One of the nicest things about the Iron Temple was the underground hot spring that was smack dab near the center of the peak. Through a work of what Skylar called master craft, that water had been brought to the Temple and now ran into the rooms of the Iron Lords. Ran straight into the large tub in the far side of Skylar's room — formerly Lady Efrideet's room. Skylar was currently enjoying the heated water, lounging across the length of it with an arm curled over the side, back against the wall. Steam billowed up, the water slightly murky from use as she looked from the ceiling, eyes moving to the other person in her room.

Clad in only his boots and pants, Corvan stood in front of the fire, eyes distant even as his hand ran across Frost's head, the wolf's tail wagging at the attention. Her eyes shifted to the rumpled bed and discarded clothes around it. That had happened a few hours ago, and even with no way to see outside, Skylar knew it was close to dawn now. Looking back to the man, her eyes traced over his face — at the stark shadows and light the flames painted on it. Solar, he'd once told her, was the first of the Light he'd been given. It didn't fit him, that had been the first thing she'd thought in the first year he'd known her. Too strict. Nothing like Cayde or Z or most Gunslingers she knew. Void suited him better.

She'd been wrong — there was a reason the Traveler had given him Solar; people just didn't look close enough.

"I'm surprised you're still here," she said finally, and after a moment, Corvan blinked and looked at her. A single dark brow rose at her words.

"Didn't realize I was on a time limit."

"You're not," she assured him. "At least not one I make. You just…. Well, you don't normally stay once I'm up." He never left before that. Corvan was kind enough to stick around after one of their nights together to wait until she'd woken back up. Often, she'd find him working on a gun or his knives. Sometimes he'd still be in bed, like this morning, but he never stayed long after that. Never said why he left, he just always did, Skylar could only assume it was so no one caught them again, like Noble had. He'd been staying longer though lately, taking more risks, more so since they were at the Temple where another Hunter lived. So far, Shiro hadn't caught on —at least as far as she knew.

"Lost in thought," he said finally, "Leaving isn't very appealing with what's out there now." The comment was neither a compliment or a backhanded snide, because Skylar understood his meaning. In there, like it always was for them, they were away from the world. They'd started this whole… relationship with the idea of pausing and forgetting, if only for a bit. Leaving meant hitting the play button, and now, playing the game that was life sounded worse than ever. It wasn't the same world, the same life.

Because their world was suddenly much emptier. Their home missing pieces that had always been in the sky, now gone. Skylar wondered if the planets and moons the Ships had taken would ever return, or if new generations would grow up not knowing they'd had nine planets in their solar system. If they got to have another generation — if they lived through everything that was now starting to unfold. If that wasn't enough, the Ships now loomed in even more numbers. Skylar shuddered for a moment, even in the hot water and pulled her arm back into it.

"I'm not going to make you leave Corvan, but Shiro is due back at some point in the afternoon." Sneaking around at her place was a bit harder than his apartment or a ship. Other people lived there. Sometimes Skylar wished it was just all out in the open, but she wasn't sure if it would make their lives harder or easier. Corvan just huffed a small uncaring sound.

"He'll never know I was here," he said evenly, argent, but perhaps with the skills to back it up. She watched him draw his hand from Frost's head and after a moment the white wolf tilted his head and left the man's side, coming over to Skylar instead. She flicked water at him, and it hit his nose, making his snuffle in annoyance, but he still sat down near the end where her feet were. She was really hoping he didn't try to get in again.

The room falls silent again, the crackling fire and the small sound of water lapping in her tub the only noise in the room. Corvan still stared at the flames, and Skylar let herself look him over once more, even though she was pretty sure by now she knew what he looked like from every angle. Even in the striking shadows the flames gave off, Skylar could see the scar that ran across his back, from one shoulder blade to the other. It wasn't as brutal and stark at the ones on her torso, but the fact that it was there at all was a telling sign. She'd never asked about it, had wanted to, but she feared that might be too personal. She could wager a guess though, seeing as unless something like what happened to her happened, there were only two ways Guardians could retain scars. It was either from his past life or… or he'd kept it on purpose, had his Ghost change his rez to do so. He'd done it for a reason. After all, he'd kept the scar Cayde had given him after the disaster that was Crota. It held meaning.

Everything with him had meaning.

Even his name, if you followed its origin, meant crow — meant scavenger. Even the fact that he'd renamed his Ghost at some point, according to Tevis, from Sina to Sin. Skylar wished she felt like she could ask him about these things, not just because she wanted to know, but because it would give her something else to think about. She didn't though, so instead — as the fire cracked apart another piece of wood — she said something completely different, but perhaps even more personal.

"I'm scared," she admitted quietly. "All of this… all of this is terrifying, but I'm angry too, that we couldn't stop it, that I was once again helpless to stop it." She saw him tense, but still, Corvan didn't move, didn't turn to look at her again, so Skylar looked down, looked at her hand sitting under the water, at the black strands of her hair floating around it. "Haven't felt like this since Cayde died. Since I went alone into a reign I'd never been to and risked everything… I was alone, except my Ghost and I was angry and scared and it made me do things I'd never thought I was capable of."

She'd slaughter those Fallen, hunted down each corrupted Captain and made them feel the pain they'd caused. She'd used the Hangman's own flaming mace to smash his chest in for what he'd done to Cayde. Then she'd killed Uldren — a human, something she'd never thought herself capable of. Skylar remembered how she'd emptied the Ace into a wall after that, how she'd stared at those holes, recounting what she'd done. All of that anger and hate had shifted to horror because left unchecked her fury had changed her forever.

What would be left of her if that happened again?

The fire popped and hissed again, eating at a chunk of sap as she waited and waited… and waited.

"You won't be alone. Not this time," his voice was steady, and the understanding in his had her looking to Corvan once again. He's turned, resting a forearm on the mantle, the light of the flames blazing across his side. "None of us could stop what happened, all of us are angry Skylar. All of us." He clenched his jaw. "You are not alone in that, but we'll find a way to fix it, this clan always does."

Skylar knew that — knew they'd do everything they could, but the clan wasn't invincible, and they were already spread thin. Even now, Z was off on his own scouting out the enemy, as was Shiro.

"I know," she said after a moment, dread at what would likely come to pass still fresh in her mind. People were going to die, people she moved, and that anger in her would rise up and tear those responsible apart.

"You won't be alone," Corvan repeated, his eyes holding hers. "Something like what happened with Cayde ever happens again and no matter what you think or say, you won't be alone to face it. I'll make sure of that." He didn't say 'I promise', but Skylar knew he meant it, knew he'd do everything in his power to do so. After all, he already did it, didn't he? Whenever she was alone for too long and no one else could make it, Corvan always showed up, even if it was to sit in the same room as her and say nothing. Even if it was just this… thing they were now.

Skylar was grateful. So, so grateful to him in that moment. She swallowed hard and nodded her head, a small smile edging onto her face.

"I'll hold you to that," she managed, and he smirked before making that huffing sound again, as if such a thing were so easy to keep. Maybe it was, maybe it was just that important to him. Skylar had never thought, not in a million years, that the cold, brutal hunter standing in front of her would ever become someone she depended on so much. Had never thought he'd care enough to want her too. Looking into his eyes, those dark blue eyes that could lose their color in a mere moment… they had a touch of warmth in them. A warmth that made her bath water seem lukewarm. He left the fire then, taking a few steps forward to be in front of her, Frost quickly moving out of his way.

Skylar couldn't speak as he reached out with rough, calloused fingers and gently brushed hair that had fallen across her face. The strands left a trail of water that shirted her chest as he left them behind her air. His fingers lingered, barely touching her temple as he held her gaze.

"You won't have to," he said quietly.

Then he turned away from her as easily as he always had, his hand dropping from her face as he gathered up the rest of his clothes.

-Cayde-

"Let her go."

The convulsing shiver that ran up his spine at Corvan's words had Cayde taking a step back from the now dead Guardian and the Ghost hovering over it — the bright orange triangle chirping like mad. He wasn't sure if his heart was nearly beating out of his chest from the fact that he'd nearly died moments ago, or if it was those three simple words from the near ancient Hunter. Maybe that word was a bit much, but no one seemed to know how old Corvan Blacksteel really was — Cayde supposed that only added to mystery — and thus, the terror that tone could bring. Cayde had never witnessed such anger up close. He'd heard the stories of course, heard the color drained from the guys eyes, not that Cayde could confirm that with the helmet on. There he was though, feet from those stories, and a small part of him was excited to see what would happen.

A sudden grunt of pain had Cayde's gaze finally moving from Corvan to where Skylar had been grappled, only to find that not so anymore. Purple currents zapped over her limbs, rippling over the Titan for a few seconds, who backed up, a hand over his cracked face plate. Had she headbutted him? Within seconds, she blink stepped away, reappearing near her hand cannon and picking it up, the motion of her arm arching to land on her former friend. Talihina flinched, but didn't move for her gun or the ice under her skin as Skylar retreated back to Corvan's side, gun still trained on the Exo. Once she was next to him, she relaxed slightly — having someone at your back always made it easier. Her head tilted towards him, but she didn't look as she spoke.

"You came," she said quietly, almost too low for Cayde to hear, and Corvan, gun still raised on the recovering Talien simply replied:

"Yes."

Something about that word seemed to hold far more meaning than it should have, and something danced across Skylar's face, something like guilt and relief all in one. She didn't thank him, just looked at Cayde with a frown that had him almost taking another step back. The disapproval of his actions was clear, and even if Cayde didn't regret them, his gut clenched for causing her such pain.

"I'll only ask you one more Sevens. Helmet. Now. And stay the fuck back." No more humor, or kindness, or even room for an argument. It was a command, and it was almost as cold and hard as the Hunter next to her. It was like that when she'd threatened these same Guardians on that roof. In the time he'd gotten to know her, such anger… it didn't fit her. He was here and yet as he stared at her, he knew somewhere in that empty part of his memory, it didn't fit her and it made all of him ache.

What the hell?

Nodding, Cayde finally did as she asked, moving back to the trees where his stuff was, and picking up said helmet. Clicking it into place, the HUD came back online, and he watched as Sterling finally made an appearance, apparently trusting Corvan to keep not only Skylar, but him safe as he healed his Guardian. Skylar said something, her mouth moving but this time, Cayde was too far away to hear it, and there he stayed.

With a suddenness that only a Hunter had, Corvan moved his gun and pointed it at Darek's Ghost, who shrunk back instantly. Cayde nearly flinched. He'd known Skylar's threat had been a bluff, he couldn't see her ever hurting a Ghost, but Corvan? Those who had been reborn as a Risen and not Guardians were not so unaccustomed to that happening. The Dark Age was named that for a reason.

"You even try to hide and I'll fire before you can get away," he told the Ghost, before directing his next words at the audience around him. "Unless you want your teammate to stay dead, I want all of you to go to where Talien is. Don't get any smart ideas."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Warlock, Maya, did as she was told, moving over to her Titan teammate who was so tense he looked really to shatter into pieces if someone hit him wrong. Corvan still didn't move, though Skylar's head turned to look to the other soul in the clearing.

"That means you, Talihina," he stated flatly. Cayde looked at the Exo — at the friend that had betrayed them — just in time to see her flinch once again. Skylar gestured with her gun in a motion to get moving. There was a brief hesitation before Talihina nodded and moved as well, shoulders hunched as her clan leader followed her every step. There was regret in that posture, and Cayde wondered if she was starting to really see the consequences of her choice, the ones that lied beyond her need to have power once again.

"What are you planning to do?" Maya asked finally. Corvan ignored her.

"Get your other gun," he ordered, and it took a moment for Cayde to realize he meant Skylar, who instantly moved to do so. Keeping her gun raised, Skylar backed up to the black rifle — Cayde still didn't know what it was called — and grabbed the strap, easily slinging it back in place over her shoulder without missing a beat. She glanced toward Cayde for only a moment, checking on him, he was sure, before she returned to Covan's side.

"If I had my way, you'd all be on the ground," Corvan told them after a moment. "But much to my disdain, I still follow certain guidelines when it comes to the rules that bind Guardians." He pauses for a moment, helmet shifting just slightly as if he were looking at each person. "I'm delivering a message from our Commander, who contacted me after Haar-2 informed him of what was happening. My orders are simply this: Order the rogue team back to the Tower and have them report to his office. Upon refusal… Do as I see fit."

Everyone went still, even Skylar and Cayde. Had… had Zavala really said that? He'd been harsh with Skylar's team, nearly unfair with the woman herself but this… this was almost like he was ordering a bounty. Bring them in alive, or not at all.

"You're lying!" Talien snapped, anger in his voice again. "He wouldn't do that, we were assured by member of the Consensus -"

"Listening to a fanatic like Lakshimi about matters like this is a whole new level of idiocy. She's paranoid and easily swayed by fear. A fear brought to her home when we used Stasis and came back to the City. A clan that she held no sway over, even if some of its members sided with her during the faction wars. So, she found a few Guardians just as scared who would listen to the first figure of authority giving them the go ahead to do what they wanted to." He paused for a moment, letting that sink in, and Cayde found himself momentarily feeling bad for the group. Terror made people do a lot of terrible things. Then the moment was over.

"You don't understand! You went and-"

"Gained a dark power without the Vanguard's permission?" Corvan cut in flatly. "Let me guess, it was what you felt was the best option for dealing with us."

"Sounds kind of familiar," Skylar commented, using her free hand to wipe at the cut on her face, blood still trailing down it. As if on cue, Sterling appeared in a flicker of Light, his little shell carefully hidden behind Corvan as he started healing his Guardian. Was that why they were standing like that — close together to make a wall for her Ghost to use? They hadn't even said anything, hadn't spoken more than three words to each other.

It reminded Cayde so much of the past — of him and Andal, of Shiro and Tevis, all four of them running as a pack. They'd moved and stood like that, without words, even without gestures. They just knew each other. Cayde wouldn't have pegged Corvan for being that familiar with anyone, but clans changed things, changed people. Turning his gaze back to the offending Guardians, he saw Maya tense, taking a step forward before stopping. With everyone wearing a helmet except Skylar, it made things a bit hard to read, but Cayde could only guess that the Warlock maybe hadn't been a leader in this entire plan. Probably just a friend, a teammate who cared for the other two enough to stick by them no matter what. She's spent almost the entire fight trying to keep him safe after all. A Guardian till the end, keeping the Lightless safe.

"Why shouldn't we take it?" Talihina spoke up suddenly, hands clenching at her sides. "Why shouldn't we do everything we can to keep people safe?"

Skylar's face crumpling slight at the pain in her clan member's voice, and took a step forward, gun lowering ever so slightly as if to reach out for her friend "Tali…" Another step, and then a hand shot out, leaving the Thorn and grabbing her shoulder to stop her as Corvan shifted his attention. Cayde saw it instantly — the deadly precision faltered for just a moment — and it was enough.

The Titan moved, purple energy swirling around his arm as he dashed forward, his Sentinel Shield forming moments before Corvan's shots ran out, his attention snapping back, his hand leaving Skylar. They retreated, both Hunters peeling away to different sides of the field to escape the charging force. The shield disappeared the moment he turned his sights on Skylar, his energy shifting from purple or orange, a hammer appearing on his waist that he pulled free. Corvan unsurprisingly recovered first, flowing out of his dodge to kick off the tree he'd landed near and start back toward his opponent, a suppressor grenade in hand — where the hell had he gotten one of those? He threw it towards Talien as he ran. The effect stifled the hammer in the Titan's hand, making him wince and giving Skylar time to recover and start shooting at him.

A flash of Arc exploded to his left and Cayde's head snapped to the side to see Darek was back on his feet, a machine gun in hand that pelted the ground and snapped at the Dark Age Hunter, breaking his shield in seconds. Cayde barely had time to recognize the gun before a bolt of lightning soared down from above, smashing into Corvan and sending him off to the side. Despite the pain he must have been in, he pushed up quickly, dodging away from another hail of bullets, and disappearing into mist and shadow. Darek cursed, spraying bullets everywhere, but none of them hit the mark. Guessing that Corvan had to be taking a moment to heal, Cayde looked back to Skylar, worried far more about her than someone who'd survived hell for centuries. The Titan had turtled up, a barrier between them as Skylar moved, avoiding sidearm shots that — to Cayde's surprise — were going through his own barricade.

That was new.

Pulling a duo of throwing knives from her belt, purple lightning danced up them and Skylar jumped, angling her throw over the barrier. Talien shifted to the side, but was still hit across a shoulder pauldron, the energy sending a wave of current through him that snapped at his shield, but didn't break it. The other knife missed, but as Skylar used her last burst of air to jump again — already readying another throw — an arrow soared across the air and smashed into the gap between her own shoulder guard and chestplate. She screamed, her throw going wide and hitting nothing as she fell towards the ground, narrowly dodging another throwing hammer from the recovering Titan. Following the direction of the arrow, both Skylar and Cayde found that to his disappointment, Maya had joined the fight once more. The bow in her hands wasn't something Cayde had seen before, purple and elegantly curling to the form, with a strange glow on the notched arrow. She pulled the string back in warning and Skylar clutched at the shaft in her body, which, to Cayde's horror, began to show black lines crawling up her neck like quickly growing vines. The Hunter wasted no time in brutally ripping the arrow from her skin, causing a spurt of blood to follow, but moments after doing so, the lines stopped. She let out a heavy breath, glaring at the Warlock, who stood in silence only found from resolve.

She'd chosen a side, it seemed, and Cayde couldn't really blame her for sticking with her friends, her team, even if she knew things had gone wrong. Betrayal was a hard thing to muster the will to do. The arrow fired, and Skylar blink stepped feet away, using the momentum to side, her deadly rifle somehow in her hands as if it had simply blinked itself from her back. Skylar didn't even aim down her sights, she just fired, and while Maya leaped to the side, it caught her in the arm and she screamed, bow dropped to the ground as she clutched at the wound much like Skylar had been, but there was nothing to pull out.

"What… what is this?" she hissed out, pulling her arm close to her. "You bitch — what other vile power did you claim t-" A shadow from behind her stopped her question before she could finish, her head turning to the side as her radar blipped. Too late, far too late, and Cayde watched as Corvan swung down, with his burning Hunter knife and cut straight through her robes, from the soft back where her neck and shoulder met and down her back — burning and shredding as it went. The scream that came from her had Talien stopping in his assault on Skylar, both him and Darek's eyes falling to their teammate as she fell to the ground and didn't move, her screaming stopping just as quickly as it had started.

Cayde just stared, the brutality of it stunning him, though he really shouldn't have been surprised. Flicking the blood from the blade, Corvan stepped over the fallen Warlock , ignoring Talien, who rushed over to her and kneeled down. No Ghost appeared, not to rez or to heal, and Cayde thought he might have heard the Exo whisper not to. Smart, given the circumstances, and while Cayde couldn't fight, he did move close to the two women, both moving out of the way of the narrowing field and to keep closer watch, hand still clutching his gun.

"You… You bastard!" Darek shouted, and Cayde saw the ice begin to form at his feet, on his arms. Skylar cursed, rushing forward. Blades of energy formed in her hand, crackling up her arms as she moved to strike down her fellow Hunter and stop him before it was too late. She reached him and one of her blades struck out towards Darek's chest, but it would never land. Cayde saw that clear as day, because he saw what was coming for her just as quickly. The looming figure of Talien charged after her, ice covering his shoulders and hands as he somehow caught up in moments, a fist sending a wave of ice out in front of him. Fear struck through Cayde so hard, something his mind nearly fractured — his vision breaking as he raised his gun to shoot, knowing it was too late.

The City was burning, Cabal ships were in the sky, and near the largest one, a body was falling, the fabric of a cloak above it like a torn flag and all he could do was-

He screamed, half from the sudden head-splitting pain and vision, and half from somewhere in him that was suddenly terrified beyond reason.

"Skylar!" It was enough to have her flinching and reflexively diving to the side, but the wave of ice still struck her hip, sending her into a cartwheel before she hit the ground. Instead of rolling though, ice cut into the ground and her torso, pinning her there as she lay stunned, her Shadow Dancer blades winking out.

"Shit," Corvan snarled, darting for her, only to stumble, along with Cayde as a gale force wind whipped out in an icy current from Darek. Shivers wracked through Cayde as he watched the older Hunter summon an Arc Staff and stab it into the ground to stop his stumble, then leverage it to push forward and toward his teammate again. He halted in front of her, hands already moving, twisting the staff fast enough that it weakened the blast of air like a makeshift shield, his body tense against the force and the cold, protecting them both.

The blast lasted only moments and as it went, Cayde gazed upon the two enemy Guardians, ice across the grass all around them like spikes, crawling upon their armor in glistening sculpted layers. Talien's gauntlets of ice were gone, but in the Hunter's hands, two nightmarish sickles lay at the ready. Corvan lowered his hands, letting the staff of Light disappear, the duration shorter than normal probably to conserve energy. As he did, a flash of arc ran across the ice holding Skylar, shattering it. She grunted, pushing herself into a sitting position before taking the hand Corvan had instantly stretched out. She winced, her hand on her hip where flecks of ice and blood lingered.

Something urged Cayde to move to her, to ask her if she was okay and shield her from all of this. His teeth snapped tight together and he locked his knees to stop that action. He'd just get in the way, damn the Traveler for it, he couldn't keep her safe at all. It seemed Corvan would for him though, steeping slightly closer to her, and his quiet words just barely reached Cayde.

"Can you manage?" Not exactly the worlds Cayde would use, but there was a hint of concern there. Shifting her weight off her injured hip she nodded slightly. No way would she risk Sterling helping her now.

"Nothing's broken," she replied, and that was at least a bit of a relief.

"Good. I'll need your help," Corvan said evenly. "You can't keep treating this like a Crucible match. They just pulled out Darkness. Stop holding back."

Skylar tensed slightly at the reprimand, and Cayde wasn't sure how to take it. She might have been clan leader, but he supposed she probably depended on Corvan for his experience and knowledge, and as always, he was brutally honest when he gave it. Her gaze shifted to the side, away from everyone, unblinking for a long moment before she looked back towards the group.

"I…can't," she said quietly, almost too softly for Cayde to hear. "I promised myself I would never use it on our people." At first, her words didn't make sense, but then Cayde remembered that day on the building when he'd first seen Stasis used by a pair of Guardians. Skylar had said she never had any intention of using Darkness on Guardians, and even now, it appeared her resolve stayed put. Something close to pride mixed with relief at that, but it also drilled home a new sense of fear. The Traveler's Light couldn't compete with Stasis, it was that reason alone that had brought them to this point.

Corvan was quiet for a moment, and Cayde half expected him to berate her, but to his surprise, he didn't.

"You don't need to. You have other means than Stasis."

Skylar frowned, her eyes flicking to him. "You're really going to just… Corvan."

"What else would you have me do?" he countered. "I would have thought your time with Larsen would have taught you that sometimes we have to put them down."

Ouch.

Skylar looked to the side again, and scowled after a moment.

"Fine, but what are you pla-"

"You fuckers done yet?" Darek snapped, causing everyone to look back at the angry Hunter. "Good, cause I'm not waiting anymore. No one touches our teammate like that." His growl seemed to be echoed by the Titan, and the ice at their feet groaned and cracked, more spikes cropping up as if responding to such anger. "You know what happens next!" He jumped, and second later, those weapons in his hands moved.

And Cayde was right where that storm of Ice would hit him.

"Sevens!" The voice that calls to him wasn't Skylar, but it was female, and Cayde turned his head to see Talihina standing, Maya's body still unmoving. "Come here, now!"

What?

A hand grabbed him by the arm and yanked, propelling him forward. This time it was Skylar, and then a jolt of movement sent him even further as she blink stepped with him. Cayde nearly landed on his face near the two Warlocks and Skylar just as a wall of ice appeared in front of them. Ice crystals danced on Talihina's arm and after a moment, Skylar grimaced and followed suit, another wall of ice appearing to their left to make a half enclosed barrier.

Then, not even a second later, the howl of a storm came into being. The trees swayed, groaning, and splintering, ice appearing on trunks and leaves. The air turned painful, and even with his helmet on Cayde's lungs ached. It seemed through every stitch in his clothes, causing instant shivers and Cayde tried to move, to tuck in somewhere, but didn't get far. Skylar shoved him down and then, embarrassingly enough, covered his head and shoulders with her own body, shielding him.

"What are you-"

"Stay there!" Skylar snapped. "If we all don't keep away from that, we'll freeze solid." At her words, memories of what had happened during the game he'd watched her fight in with Corvan and Noble. How the older Hunter had demolished them, turned them into ice and then shattered them. He shivered, and not just from the intense cold that rippled around them.

"What is he thinking? His teammate is still down, he could kill her for real if her body shatters," Talihina hissed, her voice nearly lost under the howl. It didn't matter at the moment that she was a traitor to the clan, or that she'd decided to help them — she was right. What would happen if an already dead Guardian was shattered by Darkness? What would happen to their Ghost who resided within their Armor?

"He's not," Skylar answered. "Stasis isn't like the Light, it affects you emotionally. Heightens all of it, makes you do stupid shit like this. You have to keep your head on straight or bad things happen." There was a long pause, but from where Cayde was lying with Skylar's chestplate inches from his nose, he couldn't see much. "It's why I never suggested it to you," she said finally. "There's so little we understand about it… just having the power is dangerous."

Silence falls over the small hidey-hole, the roar of the storm deafening anything outside of it. Then, something occurs to Cayde.

"Where's Corvan?"

"Not sure," Skylar said, not sounding all that worried. "But he had a plan, I know that much." Trust. So much trust in those words. Was it possible the Dark Age Hunter had stepped in to try and fill the gaping hole Cayde had left? To counsel and train her, be that guild she'd deserved to have. He didn't know, but Cayde wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

The sound of cracking ice had him tensing, the walls around them beginning to fail, but that worry didn't last long, because even as it came to mind, the wind began to finally die down. The arctic cold began to lessen, and the air stopped being hard to breathe. It was gone, spent in a matter of under a minute. With that gone, the air was silent and after another long moment, Skylar pulled away and stood once more. Her eyes went from him to Tali.

"Is he safe here?" she asked finally, and something about the question wasn't surprising to Cayde, though from the way the Exo lurched back slightly, it was to her.

"I…" she paused, and then sighed. "No harm will come to him, not if I can stop it." The sworn oath seems to be enough for Skylar in that moment, but the way she glanced at Cayde again told him enough that he gripped his gun tight once more.

Then, the ice walls finally crumbled and the world outside of them was revealed.

N/A:

Let's not piss off the Dark Age hunter, yeah?

What just happened to Cayde I wonder...

Your thoughts are always welcome.

Thanks for reading!