A/N: While the game had lots of Crow and Cayde goodness, I wanted more of the teasing and giving each other crap that these two jokers would totally do to each other. Also I thought Ikora's reaction to meeting Cayde in the game was too mild.

They made another camp, this time among the blue crystal walls and architecture they had seen earlier. The sight of it seemed to put Crow at ease.

Camp was little more than a couple of chairs, a box of supplies, and a powerful radio tuned to Vanguard frequencies. Only static crackled from it. Cayde, Crow, and Jayesh helped themselves to energy bars and water from the supplies box, helpfully transmatted in by Phoenix.

"You know, I haven't been hungry or thirsty or tired since I got here," Crow remarked, chewing his energy bar. "But after being in that Darkness cave, I'm all three."

"Same here," Jayesh agreed, swigging a bottle of water.

Cayde nibbled an energy bar in solidarity, but it was clear he wasn't hungry. He pointed it at Jayesh. "That was one of the things they smeared you for, remember? You were inside the Traveler for five days with no food or water, and the experts claimed you lied."

Jayesh smiled faintly. After climbing into the Traveler and spending the entire Red War trapped inside the cage with it, he had emerged with new purpose and a blessing upon his Light. But upon making his report to the Vanguard, he had become the City's laughingstock for the next year. The media had found his report somehow, and it blew up overnight into controversy, fueled mostly by the Cult of Osiris. Before his exile, Osiris had grown suspicious of the Light and the Traveler, proclaiming that Guardians were little more than empowered slaves. This view spread like sickness through the populace of the Last City, fueling unrest, and was one of the primary reasons the Speaker for the Traveler had voted to exile him. With so much loss after the Red War, the media needed a target, and Jayesh was deemed an acceptable one: a young, stupid Guardian making claims that directly contradicted the popular Osiris.

"The Light sustained me," Jayesh said with a shrug. "I would grow tired, but never needed food or water. It's the same now."

"I read those old news reports," Crow said in a low voice. He reached out and patted Jayesh's shoulder. "And how the Cult went after you. Almost got you, too."

"That pretty much ended them, though," Jayesh said. "The majority of them went to prison. Then the plague winter after the war stopped the media junk."

"You mean when you nearly burned out your Light healing all of them?" Cayde-6 said. He turned to Crow, pointing at the warlock. "This idiot pioneered new healing techniques and taught them to all the warlocks. He won't tell you how he healed the entire staff of the City Tribune, the City Vox, and all the tabloids. The plague hit everybody, and if not for him, they say we would have lost eighty percent of the City population."

Crow looked at Jayesh with new respect. "You never told me any of this."

Jayesh shrugged. "All the warlocks pulled together. It wasn't just me. Don't listen to him."

"Oh, totally listen to me," Cayde said with a grin. "I was there. My hunters worked overtime to bring in food. Every time we hauled a new delivery into the Tower, I had to listen to Ikora singing his praises. And the funny thing? Now we're all inside the Traveler, and every word he said was true."

Crow looked around at the blue crystal floor and walls, which shifted in the light like water. Then he looked at Jayesh, who had flushed deep red. He decided to change the subject. "The Witness threw all these temptations at me. Anything to persuade me to join it and abandon the Light. Did you see all those statues it made in there?"

Jayesh nodded, glad to talk about something else. "Phoenix and I laughed that the Witness is some kind of deranged artist."

"It offered me everything," Crow said thoughtfully. "But all I could think of was that moment when we were all frozen in sliced stone. That's all I would be under its dominion. A king of nothing."

"You chose pain," Jayesh said with a sudden grin.

"I did," Crow agreed. "It sure rubbed my nose in it. Did you see how it used my face in the tunnel walls? The Witness is one sick puppy."

"No pain, no gain," Cayde quipped. "I wondered what you were doing in there. Even left poor Glint behind."

"Good thing, too," Jayesh said. "Look what it did to Phoenix." He held out a hand and summoned his Ghost. Phoenix looked around at them with his cracked eye, Light showing through the cracks in his shell.

"What the–?" Cayde exclaimed.

Crow straightened with a gasp. "What happened?"

"The Witness attacked me directly," Phoenix said in a hushed voice. "Tried to quench my Light. I fought it off, but it left me damaged."

Jayesh tried to pick Phoenix up to look more closely at him, but the Ghost vanished. "I'm all right," he insisted from phase.

Jayesh looked at his friends uneasily. "He won't let me touch him. He's never done that before."

Glint appeared and floated at Crow's shoulder. "It would have done it to me, next. It hates Ghosts."

"I wonder why?" Cayde said. "Because they can't be corrupted?"

"But Ghosts can be corrupted," Jayesh said. "Remember how the Vex compromised the Ghost of Asher Mir? She turned him into one of them over time."

"We must pose a threat to the Witness, somehow," Glint said thoughtfully. "Maybe it simply hates our Light. But somehow I think it's more than that."

"At least it's an idea," said Cayde. "I've had no idea how to fight the Witness or stop it from making corruption caves. Ikora's a lot smarter than me. She would know."

"We need to find her and Zavala," said Jayesh. "Do we have any idea where their ships landed?"

Suddenly they were interrupted by a sharp whine from the radio and a garbled voice speaking. Glint and Phoenix instantly zipped to it and shone their beams on it.

"It's a transmission from Mara Sov!" Phoenix exclaimed. "It's very faint. I'll try to boost it. Glint, you clean up the signal."

Jayesh, Crow, and Cayde clustered around the radio, listening. Mara was speaking and gradually her words became understandable.

"...hear me. The forces of the Coalition are standing by. I am working to open the portal and I believe this message is getting through. Be warned that the Witness has been experimenting with the Light to create a new race of creatures, one we call the Dread. We have met them on the threshold more than once. Some are reworked Psions, while some are the bloodline of the various Disciples of the Witness. Others are like nothing we've ever seen before, like the flying Grim. Be on your guard, for the Witness is behaving erratically. I believe it is worried. Be brave, Guardians, and cling to the Light! Crow, if you're there, Silvan sends her love. And I send mine." The transmission ended.

A smile broke across Crow's face.

"Silvan?" Cayde asked. "Not Silvan Nerisis, the cute little punk who was so obsessed with writing all those papers about the outer planets."

"I married her," Crow said.

Cayde slapped his thighs. "What! You did what? Silvan Nerisis? But she's been the unattainable Hunter's girl for centuries!"

Crow didn't say anything, but his grin widened and he looked down.

"You sly son of a dreg," Cayde said, punching his shoulder. "I want to hear that story as soon as possible."

"Oh, it's a good one," Jayesh agreed, finishing his water. He tossed the empty bottle back in its box. "So those monsters we've been seeing are called the Dread. Good to know. Really makes me excited to meet more."

"Oh no, you can't change the subject that easily," Cayde said. "You Ghosts, see if you can pick up any traces of Ikora's ship. It has to be around here somewhere. Meanwhile Crow, tell me how you caught Silvan. Spare no details."

Phoenix and Glint flew high into the air to send their scan pulses as far as possible. Jayesh rose to his feet and kept watch over them, scanning the skies and their surroundings for any hint of danger to the Ghosts. Crow settled more comfortably in his chair and explained about Awoken telepathic resonance.

"So you and her shared a wavelength," Cayde said. "I've heard of that. But I notice you conveniently forgot to mention that Silvan was the one who redeemed you from Spider." He shook a finger. "Hunters don't leave out important details. Well, sometimes. Depends on who the report is for. Me, I want all the juicy details."

Crow laughed a little and ran his hand through his hair self-consciously. "So then Osiris sneaked me into the Tower and made me wear a mask. It was awkward. Since Uldren killed you, the Guardians had killed me whenever they came across me. I thought Ikora and Zavala would blast me to atoms. Turns out Ikora knew all about me, had been keeping tabs on me, even. But she thought it best not to tell Zavala. He was dealing with the princess of the Cabal at the time…"

Jayesh listened to this and gave thanks in his heart that things had worked out as well as they had. He laughed every time Cayde pestered Crow about Silvan, asking how her father had reacted, asking what the Vanguard thought. Crow only grinned and continued unfolding the story, stage by stage. He was a natural storyteller, and refused to be rushed.

Glint drifted down towards them, and Phoenix followed him. Phoenix flew in Jayesh's direction and vanished just out of arm's reach. Glint flew to Crow's shoulder and waited politely for him to finish.

"Find something?" Jayesh thought to his Ghost.

Phoenix replied in his mind, "Glint did. He said, 'Oh,' and stopped scanning."

Jayesh waited in suspense as Crow's story wound its way through encounters with Cabal battlegrounds and the tale of a Psion sniper in the City itself, hunting Zavala. Cayde gasped in all the right places, exclaiming in horror at how close Zavala had come to a final death. Then Crow reached the climactic battle between a Vanguard champion and a Cabal champion, culminating in a betrayal and Crow's identity being revealed to Zavala. And Zavala had been kind and understanding.

"You were the champion?" Cayde exclaimed, turning to Jayesh. "A skinny little warlock? Why not send a Hunter?"

"Because I could use Stasis," said Jayesh. "The Cabal hadn't seen it and the Vanguard needed an edge. The Cabal were going to destroy Failsafe on Nessus with that land-eating tank of theirs."

Cayde shook his head. "Poor Failsafe. I'll bet she wasn't happy I bit the bullet."

"I think her exact words," said Jayesh, shifting to a deadpan voice, "were 'AHHHHHHHHHH.'"

Cayde laughed and slapped his knee, then sobered. "That's the least funny thing I've ever heard." He turned back to Crow. "So you married your girl and lived happily ever after?"

Crow shrugged. "I don't know about ever after, but we were happy until the Witness got here. If we don't stop it, Silvan will suffer for eternity as a piece of vile modern art." He turned to his Ghost. "Yes, Glint?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt," Glint said. "But while we were scouting, do you remember that crashed ship we saw? We thought it was part of the landscape."

Crow blanched and exchanged looks with his friends. "Oh no…I did see that ship before I found the Darkness scar. It was empty. There's so many strange memories in the landscape, I thought it was only one more."

"Well, I think it may be Ikora's," Glint said. "I matched it to the profile in my databanks. It's only about half a mile from here. We could get there quickly."

"She wasn't there," Crow said, rising to his feet. "But we could track her. Cayde, you coming?"

"You bet," Cayde said, rising to his feet. "Break camp and let's go."

Ikora's ship lay in a gully in a green meadow, as if she had tried to land in the flattest area she could find. Like Jayesh, she appeared to have crashed, for her jumpship was battered and crumpled. Jayesh surveyed the ship doubtfully, wondering what could have caused Ikora to lose control of her ship in such a way. He was inclined to blame the Witness and its creatures.

Crow and Cayde inspected the ship while Jayesh stood guard. Crow sent Glint inside to check the ship's computer. A moment later the Ghost returned, spinning his shell triumphantly.

"The last message on the computer was called Open_Me_Guardian. I did, and here it is." Glint played back a recording of Ikora's voice.

"Guardian Jayesh. I hope you are and Zavala are both safe, and that you found Crow. I haven't been able to raise you on comms, so I cannot be certain. You know that I am not one to be moved without evidence. How did you put it, Zavala? Scientific obstinance? But there is an uncanny sanctity to this place. I feel… an impulse. I seek to commune with the Traveler myself. I sense if I reach out, that it will reach back. If not here, where? Find me. I'll be at the Cradle. It's just how I remember it."

"Ugh, her and that Cradle," groaned Cayde. "Look around, I'm sure it's here somewhere."

Crow frowned, searching his own memories, then Uldren's. "Uh…what is the Cradle, anyway? Even Uldren's not sure. Was it on Mars?"

"Io," said Jayesh. "I went there once on pilgrimage."

"Of course you did," Cayde laughed. "Probably Ikora dragged you along, right?"

Jayesh grinned. "Well, yes." Seeing Crow's mystified expression, he explained, "The Traveler was terraforming Io when it was interrupted by the Collapse. The Cradle is what we call this strange-looking crater formed by the Light pouring into the moon. It almost looks like Stonehenge. There's a lot of raw Light running like liquid in the ground there, and it attracts Taken like flies to honey. Warlocks go there to commune with the Light, since you can get right down into it. It's even better than standing directly under the Traveler. Imagine the curative properties of hot springs, but with Light."

"I imagine you learned things there," Crow said.

Jayesh shrugged. "It's where I became a Dawnblade."

Cayde had been inspecting the sand around the ship as Jayesh had talked. Now he snapped his fingers. "Found her tracks. Looks like the same boots she's been wearing for the past sixty years. Glad to know I'll recognize her when we find her."

"I don't know, Cayde," said Crow in complete seriousness. "Ikora wears her hair in an Afro now. It's wider than her shoulders."

"What?" Cayde exclaimed. Then he looked hard at Crow. "You're pulling my leg."

Crow's poker face was immaculate. "I'm telling you, it's true." He glanced at Jayesh for backup.

"Oh, it really is," Jayesh said with too much enthusiasm. "She changed it right after you died, Cayde. She went for a whole new look."

Cayde looked at each of them, eyes narrowed. "Right, wise guys. Come on, let's find her." He led the way down the gully and into the meadow, where he tracked Ikora's tracks in bent grass blades.

"It's not just her hair, though," Jayesh said with a covert grin at Crow. "It's the makeup, too."

"I know, right?" Crow said, instantly playing along. "All that blue glitter. I mean, don't get me wrong, it looks great on her."

"It does, it does," said Jayesh. "But it was a little off-putting the first time I walked into her office. And then there's …"

"...the lipstick," Crow offered. "Sunset orange."

"She turned that way," Cayde interrupted, pointing across a jumble of rocks into a stand of trees. The trunks had been shaped into the faces of women, all with expressions of serenity. Somehow it looked like something that would spring from Ikora's mind. As they headed toward them, Cayde said, "If I find out you two have been bullshitting me, I'm throwing you to the Dread."

"It's the complete truth, Cayde," said Crow with the utmost seriousness. "We're just trying to prepare you."

"Don't want you to be shocked or anything," said Jayesh.

Cayde gave them a knowing look. "Ain't the first time I've played poker with a couple of rotten liars."

"Liars?" said Jayesh with a huge gasp. "Us? Never!"

"Would we lie to you about this?" said Crow with the utmost sincerity.

Cayde shrugged. "Next thing you'll try to tell me is that Zavala has hair."

"Oh heck no," said Jayesh. "He's still bald as a shelless Ghost."

Cayde gave them another suspicious look, but kept walking. Crow and Jayesh walked behind him, trying not to laugh.

They rounded a bend and entered a wide valley. Most of the valley floor was taken up with a copy of the Cradle on Io, like a great crater with a circle of standing stones in the middle that looked almost natural but not quite. However, between them and the valley center was a towering tree. Its silvery bark flashed in the light, and its branches grew in a perfect globe shape. It had no leaves and needed none, for the branches formed wing-like shapes. It was beautiful and otherworldly.

"The Tree of Silver Wings!" Jayesh gasped.

"I'd say you were making that up," said Cayde, "except that's exactly what it looks like."

"Osiris found a seed out in some other dimension and planted it on Io," said Jayesh. "It's like … the Tree of Life or something. But before we could figure out what it did, the Darkness consumed it."

"Looks like it's happening again," said Crow. "Those aren't birds up there."

As everyone looked, a flock of the bat-winged Grim flew into the tree, clawing at the white bark and belching Darkness. Jayesh bristled and raised Lumina. "How dare they defile it! Not again!"

"Tell you what," said Cayde. "I'll watch your backs and you two deal with those things. Since you have the most Ghosts among the three of us."

"Glint, sniper rifle," said Crow. His Ghost transmatted the rifle into his arms, its barrel nearly as long as he was tall. He rushed to a nearby tree, leaped up into its branches, and settled himself where the leaves would conceal the muzzle flash. Cayde ducked behind a large boulder, and Jayesh went on alone.

"Phoenix," he said, "when Crow drops those Grim, I need to deal with them on the ground. Can you give me any tips on using Strand?"

"Well, I do have Osiris's notes," Phoenix said. "I downloaded them for reference when we went to the Tower to make the Vanguard let you go to the Traveler. Seems that Strand is related to the Darkness. It allows you to see and manipulate the Weave, which is this network of psychic threads that connect all minds and matter."

"Um, wow, right," Jayesh said. "I'm not going to be able to learn this on the fly."

"You have to relinquish control and flow with the threads, whatever that means," said Phoenix. "But apparently Osiris's students have used it to create all kinds of objects, like claws or darts or grappling hooks, and fight with them."

"I'm going to stick to what I know right now," Jayesh said. "I have the Traveler's Light letting me use every power now, so that will have to do."

Crow's sniper rifle boomed, the report echoing off the Cradle's stone walls. One of the flying demons dropped from the tree, spiraling in midair and screeching. Jayesh ran forward and summoned a Hunter's fiery knife. When the Grim hit the ground, Jayesh flung the knife at the gun-barrel head. The Grim fell apart in a puff of expiring energy.

Crow's rifle spoke again and again, dropping more demons. But now they noticed that they were under attack. While some of them withdrew further inside the tree's globe of branches, out of Crow's sight, the others dropped upon Jayesh in a flapping, screeching cloud. He threw up a Titan's bubble shield and ducked inside it. When the demons converged upon it and rained blows upon it, Jayesh built a grenade out of ice in both hands. When the shield fell, he flung the grenade at his own feet and leaped out of the way. The grenade burst and created a dome of freezing temperatures that instantly killed every Grim foolish enough to enter it. Jayesh, himself, barely escaped before it froze him solid. He knelt as Phoenix healed his frost-encrusted legs and fired Lumina, felling a Grim with each shot. They were all around him and impossible to miss.

A third gun spoke, the crisp, sharp voice of the Ace of Spades. Jayesh grinned and paused to reload. Cayde took out the last six Grim, which spun about in confusion, trying to figure out the source of the shots.

As Jayesh climbed to his feet, Crow said over the radio, "Maybe don't stand inside your own snowglobe next time?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Jayesh replied. "Is the tree clear?"

"No, there's still a bunch inside it. Can you fly up there?"

Jayesh backed up, peering up into the tree. The trunk was at least five stories tall before the branches started, meaning a height of roughly fifty feet. Jayesh wasn't sure he could jump and fly that high, but he was a warlock, and he had his honor to maintain. He sprinted up a rock, using it as a ramp, and leaped as hard as he could, calling upon his Light.

To his delight, his Light carried him all the way up into the tree with several feet to spare. "Seems like being inside the Traveler makes my Light strong–" he began, then broke off in a gasp.

About thirty Grim were perched in the branches of the tree, leering at him with their eyeless gun-barrel necks. But slowly coiling and curling into the tree were the horrible black roots, the Darkness's blight overtaking the tree.

"No!" Jayesh cried. He flung fire in every direction, burning the Grim, burning the blighted roots, burning the Tree of Silver Wings itself. But even as the tree's globe filled with smoke, he saw that it wasn't enough. Huge roots wound their way up the trunk, blackening the silver wood wherever they touched. They coiled into the tree's canopy, strangling the wing branches, choking out the silvery light from the bark. They reached for Jayesh, too, seeking him by his Light. He couldn't burn them fast enough to escape their grasp.

"Jayesh, get out of there!" Crow yelled over the radio.

Jayesh flung himself clear as a blighted root tried to wrap around his leg. Its repulsive grasping Darkness tore through his pants and into his flesh. He flew clear and drifted toward the ground like a leaf, but he left behind a portion of his pant leg and a spatter of blood. The black roots drank it greedily.

When Jayesh reached the ground, he immediately collapsed and sat doubled over his leg, breathing heavily. Phoenix appeared and pulsed Light into him, cleansing and mending the wound. It took longer than it usually did, and the Ghost had to stop and study the wound twice before he could heal it.

Crow and Cayde hurried up, both brandishing their weapons. "I'm sorry," Crow said, kneeling beside the warlock. "You did what you could, but the Darkness was too strong."

"I know," Jayesh panted. "My leg went numb where it touched."

"Can you feel it now?" Phoenix asked anxiously.

Jayesh nodded. "You're bringing back the feeling."

As Phoenix continued to put his Guardian back together, Cayde-6 paced a few yards nearer the tree, studying the black roots. "We might want to get out of here sooner rather than later. Those things are spreading, and I think you gave it a taste for human flesh."

"Oh, just what I always wanted," Jayesh exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and struggling for balance. "Darkness roots that like the taste of my blood."

The three of them retreated to a safe distance. The roots didn't stop moving until they had completely consumed the silver tree, and it stood above them, wrapped in black corruption, the smoke of Jayesh's fire still drifting from it mournfully.

The three Guardians stood in silence for a long time, watching it. It seemed to symbolize what had been done to the Traveler, something beautiful and clean that had been defiled and ruined, simply because it existed and it was beautiful. Jayesh bared his teeth and clenched his fists, fury radiating from him until fiery wings flickered at his shoulders.

"I'm going to burn the Witness," Jayesh whispered. "I'm going to find its weakness, and I'm going to subject it to unquenchable fire."

Cayde touched his shoulder. "Hey. Calm down there, firebrand. Let's find Ikora. She might have some ideas."

"I'm picking up her Ghost's tag," said Phoenix. "She's on that hill at the edge of the Cradle."

As the three of them trooped in that direction, Cayde said, "So when we find Ikora, do you think she's…"

"I'm sure she's fine," said Crow. "Aside from the new look, that is."

"Not what I meant," said Cayde. "I wondered if she's still mad at me. See, I made a promise … and I broke it. I died."

"Pretty sure she is," said Crow in all seriousness. "She has a picture of you on the wall of her office that she throws knives at all the time."

Cayde looked at him carefully, then up at the hilltop. Then he turned to Jayesh. "Know what? You two go find her. Break the news gently. I'm going to set up camp … over that way, I think. Transmat me a couple of those folding chairs, Glint."

Glint loaded the Exo's arms with camping supplies, and Cayde lugged them in the direction of his campsite. Crow and Jayesh climbed the hill in silence, trying to keep quiet and not disturb Ikora's meditation.

They found her on the hilltop, looking regal in her purple robes. A crack in the ground emitted radiant Light, and her attention was focused upon it. Nearby, a hawk made of Light sat upon a rock, its bright eyes fixed upon them. Jayesh halted and beamed at it.

"Hello, Jayesh and Crow," said Ikora without turning. "Have a seat."

They obediently sat on the ground and waited as Ikora continued to gaze into the Light. Jayesh and Crow watched the hawk.

"That's the bird that gave me my gun, Hawkmoon," Crow whispered.

"It's one of the Traveler's avatars," Jayesh whispered back. "I keep looking for the human one, but I'm almost afraid to meet it."

They sat in silence, gradually becoming more aware of the Light around them and especially that crack in the ground. Jayesh closed his eyes and let it trickle into his being. It warmed and welcomed him, as it always did.

"Guardian Jayesh," the Traveler whispered into his mind.

"Traveler," Jayesh thought. "They're corrupting you and blackening your good metaphors. Show me how to free you."

"Excising the Darkness will not be easy," the Traveler said sorrowfully. "Yet it is not impossible. I will equip you for the task. Speak to Ikora, for I have been teaching her."

Jayesh opened his eyes as Ikora turned to look at him. "The Traveler says I am to give you two the Aegis."

Jayesh and Crow rose to their feet at once. "What is an Aegis?" Crow asked.

Ikora reached into the Light with both hands. She withdrew two diamond-shaped objects, like small shields. She handed one to each of them. She already wore one upon her own arm.

Jayesh slid his arm through the straps on the inside. As he did so, a forcefield of Light sprang into being around the edges of the shield, expanding its size to more than a Titan's shield. Jayesh laughed in delight and tapped his fingers on it. The field was impenetrable as stone.

Nearby, Crow did the same, flicking the Aegis's forcefield open and shut. "Tell the Traveler thank you," he breathed.

"I already have," said Ikora. "It has been speaking to me at length. Unfortunately, it does not know the Witness's weakness and leaves that to us. It says it is fighting its bonds and must not cease for an instant."

Jayesh and Crow straightened, their expressions turning grim.

"Let's depart," said Ikora. "We're too exposed here, and the Witness's eyes are upon this place."

"We have a camp over there," said Jayesh. He exchanged glances with Crow. "Uh, another Guardian is helping us set it up."

"Oh, you found Zavala," said Ikora with a relieved smile.

"Uh, no, this is … someone else," said Jayesh.

Ikora frowned. "What are you trying to tell me?"

Jayesh opened his mouth and discovered that words had failed him. He turned to Crow. "You tell her."

Crow rubbed the back of his neck. "It's … someone I met as soon as I got here. You know what, let's just go to camp. You'll see for yourself."

They descended the hill and made their way across the valley floor, wading through purple and yellow flowers and disturbing clouds of butterflies. As they walked, Ikora said, "This isn't a joke, is it? You know how I feel about your jokes, Crow."

"This isn't that," said Crow uncomfortably. "It's … I don't know."

"Jayesh?" said Ikora.

"It's someone … who passed on," Jayesh ventured.

Ikora's strides lengthened. He'd given her enough of a hint now and her suspicions were aroused. Jayesh and Crow had to jog to keep up.

They reached a small rise sheltered by a spreading tree. In its shade, Cayde had set up the two chairs, the supply crate, and the radio. He sat in one of the chairs, waiting for them.

As soon as Ikora saw him she came to a dead halt. "No," she whispered. Her voice rose to a shout. "No, no, no, it's too much!" She whirled on Jayesh and Crow. "The Witness has twisted so much Light and so many memories! And now you bring one of those abominations here? It mocks us and our pain!"

Cayde rose to his feet and cautiously approached them.

"No!" Ikora yelled. "Stay back or I'll disintegrate you."

Jayesh jumped between her and Cayde. "No, please don't. He's made of Light, but he's really here."

Ikora turned on him with a look of fury. "I never would have thought you'd fall for it, of all people. Cayde is dead. Do you hear me? He's dead and gone!"

"Uh, actually I'm right here," said Cayde, rising on tiptoe to peek over Jayesh. "Not sure how I'm here, but … yeah."

Ikora stormed toward him, shoving Jayesh aside. "You promised me!" she shouted in Cayde's face. "We were supposed to be a team, you, me, and Zavala. But you kept running off on your own, and then you died! I needed you, Cayde! Zavala needed you! You selfish son of a Hive witch!"

"Now that was uncalled for," said Cayde. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Ikora stood panting, tears flashing in her eyes, staring and staring at Cayde as if she would burn him up with her gaze. Then she stepped forward and hugged him. Cayde hugged her in return, patting her back comfortingly. Still with an arm around her, he guided her to a chair and helped her into it. Ikora sat and buried her face in her hands, where she sobbed, shoulders shaking.

Crow leaned toward Jayesh. "I'm going to, uh, go patrol the perimeter."

"I'll come with you," Jayesh said.