A/N: So this chapter finally makes it apparent that Adeen and the rest of this story exists within a fairly large OC-headcanon-universe-thing that I have with a bunch of friends. Basically, all our OCs exist in the same universe and very often interact. (In fact, most of them are part of the same fireteam. Adeen's just a loner.) While I'll try to write my stories in such a way that you won't have to read any other stories, just be aware that they do exist. You can find all the info over at: fireteamselfie . tumblr . com

Anywho, that's enough of that. On to the story!

Making Friends

Adeen was farther than she had ever been. Still, the Hellmouth went deeper. She must have traveled miles, but the bottom was still nowhere in sight. She was trying to follow in the footsteps of one of Toland's expeditions into the darkness, to a place he called The Worms' Hollow.

Thorn's distinctive report rang out, catching an acolyte in the leg before it gained cover. Adeen kept walking, untroubled by the enemy she left behind her. After a few seconds, she heard the acolyte disintegrate and turn to ash, victim of Thorn's poison.

"Incoming transmission from the Speaker," Rigel said, appearing on her shoulder.

"Attention all Guardians," the Speaker said, his voice filtering into her helmet. "I have an important announcement to make. A team of your fellow Guardians, led by the Vanguards, has fought its way to the Heart of the Black Garden and destroyed it. Even now, I feel the Traveler stir as the Darkness' hold has been broken. This has been a tremendous victory, but the fight is not over. Stay vigilant, Guardians. Do not let your Light waver. Seek the Darkness and drive it out. Together, we can bring about a second Golden Age."

Adeen absentmindedly shot a thrall as the Speaker's little speech came to an end. So the crazy assault had actually worked. About a week ago, Ikora had begrudgingly asked Adeen if she wanted to take part in it, but she had refused. Her place was here on the Moon, hunting Toland's secrets. He had been on the cusp of something, some important discovery, but then he vanished.

In the four months since she acquired Thorn, she had resumed her hunt for the truth. While she would never know when she found all his journal fragments, she couldn't help but feel like she had found one of, if not the, last entries.

The sword binds wielder to victim. It binds life to death. And when the binding is done—the sword remembers. When the Boomer's fire has burnt away into axion and neutrino scatter, the sword goes on, hungrier and sharper.

Understand that this nightmare logic underpins His nightmare world, and you will see why the ascendant blade has so much power there. Whenever in our passage we find ourselves in need of power—remember that the greatest authority here is a blade made keen by eons of use.

It raised so many questions. Who was "He" and where was this nightmare world? What passage was Toland talking about? A journey? A quest? She had a few guesses about the who and the where, but she couldn't be sure because the old madman had never given a straight answer in his life.

By her best guess, the being in question was either Oryx or his son, Crota. If she had to choose one, she'd say Crota because of the sword discussion that preceded it. As for the nightmare world, she could only speculate.

It was infuriating. Toland kept mentioning vague hints of a threat looming, but none of the fragments she had found gave name to it. That was why she refused Ikora's offer. While Adeen recognized the threat of the Black Garden, she felt that Toland hinted at something far greater.

She heard faint echoes of a song, seeming to emanate from somewhere impossibly deep within the catacombs. Adeen knew the song all too well, or at least the start of it. It was the very song she had heard while feeding Thorn, and even though the weapon's hunger had been sated, she could still hear it if she spent too long in the dark below.

"I hear it, Ri," she said.

Rigel appeared in front of her. "It's only been a few weeks. It's getting faster," he said, sounding worried.

"I know, I know." Adeen paused and took a deep breath. "I think it may be time to take an extended break from the Moon. The song comes quicker while new discoveries grow farther apart." She gave him a small smile, but it held no mirth. "Master Kenval will be overjoyed. I can finally devote some time to the Order. Still, it's too bad we didn't find anything this trip."

Rigel turned away from her for a second before looking back. "Don't be too sure about that." Before she could say anything, he flew away. Adeen hurried after him.

Just around the next curve, she found Rigel floating above a skeleton that had a dead Ghost and—were those robes? As Ri read off the dead Ghost's message, she inspected the robes. They were a muddy-red with gold trim. The chest was plated with armor and the coattails had complex geometric patterns on them. The belt buckle was undone, and for some reason, she took a moment to inspect it. The front was normal, but the back held a message scratched into the metal.

YOU WILL DREAM OF TEETH AND NOTHING ELSE.

Adeen stared at the message. The words were haunting, bespeaking a sort of feral terror in the former owner.

"Did you get that?" Rigel asked.

"Hmm?" Adeen said, looking up at him. "Sorry, I spaced out. Read it again?"

"Eriana! Let's sing. Sing with me. No, no, you rattling machine, not yet, it's too soon: we don't know the words.

"We'll learn the song down there. We can learn it from Her. She comes up from the deep dark places where the greater Hive await to sing it to us, and here's a puzzle for you—

"It cuts out after that."

"It sure sounds like Toland," Adeen said. "And where have I heard the name 'Eriana' before?"

"She was the Warlock who interrogated a Wizard during the attempt to recapture the Moon."

"So they knew each other? That's good to know. Ikora and Kenval seem very reluctant to tell me about Toland, but maybe I can learn more about him by learning more about Eriana. Good find, Ri. Now let's get out of here. The song is getting louder."

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Once she returned to the Tower, she stopped by the Speaker to have him inspect the robes she found. She'd had enough evil items for one lifetime, and if these showed even the slightest hint of darkness, she was getting rid of them. Thankfully, according to the Speaker, these robes were clean of any taint. That was a relief. Now that she wouldn't go crazy wearing them, she went over to Eva, the Guardian Outfitter, to have them fitted correctly. Not long after, Adeen walked away wearing a new set of robes. Good thing, too; her old set had been getting old.

A few days later, Adeen was still at the Tower. It was the longest she had stayed there at one time, and she was already starting to go a little stir crazy. As it was, she entertained herself by finding and reading every scrap of information that the Order, the Vanguard, and the Cryptarchs had on the Hive. Most of it was stuff she had learned first-hand already, but a few tidbits proved insightful.

Right now, she sat in the Guardian barracks, trying to figure out some sort of chronological order for the fragments she had of Toland's Journal. Considering the old lunatic apparently didn't know how to put a date on anything, it proved quite difficult. She based everything on the evolution of his voice and, by extension, his madness.

Adeen heard some footsteps nearby, but paid no attention. She was in the barracks, after all. People came and went all the time.

"Excuse me," a voice said from right in front of her. Adeen looked up and saw an Awoken woman standing in front of her. The other woman had the usual purple skin, accompanied by shoulder-length purple hair, light blue eyes, and blue-ish lips. "Are you Adeen Flanagan?"

"I am," Adeen said slowly. This was new. People didn't normally seek her out. In fact, she didn't think any of her peers even knew who she was. "What do you need?"

"This may seem like a strange request, but I need someone to guide me through the Hive catacombs on the Moon."

"And you decided to come to me?"

"Well, I asked Ikora Rey, and she said you were the resident Hive expert," the woman said. Really? Ikora had really said that?

"Well, she's not wrong," Adeen said, "though I'm surprised she admitted it. Now tell me. Why do you need to visit the catacombs?"

"Research. I want to study Hive attack patterns and defensive tactics."

Adeen considered it. On the one hand, she had promised Rigel that she would take a break from the Moon. On the other hand, she really wanted to reach the Worms' Hollow. On the other hand, she didn't know how long it would take for the song to come back. On the other hand, she knew where she was going this time, so it shouldn't take as long. And she'd have a partner. A partner. She'd never worked with anyone before. Maybe it was time she did.

"Last question," Adeen said. "What's your name?"

"Naeda Tanejak."

"Well then, Naeda, when do you want to leave?"

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They had agreed to meet at The Gatehouse in two days. As she thought, Rigel had been against it, but she eventually convinced him, promising she'd take an even longer break once they got back. She left the next day to prepare the surface camp and clear out any Hive that had ventured back into the area.

Naeda arrived exactly on time. Now that she wore armor, Adeen saw that the other woman was also a Warlock. She probably should have expected that. Hunters or Titans wanting to do research? Crazy talk.

"If you wanted to start sooner, you should have just told me," Naeda said, walking into the small camp.

"Just wanted to get here early and clear out the entrance," Adeen said with a shrug. "So how deep do you feel like going?"

"I told Ikora I'd be back in two weeks with a report. How far can we go and still get back in time?"

Adeen thought for a moment. Two weeks probably wasn't enough time to get to the Worms' Hollow and back. That would just have to wait for another day. Maybe The World's Grave? She would probably love seeing the library.

"I know a place. Hive library, shouldn't take more than a week to get there and back. I've been a few times, and the opposition is always pretty stiff. Should give you a good look at how they defend their tunnels."

"That sounds good," Naeda said. "Getting out early gives me more time to write that report."

"Then if you're ready, let's get going," Adeen said. The other woman nodded, and they prepped their gear. In just a few minutes, they entered the Gatehouse.

Naeda seemed really tense when they first entered, constantly looking around and keeping her auto rifle ready. Adeen, on the other hand, held Thorn loosely in her hands and seemed more like we was taking an afternoon stroll than descending into a Hive fortress. After a few minutes, Naeda looked over at Adeen.

"How can you be so calm?" she asked.

"I cleared this area out yesterday," Adeen said. "I didn't want to be bothered while setting up camp."

"And you're not worried that they've returned already?"

"It usually takes The Hidden Swarm a few days to replace one of their surface patrols. You can put that in your report if you want."

Adeen couldn't see the other woman's face, but she suspected Naeda was giving her a look. The Awoken didn't comment further, but Adeen did notice her relax just a tiny bit. Five minutes later, they reached the gate that would lead them to the Circle of Bones.

"Alright, this is as far as I cleared yesterday," Adeen said. "We're officially in a combat zone."

Naeda didn't say anything, but she did tense up again. They encountered enemies two minutes later. A Wizard, two Knights, a dozen Acolytes, and a whole bunch of thralls.

As she always did, Adeen targeted the Wizard first. A well-thrown Fusion grenade removed its shields, and a few shots from Thorn took it down. Normally she'd try for the Knights next, but the thralls were about to swarm her and Naeda. Speaking of Naeda, Adeen spared a quick glance at her. The other Warlock stood there, clutching her rifle but not shooting.

"Naeda!" Adeen yelled as she took a few shots at incoming thralls. That seemed to get her attention, and she quickly began mowing down enemies. With them being taken care of, Adeen focused her attention back to the Knights.

She glided up into the air and threw a Fusion grenade at one of them. The damn thing erected one of its barriers and blocked it. Adeen frowned and shifted attention to the other one, taking potshots at it as she fell to the ground. Naeda had taken out the thralls and started shooting at Acolytes, so Adeen kept on the Knights. It only took a few minutes to finish them off.

"So mind if I ask what happened?" Adeen asked, collecting some ammo.

"What do you mean?" Naeda asked.

"You froze up at the beginning. I don't really care why, I just want to know if it'll happen again."

"No, it shouldn't." She hesitated for a second. "I'm just not used to seeing so many Hive at once."

"That's a pretty common defensive group," Adeen said.

"Really?" Naeda asked. "That seemed like a lot of troops for one patrol."

"Surprisingly, they only add more the deeper you get. They really don't want us snooping around in their inner chambers."

"And you come down here on your own? Willingly?"

"Yep. Only place I can learn more. The Hive are planning something awful, and I need to find out what."

"What makes you say that?" Naeda asked.

"It's just...a feeling?" Adeen said, unsure how to really explain. She'd never had to before. "Coupled with Toland's writings and a healthy dose of spending time down here. Once you get deeper, you start feeling rumblings of something, notes of a far-off song that terrifies you but makes you want to hear more. Just as much as the Black Garden, the Darkness truly is alive down here." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "Come on, let's keep going. I know of a good place to make camp, but it'll take a few hours to get there."

They moved out. Neither said much until they reached the campsite later that day.

The rest of their expedition went rather well, all things considered. No one died, which was a success in Adeen's book. They reached the library in three days, spent a day there, and took three days back. It had no benefit for Adeen, but from the look of it, Naeda had a lot to put in her report. Hopefully Ikora listened to Naeda more than she did Adeen. Maybe then, the Vanguard would take the Hive threat a little more seriously.

Everything she had told Naeda on that first day was absolutely true. She knew it must be. The Hive were the greatest threat to the Light, and Adeen would do everything in her power to stop them. She was a Guardian, after all.