Sundance Entry Log 211
The camera flicks on to a gasp, a bright light fading and allowing color and shape back into the world. Sundance finds her partner instantly, the frame swiveling to him as the Exo stumbles on his feet, looking slightly dazed. Stumbles, because he has both of his legs back, as well as both arms, he realizes, momentarily staring at his gloved hand in wonder. It only takes the viewer a single moment for things to become clear: he'd been revived, forcefully it seems, seeing as he hadn't been dead before. Reset to be whole and well again. Cayde's stunned expression lasts a whole five seconds before he quite suddenly pivots around, his movements slightly frantic.
"Skylar!" he calls out, eyes shifting around.
"Cayde?" The sound comes from back where he'd been looking and so he wheels back around, the feed panning to follow his gaze. Skylar stands, a single hand on her hip, head cocked slightly with a smile on her face. She's whole again as well, her armor fixed and every trace of blood gone. "Looking for me-"
Her question is cut off, the air knocked out of her as her boyfriend blink-steps across the distance and nearly tackles her. Her stumble is caught in tangling arms that pull her close and a hand that clutches at the back of her head.
"You're okay," Cayde breathes out, relief in every fiber of his body. Not just because she's alive, but because she hasn't forgotten him. The feed zooms out and up, catching the amber-haired woman blinking a bit before smiling and nuzzling his neck through his hood.
"Of course I am."
"You died…"
"No."
"But I saw you-"
"She's correct," Sterling informs the Exo as he flashes into existence, moving in front of the hunter. "Skylar's heart was still beatin' when The Traveler was set free, so she never died." He blinks his green eye. "Though it was hardly any less worrisome."
Cayde lets out a slightly weary laugh.
"No kidding." Pulling away slightly, he meets her golden-orange gaze and frowns. "Don't ever do that again. You're going to make me lose my damn mind."
Twice he'd thought her dead, only to be proven wrong, and twice he was reminded of the fragility of their existence and their happiness. Skylar's brows pull together, her smile dropping.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen… But if I'd moved, Cayde…"
"I know." He scowls, fully aware that no matter what had happened, one of them could have died and that she'd made the choice she did because her wound wouldn't have been instantly fatal. "Doesn't mean I ever want you to do it again."
He looks like he might shake her to get the point across, but she gives him a small smile and reaches up to touch his face, her hand covering the hollow of his cheek.
"I can't promise that," she murmurs. "But I'll do my best."
She's not willing to leave him to die just to save her own ass, that much is clear and Cayde knows it. He huffs, but doesn't protest – how can he? If their roles were reversed, he'd say the same thing. So instead of arguing a losing battle, he does something else. Namely, kissing her, and none too gently either. Instead, it's insistent and desperate and he shivers slightly when she slides her hand down his neck. Pulling away he lets out a long breath, staring her down and eyeing her flushed complexion – a sign of life and wellness – for a long moment. Then, slowly, he raises his own hand to brush his thumb along the edge of her blue guardian marking that's back where it belongs and finds that it covers up the scar at her temple almost completely. It seems, healed wounds from their time without Light will remain, a reminder of what they almost lost, and a warning to never let it happen again.
"Are you two alright?" Ikora's voice breaks the small silence and both Hunters pull away to look off-screen as the warlock and Zavala walk into view, both in perfect condition.
"Looks like it," Cayde answers, glancing at Skylar who nods her head. Both other Vanguard leaders look relieved, even Zavala's shoulders seem to sag a bit, which Cayde catches but surprisingly doesn't mention. He might later. "That was way too close for comfort." He comments, receiving nods in replies.
"You can say that again," Skylar grumbles and is given a rather loud reply from off-screen at her words.
"Hey, you got a problem with it then you can go kill the bad guy next time," comes Z's familiar teasing tone and Skylar perks, before all four Guardians turn to look the other way. Once more, the feed pans slightly watch as both Z and Haar walk towards them, the former stopping a few feet away and giving a mock bow, arms flourishing out. "Your saviors return."
Haar snorts, and Zavala shakes his head while Ikora smiles along with the other two Hunters. Skylar pulls from Cayde completely to join her fireteam, the Exo looking after her as she does so. She gives them an expecting look, brows rising.
"Did you punt him off the ship?"
"Not the ship," Haar informs her, raising a shoulder in a half shrug. "But I managed to knock him off his perch and flat on his back. That count?"
She narrows her eyes at him, considering.
"I suppose…"
Z lets out a small laugh, before rather suddenly stepping forward and pulling her into a hug, much like Cayde had but with less force and not as handsy. It seems Skylar was expecting this one, because she returns it rather quickly, letting her chin rest on his shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay," Z tells her, relief in his voice that wasn't there before, his words quiet enough that the feed almost doesn't catch them, even as the camera zooms in. Skylar just smiles, moving to let go, only for both Hunters to get yanked into a sideways hug by their large Titan teammate, crushing them both together and getting a surprised squeak from her and a low curse from Z. "What the hell Haar? Let go!"
"In a moment," the Exo tells them, "I need to make sure both of my reckless teammates are in one piece."
He is, after all, the one who makes sure they do come back from missions – their shield, an exo who's far too compassionate and snarky to be a proper titan.
"Of course, we are!" Z grumbles still squirming. "This is getting awkward."
Skylar, on the other hand, seems to either have accepted it or is enjoying it as she lets out a round of giggles. A few seconds later, and the Titan lets go, both Hunters stepping away from each other as Z mutters under his breath and straightens the cowl of his cloak. Skylar shakes her head, her eyes drawn beyond them and up, causing her friends to do the same, the camera following suit moments later.
The City seems gilded in light, rays from the rising sun breaking through the clouds in golden ribbons, somehow turning the sieged land from dismal to hopeful. Above the City, the Traveler glows even brighter, an etheric white-blue light surrounding it along with pieces of it that seem to have broken off in the struggle to free itself. They float on the empty air, held there by otherworldly magic and slowly spin around the god-like sphere. It is silent and ever-watching, but it is alive and finally – finally awake.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Haar's voice comes from off-screen. "All this time I've been alive and I came to terms with never seeing it."
"Me to," Z agrees. "Sure took its damn time."
"It's beautiful," Skylar states, a sense of wonder in her voice.
Slowly, as if the Ghost itself can hardly bear to tear its gaze from its creator, the frame moves back to the three heroes of the city just in time to see the Vanguard joining them at the edge of the walkways, where they must have moved to off-screen. Ikora and Zavala move to flank the three on either side, while Cayde simply slips in behind Skylar and pulls her against his chest.
"Light has returned to the City," Zavala states, hands on the railing looking over it, and as if his words are a signal, a sound starts up from below. Quiet at first, it builds quickly and surely, turning from some distant murmur into peels of cheering from the freed and once more safe citizens of The Last Safe City, the Cabal forces fleeing and gone. The six of them seem to bask in that sound for a few minutes, perhaps only truly able to really believe that they'd done it – that they'd won and gotten back their home – once they'd heard the sounds of the people they were sworn to protect.
They need this – all of them. A moment in time where they felt like heroes and where the struggle truly felt worthwhile. Their trial is over, at least for the moment. Skylar presses back into Cayde's chest, her hands covering the ones knotted around her waist as he tightened his hold. Haar says something to Ikora the feed can't pick up while Z just leans his forearms on the railing, a satisfied look on his face. Zavala even cracks a small smile at the reality of it, but only for a few moments before he reverts to his duty-bound self.
"We should begin providing relief resources immediately," he instructs, pulling away from the railing and looking to the others. Ikora nods her head and does the same.
"Indeed. It's time we got back to being the leaders the people need us to be. Without the Speaker, we'll have our work cut out for us." With that they leave, disappearing from the frame of the camera and Haar watches them go, turning to look at his team and Cayde.
"We should probably help." He doesn't sound all that eager, probably a bit more than a little tired after everything but even Z nods his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I guess we should." He gestures in the direction the Warlock and Titan went. "Let's catch up with them then. Sooner we do this, the sooner we can find a bed."
They move, walking towards the end of the frame and surprisingly, Cayde does the same, grabbing Skylar's hand and tugging her forward, only for her to stop after a few feet. The Exo blinks, stopping as well to look at her, titling his head in question. She just smiles and moves a little closer to him.
"My answer's yes, you know," she tells him, and he blinks at her, confused.
"I'm not sure what you mean."
She rolls her eyes, her smile growing wider before she reaches out and pokes the end of his horn, making him go a bit cross-eyed for a moment.
"Yes, I'll move in with you."
The silence that follows her words seems to freeze Cayde in place as he realizes that despite the condition she'd been in, she'd still heard him talking. Still heard him ask her that fragile, hopeful dream – and she'd said yes.
"Cayde?" Skylar asks after a few moments, slightly worried.
As if her words have shattered the ice he'd become frozen in, he moves, releasing her hand only to grab her under the knees and her back, picking her up and spinning her, jerking her cloak like a dress' skirt. Cayde grins, straining the hinges of his jaw as Skylar shrieks at the sudden move – clearly, he either doesn't do this often or he never has before – but it's a happy sound nonetheless, followed up by a short laugh. Behind her, Z and Haar have stopped, both now sporting looks of surprise that after a moment morph into ones of amusement. Looking at his friend, Z waves a hand to beckon the Titan and without a word they continue, leaving the frame entirely.
That leaves the camera free to zoom in on the Hunters alone as Skylar wraps an arm around Cayde's neck and uses her free hand to brush the opposite side of his jaw, dragging her thumb up the slope and into his hood. There is an aura of pure joy around them, an elated freedom from worries and pain that both of them have needed for a long time. It wipes away every trace of negative emotions, leaving the sunlight to set Skylar's amber eyes alight as she gives him a smile meant for him and him alone. Pressing her forehead to his, her hair tangling against his horn, she lets her eyelids drop halfway to stare into his eyes, a peaceful moment caught in a few moments of time.
"I love you," she tells him, quietly, but no less meaningful or truthful and the look in Cayde's eyes – synthetic or not – brightens with his silent response as he gazes upon her face. He doesn't need to say it – she already knows. It's as if she's given him the world with those words. The world and everything else he could possibly ever need.
It's a moment – just a few long seconds captured on film – that speaks to who they are and what they mean to each other. It's a moment that one could live in for eternity and never long for another.
It's a moment where they both belong.
This is technology, where the main story ends, but there's still more to tell that's just as important. The never seven chapters area about the aftermath of the war and what happens during the two expansions between it and Forsaken. Prepare for funny, adorable, meaningful moments.
Anyway, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!