Amilo and Onar watched a Hunter enter the Vanguard Hall as they exited the building. The two knew the cloak but it couldn't be the same Hunter they had saved.
"Hey Hunter." Onar nearly shouted. This caught the Hunter's attention causing him to stop. "You that Hunter that me and Amilo saved?"
Pantera looked to them, confused at what the Titan had said. "I don't know. Are you the Titan who screamed 'Incoming' before hitting the ground with a Fist of Havoc just a few meters ahead of me?" He replied as he turned back and looked at the two.
"Oh bloody hell." Amilo nearly screamed in excitement. "It is you! Those dark blue eyes gave it away."
The Hunter was even more confused. "Never met other guardians with Russian and British accents before." He said then eyed his arm. "Thanks for saving my ass. Doubt I'll ever see you two again though." With that, he turned and walked down the stairs.
Onar shrugged and began to walk away. Though Amilo was slightly mythed at what had just happened. She encountered Hunters who were secretive and loners, even mercenaries but never one who thanked someone without hesitation. This one was interesting, very interesting to her.
It took her a moment but she gathered the courage and followed the Hunter. Just out of curiosity, she wanted to know. Needed to know if this Hunter was the third member of this special fireteam that the Vanguards were gathering. Nothing wrong with being curious about it, or at least she thought there wasn't.
Pantera continued down the hall and towards Cayde. He was late as it was and really didn't feel like hearing Cayde go on about the wilds and how he missed them or Ikora ask for him to go find some lost Golden Age relic that he never heard about. Just wanted to find out what they wanted from him and leave.
Onar sat on the barstool at his favorite ramen shop and sipped the glass of soda. The thoughts of the smug Hunter thanking him began to light a fire of hatred that seemed to grow with each passing second. "Damn Hunters don't thank Titans." He growled openly. Squeezing the plastic glass in anger.
Who did that Hunter think he was? Someone better than him? The experienced Titan had fought on Mars and against the Cabal for what seemed like decades, and likely was. He saw his fair share of Hunters being overconfident and smug about dropping scores of Legionaries only to be needing covering fire from himself and his old fireteam. It was because of a Hunter that he lost his two best friends to the damn Cabal.
He could remember his friends and how they spent their time together, how they fought together...He could still hear the thunderous roars of their assault rifles being fired towards the oversized space turtles. Rounds ripping through the air and penetrating the beasts' bodies causing them to stumble and fall over one another.
Subconsciously, the Titan closed his eyes and could recall that fateful day. He and another Titan were running low on ammunition as a few Collusus class Cabals advanced on their position, steadily firing their slug chainguns and grunting with each step. The female Titan had finally lined up a shot with her Ghallihorn rocket launcher. She fired the only rocket she had towards the beasts of the darkness. But it wasn't meant to be. A round struck the rocket it, causing it to detonate in mid-flight.
Onar remembered seeing a Hunter in the distance and on top of a large sand dune at least several hundred meters away. Then the undeniable purple glow in the Mars night as it sailed straight towards them. A damn Nightstalker had fired three Void arrows towards them...It went black from there..The last thing he remembered was standing ontop of the burning ashes of the Cabal, fire engulfing himself and burning the air around him. How much it hurt to see the dead ghosts next to their lifeless Guardians...He had lost his only family he had known due to a Hunter, a rogue Hunter.
"Onar?" A voice spoke. "Onar?"
The Titan snapped out of his thoughts and looked around. It was the waitress behind the counter who was speaking to him. "Sorry." He said. "How much do I owe you Grace?"
"10 Glimmer. And don't worry about it tonight." The woman replied as she flicked her short, black hair back. "You come to my shop all the time and I know when you're lost in thought."
Onar shrugged. "Guess you're right. Yes. I was lost in my memories again. Sorry if it bothered your other customers." With that, he stood and stretched.
"So I missed them?" Pantera asked.
Cayde tapped his choice's elbow. "No. She's a member of your new fireteam." He said while nodding towards Amilo. "She's hot for an Awoken." He joked.
Pantera saw the Warlock who he just ran into a few minutes ago, she was trying to appear to be busy looking over schematics of a weapon, it didn't work. He turned back to the Vanguard. "Are you fucking kidding me? The two that saved me are my fireteam?" Whispering angrily.
"Relax Pantera," Cayde replied. "You three will make a good team. Besides." He paused for a moment to attempt to add dramatic effect. "Doesn't hurt to have decoys."
The human Hunter shook his head and looked back to his new teammate. With hesitation and a bit of anger, he began to walk straight towards the Awoken. "I got one thousand glimmer on this not lasting a week Cayde." He voiced openly.
Cayde only replied. "I'll take that bet."
Amilo tried to calm herself as the human came closer, she was a bit anxious to meet the member of hers and Onar's fireteam but also a bit worried. The name sounded familiar but before she could try to remember he was in front of her.
"Pantera Shadows." He said with his prosthetic arm extended out.
"Oh. I'm Amilo Sparks." She replied as she shook his hand. Her eyes met his. "You have lovely eyes."
He sighed and walked off, with the Warlock behind him. "All Awoken say that to me. Males and females. I'm already dating someone." He growled and cracked his neck. "So don't get any ideas." He said and turned around, only to be greeted with her gone.
"I can Blink to Pantera," Amilo said from behind him. "You're not the only one who knows that trick. Plus I only said that they were lovely. Didn't say anything about dating you." She continued as he turned and faced her. "I know your file because Ikora let me look it over while we waited on you."
"Oh really?" He crossed his arms and looked dead into her glowing green eyes. "Prove it. List three weapons I carry and which planet I patrol the most."
"Red Death pulse rifle. Mida Multi-Tool scout rifle and Bolt Caster as your heavy weapon." She replied smugly. "The Red Death is actually forbidden though. Guess Cayde bent the rules for you to carry it due to how much you love the weapon. Though I can't say anything bad, my Hawkmoon hand cannon has gotten me out of quite a few hairy situations."
Pantera smiled and chuckled. "And the planet I patrol the most?"
"Venus. I don't blame you though. It'd be nice to actually find a living and breathing Ahamkara." She blushed slightly at that last bit.
"I'd have a damn nice trophy." He replied then walked by her. "You coming? Have to get the third member of our team and meet each other." This caused Amilo to snap back to reality and rush walk next to him and out of the Vanguard Hall, into the courtyard.
Five days. Five days of getting to know his two new teammates. Pantera didn't really have a solid opinion on them, at least one that really meant anything. Sure Amilo the Warlock was a generally nice individual and had knowledge of things Pantera only heard rumors seemed to have a soft side but didn't show it around the Hunter. At least that he knew of.
"What are you thinking about sug?" Amanda asked.
Pantera snapped out of his thoughts and remembered where he was, on top of his new ship...Or at least it was new to him. In truth, it was an older model that did need some work before it was ready to travel between Earth and Venus. "The Warlock and Titan I was paired with." He replied before jumping off the ship and down towards the ground. As he landed and sighed, he turned towards the older ship. It did look like Ether Eater for the most part, minus a few parts here and there, but it looked like it was neglected for a few years, possibly a decade. Not the ship's fault. He could openly blame human error but it wouldn't be right because the former owner likely died from something of the Darkness or of nature.
"I mean I trust them because they did save my life but its just thrust onto me, that I need to save their lives." He continued as he brandished his knife and began to twirl it by the handle.
The shipwright thought for a moment, the gears turning in her head. "I know Cayde and he'd feel a lot like you do now dear." She said it caught his attention and his eyes met hers. "What I mean is, you really think they haven't died at least once? Probably while protecting the each other."
Pantera knew she was right. More than likely Ikora, Zavala, and Cayde had died a few times when they were first paired together. It isn't unheard of to hear about another Guardian dying and being resurrected by their Ghost. Though it didn't explain the hint of anger he had towards Amilo and Onar, not really anyways. It had to be a Hunter thing he subconsciously buried deep within his psyche. "I guess you're right." He said reluctantly.
The couple stood close together, Amanda's hands in his. It could be felt between them both, their hearts racing in anticipation of possibly going back to Pantera or Amanda's living quarters and rutting like wild animals. Just as their lips met...It was ruined.
"Hey, Pantera!" Onar called out. The Hunter looked to his teammate with anger in his eyes. "We gotta head out soon. Your ship ready?"
"Define ready," Pantera replied then pointed to the old ship that was being repaired.
Onar looked at the ship then back to his teammate. He had an idea. "Ask the shipwright to let you use one of my spares. We have to go to Venus." With that he turned around and walked away.
Amanda sighed and walked to the nearest computer. She was angry at being torn away from her lover but she understood it was what he had to do. "Onar Embers has two other ships aside from his primary. One of which I'm stripping it for parts to fix yours, dear." She said as her fingers hovered over the holographic keyboard. Typing in frustration. "I mean they work as well as any other ships do but."
"Amanda." He interrupted with his biological hand on hers. It was apparent that they were both frustrated. "Just do what you can. I'll borrow his ship for now." He kissed her cheek. "Trust me. I'm frustrated too. Don't worry. You know I'll be back."
She began to chuckle slightly and smiled as it hit her. "Blazing back into the wilds Pantera."
"I swear I'm going to kick Cayde's ass for that." He said with a smile on his face.