking. While Andal was still technically his mentor in the eyes of the Vanguard, they had long since passed the point of being equals in the field.

"You could but you won't. You'd miss my roguish charm too much."

"Oh so that's what you're calling it?" Cayde punched Andal back. His friend let out a small yelp of pain, holding his arm in feigned agony and screwing up his face at the Exo. If he could, Cayde would be mimicking his expression. Instead, he settles for a smug smile. Andal shook his head, hood falling around his shoulders, and ran a hand lightly over his hair. Short dark curls with buzzed sides: a classic and practical Andal Brask look. The circles under his eyes were darker than usual, and now they had stopped talking Cayde noticed how exhausted Andal looked. He was about to say something when Andal turned his head out towards the horizon, dark eyes searching the sky. "Cayde, look, the stars are out."

Cayde looked out at the scene in front of them. Above the Skywatch, the black sky is painted with swirls and sprinkles of white. The lights in the City hid most of the stars, but out here they were clear as day. It was strange sitting here, looking up and knowing he had been out in that endless void, surrounded by dying stars.

"Before the Collapse," he started talking before he even realised it and couldn't seem to stop the words, "there were times where I'd be out on a tour and when we - the rest of my squad and I - couldn't sleep, we would watch the stars, trace the constellations. No matter where we went, they were always the same." The memory is fragmented like the rest of his from his previous life. They were in Germany on that one tour, camping near the remnants of a wall that was allegedly pre-Traveler. He can't remember the names or faces of his squad members but their laughter ebbs and flows in his mind.

Andal looked towards him, dark eyes shining in the moonlight, brows knit together. "What's a constellation?"

"They're like pictures, you connect the dots of the stars and they form objects. Here." Cayde shifted closer to Andal so their knees were touching. He pointed at a cluster of stars high above the horizon. "There's the Big Dipper. See, the four stars form a box, and then the handle out there." Andal hummed an affirmation, and Cayde pointed to another cluster further out west. "And out there is Orion, the great hunter."

"Hunter, like us?"

"Sort of. The story goes that Orion was a ancient and legendary warrior that was killed by a scorpion. The gods felt pity for him, so they placed him and his two dogs in the sky along with all the animals he hunted. They placed the scorpion in the sky too, but far away from Orion so he would never be hurt again."

Andal leant his head on Cayde's shoulder and it took all his strength for Cayde not to tense up at the gesture. He looked down at the human who was yawning and struggling to keep his eyes open. "You good, Andal?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy." Considering how quiet his voice was, Cayde suspected that 'a little sleepy' was an understatement. "Keep talking."

So Cayde did. He talked of Orion's dogs, Canis Major and Minor, and the captive princess Andromeda, and the Zodiac constellations. He traced out patterns across the sky, tales from times long before the Traveler or the Darkness, tales from people who gazed up at the stars and weaved their history into the night eternal. His stories were accompanied by the rhythm of Andal's breathing and occasional hums. By the time he had exhausted his knowledge of every legend he knew, the human had fallen fast asleep on his shoulder.

Cayde knew that they should move away from the exposed edge of the outcrop, they stuck out too much and risk being Hive breakfast. The sight of Andal asleep and peaceful made him hesitate, not having the heart to wake his friend up. Gently, Cayde moved Andal so he was lying on his lap, hopefully more comfortable than his shoulder. Adjusting the sniper rifle to his grasp, he pinged a neural relay.

"Ghost, are you there?"

"Always." Cayde smiled.

"I don't suppose you could do me a favour and keep an eye out while Sleeping Beauty and I have a nap?" If Andal ever found out he had called him Sleeping Beauty, he would end up as Thrall bait.

"Of course. I'll wake you up if I detect anyone."

"Thanks, bud."

With a content sigh and his finger wrapped around the rifle trigger, Cayde closed his eyes.

A/N: I wrote this about 2 months ago and only just realised I never posted it here, woops. Previously posted on AO3 and Tumblr. wouldn't let me include Andal as one of the characters rip.