I do not own Destiny or any of the characters.
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Hunter watched as the Blademasters moved the storage crates and random objects out of their chosen throne room, where the Gathering would be allowed to take place. Once they had, Hunter extended a hand, SIVA swarming out and forming into the Council's thrones. All of the Council took their seats, leaving four empty. He hand't been able to find them all, as four of the Council had been on Io, which was still missing, but those who remained ignored the empty thrones, instead regarding those kneeling before them in silence. Finally, the Slayer sat forward.
"Hunter, come forward," the Slayer ordered.
Hunter stood, stepping out in front of the rest of the Apprentices. Slayer reclined in his throne again, all of the Council regarding him in silence. If Hunter hadn't been a Blademaster under the Slayer's tutelage, he'd have never known what was happening. They were having a full conversation using their neural implants to communicate in closed frequency signals, which couldn't be tapped into without an implant, which only the Council were granted. Finally, John broke the silence.
"We're agreed then?" John asked.
The other Councilors nodded.
"Then it is decided," the Slayer said. "Welcome, Councilor."
"Thank you, Masters," Hunter bowed, then took one of the available seats.
"I want to know everything that can be known about the history we missed, and the state of affairs," one of the other councilors said. "Go."
The Apprentices scattered, and the Council turned to Hunter.
"As you well know, you are now required to attend the Gatherings," John said.
"You can also choose an Apprentice," the Slayer reminded him.
"That won't be necessary," Hunter said. "I'm less a Blademaster now than I am a living weapon. I leave training the other Apprentices to all of you. There are things I have to attend to aside from my role as a Blademaster."
The Council nodded just as Elsie arrived.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Hunter said, standing. "There's someone I have to go and see."
The Council all nodded, and Hunter and Elsie walked out, only to stop after barely a hundred feet as a trio of Apprentices stepped out. Hunter narrowed his eyes, but nodded.
"You contest?" Hunter asked.
"I contest," the lead Apprentice said.
"John, Slayer," Hunter called back into the chamber, both Councilors walking out to meet them.
"Contest?" Elsie asked.
"A right to attempt to block the appointment of a Councilor based on lack of merit or acceptable prowess," Hunter said.
"It's a duel to the death between Blademasters," the Slayer said. "If Hunter wins, he retains his spot on the council. If he loses..."
"To final death, or only one?" Hunter asked the Apprentice.
"One will be fine," the Apprentice said. "Councilor or no, it'd be a waste to kill you."
"The contest is prowess, then?" John asked.
"It is," the Apprentice nodded.
Hunter nodded and turned, walking to the main courtyard of the Tower, the others all following. As they arrived, the Apprentice pulled a pair of very long, single-edged swords from his back, a section of the back of one glowing with Arc energy, the other with Solar. In response, Hunter pulled off his knife belt, twisting it, then balling it up before holding it in his left hand. Then, he drew one of his melee daggers in his right hand, holding it in reverse grip.
"To the death," the Slayer intoned as countless Guardians gathered around the courtyard to watch. "Begin!"
Hunter's melee dager clashed with the other Apprentice's over and over, sparks flying rapidly. Hunter ducked and stepped out of the path of the oncoming slashes constantly, moving with the grace of one intimately familiar with the lethal dance of blades. At the same time, however, his opponent moved with a matching grace, his strikes smooth as silk as his blades closed in on their prey from all sides with seemingly no restrictions, even from below, despite being taller than the Apprentice wielding then. And yet, the musical ring of blades clashing rang out near-constantly, no pause between clashes lasting longer than a second in the furious, beautiful dance being performed. Finally, as Hunter deflected one blade into the other's path, his left hand casually cast his knife belt into the air. Then, the dance continued.
Except, as quickly as it had resumed, it ended. The belt unfurled in a snap, the open knife holsters releasing their haul into the air above. The knives spun upward, then arced back down, the rotations carrying them down and inward all at once in the blink of an eye, and just as the Apprentice's blades both pulled back for a finishing strike, the airborne knives all stabbed into the Apprentice's torso in a perfectly-level ring around his torso. The Apprentice's arms went limp, his swords clattering to the ground. His knees followed the blades before he pitched forward, crashing to the ground. The crowd remained silent, awed by the display, and Hunter sheathed his melee dagger before holding his hand out Spark appeared over it and flew forward, helping the Apprentice's ghost revive the Apprentice, all of Hunter's knives clattering to the ground as the wounds sealed and forced them out. Finally, the Apprentice stood, lifting his swords and placing them on his back, then nodded.
"I concede my contest," the Apprentice bowed his head.
Hunter nodded, picking up his knife belt and hanging it across his chest again, retrieving the knives before walking away from the courtyard with Elsie, heading for Savathûn. They stopped by Mara Sov and Petra as they were passing them.
"Before you go in there, you should know," Petra said. "Savathûn has been asking a lot of questions about Ghosts. What they're made of, how they can generate Light without running out, where they go when they...dissolve."
"That's a bad sign," Hunter growled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "What did you tell her?"
"I didn't," Petra said. "I don't know myself."
Hunter nodded. "I'm going in."
Mara and Petra both nodded, and joined Hunter in Elsie as they walked through the massive door to the chamber where Savathûn was being kept.
"Ah, and here is my favorite," Savathûn said, the Hero of the Red War standing before her. "I was just comparing notes about your accomplishments against those of your friend here. You've both done a lot of killing. But of all tjose you've killed, how many of them saw your Ghost and thought, 'Ah! That's why Guardians are so strong!' Not most, but some. They might even have taken a shot at it. RIP Cayde."
Hunter's hand snapoed up, bearing a Proximity Mine knife, only for Elsie to catch his hand.
"You can't," Elsie said evenly. "The time will come, but for now, you can't."
"I'm going to enjoy tearing your head off, Savathûn," Hunter snarled, returning his knife to its sheath. "As soon as you've outlived your usefullness, you'll die screaming!"
"I meant no offense," Savathûn lied. "I was only making a point. How many looked beyond your Ghost at the Traveler, the source of your power, and thought to strike at it. A few. The smart ones. the dangerous ones. You'd recognize their names. Now, look beyond me to my worm. Look beyond the worm to something far, far greater. Now look down at that tiny gun in your hands and tell me, what do you think you're going to do with that thing?"
"I'm going to kill you with it," Hunter said. "The thing beyond your worm isn't my problem yet."
"Savathûn!" Crow shouted, srorming down the steps toward them.
"Crow, stay back!" Hunter snapped, only for him to ignore Hunter.
"I warned you to stay away!" Petra growled, reaching for her dagger, only for Crow to level his pistol at her.
"Enough," Mara said. "Let him approach, Petra."
Petra stepped out of his way, and Crow stormed over to Savathûn.
"You were kind to me!" Crow spoke up at Savathûn. "I thought you were my friend!"
"Am I not?" Savathûn asked.
"You lied to me!" Crow yelled.
"I helped you break Xivu Arath's hold on the Shore," Satahûn countered. "Brought you to the Last City. Offered you guidance."
"Hunter brought me to the Last City!" Crow snapped. "Hunter helped me stop the Wrathborn!"
"Indeed he did," Savathûn agreed. "But he would have never known you existed at all without me. I was kind to you because I wanted to be. Because ths truth hurts. You know this better than anyone. Shrinking away from the rumors of the man you used to be."
"I'm not him," Crow denied her.
"How can you say that when you don't even know who he is?" Savathûn asked.
"That's enough," Hunter said, walking forward.
"You see?" Savathûn asked. "I even hint at telling you who you were, and even your dear Hunter steps in to hide the truth. If the truth is what you really want, lay your hand on me."
"Crow, no!" Hunter warned.
"Crow don't, please," Glint pleaded.
"Even your Ghost thinks you're better off in the dark," Savathûn noted.
Crow stepped forward, placing his hand to Savathun's crystal. Instantly, Uldren Sov's voice filled the room.
"Everything I did, I did for her!" Uldren's memory echoed.
Crow staggered away, clutching at his head, but when he stopped, it was with Hunter holding the barrel of his freshly-replicated Ace of Spades to his face.
"Uldren or Crow?" Hunter asked.
"I...I don't know," he replied. "I can...remember everything. I can feel the heat of the flames, taste the blood in my mouth, feel the bullet you placed in my heart. I...I don't disagree with you for hiding the truth from me. I don't know if I would have told me either. I'm...I'm going to ask Ikora to put me on another assignment. Somewhere I know my choices are my own. Not hers." He glared up at Savathûn.
"You're welcome," Savathûn said, as though he'd thanked her.
When he turned his gaze back to Hunter, Hunter didn't lower his gun for a few more moments.
"If Uldren Sov ever comes back, I'm going to kill you again," Hunter warned. "You kmow that, right?"
"I do," Crow nodded.
Hunter nodded, lowering the gun and allowing Crow to warp away. Once he was gone, Hunter reabsorbed the SIVA from his Ace of Spades.
"That truly is a fascinating ability," Savathûn marveled.
"Shut up," Hunter growled, turning abd walking out of the room with Elsie and the others.
"It was a mistake to allow him to be told who he was," Petra said.
"Perhaps," Mara nodded, then raised a hand to Petra's cheek. "But I'd rather risk Uldren becoming an enemy once again than risk him killing you, Petra."
Petra smiled, holding Mara's hand for a moment before Mara took it back, tuning to Hunter.
"What will you do?" Mara asked.
"I was planning to help with the search for Techeuns," Hunter said, then glanced past her where the Slayer was walking over. "But it seems that is no longer an option. What's wrong?"
"Eternity has appeared," Slayer reported gravely. "The Starhorse beckons."
Elsie looked to Hunter worriedly, and Hunter clenched his fists, then nodded. "Elsie, you're staying here."
Elsie nodded, kissing him, and Hunter followed the Slayer up to the rest of the Blademasters.
"Is it true?" one of the Apprentices asked. "Has Eternity reappeared?"
"Yes," the Slayer nodded. "For the first time since the Collapse, Eternity has returned. This is a bad sign."
"We'll deal with it," Hunter said, looking to Spark, who nodded and projected an image of Zavala, Ikora, and Shiro.
"Hunter?" Shiro asked.
"We're busy," Zavala said.
"An unknown rift has appeared in the solar system," Ikora said. "We have to investi-"
"It's Eternity," Hunter said. "Pull your spies and Guardians out. The Blademasters will deal with ot personally."
"No," Zavala refused. "Our Guardians have already entered. And I don't trust your Blademasters. We will deal with this. Keep your corruption out of it."
Hunter narrowed his eyes as Zavala ended the call. "We're going."
The Slayer nodded, and the Blademasters all warped to their ships, taking off for Eternity. As they flew, Hunter glared out the window.
"What...is Eternity?" Spark asked.
"Eternity is a black hole," Hunter said. "A rift in space where the laws of physics are friendly suggedtions, and even time is not absolute. It's also a prison."
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