The nightstalker thinks back to the first meeting with the Queen and her brother as she sits, perched comfortably at the end of a thin pole hanging over the hanger, overlooking the Vestian Outpost around twenty feet below her.
The human's footfalls are barely audible as she strides alongside the guards leading her towards the throne room. The guardian is looking around absently, apparently unafraid of what might come to be if the wrong words are spoken or a line is otherwise crossed. Being who she is, a fearless and devoted hunter—one who's courage and skill was known even long before Ghost revived her bones—was far from worried though she was smart enough to come up with a mental plan should she run into trouble.
Once or twice as she walked she was nudged back into line by the guards when she was distracted by something interesting and started to stray to one side or another. The woman's annoyance niggled at the back of her mind whenever the guards touched her—though she took pride in the fact that the women didn't seem to know that their shoving was not enough to move her should she decide to fight it. The annoyance was already at the back of her mind anyway due to the fact that she was forcefully stripped of her weapons, including her beloved IceBreaker, left on her ship along with her scout rifle, machine gun and—something that they really had to fight to claim from her—her knife. Though—being the resourceful hunter she was—this did not mean that she was completely helpless as she still possessed her guardian abilities, she felt nearly naked without them…even in full armor and her long cloak.
"Remove your helmet." One of the guards tells the hunter suddenly, making her look at the woman with a hidden frown. Not that too! She sighs and pulls off her hood, pressing a release on the side of the helmet before pulling off both pieces and handing them to ghost, who tucks it away in…well, wherever she puts it. She pulls her hood back over her head before either of the women can get a good look at her face and walks forward—as the path is now straight and without branching paths so there is but one way to go. The guards seem to look at each other behind her before deciding that they do not need to—or perhaps don't want to—tell her to remove her hood without explicate orders so they simply follow the woman closely, leading her into what can only be described as the throne room.
Spotting a figure standing in front of the throne, the woman frowns behind the shadows of hood upon seeing a man. Though she'll admit she wasn't paying that much attention when her ghost was talking about the awoken, she did recall him referring to a Queen, not a King. Perhaps she's not important enough to be greeted by the Queen. Her expression turns to one of a less than impressed individual at that thought. "So…These are the trespassers demanding an audience." The man's—admittedly rather alluring—voice drones out as the human stops several feet from the throne, the guards flanking her on either sides. The hunter glances side long at Ghost, but neither her companion nor the man in front of her see her expression due to her hood's shadows. "We didn't mean to trespass." Ghost laments in a voice that sounds like it's frowning though the little light had no face to show expression. The woman's eyes fall on the awoken male as he speaks again immediately, almost as if he didn't hear Ghost's words, or perhaps he simply didn't care.
"The Queen herself judges who may and may not enter the realm. Me," He scoffs lightly and calmly walks closer, making the hunter tense just a little in preparation of any potential threat of violence. "I see no reason why she should be available for whatever washes up on the reef." The man stops only about five feet from the human, golden eyes narrowing in suspicion—a cautious nature the other hunter shared. "But here we are." He says. The woman takes the slight pause in his speech to explain herself as her hidden eyes roam over the man. "We've come to ask for help." She states simple, eyes still studying the man before her. Something catches the woman's ear, a familiar chittered growling noise that makes her eyes flicker sharply to the throne behind the man. Out from the shadows, two four armed creatures of darkness emerge, staffs in hand. "Fallen!" The woman is moving even as Ghost calls this, spinning around sharply and shoving the guard to the side as the hunter grabs her side arm off of her. As she spins back around to take the heads of the Vandal, she hears the obvious sound of a knife being drawn and the leather muffled impact of her gloved, weapon wielding hand, being caught by an equally gloved—far larger—hand. Being in mid movement when she hears—and feels—this she's only able to react enough to pull back sharply a few inches and tilt her head up as the man presses the edge of his knife under her chin. The woman feels her hood flutter off of her head from her movement, revealing sharply cut medium length, brown hair, a tan face and sharp, crystal clear, brown eyes. The woman's brows furrow as her face is exposed, but does not move.
Out of the corner of her eye she sees ghost look worriedly between the two of them but is otherwise preoccupied by the knife at her throat and the sharp gold eyes looking up at her.
The two hunters stare for only a fraction of a second into each other's eyes, mirroring predatory and battle hardened gazes locked in a seeming battle of dominance. The slightest flinch, hesitation, or hint of mercy will lead to the weak willed hunter's downfall but their eyes just narrow, the silent battle permeating the air around them. "It is afraid of the fallen." A soft, regal, female voice observes behind the male before her. Despite this new voice, the woman does not break her gaze with the awoken. "It does not understand that these ones are mine." She concludes as the impressive peripheral vision of the hunter catches the vague sight of the new woman sitting calmly on the throne. The woman's movement is followed by the Vandals straightening and returning their weapons to their at ease positions. The hunter's keen ears pick up the movement beside her before her acquired weapon is snatched back by its original owner; who seems rather indignant. As she's disarmed, the man lowers his weapon from her throat and releases her hand, stepping back as she does. "Apologies…" Their eye contact is finally broken as the man turns towards the new woman seated at the throne. "Your grace." He gives a short bow and glances back at the hunter before taking several steps away—putting distance between them—and sheathing his knife. The hunter, now free of the eye contact, finally looks up at the new woman, eyeing her. She sits casually, unthreatened by the human's presence, almost seeming bored. Obviously she's awoken, but she's far fairer than any the hunter had met before, with her tossed back white hair and observant blue eyes, slim figure, and apparent grace and strength. "I am a Guardian. From Earth." She explains calmly, despite what happened only moments ago. "We're searching for the Black Garden." These words seem to catch the man's obviously keen ears and he turns back to her with a frown on his face… "Why?" The man demands in that soft, threatening, voice of his. The woman notes a hint of a sharper emotion in his tone. Anger? Fear? Worry? The woman ignores this for the moment and answers. "We seek to destroy the darkness at its heart." She states simply, not losing her calm, collected, tone though she feels like smirking at the clear loss of his patronizing tone from earlier. The man's eyes widen momentarily as he takes in her words before narrowing, clearly unimpressed. "You want to turn it into a battleground." He says, that condescending tone returning along with the niggling annoyance in the back of the woman's head. "How unimaginative." He almost sounds as if he pities her and it's all she can do from snarling insults at the man. She settles for an annoyed frown. "Do you know where it is?" She asks, an edge to her voice. It's barely out of her mouth before he answers as if talking to a child, his resting on the belt across his waist.
"Everyone knows where it is." He says sharply, before shifting his weight off of the foot it had been resting on and walking slowly to the side, almost as if stalking her like a predator. "The hard part is getting in." The woman fights a roll of the eye at his comment. "Can you help us?" She asks, a little hopeful despite his rather unhelpful nature thus far. Being a fellow hunter, she understands his suspicious nature all too well. The man's expression turns sharp once again as he steps towards her, making the woman tense and her eyes narrow on the man. "And why. Would we. Do that." He punctuates his words with a sharp tone as he steps close to him. Before the hunter can retort—which could easily be a physical retort due to his proximity—the woman on the throne calls down in a calm voice.
"The Queen requests counsel with her brother." The two hunters glare at each other for a moment before the man relents and turns—though not before giving the guardian a suspicious and threatening look. He ascends the stairs as the human glances at either of the guards beside her before focusing on the two awoken before her. The man kneels beside the Queen as she seems to speak to him calmly—a conversation even the keen eared hunter cannot decipher—for a few moments before both brother and sister look meaningfully at her; the Queen observant, the man mischievous. The man chuckles softly.
"Yes, that's good. That's good." He says to the Queen as he gets up. He looks over at the human once again as he walks partway down the stairs, hands on his belt again. "We'll make you a key. How's that?" He asks, though he doesn't seem to require an answer, deciding for himself that the offer is good enough for the likes of her. To be honest, she agrees with the offer anyway. His expression changes and that woman instantly knows there's a catch.
"All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord." He says, like this is some momentous task that she'll obviously fail. The woman's eyes narrow at the challenge and she frowns deeply. "A gate lord…uh we-" Her ghost starts but she interrupts him, looking just a bit confused as she stares up at the brother. "Why do you need a Vex head?" She asks, wondering why something so simple seeming is laid out like such a difficult task. "Oh! We don't." The man says simply, almost mocking her in his delivery before his eyes narrow, once again unimpressed. "And I doubt we'll get one either." He says this under his breath but she hears it easily. He moves back to the Queen's side, standing there as he looks back at her. The hunter human can't help but think of how regal the Queen and her brother look up there. "But it's your only hope of getting into the Black Garden." The woman's annoyance returns at his tone—which seems as though he's talking to a child. Her eyes narrow and her frown deepens. "We will return." She promises. "Or die on Venus." He retorts smoothly, causing the woman's eye to twitch in annoyance. "Either way." The woman gives the man a firm glare before a slight movement of the Queen's head seems to give the hunter permission to leave. She turns with one more sharp glare at the brother before walking out with the guards flanking her and following her again.
To say she was surprised when she heard the Queen's call to open the reef to the guardians was an understatement. She immediately stopped her sparring with Shaxx and geared up to head to the reef.
Despite herself, the hunter grew fond of the outpost, fond of the strange people in it. The eager and battle happy Petra, the exotic and strange Variks, and the elusive and mysterious Brother Vance, had become such a part of her daily struggle and battles, that she struggled to think of a time without them or her team back home at the tower. She'd even grown fond of the Queen and, yes, even her brother.
To be honest, despite their rocky start and his continued suspicion, the hunter had grown particularly fond of the cool awoken prince, particularly upon learning about his crows and his abilities as a spymaster. Though more of a stealth specialist and sniper herself, the hunter could appreciate his talent and ability.
Upon hearing of the devastation of the Awoken fleet that attacked the Dreadnaught nestled in Saturn's rings, the hunter had panicked—she's rather ashamed to admit—and had rushed to the area as soon as she was able. Upon learning she was responsible for the arrive of this foe—one after her head in particular for personally taking out Oryx's son, her guilt bloomed in her chest and her anger consumed her. She wanted to destroy the creature, rip it apart, kill it as she had the Hive's son, but at the moment she was told by Cayde-6 to wait for him to come up with his plan to get on the dreadnaught in the first place, so she headed straight for the reef's outpost, where she sits now, arms wrapped around one raised knee as the other leg dangles off the edge of the perch. Quietly, she waits, even as thoughts of the Queen and her brother roil around in her head and fuel her guilt and anger.
Oryx would pay.