She awoke in a cold sweat, springing upward. In heavy heaves, Eris scanned her surroundings in an attempt to find something or someone. Eris jumped from her bed and to the door, she instantly stopped midway and regurgitated onto the floor. She cradled her aching stomach as she kneel down beside her upchuck lightly sobbing.
"Eris!" The Warlock Vanguard, Ikora Rey, rushed by the ailing woman's side. Eris clung onto the Warlock, staining her nightgown with darken ooze.
"Eris, are you alright?" Ikora near cradled the Hunter like a child. "You had that dream again didn't you?" Eris nodded into the Warlock's shoulder, too shaken up for words. Ikora helped Eris to her feet and escorted her away from the pile of bile that almost made contact with her feet. "I'll have a frame clean that up, don't worry."
"I-I am sorry…" Eris said between tears.
The Vanguard patted the Hunter's shoulders assuring her that an apology was not needed; placing her at the kitchen table, she plucked a tissue from the dispenser by the sink and offered it to the weeping woman. Eris hesitantly took the tissue and wiped the snot from her nose. Ikora sat in the chair adjacent to Eris'; staring at the Hunter, she could not help but sympathize for the poor woman, begin help prisoner for years and losing all she holds dear.
They sat there a while fiddling her fingers, giving small glances at each other. Soon enough, Ikora's dorm bell hand rung.
"Ahem, excuse me a moment Eris." Ikora stood to answer the late night caller before Eris had the chance to speak.
"Ikora!" The loud drunken noise of the Hunter Vanguard, Cayde-6, echoed throughout the apartment. He stumbled in, clothes stunk of alcohol that clearly missed his mouth; he held up a small take-out container, offering it to Ikora. "Here, leftovers." Ikora declined the offer for 'leftovers'. "So Eris," He started. "How've you been after that whole Hive Ritual shit?"
"Cayde!" Ikora snapped at the intoxicated Exo.
While the two Vanguards scolded and damned each other, Eris remained unmoved. She thought of that question, despite how crude it was, having never realized how she felt after that horrid ordeal. She could not piece together the emotions and feelings, she could only remember the agony of it and even then was it something she was unclear of. Eris turned her head to the bickering two, she knew they were talking about her, discussing her incident, a very sensitive subject among the Vanguard. To Eris, it seemed to impact Ikora the most; although Ikora never experienced such a ghastly ceremony, Eris could not object that Ikora didn't feel the urge to safeguard her after prying her from the grips of darkness a second time.
Eris broke from her trance to realize the bickering had ceased and Cayde had shut down on the couch. Ikora was quiet for a time, it made Eris uneasy whenever her Warlock friend was silent as nobody could ever pinpoint her exact thoughts. Eventually, the sounds of the kitchen faucet flowed through Eris's ears, her body becoming numb to the noise of the endless stream of silence. Along the shroud of white noise, a desolate cry dominated, giving the sense of unease and distraught in the atmosphere.
An urge emerged from Eris to intervene, she paused for a moment to be certain intervention was necessary and proceeded when it was needed.
"Ikora," The somber voice seemed to bypass the weeping but not enough to end it. The tri-eyed woman rose from her seat and stepped toward the sink. The Hunter's bare hands draped over the Warlock's nude shoulders and absorbed their warmth. It was then the Warlock's weeping turned to choking sobs, her body almost devoid of all energy, making her feeble.
"I'm sorry…" A faint cry spoke.
Eris looked on confused and curious. Ikora, using whatever form of power that was willing to stay within her, reached and grasped Eris's cold touch and gripped with the limited amount of force she still bared. "It was all my fault you endured such a catastrophe, I brought you suffering…"
Eris's lips, sticky from exposure, parted to speak but the hysterics from the Warlock continued.
"Everyone blames me…" She paused to heave. "As if it weren't enough that you was captured but you were…" The word would not dare pass her lips, it was such a painful word no matter how many times it was used, but it never once effected Eris for a reason unknown.
"Enough," Eris's voice was stern but reassuring.
"I never would have expected such a thing to happen."
"Ikora─"
"I thought I got you killed─"
"Enough!" Eris snapped at the woman who only seemed to make herself liable to the actions committed. Nobody, not even Eris had ever seen Ikora in such a depressing state, so broken down by something that was completely unexpected. She did not know how to calm the excited Vanguard from such a mindset. A simple forgiveness would never by Ikora to stop condemning herself to the blame. Instead Eris had to think like Ikora, how could she snap her from this dread?
"Ikora," Eris spoke after a while of silence. "If you wish to rid yourself of this depressive state, perhaps you would be obligated to earn my forgiveness?" Eris was not the kind to expect favors or receive apologies and certainly was not the one to forgive, but for Ikora, it was something a little more; something that kept their relationship bound together… A trust.
"Please Eris, let me make this right for you, let me undo my doing."
Eris then held Ikora close slipping a quick answer to the Warlock.
"Granted."