The Moon.
Skylar couldn't think of many fond memories of this place, in fact, she could count the number on one hand. Everything else was a wash of pain and bad memories, of a fear she'd pushed down, conquered. It didn't mean she liked being there, didn't mean she couldn't hate it. Still, Ikora hardly ever asked for her to do something like this. Something that wasn't really a Hidden assignment, something almost personal. Saving an ally wasn't the worst reason to be on this awful rock.
"Sky?" Noble's voice had her breaking from her long-standing stare as a pile of moon rocks. She'd been waiting for her team to get ready and had apparently zoned out completely. "You good?" Looking from the Titan, she saw Corvan looking at her too, arms at his sides, waiting.
She shook her head to clear it and adjusted the rifle strap across her chest. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's get going." A nod from the both of them and they summoned their sparrows riding off towards the sounds of battle in the distance.
The area was chaos, Guardians and Hive tearing and firing at each other. She hadn't seen something like this since the Red War. Part of her wanted to stop, to help her fellows, but she knew she couldn't, and this was the perfect cover for her team to ride by unnoticed as they headed down a path toward the quordance Ikora had sent her. She watched with subtle amusement as Noble angled his sparrow onto a ramp of rocks and did a trick off it, landing flawlessly once more.
"This isn't a patrol missing," Corvan grumbled over their open coms line. Skylar rolled her eyes and heard Noble huff slightly.
"You're no fun at all, you know that?"
"Guys, come on, don't do this now," she cut in before they could start at it. "We can ride however we want to as long as it doesn't end up with us in trouble." She could almost feel the scowl on Corvan's face, but she ignored it as she leaned hard to the left to make a sharp turn. The area was cut deep, walls forming around them. Despite all her time on the moon, Skylar wasn't sure she'd ever been here before. Turning another bend in the road, she flinched as something human in form and dressed head to toe in nothing but black and red appeared feet in front of her, floating. She cursed, trying to break and get around it. She was too late. Cursing again and closing her eyes she heard Noble shout over the feed and waited for the pain to hit her.
It didn't and slowly her sparrow halted.
Opening her eyes she looked around as her friends stopped next to her. The body was still there, but clearly, she hadn't hit it. "What the hell just happened?" she asked.
"Did you see that?" Noble asked, clearly directing the question to Corvan. The Hunter grunted slightly.
"If you mean that thing appearing as we got close and Skylar going right through it?" He got off his Sparrow and walked to it, looking it over as Skylar followed suit. The heavy footfalls behind her told her Noble had done the same as she watched Corvan reach out and try to touch whatever it was. His hand went right through it, the area wavering like smoke. Skylar twitched as he looked his hand over, but nothing touched it or covered it.
"What is it?" she murmured and he shook his head.
"I have no idea." Seeing as Corvan was old as hell and had probably seen a lot, that was worrisome. Noble walked around it slowly, not touching it but surveying it carefully.
"It's like some hologram. But how is that possible?" There was nothing to spawn it, as far as Skylar could see as she glanced around the area. A mystery for sure.
"I don't know, but we don't have time to keep looking at it. We can come back later if need be but we're on a time frame." She hated to just leave it, she was of the Hidden, secrets and unraveling them were her thing. Looking forward, she saw the entrance to a cave and frowned. "We should probably go on foot. I don't like this."
So, they moved, their Ghosts stowing their rides and each of them taking out a gun. In the dark of the cave that seemed to eat the light, Skylar gripped her Fated Hearts harder. Sterling and Corvan's ghost Sin led the way with their flashlights as they crept deeper into the cave. A sound echoed off the walls with a sudden snap, the screaming and snarling of her nightmares. Hive. They spread out just as the thrall found them and suddenly the cave was echoing with gunfire and screeching, the light of muzzles flashed making it feel like they were in a club.
Skylar popped the shield of a Wizard as she dodged to the side, the blade of her armor Liar's Handshake, Striking Talons, piercing the skull of a Thrall. The Wizard was down before she could aim again, Noble's auto rifle mowing it down in seconds. The green glow of Thorn flickered around her, the poison shots downing Thrall and Acolytes alike. Skylar threw two of her knives, sparking her Void lightning into the chest of a Knight and watched it fall, spasming onto the ground. Suddenly, she was very glad Z had taken the time to show her how to use her Light on weapons like he was always doing.
Five minutes passed and the fight was over, bodies littered the ground and as she caught her breath, she used a foot to turn over a Knight and look at it. Red ridging framed its armor, so very different from what she was used to.
"These are not Hive," Sin's voice informed them as she scanned a nearby body, Corvan walking up to them. "Their energy is different."
"They sure look and fight like them," Noble grumbled. Corvan shook his head.
"First that thing outside and now this. What the fuck is going on?" If he'd had his helmet off, Skylar knew he'd be scrubbing his face with a hand in frustration. Turning his head to her, he jerked his head to the side. "Let's keep moving."
Skylar could only nod as she led the way forward. They ran into more of the not-Hive, taking them down quickly before they finally were once more out of the cave. The walls around them were back, but the sky had also returned. Some of the tension in her chest released. As they walked, the walls slowly began to lower, opening up like a gaping mouth.
"We're just about there, be on your guard," she warned after looking at the map on her HUD as they moved quickly around the bend in the path. It was vast space, a canyon edging a large flat area and the stars uncovered from all sides. Her eyes took it all in and then something enormous and black caught them. Sharp angles with nearly an eerie glow and nestled into the rocks as if it were a being lounging across them.
A pyramid ship.
"Traveler's ass crack," Noble breathed, and Skylar felt her hand slacken on her gun as she stared. The enemy, the great threat that the Nine had warned the Drifter of. The thing Z had gone off into space to find. It was here, so close to Earth. Corvan cursed something, the snarl in his tone making it almost illegible.
Well now, a new voice mused in her ear and Skylar didn't need to look to know who it was. Of course, he'd make an appearance now of all times. Andal moved forward, eyeing the looming ship with interest. I'd say with how the rocks have curled around it; it's been here quite a while. He glanced at her, his eyes flickering with a green glow. Not that such a thing makes it any less dangerous.
"What do you mean?" she murmured, forgetting for a moment about the comms and winced when Corvan looked at her.
"What?" he asked, a frown in his voice. She shook her head.
"Nothing."
Can't you feel it? Andal cocked his head, walking to the edge of the canyon. The Darkness? The pull of it as if whispering for you to move closer? She wasn't sure what he was talking about and clenched her teeth, waving them to move on. Find Eris. That was their job. Find her and get the hell out. They found a winding path that edged the canyon. As they walked, more of the ship was revealed and suddenly she could feel what Andal had been talking about. Something was pulling at her, tendrils of power that stroked against her covered skin. Come here, come closer, it seemed to say. She shivered.
It wasn't long before they saw more of the red and black bodies, all floating and all appearing when they were feet from them. They dotted the area like lanterns during The Festival of the Lost. She heard Noble curse under his breath and couldn't help but agree. Another open area was at the end of the bend, bringing them closer to the ship; but something else drew her eye, something that wasn't in grayscale. Red. Off to the side a red mass pulsed like a tripmine. Glancing at her teammates, she raised a hand, clenching it in a silent order to stop. Whatever it was, she didn't want all of them to get too close. Skylar took the chance, moving forward and reaching out to touch the mass, only for her hand to bounce right off. She winced, pulling back.
"Sterling?" she asked, rubbing her hand. Her partner blinked into existence, scanning the object quickly before returning to her HUD, as was her preference when out of the field. If anything about Cayde's death had taught her anything, it was to keep your Ghost close when you could.
"It's a barrier... but someth'n... someth'n is wrong with it, just like those Hive." His words were nearly echoed by the worm god at her side as Andal tried to walk through it, and surprisingly, he too was knocked backwards. As he hissed, the pulsing grew faster and Skylar took a step back, a chill running up her spine.
Looks like I might have started something. Get back. Now! he snapped, and she followed his order without even thinking about it, dodging back and then bolting back towards her team waiting a fair way up. Something flashed into being and the ground shook. She lost her footing, caught herself, and kept going till she was standing back with the guys, turning to look back.
Her heart nearly stopped.
He was the same as in her nightmares, but worse. Now he glowed red and he was there and she was awake and feet from him. His sword was clutched tight in his hands as he shifted his gaze down towards them all.
Crota.
No. He was dead. He was fucking dead!
You do not fear him anymore, Andal stated. Now move!
She shook her head, pushing the pain and the terror back as the god laughed and enemies spawned around him. She unslung the Whisper and stowed her handgun. "Looks like we're in for a rerun," she murmured, trying to get strength back in her voice. "Spread out!"
They did.
Noble jumped into the fray at close range as Corvan stayed near mid ground, firing Thorn and throwing Arc grenades as Thrall barreled towards him. Skylar raised her scope and fired off a round, blowing up a cursed one and causing four more to die instantly, giving her fellow Hunter a small window to reload. He didn't thank her, but he never did. Moving her aim to Crota she fired again, but the shield around him didn't even waver.
"He's protected by someth'n," Sterling informed her, and she scowled. Well, some things never changed, did they?
"There's an enemy down there somewhere that's protecting him, find it!" she snapped over the coms and took the head off a Knight with two quick shots.
"Skylar behind you!" Noble's shout came moments before she heard the screech of Thrall and she had barely enough time to turn, gun lower as a cursed one reached her. She jumped back from the explosion, but she wasn't fast enough. Pain ripped through her, and she skidded across the ground. Her ears were ringing as she groaned, sitting up and pressing a hand to her head. Her shotty vision saw double as the rest of the Thrall came straight for her, still yards away but quick closing it. Panic smashed into her and her hands flexed for her rifle and gasped at nothing.
Her gun was gone.
She scrambled for her Fated Hearts, her fingers suddenly numb as panic turned to fear and fear turned everything into a suffocating wave of helplessness. The Moon was gone, and the throne room was back. Not again. please not again. They would rip her apart, score her skin with their talons and Sterling would start screaming. Something like static rippled through her comms and then there was sudden pain. Not the pain of cutting, but the dull thud of something smashing into her shoulder. Once more she was thrown, but this time to the side and the jolt had her head ringing once more. Shaking it, her vision righted and clear as the Moon came back into sight.
Her hand found her gun and without thought, she mowed down the half dozen Hive on instinct from her half-laying stance. Turning her gaze, she looked for what had hit her and found Crota feet from where she had been, but his attention was focused elsewhere now as he shot at Noble across the way, slowly taking steps away. His blade was splashed red. For half a second Skylar thought it was from her, that she'd missed the pain of being cut open, her body in too much shock to feel it.
Then she spotted the body on the ground in front of the Hive prince.
There was blood everywhere, bright against the gray of the ground, and splashed against black, dark green, and gray armor that nearly blended him in with moon dust. Corvan. His scarf was torn from the hood and fluttered off in the distance. It wasn't the only thing that was torn asunder. Something sickening dragged at her mind as she stared at her friend, his body cleanly ripped in half at the ribs.
Dead. His Ghost was nowhere in sight.
"Corvan!" her scream scored her throat with the volume, whatever fear that had been lingering snapping apart. She remembered that twisted molten sword, those bones and the way Crota had shattered in her mind. She remembered Andal's words.
You do not fear them anymore.
"Skylar, I got the Wizard and hit him with the sword, get him now!" Noble's voice snapped over the feed. "Don't worry about Corvan, his Ghost is with me." What? Why would he..?
She didn't have time to think about it.
Jumping to her feet she ran forward, shooting her gun as she spotted the unshielded god once more. He'd moved towards Noble completely now. Ten steps from him she holstered her gun and summoned her Light into her hands. Blue blades appeared in them, Void lightning sparking across them as she jumped as high as she could and then buried her weapons in his back. He snarled, currents zipping across his skin as Skylar placed her feet on him and she pulled one blade out and then stabbed it a bit higher, pushing up with a foot by using a ridge. He thrashed, his free hand grappling for her but he couldn't reach as she repeated the motion twice more before her Light ran low. Push off and backwards, she jumped as far back as she could and Crota instantly turned to face her. Her feet splashed into the pool of blood, right next to Corvan's body, but she had little time to gag as her enemy came running at her.
A burning hammer smashed into his head and he sidestepped, snarling once more. It was followed up by another and another, sun spots flaring to life as Noble ran, skirting the giant and heading her way, all the while chucking his Hammers of Sol. Crota raised a hand to try and cover his face, taking another step back as flames licked at his armor and skin. Skylar pulled her gun free as some of the other Hive ran forward, but after the first shot, there was a brilliant, eerie flash of light that blinded her. She cracked her head down in reflex, eyes shutting for only a moment before she forced them back open and found herself staring once again.
The area was empty.
Crota and every single Hive that had been charging them was missing without a trace.
"The hell?" Noble whispered. "Did we just win or?"
It didn't feel like a win, not at all. It felt like a draw, or something else entirely. She shook her head.
"I don't know. Sterling, any sign of them?" she asked even as she glanced at her radar and found nothing. Not a single blip.
"No," her Ghost drawled. "It's as if they were never here."
"Shit."
"I agree with ya."
Looking at Noble, she sighed, a bit relieved despite herself. At least they were gone, if even for a moment. Two Ghosts appeared near the Titan - Noble's round shaped Halo and then Sin, her pitch black shell scrunching her already spiky body as she floated over to Skylar – or rather Corvan who laid in pieces near her.
Skylar really did gag this time and took a few steps back, scuffing her feet in the moon dust. Sin glanced at her once with that ruby-red eye of hers before she expanded into blue Light and the normal flash of a Guardian revival took place. Skylar blinked rapidly, the sound of the all-too-common coughing fit that happened with said revivals at times. Where a body and blood had once been, Corvan stood, whole once more, the tail of his thin cloak drifting in the air.
Alive and breathing and very much not dead.
She didn't even have time to think of anything to say before his helmeted head turned to her and she knew he was staring at her, the heat of his glare felt more than seen through the visor.
"The fuck were you thinking?" he snapped. "You know better than to freeze up in a battle!" Anger, solid and firm hit her and a sudden dose of guilt along with it as she flinched.
"I know… I just…" She hadn't meant to do it, he had to realize that. She thought she'd been fine and then… she hadn't been. Noble put a hand on her shoulder.
"Corvan-"
"You could have been killed." Was the Hunter's next statement. "And I don't mean Ghosted. I had Sin stay with Noble, but Sterling was with you." If that blade had cut her like it had him, there was a chance Sterling would have died along with her. Concentrated Darkness was nearly always fatal – she knew that from her first encounter with Crota. Skylar had never been more happy that she was wearing a helmet as she looked down, teeth clenching. He was clearly disappointed in her and that hurt more than she'd expected. Corvan watched her for a moment before he shook his head again.
"Whatever this is, we all need to be on our toes." With that, the Dark Age survivor walked off towards the path that barrier had been blocking. Skylar swallowed and looked around. Spotting the Whisper she went to it and picked it up, the instant connection to the Worm god back in place. She spotted Andal frowning at her from the side, but he said nothing.
"He was worried," Noble said finally, apparently not caring if his friend heard him through the comlink. "I've never seen him do that before." Seeing as Noble had known the Hunter almost since he'd been brought back, which was nearly sixty years now, that was saying something. The image of his body torn in two flashed through her and she closed her eyes.
She knew exactly why he'd done it. He probably could have gotten away from that hit along with her, but if he'd left his ghost behind... he'd taken that hit on purpose. To shock her back into motion, to snap her back into the present before it was too late.
Even hardass Dark Age Guardians care about people, Andal said, speaking for the first time. Still a surprise though.
"You alright?" Noble asked her as she walked over to him, concerned. "That couldn't have been easy." No, it certainly had not been. Taking in a deep breath she shook her head and moved to follow Corvan. So much for being an effective leader.
"Doesn't matter. Come on, let's get moving. Eris has to be close by."
She'd try harder. It was the only thing she could think of as they caught up with their teammate. She'd get stronger. She had to.
-Skylar-
Skylar watched lazily down her scope from her spot upon a hill as Frost chased down the remanding Dreg from the group of Splicer Fallen she'd been ticking off. The faint scream of the being was heard for only a moment before teeth sank into its neck and rippled it out, coating the wolf's muzzle in another layer of blood. Shifting her weapon to the right, she fired her gun, taking out an invisible Vandal that had been sneaking up on Shiro who was currently turning a hoard of Shanks into scrap metal. At the sound of something dying behind him, he whipped his head around, glanced down and then quickly went back to the threat at hand.
"Thanks, Sky."
"It's what I'm here for," she mused and heard him huff a laugh as she shifted her gaze to look after Frost. He was currently nudging the corpse of the Vandal, playing with it as it were. She rolled her eyes and reached up to her neck, clicking to a different com that was connected to a small speaker on a tactical vest the wolf was wearing. It had taken a lot to get him used to it, but after a while he stopped fighting her about it. The Kevlar kept him safer, and that was what mattered.
"You can play with your kills later," she told her companion. He stopped instantly, ears perking and head swiveling to look at her across the expanse between them. She couldn't have been a very big target to spot, but he still knew where she was. A growl came over the mic and she sighed. "Frost." Her voice turned stern, commanding as she pulled 'pack rank' as Shiro called it. The growling stopped instantly, and she smiled.
"Good boy. Now go help out Shiro."
His head swiveled the other way, finding the Exo, and his tail wagged slightly before after a single bark he moved in that direction, crouching lower as he got closer and then jumping a Captain who'd just lost its shield and taking it into the ground. She heard the snarl from both fighters before Skylar clicked the channel off and went back to the normal one with Shiro.
"Sent you backup."
"I thought you said you were here for that?" Her friend teased, a well aimed knife ending the last enemy close by. Frost walked over to him, as he bent down to grab up some Gimmer and proceeded to smear blood all over the Exo's arm and helmet as he tried to show off a severed arm. "Frost! Damn it, I just cleaned this armor!"
Skylar laughed before a sharp beep alerted her to an incoming comlink call that was non-Ghost in nature. Glancing to the upper part of her screen she raised a brow at the name.
"I've got to take this call, but I'll still be up here watching your backs. Be careful."
Shiro grumbled, finally pushing the wolf back and standing, wiping at his arm.
"Super-secret Hidden stuff?"
"Something like that."
"Right, well, talk to you soon then."
"Mhm." Clicking off her comms again she sighed, shifting slightly from her prone position, her hips starting to ache slightly after nearly an hour. "Alright Sterling, patch him through." A sharp click and some light static told her it was live. "Cayde?" Something about saying his name still sent small twitches of anxiety though her and she took in a deep breath to push it away.
After the day she'd agreed to try to be his friend again, Skylar had given him the code for her Ghost's private line in case he needed to talk. He'd told her Shiro had given him a comstick and seeing as she was away so much, he'd wanted to make sure he could contact her. He was lonely, she'd recognized that instantly, and it was probably one the bigger reasons she'd agreed to it – even if it hurt.
In all honesty, she wasn't sure if doing so was a good idea, but Z had told her that him losing his memories didn't have to mean she could never talk to him again, that she couldn't interact with him. Being friends was… easier than she thought it would be, but maybe the distance helped make it easier. She hadn't seen him since that day, and she'd been gone from the City for nearly two weeks. Seeing as it was a week since his last call, she was starting to see a pattern.
"Hey," he replied. "You busy?" Oh, his all-too-common opening line. She rolled her eyes and followed Shiro and Frost with her scope as they moved to the other side of the abandoned facility.
"Not particularly. Just picked off Fallen in the Blighted Lands."
"Alone?"
"Shiro and Frost are down in the thick of it. I'm just their overseer." She shifted again, trying to get comfortable once more. "They're rather far away so you don't need to worry about being overheard or anything." For once her ghostly friend was nowhere in sight either.
A pause. Then:
"I wasn't really worried about that." Sure he wasn't.
"Aren't you working right now?" Last week, Cayde had informed her that he'd gotten a job – a civilian job at that. He was still working in the Tower, but now he was working under Amanda of all people as a mechanic. It wasn't a big stretch for him, he'd always been working on his sparrow and guns anyway, but she was surprised he'd wanted to be so close to someone he only remember as a child.
Ikora had set him up with a whole new identity at that – like any good spymaster – and it worked pretty damn well. Sevens had been a Guardian, but he'd lost his Ghost and his Light during a mission involving the Hive and had taken a few months off to try and figure things out. It seemed like these days their enemies were finding more and more ways to kill Ghosts, so it wasn't much of a stretch to be a believable story. He'd also tacked on that he and Cayde-6 had been good friends, which Skylar found ridiculously amusing. Still, it worked, and gave him a chance to try and get his feet wet in his new human life.
"It was slow today, so she let some of us go early. New blood are top picks for that apparently." He seemed just a tag amused by that. "Was fine with me, I've been stuck on the same ship for three hours. Some Warlock rammed a Fallen ship with it, said something about the paint job not being what they wanted for their new look. Seemed like an extreme way of doing it but… who knows."
"Ouch." Skylar pulled the trigger as a Vandal went running at Frost from behind and it went down a second later. Thankfully, the Whisper was a quiet weapon. "Well, I'm mostly free to talk if that's what you want. You'll just have to put up with some occasional fire."
"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem," he said plainly. True enough, he'd been on comms during missions far too many times, she was sure. She huffed before finally giving up and moving to sit, propping the gun on one knee and adjusting the shoulder rest. "Speaking of fashion, I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Oh?"
"Your armor," he started off. "You seem pretty big on feathers. Care to explain?" His question had her pausing and lowering her gun slightly as she blinked to get her vision back with no scope in front of it. Well, that hadn't been something she'd seen coming. "Skylar?"
"Sorry, just surprised, I guess. Yeah, I have a lot of feathers."
"… is there a reason?"
"Isn't there always?" she mused and heard him sigh. Right, no deflecting then. "It's kind of complicated."
"Most things that mean something are."
"True." She glanced through the scope again and picked off another enemy from among the group her friends were fighting. "When I was first brought back," she started off. "I was found in a tree and there was a bird's nest in my lap. Spooked the poor thing half to death. I found out later that the bird was a peregrine falcon of all things. Guess it makes sense I was a Hunter."
"Yeah… that would be a pretty interesting sign of fate. Saw our resident falcon in the Tower, met the woman uh… Hawthorne. She seems… very intense."
"Stubborn is more like it," Skylar agreed, shrugging even though he couldn't see her. "Anyway, after I'd been around for a bit and I started training with Tevis, he asked me about where I was brought back and when I told him, a few months later he handed me some feathers. Said he found a nest on his last mission, thought they'd be a good calling card." She remembered that day, remembered how shocked and happy that had made her. It was the first thing anyone had given her that wasn't a gun. "I ended up wearing those feathers on my arm guard for a long time."
There was a stent of quiet after that, and Skylar let it sing in as she pulled the trigger again.
"That was rather… thoughtful of him," Cayde said finally. "Though I suppose since he was working with you it's not too unbelievable. I bet I gave you some stuff too, yeah?"
His words had her smirking as she pulled back to let her neck rest for a minute.
"Of course, you did." Her gun, her necklace, her treasured book. Hell, his damn heart. "Anyway," she said, moving on quickly without really answering him. "Feathers kind of became my motif. Even my Ghost had a shell with them on it for a long time. After a while though it turned into more I guess. A way to remember people, to honor them – to honor Tevis at first. My cloak is to honor clanmates, five feathers for five dead friends and more…" so much more than just that.
"Wait," Cayde cut in before she could go on. "Are you saying Tevis was in your clan?" the disbelief was just as strong as when he'd watched his friend agree to join. Flabbergasted. "He didn't join clans. It wasn't his thing, or so he said." He sighed loudly. "Apparently things can change. You must have been close if he joined."
Something in Skylar's chest tightened.
"Yes... yes we were. I've lost a lot of friends, some like family… some so much more than that. Tevis' was hard. Very hard." Almost as hard as yours , she wanted to say. There was another long pause, as if he were having trouble processing her words. She supposed it was a lot. She wondered if Shiro had told him about Cassidy, or if Zavala had spoken about Winter – two more feathers on her cloak.
"How did it happen?" Cayde asked finally. "I haven't had the nerve to ask how he died but… I'd like to know. You don't have to tell me everything but…was it quick?" An innocent question, but the feeling in Skylar's chest was suddenly much worse.
For a moment, Skylar was back in the Black Garden. Staring at those gleaming silver eyes that always reminded her of fresh steel, only now they were dimming, used up. Even with all the pain he must have been in, he'd still smirked at her, still told her it was okay as a cold hand pressed to her face. She'd held onto that hand, her other carding through his black card in what little comfort she could give him. She'd never cried in front of him, not till that moment. He hadn't mentioned it, not as they sat there for what could have been hours.
"Be strong little Skybird," He'd never called her that, it was always 'Little Falcon'. It had been different; it had meant something more. She never got to ask because then Void Light had encased them both moments later, a shiver over her spine – then his hand had gone limp, and his eyes had lowered to half-mast. He'd been gone.
She'd killed every single Vex in the area with his bow that night.
"Skylar?" Cayde's voice jolted her back to the present and she blinked a few times, her eyes stinging. She took in a silent deep breath through her nose.
"No…" she admitted. "It wasn't." Glancing through the scope again, she saw that her friends had cleaned up pretty well and were simply resting on the outer edge of the area. Probably waiting for her. "He went on a mission to Mars, he was checking something out about the Vex. Should have been simple but… something happened. We never really figured it out. Only thing we knew was one minute you and I were talking and the next he's calling you on comms asking for backup. We both know he doesn't – didn't do that."
A quiet curse on the other end of the line.
"No, not at all. Did you find out what happened? Where he was."
"Yes," she said without pause. "I was the one you sent out to go help him."
"Shit…"
"Somehow he'd gotten himself trapped in the Black Garden." She ignored his curse, knowing if she kept pausing the old pain would get worse. "I found his Ghost right inside the gate, dead. He was farther in and… well." She raised a hand and rubbed her eyes, trying to block out the images of what she said next. "He'd been fatally wounded. I tried to get him out, but he refused to let me endanger myself when he knew it wouldn't save him. So, I just… stayed with him till it was over." Just like Cayde. Two mentors, two deaths she couldn't stop, only watch. Skylar knew from the silence that followed, Cayde was thinking the same thing – only he didn't know everything.
He didn't know he'd been more than a mentor to her.
Talking about her long-dead friend had certain memories from the last year coming back to her. Certain odd occurrences and half happy moments. She sighed and shook her head. How strange and twisted her life had become.
"I'm not even sure what to say to that, other than I'm sorry… and to thank you."
"Thank me?" That was a surprise. "why?"
"Tev wasn't much of a people person. Standard issue lone wolf hunter. Only people he ever hung around was our little group from back when Andal was alive. That and he did poker nights. Sounds like him teaching you things kind of helped him learn how to break from that, if even just a little. It's rather clear he was important to you, and from the sounds of it, he cared about you, about the clan. Shit…" he cursed under his breath. "You've been through a lot for just being alive for eight years."
Skylar huffed a bit. No kidding. "It's not just me, a lot of younger Guardians have had to deal with a lot. About a year after I was brought back shit started hitting the fan and then it just never stopped, not for long." Skylar remembered after the SIVA crisis how they'd had almost a year of quiet, just standard patrols and missions. No end of the world class events. Then the Red War had come and started everything back up again.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that, though I haven't really asked much. Heard a few murmurs of things. Heard about the Red War. What else happened?"
"A lot," she mused, smiling slightly. "Far too much to ever tell right now."
"Can you at least give me something?"
Skylar sighed and lowered her gun after another sweep of the field.
"Wars, Cayde, not just one," she said finally. "Wars. One right after another, every damn enemy rearing its head." And Skylar had been right in the middle of all of it. "I'll tell you more later. I need to go." If she left Shiro hanging much longer he'd come find her. She wasn't in the mood to explain why she was talking to Cayde. She hadn't told anyone, not yet.
The former Exo paused for a moment, taking that all in once more. "Yeah… okay. Sounds good. Will you be in the City any time soon?"
She smirked slightly, but her chest still tightened, worry still clouded her mind. Was it really okay to be doing this? She didn't know, but Skylar had always been a bit selfish.
"Not sure. Maybe."
She could almost see the scowl on his face.
"Fine, fine. Keep your secrets. I'll talk to you later."
"Till then."
With a click the line closed and Skylar ran a hand over her hair before rubbing her face. Well, that was interesting. Standing up, she shouldered her rifle. It was time to get back to work.
N/A:
The flashback was something I struggled to write for a while, but it was an important turning point for two characters - can you guess who?
I got a lot of inspiration for Frost from the Luna's Howl lore and thought it was a really neat idea to have animal work alongside guardians out in the field. Still trying to figure out how Luna stayed alive on the moon - did she have a spacesuit or something?
The world may never know.
Thanks for reading!
The flashback was something I struggled to write for a while, but it was an important turning point for two characters - can you guess who?
I got a lot of inspiration for Frost from the Luna's Howl lore and thought it was a really neat idea to have animal work alongside guardians out in the field. Still trying to figure out how Luna stayed alive on the moon - did she have a spacesuit or something?
The world may never know.
Thanks for reading!