To say Kyler was feeling discombobulated would be an understatement.
He didn't keep a precise track of time on the Shore but he knew it had been a month, at the very least, since Harley had killed Uldren Sov. He hadn't expected the Hunter to return at all, let alone so soon.
The wind whipped around them as the pike roared across the empty desert. Harley sat in front of him, slightly hunched over. Kyler didn't trust him to not fall off had he sat on the back of the pike. At the time, he'd felt a bit silly for thinking it, but having had some time to study the Hunter, he now felt justified in his concern.
Something about Harley had changed. He'd been different the last time Kyler had seen him; when he was hunting the Scorned Barons across the Shore. Sharper-edged. Angrier. But that was natural. He had just lost Cayde, after all.
This time, he was different in a new way. It was like something inside him was missing, leaving an emptiness deep within.
But before Kyler could follow that train of thought further, he felt the ground subtly change beneath the pike. They were approaching the edge of the asteroid.
He leaned forward so Harley could hear him over the rumble of the pike and the wind. "We're about to make the last jump!" he warned, "Hold on!"
The route from where he'd found Harley back to his cabin crossed several different asteroids, necessitating them to jump the gaps between. The lantern mounted to the pike illuminated the abrupt drop of the edge as they approached. Kyler took one hand off of the handlebars to hold Harley in place as the pike hurtled over the gap, landing with a jolt on the adjacent asteroid.
He let himself relax slightly. They were in the home stretch now.
When they finally reached the cabin, Kyler parked the pike, watching as Harley got up. He'd always known the Hunter to have nigh impeccable balance, yet he walked with an unsteady gait towards the cabin. Kyler fought back any attempt or offer of assistance. He knew it wouldn't be welcome. Instead, he just followed Harley to the structure, moving in front of him to unlock the door.
As they entered, Kyler turned on the lights, filling the small space with a warm glow. He gestured to the bed as he shrugged off his overcoat. "Have a seat."
He didn't keep any chairs in the cabin as they would have cluttered the space too much. He heard Harley sigh as the Hunter crossed over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. Harley's posture seemed to sag and suddenly he looked even more exhausted.
Kyler perched on a trunk that stood against the wall. He looked at the Hunter for a long moment before speaking.
"Do you remember what I said to you before you left to kill the Mindbender?" Something flashed in Harley's eyes. Kyler didn't know if it was recognition or pain. He continued. "I told you not to wind up dying in the desert again… Obviously, it didn't take."
The Hunter bristled at his words. "I wasn't dying." His tone was irritated but something about it sounded empty, like there was no real effort behind it.
Kyler scoffed. "Sure you weren't." He sighed. "I don't know why you were out there and to be honest, I'm not sure I wanna know. But if there's something I can help you with-"
Harley cut him off. "There isn't."
Kyler held up his hands in surrender. It was clear the Hunter wasn't about to divulge his reasons for returning to the Tangled Shore. Any further attempt to find out would only be met with hostility.
"Fine." Kyler freed his canteen from his belt and tossed it to Harley. "Drink, then get some rest," he said, "I'm going to make food."
Harley's eyes narrowed, but he unscrewed the cap. Kyler got to his feet and moved over to the small counter to begin preparing a meal.
Somewhere in between chopping ingredients and heating up water, he glanced over at Harley to see him fast asleep. The Hunter was sprawled on his back, one leg still hanging off of the edge of the bed. Kyler almost went to move it, but stopped himself. Harley was a light sleeper. If Kyler touched him, he'd wake up. So he continued making the food even while his mind remained focused on Harley.
Maybe the Hunter hadn't left the Shore after killing Uldren. Maybe he'd stuck around. But that didn't seem right. Kyler was pretty sure he would've heard if Harley had stayed. Being friends with Yyrhicks came with its perks. Which begged the question: what had brought Harley back to the Shore? It couldn't be anything good. Nothing concerning the Tangled Shore was ever good.
He could only hope that the Hunter changed his mind about sharing.
Leaving the pot to simmer behind him, he turned to examine Harley. He was missing his usual armor - or at least the armor he'd been wearing the last time Kyler had seen him. The set he wore looked old and a bit battered, except for the cloak. The cloak, Kyler knew, was Awoken design. He'd seen enough of Awoken society to know. Occasionally, he would make trips off of the Shore to other parts of the Reef.
Where had Harley gotten an Awoken-made cloak? Had Petra Venj given it to him? Kyler had never met Petra, but he knew who she was. The Awoken generally made a point of avoiding interactions with outsiders, especially Guardians. Kyler didn't know of any Awoken who would willingly give a Guardian any kind of armor, so it had to be Petra.
But Yyrhicks had told him that the Queen's Wrath had left the Shore, apparently in the company of another Guardian. That had been interesting news in itself, yet Kyler now wondered if it had anything to do with Harley's return.
He glanced at Harley again, noting the slight crease in the Hunter's forehead. Whatever reason Harley had for coming back, it was clear that all was not well.
The last time Kyler had found him, Harley had been sporting a gunshot wound left by a Devourer Bullet that was slowly sapping his Light. That wasn't the case this time, but finding the Hunter lying in the middle of nowhere, seemingly exhausted, had its own host of red flags. Not to mention the fact that Kyler had yet to see Prism. Aside from her initial message asking Kyler to come and find them, she hadn't said anything or made any kind of appearance. He hoped nothing was wrong with her.
Kyler retrieved his lantern with a sigh and left the cabin to make sure everything was secured outside. After locking up the pike, he performed a quick perimeter check and scanned the surrounding area with an infrared viewer. Nothing stirred. Satisfied that nothing had followed the pike back to his cabin, he went back inside.
Kyler was greeted with the sound of something clattering against the floor. Instantly, he was on alert, eyes flicking around the room.
He didn't have to look far.
Harley was thrashing in the bed, apparently having knocked a few items off of the nightstand. Kyler shut the door and set down the lantern. He knew what was happening.
For as long as he'd known Harley, the Hunter had been plagued by nightmares. Clearly, that hadn't changed. It looked as though Harley was battling some invisible adversary - which probably wasn't far from the truth. Kyler wanted to help, but he knew this had to be approached with some degree of caution. He could easily get hit or kicked. Harley might even unconsciously use his Light if he perceived Kyler as a threat.
"Ace, wake up!" Kyler called.
Harley didn't register his words.
The mechanic sighed but began to move carefully towards him. Ducking under Harley's wild swings, he grabbed the Hunter's shoulders. "Wake up!"
Harley clawed at Kyler's arms, trying to dislodge his grip. Fortunately, his gloves were still on so it didn't particularly hurt. Harley's legs were kicking out, but Kyler was standing close enough to the side that they couldn't make contact with him.
"Ace!" he said sharply. When that still didn't work, he caught Harley's wrists to prevent the Hunter from striking at him. "Wake. Up."
He could feel Harley pulling against his grip, trying to free himself, but the attempts were lacking in their usual strength.
Kyler frowned. "Ace, you're having a nightmare. You need to wake up."
Gradually, he felt Harley's movements subside. The Hunter's eyes opened blearily and then widened. His body tensed and Kyler guessed what was about to happen before it did.
Harley yanked his wrists towards him, compromising Kyler's balance as he hooked his leg behind Kyler's knee and pulled, sending the mechanic crashing to the floor. Before Kyler could recover, Harley launched at him, landing a blow on his face. Kyler reacted instinctively, kicking out at the Hunter. Harley staggered back and Kyler pressed his advantage, pushing himself up and lunging at Harley.
Where the Hunter's attack had been uncoordinated - all action and no thought - Kyler moved with intent and control.
He managed to dodge Harley's wild swings and secure him in a headlock.
"Ace, it's me," he said, "You're in my cabin on the Tangled Shore. You had a nightmare. You're safe." Harley's struggling died down a bit. "You're safe," Kyler repeated.
The last of the fight left the Hunter's body. Kyler waited a few seconds longer before releasing his hold.
He felt a bit guilty. He knew Harley hadn't fully recovered from the circumstances of their last parting in the City. Not to mention, the mechanic hadn't been in full control of himself either. Harley's attack had triggered an automatic retaliatory response from him.
Harley turned. His breathing was still elevated, but evening out.
"Sorry," said Kyler, "I didn't want you to hurt yourself. I should've been more careful about waking you."
Harley waved dismissively. "It's fine." The raspy quality was back in his voice.
Kyler felt even more guilty. He wanted to protest that it wasn't fine.
"Sorry for punching you," said Harley.
"Sorry for kicking you," replied Kyler.
Something occurred to him as he watched the Hunter calm down. He had noticed while restraining Harley that the Hunter was wearing metal bands around his wrists. They might be just another part of his armor, but Kyler was still curious.
"Ace?"
Harley glanced up, silently acknowledging him.
"Those things on your wrists… Are they part of your armor?" asked Kyler, "Arm guards or something?"
Harley opened his mouth to reply but ended up just shaking his head. An uneasy feeling crept into Kyler's chest. If the bands weren't part of Harley's armor, they must serve some other kind of purpose. "What are they?"
Harley hesitated, conflict in his eyes. He dropped his gaze. "They… they're Praxic Order restraining bands," he admitted, "They suppress my Light."
Suddenly a lot of things made sense. Kyler knew it had been too easy for him to overpower Harley. The mechanic wasn't a Guardian, after all. And the fact that he'd found Harley in the condition he was in… Kyler's eyebrows were pinched together. He didn't know much about the Praxic Order, just that they worked like Guardian Internal Affairs. Still, it was cruel of them to suppress a Guardian's Light and leave them to fend for themselves in the Wilds.
"Why did they put those on you?" he asked.
Harley's jaw tightened and Kyler sensed that he'd stumbled upon a sensitive topic. "Let's just say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," said the Hunter bitterly.
"So what? They put those on you and release you into the system to get killed by whatever enemy of humanity sees you first?"
Harley flinched at the venom in Kyler's voice. Kyler felt a bit bad about that, but he was pissed. Who did the Praxic Order think they were?
"Not exactly," said the Hunter.
"What do you mean 'not exactly?'" Kyler demanded. Prying answers from Harley was proving to be more arduous than he'd expected.
"They never actually released me."
Kyler's eyes widened at the implications of that. So Harley had escaped from the Praxic Order. But why in the world would he choose the Tangled Shore as a place to hide? He wanted to ask more questions but he was pretty sure he wouldn't get any answers. At least, not the ones he was looking for.
He sighed. "I can take a look at them if you want?" he offered, "Try and get them off or power them down maybe."
Harley drew his wrists close to himself. "No thanks," he told Kyler.
The mechanic sighed again. "Look, Ace, I don't know anything about Praxic Order tech, but I didn't get a job under Amanda Holliday just because of my pretty face," Kyler deadpanned, taking a step closer, "Maybe I can do something about those."
Harley took a step back. "They're fine," he said, an edge creeping into his voice.
Kyler recognized the Hunter's body language. Harley was as tense as a coiled spring. The mechanic backed off, raising his hands. "Alright," he said, "You win. I won't do anything... Are you feeling up to eating something?"
Harley frowned at the abrupt change of topic, but some of the tension eased from his posture. "I suppose."
Kaedro paced along the battlements of Felwinter Peak, muttering expletives. Shiro watched him from nearby, hands on his hips. A few of the wolves lounged next to the Exo, watching Kaedro's movements with idle interest. Every once in a while, Kaedro would add a new curse word.
Shiro had yet to say anything, so he was a bit surprised when the other Hunter finally interrupted him. "You're getting dangerously close to running out of words, Kay," he said, his tone deliberately light.
Kaedro paused, turning to face the other Exo. "I think I can get creative."
"I don't doubt that," said Shiro, "However, I do wonder how effective this method of yours is in finding Harley."
Kaedro shot him an irritated look. "You could be helping," he pointed out.
"I'm sure you've long exhausted my vocabulary of curses," Shiro said dryly.
"That's not what I meant," said Kaedro.
"I know. I'm just saying that it might be a good idea for you to put your creative thinking skills to a different use than coming up with new swear words." As if to punctuate his statement, one of the wolves gave a small huff.
Kaedro glanced at it for a moment before returning his attention to Shiro. "I don't know what you want me to do here, Shi," he said frustratedly, "It's been over a day since Ace flew outta here. No way of tracking him, no indication of where he's gone. I'd say the trail's more than cold."
It annoyed him that Harley had gotten so good at covering his tracks. He'd changed a lot from when Kaedro had first met him, that was for sure. He didn't think the old Harley would have even dreamt of trying to evade the Praxic Order.
"You know the kid better than I do," Shiro pointed out, "You must have some idea of where he might go."
Kaedro sighed. There were a hell of a lot of places in the solar system that Harley could have gone. Kaedro's first guess was either Venus or Mercury, but there was no telling whether Harley would have guessed they were the first places people would look for him.
"Not enough to make a real difference," he told Shiro, "Besides, kid was off the grid for a while before he showed up to avenge Cayde so I dunno how much my knowledge is worth."
"I know what you mean," said Shiro, "Unfortunately, all the best people for tracking ships are the ones after him. We can't exactly ask them for help."
"It might not matter," Kaedro said grimly, "They'll probably be here sooner or later."
He hated how much his hands were tied by the current situation. He had no way of knowing where Harley was, or what condition he was in. The Praxic Order and whoever else was after his friend would probably find their way to the Peak eventually. He could only hope that when that happened, they wouldn't have any more of an idea where the Hunter had gone than he and Shiro did.
Kaedro wanted to contact Rogue and Tristan about the untimely development, seeing as they were the ones who had filled him in on Harley's circumstances in the first place. But he didn't trust the comms and he was reluctant to fly to the Tower. Not only would he have to borrow Shiro's ship, but there was also a chance the Vanguard would catch him and stick him in the Hunter Vanguard position.
Some Guardians might think that avoiding the Tower was going over the top, but it was worth it to Kaedro. He'd go just as crazy as Cayde had if he was cooped up in the Tower day in and day out. He definitely wouldn't handle it as well as Andal had.
"I don't feel safe contacting Rogue or Tristan," he told Shiro, "But they need to know that Ace isn't here."
"I agree," said Shiro, "The Praxic Order wouldn't be above listening in on communications. Either your message would have to be heavily encoded or you'll have to wait until one of them makes contact first."
"Seems like the only option," sighed Kaedro, "Ace will just have to hold out on his own for a while."
Harley had been staying with Kyler for all of two days and the mechanic had already had to deal with three escape attempts.
In this case "escape" was a relatively loose term. However, Harley had seemingly convinced himself that his presence would only bring trouble for Kyler. He had brought up the topic of his departure many times and each time, Kyler had shot him down.
When it became clear to the Hunter that Kyler wasn't going to let him just walk away, Harley had taken it upon himself to leave. This, in turn, led to Kyler starting to sleep in front of the cabin door as a further deterrence.
He didn't know why Harley felt so strongly about it, but he wasn't about to let the Hunter disappear into the Shore with no Light. That was a death sentence waiting to happen. Harley had admitted that he wasn't sure if Prism could revive him while the Praxic bands remained. This only made Kyler more determined to stop him.
Currently, they were at an impasse. Harley would surely take the first opportunity he got. Kyler had to stick around to keep an eye on him, but this meant he was neglecting his usual errands. Yet he still wouldn't budge.
More often than not, the pair of them remained inside the cabin. Kyler would cook, make repairs, or work on whatever his various clients commissioned him to build or fix. He wasn't sure what Harley did, since the Hunter seemed to spend most of his time sitting on the bed and staring out the small window.
Kyler was aware of the restless nature of Hunters, especially Harley. He was confident that it was the key to his triumph. He just needed to be patient and hope the supplies he had would last long enough.
Harley didn't talk much. Of course, he could be having mental conversations with his Ghost but Kyler was pretty sure that wasn't the case. He still hadn't seen Prism appear. Perhaps they were fighting. Kyler had never seen Harley fight with Prism but he knew they disagreed occasionally. He didn't bother asking about it as he knew Harley wouldn't tell him.
If the Hunter wanted to play the waiting game, then he would find Kyler was a willing opponent.
A/N: A little glimpse into Kyler's thoughts, as well as what Shiro and Kaedro are up to. We're steadily approaching the story's end so get your guesses in now lol. Honestly, I'm just happy to have gotten this chapter out before MCC (Minecraft Championship) today. Hope you enjoyed!