Maci Durramee, Female, age 22
Year: 2559
Rank: Minor
Location: Varo, Zelso

Stranger in the Midst

Looking out from the hanger bay, Maci took in a long deep breath as she inhaled the scents of dust, dirt and various other scents mixed between as the wind blew past her while a Phantom slowly landed nearby. With great anticipation, Maci had been awaiting today, both with dread and joy as she looked up at the sky from where she stood. The cherry colour clouds slowly strolled across the early morning light while Maci had been waiting patiently in the hanger bay for Duran and his selected team to arrive.

After Yesterday, Maci had left the Academy for her apartment and began to pack, although Duran had told Maci specifically that the trip was a possible no rather than a yes, Maci insisted on being ready and packed for the long trip, but late Last night after Maci had finished polishing her armour off and strapped a small cape to the side for a fancy look, she had been informed that she was to partake in a long journey trip from Zelso to Durram. Obviously Duran had been overly persuasive more than likely for Maci to be receiving a notification of her duties.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Maci felt the breeze draft across her face before she could hear the faint sound of footsteps over the thumping sound of various flight craft landing and taking off. Opening her eyes Maci turned and looked to see Duran, his stride was graceful as he moved past a few groups in an almost bee line fashion towards Maci, but that wasn't what made her smile. Behind Duran was two familiar looking faces, one in a lime green armour and the other in a crimson armour.

"Sko! Truun!"

Almost jumping up and down with joy before jogging over towards them, Maci gave her two best friends a big group hug; she had not been expecting this, to see these two here but at the same time she had also been secretly and foolishly hoping that they would be coming along. Both Sko and Truun hugged Maci back with delight before Maci took a step back and examined the two up and down at their new armour.

"That's not training armour…Is that?"

"Yep its proper combat armour, Truun and I both picked out our own armour and had it set and prepared. Though I don't think either one or us where actually prepared to be wearing it so soon"

"You can say that again Sko…See Duran dropped us the line about Durram and we insisted on coming along to aid a hand….It would be good for the both of us anyway"

For a short while the three friends laughed and giggled alongside each other, making jokes about the different styles in their armour, the colour or even the pattern design, but in the end they were good friends and neither one of them could mind as long as they were all together. Clearing his throat from behind the three of them, Duran stood silently feeling a little ignored as he tapped his foot against the ground.

"Oh so they all have cool armour but me huh? Well I guess I'm being out staged by two youngsters"

Standing together, the three of them smiled back at Duran before he gave a shrug and began to laugh with them. However Maci noticed another had joined their group as she looked up at the towering stranger. Blinking and trying to figure out who this stranger was, Maci cocked her head to the side, clearly it was a male, but his skin suit covered all the way up to his face and his helmet concealed his identity. There was an almost familiar sense about this stranger but neither Sko nor Truun spoke up as they were too busy making jokes back at Duran about their armour. Maci's blue eyes met with the blue illuminated visors, much similar to that of an ultras helmet design. Though the males armour was slightly different, it did seem to have a similar blue colour to Maci's.

"Oh don't mind this guy Maci, he'll be our pilot and probably get away driver"

Duran joked causing Maci to look back at Duran in surprise before she softly but awkwardly laughed. Despite the fact that this strange and silent guy was now tagging along with them, the group set off following Duran to a lone Phantom awaiting them in the hanger bay. It was currently unoccupied but Duran made no fuss as he got straight too it and gestured everyone to get aboard in a much similar fashion to that of which he had done when Maci and Truun had first met Duran on their little trip a few months back.

"Come on Ladies…All aboard the flying machine!"

Taking up her seat Maci quickly strapped herself in with a gleeful and delighted feel that tingled in her stomach, their pilot got straight to work in starting up the engine before take-off. Duran, Sko and Truun had also taken up their spots, Truun had seated next to Maci and Sko had seated next to Duran on the opposite side of Maci. Everyone continued to make hilarious jokes. It would be a long trip to Durram and once they got there it was possible they would have to land close to the former states outskirts before getting permission to enter.

Letting out a sigh and crossing her legs, Maci sat back in her seat relaxing. From time to time Duran would make one of his blunt and terrible jokes but everyone seemed to be getting along. Before knowing Truun or Sko, Maci would have called this group an odd bunch, a group who couldn't function, but after all Maci had been through, the faces she had seen and the people she had fought against had changed her in many ways.

Duran was always known for his strange sense of humour, his honourable attitude and pride, the silly way he would swing his hands around as if he was a human, and even the serious side he had. Sko formally the sangheili classmate who appeared to be sleeping all the time in Maci's class, he had proven to Maci many times that strength was not only the answer and that he himself was far more skilled then the eye can see. Truun was the most wreck less of them all, blood thirsty and irresponsible, often getting caught in trouble for some reason and known for brutally hurting his sparing partners, yet seated across from Maci, Truun was relaxed, calmly listening in to the jokes being tossed back and forth and softly laughing rather than giving irritated snort sounds like he used to.

By far, Truun had changed and so had Sko, they both where Maci's closest friends, friends she thought she could never make, but here they were flying half way across Sanghelios on a journey to save a forsaken state. However Maci had been questioning this whole situation over last night, even if Duran did manage to work something out for Durram, there was no way of knowing for sure if the state would be revived with civilian life like it once had, in fact there was only one fact known to Maci, that the raiders would indeed return and when they do, they would need someone to protect the state, not just guards but a leader. Although it didn't seem like herself, Maci felt overly jealous at the thought of someone else taking control of her state.

"Maci you remember that trip we had with Duran"

Looking up at Truun Maci came back to reality and repeated his words in her head before letting out a slight giggle of sorts. Indeed that was a very interesting trip, though it ended badly, Maci still had good enough memories to reflect on before feeling the ping of guilt wash over her.

"Oh yeah that trip…what about it?"

"You kept flicking branches and leaves back at me…you know that hurts right!"

"…Ha about that…You have to admit it was pretty funny"

"Is that so? Well then I'll get you back for it you know…I bet Durram has plenty of twigs or what not…heck I'll pick up mud and through it at you just to get even"

"Oh would you now? Well fine then! I guess it's a mud fight happening in Durram"

"What?! Oh I swear I'll get you back 'Miss Durramee'"

Just as the two were joking around Maci noticed the two onlookers from the other side of the phantom as Duran and Sko both watched trying hard not to laugh at Maci and Truun.

"Hey what's so funny you two?"

Truun boomed and raised a fist in the air as if to declare some sort of war against the others which only caused Sko to laugh even harder as he tried hard to snicker from behind his hands covering his face.

"Oh well I'll make sure to toss an even bigger handful of mud at you Sko!"

For a while the phantom was filled with laughter as Truun boosted like the male he was even Duran didn't try to step up as he could only clutch his stomach and laugh loudly at how hard Truun was trying to impress them. On the other hand Maci was enjoying the light hearted situation watching Truun, Sko and Duran come together in such a way that it seemed like they had been good friends for years, but instead they had only known each other for almost a year. There was a time Maci had feared Truun and avoided Sko, but after the months that had passed between them, all of them together proved even Maci wrong. It wasn't just about Maci proving the world how much better a warrior she was then others, it was about coming together as a group and defying the odds.

Although the laughter died down at some point of time, Maci could tell it was roughly mid-day by now. Duran had been 100% clear on no stops, that way they would be able to get to Durram sooner rather than later. Though by the time they would get there it would probably be late at night. It reminded Maci of the travel she had from Vadam to Zelso, although Maci couldn't help but blur out all the noises around her and think about Zuka.

Twiddling her thumbs, Maci ached to see the male again in hopes of fixing up her past mistakes and making amends of what she had done. Whether it was the way she was sitting or perhaps the look on her face that gave her emotions away, Duran tossed something at Maci's face making her almost jump out of her seat.

"Shit I forgot to say heads up….My bad"

"Hey what the!? You don't just through things at people."

"Oh yeah like the flinging stuff at sangheili….right Maci…"

"Hey Truun!"

"Listen up everyone, Truun, Sko, and Miss Durramee. I packed a few things to eat along the way so enjoy it while it lasts."

"So it's going to be like that huh Duran? First you toss this bundle of food at me and now you call me Miss Durramee huh?"

"Hey Maci I always wondered about that whole Durramee thing...Like you often called yourself that before you had the tittle right?"

"Huh?"

"See here Sko….Maci comes from a noble family and being the future Kaidon to her state, it is by right that she is titled Durramee within herstate but outside of her state she's just Durram until she was officially ranked you see. So now she can be called Miss Durramee"

Everyone laughed at how Duran tried to explain the whole situation, but Maci had to agree with Duran, that he was indeed right about it all and it kind of confused Truun but he laughed either way before they all began to eat up. Duran had indeed packed prepared food wise, Maci had remembered before the Trials of how Truun stuffed his face so full at one point it seemed like his stomach might have been a bottomless pit, maybe it was a Male thing considering Duran was almost similar stuffing his face, although Sko on the other hand ate as delicate as Maci did, unless of course it was a treat that contained a lot of sugar….then it would be gone in a flash.

It wasn't too hard to imagine the whole group pigging out at some restaurant except they were all inside a phantom tossing jokes around about everything and the fact that they just didn't care even though their overly silent pilot was mindlessly piloting without saying a single word let alone giving a soft laughter to their jokes. To Maci it was almost a little too odd but she shrugged it off and continued to eat her so called lunch.

However the conversations seemed to die down a bit once everyone was full. Truun had leaned back and began to doze off and Sko and Duran had been talking about tactical movements and such but as for Maci…she remained seated, her mind returned back to the previous thoughts about Zuka, where was he and how would he be feeling? Those questions had become a daily reminder to Maci, even during her stay in the hospital she couldn't help but wonder where he was, what exactly was he even doing or did he just up and leave all of a sudden?

As Always the wash of guilt and regret began to sink in as Maci wondered if Zuka had meant to say goodbye to Maci the last time she saw him, and instead she had shut him down which would only further his reason for leaving. Letting out a sigh Maci leaned forward looking down at the ground, the hum of the engine echoed deep inside of her brain as she felt her body rock back and forth as the Phantom must have entered a clouded area. Though none of it seemed to overly concern Maci as her mind began to darken with thoughts about Zuka, how much he must have hated her right now for doing the things she had done. And yet here she was foolishly thinking about him while half way away from him…that was if he still remained in Zelso.

"Something the matter Maci?"

Looking up Maci noticed Duran was now leaning forward, both Sko and Truun had fallen asleep but even so it felt wrong speaking up about what she was feeling deep down on the inside. Looking back down at the metal floor Maci wondered herself if she was feeling up for this whole thing, was she letting her own selfish feelings get in the way. Shrugging Maci looked up at Duran trying to half-heartedly smile but unfortunately she couldn't help it but frown.

"I'm just…Ever since the Trials I've just been so worried about things…friends…you know?"

Understanding her cause and view point Duran gave a respected nod, knowing fully well now just how close Maci was towards Zuka, though Duran couldn't cheer Maci up when it came to these things as he tried to give her a reassuring look.

"Hey Maci I'm sure things will get better, after all we shouldn't be in Durram for long."

It was all Duran could say in a light hearted tone but Maci sensed the seriousness in him; it was different seeing him in a more compassionate way compared to how he was earlier. Nodding in agreement Maci sat back up repeating the words in her head again and again. Yes that was right, the trip would be short, everything would go down perfectly fine with five Sangheili warriors and a small raider group, everything would be perfect and Maci would go back packing to Varo to find the closest sangheili in sanghelios, Zuka, and give him the biggest hug she can ever offer.

That shred of hope, those dreams that began to fill her head helped her relax and ever so slowly Maci herself began to drift off to sleep. After all she would need her strength once they landed to prepare for the night, though Maci didn't know what would exactly happen once they landed. Would they set up camp, perhaps even venture a little into Durram, but Maci knew that state like the back of her hand, or at least she once did. All that would be left of the villages and towns, buildings…It would all just be ruins, crumbled down structures barley holding together, but the grass…The thought of the wide open fields and the golden colour they gave off brought back memories to Maci. There where times where she as a youngling would have gone darting off to hide before trying to ambush her Father after he would return from the Academy in the late afternoons.

Of course her Father always knew she was there, but like any parent he always let Maci win, taught her how to fight. To some Sangheili this was considered wrong, Fathers never truly knew their own young, younglings where born and often separated from Family with only an uncle to look up to. However that wasn't Durram, Durram allowed parents to remain together, to teach their young to fight, to teach them that not everything is about one's status or wealth, to take pride in their family name. Though not many acknowledged this, and many in the state preferred to raise their young by a single parent, often a Mother or one of her siblings if that.

Being a farming area, there wasn't much civilization, there was more money in war then there was harvesting crops, throughout centuries it became more of a common thing to train to be a part of the Covenant. For Farmers, it was often a poor paying job; cities became bigger and stronger and provided more jobs and protection. Maci understood all of this, the facts and figures but she couldn't allow her own history to be destroyed. As the Last of Durram she would do whatever it takes to return the state back to its former glory, providing that needed protection and aid to many.

For some time Maci had fallen asleep, dreaming about the way Durram once looked, until she felt herself moving, no it was more the fact that she was being shaken. Automatically she jumped at the fear of the phantom going down but to her relief Maci looked up to see Duran who had been trying to wake her.

"You know you slept almost half way through the trip right?"

"I did?"

"Well anyway we've landed and unpacked everything…Just waiting on you now."

"Crap…Wait for me"

Unstrapping herself as fast as she could Maci got out of her seat and followed Duran out of the phantom where she fell under the cover of the darkened sky, her eyes automatically went up to the twin moons, she could remember each and every star and the grassy scent that filled her nostrils all jump started memories of her childhood as she softly smiled. Catching up to Duran who had begun to walk over towards Truun, Sko and the mysterious Silent male, Maci spotted the camp that they had set up, a small fire of sorts and make shift beds as Maci with glee smiled at them.

"Wow Maci…Your armour is quiet the work of art!"

Sko said with delight as he sat with amaze to the glowing blue lights on her armour, this made Maci laugh at him, not thinking that Sko would be one for armour designs, though this was his first time seeing the armour glow so brightly in the open darkness with no lighting apart from the fire. As Maci laughed Truun gave Sko a bump on the shoulder almost sending the poor male off balance, meanwhile and Duran had taken up shift of night watch. Judging by that Maci realized they must have been close to the outskirts of Durram. Maci could make out the faint lights of Vadam but they were still a fair way away from the state's closest city, but out here Maci took in a long deep breath and felt refreshed as if she had been reborn.

Although she had to admit she still could remember the fire that scorched across the hills and fields, but Maci had to admit the seasons over here had done the ground some good, it had become fertile again; it was booming with life, the only problem was part of that life needed to be removed. Looking out into the darkness Maci wondered if the Raiders might have gotten curious enough, but she doubted it. It was far too close to Vadam, and more than likely was too risky taking on a group of Sangheili warriors with an Ultra standing over watch. In a sense it helped Maci relaxed, she had already slept most of the journey and she had no need to sleep, not for a while at least.

However Maci couldn't help but glance from time to time at the strangers back, though he was looking away from her with his back facing her, Maci tried not to look too long in his direction, she didn't want her curiosity to get the better of her but as she finished up eating she stood up and walked over towards Duran.

"Mind if I take over watch for a while?"

"You sure can, I assume you've gotten the best of sleep compared to the other two, so make yourself useful. Let's say it's your first duty to look out shall we?"

Giving a soft light hearted chuckle, Duran sat back down with the others before eventually putting the fire out. Darkness engulfed them in the night but Maci stood tall with pride as the blue glow from her armour illuminated her. Though she could have dimmed down the lighting or turned it off completely, she let the light remain strong and drew in another breath of the field's musky scent once more knowing fully well what tomorrows possibilities were.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the somewhat light hearted chapter. Obviously things will be starting to get more serious for Maci in the next following chapters before the final end.