Chapter seven.

Baron Hunting.

Yaviks and her gang had been easy to track down and a few well aimed shots had brought her gang members down off their Pikes without any issues, though Kuji had complained he never get the smell out of his armour from their Pike fuel.

Tracking Yaviks herself was not as easy, the Baron was leading them through the flooded area she had claimed as hers on the Shore and had it not been for their helmets, both Kuji and Rose would have suffered the effects of the toxic air as they played a very deadly game of demolition derby around the thick smog of the fuel and tried to avoid being smashed by Yaviks and shot by her company of Raiders on the edges of the flooded arena.

"Damn it this bitch is fast." Vlad growled as Rose struggled to get a clear shot before Yaviks vanished into the smog once again, the two having narrowly avoided being rammed by the Rider's Pike. "Grandpa you see her?"

"No."

"Where the fuck is this bitch?" Kuji growled as he searched the smog with his scope, taking shots at any Raider he saw to clear them from the edges to at least leave some form of 'safety' in the worst should happen. The faintest movement to the left of his Scope and Kuji moved and squeezed the trigger, forcing Yaviks to pull away sharply to the right with a feral snarl as Grandpa swung his Sparrow to the left. "Got her!"

"Good! Now hit her again!" Grandpa told him as they splashed the toxic fuel over the Raiders along the edge. "My sparrow can't take much more of this!"

The sound of crashing metal and an explosion burnt through the smog and Kuji leveled a shot at the exposed engine of the Pike, squeezing the trigger as Yaviks' attention was locked on the two downed Guardians, her modified Pike exploding and creating a floating fire on the fuel that consumed the Rider's body rapidly and left her screaming out as Rose heaved Vlad up onto the small edge that wasn't covered in fuel, the Exo's left leg badly crushed and sparking rapidly.

"Fucking Bitch! How did she get so close?" Vlad snarled as he watched the Baron try and fail to escape the burning fuel, but it seemed the explosion had completely crippled the Rider's legs and she couldn't escape the flames.

"Rose?" Bing asked in some shock as Rose unholstered the Hawkmoon and leveled it with Yaviks, putting one round into the Baron's head and the screaming stopped.

~ "She would not grant you the same mercy were your places reversed, Little flower." ~ The Spider told them.

"That's what stops us becoming monsters like them." Rose said. "Let's go. It's not safe to heal you in the open and it's gonna be a long walk out of here."

They managed to get out of the main area moments before another loud and powerful explosion erupted behind them, the fuel and toxins in the area at last burning away, making the while Shore shake.

~ "Do try not to destroy my Shore too much, I intend on staying here when this mess is over." ~ The Spider stated over the comms.

"Given how bad that place smelled, you'd have had to rip it down and rebuild anyway." Rose told him. "Strike Yaviks off the list."

"So, whose next?" Kuji asked.

Vakarian had managed to get them into a hidden cave, untouched by the Hive or any other creature of the Shore, now he worked tirelessly to insure they were not found, cloaking the ship and keeping everything none vital on standby, ready to move them if they are in any kind of danger. With her ship in her Ghost's care, Arielle set about hacking into the comm channels, catching tidbits of fallen talk, Petra's attempts to reach other Awoken and then, with a little twist of a few wires and a helping hand from Vakarian, she linked into Rose's comms and listened carefully to what was said.

~ "I'm telling you, Yaviks is not getting back up from that blast." ~ Grandpa said, the soft zap-zap of a tool in his hand indicated either he was repairing an injury to himself or he was helping fix an injury on Vlad.

~ "And I'm telling you, until we find the source of Fikrul's power they can ALL come back." ~ Petra insisted.

~ "He thinks Uldren gave him the power, so why not just kill him and be down with it?" ~ Kuji hissed.

~ "Because we can't find him." ~ Rose said, ~ "And until we get one of the Barons to talk or we get lucky, it stays that way." ~

~ "We'll find him, my worry is Arielle." ~ Vlad stated.

~ "You really think she'd jump into save Uldren?" ~ Petra asked.

~ "I'm not sure, her loyalty to the Queen is absolute and it always has been, but Uldren's pushed her the wrong way a few times and whatever their history was it's making her do dumb shit." ~ the Hunter Exo said.

~ "She's the Sword of the Queen." ~ Rose defended, ~ "She's gotta be struggling with this just like we are." ~

~ "Arielle never struggle-OW! Watch it with that welder!" ~ Vlad growled.

~ "Hold still then, this is delicate work." ~ Grandpa told him, ~ "And Arielle has struggled before, or did you forget the mission we took on the Almighty?" ~

~ "That's different, that was a Light issue, not a matter of believing something told to her by people she should be able to trust." ~ Vlad said.

Grandpa sighed heavily but said nothing as he continued to work.

~ "How bad was your Sparrow wrecked Vlad?" ~ Kuji asked.

~ "Trashed and smashed," ~ Vlad said, ~ "Amanda's gonna rip me a new ass hole when we get back. Then hand me to Zavala for cleaning duty or something." ~

Rose chuckled softly, likely Arielle only heard it because she was listening from Rose's end of the commlink. The chatter stalled out after that and Arielle sighed softly as she sat back in her ship pilot seat, they hadn't found Uldren and that meant he was in hiding still. Good, the longer he stayed hidden the longer she had to try and figure this mess out.

She sighed again and slowly took a deep breath to calm her mind before letting her eyes close, needing to rest and take it all in before she made her next move.

~ "Arielle!"

She looked up at Illyn and her ears burned in embarrassment. She'd zoned out during training again, still on that same page she'd been stuck on for the last six days.

"Clearly you are too preoccupied to be of any use today." Illyn remarked coldly and waved her off. "Go, clear your mind. Your progress will not continue while you are so distracted."

It stung, but Arielle couldn't stop the smile that crossed her face as she ran out of the building. She was free hours earlier than intended; she was free for Uldren. She hoped that he would enjoy the surprise. There never seemed to be enough time for them and even though it meant ignoring her training, Arielle couldn't wait to see him.

She found him in the library and it inspired a spark of desire and affection. With a sneaky smile she quietly walked towards him with the intention of sneaking up on him. Right before she could say something, Uldren remarked, "Aren't you supposed to be training?"

Arielle pouted, "Why do you ruin all of my fun?"

He glanced at her with his bright, glowing eyes and Arielle felt heat rise in her cheeks as he said, "Because you're cute when you pout." ~

Her eyes snapped open and she winced, clutching her head tightly. "Ah!"

"Arielle?" Vakarian asked concerned as his Guardian tried to rid herself of the forming head ache. "What is it? Did you fall asleep?"

"No, it wasn't… it wasn't that. I was aware of it I just couldn't snap out of it." Arielle said shaking her head and rubbing her temple to try and ease the pain, "It was like a vision or some kind of memory."

"A memory?" Vakarian asked, "Like the ones Rose had?"

"Maybe." Arielle nodded leaning back in to her chair, "I don't know why I'm having them now though, I was around Uldren and Mara all my young life and I've never had anything like this happen before, why is it coming back now?"

"I don't know, but Rose did say that they happened during or around times of great stress. Maybe that's what's triggered them?" Vakarian offered.

It would make sense if it was that, the stress of the whole situation had brought questions up that Arielle had never thought to ask before and there was no one to help her search out the answers or even help her by explaining the random and broken order of the memories either. They were from before her days as a Guardian, but they were not coming back to her in any kind of order. Was this how Rose saw her flashes? A broken disorganized recall of places and people? Or did she have some kind of order to the memories she'd seen? Arielle could have asked but there was uncertainty in her thoughts now, Rose had never questioned her, nor had she ever looked at her with anything but awe and admiration, but when Arielle had questioned her honesty about Uldren after Cayde's death and since witnessing the fight between her and Vlad, she'd seen the fear and loss in Rose's eyes and Arielle didn't want to scare the Hunter any more than she already was.

Something washed over her ship suddenly, a weak and fading surge that made her ship falter and drop unsteadily into the ground with a heavy clatter while the systems gave off a few warnings of errors or just completely shut down, even Vakarian gave a startled gasp and fell from the air.

"What happened?" Arielle asked, catching him in her hands gently. "Vakarian?"

"I'm ok. Ju-just. I can't-t-t move my Shell…" Vakarian strained to say, blinking his optic. "Some kind of-f-f-f EMP I think-k-k-k. Give me a minute."

Arielle nodded and turned back to the hacked comm lines to listen to what was being said as a small commotion began to filter through.

"What's happened?" Petra asked as Grandpa and Vlad suddenly slumped and convulsed as the Safehouse's systems buzzed and whined around them. "Spider?"

~ "An EMP blast, emanating from Sorik's Cut." ~ The Spider stated with a deep growl, ~ "It's carries the signature of the Trickster." ~

"Valmont track that bitch." Kuji ordered, helping Rose lift Grandpa onto the cot bed. "You ok man?"

"Sure, just a little stiff in the joints." Grandpa joked lightly. "Gonna need a little oil, but I'll be fine."

"You better be," Iris said, slipping out of the Titan's armour unharmed and unaffected by the blast as she carefully sent small burst of static into Grandpa's armour, unlocking his arms and shoulder plates to expose his chest plate beneath, "that blast knocked out your sensory grid, you can't move until it passes, but I can at least make sure she didn't fry anything else."

"You and me both." Sovereign said as he worked to try and fix the mess the blast had made of Vlad's systems. "She took out your stabilizing grid, you'll need at least an hour to recalibrate."

"One hour until I can personally hunt this bitch down and rip her fucking arms off." Vlad hissed through gritted teeth. "Unless someone beats me too it." He added looking to Rose as best he could which was little more than turning his optics towards her. "Be careful."

Rose nodded. "Try not to fall off the cot."

Kuji smiled and looked at Grandpa. "Wanna time it?"

"I give it at least six months." Grandpa stated.

"I'm saying twelve." Kuji said. "Loser buys the most expensive gift when they get hitched. Winner has drinks bought for him by the loser for a week."

"Deal." Grandpa agreed. "Now go make sure she doesn't get herself killed by this bitch."

Kuji nodded and followed Rose as she left the room and once outside the two summoned out their Sparrows and took off towards Sorik's Cut.

"What are we going to do Arielle?" Vakarian asked, finally shaking off the last of the EMP blast from his shell as the ship began a slow recovery itself.

Arielle shook her head slightly, "We'll wait for them to pass us then we'll go out and hunt for clues ourselves." She said knowing that while Vlad was distracted by Hunting Barons he was not looking for Uldren, that meant that Petra was the one hunting the Prince. As loyal as Petra was to the Queen, she was not as skilled at hiding and hunting as Arielle and that gave the Warlock an edge.

"Vakarian monitor all comm chatter, tell me the minute you hear anything about Uldren." She ordered as she moved outside her ship, tucking Vakarian safely into her robes where he would be safe as she climbed the side of the ruined Hive Tomb ship, watching through the scope of her rifle as Rose and Kuji's Sparrows cut through the Hive wreckage around them, hand cannon shots echoing as Hive Knights and Thrall fell dead to the ground as the sparrows raced by, then like she had on the Moon so many years ago she took up a position and settled in for a long wait.

Her days on the moon back then had taught her to be patient, to wait for the answers to come to her and that is what she would do now, she would wait for the clues and answers to come to her from the commlink and chatter of her team and insure that she found Uldren first. At least if she could get to him, she might get answers out of him without having to resort to violence.

"Red Legion Cabal, Scorn everywhere and we've somehow got to find a Baron." Kuji said as they looked over Sorik's Cut. "Got any idea where she might be?"

Rose shook her head. "Valmont and Bing can't get a lock on her but she's in the area." She said.

"So, we shoot shit and hope to get lucky?" He offered.

"Sounds like a plan." Rose nodded as their Sparrows fizzled away. "Kill everything and anything not Spider's until we find her, whoever kills the least cooks' dinner for everyone tonight?" She offered.

"Deal." Kuji nodded and together the two hunters moved slowly from cover to cover, using their shots to force the Cabal and Scorn into tight spots and then take them out with a well thrown grenade or a fatal shot to a Screeb sending bodies flying with missing limbs.

"Engram!" Kuji yelled and snatched up the item easily only to go stiff when Valmont scanned it and he tossed it away with a warning yell. "It's gonna BLOW!"

"Shit!" Rose yelled and ducked into cover as the Engram suddenly erupted taking out the Cabal forces and some Scorn who had not been able to escape the radius of the bomb. "Kuji?"

"I'm fine!" Kuji assured somewhere to the right of her, though he sounded hesitant. "How the fuck did she rig an explosion in an Engram?"

"Fake Engram." Rose told him. "Easy to make look real, but worthless without loot."

~ "Very clever little Hunter, but know-it-alls just spoil all the fun." ~ The Trickster's mocking cackle came over the comms.

"Says the coward who can't fight for herself so hide like a docked Dreg." Rose hissed back, leveling a shot at the closest Scorn. "Guess we'll just have to kill everyone you're hiding behind first."

~ "You think you can?" ~

"Didn't you hear Yaviks screaming?" Rose asked and ducked into cover seconds before a shot skimmed past where her head had been. "You missed!"

Kuji knew if Grandpa or Orion were here, heck even Arielle if she were here, would scold Rose for such blatant comments, but he didn't, he'd seen and used this same tactic before, pushing the buttons of an enemy's temper, make them angry, make them lose focus on staying hidden and make them so outraged that they show themselves and leave themselves open for an attack, a tactic that had been perfected by Andal Brask and continued by Cayde-6 and other Hunters in his honor after his death to Taniks the Scared. Titan's called it 'Fools Banter' a game that could easily be played on any Guardian or foe and those who fell into the trap were the fools, Warlocks called it stupidity as the statements often distracted others in the area. Hunters called it getting the job done in their own style.

Cayde would have been proud.

Kuji spotted a large stock pile of the rigged Engrams and felt a cold chill go down his spine. Rahool had recently ordered some new Engrams and if he got these instead of the regular ones…

"Rose, Big problem!" he yelled, shouldering the rocket launcher from his back and aiming it at the strange device that was creating the boobytrapped Engrams, only for it to do no damage to the device or the Engrams that were being produced. "The fuck?"

Rose skidded into the shadow of the large tower structure the Engrams were been housed in and snatched one up, letting it get hotter and hotter in her hands before tossing it with a mighty heave at the same tube like opening Kuji had fired on just as another Engram was coming out. The resulting explosion making the whole tower shake and tremble around them.

"That works." Kuji nodded.

~ "You wretched little things!" ~ The Trickster yelled in anger. ~ "You've ruined my plans! Filthy insects!" ~

"Houseless Outcast!" Rose yelled back. "You may be a Baron but you have NOTHING! You ARE Nothing!"

The answering screech of fury made Kuji's ears ring so much that he brought his hands up to cover his ears over his helmet, ducking down as shots bounced off the wall near where his head had been, he managed to follow the trajectory of the bullets back to their origin. Araskes, the Trickster stood on a ledge across the area they had just cleared of Scorn and Cabal, emptying her weapon at their location. When her bullets ran out the Trickster screeched again and ran into the tunnel behind the ledge as Rose and Kuji broke cover and charged after her, Rose catching a glint out of the corner of her eye before they vanished into the tunnel but thought nothing of it as she followed Kuji into the cave.

"Where are we now?" Kuji growled as they lost sight of the Trickster in the darkness of the tunnel.

"Diaviks Mine." Rose told him, crouching and carefully putting a hand to the ground. "Stalkers, Lurkers, Wraiths and Ravagers have been though here. I hope you're ready for this."

He nodded and reloaded his rifle. "Hunters are always ready."

Rose nodded and tapped her chest plate, a silent assurance her Ghost was still there. "Bing, scan the tunnel ahead of us, tell me what I can't see." She requested.

"The tunnel breaks apart a few yards ahead of us, but the cave beyond the break is stable. Lots of activity inside." The little Ghost told them as they slowly made their way forwards, keeping to the shadows and darker areas until they reached the broken bridge that lead into the cave.

Rose nodded to Kuji and took a running jump at the bridge just as a shot cut the air by her head as she landed.

"Found her." Rose said as she returned fire.

"She's rigged the ammo!" Bing yelled out in warning after scanning the cave. "And the Plants!"

"Touch nothing. Got it." Kuji said as he and Rose swept through the cave, taking well aimed and practiced shots at the Scorn around them, all the while ducking below and leaning to one side to avoid the shots from the Void rifle that peppered the cave around them, shots fired from the still enraged Trickster, poorly aimed and rushed in her attempts to hit the two Hunters.

Kuji ducked behind a large rock for cover as Rose back flipped into her own cover. "I got more bomb Engrams." He told her pointing to the pile of Engrams not far from them.

"So, let's make use of them." Valmont told him. "We'll use her toys against her."

"I like his idea." Rose agreed, grabbing up one of the Engrams and tossing it between her hands before giving it a mighty heave towards the suddenly confused Scorn seconds before it erupted and cleared the Cave entrance enough to give them time to move deeper before more Scorn tried to swarm them.

"My turn!" Kuji yelled and Rose ducked under the two Engrams the human Hunter had tossed over her, scattering the charging Scorn and making them easier targets for their rifle fire.

"There!" Valmont yelled as a streak of corrupted Ether trailed ahead of them.

"I see her." Kuji nodded taking up another Engram and tossing it ahead of the trail's path just as Araskes revealed herself by a door at the back of the room swiftly keying in a code to open it but unable to avoid the blast from the Engram as it erupted against her back, burning up her cloak and charring her shoulders and back badly as the door half closed, unable to function properly from the explosion.

"Nice toss Kuji." Rose smiled using her knife to take down a Stalker, kicking the corpse to the ground as Kuji fired a shot into the flaming head of a Ravager's flail, making it explode and kill its holder. "Double points?"

"Nah, I fell behind when you cleared out the Engram factory." Kuji joked, checking his ammo. "Ready to do this?"

"It's too late to turn back now." Rose remarked and reloaded the Hawkmoon. "Araskes the Trickster isn't walking out of here."

Kuji nodded and together they ducked into the room Araskes had fled into.

"You have visitor."

Vlad looked at the door was as the spiked Fallen Vandal stepped aside and let their visitor into the room. "I thought you were grounded, Orion." He said with a small smile.

"Zavala got out voted by the Faction leaders and Ikora, so here I am." Orion smiled as he released Wrex from his armour. "What happened to you two?"

"EMP blast fucked us both over. Kuji and Rose went to chase the Baron responsible." Grandpa explained from his cot, stiffly jerking a hand up in what was meant to be a wave. "We're ok, just need time to recalibrate our stabilizers and neural nets and we'll be good."

"You let Kuji go out with Rose unsupervised?" Orion asked, "should we be worried they might blow up the shore?"

"Rose is supervising him," Grandpa smiled, "So, what's the word from home?"

"Prison of Elders' escapees are running wild and making hell for us all, Taken activity on Io increased suddenly and we've got reports of increased activity in all Hive locations. Since we can't send the escapees back to the Prison, Zavala has allowed the Drifter to use them in the Derelict Gambit." Orion told them, moving as another spiky armored fallen came in and quickly set up another cot in the room. "This is our room then?"

"Spider's letting us use it. Though to be honest I'm sure its something to do with him knowing Rose." Grandpa said.

"Say what now?" Orion asked.

"He calls her 'little flower' and from what Petra's told us, he claims he knew Rose before she was a Guardian. Turns out she's actually from here and not that other world she was revived in. but he's no idea how she got there." Grandpa retold briefly.

"Little flower?" Orion quoted and looked at Vlad, "And you haven't shot him yet?"

"He's helping. And I've saving my bullets for the Barons and Uldren." Vlad stated with a growl as he managed to slowly sit up with stiff and jerked movements. "Have you come to help us? Or to look for Arielle?"

"I'll help you hunt the Barons, but when it comes to Uldren, I'm not getting involved." Orion said, "I know Arielle has her reasons for wanting to help him, reasons she hasn't told me but that doesn't mean I can sit back and let you get yourself killed hunting the Barons that helped kill Cayde." He added.

"Because you'll hurt Arielle's feelings if you hurt Uldren?" Vlad asked.

"Because I'm not hungry for blood." Orion stated. "You're out for revenge Vlad, and we all know it, but have you taken a moment to think what happens when you have Uldren in your sights and Rose calls for mercy?"

"She won't." Vlad said.

"You hope that she won't." Orion corrected. "You and I both know she's not blinded by bloodlust like we are at times, she's matured since we met her in the Vault and she's faced her fair share of powerful foes, but she's still just a young Guardian and an Awoken at that. She's bound to know that any harm laid on Uldren by her hand or those she associates with is going to mark her as an enemy to the Queen."

Vlad huffed, "Uldren was locked away in the Prison. The only person who could have authorized that is the Queen herself. She KNEW her brother wasn't right in the head and she locked him up for it. Petra's report backs that up and if Arielle thinks she can somehow explain way his actions let her try, it doesn't change the fact Uldren Sov murdered Cayde-6 and did it in cold blood. That is unforgivable."

Orion sighed but said no more, there was nothing more he could say, Vlad's mind was set and while his words made sense, Orion was not the type to blindly follow a vengeful quest. He had agreed to help hunt the Barons, but if they did find Uldren Orion refused to be the one to bring the Prince down, knowing that if he did act against the Prince, there would be no hope of maintaining a future with Arielle.

"Guess she likes glimmer." Kuji said as he and Rose stepped carefully around the piles of glimmer that were stacked high and wide around the room.

"Most Dregs do like shiny things." Rose said listening carefully for any kind of giveaway sound that shouldn't be in the room, glimmer itself made a soft, almost soothing 'cling-cling-cling' sound if you listened carefully enough, but there were other sounds here, the drip-drip of a small leaking pipe, a straining whirl of the broken door's mechanisms trying to close and open the door, ruined by the explosion.

A faint scrape of metal on metal and Rose moved, letting herself roll into cover and fired a shot off towards the scraping as Araskes tried to take a shot at them from their far left, knocking the rifle out of the Trickster's hands as Kuji turned and emptied his rifle into her torso and arms as the Baron lifted her arms to try and protect her face.

Click-click-click. "Oh fuck." Kuji paled as his rifle stopped firing bullets.

"Down!" Rose yelled, sweeping Kuji's legs as a sparking ammo block came at them. "Split!" she added and vanished into the Glimmer piles, knowing Kuji would do the same.

"Now you are done for, wretched insects!" Araskes seethed as heavy steps echoed around them. "I will kill you both and show your corpses to King Uldren. You're Ghosts will die! Just like Cayde-6."

"You haven't won yet bitch." Kuji reminded from his place somewhere to the middle of the room.

The steps went towards his voice and Rose dared to peek out as they passed by her hiding place, giving her the chance to run for new cover as Araskes threw another rigged ammo block at where she thought Kuji was, sending the glimmer everywhere around the room.

"Where ARE you!?" Araskes yelled in fury only to scream as a pain burned her back and she twisted ripping the knife from her back and growling as she saw Kuji stood atop a glimmer pile, his arms sparking as he caught his Arc Staff mid twirl and lunged at her, striking her chest and head repeatedly then sweeping her legs out with one powerful blow to her knees.

She screeched again, snatching the last Ammo block from her cloak only to drop it as a second Arc Staff slammed into her body and shoulders, keeping her pinned down until the bomb at her knees gave out a rapid blaring beeping sound.

Rose jumped back as the alarm went off, feeling herself being pushed back by the force of the explosion as Araskes was left a charred, burned corpse smoldering from the explosion of her own trick bomb.

"Kuji?"

"I'm good." He assured standing and dusting himself off. "You ok?" he asked as she shook her cloak out and dusted off her hood.

"I'm ok," She nodded, "We better get out of here before Vlad and Grandpa come looking for us." She added and the two began their slow walk out of the mine, taking care they didn't trigger any hidden bombs that they might have missed on their way in.

Once outside Rose saw a glint out of the corner of her eye again and turned to look for the cause of it, she saw the ruins of the Engram factory and noticed one of the panels had been pried apart to create a slightly larger opening, but there was nothing that reflected the light to make the glint she'd seen. Then she saw a thin shadow where there shouldn't have been one and the tell-tale shine of a sniper's scope watching them, but just as soon as she'd seen it, it was gone.

A challenge.

"Are you coming Rose?" Kuji asked as his Sparrow formed on the ground in front of him.

Rose nodded, "Yes, I'm coming." She assured letting Bing bring her Sparrow from the ship before dropping something small to the floor as she mounted the Sparrow and followed Kuji away from Sorik's Cut.

~ "Where are we going?" Arielle whispered.

"You'll see." The Prince replied, tugging her along after him as he led her through the hangar. It was late and no one was working at this hour. They came to a stop at a ship and he climbed in before pulling her in after him. Her cheeks should've been purple if not bright red as she was guided into his lap. "Trust me, Moonlight."

His breath was warm on the shell of her ear and she could feel his heart beating against her back. It was beating just as fast as hers was and her chest ached with love as she realized that their hearts were in unison. "I trust you."

"Good, now close your eyes." Uldren smiled, "I have something I want to show you." He explained, and she nodded, closing her eyes and listening as Uldren worked around her, keying in a few commands and then brought his arms up to slowly guild the ship into eth flight way, after a few more key strokes, Arielle felt the ship slowly gliding out of the hanger and then climbing through the mists of the Reef.

He flipped the ship to auto pilot and gently brought his arms around her again. "Look."

Arielle opened her eyes and felt her chest tighten and her breath catch in her lungs, all around them were stars and constellations she had only ever seen briefly in from the City's streets, where they were unclear and often hidden by the light of the city itself but here, they were clear and breathtaking. She'd never seen the stars as clearly as this before, not even as a child when she had climbed to the roof of the towers of her home to try and see the stars better, they had always fascinated her and she had tried so hard to learn more about them before falling into the training of a Tech Witch.

"Like it?" He asked at last drawing her back from her wonderment for just a brief moment, though all she could do was nod her head in response. He chuckled and she felt his arms tighten just a little more around her, coaxing her to lean back and see more of the stars that hung in the shades of space around them.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity though she knew he hated being still and doing nothing, he was silent and allowed her to become lost in the stars around them, taken by the beauty and grace of it all in a new-found awe and wonder. ~

A shrill blaring of an alarm tore Arielle from her memories and she snatched up her weapons and threw her coat on as she left the ship, tucking Vakarian into the safety of her armour as she went. "Where is it?"

"Right above the cave, but it's gone now." Vakarian told her as she slowly scaled the rocks to reach the area above her ship and scanned around with her weapon scope, searching for anything that shouldn't be there.

It was 'night time' the sky was darker than normal and the light mist had become a thick and suffocating fog that clung to the edges of the Shore and lay over the lower areas like a blanket, making it hard to see and easy to hide, until a large pillar of corrupted fog brought everything to a stand still and from its swirling blue hues, the Hangman stepped out.

He looked around carefully and Arielle held her breath, laying perfectly still and watching; waiting to see what had brought this Baron from his hiding place so suddenly, then to her own shock a lone Servitor that had triggered her alarm tried to quickly flee from the area, only for the Hangman to swiftly and violently throw the burning flail at the round form, bringing the Ether device down with one strike, though the Servitor did not die instantly, instead it wailed and screeched in its own way trying to continue its flight to escape, trying desperately to reach a small cave Arielle knew housed a small pocket of Fallen from House Dusk. The Hangman said nothing, not even a chuckle as he grabbed the Servitor's broken body and dragged it back from the cave and then carried it away with him.

"Reksis Vahn, the Hangman." Vakarian told her softly. "The Baron known to dock dregs with his bare hands and the Baron who finished the House of Wolves."

A soft hiss to her right and Arielle rolled barely avoiding the lunching Screeb that tried to dive on her seconds before Void shots swarmed her location, forcing her to keep moving to avoid being hit as the Scorn charged towards her. She got her footing after a few seconds and opened fire as she moved, staying near the tighter confines of the caves, cut outs and tunnels to avoid the multitude of shots that came at her, using the tight spaces to her advantage, snapping neck around with her hands and ducking down to hide from the blasts of the Screeb when they tried to grab at her.

The spark ignited inside Arielle and she brought her arms up, catching the energy of the Arc storm in her fingers and jumped up, casting the storm over the area, watching the Hangman step back from the range of the Arc storm and faded into the Ether Fog. She had to be careful. This was a Baron known to enjoy causing pain to his targets, and from the few reports Variks had managed to send her about the last of the Wolves, those who had run away and hidden from the Guardians to try and recoup their numbers, this Baron took pleasure in drawing out the torture of others until he was board of them.

Returning to the safehouse had been uneventful, though finding Orion there now had been a nice surprise, though his news was grim, the fact there was someone else there to help bring down the Barons was a welcome comfort. After a hot meal and a long talk about what the remaining Barons, Everyone had chosen to call it a night and try to get some sleep, Orion sleeping with his back to the wall on his cot while Kuji was flopped over his own Cot, head buried under a pillow he'd managed to find on his ship, Grandpa was laid on his back, one arm under his head and the other over his stomach while Vlad lay on his side beside Rose as she lay under her cloak.

She waited until she knew the others were asleep before quietly slipping out of the room, Bing safely tucked into her armour as she slipped past the rooms of sleeping Fallen and past the room Petra was stationed in, her terminal still lit with work but Petra herself had fallen asleep at the desk.

With a nod, Rose kept going intent on going after the Baron she'd seen alone.

"You were always good at sneaking past my guards, Little flower." The Spider said from his chamber. "But you're scent betrays you to me, as always."

Rose growled. "Are you going to try and stop me?" she asked stepping out of the shadow she'd been using to sneak out of the Safehouse until that point.

"No. You aren't mine to command anymore. But you may need this one favor from me." He said with a small wave, coaxing her closer with a chuckle as he brought out a small box from his throne's side panels.

"And what's the price for this favor?" Rose asked, staying out of arms reach. "Nothing form you comes for free."

"No price, not this time. You earnt this before you left my services, but you were so eager to start you new life that you did not claim it." The Spider explained and opened the box to show its contents, something Rose instantly recognized.

"A Sunshot hand cannon?" She asked.

"It will serve you better than my other Associates and if you are intent on going after Pirrha yourself, you need something that can be aimed easily and not leave you tunneled in a scope." The Spider explained and Rose gave him a look that he knew meant she wanted the truth and not one of his sugar-coated explanations. "You're Exo friend would not like to know that you had left this place only to die at the hands of the Rifleman alone."

That was a lie, a cover to hide his own concern for her safety and they both knew it, but it was all he was going to give her and so she nodded, taking the weapon and the spare ammo from the box. "Stop teasing Vlad." She told him as she left the room hearing the Spider chuckle fondly as he leant back in his throne, as she left the safe house, he wouldn't stop her going but that didn't mean he wasn't going to watch her.

She let Bing bring her Sparrow to her then swiftly made her way back to Sorik's Cut, slowing down to a stop where she could see the still smoking tower Araskes had used to make her Bomb Engrams and after searching around carefully, she found the bullet she had purposely dropped was gone.

Challenge accepted.

~ "I was beginning to think you'd chickened out of some target practice." ~

Rose dropped into a roll and hide behind a large rock that shattered from the impact of the bullet fired at her.

"Cheap shot." She told the Rifleman, taking out her Hawkmoon and Sunshot from her belt. "You must be really worried about losing." She added.

Silence.

"Worth a try." Rose shrugged, smiling as Bing tagged the Scorn trying to sneak up on her. "Let's dance." She said and swung around from her cover, bullets landing in the faces and heads of every Stalker that dared to try and charge her, two hitting the head of a Wraith before her foot kicked it back into the line of fire from Pirrha as she jumped up onto the roof of a small hut and took down three more Scorn.

"Watch out!" Vakarian cried suddenly, but the warning came too late and a large hand grabbed Arielle by the helm and the Hangman violently threw the Warlock into the jagged side of the Tomb ship with enough force that the impact echoed around the area.

"Ari!" Vakarian cried trying to leave her armour and tend the injuries. "Let me help you!"

"No." She hissed, "Stay inside. You aren't safe outside." She reminded. "Stay inside."

"But you're hurt! Arielle let me heal you!"

"Just do what you can to heal me from inside my armour. Stay inside and don't you dare come out," Arielle ordered and locked her armour around Vakarian, keeping him trapped inside her as she scrambled to try and find safety as the Hangman swung the flail at her, the huge head igniting as it came at her. She braced her feet and brought her arms up to tray and protect herself when she couldn't find cover.

She couldn't stop the scream that was torn from her throat as she was hit by the flat base of the flail, burning through the armour and gauntlets on her skin as she was forced through a wall and a thick layer of rocks, skidded harshly along the floor before jerking to a stop at the edge of a ledge, coughing up blood as she struggled back to her feet. She didn't know where she'd ended up, but there were dark shadows in here and that gave her at least some places to hide while she tried to regain her focus as Vakarian tried to heal her arms from inside her chest armour, gently washing her arms in Light, but his efforts were stalled as Scorn Stalkers and Ravagers flooded the room, all of them easily finding her due to Vakarian's healing attempts.

"Shit." She hissed and grabbed her weapons, slicing through the torso's and necks of the Scorn, forcing herself to move through the pain to stay alive as she fired her shots into the Scorn, picking them off slowly and jumping back to avoid the line of fire that the Hangman sent at her as he stepped out of the corrupted Ether fog, the heavy flail dragging behind him.

"Arielle please! Let me call the others for help! You can't fight this one alone!" Vakarian pleaded, "Please Ari! Please!"

"No." Arielle snapped and after taking shelter in a tight space, she let the Arc Storm inside her fall away and in its place, the Sol Flames began to raise and burn to the surface, filling her with warmth as she tore the tattered remains of her robes off and forced herself to focus on the moment. This wasn't the place or the time to lose her focus and panic. She was alone, and she had no back up on the way, she HAD to survive. Just like she did with the Hive on the moon all those years ago, she had fought off Knights with little more than old bones and then a rusted knife before finally finding a gun to take down the Ogre that had been chasing her the whole time.

She couldn't afford to get lost in planning her next moves, she had to do this as she went, it was risky and almost foreign to her, but she had no choice but to keep her mind clear or risk the full impact of the burning flail.

"I can do this."

~ "King Uldren wants you and your friends dead. I bring him your body and maybe he'll let me keep your Ghost. I can mount it on my wall next to Cayde's." ~ Her opponent taunted, as he passed her hiding place, scanning the area with his scope. ~ "Or sell it to Spider." ~

Bing stayed silent, carefully shifting so he was pressed closer against Rose's body rather than her armour and took comfort as she gently put a hand over his shell, her silent assurance she would protect him. They hadn't spoken a word since they reached this small cavern, they had been silent and careful, though Bing knew Rose was biting her tongue.

Pirrha had made several attempts to use Fool's Banter against Rose, each time pushing and testing for weaknesses, slandering Cayde's name, mocking the Vanguard and his Ghost, calling Rose and her fellow Hunters failures for not all coming after the Baron's sooner, claiming the glory for taking not only the Ghost's life but the Warden Variks' as well and if Rose hadn't been focused on surviving this encounter and winning, she would have fallen into the baits as easily as Araskes had just a few hours before her.

No, Rose had to bite her tongue and keep her temper, she HAD to stay in control of the emotions that were still raw. She couldn't fall for the baits, she couldn't let the anger take hold or she would lose. Pirrha stopped talking and then, just as he moved away, he fell to the ground in a mess of holo matter cubes. A decoy, designed to draw fire out and give snipers away. But this time it had failed, Rose hadn't used a bullet to attack, but her knife and then she lightly tossed something up from the palm of her hand, as if summoning her Ghost and just as she hoped the empty shell Bing had once used shattered as a bullet ripped through it.

"WHAT?" Pirrha demanded and then roared as a bullet smashed into his face, forcing him to roll into cover and clutch his face, cursing in broken Fallen.

Rose didn't stop to boast or remark on the minor victory, she had to stay focused. One shot wouldn't kill Pirrha, his armour was thick and his helm was reinforced to protect the equipment she knew he used to keep himself safe when he lined up his shots. She moved from one hiding place to another, Sunshot and Hawkmoon firing one after the other into the Scorn as they tried to slow her down in order to buy Pirrha time to get back up and line his next shot.

It skimmed behind Rose's helm and Rose twisted at the hips, holstering the Sunshot and grabbing the Stalker that had tried to hit her with its mace only to be kicked backwards and a bullet shot through its head, Rose dragged the lifeless corpse with her and used it to block the shots from a Lurker as she lined up the Sunshot and fired twice as Pirrha bolted into his new position, catching his torso and shoulder before kicking the Stalker into the arms of a jumping Screeb while she ran for her own cover slipping into it without being seen.

Silently, she cupped a hand around Bing and felt him shiver in her armour. "I'll get you a new shell, I promise." She whispered to him.

"Thank you." He responded just as softly.

~ "You will pay for this," ~

"If you can't win a challenge, don't set one."

A bullet skimmed the rocks a few yards from her and Rose noticed it was off to the right, wanting to test the thought that came to her she shifted and dared to peek out from her cover, watching another Decoy stalk past her by the real Pirrha was stood up at the far end of the room, leant against the rocks and slowly sweeping his scope around the area his shot had struck. She ducked back into cover and waited, hearing the Scorn search for her just beyond the tiny pocket of rocks she had slipped into, listening as the Corrupted Ether gave a faint, distance echoing whirl that moved swiftly around the room, jumping right over her hiding place before coming to a stop close to her.

She carefully brought her sniper rifle from her back, quietly bringing the scope to her eye and very carefully, very quietly, stood up and let the cross hairs of her scope line up with the back of Pirrha's head.

"Smile."

Pirrha looked right at her.

Vakarian couldn't break out of the locked armour and nothing could break into the armour unless Arielle allowed it. It kept him safe, even if the armour was damaged and dented out of shape, the Ghost would be safe from harm. Only if Arielle died would Vakarian be released. The Hangman seemed to know this and was deliberately taking his times with their fight, Arielle had realized he was deliberately aiming to miss her with his whole of the flail, the flames and spikes of the weapon was enough to burn her skin and break bones.

He allowed her Ghost only seconds to heal what he could before he charged with surprising speed and swung the flail at her again, forcing her to run as the cover was shattered slowly leaving her with nowhere to hide from his assault, all the while, her blood stained the floor and her body begged her to stop, struggling to keep clear vision as blood slowly dripped from her brow. Her helmet had shattered from around her face a while back now, the flail had slammed right into the back of her head and while Vakarian had managed to heal the gaping gash there, he hadn't managed to transmat in a new helmet.

"Ari please!" Vakarian pleaded again. "Please! You need proper healing!"

She shook her head, she couldn't let him out. She knew what the Hangman would do to him if she let him out. The Hangman would torture him, like he had the Servitors from the House of Wolves, like he had the Dregs he'd docked and anyone else who had been handed to him. She couldn't let that happen to her Ghost.

"Please!"

"No." She hissed softly as she moved and rolled into the shelter of another shadow. "You aren't safe outside my armour." She repeated.

"If you die the armour will unlock and he'll have me anyway! Arielle please!" Vakarian begged, "Let me call for help!"

"N-" the word became a pained scream as spikes and fire tore into her back, throwing Arielle forwards with the momentum of the impact and then, with the bite of the barbed spikes on the flail, Arielle was pulled and violently tossed through another wall of metal and rocks and then rolling violently over the jagged floor before she came to a stop, violently couching up blood even as Vakarian struggled to bathe her in light from within her broken armour.

It didn't work the way he wanted it too, the Light couldn't heal her without being projected over her rather than just over certain areas in short bursts like a bullet wound or knife injury.

"Arielle please!" He begged again.

"No!" Arielle insisted, only to gag as a powerful hand snatched her neck and lifted her easily, slamming her already broken body into the wall, fracturing her collar bone and left shoulder under his palm.

A faint gunshot quickly followed by a second one caught the Hangman's attention for a moment and Arielle grabbed the handle of the Dawn Blade in her right hand and swung the blade at the Hangman's chest and arm, forcing him to step back enough that he dropped her to the ground, though she didn't have the strength to balance on her own and used the wall as a brace to keep herself up right as she swept the sword across the air in front of her, willing the flames of Sol light to burn hotter and hotter in hopes of driving the Hangman off.

It wasn't working, she could see him still stood over her, taking the strikes from the flaming sword but seeming to take little if any injury from it at all.

"When I go down." She wheezed, "get out of here. I'll wait for you." She told her Ghost.

"I won't leave you Arielle!" Vakarian proclaimed, "Never! I won't leave you alone with this monster! I won't!"

A hand lashed out from the flames, striking Arielle across the face with a powerful backhand smack that sent her sliding along the wall and floor, unable to stand upright any longer she collapsed the ground even as she fought to get back up, the flaming sword lost on the ground and crumbling away into ashes as the Hangman stomped on it, the smoke clearing fully to show he was burnt badly to his chest and upper body, but otherwise he was unharmed.

He approached her with heavy steps, a look of pure joy twisted upon his face as he bent and grabbed Arielle up by her throat again, the flail forgotten as he held her up high and began to squeeze around her throat with both hands.

Vakarian was talking, pleading with her, begging her to let him help but she couldn't let him out yet, she'd have to release him at the last second, or the Hangman would have his way with her Ghost. She'd wait until her body could take no more and then she would release him and Vakarian would obey her order and run, he'd run and hide until it was safe and then, like he had before, he would search her out and bring her back.

Pirrha fell to his knees, struggling to focus as the helmet that had given him his sight fell broken to the ground, leaving him blind. Then came the second shot, right between his sightless eyes and he fell back into the darkness.

The Scorn that had been around him scattered and ran away, seeing their Baron dead while Rose steadied herself against the rocky wall for a moment, her helmet gone for the moment as she wretched behind the rock, one hand over her heart as if willing the rapid beats to slow and calm as she tried to keep the tears from falling. It was done, the Baron that had taken the Light away from Cayde and left him mortal was dead and couldn't snatch the lives of anyone else. And yet she didn't feel relief, joy or prideful in her deed, she felt empty and ashamed. Killing the Barons would not undo their deed nor would their deaths somehow revive Cayde and Watson; she knew this from the start and yet, she had become lost in the moment of killing and instead of shooting to kill the first time, she had deliberately shot to knock the helmet off.

She had done something that made her no better than Pirrha and left him, however briefly, weak, helpless and vulnerable, just as he had left Cayde-6 to the mercilessness of his fellow Barons and Uldren in the end.

It sickened her.

"Rose?" Bing asked quietly and she nodded to show she'd heard him. "You aren't like them."

"I shouldn't have done it."

"We all have moments of weakness," Bing reminded, and Rose looked to the ground. "Cayde use to say that only the heartless could go into battles without feeling emotions, that only the heartless could be cold and unfeeling when they killed."

"But no one is a perfect paragon of the light, we all have instances where we, where we struggle to see the line between Light and Dark, times when the clear lines become blurred and thin and we question whose side we're on." Rose recited the rest of the speech, remembering when the Cayde of the other world had told her the same thing, after the first time she'd killed a Fallen Captain with her knife, having been jumped by a small band of House Devils during a simple scouting mission.

"I missed him." She admitted as she looked down at her gloves.

"We all miss him." Bing chimed softly.

Something suddenly made the chamber shake and Rose's helmet snapped back into place over her head as she reloaded the rifle in her hands. "What was that?"

Bing didn't answer, quickly scanning the area and then with a worried gasp he marked a spot on her map. "Go!"

Rose moved, adrenalin kicking in as she raced around the tight maze-like caves and tunnels until she came to the place Bing had marked, seeing the huge Baron holding the limp, bloody and broken body of a Warlock, she dropped to one knee, leveled the shot and fired a shot.

Arielle heard the shot clearly, her eyes blurring as she was dropped to the ground and another shot rang out, knocking the Hangman away from her as a third shot was fire, and a fourth and fifth then more came, hand cannon fire, two of them, each shot ripping into the face of the Hangman and forcing him to stumble and stagger backwards.

She weakly twisted her head to the source of the shots and watched as a Hunter dropped into the room from a hole in the wall, two hand cannons in her hands as she fired and fired and fired, forcing Reksis Vahn away from her until at last the bullets ran out but the Hunter was not done, she snatched the air at her side and spun with Arc Light, smashing the Staff into the Hangman's body over and over again until the Hangman gave out a blood chilling bellow and fell to the ground, a charred and scorched heap.

The Hunter came to her then and a Ghost was brought out of armour, a familiar Ghost.

"Rose?"

"Shut up and keep still," Rose told her, the worry in her voice was as clear as the shots Arielle had heard while Bing poured Light into her body, at last mending and soothing the broken bones and torn skin, numbing the pain enough that Arielle could at last see clearly again, "Where is Vakarian?"

"She won't let me out." Vakarian explained. "Please Rose, help her." He pleaded, struggling to do even the smallest healing he could.

"We can't stay here." Rose said and tried to be gentle as she heaved Arielle up to her feet again and however weakly Arielle tried to walk on her own, Rose held her up and helped her stumble and stagger through the tunnels and out into the still cold air of night, taking a moment to give Arielle chance to catch her breath and then continued to lead her to a new tunnel, following it until they came to a room and Rose nodded, laying Arielle on a cot before turning around and closing the door behind them.

"Where are we?" Arielle asked, trying to sit up only to struggle even as Vakarian came from her armour at last and began to flood her body with light.

"A stash house, Spider's people use them as rest stops if they get caught short." Rose told her bringing over a few small boxes from the shelves. "I used them once upon a time too it seems." She added.

"What do you mean?" Arielle asked as Rose began to carefully wash the blood away from her arms while Bing slowly feed Light into her arms.

"Turns out that I was born here in this world. My childhood was spent here on the Shore and Spider helped me survive, until I was old enough to join the Reef Guard." Rose explained, carefully wrapping Arielle's left arm in bandages, they felt damp with something and Arielle looked down to see Rose was soaking the bandages in a small bowl of some liquid.

"What are you doing?"

"The injuries from that Flail can't just be healed by Light, you'll risk infection without this ointment." Rose explained, tying the bandages off before moving to her right arm. "I'll do the same to your back, just to make sure you don't get an infection there too."

"And then?" Arielle asked.

"Then we talk." Rose said, "Unless you're still angry at everyone and refusing to talk to us?" she asked.

"I was never angry with you." Arielle said.

"No, you were angry with everyone else. Vlad for hurting and wanted Uldren dead, Orion for not taking your side even though he's your husband, Ikora for allowing me and Vlad to come here, Petra for not telling you everything and the Queen for doing what she always does." Rose listed off, tying the bandages off around Arielle's right arm and moved behind her.

Arielle was silent for a time, just letting Rose work the ointment into her back carefully, then drape the bandages over the deep cuts and burns. What could she say? Did she really have to say anything? No, Rose didn't deserve being treated like she wasn't there and the Hunter had just saved her life. With a light sigh, Arielle glanced back at Rose and asked. "What has Vlad told you so far? About us before you came along?"

"Nothing I didn't already know." Rose said, "he's angry about what happened to Cayde, but he's not the type to trash talk his friends."

"Friends." Arielle repeated, "Are we still friends?"

"I count you as my friend, even though I don't understand why you're set on protecting Uldren." Rose admitted.

"Why is it so hard to understand? We don't know the whole truth about this situation, its wrong of anyone to just take heat of the moment facts and go off hunting for blood."

"But its ok to blame another world when you can't accept the facts given to you in hand?"

Arielle would have argued but she had no right and she knew it, "You're bolder."

"No, just tired of seeing people snap and shout at each other." Rose said, "You once told me that if one Awoken couldn't talk to another about their problems, we were lost as a people. Maybe its time you and I had one of those long talks again?"

"I doubt you'd understand much of my troubles." Arielle said.

Rose sighed and stood, putting the leftover bandages away, "You know, everyone keeps saying that to me lately," she said, "Vlad says he can't understand why you insist on saving Uldren when he killed Cayde. Kuji and Grandpa can't understand why we're the only ones here, Orion can't understand why you won't talk to him."

"Orion's here?" Arielle asked.

"He arrived yesterday. Said he would only help us hunt the Barons, but he won't get involved with Uldren." Rose explained, "And unlike everyone else, I understand why."

"Oh?" Arielle asked.

"He isn't taking sides because he's trapped between two of the most stubborn and thick-headed people alive right now. Vlad, his best friend and brother in arms since their younger days, and you, his wife and the woman he chose to spend his life with, despite the countless times Uldren's made it clear he's had a thing for you since long before I came into the picture."

Arielle blinked, realizing she couldn't scold Rose for that statement because it was true, she sighed heavily. "Alright maybe you do understand some things, but not all."

"So, explain it to me." Rose pleaded, "Don't talk to me like I'm just some Hunter out for Uldren's blood. Talk to me as another Awoken, tell me what I'm missing and help me understand this."

"Is that all we are?" Arielle asked, and the hurt in her voice had Rose regretting her words, her mind racing about which words had hurt her friend. Arielle's glowing eyes met Rose's, "Is there nothing else between us, Rose? No friendship or love? Just a place we were born in, that neither of us remember...or remember well?"

"What?" Rose asked, "I don't-No. We are friends and yes, we are both Awoken but, but why does it matter what we are right now?" She went on, confusion clear in her voice as she tried to understand Arielle's question.

Pain flittered across the Warlock's face and Rose blanched at the sight of tears burning in her orange eyes. Arielle's shoulders sagged and shook as a sob escaped her. Then another. Suddenly Arielle's sobs were echoing around and within Rose; she'd never seen the Warlock so broken.

"This isn't about our stupid classes or revenge or... Or anything else! This is about friendship and trust! About who we were, who we are and what we will become!" Arielle's anguished gaze met the Hunter's, "Can't you see us falling apart, Rose? The strings that tie us together are taut, pulled so tightly that eventually they will snap. Who will we be then?"

Rose didn't answer instead she watched the Warlock with her own look of pain and in the moments of silence, Arielle pulled herself together.

"I lived on the Reef since my rebirth, chosen by the Traveler to be a Guardian. I arrived confused and unsure of what had happened to me, driven only by the need to be on the Reef and despite the warnings from Vakarian that Guardians were not often welcomed to the Reef I was welcomed by the Sovs. They knew my name, even though I didn't know theirs at the time and yet, they knew of me and so I stayed with them. I trained with them, dined with them, and I loved them. For years, I was happy and I felt almost like I belonged there. But when I found out about the being Queen Regent, I ran. I was betrayed."

"Because they plotted behind your back." Rose whispered, "They tried to plan your life for you, but that's not what you wanted." Arielle nodded.

"I loved them like family and yes, there was a time I wanted more from Uldren, when I had more from him, but we never really clicked right when we were together. And... I didn't know it then, but... sometimes when he looked at me... I felt like he wasn't seeing me, not as you do, not as a Guardian. He saw someone else where I stood, someone I had been before. We never talked about it because I was afraid to bring it up. I loved him and I loved working with him, being his equal, the Sword to his Shield. I lost my temper with them when their plan was revealed, and I saw part of him die that day Rose, but I was so angry that they had tried to plan my life that I ignored it. I moved to the Tower to train with Ikora, I trained to be the very best I could be, I mastered the storm within me to the point where I was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ikora as an equal and train the younger Warlocks alongside her, but I still didn't truly feel I belonged. Then one day, she sent me to the Hellmouth to rescue a two-man team." A ghost of a smile crossed her face, "Vlad and Orion had pissed off an Ogre and were out of rockets and grenades."

Rose chuckled, it was a scene she could easily picture given how eagerly Vlad jumped into danger and how Orion had been so trigger happy in her first days amongst this team. "And from then on you were a Fireteam."

The Warlock nodded, "We were unstoppable, Rose. No one held a candle to us. Not in the competitive arenas, the Vanguard were singing our praises and for the first time since I'd left the Reef, I belonged. Nothing could take that from me. I felt I was home, like I had found the missing part of a puzzle inside me." Her eyes narrowed, "And then the House of Wolves revolted. Mara opened the Reef for the Guardians and asked for our help to take down Skolas for his crimes. I think she knew I would come back, but not that I would be returning with my Fireteam, my friends. I loved showing them my home and for a while, I thought it would be alright. I could serve the Queen by hunting the Wolves and at the same time, I could be with my friends. It worked for a time, we were there when Skolas made an attempt to use the Vex tech to invade the Reef, and it was our team that helped capture Skolas, I was there not as the Sword but as Arielle the Stormdancer of the Tower. I was praised by both the Reef and the City for my efforts, as were Vlad and Orion. Then... I became the Sword once more, and I ended Skolas's existence in the Prison, just me, Rose, no fire team, no Warden to watch the show, just me and him and I killed him with my own hands."

"And in doing that," Rose realized, "You brought the time you could have in both places to an end."

Arielle nodded. "I had been two people and it had been fine from a while, Skolas was my reason for staying on the Reef and the reason I hunted the Wolves with my team. I was sure it would keep working that way even with Skolas gone, there were bigger threats than him to face and the Reef and City made good allies. I was sure it could stay that way. Until Uldren changed my mind. He wanted me to return, to come back and be the Sword at Mara's side because I had never stopped. He was right Rose, I have never stopped being the Sword, but I couldn't return to Reef and Uldren… Not when I had fallen in love with Orion. I left again and stayed on the tower since then, only ever going to the Reef to run a few rounds in the Prison of Elders. Even when Crota and his forces moved on Saturn and the Guardians and Awoken stood together against them, I did not return to the Reef to stay because my place wasn't with Uldren anymore."

Rose nodded, remembering the day she had first been brought to the Reef, conversation they'd had in Arielle's ship about Orion and his attempts to save as much Glimmer as possible in an attempt to prove himself not to Arielle but to Uldren. "Bing really hit the nail on the head when he said Orion was trying to prove himself to a Prince." She said and Arielle nodded.

"I didn't intend on ever going back to the Reef, back to the Sovs after the Hive had been pushed back, but you already know how that part of my story goes." Arielle said.

Rose nodded, "I get spat out of a vex gate into the Vault of Glass and you, Orion and Vlad save me and Bing, then we all go on a big adventure, kill a bunch of big bad guys and then I get sucked back to the other world." She summarized briefly. "But that doesn't explain this situation we're in now Arielle, I understand the people, I understand the ties and connections, I understand that it's not about race or class, but I don't understand why it's gotten so hard for everyone to sit and talk to each other." She said shaking her head. "If it's not about race or classes or who we were before this, why can't you and Vlad stop arguing and just talk like we are?"

"Because Vlad is set on vengeance for Cayde. He has always been of the mind set that Hunters should look out for each other and while yes, he has always watched our backs, but he and Cayde were as close as father and son, this has hurt him and I know, Stars I know he's not dealing with the loss but letting blood lust for ravage guild him rather than thinking it through carefully is just going to make matters worse. But if anyone tries to tell him that he will lash out, he will argue his point until he either wins the argument by sheer stubbornness or the other side accepts that he's right and no one else's opinion matters." Arielle said. "I know Cayde's death hit you hard too, I know that you've seen him die now twice but you've somehow stayed clear minded and you haven't let rage consume you like it has Vlad."

Rose flinched at her words, unable to hold Arielle's gaze any longer she turned away. "I did."

Arielle blinked at the admission, "What?"

"Today, before I found you I was hunting Pirrha the Rifleman on my own. I saw him when Kuji and I went after Araskes and again when we'd defeated her, he had me in his crosshairs and he was close enough to have killed me, but instead of shooting me out right he let me see him and then vanished. Snipers only do that when they lay down a challenge to another sniper so to answer that challenge, I left a bullet in the sand and I knew… Arielle I knew I was doing something stupid but at the time I didn't care. He was the one who shot Watson and left Cayde vulnerable to the other Barons, I was angry and I didn't care what anyone else thought, I didn't care if I died over and over again, I'd made up my mind when Spider told us about each of the Barons that I was going to be the one who finished Pirrha." Rose shook her head. "I knew it wasn't right and I knew, even if I did finish him off, it wouldn't bring back Cayde or Watson but all the same, I let it get to me and I let the anger take over me."

Rose stopped, trying to get the memory of Pirrha's blind eyes looking right at her as the bullet flew at him, shaking her head. "I know there are two sides of every battle and I know there is a line between what is and is not acceptable, but I never thought it would be so hard to see where those lines are." She admitted, "I don't know how you did it when we faced Skolas Arielle, and to be honest I never want to cross that line again, but I know when we go after Uldren, no matter what the circumstances or people with us, I don't know if I could stop Vlad taking the shot I can't make."

"You won't kill Uldren?" Arielle asked.

"How can I?" Rose asked, "Killing him doesn't undo what he's done, killing him won't give us back Cayde, it'll serve no purpose safe pissing off the Queen and you. I've seen you and Vlad go at each other, but he told me that wasn't even a minor scuffle compared to the fights you have before and no matter how I go over scenarios in my head one of you gets hurt by the choices made and we don't even know the whole truth of the situation."

Arielle watched Rose struggle to find her words for a moment or two before shaking her head. "I don't know how we got this way Arielle, and I don't know how to make it right."

"And what is 'right' in your mind?" Arielle asked.

"Right is when no one is arguing, when everyone is able to sit and talk like adults no matter who or what they are and just make things work without someone worrying someone else is out to back stab them. I had enough of that in the other world Arielle, people not trusting each other, three clear and separate classes with no mixing. That is what lead to the deaths of everyone in that world and I'm scared that is what's happening here. That sooner or later someone in going to snap and the whole team is going to fall apart."

Arielle shook her head, "It won't get that far, not from just the six of us here, but you must know that nothing stays the same forever." She said. "Everything changes as we grow and mature. It's foolish to hold onto the past because we are afraid of the future."

"Is it foolish to hope that just maybe I can find a way to fix this mess?" Rose asked. "You said before you felt you belonged with the Sovs before you found out they were plotting behind your back, and then that you belonged with your fireteam. I only feel I belong when the people closest to me aren't at each other's throats and arguing. Is it foolish of me to want to find the way to make that fighting stop and keep the feeling of belonging just a little longer?"

Arielle struggled to find an answer to that, not because she couldn't give an answer but because if she did, she feared the result her words would have Rose's own outlook on this whole mess of a situation. Like her, Rose was trying to work things out in her head, trying to find reasons and answers rather than blindly searching for Uldren to take revenge for the death of her Vanguard, but unlike her, Rose couldn't let go of the dwindling hope that just maybe a way could be found to make things right in the world around her and seek the next best outcome.

A quiet ping from the small terminal made Arielle tense suddenly though Rose pressed a few keys and the screen showed a typed message rather than a video call. "What's happened?" She asked.

Vlad was trying, oh he was trying not to snap at everyone.

He'd been woken up when one of Spider's people had walked past the room, carrying a large crate of something that clinked and clanked whenever it moved, and had been about to go back to sleep when he realized Rose's Cot was vacant and her weapons were missing.

Orion, Grandpa and Kuji woke up hearing him arguing with Spider, who had calmly told them that Rose had gone to hunt Pirrha alone and he had not yet heard from her, though his associates had reported both Pirrha and Reksis Vahn were both dead, though in the case of Reksis Vahn, it seemed an Awoken had been severely injured, given the amount of blood that his people had found.

Vlad was out of the Safe house before Spider could finish, Kuji racing after him, while Orion agreed to stay behind just in case Rose came back on her own while Grandpa went to make sure Vlad and Kuji didn't die, following a faint signal towards Four-Horn Gulch.

~ "Ooh, what luck! What Fortune! New Playmates!" ~ A cackling voice taunted over their commlinks, ~ "To begin- A Gift! A Gift just for you! From ME. Good Friend Kaniks! Best friend Kaniks! Go, go, go! Open Gift!" ~

The 'gift' Kaniks was talking about was a large Fallen crate, curdle decorated with a small knotted cable in a very poor attempt at a bow.

"We don't have time for this." Vlad hissed furiously as he looked around. "Rose is-"

"We don't know if it is Rose whose hurt," Grandpa stated calmly. "It could have been another Awoken, someone trying to find safety that the Hangman found."

"Or it COULD be Rose whose hurt and we need to find her!" Vlad snarled.

"Rose would have called us if she needed help." Kuji said as he dared to step forwards and look around the area, then cursed as the crate that had been their 'gift' shattered open and released a dozen Screebs as corrupted fog began to flood the area.

~ "SURPRIIIISE!" ~ Kaniks' crazed laughter echoed over the comms. ~ "Gift is DEATH!" ~

"Well shit." Kuji growled, jumping to avoid the Screebs and unloading his guns. "Three o'clock high!" he yelled out and Grandpa heaved his rocket launcher over his shoulder and fired it at Kaniks before he could toss a bomb at them.

"Ah-ah-ah! Game goes on! Close your eye and COUNT DOWN!" The crazed Baron laughed and faded into a pillar of corrupted ether and a familiar alarm echoed through the area.

"Splinter Mine!" Grandpa warned as the device hovered above the cables that held Four-Horn Gulch to the rest of the Shore.

"Grampa boost me!" Kuji yelled and the Titan turned back to face Kuji, dropped to one knee and braced his hands, creating a step for Kuji's foot as the Human ran at the Exo and let the Titan heave him up and over the broken edge of the rocks towards the mine.

"More Scorn." Vlad hissed.

"So vent your anger on them!" Grandpa told him, already unloading shots from his slugs from his shotgun into the Scorn that charged towards them.

Once on the mine, Kuji ripped a panel off the top and began to twist and change the wiring and connections inside with practiced ease, "Yellow to blue, blue to red, red to yellow, twist the green around the black make a loop, feed the power back into the loop."

"Don't forget the bypass," Valmont said as he marked the dummy wires and false switches so Kuji didn't accidently blow them all up. "One minute ten seconds til detonation."

"Almost got it." Kuji assured already carefully running a bypass. "Almost… done!" He yelled jumping off the Mine as it lost power and fell from the air, harmlessly vanishing into the fog around the Shore.

~ "Where am I hide?" ~ the Baron asked over their comms. ~ "Ugly, stupid Cabal can knowing, but not you!" ~ He giggled madly.

"This guy's fucked in the head." Grandpa said.

"He's called the 'Mad' Bomber for a reason." Vlad growled.

"She's fine Vlad." Grandpa said. "She survived on her own at the start of her life as a Guardian, she can survive this hell hole."

"Then where is she?" Vlad asked.

"Probably doing her own little thing, you and me can just hook up to a terminal and download the memories after a reboot if we are lucky, Awoken and Human minds can't do that. Maybe she took some time out to do that whole meditation stuff Awoken do and see if she could find answers in her past?" the Titan offered and Vlad seemed to think about it. "Look, we deal with Kaniks, and then we go and ask the Spider to check any other of his little hiding holes and see if Rose is hiding out in one of them. A guy like him is bound to have more than one safe place to hide."

"And if she isn't?"

"Then we go hunting Barons in force until we find her." Grandpa said.

Vlad didn't respond for a while and Kuji felt he could literally cut the tension in the air with a knife, then Vlad nodded and slapped a new clip of ammo into his hand cannon. "Sovereign, locate the nearest Cabal activity." He instructed his Ghost and after a moment a marker appeared on their maps. "Let's do this."

"Very hot tempered." Orion heard the Spider said as he watched the screen on his throne, apparently viewing the progress of Vlad and the others via some spy camera or other device that littered the Shore. "I wonder what she sees in him."

"Far better things that she sees in you." Petra said. "You know where Rose is Spider, you must do! Why haven't you told us where?"

"Because she is in no danger and she is no longer in my employment. I have no more control over her than you do and if she wishes to return, I have no doubt she will do so in her own time." The large Vandal dismissed, carefully turning the shell in his hands again. "After all, you Awoken share this, ridiculous trait of bearing great emotions for one another, even when you try to hide it. The Little flower will come back to her Exo in time, but it will not be at my command or yours."

"And what is it about emotions that you find so ridiculous?" Orion asked, "Didn't the Fallen once know of such things before the Whirlwind?"

The Spider chuckled. "We knew of them, but unlike the creatures of this galaxy, we were not as fancy free and lose with ourselves when it came to matters of the heart. Once you took a mate you stayed with them. Only the death of one of the two would release the survivor back into the breeding groups." He recalled leaning back into the throne. "Humans, Awoken and even some Exos spend their time chasing one another around claiming to 'love' each other, yet only a rare few of them stay with one mate faithfully, its amusing to watch as you waste your time running around in such ways though fewer and fewer of you ever seem intent on creating a brood."

"Love isn't just about having children." Petra remarked.

"Bah, whatever it is you claim to have for one another and those around you is of little interest to me. My observations of those who come to my Shore has been limited in all my time here and from what I have witnessed, the emotions of your people can be easily manipulated to build you up and then just as easily tear you down again." The Spider said. "And amazingly, you allow it to happen to yourselves over and over again."

"Emotions only play a small factor in the betrayal of a person." Orion said, "personal views, values, beliefs, understandings and other barriers can factor into a relationship falling apart, even if that relationship is not one of love."

"The voice of experience?" The Spider asked Orion.

"No, the voice of common sense." He corrected. "You call Vlad hot tempered because he comes off as an angry, uncaring type who is focused on only one thing. I call him a dumb fuck for going off on his revenge quest with Rose without thinking about it full. Rose sees him hurt and looking for someone to blame. It's easy to judge when you are looking in on someone's life without knowing the whole story behind the actions of others."

The Spider chuckled. "Seems the Awoken wisdom is not strictly gifted to females." There was a sudden bleep from the terminal on his throne and he looked back to the screen. "Your friends have entered the caves above the Diaviks Mine, it seems Kaniks plans to try and kill them either with his own bombs or to bring the mine down on them."

"He'll fail." Orion said, "Kuji's a bomb defusal expert, Grandpa's a literal talking tank and Vlad's a crack shot." He smiled.

"Why do you call him Grandpa?" Petra asked. "Is that his real name?"

Orion chuckled and shook his head. "Grandpa is the name he gave us, only a few people know his real name."

"WHEEEE! Now the true game begin!" Kaniks cackled wildly as he tossed bombs at the three Guardian as they ducked into cover and shot down the Screebs that charged them.

Grandpa yanked the pump of his shot gun back with every shot his fired. "Anyone else getting annoyed with these little fuckers?"

"They make a nice big bang when they blow up." Kuji said and used a rock as a vantage point to fire on Kaniks as he tried to toss more bombs at them, only for the devices to go off in his hands. "That was for Cayde!"

Instead of pain however, the Mad Bomber cackled with sick glee. "Friend Cayde beg and beg and beg! 'Mercy please Prince Uldren!' Sad!" he boasted in a poor imitation of Cayde-6. "Cayde boring boy to kill!"

"Fucker!" Vlad snarled charging the Bomber.

"Vlad don't!" Grandpa tried to warn only for his words to fall on deaf audios as Vlad pulled the Void Bow tight and released his arrows, tethering the Screebs and Kaniks to one place, Screebs struggling to scurry away from Kaniks before their bodies were torn apart from their own explosive nature.

"You think you HERO?" Kaniks laughed wildly, even as he spat-up blood, the Void arrow that had tethered him slowly fading from his chest where he had been struck. "Joke at you!" He proclaimed, throwing one last bomb into Vlad's chest with enough force it erupted on impact and knocked Vlad back into Grandpa as the Mad Bomber clicked a device in his robotic lower right hand as the Screebs around him erupted and finished what the Void arrow had begun.

At the same the cave around them began to shake and smaller explosions began to go off around them. "Chair reaction, the smaller bombs will bring this whole place down on us!" Kuji warned then yelled and jumped back as the way they had used to get into the cave collapsed in front of him. "Oh shit…"

"Damn it!" Grandpa yelled, heaving the Exo Hunter over his shoulder. "Move your ass Kuji!" He yelled over the explosions and kicked a lose bolder aside to make them a way out of the cave they were in.

Kuji raced after the Titan, following him through the exploiting tunnels and past the scrambling Scorn until the floor gave out under them and they fell into a place he recognized from his hunt of the Trickster with Rose. "This way!" He yelled, grabbing Grandpa's free arm and pulling him down a passage moments before the room was consumed by flames and explosions.

"Splinter Mine dead ahead!" Valmont warned. "Fifty seconds 'til detonation!"

"I got it!" Kuji assured.

"You crazy?! We gotta get out of here!" Grandpa yelled.

"If I defuse this one we can stop the Shore blowing up with the rest of this place!" Kuji told him, already heaving himself up onto the top of the mine. "Cover me!" He yelled as Raiders began to fire on him.

"Fuck!" Grandpa growled, dropping Vlad into cover as the Hunter Exo began to regain consciousness and heaved his rocket launcher back over his shoulder, firing at the Raiders as Kuji tore the top of the mine off and began his work.

"Thirty seconds." Valmont said as his Guardian worked swiftly with the messy components of the bomb. Switching, twisting, cutting and rewiring the device with out a sound. "Twenty seconds." Kuji was silent as he continued to work, using his fingers to pinch one wire and twist another around it and link it into another circuit, then ripped the whole length of another wire out, replacing it with a different one and linking it to a separate part of the device. "Fifteen seconds."

"Kuji?" Vlad called in worry as the mine began to crackle and spark.

"Almost got it." Kuji assured, cutting another wire and rewiring two more, using his knife to pry open another panel and started the bypass.

"Ten seconds." Valmont warned as the mine started the vibrate and heat up under Kuji's hands.

"Kuji get out of there!" Grandpa yelled. "NOW!"

"Almost." Kuji breathed and flicked one last wire. "Done!" he yelled as the Splinter mine gave a faltering sputter and then gave a fading whine as it powered down and landed uselessly on the ground as the explosions and bombs finally came to an end.

"Do you want me to tell you how long we had left?" Valmont asked.

"No." Grandpa and Vlad said together, and Kuji chuckled, chasing after the two as they left the mine and began the long walk back to the Safe house via the Jetsam of Saturn.

"You boys really should relax more, I've never let a mine go-WHA!" He began to boast proudly only to yelped as he almost fell off the edge of the makeshift bridge between them and the huge Tomb ship.

Grandpa grabbed him by the shoulder armour and easily set the human hunter down again on solid ground. "I thought you Hunters had the reflexes of fucking cats?" The Titan teased.

"Rule thirty-eight." Vlad chuckled. "Never boast while on unsteady ground, you fall of your ass or on your face."

"Rule five." Grandpa said turning to Vlad. "Never charge a Fallen with more than two arms without first making sure they're not holding something in their hands that can hurt you."

Vlad winced, but said nothing, Grandpa was right to point out his mistake in charging at Kaniks so blindly, it was a rookie mistake that could have very well cost Vlad his life had Grandpa and Kuji not been there to help him and no doubt ruined any chance he had of finding Rose.

"Listen to me Vladimir-66." Grandpa said and put a hand on his fellow Exo's shoulder as they kept walking. "I know you're hurting, and I know its hard to focus on something besides that hurt right now, but if you keep going like this, you're gonna get yourself and anyone with you hurt and I know that's not what you want."

"I know." Vlad said, his shoulder dropping with a heavy weight. "I'm sorry."

"It ain't me you gotta say sorry to big fella." The Titan said lightly shoving the Hunter ahead of him as they walked through the shadow of the Hive Tomb ship. "You got a girlfriend worried sick about you and a team mate to talk this shit out with. I'm only here to make sure when shit goes down it doesn't get everyone killed."

"What makes you think you could stop me and Arielle when we go at each other?" Vlad asked, though he knew how a fight between him and Arielle could go either way, if it included Grandpa he would be a fool to even think he'd win outright.

Kuji shook his head. "Vlad my friend, you do not want to know the answer to that question." He assured then paused as the ground began to shake under their feet. "Um, guys?" he asked looking to see Grandpa and Vlad were both also stood still for the moment as the ground around them trembled and shook violently.

"GO!" Grandpa ordered and the three took off running as the floor crumbled away around them, something sharp grabbing Grandpa's boots and titan mark tightly and yanking him down into the shifting earth as Vlad gave a string of curses as his cloak and legs were grabbed and yanked down after him.

"Nope!" Kuji yelled as he jumped and ran over the crumbling ground, "Orion! Jetsam of Saturn! Hurry-AH!" he tried to call over the comms only to fall as a tight hand snatched his ankle and began to pull him down. "Orion do you hear me? Orion!" He kept calling clawing the ground with his fingers and kicking with all his strength to try and fight off his captor.

It didn't help, only brought more clawed hands up from the ground that grabbed him tighter and tighter, pulling him into the ground and leaving only the claw marks from the ground.

Orion looked at Spider. "I know you have some way to find Rose, so while I go to the Jetsam of Saturn from here, you send her a message and tell her to meet me there with as much ammo she can carry."

"Are all Titan's so bossy?" The Spider asked.

"Let me make this clear." Orion said, "Rose likes Vlad, a lot. And if Rose finds out you didn't help when he was in need, she will be unhappy. And the last time Rose was unhappy, the one who caused it didn't leave the room walking. Get it?" He asked cracking his shoulders and neck with ease.

The Spider chuckled. "Go do what you will Titan, the Little flower will be along when she's ready." He assured with a small dismissive wave of one of his lower hands. Petra watched Orion leave and then watched as Spider rapidly typed a message on his terminal and send it off to somewhere she didn't know and then leant back in his throne and seemed to wait for something to happen.

Then, after five minutes the terminal bleeped, and the Spider gave an amused chuckle as he read the apparent response.

Orion slowed his Sparrow to a stop at the edge of the Jetsam of Saturn, letting Wrex scan the area and show him what he was about to go into, Thrall and Acolytes were crawling and pacing around in tight patrols, and somewhere there was an Ogre, he could hear the heavy stomps of the giant's steps and the deep growling that could only be an Ogre.

"Where's Rose?" Wrex asked seconds before a gunshot rang out and a Knight fell to the ground. "Never mind." He added as more shots rang out and the Hive charged towards the shooter's location. The air filled with static and Orion saw a familiar storm of Arc Energy tear through the Hive with ease and practiced precision.

"Arielle's with Rose?" Wrex asked.

"It does make sense," Orion said, "Rose was with Arielle this whole time it would explain why she didn't comm for any help."

Wrex made a sound of agreement but remained quiet as Orion joined in the efforts to clear out the Hive, shoulder ramming a Knight right into Arielle's cross hairs while Rose kicked a Thrall off a broken ledge of the Tomb ship onto a sharp spike.

Once the Hive had been driven away, Orion nodded to Rose. "You got the word from Spider?"

"Vlad, Kuji and Grandpa got snatched by Hive," Rose nodded, "Bing says that these Hive are different. They have a trace of Ether inside them."

"How is that even possible?" Orion asked as he looked to Arielle. "Can Hive consume Ether?"

"We'll look into it later." Arielle said looking to the Tomb ship. "We need to find the others, before they become Hive food or worse."

Orion was quiet though she knew he wanted to talk to her, she knew no matter how calm his body language was there was concern written all over his face beneath his helmet as he looked at her. She also knew there was uncertainty, confusion and hurt behind his eyes, hurt that she had simply left and chosen to try and help Uldren in whatever way she could while he had been left to suffer to punishment for her leaving. There was no blame in him though, not accusation or anger towards her, just acceptance and understanding that if she wanted him to know, she would tell him in her own time.

Arielle knew he would notice the still clear pain in her stance and the way she favored her right side, as she often did when she was hurt or had recently been revived from death, and when he cocked his head slightly in question she knew he wanted to know how she'd been hurt and if she was ready to keep going. She wanted to tell him what had happened, to tell him everything, but the words died in her throat as quickly as they rose up. What could she tell him? After all the years they'd been together, years of building their lives around each other as a couple, she had run off to try and help a man she claimed she no longer loved, only to relive memories of a time where she had taken his name as a wife…

It was too much to talk about and too much to think about, it would only distract them both. This was not the place or time to have a break down.

Arielle shook her head slightly, "I'll explain later." She said, turning to the Tomb Ship. "We have friends to rescue."

"Alright." Orion nodded. "I'll wait for you." He added and Arielle looked back to him and for a moment they just looked at each other.

Arielle nodded after a few minutes and reloaded her weapons "Let's go."