Petra: "Requiem of the Night"- Audiomachine
Silverhawk stood a short distance away, having walked in that direction to receive the call that had been sent her way, supposedly from the Reef. Tevis sat on a rock as the night glinted off the knife he was sharpening, his helmet removed to reveal a surprisingly young face, though with light traces of the Darkness-laced acid burns he'd suffered form years ago. A light dusting of gray had begun appear at the base of his scalp, not from age, but the stress of being both the most experienced Nightstalker in the Vanguard arsenal, and the father of one of the most precious and hyper-active little boys ever to be born.
He stopped sharpening as Silverhawk's posture took a major turn for the down. They had been waiting here all day, waiting for the Vanguard to confirm orders; kill, or tag, for Draksis. If they didn't act soon, he'd be gone to the wind. If the Vanguard took too long, He'd go in there and kill the Kell himself. Silverhawk's shoulders slumped, and her head lowered. He tensed, alarm bells going off in the back of his mind.
The call ended. Her head raised. She took in the mountains, the smoke in the sky, the darkness in the air, and couldn't care less. She whirled around and strode towards Tevis, and he flinched when he saw the look on her face. Even with her glasses and her fedora, he knew that face.
It was the face he'd seen in the mirror for weeks after Brask's death, weeks, and beyond.
"We kill him." She stated, voice cold and very un-Silverhawk-like.
"What's going on?" he asked. The both knew it wasn't Vanguard orders she was acting on.
"An Archon got loose in the Prison at the Reef. Went on a rampage." Her voice was clipped. Tevis blinked, gut twisting.
"Martin?" he asked, dread weighing heavy inside of him.
"Yeah." She rasped. He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, and she shook him off. "Archon was from the House of Winter. They managed to kill it. Now, let's end their Kell while he'd still reeling."
"And while you're still reeling? No, Heather, you're not going in there." He told her, grabbing her shoulder more firmly this time.
"He's not dead. He'll be fine. I'm just really angry." She challenged him, taking her glasses off to meet him with a steady, glowing sky eyes. "I told Martin I wouldn't go after a Kell unless I was really, really angry. I'm really, really angry, Tevis."
He shut his eyes. Oh, Cayde is either going to love me or kill me. Birding will definitely kill me.
But there was nothing that could stand between a Hunter and revenge. Nothing could, not even another Hunter. It was generally something that one didn't interfere with; to do so may as well be putting a bullet in your own mouth.
"Fine." He relented opening his eyes. "But don't do anything stupid. You know Martin would chew you to pieces if anything happened to you, and your mother would leave me as a pile of electrocuted ashes."
She nodded, and looked down at the Ketch, with many of its inhabitants sleeping within. In an act that surprised him, she took off her fedora, folding it tightly, wrapping the strap around it to hold it there, before tucking the hat in her belt, and putting her glasses in a pouch.
She wanted Draksis to see her, to see exactly what was coming for him.
He put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly.
"Don't do anything he'd not want you to. No risks. Now let's go make them pay." He told her. She nodded mutinously, pulling Ol'Reliable out of its holster.
"Let's sneak on and drop down right on top of the monster. Then… I want to drive this ship into the volcano." She said calmly.
"Are you insane?!" he exclaimed.
"It's their own fault for parking it on top of a lava field. The stuff may be blue, but it's still lava." She reasoned. "Besides, our Ghosts can transmat up to our ships before we really crash."
Tevis shut his eyes, rubbing his forehead with one hand. He was really going to regret this, wasn't he?
He slunk through the shadows as only a Nightstalker could.
Out here, with the void, one had to be careful not to confuse the void with Darkness. He was not merely movement within the umbra of a shadow; he was the umbra itself. To cloak oneself with the void, to become shadows, required a focus beyond that of what Warlocks were capable of. But beyond focus, it required instinct.
Most Nightstalkers only mastered the skill to the point where they could combine shadowing with a roll, becoming void mist so that bullets fazed through them harmlessly as they moved from cover to cover. Tevis had wanted to go beyond. He still hadn't mastered it completely. Brask had always been of the opinion that it was a bit 'too ambitious'. Cayde thought it was awesome.
To Tevis, it had become necessary.
He couldn't hold it for very long, but it was long enough to make the few Fallen on guard skittish. They thought they kept seeing a shadow moving between shadows, umbras twisting within umbras. But whenever they looked, Tevis was gone, and closer to the Ketch.
When he was up the ramp, he moved inside, and found a duct entrance. He nodded to himself in satisfaction, and, moving like wind blowing soft across snow, he went back out to the entrance of the ramp. He looked down at the Fallen below, and picked one of them out—a Vandal, looked average weight, thought a bit taller than usual—before beginning the plan. He faded back into solid form once more, a shudder slipping down his spine as hit atoms rearranged themselves.
It was truly frightening, and amazing, what Light could do when finely honed for years on end. He wasn't the most experienced Nightstalker in the Vanguard arsenal for no reason, after all. He held out his hand in a fist shape, able to imagine the bow there, and curved his fingers to fit around it when it came. Imagining the bow, he locked his sight on the Vandal. Imagining the bow, he put his fingers to where the string would be.
Summoning his bow…
Ere his shafts flew.
It was chaos as the first Vandal disintegrated, and even as that happened, Tevis had put another arrow to the string. Another Vandal, right through the heart, his companions tethered to the ground beside where he once stood.
In a few moments, all the enemies were either tethered or dead.
And Silverhawk moved in for the kill. A streak of living lightning through the void-made night. She shot from one tethered group to the other, slicing her way through all of them, causing bright, beautiful explosions of void particles alight with arc energy. This was a technique he and Cayde had mastered, thought only part of it. Tevis would sneak in, Brask would come and cause some shock and awe with his Golden Gun, Tevis would tether the remainders, and Cayde would streak in with his Arc Blade to help Brask mop up the rest.
The resulting explosions and combinations of arc, solar, and void Light had made for quite a breathtaking show, and they'd managed to impress quite a lot of people with their combinations.
Unfortunately, those people had included the Hunter Vanguard, who had subsequently challenged Brask to the Vanguard Dare. If they hadn't been such foolish show-offs back then….
He shook his head, and almost grinned when he thought that being foolish show-offs was the point of being a Hunter. The Warlocks were to squeamish to be cool, and the Titans be all like 'whatever'. Who did that leave to be the face of frabjous for the Guardian community? Hunters.
Their job was to kick butt, take names, and look good while they did it. Cooler than the Warlocks.
Silverhawk ran up the ramp, and came to a halt in front of him, electricity sparking off her as she let her arc Light settle back down. After years of getting used to seeing her eyes concealed, it was odd to look into their glowing sky-blue depths again. It was like he was meeting another Awoken… but she was Human. He shook this brief confusion away.
"Vents are over here. Skink and Westley can guide us through." He told her. She nodded, still silent, still not Silverhawk. Just hold it together, kid…
He swallowed hard. Would it be worth it? Bringing her into this was seeming more and more like a bad idea. He closed his eyes briefly before lowering himself to the ground, checking his helmet pressure to make sure it was secure against the ether-rich air they would likely find inside, and crawling into the ducts, Silverhawk following close behind.
By the time the other Fallen got there, there would be no trace of the two Guardians save a scent leading to ducts only a Dreg could fit through.
Tevis could only hope Silverhawk recovered herself in time to prevent some other tragedy. Because if there was one thing he was painfully aware of, it was that he couldn't always save people…
The Kell's throne room was just below them. Silverhawk was in some other duct, awaiting Skink's signal to come in. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath as he crouched in the tunnels. In, and out. In, and out. Pure calm, no fear, of the void or your enemies; that was the secret to summoning a Dusk Bow.
He felt the void curl around his fingertips. Felt the long arc of Light form in front of him. The Bow was an extension of the one who wielded it. It was not merely a weapon to be taken out and put away; it was a limb you had to exercise periodically to build its strength, to increase its agility, to improve upon the senses that came with using it.
A Dusk Bow was the embodiment of what the Nightstalker needed the most. Range, deadliness. Accuracy, subtlety. Blade, bullet, in one. Arrow could be knife, bow could be double-ended sword, string could be thread upon which to sing the song of war and beauty.
It was focus, it was void. It was wild, as the Hunters were, it belonged in the wild as they did. To be a Nightstalker was to be a Hunter. To be a Hunter was to be a Nightstalker, was to touch the void, the farthest of places that few could reach, that had consumed their many map-makers and adventurers.
He opened his eyes, and kicked the vent out. As he hit the floor he rolled, twisting himself into shadows and using his momentum to cast himself upwards, twisting in mid-air and putting an arrow to the string as he fazed back into normal solidity. He let the void-made shaft fly, right into the center of the Kell's Guards' formation. They all screeched as the Nightstalker tethered them to the spot, their muscles seizing up and nervous systems failing to comply as the void sent shockwaves through their brains.
Silverhawk came bursting out of another vent, on the wall instead of the ceiling, in a feral explosion of arc Light. She ran at the trapped Fallen, just as Tevis turned his attention to Draksis. Perhaps if he could kill the Kell first, he could spare himself the worry.
He was even bigger up close. He barely brought his bow up in time to block the massive blades that could have crashed down on his head.
"Well," he stated, voice strained," How long's it been, big guy? I believe… yeah, nine years since Twilight Gap. Prob'ly don't remember me, but… payback's gonna be a void shaft."
He jerked his bow with a violent twist, prying the blades away, and swept one end in an arc, the void-made, now blade-like curve of the bow catching on one of its upper arms. It howled in pain as the Light sliced its flesh.
Tevis was a Hunter who didn't like to carry around a lot of gear. The lighter he was, the less things he had on him, the more silently he moved, the faster he could be. He'd trained himself to the breaking point, especially during the year following Brask's death. Constantly suffering Light exhaustion, always waking up in a cold sweat because of it, plus the wild-longing…
But it had paid off. He held the records for longest held single Dusk Bow use, and most arrows fired in a single engagement without succumbing to Light exhaustion. He was killer in the Crucible, where powers were simulated using real-time psych and physical input form the Ghosts (actually using powers on each other would be dangerous). He had reached the point where he used his bow so often, he was considering ditching all but one gun and a knife in favor of using the void-made weapon more frequently.
Some regarded him as a freak of nature, or as 'asking for Light trauma', but it didn't matter to him. He used his Bow as a double-ended blade, a shield, an instrument of choice for karaoke night. He was skilled enough now, hopefully, to protect the ones he cared about like he'd failed to with Brask.
And there were always the ones behind his mentor's final secret… who knew what they might be like, his skills might be needed desperately.
Draksis staggered back and then came at him again with a snarl, blades raised to swipe at his side and down on his head at the same time. In a move that was more instinct than training, he spun his bow upside down, catching the side-sweeping blade and shoving it upwards to block the other sword. The Kell's free hands reached to claw him, but it let out a howl of pain as Silverhawk rushed forwards, slamming both her own blades down on Draksis' lower right arm.
The electrified, sharpened metal cut through the Fallen Kell's flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter. He howled in agony, his other lower hand reaching reflexively to grab at the wounds, or to grab the Guardian responsible.
But his slip in concentration cost him dearly. Tevis stabbed an arrow into Draksis' upper left arm. He screeched as Silverhawk ran between his legs, dropping one of his shock blades. Silverhawk used her momentum to kick off the wall behind him, and launched herself at his back.
He howled, reaching behind himself to try and dislodge her, stumbling backwards. Tevis fired a shot at his feet, and a bolt of void Light caught him, tethering him to the point, and he lost his balance completely, falling backwards. Silverhawk pivoted herself around his neck, raised her blades, and brought them down into his throat.
Panting, Tevis relaxed his stance, though he didn't put away his bow, as the Kell jerked and gurgled for the final time before going still. His eyes fixed on Silverhawk as she slowly rose, yanking her blades free of the body. She turned to him, her face splattered with ether and dark purple blood.
"Let's crash it."
Tevis watched as the Ketch sped towards the field of blue-silver lava. With a flash, Silverhawk appeared before him, back turned, watching as it went down as well.
It hit.
It was magnificent, really. As it first splashed down, the ground shook, and the blue lava of Venus was sent high into the air, shining like a light sea made of stars. The heat got to the engines, and the whole thing began to explode magnificently, meteorites of blue and red, smoke and mist. Maybe, if one listened closely, they could hear the sounds of the hundreds of Fallen that had still been aboard dying.
With that, Draksis' legend was over. He'd made the fool mistake of coming out into the field, and now he had paid dearly for it. The explosion in and of itself would normally have caused most Hunters to go ballistic.
But her shoulders were shaking.
Tevis blinked, and put on his helmet, certain there were no rips or tears in his armor that could put him at risk. He strode over in the light of the explosion, and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, face streaked with tears. He hadn't seen her this upset in a long time…
She buried her face in his shoulder with a sob, and he wrapped his arms around her. He knew what it felt like, to nearly lose a part of yourself. To get lost in that anger that came from someone close nearly being ripped away from you.
"He's in a coma, Tevis." She cried. "That damn Winter Archon put Martin in a coma."
He closed his eyes. Cayde is definitely going to kill me.
Man, the FEELS that came with that explosion...
MaybeALittleBroken: I suggested the fluff. I hear you enjoyed it. Here, have an explosion and some more feels! *grins evilly*
fierywarlock: Try digging a tunnel with plastic spoons; that always works in movies.
Guest(jsm): Well, isn't it a fine day to forget to log in, mate? Glad you liked it. And are you talking about the 'strangulation' part, or the 'needing rescue breathing' part? I was going for big drama in that chapter.
Guest: To Lyse, Sierra is weak. She isn't a proper Guardian, and is a risk factor. There's another reason she dislikes Sierra though... but we'll get to that later. And let's just say for Uldren's part, this little incident isn't one he'll forget when it comes to trusting Lyse. For all his faults, I think it's safe to say he's very protective of those under his command... even if they're Sierra.
alienraptor: Glad you like the new platform! Colors are so much sharper, am I right?
Callidus Grim:Oh, I've seen the trailer. My Hunter is actually based off of one of Amberstar's Pottertrek OCs, and, well, you saw what just happened to Draksis... No, Martin is very much not okay.
Man, it was hard to do this. To Martin, I mean. But I had to do something with him at some point, and I can't play nice with you guys forever. Just a couple chapters more, the epilogue, and then it's on to part 2 of 15 Seconds. If you think these feels are bad... boy, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Also, here's to hoping 2017 isn't as boring as 2016! If you're just DONE with all the political bull from last year, no matter which side, say 'I', put on some sunglasses, and start sipping coconut smoothies on a sunny Hawii beach. I think evey political faction needs a massage and a few hot dogs, so they can feel like Americans again.
Also, it was a lot of fun writing Tevis in this chapter. I didn't really get to experiment with his powers during that brief PoV in 15 Seconds, and I really wanted to play around with some Nightstalker powers. In-game, we see evidence of a lot of shots fired off his Dusk Bow, while our own Guardian is only able to manage three at a time. This tells us that Tevis was exceptionally powerful for a Nightstalker, and if he can fire thatmany shots, why not sharpen the edges of his bow and use it as a sword thing-y and go all 'Legolas' on everything?
Ugh, now every time I write Tevis, I'm going to end up picturing him as an elf.
Next Time: Uldren doesn't trust Lyse, and Petra knows Martin can hear her.
Cheers!^^