Life is so strange, sometimes things mix well even when others think they will clash
The Tower loomed over the city below, standing as a silent sentinel offering protection. The highest floor was, for the most part, uncovered and left to the elements, which this twilight was that of a slowly fading warmth with the sun set, the stars just beginning to shine, and the Moon beginning to rise. Both normal men and guardians alike milled about, making last minute preparations before the day came to an end and the night shift began. But there was one man, nearly giant in size, clad in heavy orange and white armor, decorated with brown furs and a set of broken horns on his helmet, that made no such movements. No instead, Shaxx stood alone in his recess and looked outward across The Last City.
He watched as large construction vehicles milled about, continuing in their efforts to complete repairs necessitated by The Red War. Outside the construction zones people could be seen dancing across the city's streets on their sparrows. Above him, the stars that decorated the night sky shone alongside The Traveler, floating ever vigilant over humanity. Despite the beauty that could be found in looking over humanities' triumph of existence in a cruel world that wished them dead, Shaxx's heart was filled with a melancholy that blurred his perception.
While his eyes could perceive the city, he could only behold the horrible wreckage and destruction littered throughout the last bastion of human civilization. Skyscrapers laid across the ground, crushing dozens of other buildings underneath them, and blocking off huge sections of paths used by foot and vehicle alike. Joining the fallen buildings were impact craters that acted as scars upon the city that would never fully heal. Even The Traveler looked worse for wear, once it only bore a single large scar across its bottom, but now large chunks of the mighty machine, torn apart by Gaul and his Red Legion, drifted in a lazy orbit around the pale sphere.
The wounds of The Last City clawed at Shaxx's memory, dragging out another time when the city had almost been lost, The Battle of Twilight Gap. His mind's eye focused and remembered all the horrible sights of the battlefield. He remembered watching in despair as new guardians were slaughtered repeatedly, only able to act as tripping hazards for the combatants able to live for more than a minute. He also remembered how many civilians fell that day, remembered watching as those ghostless heroes would make the ultimate sacrifice all in an attempt to protect the city.
But above all else, Shaxx remembered a single call that nearly cost them everything: He remembered Saladin; a fellow titan, one of the last iron lords, and a man he had thought his better; screaming through the com to retreat, declaring the city lost, that the sacrifices made for the battle were for nothing, and silently revealing himself to be a fool to Shaxx forevermore.
He remembered the call he made, he remembered disobeying Saladin's orders and standing his ground with his team by his side. He had understood the risk, that if his gambit had failed the city would've fallen, but despite his faith in his commander having been shattered, a deep feeling in his gut had told him that the act of defiance would work. That almost divine faith in success had paid off, his gamble had paid off, and it had been because of her that it worked. But it would be years later when he learned of how her actions had saved the Last City.
He first heard her name from the late queen's wrath, Sjur Eido. The Awoken Queen bore the name Mara Sov. In the long and late nights he used to spend with the archer, he could sometimes get her to speak of Mara. She would use words such as cunning, dangerous, cold, and beautiful.
Sjur had once told Shaxx "She is like a white dwarf star, She may only be a small light compared to something like your traveler, but she is a light nonetheless. A stalwart force that stands in opposition to the abyss that seeks to consume us. Time's hammer has beaten against her for many years, but yet she remains unbroken despite it all". Shaxx remembered having a lot of fun teasing his late friend over that smitten and blushing description. The merriment of the memory however was quickly drowned in a sea of memories that tsunamied over his mind. He remembered how he met the archer, remembered the 3 arrows she put in his back, and he remembered the asteroid he met Sjur on, he remembered The Reef, and when he thought of The Reef he couldn't help but let out a humorless chuckle.
That guardian, his favorite guardian, was absolutely mad. Even though they had only been alive for less than a decade they had already done so much. And their actions led to The Reef finally being opened to the city. It was because of that guardian that he met the queen, and that he learned of Eido's fate.
When Mara Sov opened The Reef, it had been inevitable that the Vanguard would need to speak with the queen to ensure that tensions did not rise between them. They had decided to meet in neutral space, a few thousand miles from the edge of The Reef's borders. They were to meet on one of the awoken's ships. A fallen ketch, and a large one at that, that had been scavenged and repaired from The Reef's wreckage. It was one of few ships in existence that had enough space to dedicate rooms to more than just essentials such as a command station, an engine room, or cafeteria. It was nothing compared to the vehicles humanity could construct during their golden age, but still it was far larger than anything The Last City had in its small orbital navy.
The party that had been sent for negotiations had consisted of himself, Cayde-6, The Speaker, and a handful of members from the consensus. Cayde-6 had been sent to represent the vanguard, because despite his lack of professionalism, he would never let the opportunity of exploring The Reef pass by his hunters, that and he had begged to be let out of the tower. The Speaker came because even though there were already other members of the consensus going to represent the government, he wanted personally to ensure that the fragile safety of The Last City would not be compromised due to the war in The Reef. Shaxx however had come for two reasons, officially he had come to petition the queen to acquire access to The Reef and use unpopulated portions of it for new crucible arenas, but in all reality he had come to check in on Sjur Eido, who he had not heard from in quite some time.
However, as per an agreement between the queen and The Speaker, the negotiations had been broken up into multiple sections, first would be a direct negotiation with the consensus and the queen over a possible, though doubtful, alliance between the two civilizations. He knew not of the details, but from what he had overheard from the grumbling of the consensus representatives and The Speaker, it had been mostly about trade and resources. The second round of negotiations would take place between the vanguard, represented by Cayde-6, and The Reef over how guardians would continue in their interactions with The Reef. Then finally it would be Shaxx's turn to make his attempts to persuade the queen. In every one of these talks, The Speaker would be present but in different roles, in the first round he would act as the head of government, in the second he would act as the religious leader of The Last City to ensure the vanguard or The Reef did not agree to actions unbefitting of the ideals guardians were meant to strive for, and finally with Shaxx The Speaker would simply act as an additional voice in support of the Crucibles attempts of acquiring new arenas.
When the first round of negotiation had begun, Shaxx had stood on the other side of the door, listening to the muffled voices of the two parties. There had been the slightly grating voice of the consensus along with the soothing tone of The Speaker, but in addition to that there had been another voice. The voice was feminine, but barely, it was a husky voice that spoke in a smooth and even cadence. It was a very calm and collected voice. Whoever the voice belonged to clearly put careful thought into not only the words they chose, but also the intonation. It was almost like free verse poetry, no, more like spoken word. It had been pleasant to listen to even from the other side of the door.
As the talks had continued, the volume seemed to increase more and more. While the meeting had started off pleasantly enough it seemed that the consensus was not getting its way, and had begun acting like their true selves: that is to say they began throwing a fit befitting that of a toddler. Even The Speaker sounded irate, but despite all of that the other voice stayed calm and collected. Eventually the shouting reached a boiling point, only for the voice to articulate one last sentence.
It had been then the doors to the meeting room flew open, and it was clear that the people leaving were not happy. While none seemed to be carrying the same ferocity as moments before, they were still clearly pissed. The Speaker was the last to leave the room, and when he did all that escaped him was a heavy sigh. It was strange to see him looking so...defeated. The Speaker looked to Cayde-6, who was leaning up with his back against the wall
"Forgive me Cayde, but I don't have the fortitude to enter that room once more. I'm afraid that you will have to deal with this on your own" his voice still carried the smooth flow it was known for, but it lacked the normal comfort that was often synonymous with it.
Cayde's robotic face shifted from its normal boredom into probing. He stood up straight and tilted his head to and focused his eyes on the emotionless mask of The Speaker.
"Be honest with me, do I even stand a chance?" His mouth flashed yellow as his synthetic, yet not expressionless voice took on a heavier tone. Only moments later did his face and voice lighten up to deflect the seriousness of the situation with his trademark humor "I mean, I didn't think it would go well but you all look worse than I did after I figuring out Brask went and died leaving me stuck in the tower."
The Speaker lifted his head up from its previous droop and looked back at Cayde-6, and gently shook no.
Cayde shrugged his shoulders and began walking into the door, "Glad to know you have so much faith in me". He stopped just before entering and turned to look at The Speaker "You go on ahead and rest old man, I'll deal with the big bad evil queen". Cayde turned himself back towards the door and entered.
After a few moments, the dulled sounds of negotiation once again filled the hallway.
The Speaker turned to Shaxx, his eyes not quite meeting the giant's. "I know how much you care about your crucible Shaxx, but I would advise you as I did with Cayde. It is a pointless effort, she will not bend or accommodate."
Shaxx folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head downward to look at The Speaker through his helmet. "If you truly know how much I care about my arena's, then you know that won't stop me", he rebutted.
The Speaker shook his head slightly in resignment "I figured as much, still I would take this time to ready yourself" he looked to where he thought Shaxx's eyes hid underneath his helmet "The awoken of the city do not exaggerate, she is everything they say she is and more."
Shaxx uncrossed his arms and rested his hands on his hips, and simply nodded.
The Speaker turned away from Shaxx to begin making his way towards the exit. But before he did he looked over his shoulder to Shaxx "Once Cayde has finished speaking, I would wait a few minutes. I can't imagine that his talks will go much better, and knowing Cayde the queen will need some time to recover". The Speaker looked forwards once more and walked away, the consensus representatives following him as he left.
Shaxx once again found himself standing in silence, only broken by the ever increasing volume of Cayde's mounting frustration and the unwavering tone of the queen. He found himself once again getting lost trying to decipher the words being flung on the other side of the door. It was not long before Cayde had clearly become frenzied with barely contained anger, and even the voice of the queen was beginning to sound exasperated. With one last shout from Cayde it became clear that their discussions were done. The automatic door opened with a flash of lights and a soft hum of machinery.
Cayde all but stomped his way out of the room, turning to walk as far as he could from the source of his rage. Without stopping or turning towards Shaxx Cayde spoke in a snide and angered tone, "She's all yours big man!"
Shaxx watched for a few seconds as Cayde walked away in frustration before turning and walking in front of the door to the Meeting room. Inside this room was an opponent that had bested both The Speaker and Cayde, at this point most would cut their losses and return home, but not Shaxx. He had a friend to visit and guardians to train.
He waited a moment more for the door to open. When it did he could see that in the center of the room was a large table made from the salvage of fallen ships, painted in a muted brown with light scuff and weld marks marring its surface. The table had a slight curve to it, making it so that all who sat at it would have their eyes naturally drawn to the other side of the room, where the queen sat, flanked by two more awoken, one male and one female.
She sat on a throne that was similarly salvaged from a fallen vessel. It was incredibly large, made from metals that varied in lighter and darker shades of brown, curving inwards taking on an almost egg like shape. It was lined with padding colored red with a single streak of white down the middle. There were two arm rests with similar padding. From where he stood however he couldn't make out the finer details of the queen herself however.
He ducked as he entered the door, his massive height in addition to bulky armor always was beneficial to him except when it came to dealing with door frames. Once he was inside he walked down the steps and towards the table, but he did not stop there. Shaxx's height and armor also had the effect of making it difficult to fit into chairs or desks designed for people far smaller than him. He put one hand on the table and gently vaulted over it so that he stood in front of it. From where he now stood, he could make out more details of the queen and her guards.
The male awoken wore a light suit of combat flyer armor, with a pale blue undersuit adorned with a torn cape of a similar color. His face was diamond shaped with a long but slender nose and short side swept black hair. The woman on the other hand was garbed in a suit of brown and royal purple armor with large shoulder pads and a pale blue waist sash. Her face was square shaped and her hair was a deep red and was done in a side swept style like the male, but in the opposite direction. Both of them were average height and had the distinctive unnatural skin tones of the awoken, unnaturally pale with hints of blue and purple, along with the soft glow of their eyes, the males being a light orange while the female had a blue coloration to her own. The two of were a bit smaller than the average height of a city citizen, which contrasted with the queen.
The queen herself was naturally short, but in her throne she looked comically small, as it was clearly built for a much larger eliksni commander. She sat leaning on one arm of the throne. Her skin was a pale blue, almost purple in color, which complimented nicely with her pure white hair, styled in a bob with inverted layering, and the soft glow of her eyes which were a piercing blue. She had a diamond shaped face with a small nose, light purple lips, and a light eyeshadow similar in color to her lips. Her outfit consisted of a short sleeved and cropped leather jacket decorated with a dark fur around the collar, a shoulderless long sleeved undershirt colored a royal purple, dark leather pants and knee high boots. Her face to an untrained eye was emotionless, but Shaxx could see the faintest hints of exasperation upon it.
She was...beautiful. But Shaxx didn't let that distract him from the most pressing thing he had noticed. The woman next to the queen, why was she wearing the mark of the queen's wrath?
Shaxx had initially meant to begin his introductions to the queen before he noticed the other woman. Silence persisted for a few moments before Shaxx spoke, his eyes baring down at the mark of the queen's wrath.
"Why are you wearing that mark?...It does not belong to you"
In the previous meetings, all three awoken had weathered the angered and ceaseless pleas of their previous 'guests', and had barely batted an eye. But then this man, this giant adorned in a heavy armor colored with orange and white who they took for another ignorant fool, in the span of a single second question that cut deep into their hearts and showed he was no fool. For a moment they found themselves caught off guard, even the queen was surprised by the question. They did not answer for a moment. The male responded first, hovering his hand over the holster for his pistol.
"How do you know tha-" His words were laced with caution and suspicion, but he found himself cut off before he could finish by the queen as she raised her hand, signaling him to halt himself.
"Uldren. You are not to speak" the queen's voice sounded even better than he had thought it would from when he had been eavesdropping earlier.
The queen turned towards Shaxx and sat up straight, giving her attention to Shaxx and looking at him where his eyes would be. "She is my wrath, that mark is hers to bear."
Shaxx tore his eyes from the other woman and looked at the queen. He stared at her for a moment before speaking. His tone a little more forceful "No it does not." he pointed to the mark "that mark belongs to the greatest archer I have ever known, a massive woman who had a fire in her belly and long white hair". He then dropped his pointing finger and rested his hands on his waist with his head turned to the so called queen's wrath "not this redhead. So I will ask you one more time: why do you have that mark?" His voice gained a little more volume as he spoke. When the redhead did not answer him and instead only looked downwards, he turned his head back to the queen one more time as his voice began to waiver, fearing what he already knew.
"...Where is she awoken queen. Where is Sjur Eido?"
The queen met his gaze at first, but could not hold it. She did let her voice waver though when she spoke her next words. "Sjur is dead, killed by the wolves at the start of The Reef wars"
Silence blanketed the room, as previously hidden grief was unveiled. The queen did not move herself as she spoke a few moments later "Petra, take Uldren and leave this place". The redhead, now known as Petra, looked startled at the command.
"But my queen I ca-" she began, only to be cut off by the queen.
"Are you defying me?"
Petra backed down at this and looked at Uldren, who Shaxx now noticed had a face painted with anger. He huffed and followed Petra out the door opposite to where Shaxx had come in. Moments after the door closed behind them the queen lifted her head and met Shaxx's gaze. Her attempts to mask her emotions may have worked on others, but when two people feel the same thing it is impossible to hide. It was clear she too grieved the loss of her former wrath. Still she put on a facade of strength and stood from her throne, she took a few steps forward and stood in front of Shaxx, while she was dwarfed by his presence her spirit stood just as tall to match. She looked up to gaze into his helmet and crossed her arms. Shaxx did not notice, for a moment he was silenced as his mind was consumed with grief. The queen was not so patient as to wait for him to snap out of it on his own, she had questions and would have them answered.
"How do you know that name?"
The spiral into despair that Shaxx's mind had been traveling halted as he raised his head to meet Mara's gaze.
"I am an old guardian, not many are older than me" as he spoke he reached one of his arms behind him and began to rummage through one of his pouches "When I was born, I could not give people the food they needed, or the shelter they desired, but I could keep them safe. In old times I would have been called a warlord. Then The Last City was built and I became one of its defenders. In those times I looked to explore yourReef" his hand stopped and pulled something out of the pouch "I wandered for only a few minutes, when I found this" He showed the arrowhead he had been searching for "lodged in my back". He looked to the arrow head for a moment "it was joined shortly by three others" he looked back to the queen "I had thought that it had been a ballista that had shot me. I managed to find where those shots had been fired from, and limped over to it" he finally lowered his arm and began to put the arrowhead away "But imagine my surprise when I found a woman had shot me with them" he chuckled to himself lightly "I remember she shot me as soon as I got close. But being a guardian that didn't stop me. I had to meet this beast of a woman" He shook his head in amusement, only to have it die in his chest a few moments later as he remembered what he just learned. His head lowered from the queens eyes.
Mara knew that if she wanted to she could interrupt the man, but she decided not to. She wanted to hear what else he had to say. Her arms uncrossed from the front of her chest and fell to her sides.
After taking a moment to compose himself, he resumed speaking in a quieter tone "After that I guess you could say we were friends. It was an unusual friendship, but it was one nonetheless" he looked back to Mara "I remember, one night we were meeting, she told me she would die, that it would be the fallen that would kill her. I didn't want to believe it, after all isn't the future uncertain?" he sighed "Is there...somewhere I can go after this, to pay my respects?"
Mara looked at him before she spoke "There is, but you cannot go there. It is in my Reef" She tried to will more strength in her voice, but her own grief combined with seeing the pain of this man withered her resolve.
Shaxx thought for a moment before he spoke "Please Awoken Queen, please let me visit my friends grave". Mara tried to withstand the plea, she may have opened The Reef to the guardians, but not all of it, and she didn't want any of them thinking they could just snoop around her domain. But she couldn't, she had known Sjur, known that she had once told her about a guardian friend of hers, known that she would not just make friends with an outsider unless he was worthy, and known that she wouldn't want her to turn away this request. Mara could not meet Shaxx's gaze any longer, her heart felt far too heavy in her chest.
"...later. I will have you escorted to her tomb later". Mara looked back to Shaxx for a moment before turning around and walking back to her throne, taking a moment to once again dawn her regal composure. After she reseated herself in her throne her face was once again expressionless. "Before that however let us finish these talks" she gestured to the table behind Shaxx "please be seated".
Shaxx did not move. The queen waited to see if he would comply, but it was clear that he would not. She thought for a moment before speaking further "You come to my Reef to negotiate in hopes I will aid your city. Yet instead of acting as a guest should, you question about my former wrath, speak to me with anger, and now you do not listen to my humble requests."
Shaxx simply shook his head. "I don't listen to orders that would make me a fool, and I speak my mind when I have something to say" his boisterous voice allowed his response to be heard clearly.
The more he spoke, the more he deified her expectations. To defeat your enemy you must know them, and Mara found herself unknowing. As such, she indulged in her curiosity. "And how would sitting make you a fool?" she asked in her calm husky voice.
"Those chairs are designed to accommodate a normal man in armor. I am not a normal man, I am about 300 centimeters taller than average, and without my armour I weigh almost 150 kilos. Do you really think your chair will hold me?" his tone, despite everything, was almost humorous as he finished his statement with a chuckle.
Mara was amused by his response. Here was a man who would defy her with no hesitation. It was rare that someone would be so bold to her. She wondered just who was this man that stood in front of her. What were his goals, what did he come to request of her kingdom, what had made him so brazen? As questions flooded her mind she remembered something she had learned long ago about Sjur's mysterious friend, something that could shed more light on the giant. "Then at the very least I would request that you remove your helmet so that we may speak face to face."
Once again, Shaxx did not hesitate in his response "No."
Mara expected that response, but still she wished to know more, the word "why?" escaped her lips.
Shaxx's response was simple "For the same reason you wear such fanciful wear: I have an appearance to keep, and a job that requires that appearance."
Mara pondered his words for a second, at first being unclear as to what the giant had meant. Her mind, quick as it was, made short work of her confusion. How one dresses themselves can often reflect their occupation or status. Shaxx wore his armor, helmet and all, because it was his job to defend his city just as Mara wore her attire because as queen she needed to look the part of a ruler.
Shaxx, the giant in front of her, was someone Mara found she could understand well. He was like her: bold, proud, and willful. And hidden behind it all was the cunning of a scholar. Of course there were differences, but she felt that she had learned all she needed to know for now.
"Very well then, you may stand. Now then, what have you come to request of me?" Her tone was still lighter than when she had been speaking to the previous parties, but still carried a business-like tone.
He raised his hand in a stopping gesture "before we continue, how do you wish me to address you? Would you like me to refer to you as 'Awoken Queen' or perhaps 'you majesty' or 'Queen Sov'?"
Mara was clearly pleased that he even asked the question "You may refer to me as Mara, I grow tired of formalities after your entourage's previous attempts at it. But if you insist on formalities you may call me 'Your Majesty'"
"Mara it is. What I have come to ask of you is that I wish to acquire a few small portions of land in your Reef" Shaxx said, now getting to business.
His boldness should not have surprised her at this point, but given the nature of the request she still could not help but find her mind settling into incredulity. "To ask me for access to more of my Reef than I have given is a bold request, one I have already denied to the one before you, but to ask for territory is an entirely different matter. Why should I not simply deny your request outright" Mara's tone at this point lost its previous merth, now transitioned back to the cold flowing cadence he had heard in the hall earlier.
Shaxx took a deep breath, preparing himself to engage the queen in a battle of rhetoric. "The Reef, with all its wreckage, asteroids, and varying gravity is a terrain that guardians are unused to combating in" he prefaced. "As such, I want to give them the ability to familiarize themselves with it by setting up crucible arenas."
The crucible, the term rang a bell in Mara's mind, but she lacked the details as to what it was. "And what is this crucible."
"In essence The crucible is a collection of arena's that guardians can compete against each other in. The games are all live fire exercises intended for guardians to hone their combat prowess in. The games take place in a variety of arenas scattered across the solar system, allowing guardians to practice fighting in different conditions" He tapped his helmet "Normally I, and a few of my Red Jacks monitor the games, but I had to temporarily shut down some of the arena's due to my absence while I am here."
Mara tried to be satisfied with the initial answer to her question, but still her curiosity was unsatiated "What would lead The Last City to even permit such a thing where their precious saviors would waste time killing each other rather than their enemies?"
Shaxx's voice grew somber and serious, "The same reason I don't follow foolish orders: The Battle of Twilight Gap."
Mara's head cocked ever so slightly in confusion "I know of the battle you speak of, yet I do not understand. Explain."
Shaxx nodded his head "In the aftermath of the battle, there were a lot of dead guardians, far to many of them. Most of them were new lights who had just been given life and did not yet have the experience to fight in such a situation. With so many dead, I decided to cash in a few of the favors I had gathered over the years and created the crucible to give guardians a controlled environment where they could safely hone their skills."
Mara's mind burned with curiosity, while she did want to know why The Battle of Twilight Gap had led to the crucible's creation, she also wished to know the answer to the second part of what he had said. Why did that battle lead to his stance on 'foolish orders'. But she tucked such personal questions away, she needed to know more of the deal he offered.
"And what would you offer in return for such a request?"
Shaxx silently smiled at the question, confident in his offer "As I stated before, the crucible uses live ammunition, as such guardians come already equipped to deal with any threat they may encounter" he crosses his arms over his chest "It is not unheard of that the activities of those well equipped guardians to drive away unwanted activity, at times bottle-necking enemy advances through the system."
"Or attract those that pray on such an opportunity" Mara rebutted.
Shaxx's confidence did not falter "True, but as I said, guardians in my arena come with no small amount of firepower. Meaning any who engage with them will find themselves quickly …" Shaxx cocked his head, searching for an appropriate term "... disposed of" his head straightened "and even then, would such attention be undesirable?" he asked "from what I have come to understand, you are currently entrenched deep in warfare with the fallen. The crucible arena's would act like beacons for those itching to fight, drawing attention away from other unwanted targets."
Mara was pleased with his answer, but not yet convinced "Quite tempting, but what if your enemies would station themselves in wait for ambush in your arena's?"
Shaxx was prepared for her skepticism "that is where the services of my Red Jacks come in" he put his hands on his hips in pride "I have at my disposal dozens of guardians who work to ensure that such a thing does not happen" Shaxx paused for a moment to let the queen process the information before continuing "So not only would you have beacons across your, Reef that would draw attention away from other areas, you would also have the additional protection of my Red Jacks who could give you warning of coming attacks and help protect your borders."
"You say this as if you are offering the legions of soldiers, but as you said yourself only a few dozen guardians are at your command, How would so few offer me all that you have promised?", Mara rebutted.
"True, they are not large in number, but surely Mara you of all should know that while your awoken are far more numerous..." Shaxx's tone gained a serious tone "All it takes to kill them is one bullet" his tone lightened slightly "A guardian on the other hand takes at least two, one for themselves, and one for the ghost."
Mara chose not to rebut, letting Shaxx continue his argument "Guardians can die endlessly and come back, your people cannot." he paused and re-crossed his arms "I may only have a few dozen men, but they live the lives of thousands."
Mara still had doubt, because while what he said was true it still was only a few dozen soldiers, and it wasn't like guardians were numerous to begin with. But despite that she found Shaxx quite convincing. She let her facade weaken to let a soft smile form on her lips "Guardians are not infallible, But I find you terms agreeable. We shall need to work out the finer details of this transaction, but that can be saved for later."
Though his helmet hid it, the smile on Shaxx's face was large, celebrating his victory and reveling in the thoughts of how he could hold this over Cayde's head.
Mara's smile dropped "However, that is not the only request you have made of me" Shaxxes smile faltered for a second as he remembered what he had asked the queen after learning his friends fate "To make our deal fair, I would request one thing of you."
Shaxx until this point had been confident in his ability to haggle with the queen, but he knew all too well that the queen could take advantage of his desperation to see his friend. Even worse, he knew he would do almost anything she would ask, Sjur deserved that much. He braced himself.
"What would you ask for?"
A devilish glee twinkled in Mara's eye at the response, she waited a moment longer than necessary to allow herself to drink up the sudden meekness of the giant who had swayed her. Finally she answered him "It is rare when a person such as yourself comes to my court and acts so boldly, no less persuades me. Unlike most you speak clearly with your requests and do not attempt to treat me as if I am delicate. Things I can appreciate. But in your rhetoric you sprinkled in allusions to yourself and your past. You have captured my curiosity Shaxx, so I would request that you elaborate further on what you have told me" her soft smile returned to her face "So tell me, what does Twilight Gap have to do with foolish orders."
Shaxx was quiet for a few moments, relieved at the question and thankful for Mara's praise, but still becoming somber as his mind opened itself to his memories. He did not meet her eyes when he spoke, turning his head to look to the left as if watching the past over his shoulder. "In that battle, we, the guardians that is, were losing, badly." he spoke with only a small fraction of his earlier bravado "Lord Saladin radioed me and my team. He ordered us to retreat back to ridgeback district" he paused for a moment as his head sunk a little "He declared that The Last City was lost" Shaxx finally looked back to Mara, his irritation at the very memory of the moment giving new strength to his voice. "That order was a foolish order. In one moment a single man made a call and nearly cost humanity everything that it had gained. We had already expended so many lives to hold that line. And he told us to break it off" he seethed at the end of his sentence. "I knew that from his perspective that it was the correct call." he calmed down a bit as his mind placed themselves in Saladin's shoes. "From where he stood, the choice was either to retreat and save all that we could, or try to hold a breaking line and see all of them slaughtered" he paused "But I saw what he did not see" Passion began to fill his voice "at first I could only feel deep in my gut that something was off, but just as the order to retreat was given I saw it, a gap in the fallen's assault" the echoes of disappointment rang through his next words "I new in that moment that Saladin was a fool for not noticing" So I made a call, and my team and I held off the assault long enough for long enough to let the others regroup and form a counter attack" Shaxx finally finished, looking to the queen for her response.
Mara nodded her head, her curiosity satisfied for now. But then smiled an almost cheshire knowing smile "Do you know why there was a gap in their ranks?"
Shaxx shook his head.
Mara smiled a knowing smile "With how many you killed, surely you noticed the different houses that were present. Tell me ...Crucible master? You never did tell me your name" she paused for a moment before continuing "Still, was there anything odd about the houses there?"
"You may call me Shaxx, Mara "he said as his hand went to rub the chin of his helmet thoughtfully. He remained quiet for a brief moment of time as he thought. "There is only one thing I can think of, All of the major houses were present at the battle, all except one: The House of Wolves."
Mara nodded "Do you know what house it was that was under my control before their kell escaped the prison of elders?"
"No, I don't."
"It was the House of Wolves..."
As the memory faded Shaxx let himself smile a small, sad smile. Oh how he missed his love. But he gladly held onto his memories of her. She was not dead, simply missing, he was sure of it. And despite the familiar pain over the loss over his friend, the pain he felt over the city's wounds, and the small ache in his heart for his love to return home, Shaxx found his smile becoming brighter. He smiles because he had something that most didn't. He had love.
To be honest, Mara and Shaxx lived very separate lives, it was rare when they could be together, and it strained them at times. But in the end they were a happy couple and would find no truer love than each other. To each other they had a type of love forgotten by most: unconditional love.
From their first encounter, when Shaxx had been almost insolent in his behavior to the queen, or recent times, such as when the queen went and disappeared for a time after the event of The Taken King making Shaxx worry so dearly, they choose to recognize that the actions they took were not meant to wound each other. They both, unfortunately, had higher priorities than each other and had to make calls for the greater good, and sometimes those actions would wound the feelings of the other. But they both understood what was at stake and that those decisions were a reflection of who they were, and they loved who the other was. They never did anything for the purpose of slighting the other, and no move they made served the purpose of doing anything more than they needed. Even when they clashed over things such as the actions to take, they still choose to move past it all. They were, to each other, a spark of light to hold against their own demons. Their love for each other was strong and true, and Shaxx was so lucky he had her.
As Shaxx began to depart from the tower, he found his thumb rubbing his ring finger to feel the small band hidden underneath his glove. Shaxx went to sleep that night, knowing that he was lucky, and that he was loved.
Enjoy, and please leave reviews. Let me know if I made any grammar errors, they are the bane of me.