A/N: I like Andal Brask, and I'm quoting fic I've already written privately for my friends.

Check out Dragon Ball Z: The Space Train for my other work alongside my lovely coauthor Feraligreater.

Prompt 10: NEW MISSION

They went and got drunk out on Io the night before Cayde lost his freedom.

With enough alcohol to kill an elephant shared between them, the two found themselves half-teetering as they kicked their feet over the edge of one of Io's many cliffs. Out beyond them, the place where the Traveler had touched Jupiter's moon.

River was leaning back on her elbows, watching the gas giant above them slowly, slowly turn as clouds drifted lazily to and fro. Cayde hefted the bottle they'd last drained and chucked it over the cliff, and she sat up to watch it sail downward and out of sight, a faint crash finally echoing up to them. He sighed. River leaned over, laid her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. It felt like she was spinning.

"I don't wanna do this," Cayde whined, chucking another empty bottle after the first.

River opened her eyes to see if the spinning would stop - and it did, at least a little. She half-shrugged against him. "It can't be that bad."

Cayde shook his head. "I might as well just be dead. They'll never let me leave the Tower! It's gonna suck!"

"You made the Dare," she pointed out.

He shot a withering look down at her. "Don't rub it in."

Groaning, River lugged herself back upright. She rubbed her head. "Listen, man - it's you or no one. No one else is gonna accept the position. And if the Hunters don't have someone to lead us, it'll be a real shitshow. They need someone to rally behind, like we all did with Andal."

"You could do it," Cayde suggested.

She snorted. He continued. "No, seriously. If it's not that bad, you make a Dare. Let's do it."

"First of all, no," she said, flatly. "Secondly, Dares made shitfaced drunk aren't valid."

"No, they're double valid!" Cayde protested, before throwing himself back on the ground. "Fine, see if I care. I'm gonna be Hunter Vanguard and I'm gonna send you straight to Pluto."

River scoffed, lowered herself down next to him. "Won't have to see your ugly-ass face there."

They laid there quietly for a while, Ghosts acting as sentinels on the watch for any Vex intruders. Cayde rubbed his face. "I just… I miss him, alright. And I don't think I can live up to Andal Brask. Sue me."

"You can," she said, quietly, genuinely. Cayde glanced over to look at her face, which was stoic as she stared up at the sky. "Andal was great, but… you're the best there ever was. Andal said as much."

Cayde made a little psh noise. "No he didn't."

River raised her palm, little orange Ghost materializing above it. "You have the recording from the meeting after the Hellmouth?"

"...yeah, I'm always recording," Clem responded, sounding confused.

River sighed. "Give me the part where he's talking about Cayde. Audio only."

"Cayde is the best Hunter out there - end of." Andal's digital ghost rambled on. "He's reckless and wild, but I trust him with my life. I trust him with everything and anything I am, so I trust him with you."

His voice lapsed into silence as Clementine ended the audio. River looked over at her Exo companion. "Andal's just sending you on another mission, Cayde. He knows you won't fuck it up."

Cayde just stared up at the sky.