The noise from the Crucible arena could be heard long before they reached it. People were crowded around the rooftops, Guardians and civilians alike. Some watched giant monitors that flashed between sections of the area while the teams prepared for battle.

Franz and Beorn had beaten Sisre and Wren to the arena and saved them spots on the front wall of a roof that was over capture point A. It was far out from the center of the map, but it had great sight lines anyway and the monitors could be easily seen as well.

Wren leaned over the edge of the building to see the stone and metal walls scared and pitted by bullets. A throwing knife was wedged into the mortar several feet down. The arena was rather small, consisting of a narrow passage down the middle where grass grew thick between buildings. Rusted cars dotted the mid area, allowing plenty of places to hide or take cover.

The buildings themselves lined both sides of the grassy passage, giving the arena a tight, almost claustrophobic feel. Wren didn't necessarily enjoy that, but it would be a nice range for her hand cannon.

"You'll wanna step back before Shaxx starts the round," Franz said.

"Hm?" Wren leaned away from the edge of the building.

"There's a shield that comes up when the timer starts," Rorick explained, pushing through the crowd to join them. "It keeps Guardians and civilians safe, as well as allowing the Guardians within to fight with little outside noise or interference."

"Oh, okay." Wren put her hands on the edge of the rooftop wall. "Is this okay?"

Rorick nodded and Sisre slipped her arm around his waist. Wren settled in between her and Beorn, eager to watch the match when Shaxx emerged from a doorway at the end of the arena. He raised the Crucible flag high and the crowd cheered. Behind him came two teams of three, one of which led by Cayde who had a blue band tied around his right arm. He raised his hands and called out, urging the crowd on.

Wren laughed and shook her head. What an attention hound. Yet, she admired his confidence. He looked up at her and raised one hand like a gun and "shot" as he winked at her. What an idiot! Sisre nudged her elbow and Wren could barely hear her giggle through the roaring crowd.

Cayde took off running, leading his team toward the other end of the arena where Alpha team would take starting positions on the other side of point C while Bravo took their place in a building across from point A.

Shaxx stated the rules and the score cap before taking his place atop a tower near capture point B where he had an array of monitors and druids watching them. He called for everyone to clear the shield area and once the arena was secured, the match began.

All was quiet at first as the teams went for their first captures of A and C, the points they were closest to. Wren could see a timer indicator for each point with A and C progressing at almost identical rates. Then B's started to move and somehow Wren knew it was Cayde. She looked to a monitor that was following Cayde and sure enough he was standing in B, Ace of Spades at the ready and he… was different.

Wren's hands gripped the brick half wall that separated her from the arena. His features were set, harsh, and focused. The enemy team rushed him on B while his teammates skirted around the opposite side of the arena, headed to A. She couldn't believe how fluid his movements were. He dropped two from the enemy team before the third wizened up and ran.

Cayde didn't stick with his team much, but it didn't hinder them at all. He would sneak up behind his enemies and corral them toward his team. It was as if he had eyes in every direction the way he could react seemingly without thought. She'd never seen anyone fight with such a natural flow, and yet there was a rowdy recklessness to some of the things he did.

The rest of the sounds from the arena were drowned out as she zeroed in on him, entranced. And a little afraid knowing she'd be facing him next. And… something else she couldn't quite place.

When the match was over Beorn and Franz retold it, arguing over the best parts, complete with sound effects from Franz. They pulled Rorick into the conversation as they all headed down with the rest of the crowd to get food and drinks while they waited for the next match to start.

"Wren?" Sisre asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Wren hadn't noticed she'd drifted off until she looked up at Sisre's mischievous expression. "Are you okay? You're blushing."

"Yeah I'm fine… just fine…" Wren's voice faltered. She wasn't sure what she was feeling but she couldn't get her mind off Cayde fighting.

Sisre leaned in closer as they walked. "I saw you during the match. You didn't take your eyes off him. I think you were drooling." She laughed.

"What? No, it's nothing like that," Wren insisted, though she knew Sisre was right. The only times she'd lost sight of him was in areas of the arena that the monitors didn't show, dead zones. "I'm trying to get ready for the next match."

"You sure you can fight against him? You might get too distracted by those rippling Exo biceps," Sisre teased. Wren couldn't help but grin and push Sisre. "I can't believe you have the hots for Cayde when he's fighting. Then again…"

"It really isn't like that."

"Alright, alright. All jokes aside, Cayde shows no mercy in Crucible. One reason people love to watch him fight. And you have a whole slew of people here today to see the two of you head-to-head."

"I won't lie, I'm a little nervous. I knew he was good, everyone says so, but I wasn't expecting that."

"Do you have a strategy now that you've watched him?"

"I don't know if it's possibly to strategize against that. It didn't seem like he did anything that could be predictable. And he uses everything to his advantage." Wren shook her head. "The idea was that we could fight in the Crucible and I might be able to do something worth being noticed by a den, if only it meant getting my name out of the mud. Keep people from thinking he's showing favoritism. But now? This might have been a bad idea."

"Look at it this way, it's better for you to lose. If you win, people really will think he's playing favorites and he's going to know that. If he wins, especially if he wins by killing you, I think that'll look better for you than if you beat the brakes off him."

"You think he did that on purpose?"

Sisre shrugged. "Who knows? Sometimes Cayde's as dense as a rock, and other times he surprises me. Maybe the dumb thing is just an act. I doubt it, but I guess anything is possible."

Shaxx called for Wren over the crowd and motioned her to come to him.

"I guess it's time," she said and Sisre wished her luck.

Shaxx led Wren to an area locked away from the public where she could get ready for her match. The other two teammates chosen for Beta were already there. Two Titans. One of them was using a loadout similar to Sisre's with a sniper rifle that was taller than the Titan female wielding it and a scout rifle over her back. The other Titan was a male, short for a Titan with broad shoulders. He nodded to her as he racked a shotgun and put it on his back. His other weapon was an auto rifle.

"I'm Yuri," the female said. "And that's Brute. You're Wren right?"

"I am."

"I heard about what you did. With the Sword of Crota and the Black Garden. You've been busy," she said cheerfully.

Wren grinned. "I've never been in the Crucible before."

"That's alright," Brute said. "We're not in here much either. We're part of the engineering core. Thought we'd take a break and have some fun. I wasn't sure why Cayde was out here but if you're here I guess it makes sense."

"It does?" Wren asked.

"Yeah," Yuri said, "Cayde likes to push his Hunters that rise fast like you are."

Brute snorted. "Right. More like, he puts his Hunters in their place if they rise too fast. Likes to show them that he's still the boss."

"He's not like that," Yuri rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. But hey, have fun. It'll be fine."

Wren changed into her armor, checked her knives, and put on her helmet as Shaxx came in to give them their red bands for Beta team. He explained that the game rules had been decided by Alpha team. No capturing of points, three lives a piece, winner is the team with the last person standing.

Sisre was right. Cayde had set it up this way on purpose. Through her helmet Wren glanced at her teammates. Yuri with her long-range weapons would likely have a hard time here. There weren't many long sight lines, though Wren figured the thought process was to keep Cayde as far away as possible. Not a bad idea, but Wren wasn't sure how well it would work.

On the other hand Brute carrying the shotgun might be too close range. The Ace of Spades seemed to be able to pick people off farther away than Wren thought it would. The auto rifle might help? Wren put her hand on her Better Devils and hopes it could stand up to the test. She twisted the little bird's chain around her finger and took a deep breath. She adjusted the strap on the scout rifle on her back as Shaxx led them out of the locker room into a narrow hall where the other team was waiting to walk out with them.

Wren blinked in the sunlight as they walked out into the arena, the crowd cheering all around from the rooftops. Her stomach fluttered and Cayde did his little hype up routine, leading the teams into the arena. Wren followed the Titans toward the building across from point A where they would begin the match while Cayde's team went toward the other side of the arena.

She could hear Shaxx in her helmet when he called for the barrier areas to be cleared, then the roaring crowd dulled. Like she was hearing them from behind very thick glass. They went from being overwhelming, to little more than a humming background noise.

The match began and Wren took off running after Brute while Yuri ran back, away from the center of the arena, to find a good place to stake up with her scout rifle. In Wren's helmet she could see a marker through the walls of the buildings showing her where heavy ammo would drop with a count down timer. She didn't have anything that it would help with, but Yuri would no doubt need it for her sniper rifle.

Wren found she was much more on edge than when she was in the field with her team. She felt like Cayde was lurking around every corner and when they'd run through a doorway, she half expected him to jump out and end her before she'd have a chance to react.

Brute was pushing hard toward Alpha team's respawn point and Wren let him take the lead. She could hear the Ace of Spades from behind them and she slid to a halt, Better Devils at the ready as she listened to the gunfire. Shaxx announced that Beta had their first death and Wren knew it was Yuri. Cayde had gotten her. Brute ran off without her and she felt lost, standing in the building, unsure of what to do and aware that people were watching her.

Gunfire from where Brute had just gone started up and Wren took off in that direction. There was no helping Yuri and if Cayde was back there, she'd rather take on someone else on his team that would give her better chances. She ran through an opening between two rooms, catching sight of someone with a blue arm band. She was surprised at how much a Guardian in the Crucible could take. Brute had one of Alpha cornered, the Warlock attempting to float overhead and away from them, firing down with a pulse rifle as Brute and Wren combined their efforts to take the Warlock down. She dropped halfway over their heads and Shaxx announced the first Alpha team death.

Goosebumps prickled Wren's arms and the hair rose on the back of her neck. They had to run. They had to go. Cayde was coming.

"Move!" she said, sprinting toward a stairwell and up onto the second floor where she could jump across to the other side of the arena. When she did, she caught a glimpse of Cayde below her. He fired the Ace and it caught her in the calf, sending her sprawling through the door on the upper balcony.

It must have given Brute second thoughts because he stopped before he could jump and ran back toward their spawn, likely to get Yuri. Wren realized the bullet wound didn't hurt the same way it would have if she was out doing a real mission but had no time to dwell on it. Cayde knew where she was now. She had to move.

Overhead was a piece of metal peeled back from the ceiling. She could hear someone coming and jumped up into the ceiling, hiding as a flash of black ran past her. Cayde. His cloak flowed behind him and she bit her lip, unable to stop a wide smile from spreading across her face. It was a game of cat and mouse. He'd gone right past her and didn't stop so she dropped from her position and ran the other direction toward capture point C.

At the back of the room was a narrow, dark stairwell that led down toward Alpha's spawn point. Gunfire from far off and Shaxx's voice put team Alpha's lives from nine total down to seven and Beta's total to six. A Hunter dropped to the ground in Alpha's spawn and Wren sprinted for the spawn point as the Hunter ran back toward the center of the arena where the gunfire had just stopped. She slid into their spawn a second before Yuri and Brute dropped to the ground.

"Nice spawn flip," Brute said. "They were waiting. We have to get Yuri some heavy ammo."

"They'll be waiting," Yuri said.

"Just keep that scout rifle up and we'll all go together," Wren said before taking off toward heavy which had less than a minute before coming in. Maybe, just maybe, if they managed to get her some sniper ammo, they would have some luck.

As Wren thought, the Warlock and Hunter were guarding the heavy ammo, half hidden, waiting. But where was Cayde? Brute led the way through the door and into head-to-head combat with the Hunter and Warlock. A grenade exploded somewhere to the left, and she jumped over some boxes, boosting high to come in over the Warlock who was trying to run. A throwing knife to the back of the head and the Warlock succumbed, dropping to the floor. Wren tried to roll out of the jump when a pair of blazing blue eyes appeared out of the darkness. She fired two rounds into Cayde's chest, but he seemed to hardly notice and she was too close. She slid in by his legs, feeling the Ace shot graze her helmet before she rolled behind some boxes, struggling to get to her feet.

The Hunter cut her off and three shots to the head later she was dropping in on spawn, feeling a little shaken, adrenaline racing through her. As soon as her boots hit the ground she was running again, Shaxx calling out the results of the skirmish. Wren was down one, Yuri survived, though Wren wasn't sure if she was able to recover heavy, and Brute had also lost a life. The Warlock had been downed, and the Hunter, leaving only Cayde with three lives.

When she blinked, she could still see his eyes coming from the darkness and heat spread through her body, pushing her harder. She skirted toward the opposite side of B, catching a glimpse of Brute running away, Cayde hot on his heels. Wren slid and changed directions, firing a couple of rounds at Cayde from behind until they disappeared through a doorway. The sound of the Ace signaled Brute's third and final death.

Cayde turned on a dime and came back out the door, looking for her. Wren darted behind some foliage and when she was sure he was following, she emerged from the buildings to run straight down the center path toward Beta's spawn point. She saw the red glint of Yuri's sniper rifle and one of Cayde's knifes pierced her lower back near her side. She stumbled and shot back at him, one of her bullets catching his leg, the other his hip. He laughed an instant before a sniper round found his head and he dropped.

Wren ran toward Yuri who was reloading.

"You got him!" Wren said, excited, but Yuri trembled as she bolted the rifle.

"He's toying with us."

"What?"

"He let us get that kill. Brute's dead. We're in trouble."

"I'm going to try to lure the Warlock out. Just keep an eye toward mid. I'm going to try to jump across building to building and see what happens."

"Look out for Cayde!"

Wren found the Warlock toward the middle of the arena, closing in on C. She threw a grenade, using the chaos of it to get a couple shots off on him. He followed her when she ran toward a window and jumped out, boosting across the grassy interior when the sniper round echoed in her ears. She barely caught the window frame on the other side when an explosion from the inside knocked her onto her back. The Warlock was trying to recover beside her but she pulled a knife and drove it into his chest before the Hunter dropped in on her.

From far off Yuri's scout rifle fired several frenzied rounds, then Shaxx called the deaths. Yuri was gone and it was down to Wren, Cayde, and the Hunter. Cayde really was toying with her. He'd hunted Brute and Yuri, now it was just her for Beta.

The Alpha team Hunter plunged a knife into her shoulder an instant before she put the Better Devils to his chin and pulled the trigger. He rolled off of her, trying to escape, and she could hear someone running through a nearby building.

Cayde.

Heat prickled her body and she knew she was running out of time. The Hunter shot her once in the shoulder, widening the hole where blood poured from the stab wound, but her instincts were buzzing. She shot him three more times in the head, the footsteps growing closer. The Hunter was down for good and Wren knew it was down to her and Cayde.

The announcement was made and the footsteps stopped, as did Wren's heart. Her breathing was loud in her helmet and she reloaded the Better Devils, standing at the ready, waiting. Watching. Listening. Being hunted was different than anything she'd experienced before.

She heard the click of the Ace of Spades before she saw Cayde rush her from the doorway. She was injured and not doing well, her shields taking time to charge. So she ran. As fast as she could back toward spawn, dodging between rusty cars and strange plants.

Her shield barely recovered when she was shot in the head by the Ace, the bullet tipping her helmet and throwing her forward. The helmet fell off with the motion, rolling across the ground. Her blood rushed into her ears and she closed in on the narrow back stairwell, hoping to outpace him until she could get back to the hiding spot she'd taken before to regroup.

It was no use. He was gaining on her. She turned the corner into the darkness and tried to sprint up the stairs when he caught the back of her collar and threw her down on her back. His right leg was extended farther down the steps, left knee planted firmly between her thighs, which instinctively squeezed tight. One hand held his weight while the other pressed the hot metal of the Ace's barrel to her throat, her Better Devils to his heart.

They remained still for a second, panting. The weight of him hovering so close, his face mere inches away, she felt like she couldn't breathe. The knife at his side dug into her hip when he moved, eliciting a sharp inhale, her back arching toward him from the harsh corner of the steps.

"Give up," he said.

"Make me," she replied, his knee shifted, and she tightened her thighs around it.

He moved closer, digging the barrel of the Ace into her skin, forcing her head up, and yet she kept her eyes locked with his. "Give up," he demanded, his tone harsh, but before she could challenge him farther Shaxx called the match for an emergency.

Cayde blinked and the intensity in his eyes was gone. It was as if they were both suddenly aware of their situation. Wren relaxed her legs and Cayde stood, holstering the Ace and clearing his throat.

"Uh, good game," he said. "You actually shot me."

"You let me," Wren replied, refusing his offered hand. Her face burned and she looked down, acting like she was dusting herself off to keep from looking him in the eye again. Make me? Where had that come from?

They walked out into the center of the arena and noticed that no one was cheering.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know."

Sisre ran up to them from the far end. "Cayde, Zavala wants you back at the Tower ASAP. He said someone named Eris Morn has returned."

Cayde's jaw flickered orange as he clenched the plates together. "You two get ready. I have a feeling we'll be needing you."

"Cayde?" Wren took a step toward him but he was already walking away. He left through the locker room door. "Who's Eris Morn?"

"She's …. Well, it's complicated. Story says she was a Guardian once but she's been corrupted by Hive magic. I don't know how much of that's true."

Wren holstered the Better Devils, noting that her hands were still shaking. Sisre flashed her a mischievous grin like earlier and raised a brow.

"So, what happened?" she asked.

"With what?" Wren started walking back toward the locker rooms.

"With you and Cayde. You two were in a dead zone but no one won. No one shot. What happened."

"He caught me."

"And he didn't kill you?"

"He wanted me to give up."

"Really? What did you do?"

Wren's nerves got the best of her and she grimaced. "I um… I told him…"

"Speak up, I couldn't hear you."

"I told him to… to make me."

"Oh. My. Light. No you didn't!"

Wren plopped down on a bench and hid her face. "I did. How embarrassing."

"Not quite the word I'd go for but damn Wren."

"I know," Wren groaned.

"Well, do you also know that Exos don't have—"

"Wren, Sisre, let's go get some ramen," Franz said, peeking in. "I'm starving and I wanna hear from Wren what it's like going head-to-head with Cayde."

The door closed behind him and Sisre laughed. "Maybe we should leave out that last part."

"Please do."