HEY guys! It's a day late, I know, but we were celebrating my little sister's 16th birthday and I couldn't finish it up, but it's been finished today and I hope it's a good one.
There's some made up language in here, as there's no base for Fallen speak. So I just made do with my own mind and translated it for you guys. Most of these sections are shorter than most, but still. Some action will be seen soon, along with some drama and blood! Who doesn't love blood? xD
Also, I had wanted to use that poll from before to try and see which pairings you guys would like, but I just wen't "fuck it" and made the pairings myself. xD So yeah, you get to see some cheesy love stuff in here. I'm not too good at writing it, so yeah. Just try and deal with it lol
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you next weekend!
A week after the meeting, things were going smoothly, just as Teira had promised. She met with the Guardians to make plans for them to get to know some of the Fallen on her Ketch, however Starr had said she would decline until every one of her team members agreed to visit again. And Entity was being a pain.
Teira sighed and rested her head on her palm as she sat in her chair. Her other hand rested on the arm and she tapped her fingers restlessly. Seraph sat nearby, cleaning his INVECTIVE shotgun until it gleamed under the light. His armor sparkled as well after he cleaned it. He seemed happy enough to be doing these things, but it was all he could do really. Without worrying about speeches, or meetings, Teira found herself often becoming bored easily. She went through all the storage compartments in the room, (under Erunan's watch of course) and she had to have explored every corner of the ship, so this left her with virtually nothing to do but sit in her throne and look pretty. She sighed again and tilted her head back, eyes closed, before she ran her hand through her hair. It was still fairly long, reaching down to her middle back and ended in slight curls at the ends. She huffed, then an idea came to her.
She leaned over in her chair and looked over to Seraph. "Hey, do you know when Erunan is coming back from his patrol?" She asked.
"Soon, I would assume. His patrols don't last more than an hour, and if they do, something's gotta be wrong." Seraph answered. "Why?"
"Oh, I just thought I'd try and learn more of their ways." She sighed. "Language, fighting style, hell I'd even try some of their Ether if it meant I wouldn't be so bored anymore."
"Well the first two options I'm okay with, the last one could cause some problems regarding your health..."
"How do you know that? You don't even need human food." Teira scowled.
"Saw an Awoken get curious. He turned a darker shade of blue and puffed up like a balloon. Couldn't do much of anything for an entire week. And that was just one bite of the stuff." Seraph explained. "Unless you want to end up like him, I'd suggest you avoid eating Ether."
"Okay, well, what about their language? You got any basics on that?" She grumbled.
"You could learn from my ghost if you want. It can show you how to write the language too if it comes to that to sate your boredom." Seraph offered.
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll go to my quarters to start learning." She said cheerily as she stood and stretched before walking off briskly.
"Alright. My Ghost will accompany you."
/
"Ahrk, riish, eehr, notra."
"Close. Your pronunciation of Notra needs work." The Ghost informed, blinking its light at her.
"Well tell me if the O is short or long then!" Teira argued in a huff.
"It is long. Notra with a short O translates to boy, while the other version means girl. Sometimes the spelling of the boy can be spelled with a U in the english language to visibly see the difference. So 'boy' would be spelled as Noutra."
Teira groaned and laid her head on her crossed arms. "This is giving me a headache... I think it's time for a break, after three hours of this..." She muttered.
"You were the one who wanted to learn, Teira." The Ghost chided, causing her to lift her head in a glare.
"Shuddup." She huffed. "So what's the next set of words?"
"Light and Dark." Two words came up on a translucent screen and Teira read over them.
"Haad, and Drahh." She chimed. "Simple enough I guess."
She sat back as the Ghost scanned through more words for her to learn and she thought over the events of the past two weeks. First her mother dies, and she became the Kell of the House of Kings shortly after, yet she felt like she wasn't even a true leader. If anything, Erunan was the one giving her all the advice she needed in order to run the Ketch smoothly. He was a huge help during her time here. She couldn't imagine a single time that he was away from her unless he was out on a patrol.
Something twisted in her gut when she realized that in the three hours that had passed, there was no word of Erunan returning from his patrol. She sat up, her hands in her lap as a pit of worry formed in her stomach. Was he in trouble? Or maybe he found something of interest? Perhaps he just needed time to wander and think to himself. These past few days were pretty chaotic, what with the Guardians joining forces and making the treaty.
She sighed to herself. "He's fine Teira. You're just being paranoid." She muttered.
Her head then snapped up when the doors to her quarters opened. Kalyvaaz looked somewhat surprised to see her there and he bowed his head in embarassment.
"My apologies, I was was told you were in this room." He grumbled, Teira already trying to translate his words before the translator spoke them.
She hesitated a moment before she gave a slight tilt of her head. "Did you need anything Kal?" She asked.
He was slightly taken aback by the nickname, but responded quickly. "I received a message from Erunan. He and his patrol team have run into some trouble." He announced.
Teira instantly stood, panic in her chest. "What kind of trouble?"
"They were approached by a group of guardians. Erunan has lost half his squad already and his life will be in danger if we do not hurry."
She swallowed, a frown on her features. "Take me to the ship bay. I want to handle this personally."
"As you wish. Follow me." Her chief of Guard said before turning and walking away at a brisk pace.
Teira followed him quickly down to the ship bay and she boarded with him, three Vandals, and six Dregs along with a Servitor. She stood by him, her lips pursed into a thin frown. On the outside, she was as serious as ever. However, on the inside, she as a mess of worry and fear and anger. She was sick with worry over the time she had before she could be the difference between her friend living another day, or his life being ended by the one unlucky bullet. That fear of losing her friend made her heart pound in her ears, drowning out the hum of the aircraft as it took off. And she was enraged simply by the fact that if she were to be too late, it would mean living a life without the one who helped her to where she was today. The one she truly cared about the most on the entire Ketch...
She shook her head slightly and steeled herself as the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes. Five of them passed and the ship finally start to slow as it dipped over the snowy battle field. The doors below opened up, and she watched as the dregs and vandals all jumped through onto the metal bars before the jumped to form a defensive circle. Teira took a breath, and jumped through as well, mimicking their movements as she dropped onto the ground below. She looked up when she landed somewhat gracefully and was buffeted by a gust of wind and snow. They had, of all things, landed in a minor blizzard.
There was a shout, followed by a gunshot, and one of the dregs dropped to the ground, his head completely gone. A gust of snow passed and Teira connected eyes with a Hunter that was perched on top of a medium building. She raised her hands, shouting "Hold youre fire!". He saw her as well and touched a finger to his helmet.
"Guys, hold fire! We got a civvie out here!" He called. And the firing ceased. "Hey! Mind telling us what you're doing out here kid?" He called out to her.
A gust of wind blew at her cape and she moved forward to get within better hearing range.
"My name is Teira Reynolds. I'm the Kell of the House of Kings, and you're firing at my soldiers!" She shouted above the wind. "I'd ask that you kindly stop and leave this place!"
"You? A Kell? You're shittin' me!" A woman shouted from the left, unseen due to the snow.
The hunter looked thoughtful. "Come into this building here so we can talk in person, miss Reynolds." He said before jumping down and through a set of doors below.
Teira looked over to Kalyvaaz. "Go look for Erunan. Make sure he's okay." She ordered before she ran off toward the building.
The trek was a bit of a tough one, as she had to walk through two feet of snow in order to get there, but after a five minute walk, she made her way inside and saw three Guardians standing inside. Two were warlocks, a male and female, and lastly there was the hunter. He looked over at her and removed his helmet, revealing a handsome human face with messy brown hair and dark brown eyes. She approached him, slightly nervous.
"Did I hear you right? You said you're a Kell of these Fallen?" He asked.
"You did hear correctly. I'm their leader, and we're in the process of making a treaty between us and the Guardians. So killing my soldiers is not the best way to get them on your side."
"We didn't hear about no treaty." The male warlock said, his shotgun resting on his shoulder.
"Well it's in the works." She said, her head snapping in his direction. "These Fallen are my comrades now, and I suggest you respectfully leave this area, and warn other Guardians to avoid shooting at the Fallen in yellow armor." She huffed, looking between the group.
"I don't believe her." The woman hissed, her hands on her scout rifle.
"No, look at her cloak. That's the mark of Kings, no doubt." The hunter pointed out.
"Maybe she stole it..." The male warlock growled, hefting his shotgun to his arms.
Teira held out her hands. "I didn't steal it from them. Would I be defending them if I did?"
Then there was a bark from the doors and she turned to see Kalyvaaz walking in, a wounded Erunan limping with an arm over the guard's shoulder.
"Noutra har sirinal ubeliri." Kalyvaaz growled before turning his head to Erunan. ["He is heavily wounded."]
She paused a moment, translating the words she knew, then she quickly walked over to them as Kalyvaaz let Erunan sit on the floor. "How bad is it? Can he walk?"
Kalyvaaz said nothing as he shook his head. Erunan huffed and held a hand over a bleeding wound in his side. She kneeled next to him and placed a hand on the side of his face mask.
"Don't worry Erunan, we'll get you back to the Ketch." She whispered, showing a worried face. Then she turned back to the guardians, her voice turning icy. "And you all should leave this area and tell your other guardians never to come here. No matter what." She spat angrily.
"We don't have to listen to a little kid, Adam!" The woman complained, going for her gun. "We should just kill them and end this madness!"
Kalyvaaz quickly drew all four of his hand cannons and stepped to block the view of his Kell and injured comrade.
"Ahhk vis zonii rareen!" He roared. ["Over my dead body!"]
"That's enough, Vira. We will leave peacefully." The hunter said, a hand in front of the woman, which earned him a glare through her visor before she lowered her weapon.
"I thought I told you not to call me that." She growled.
The man rolled his eyes and looked back to Teira as Kalyvaaz slowly lowered his guns as well. "We will spread word of your requests, miss Reynolds. Come on guys, lets go."
With that, he and his group walked back outside and vanished in a blue colored light as they went into orbit.
Teira watched as they vanished and then she turned to Erunan.
"Lets get him back to the Ketch and have his wounds looked at." She ordered quietly.
Kalyvaaz gave a nod and lifted Erunan to lean on his shoulder as he called for transport. The snow still raged outside and they waited only a few moments before the transportation arrived and hovered close to the doors and low to the ground so the group could easily climb in. Erunan had grunted in pain from the movement, but he was grateful that he was still alive to see another day.
The next thing he knew, he was laying in the clinical ward of the ship, a few shanks hovered around him. Having been programmed with the knowledge of medical abilities, there was no need for Vandals or Dregs to perform the needed surgeries to heal him.
He dipped in and out of consciousness during the time he was being operated on. He never knew how long it took, but he remembered some whispers in the back of his head. He somewhat recognized them as the shouts of the guardians that wounded him. Especially the womans voice. Something about her was off, and he didn't know why. Just the fact that Teira had been in such close proximity with such a creature was, unsettling, to him.
After a while, he heard another voice, a real one, and he opened his eyes slowly to see Teira standing nearby with Seraph. She was speaking to him in a hushed tone, as to not wake her friend, but it was too late for that anyway. He let out a quiet huff and lifted his head slightly.
The girls head turned toward him and she was by his side in an instant.
"Erunan! How are you feeling?" She asked, resting her hand on one of his.
"Alive." He huffed lightly, earning a smile from her. "How long have I been in here?"
"About six hours." Seraph answered. "Your injuries were few, but heavy. Ten minutes longer and you would have bled out by the time you got here."
A chill went down the captain's spine. He looked back to Teira and blinked as he noticed she was studying his face silently. He blinked at her and then looked to Seraph for an explaination.
"She's never seen Fallen without their armor on before." He said with a shrug.
He then realized with a start that he had no armor on and it all sat neatly by the side of his cot. He turned his head back to Teira and shifted to try and sit up. She didn't stop him from doing so, and when he leaned against the wall behind him, she sat at the side of the cot. She kept her head forward before looking at Seraph. He quickly got the message and left, leaving his ghost in the room. Erunan stared at Teira, a questioning look on his face.
She was silent for a moment, then, her words decided, she spoke.
"When Kalyvaaz came to me, and said you were in trouble..." She began quietly. "It terrified me to my core. I was afraid I would have been too late."
"Yet you were not." He pointed out.
She smiled sadly and gave a nod. "I know. You're right, but... Being so scared of losing you made me realize something..." She looked up at him and bit her lower lip nervously as she folded her hands together in her lap.
Erunan blinked at her and leaned forward slightly to place his upper right hand on top of hers gently. She looked down at his hand for a moment, then she took in a breath and looked at him, tears in her eyes.
"I was so afraid of losing you..." She whispered, her hands trembling under his. "I.. didn't show it because it would have made me look weak... and... and I don't want to be weak, but I can't help but-" She stopped talking as Erunan lifted another hand and placed it on her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away a tear. She sniffed and looked up at him as he studied her face.
"Showing you care is not weakness." He said quietly. "I would have felt the same way if you were the one in trouble.."
She smiled as another tear fell and she leaned her head into his hand as she placed a hand over his. She looked up at him and their eyes met. They sat for a moment in silence before Teira opened her mouth to speak...
/
"I love you."
Starr lifted her head and inwardly smiled, her hand intertwined with her boyfriends as she sat leaned against his chest. She never knew his true name, but she was okay with calling him Frost. That suited him in a strange kind of way. She shifted so that she could look up at him better and he looked down at her.
"I love you too." She laughed. "Any reason you said that so suddenly?"
"You never know when the last time you'll get to say it will be." He said with a shrug. "So, any news I should know?"
She gave a hum as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm not sure if Entity will ever come around to meeting with that Teira girl and her Fallen. We need them on our side, but if everyone on my team doesn't agree..." She trailed off with a sigh. "He's just so stubborn."
"Sounds like someone else I know." Frost chuckled.
She blinked and scoffed. "You're not talking about me, are you?"
"Who else would I be talking about?"
"Good point. But I'm not stubborn!"
"Not as badly as Entity, but you were pretty damn stubborn before." He pointed out. "Remember the time you almost dented my face plate in because I wouldn't let you continue fighting the cabal after your leg got badly damaged? And the time when you insisted upon killing that ogre by yourself on the moon? Then there was the time-"
"Okay I get it. Geez." She scoffed, elbowing him playfully.
"Well would you look at this. I knew you were soft underneath that hard metal shell Starr."
Both Exo's looked up and Starr stood when she saw Raz, Entity, and Veritas approach. She inwardly scowled at Raz's statement. She dusted off her pants.
"What do you need Raz?" She asked flatly.
"Well, believe it or not, I've convinced Entity to agree to another meeting with Teira and her Fallen." The titan laughed.
Starr looked over to Entity and blinked. "You didn't punch it into him, did you?"
"Almost did. He changed his mind real quick when I called Veritas to help me out." Raz laughed.
Starr sighed and rolled her eyes. "Men." She muttered under her breath. "Alright, I'll go call the others and set up a meeting with Teira. Go wait in the common area, I'll be back soon." She ordered.
The three gave a nod and walked off and she turned back to Frost, who seemed slightly disappointed that she had to leave already. She sighed and patted his shoulder.
"We'll get more time together before the three months is up. Don't worry." She tapped her face plate to his and turned to walk off quickly.
He let out a sigh. "Alright."
/
"Scythe has returned, Sir."
Arcviss nodded and watched as Tomb and Reaper took their places to the side while Scythe walked in, a huge, evil grin on her face as she dragged two other people behind her. A human hunter, and an awoken warlock were trapped in her black magic like caged animals, both lay unconscious. She kneeled respectfully when she came to her spot in front of her commander.
"I have located a person who holds a close relation to Ferro." She announced. "Teira Reynolds, daughter of Elizabeth Reynolds, who was one of the scientists killed at the altar. I have learned a negative circumstance about her, however."
Arcviss raised a brow. "And that would be?"
"It seems the House of Kings has acknowledged her as their new leader. She plans to send an army of them along with the six guardians that will be sent here in the spring."
"Well, that certainly is troublesome. I will send Tomb to go assassinate the girl. That will draw Ferro out to you. Reaper and Scythe will handle Ferro when he emerges from the tower. You will be going up against an entire Ketch of Fallen, Tomb. Do not fail me." Arcviss growled before turning away. "You have four weeks, after that, do not bother returning." He added.
"Understood Sir." Tomb answered before walking away, Scythe and Reaper behind him.
"The girl has quite a few strong Fallen by her side, however they have no Archon Priest anymore. He was spotted leaving the Earth system and some witnesses reported that he was being hunted by the Queen of the Reef, and her Fallen slaves." Tomb said, his eyes blinking as the information entered his processor. "All we need now is the location of the Ketch."
"Leave that to me." Reaper muttered.
"Very well." Tomb muttered. "There is a ruined building on the outskirts of the city that no one travels to. We will remain there until our job is done."
"Agreed." Scythe hissed. "I can't wait to get back at that little bitch for talking so rudely to me and our new arrivals."
"Well, then we had better get started then." Reaper said with a wide, evil grin.
