Homecoming
"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Valeriya screamed, her voice echoing through the forest. Rayina and Astra appeared unfazed by her anger: Rayina merely stood there, her hands clasped behind her back; Astra merely crossed her arms, staring off into the distance.
"Where were you when the Red Legion attacked?! Where were you while the city burned?! Where were you while civilians were dying?! Where were you when our LIGHT was taken from us?!" Valeriya bellowed.
Astra finally turned her gaze to the female Titan, "We all felt what happened to the Traveler."
"Then where were you?! What was so important that you couldn't defend the Last City and the Traveler?!" Valeriya raged.
Astra jabbed her finger at the human, "You know full well that my loyalty isn't to the Last City or to the Traveler! I care about nothing except The Reef and finding Queen Mara Sov!"
Within the span of a couple of seconds, before Rayina could even intervene, Valeriya strode forward and punched the Awoken Hunter. "YOUR QUEEN IS DEAD!" The female Titan towered over Astra, "It's time you accepted that fact and moved on."
Astra returned to her feet, arc energy crackling along her body, "I don't give a damn about your city and I don't give a damn about what you think of me. Mara Sov is alive, and I'll find her with - or without - your help." With that, the Awoken Hunter turned on her feet and strode away from the other two women.
For several long seconds the only sound which filled the forest was Valeriya's heavy breathing. Her fists clenched and teeth grinding as rage boiled within her, threatening to consume her. The Titan spun on her heel, the tree behind her shattering in an explosion of arc energy as she drove her fist into it. Fine then, if Astra didn't want her help then Valeriya didn't need the other woman's help either. The female Titan would defeat Ghaul and rescue the Traveler on her own if she had to.
Rayina silently watched the female Titan storm away, grateful that the other two women had forgotten that she was there. In truth, the female Warlock had no desire to explain to her fellow Guardians exactly where she had been when Ghaul and the Red Legion had attacked the Last City. Out of all of them, Rayina had been least affected by the imprisonment of the Traveler. After all, what was the loss of the Light, when you were surrounded by the Darkness.
Rayina called upon her Taken powers, a swirling portal of energy appearing behind her. The Awoken woman turned on her heel and strode through back to her throne room. Rayina gazed out the bow of the Dreadnaught, lost in her thoughts as her Ghost hovered above her shoulder displaying all known information on Ghaul and the Red Legion. As powerful as her fellow Guardians were, they would accomplish nothing. Astra was too blinded by grief and loyalty to do anything, and Valeriya would accomplish nothing on her own. Though, if anyone could rally the forces needed to face the Red Legion, it would certainly be the human Titan.
Even so, Ghaul had declared war on them all and required an immediate response. It just so happened that Rayina was the only one in a position to give one. After all, she was Queen of the Taken — not to mention a God among the Hive — even if she did conceal it from all. She wasn't about to bow down and let someone like Ghaul think he could defeat her. Besides, what was a general to a God-Queen? It would take an army to defeat him - and as hundreds of Taken troops materialized behind her Rayina smiled, whispering to herself, "It's a good thing I have an army, isn't it?"