"I'd say I was surprised," Skylar said flatly. "But sadly I'm not." Of course, being surprised or not didn't make her anger any less potent. The fact that the Drifter was still staring at her with little to no worry or guilt about what had just happened made it worse.

They were standing in the main galley of his ship, on one of the catwalks with a larger, square center where the man liked to play cards, of all things. She'd thought it was weird when he'd asked if she wanted to play, he never asked her to play, but seeing as she was there and her team was not, she'd agreed. Skylar should have known it was the man's way of leading into something, first some friendly banter, then slowly, ever so slowly, after the second game had started, he revealed something big. Huge.

Europa.

Eris.

The fucking Stanger.

All of them working together on some kind of unknown plan he hadn't told her yet. She was furious.

"Now, now, sister-"

"Don't call me that!" Skylar snapped. "Using family terms while you sneak around behind my back like a damn snake. Lying the whole damn time."

"Hey now." He lifted his hands in a surrendering motion. "I haven't been lying to you, Skylar, just been working on something you didn't know about. You've had so much on your plate, I figured I'd tell you when things seemed right – which is now."

"That's not how this works," Skylar hissed back, hands clenching. "I would have thought after the shit with the Emissary of the Nine, that we had reinforced our agreement to be partners in all of this." After all, she'd only sided with the Drifter after getting his word that she and her team would be equals with the rogue, not underlings or gophers. She'd thought they had a deal, but then the Emissary had come, and he'd been angry as hell about his secrets getting spilled. Skylar still knew stuff he wasn't even aware of that she'd decided not to use against him because he'd sworn not to keep things from her. A snake was always a snake, it seemed. Or maybe a rat, as Eris said sometimes, fit him better. The smile on the man's face faded slightly, having noted her rising anger, and he let out a small sigh.

"Alright, fine," he relented. "Maybe I should've brought it forward sooner, but it wasn't just my secret, Phantom, it was theirs. The Stranger, as you call her, was quite adamant that I not tell you. Some wibbly wobbly shit about time and space and whatever else. She's a woman I'm not too keen to piss off." He glanced Skylar up and down, noting how tense she was. "Not that I want your irie, either." He let out a few rounds of chuckles. "trapped between two beautiful, dangerous women, almost makes a man feel special."

Skylar scowled, and he curled his fingers and then flexed them out again as if to rekindle the gesture. Perhaps he had a point, perhaps he had been under some promise to not say anything, but it didn't mean she liked it. It didn't mean she wasn't angry.

"How long?" she asked finally.

He shrugged. "A while. Kept asking when to bring you in, kept being told 'not yet' and then she wouldn't explain." He raised a brow at her. "Sound familiar?"

Skylar hated those words.

"I thought so," The Drifter went on. "Anyway, figured things out a bit, found a pyramid on the icy chunk of a moon. Now we're checking things out and it seems as if there might be others already there. Too many others for use to handle."

"Others?"

"Fallen. Crawling all over some old Golden Age buildings. Haven't gotten too close yet, so I can't say much." He shrugged. "Besides, I think our Exo friend wants to tell you more about it, so I'll leave that up to her."

Fallen. Of course. At least it wasn't the Hive. It wasn't the Hive. Silver linings are important with the life she has.

Skylar took in a deep breath, glad she'd left her sniper rifle off, because she was pretty sure she'd have a spirit whispering in her ear right now and she couldn't handle that. Another breath and she forced her hands to relax, which she knew the Drifter saw instantly as he too, relaxed ever so slightly.

"And that will happen when?"

"I'm meeting back up with the ladies in a couple days, figure that'd be a good time. Lets you gather your friends up and such, hopefully you stop them from tearing up my ship this time."

"I make no promises."

He chuckled again. "I suppose that's good enough. So, we okay then, Phantom?" He held out his hand and Skylar eyed it for a long time before she stepped close enough to take it, and when she did, she gripped it harder than needed, her Light rippling on her wrist but not touching him.

"This is twice I'm forgiving you, don't make it three, Germaine, or it won't be as civil." The drop of his name – his real name, had him flinching, ever so slightly as she dropped his hand.

"Now where did you hear that name from?" he questioned, frowning. Skylar just smirked at him.

"I suppose you're not the only one with secrets, are you?"

He sighed. "You Hidden Agents are all so nosy. I'd rather keep that quiet."

"If I don't?" she threatened. He sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"You've gotten good at the whole 'Chilling threat' thing over the last year, Phantom. Not surprised really, since you've been getting all close to a fellow Dark Age survivor. Very close." His smirk returns with vengeance, and Skylar stiffens.

"I don't-"

"Oh, I think you know what I'm talking about. Word of advice: if you're sneaking around with someone, don't do it on a ship with a surface as tight as Shaxx's helmet seal. Even without that, those who aren't quite so close to the action often see things others won't. I had a run in with Corvan back in the day before the city was built. Cold as he was lethal, not one you wanted to cross for damn sure, and yet somehow, he isn't quite like that around you. None of your team seems to have known him that long, so I suppose they wouldn't, but old Drifter knows." He softened his smirk slightly. "So why don't we just let bygones be bygones? I'll admit I was wrong and leave it at that. You keep your mouth shut, so do I. Sound possible?"

It was a good threat, she knew that much, and that he wasn't joking and yet…

"You'd risk pissing him off?" she asked. "You just said he wasn't one to cross."

"True," The Drifter agreed with a small nod. "But I think you'll find that even Blacksteel can fracture, given the right pressure. So, let's not find out, savvy?"

Skylar gritted her teeth to stop a retort that wanted to fly from her mind but knew better. This hadn't gone where she'd thought it was, but maybe she shouldn't be surprised that this man would threaten the ones she cared for most. After all, when she'd sided with him, hadn't he warned her she was siding with a monster?

Monsters did what they had to in order to win. It's what she'd done, in some cases.

"Fine," she said finally. "Those terms are fine." No, they weren't but she could live with them. The Drifter chuckled slightly.

"Don't look so discouraged, sister, we've still got our little agreement, and I promise I'll be straighter with you from now on."

No, he wouldn't.

Skylar knew that without even thinking about it.

When she said nothing, the dark haired man returned to his seat with a sigh, looking at the scattered cards.

"Why don't we call this game a draw and call it a day?" He winked slightly and Skylar scowled, causing a chuckle. "I'll be seeing you in two days then, get some rest while you can. This will likely be a long haul." It was a dismissal if Skylar had ever heard one, as if she were his underling and not his equal. Bastard.

Turning on her heels, Skylar walked away from the man and back towards her shift, hands balled into fists once more at her sides. She couldn't remember the last time someone had cornered her like that, and she hated it, hated him for doing that to her. Hated his threats on her family more, something she couldn't let stand.

She'd fold her hand for now if that's what it took to keep things simple, but Skylar refused to forget about this transgression any time soon. She was sure the Drifter knew that as well.

"Sterling, send a message out to the team, we need to have a meeting as soon as they can all get to the HUB."

"Will do," her Ghost replied, and Skylar took in a deep breath as she spotted her ship and picked up her pass. Now, she just had to find a way to tell them all of this, without one or more of them coming here and doing something that wouldn't end well for any of them.

-Skylar-

The funny thing was, with how late it was into fall, the frost that now made every speck of ground within eyesight sparkly wouldn't have been out of place. Except the winter frost that led the way towards the Dawning had always been one of purity. White and clean with a flutter of laughter from children in the City. Taking a step forward, all Skylar heard was the crunch under her boot that sounded like breaking glass or brittle bones. This was the kind of frost that killed the plantlife off in a single night, warning of a hard winter to follow.

Chills ran across her body, nearly making her shudder as she looked upon the scene in horror. Three people still stood across from her, but it wasn't in a way that she had expected. Talien and Darek still stood together, their arms enhanced by the ice that fueled their rage as they stared down Corvan… and he was… Ice encased nearly his entire left side, save for his helmet. His boots were locked to the ground, the hand holding Thorn sealed shut, even his cloak stood half anchored to him.

He was trapped.

Skylar wasn't sure how to process that, a sudden flood of white noise in her ears. Corvan, the one who always had a plan, always knew when to retreat or stay and fight, and he was stuck. Trapped and at the mercy of another. It looked like he'd been trying to dodge out of the way of a freezing attack but had been too late, his posture having him half crouched and turned slightly to the side. As she watched, Skylar could have sworn she saw the ice creep forward across his armor as he tried to get loose, his other hand gripping at the wrist of his trapped one.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Darek said with a slightly amused tone. "You're likely to get that one stuck too." Indeed, even as he said that the Dark Age Hunter had to quickly pull his hand away as white frost began to cover it, a muffled curse coming from behind his helmet. "I've got to say, I like this look on you, Corvan. You've always been such an arrogant prick; this is highly satisfying." His words were accompanied by the sudden swiftness that only a Hunter had. A yank and a tear, the crack of ice and a helmet was flung off to the side, its seal broken by darkness. Corvan's hood fell around his shoulders, black hair in disarray, his sharp cold eyes fixed on Darek. Skylar was too far away to see the color of those eyes, but she was sure not even a hint of blue was left, for the deadly void of all emotion on his face was only enhanced by his silence. For a moment, just a moment, his eyes flicked to her and she remembered what she'd told Cayde, what she had just been thinking.

Corvan always had a plan.

He'd probably let this happen for some reason… but what?

"I'll need your help." He'd said that right before the storm had been unleashed. She'd thought it was just in helping him fight, but what if it was something else? She couldn't ask, and his gaze moved back to Darek as quickly as it had come.

You just going to stand there, Phantom? It's pretty clear he wants you to do something – so do something.

Skylar grimaced but couldn't tear her eyes from the scene to look at the dead Vanguard leader. He was right, she needed to move, take aim, do something to help him other than stand there stunned. No one had seemed to notice her, she could get off a round of shots before they had a chance to—

She blinked, just a moment of darkness, and suddenly the three people became two as Talien charged her, having turned in seconds as if hearing her thoughts. Cayde called her name in warning, seeing it as well, but she was already moving, leading her opponent away from the other two and back towards the center of the area as she blink-stepped away from an oncoming fist. Against Stasis, she didn't have many choices, but her friend had reminded her of one sure way to defend herself without fighting with ice. Pulling her rifle from her shoulder, she raised it, only to flinch as a wave of ice moved across the ground, tracking her and latching on to one foot before she could get away. Was this how they'd gotten Corvan?

Do not stop. Ignore the pain.

She didn't reply to the hissing command and instead raised her gun, firing it without her scope as Talien charged. He didn't even dodge, so sure that it would do little against him in his state. He was wrong. The flaming round punched right through his shields, hitting his side and leaving a shallow wound, his shield doing enough to stop the brunt of the hit, it wouldn't stop another. He staggered, a strangled yelling leaving his lips as a hand reflexively moved to the wound.

"What the hell?" The exclamation didn't come from the Titan, but rather his companion, who, upon glancing at, had stopped talking to Corvan, having heard his friend's distress. Skylar took the time to put the gun in its proper placement, resting the stock against her shoulder. "How is that possible?" As if in reply, Whisper of the Worm thrummed, the deadly gray glow brightening for a moment, outlining the roaring muzzle. "That gun…. what is that?"

A cold laugh from Corvan was the answer he got and something in her made Skylar smile at it. The presence of the being behind her, the pressure of a hand that wasn't there on her shoulder. The warmth one can only feel from freshly spilled blood… She couldn't remember the last time the sensation was this strong.

"Fire and poison, their colors twisted with black hues," she whispered. "Did you really think we would have survived our first encounter with Stasis if we hadn't had something to combat it? Like simply calls to like, blustering and destroying in the same moment of will." Between Whisper, Thorn, and the dragon bones two of them had, the Hunters in her team had been playing with Darkness for far longer than the first ice shard had been summoned by any of them.

Talien's hand clenched at his side, but before he could attack again, Darek spoke, and he paused. "Why?" he asked suddenly, surprising her. He certainly hadn't wanted to talk to her before. Taunt and mock yes, but not ask questions. "You were a hero. We all looked to your team, to you. What happened that day in the prison, it couldn't have been easy, nor could the hunt in the Reef." He took a step away from Corvan and looked at her. "A lot of us wanted to join you – I wanted to join you, to avenge our Vanguard, but I knew it had to be you. And you did it, you got your justice, so why did you stop there?" he snapped. "Why didn't you take the mantle that was rightfully yours?"

Skylar watched him carefully, but didn't lower her stance, didn't take her finger from the trigger. Why indeed? She let out a small sigh and glanced behind the Titan to Cayde and Tali, the former staring at the scene like he seemed to be doing so often these days. With confusion. Worry. He had every right to feel that way. He'd accepted so many things about her, seen through the Darkness and pain enough to want to be friends… to want…

But this was different. Skylar had never told anyone this, not the whole thing, not in its plainest form. Not Shiro or Haar. Not even Z or Corvan. Now though, something in her compelled her to say it to these traitors and friends and lovers alike.

Sometimes, you just have to show your hand when the game becomes a bit too risky, Andal said from behind her, that none existent hand, squeezing her shoulder as if to comfort her.

"It was a dare," she said finally. "One I accepted from Cayde after he died. One he left for me in a message." She couldn't take her eyes from the man she spoke of, saw the widening of his own with each word. "'I dare you to forget about being a hero, forget about what others think is right. Trust your gut and do whatever it takes to save the ones you love. To do what you think will keep the people you care for, to keep the City you swore to protect, safe. Not the Vanguard, but you,'" she repeated the words from that message Sterling had shone her as she'd sat in the Dreaming City, her justice served, staring at the bullet holes caused by the mag she'd unloaded from Ace. It had given her the strength to go on. She took a deep breath and finished the quote. "'That way, you won't have any regrets.'"

I love you Skyla, always will, even after the sun dies.

She didn't speak the last words, didn't dare to, but the important part was there now, out in the open. A dare. A Hunter's Dare that she'd sworn to uphold. Finally, she looked to the man who'd asked her the question, who now stood frozen in place, unwilling to read Cayde's expression.

"I promised on his grave to always keep it no matter what it took, be it pain, or shame, or even Darkness. It didn't – doesn't matter how, just so they are safe.." Hunters don't go back on their dares, it was possibly the one unwritten rule that none of them would ever break. "Taking the Hunter Vanguard seat wouldn't have let me do that. Call me a monster or a traitor or an enemy, I don't care. At least I will always know I didn't back down from my dare, didn't break my promise." She let out a steady breath. "There's your answer. Satisfied?"

Silence.

No one made a sound, not for a good minute of time, then Darek shifted his wait, his stance becoming less hostile. "I… that doesn't explain the rest of your team," he finally got out, unable to disrespect the dare.

"We did it because she's our leader," Corvan said after a moment, and Skylar shifted her gaze to him, and found him staring back at her, something like pain echoing across his face for a moment. He hadn't known, of course he hadn't, but he'd probably guessed something close to that. Probably known she wouldn't make such choices without good reason. There was so much regret in that expression, but like always it lasted only a few seconds before it was gone. "She's our leader and our friend. Family. We knew she was right. We didn't need to know her reason, Skylar has never done anything without reason. Even when the man she loved was killed. It wasn't a dare, but we all promised we'd stick together."

Skylar swallowed.

Corvan had never referred to the clan as family, never once said he felt that way. She'd know about his loyalty, even his admission to them being friends, but not family. She knew about him, about what had happened between them and his apparent feeling for her that he'd never shared until it was too late. She supposed it was a day for confessions all around, but this one was nearly heartbreaking.

For the first time, Darek seemed torn, the ice on his arm diminishing slightly as his rage dampened. He could see the reason in it, she knew he could, her dare had broken through to him even if it was only a little.

"I don't fucking care!" Talien's voice snarled through the air and the temperature in the area dropped again. Skylar's head whipped back around and her finger pulled the trigger before she even saw the Titan. He'd moved, his feet now leaving ice in his wake once more, her shot blowing apart a shoulder spike long enough that it wasn't covered by his shield. "Your reasons are flimsy!"

"Talien, wait!" Darek shouted.

Skylar aimed and shot again, popping his shield once more and pulled the trigger again – only for the chamber to click. She hadn't hit all her targets and now the spirit within the gun was punishing her. Reload. She needed to reload!

Not enough time.

A boom of thunder echoed through her, through them all and she would have stumbled if one of her feet wasn't glued in place. Another layer of cold formed as a flash of light forced her eyes closed. It took her a moment to blink away the spots in her vision, before her, Talien had suddenly stopped feet from her, and was looking toward his friend. For a moment, she thought maybe Darek was challenging him, but as she followed his gaze, she found that said Hunter had been knocked onto the ground, ice now creeping along his feet, caging him much like she herself was. Much like Corvan was…except he wasn't anymore. Gaze finding her friend, she was only able to stare as the Hunter stepped forward, the ice holding him in place gone as Arc energy crackled across his left arm and torso, having dropped the Thorn. The staff in his hand was nearly vibrating, the blue lightning somehow darker than normal.

"How… how is that possible?" Talien whispered, his voice hardly reaching her. "He shouldn't have been able to break that with Light." Even as he spoke, Skylar realized ice was forming under Corvan's feet as he walked.

"Cut it close, but you gave me the time I needed," he said evenly to Skylar, his hand clenching around the staff and instantly, ice shot out from his hand.

It crackled and climbed up the length of the staff, encasing the living lightning. At the farthest end, Skylar watched, almost mesmerized as the ice reached out, curving into the air until the shape of a blade formed. As the ice grew, pieces were instantly shattered and turned to dust as lightning broke through and danced across it, ice all the while building and mending. He brought it to the ready at his side as the construction finished, the blade gleaming and electrified, the top of the staff uncovered and sparking like a lightning rod. In that cold light it made, his face somehow darkened in fury despite the golden colors of the fading day behind him.

How… interesting, Andal said from beside her, speaking up once more, the Vanguard having apparently decided to watch the entire event. I suppose that explains the new bones on his arm guards…

Wait. What?

Skylar's eyes darted to Corvan's arms, and saw the normal metal spikes that had once been on his guards were gone, and instead sharpened bone was there. It was nothing like Z's, there was no skull or breathing parts. Just piece, ones that matched the spines going up one leg. Where had he gotten those?

Looking at Darek, Corvan's hand clenched harder on his new weapon.

"I'll finish this quickly."

"No! Wait!" the Hunter shouted, pulling at the ice as Corvan stepped closer. "I'm sorry! This was a mistake; we shouldn't have done this!" Fear, so much fear that Skylar felt it echo through her. How? How in the world had he possibly done this – Light and Darkness in one weapon? That wasn't possible. Then again, they'd thought two Light powers couldn't combine either, but Skylar used Void Lightning. Corvan didn't say anything, just raised his blade as if he were a reaper from Golden Age mythology.

"Get away from him!" Talien bolted from her side, charging the Dark Age Hunter, the Berserker form seeming to leave more and more ice as he went and moved to slam right into his enemy. Corvan jumped backward, barely missing the blow and swung down with the blade. It was the opening move to another deadly battle, and one Skylar could only watch in silence, unwilling to look away. A punch there, a swing there. Ice breaking and cracking under their feet while lightning struck through the air. Skylar had never had a chance to watch Corvan fight, not like this. Not without restraint. When he was fighting, she was too, and now as she followed every step, she was reminded by Z's single comment that even though he was a bastard, he was glad his fellow Hunter had chosen their side.

Like all battles, they are short lived in the long run, and as Talien charged again, Corvan slid under the swing of an ice covered arm, and sliced his blade across the man's side. It made contact, his own Stasis breaking through the ice armor, only for Arc energy to jump into that fresh opening and make the wound worse than it would have been normally. Skylar saw blood spill, but it froze before it got far, the ice seeming to act on its own. Still, the Titan wasn't done, and in one last ditch effort, he raised his foot and kicked. Corvan barely blocked it, with his staff and the clash of ice and lightning had them thrown apart. Corvan jumped a few times to get his footing back and Talien simply crouched and rode the momentum in the form of a skid like the wall of a man he was.

For a moment, just a moment, the field quieted like the eye of a storm, and Skylar took it to glance at Cayde and found him standing once more, hand gripping his gun as he watched. He didn't look at her at all, and so Skylar turned her gaze forward once more.

Pressing a hand to the frozen wound, Talien hissed and cursed as Corvan took a step toward him once again, probably to finish him off. Skylar was surprised the Titan was still standing at all honestly, as he forced himself back up, his stance rigid as if to keep himself there by force of will bred from anger.

Something is not quite right, Andal said. This looks familiar.

Skylar glanced at him, searching for the green in his eyes but found nothing but brown. Once again, she questioned who he was, for the words had seemed like something the god would say, but the Hunter was the only one she saw. Talien took a heavy step forward, hand clenching and ice redoubling in spikes on his knuckles.

"This isn't over. I-" A cracking sound, sharp to her ears as his next step suddenly became a lurch, as if someone pulled him backwards. He looked down at himself and then tried to take a step back but couldn't. "What is this?" His shout was panicked and it took a moment for Skylar to understand before she saw it – the ice was still forming. Growing and crawling over Talien's form, over joints, hindering his movements. It had even frozen one foot to the ground. "What did you do?!"

The Hunter stopped at his words, relaxing his stance just slightly, weapon back at his side as his eyes traced the grow frost.

"Nothing," Corvan said evenly. "This is your mistake. The same one Eramis made: Stasis isn't our power and it will consume all of you the moment it can, the moment you lose focus."

Skylar had known in some vague terms that the power of Darkness could lead to a drunken rage that twisted the mind like some high. It was why Darek had attacked Cayde. She wasn't sure what this was, what was happening now, but Andal was right, it was just like Eramis.

Skylar could only watch in horror as the ice climbed and climbed, the strength of the Titan made feeble as it reached his neck. He screamed, just as the Fallen Kell had, right before his head became encased…right as his Ghost blinked into existence to try and help, and it too was swallowed right along with him. Everyone left standing in the area watched for several seconds, waiting for movement, for any sign of life that would come with cracking and breaking, but there was none. Skylar let out a breath.

"H-how?" The question came from Tali, who hadn't spoken a word since she'd promised Skylar to keep Cayde safe. "What happened?"

Corvan stood up straight, planting the butt of the scythe onto the ground as he held it.

"I realized after some observations and tests that Stasis seems to be connected to one's emotional state," he said simply. "You lose your shit; you lose your control over it. While that can be said of the Light, it is our power. Stasis isn't. Eramis died because her anger consumed her during our fight, and her body was weakened from wounds too much to stave it off." He nodded to the icy statue of Talien. "The only way to stop it, is to use Light to overpower the cold. I can only surmise he didn't have enough left after all those attacks with Solar."

A memory hit Skylar then, of the day Cayde had come back, after he'd left, she'd turned and slammed her hand into his forgotten desk in anger and pain… and ice had spread out across it and up her arms. It hadn't gone away until Z had pulled her into a hug and used his Solar Light to try and comfort her, melting it.

Come to think of it, none of the Stasis users who came before them showed much emotion: Eris, Elsie, the Drifter. They laughed and joked in some cases. They spoke of fear and pain but didn't let it take hold in others. She'd never seen any of them lose their temper, not in battle.

"By the Nine," she whispered.

Was that why he'd killed Maya so brutally? To egg a response from her team and drive them towards this conclusion? It was cruel… but Corvan had never cared about that, he only cared about winning and making sure the people he felt for lived, kept living. Brutality and cruelty didn't surprise Skylar, not from him.

With no one else speaking, Corvan moved again, walking until he stood in front of the frozen Guardian. Faster than anyone could stop him, he brought the scythe up and then down, cutting through the segment of ice connecting the Ghost to the Titan. It tumbled to the ground and then just as quickly, he swung again, upwards this time – and shattered the Guardian. The ice crumbled onto the ground, breaking apart more and more until it was simply a pile of ice shards with glints of color. They'd left Eremis to stand as a warning to her followers, but there was no need here, and while he's spared the Ghost, Skylar had a feeling, no revive would ever bring Talien back from that.

Darek realized it too.

"You – Why would you do that? You bastard." His gun rose from its side, aiming, but Skylar was faster. Despite the hollow feeling that had come with what she had seen, it was an almost knee-jerk reaction to protect her loved ones. Whisper of the Worm was up, aimed and fired twice in seconds. The Hunter fell to the ground with yet another hole through his head. Behind her, the dark laugh of Xol hailed his control, and his approval.

Corvan looked at the body, frowning as she lowered her gun, then he met her eyes as if to thank her, before his gaze suddenly closed. The sparkling ice weapon shattered and dissolved and Corvan Blacksteel fell to his knees with a grunt. Skylar wasn't sure she'd ever dropped her gun so fast, but the sudden cut off hiss was ignored as she ran over to him and crouched to one knee, her hands snapping out to his shoulders as he swayed slightly.

"Corvan?" she asked, worried, because now that she was close she could hear how hard he was breathing, and felt how cold his skin was. She looked him over quickly, thankful to find no ice, though she wouldn't be surprised if the hand that had held that weapon wasn't a bit frostbitten. Hearing his name from her seemed to bring him to enough to open his eyes slightly. Some of the blue was back, she noted, even if it was hazy. He let out a breath and as if to give her another shock, he let his head drop till it touched her forehead due to her proximity. She jumped slightly at the cold and the gesture itself. He'd never openly touched her like this, not with people watching.

"Give me a minute," he said quietly, exhaustion in every word. She frowned, rubbing one of his shoulders.

"Scared the shit out of me," she told him. "That stunt was as crazy as one of Z's tripmine experiments."

"Don't insult me when I just save your ass."

She huffed slightly, biting back a small laugh and closed her eyes for a moment. She hadn't been sure how things would go the next time she'd see him after that fight in his apartment, but it certainly hadn't been this. She probably shouldn't be letting him touch her like this, but she found herself unable to take the simple gesture from him, not when a small tremor ran down his arms. Whatever he'd done had been dangerous and it had pushed even him almost too far. She owed him at least a bit of comfort or support for that. He was still her friend, she'd never forsake that.

"Fair enough."

A blink of light had her reopening her eyes, and out of the corner of one, she spied Sin, Corvan's Ghost, as she hovered closer, her eye squinting at them.

"I told you not to use that for so long," she said smoothly. "Now look at you."

"Not the time," Corvan growled, his eyes flicking open. His Ghost didn't back down or apologize, she just sighed and moved closer, starting the healing processes.

"Hold him still for a moment will you, Skylar?"

"No problem." She said quietly, even as her body began to remind her that she was wounded and bleeding, her hip screamed and there was a slick warmth at her right leg where ice had trapped it. Not to mention being bashed in the head by a Titan a few times without a helmet, and an arrow wound. Even as she noted those, the world started to spin slightly. Poison. Right. All that moving around had jumpstarted it. As if realizing that too, Sterling popped into existence as well, and without pause started on her.

"I'll deal with the poison first," he said and Skylar felt Corvan tense slightly, as if remembering she'd been hurt too. He pulled away moments later, causing her hands to leave his shoulders, just as footsteps sounded in her ears.

"Skylar!" Cayde said, worried, and turning her head, she saw him crouch next to her, his helmet gone once again. Bad habits were hard to break, but at least the danger was over… she hoped. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he eyed the wounds that were now slowly being healed, and yet, still opened his mouth to ask: "You, okay?"

Not just physically, she realized, but he was asking about her mental state, her emotions and how all of what had happened was affecting her. The answer was no. No, she wasn't. Everything had just blurred by in the heat of battle, her mind not letting her think too deeply about anything. Now that things were slowing down, some of the events had her gut twisting and her mind shying away. What Corvan had just done, what she had done. How she'd talked about the Whisper, had that really been her voice?

Shoving the thoughts back, she gave him a small smile. "I will be," she promised, because she really didn't have any other choice. This wasn't the Red War, where everything had fallen apart, and Cayde had told her it was okay to not be okay. This was simply her life, as cruel and awful as it could be sometimes, she always managed to get through it, one way or another. Had to, if she wanted to stay true to that dare. Cayde hesitated, but nodded, rubbing her shoulder as Sterling moved to a different spot, and started healing her leg.

"Okay, you should be good," Sin said evenly, and moments afterwards, Corvan stood, rolling his shoulders slightly and letting out a breath. For just having wielded both Darkness and Light, he was looking ridiculously fine, as if all of that had been normal. That was bloody terrifying in its own right. He grumbled a thank you to his Ghost before looking at her, apparently not satisfied with her answer to Cayde.

"Don't push it under a rug for too long," he warned. "You have to deal with it somehow." Because her old way of doing so – him – wasn't really an option at this point and Skylar was 99.9% sure it was never going to be again. she nodded, and that seemed to be enough this time, and rolled his shoulders again, and looked behind him. Skylar did too, and felt her heart sink in her chest. Where there had once been two Warlocks, now only one remained. Maya's body still laid on the icy patches of the ground, her Ghost still nowhere in sight, but Talihina was gone.

"She was just there," Cayde informed them, disbelieving, and Skylar's mind echoed that feeling. For a moment, Skylar had thought her friend might try to fix things, or at least come back to the City.

"She probably ran as soon as all three of us were preoccupied," she answered quietly. "I doubt she's anywhere nearby anymore."

"No," Corvan agreed. "She's probably to her ship by now, and I don't have the energy to go after her."

"Don't bother. At least not for now. We'll need to inform Zavala and Ikora, lock her out of the Clan HUB." She ticks off the list of things that have to be done now that the exo had gone completely rogue, on the run to who knew where. As terrible as it was, at least that meant they were done with fighting for the day.

"One last thing to take care of, then." Corvan's words had her looking to him in confusion, and it was only because she knew him that she saw the small change his feature, saw his arm move just so-

Then the Hunter took a single step forward and rammed his fist right into Cayde's jaw hard enough to send him stumbling backward into a nearby tree. Skylar lurched, trying to stand, but winced from the pain in her leg and hip that kept her down.

"Corvan-"

"The hell was that for, Blacksteel?" Cayde snapped over the top of her, blood running down his chin and neck from his mouth and a couple of small cuts on his jaw from the armor on Corvan's gloves. He'd barely caught himself on the tree, awkwardly holding onto it. Skylar looked from him to Corvan as he replied, and found his mouth twisted into a snarl, and the blue in his eyes gone once again. A snarl. She hardly ever saw him show expressions of anger when he was such.

"What do you think it's for?" He stated flatly. "I guess coming back didn't stop you from making mistakes that cause fatal outcomes. Fighting an angry Lightbearer when you yourself are Lightless. If I hadn't shown up when I had, you would be dead. For good this time."

"She needed help!" Cayde snapped. "She was overwhelmed-"

"Because she was worried about you!" Not a shadow of a doubt in Corvan's assumption. He knew Skylar too well, and he was right. She'd been dividing her attention during the fight to keep an eye on him, her worry making her movements a fraction slower. "This is the second time you almost got her killed because of your pride." His words left the clearing quiet as the two men stared at each other, and oddly, it sparked a memory in Skylar.

She remembered Z telling her of a scene like this one that he'd witnessed. The aftermath of Crota had left Skylar unconscious in the ICU and after gaining the information that Cayde had punched Corvan so hard that he'd fallen against the wall behind him. The scars on the Dark Age Hunter still marred his face as a reminder. If that wasn't enough, they'd been discussing her safety back then, too. It was eerie, and it left her stunned for a moment as she processed it.

Then the moment was over and Sterling had done enough that she was able to stand up and move. She placed herself between them before Corvan could move any close.

"Enough," she snapped. "I think he gets it." Her words were met with a glare.

"I don't think he does." So much anger there, the same anger he'd used on the Guardians now dead on the forest floor, except now it wasn't sharpened into a calm resolve to keep Darkness at bay. It was raw fury as hot as Solar. It was almost an unreasonable amount that made her wonder why. She answered herself before she could ask. Love. Because Corvan still loved her, or at least cared for her, and she had almost died. It had probably scared the hell out of him when he'd gotten the call from Haar, and because of who he was, Corvan had turned that fear into anger because it was easier to deal with.

"Corvan," she said evenly, trying to ground him. "You can't do this. Not right now. You're exhausted and not thinking straight an-."

"How long are you going to keep skimming over this, Skylar?" his question has her stopping mid-sentence. "You can't pretend forever. He needs to kno-"

"Stop." Her voice was that of a whisper, and it wasn't an order. She knew… she knew she was pleading, and it had Covan flinching. "Please, stop." She couldn't do this now, not here. It was too much for one day, for all of them. He stared at her for another long moment before he let out a breath.

"Fine," he relented. "We need to get these traitors back to the Tower anyway. I'll have to do it." That stung, though she knew it shouldn't have. It wasn't like Skylar could go to the Tower and speak to Zavala about it. "You don't have a ship, and I won't have room," he stated. "I'll send the others your location." As he spoke, he walked over to Darek, grabbed the cowl of his bloodstained cloak, and started dragging him over to Maya.

"Alright…" She didn't know what else to say as he dropped the body next to the other one and then surprisingly, picked up the bow that had injured Skylar. He looked it over for a moment, before turning and tossing it to her. Skylar let out a small yelp of surprise, scrambling to catch it.

"We'll call that collateral for this mess," he grumbled, and she knew it was because she had expressed interest in the new bows coming out of the Black Armory. She'd never seen this one though, as she looked it over. Le Monarque was engraved into one of the arms of the bow, just under one of the string wheels. Sterling hovered over to it, scanning it.

"The blueprint for the arrows will be easy enough to create," he told her. She nodded at her Ghost and it disappeared from her hands a moment later as he stowed it away. Looking back to Corvan, she found him picking up the still frozen Ghost and slipping it into a pouch on his leg. The roar of his ship coming in had her wincing for a moment before she walked over to him. She watched the two Guardians get transmatted into the ship, their hands and feet bound with rope in case their Ghosts did something stupid.

"I'll contact you with news about what will happen to them," Corvan told her after a moment, looking at her.

"Thanks," she said with a slight smile. "For everything, Corvan. You saved both our lives today… and you didn't have to."

"No," he agreed without pausing. "But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to look at myself in the mirror." He took a step closer to her, moving his head so it was near her ear. "You can thank me by telling him the truth. If you don't… I will." He moved back just as quickly and Skylar tensed at the underlying threat. One that, if she were honest with herself, she deserved. Swallowing, she gave another small nod.

He gave her one more meaningful look and then, without another word, he was gone, transmatting to his ship. It soared away with no delay and Skylar found she wasn't able to move until the ship was long gone, unsure if she was glad he had left or not.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention to Cayde, finally able to do so now that they were alone. He was still wiping at the blood on his face, scowling slightly as he did so. Biting her lip, she walked over, digging into one of her pouches. She pulled out one of the clothes she used for her guns and unfastened her water capsule. Carefully, she wet the cloth as she stopped in front of him, and then held it out.

"Here," she whispered, unable to make her voice any louder. The sight of blood on him was too close a reminder of another time, another place where his blood had been black, another something she hadn't been allowing herself to feel until now. Cayde looked at her and dropped his hand, reaching to take it, but she moved without thinking and pressed the cloth to his jawline herself, gently wiping at it. "You smeared it everywhere," she tried for a joke, a tease, but it didn't come out right. She spent a while, wiping off what she could, the trail going down his neck, and thankfully Cayde stayed quietly, simply watching and staying still. Skylar focused on her task, pushing the images of him on the ground, blood everywhere like he'd had as an Exo.

She couldn't make it stop.

A hand grabbing hers had her flinching, and only then did she realize she was staring at his neck, her hand shaking, even in his.

"I'm sorry," Cayde said finally, his voice almost a whisper as well. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, to put you in danger I just… I couldn't stop myself when they started hurting you. I couldn't watch and do nothing." The conviction in his words was what finally had Skylar looking into his eyes, and unlike Corvan, whose eyes seemed to lose color, Cayde's only seemed to be a brighter blue, like they were glowing. Like they were when he'd been an Exo. His hand tightened around hers. "I know it was stupid – but I'd do it again, if it meant not losing you." Because if she'd been ghosted, she likely wouldn't have come back, not if Talien had his way. She clenched her jaw, but couldn't berate him for doing what he thought was right.

"You have to be more careful," she said quietly. "I don't… If I lose you again…" If she did… she didn't even want to think about it, the thought made her eyes water so she closed them. "Please don't make me watch that again, Cadye."

Cayde's hand slipped from hers and it would have stung if it weren't for the fact that arms wrapped around her and pulled her close, her hands dropping the cloth and water as she reflexively moved them out of the way.

He was warm. Not Solar Light warm, not fresh blood warm, but the kind of warmth that came with that of a living, breathing body. It felt familiar, all of it did, from the way his hands were on her back and neck, to the way her chin was resting on his shoulder. It was the same, it was Cayde, and she hadn't realized how much she'd missed his hugs.

"I'm not going anywhere."

It was enough. After everything, it was enough. Tilting her head she pressed her face into his shoulder and cried, hand grasping at the back of his hoodie. A hand ran across her scalp, but she couldn't find anything to say or do but hold on to him, wishing she could believe his words. She wanted to believe him, but the truth was, after all of this, Skylar knew her time was up. Even if Corvan hadn't given her an ultimatum, she'd know her time was up.

She had to tell Cayde the truth, and after he knew, she wasn't sure if those words would remain true. So, she cried about that as well and savored the warmth of his arms for as long as she could.

N/A:

You know, Corvan is the first anti-hero I've ever written, and he's bloody fun to write, lol. I've also been nearly vibrating to reveal of his Arc Storm Scythe. feels good to finally do so.

So, I do have an art piece for this chapter, if you're interested in seeing it, I encourage you to come find me on either Twitter or Tumblr which you can find via my Linktree, under 'featherfang'. I'll put an updated link in my profile since well... FF don't let you put them here.
I drop all of my story-related stuff as well as others there.