Orron.
The voice wasn't malevolent. It was neutral, inquisitive. Orron couldn't hear it so much as he felt it - it was inside his head, behind his eyes. He felt it in his bones, but it didn't resonate the way Rasputin's voice had. It was just...there.
Orron...I know you.
"You don't." Orron found himself answering out loud, but Ana didn't turn back towards him as their made their way through the rapidly widening entrance of the Repository.
I do. I know what you were. What you are now. What you could have been. I can show you.
"Get out of my head."
As you wish.
The throbbing behind his eyes stopped. He found himself breathing heavier, like he had been running. He scanned the walls, the route ahead, for any sign of whatever it had been that he had heard. Nothing. Just the uncomfortably, imperceptibly shifting stone. Ghost, who had materialized to provide illumination, chirped as they rounded a corner.
"Large passage ahead. I don't sense any Vex. Strange."
"This place is wrong." Orron's response came out a bit more forceful, bit more panicked than he wanted.
"It's the Vex. Everything about them is wrong." Ana glanced back, a teasing smile on her face. "Don't tell me the great Orron suddenly has cold feet?"
"It's not-..." Orron grunted in frustration to finish the sentence. Ana shrugged as she kept walking. Her weapon was still on her back - Sturm had found its way into the Titan's hand. She was being too casual, he thought. Had she not been engaged by that...voice...too? Or was she simply letting it invade her mind, claiming to know about her past, luring her with false information?
The chamber Ghost had mentioned opened ahead, a gaping maw that appeared to be the entrance to a much larger room. The shifting stone of the walls was joined by shifting pillars, and a roof that seemed to stretch much further up than possible. Still...no Vex.
Ana looked around, surveying their new environment, while Orron kept Sturm drawn, nervously checking the passage behind him. The Vex, by far, terrified the Titan the most out of any of the enemies of the Light. The Fallen were simply space pirates, a fallen race - mortal beings with mortal weapons. The Cabal were similar, an interstellar empire with a large military. Nothing special. Even the dark magic of the Hive could be understood and defeated. But the Vex...their manipulation of the fabric of time itself meant there was no defeating them. A defeat for the Vex, no matter how total, was only ever a setback. You couldn't destroy time. That - combined with the utterly unnerving environs of the Repository, meant that Orron wasn't holstering his gun until he knew he was safe.
"Seems this is an antechamber. There is a much larger room ahead, but I still cannot sense any Vex presence." Ghost was scanning the walls and pillars as he spoke. "This Repository seems to continue...infinitely."
"Sounds like the Vex." Ana slumped against one of the pillars. "I'm beat. Before we continue into a possibly infinite ruin, we should get some rest."
Orron nodded, wearily. It had been a while since either of them had gotten a break. This room seemed like their best chance. Another sweep of the room assured the Titan that they were safe, and he finally holstered his gun. His helmet clicked as he unsealed it and placed on the floor next to Ana. He joined her, back to the wall, and rubbed his face absentmindedly.
"I don't like this place, Ana."
"We're not here on vacation, Orron."
He made an annoyed noise, his hand brushing the grip of Sturm.
"I...I heard a voice."
Ana turned her head to look at him, her eyes settling on his now. "I did too. I heard many voices - including my own."
"The voice I heard wasn't anyone I know. It was talking to me. It asked me...if I wanted to see my future...and my past."
Ana
The Titan was nervous. His every movement was twitchy, in a way that she'd never seen the usually commanding Titan act. It wasn't just the Vex, she knew. Everyone was unnerved by the Vex, but if the stories about Orron were even half true, he'd faced the worst of their evil and been victorious.
So it had to be his other constant enemy - himself. It came as no surprise when Orron confided in her his inner doubts - an increasingly common occurrence. In a way, Ana was glad - it meant a definite thawing in their relationship. At the same time, she also felt she was more equipped to deal with his icy stare and sarcastic remarks than his troubled past. She nonetheless inclined her head, signalling Orron to continue.
"The voice was off - it...must be a Vex, surely, but it wasn't mechanical, but not human either, or anything like it. I told it to leave, and it did. It was just so...off."
The Titan spoke fast in a single stream of consciousness. She understood his nerves, but she couldn't recall another time he'd been so shaken, not even when he'd been pierced by the scavenger slug round.
"Did...it...give you any information? Any details?"
"No."
Ana considered this answer, then considered saying something more, but decided against it. She tapped him on the shoulder in a friendly sort of way.
"You're strong, Orron. I know you've gone through hell and back for no reason other than it was your duty. I have no doubt whatever we find in this vault...you'll have the strength to overcome it."
She believed what she was saying; she only hoped the Titan did too. He nodded, shifting his jaw like he was trying to harden his own resolve.
"We have rules as Guardians, Ana. We can't know our past. This...thing...might be a Vex weapon, some way to disrupt us. I wouldn't put it past them."
"Neither would I. But look at me. My past is part of me. Am I Vex weapon?"
Orron smiled slightly, a recognizable thing that Ana was starting to really enjoy.
"Don't think so. You're an exception."
"Normal people have pasts and histories, too. They get to live their lives just fine. Guardians aren't so different."
Orron shook his head, not in aggressive disagreement, just disbelief. It's a step, Ana thought.
"'Normal people' don't have the burden that we do, Ana. They don't have to live a life of war. We don't have the luxury of our pasts. We shouldn't, at least."
"You sound like Rasputin."
ORRON
That name, again. Always that name. Rasputin. The warmind literally and figuratively loomed above the system, his machinations unknown and inscrutable. This adventure had begun with the mysterious relic of the Golden Age. Orron was no Warlock, but if he had a guess, it would be that it'd end with it too. Rasputin's role so far had been limited, he thought. All the pair had were pieces of pieces. Orron couldn't help but think the Warmind was content to remain limited. Inaccessible. The most immediate problem, he decided, was Prince Uldren.
"Orron?"
Ana's voice interrupted him. An increasingly common occurrence. Not that he minded...really.
"Hm? Just thinking."
"You do that a lot."
"You should try it sometime. It's good."
"You sound like Rasputin, again."
He allowed her a thin smile, before resting his head back on the pillar that had become their makeshift respite. The walls continued to shift, whispering their unsettling words still.
"Orron."
He turned to face her, the immediacy in her voice marking this next exchange as not one of mocking.
"The day we met Rasputin. On Mars. Why did you tell me to give you an update? Why...break protocol like that?"
His mind, usually whirling with thoughts and retorts and biting comments, suddenly went blank. He looked at her, his eyes scanning her face. A slight smile crept onto her lips, and he felt a little twinge of...happiness? Guilt? Banish these thoughts and answer.
"I do not know."
"You don't know? That's not the Orron I know."
"That action was not a very...me-like one, was it?"
"No." Her smile had grown to a full one, her voice light. "No it was not."
"I guess I...saw something in you."
Careful, you idiot. Don't say something unbecoming.
'...Lieutenant Valte, for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman…'
STOP.
"The makings of a good Guardian. I wanted to help."
"Help?"
"I guess I wanted...to bring you home. To the city."
Ana suddenly looked sad. He hesitated, thinking over what he had said, if there had been anything hurtful - he was past that stage with her -...
"The city isn't my home, Orron. My real home was destroyed centuries ago."
He didn't know how to respond to that. He had never been good at these types of things, comforting sad people. He stumbled over a couple answers in his head, then decided on just nodding slowly. An awkward gesture, he knew.
"Let's...get some rest. We both need it. We'll wake up in a few hours, alright?"
Ana just nodded. He leaned back on the pillar and closed his eyes, banishing whatever disruptive memory fragments might disturb his sleep to the back of his head. He was out quickly; the mental strain of the Repository had taken it's toll.
He barely felt as Ana Bray rested her head on his shoulder.
OOC: Bit of a shorter one today. Being home from school due to COVID-19 means plenty of time to write! My goal with this chapter was to serve as a bridge in the story, to collect my characterizations, if that makes sense. Hopefully you guys like it - writing romance is hard!
Stay safe and healthy, all of you!
