Spider's Safehouse, Tangled Shore, The Reef, Sol System

Crow stomped furiously into his "den", fists clenched at his sides, and began scrounging up everything he would need to finish the Cryptolith Lure. Spider never failed to get under his skin. His blatant cruelty and sadism would have long since invited a bullet to the brain, were it not for how damned silver-tongued he was. Spider always had exactly what you needed—for the right price—and if he didn't, he had the means to force you to deal with him. Crow had resigned himself to his fate as Spider's glorified errand boy, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth, and an ache in his chest when he was reminded of the "modifications" Glint had been subjected to.

With a sigh, Crow refocused on the task at hand. He needed to prepare for hunting the Wrathborn, and the likely chance of doing so alongside the new Guardian. He still wasn't sure what to make of the Hunter.

-LINE BREAK-

Back on the Moon, Crow had observed in silence as the Warlock, Osiris, woke the Guardian, and spoke to him in hushed whispers and his Ghost healed his wounds. Crow had been tense, eyes locked with the Guardian's, sure that he would rush to kill him the moment he was healed. Instead, Crow had watched as the Guardian's face became a stony mask, and he silently escorted Osiris out of the depths of the Moon, his Ghost flitting worriedly about him. Crow had followed cautiously—he still needed to make sure one of them came with him to meet Spider, after all—but the other Hunter's gaze had never once turned to Crow. Even after Osiris had been safely sent back to Earth, as Crow and the Guardian made their way to Spider's Safehouse, the Guardian acted as though Crow didn't even exist.

Walking tersely behind him through the grungy halls of the Safehouse, Crow had idly thought that, somehow, this was the best interaction he'd had with another Guardian since his awakening. Which was an altogether depressing thought, but he would gladly take this uncomfortable cold shoulder over having his chest caved in.

Even when meeting Spider, the other Hunter never spoke, just glared immovably at the grotesque Eliksni, instead letting his Ghost barter with Spider. When Spider dismissed Crow, he glanced back at the strange, silent Guardian thoughtfully, but Spider's leering, smug visage was the last thing he saw as he left the room.

-LINE BREAK-

Having gathered everything he expected to need for the hunt, Crow leaned back against his workbench, fiddling with one of his knives and listening to Glint's lighthearted chatter.

Crow had expected the Guardian, when he came, to display the same silent stoicism from before, but as the Hunter strode into his room, his Ghost at his shoulder, he looked even angrier than Crow had been earlier. His eyes immediately met Crow's, and, strangely, the anger… faded away?

What? Crow assumed the anger was a sure sign that he was about to be pointlessly killed, yet again, but now the other Lightbearer was standing before him non-threateningly, his gaze full of an emotion Crow couldn't remember seeing before. His eyes briefly flicked to Glint—who, like the other Guardian's Ghost, was uncharacteristically quiet—before turning back to Crow.

Oddly, Crow felt like this complete stranger was peering straight through him, not at the face of the man whose body Crow inhabited, like so many others had, but at him. Before Crow could even begin to contemplate that, the Guardian's stare became suddenly less intense, and he heaved a deep sigh.

"You said before that your name is Crow, right?" the man spoke, his voice gravelly, but strangely quiet.

"R-right," Crow coughed, "And this is Glint."

The Guardian nodded absently, as Glint and the Ghost flew a few feet away to quietly speak, though both continued to shoot glances their way.

"Spider has asked me to help you handle this… Hive problem."

There was a flash of that anger from before when the Guardian spat out the Eliksni's name, burning and furious across his face, but fleeting. It occurred to Crow that something Spider had said to this Guardian after he left the room had somehow taken whatever ire he had for Crow—or rather, the man he had once been—and moved it squarely to the Eliksni.

As Crow launched into an explanation of the Wrathborn, he felt a small comfort that he wasn't the only one who hated Spider so passionately.

"The Reef's sky has holes in it… the whole system's in chaos. Of course, Xivu Arath decided now was the right time to corrupt herself an army. We call them Wrathborn. Most of them are Eliksni, like Spider. Others… hmph, well. Spider wants the lines of Glimmer open, Hive god or not. Asked me to help you deal with Xivu Arath's High Celebrant. Apparently, the Guardians of the Last City are old friends of mine."

Crow saw some emotion flicker in the Hunter's eyes at that, but whatever it was, it was gone before Crow could place it.

"But… I don't remember you. I found some Hive artifacts gathering dust in Spider's trove and fashioned them into a lure. Wrathborn go crazy for them. When they take the bait… I wish there was some other way. But her magic's drive them mad. Hunting them down is the only way to weaken Xivu Arath's grip on the Shore. Like Spider says… Violence is the only language the Hive understand. For now, we can start small, work our way up her command chain. When we reach the High Celebrant, we'll take it down. Stop Xivu Arath from corrupting anyone else."

Crow paused, hesitating, fidgeting with his knife.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but it's… nice to be working with another Lightbearer."

Impulsively, he thrust his hand forward, as he had tried many times before. In every other instance he had tried to shake hands with another Guardian, he had paid for it dearly once they saw his face. He wasn't sure why he even bothered now, and maybe it was stupid and naive of him to expect anything different from this Guardian, but…

The Guardian's eyes glanced down at Crow's hand, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. If he noticed the barely perceptible shake, he didn't mention it, and, meeting Crow's gaze once more, he accepted the proffered hand with his own.

"Glad to be working with you, Crow. You can call me Young Wolf."

…Maybe this time would be different.

-LINE BREAK-

Somewhere in the Tangled Shore, The Reef, Sol System

"Crow."

The silence that had pervaded the camp for a few minutes was broken, and Crow, who had almost drifted off into a drunken sleep, shook himself back into a half-awake state.

"Hmm?" he groaned, already beginning to regret tonight's celebratory indulgence.

"Something's been bothering me," the Guardian sat near him, eyes staring into the fire, brow furrowed in thought, absently stoking the fire with his sword. Crow slightly resented his ability to be so coherent after so many drinks.

With a groan, he pushed himself up a bit, and glanced around the camp, spotting Osiris standing a small distance away, gazing silently at the horizon. Glint and the Young Wolf's Ghost were both nestled up against their respective Guardians. It had been a night of long celebration, a joyful reprieve in the wake of their victory over the High Celebrant, and the weary weeks of hunting it.

Crow absently patted Hawkmoon where it sat holstered at his side, its pure, Light-bringing warmth a constant comfort, always present when he needed it. It helped to dampen the growing sense of fear and loneliness at the idea that he would soon be returning to his former, miserable existence as Spider's pet Lightbearer. This hunt had been a small taste of the freedom he had been denied, of the kind of friendship he could have had, if he hadn't been born in this body.

Rubbing his weary eyes, Crow turned back to the other Hunter, "What is it?"

"You've mentioned meeting other Guardians before…"

Crow's breath caught, his body tensing.

"But you've never explained what happened, exactly."

The Young Wolf's eyes rose from the fire to meet his, his expression unreadable, but firm.

"Tell me."

Were it any other time, any other day, Crow would have staunchly refused to answer. He would have lightly dismissed it like every other slightly probing question the Young Wolf had directed his way over the last few weeks, and moved the conversation to safer topics.

But at this moment, on this night, still basking in the warmth of the fire, with the exhaustion and drinks mellowing his thoughts, and filled with the deeply buried fear that he would never have the opportunity to tell anyone else again, once he returned to Spider's "care"...

Crow told him everything. Softly, quietly, his voice shaking and rough, he spoke of the long year he spent in the wilderness after his birth. Of the many, many, many, deaths he suffered, at the hands of Eliksni, Cabal, Scorn, Hive, and worst of all, the Guardians who brutally murdered and maimed him for a crime he could not remember.

At some point, Osiris had silently retaken his seat by the fire, and joined the Young Wolf in listening intently to Crow's words.

As Crow finished, the night was left still and quiet but for the dying embers of the fire, and Crow, overwhelmed by emotion and exhaustion, succumbed to sleep's embrace, leaving the Young Wolf and Osiris in silence. Neither slept that night.

When morning came, Crow only remembered the night of celebration and friendship, and he cherished it greatly, but he did not recall his words of suffering told in the dead of night. He had barely been awake as it was, and the blissful, drunken sleep had meant he did not remember any such thing.

He was the only one.

-LINE BREAK-

AN/ So. It's quite literally been 2 years since I updated this story, and uh, a lot has happened since then. The gist, though, is I hit a big writing slump right when I finished the last chapter, and have only just managed to get out of it, and add to that everything that happened with Bungie and Destiny over the last 2 years, I had very little desire or will to continue this story. Sorry about that :/

Since the wonderful experience that was The Final Shape, I have lost pretty much all interest in the game, thanks to everything happening with Bungie. Most of my favorite writers were laid off, including Robert Brookes (the main person behind Crow's entire character arc, and whose writing inspired this story in the first place). But recently I was rewatching some of the story from Beyond Light through to Lightfall, and a combination of the nostalgia and melancholy of everything inspired me to continue this story, finally.

At the moment I have 1 extra chapter written, though it's much later in the story, and I aim to do around 2 chapters per week, with the final goal being something in the neighborhood of 25-28 chapters. I have plans for nearly all of them, and rough ideas sketched out (I've had that part done for over a year, from a point where I briefly tried writing this again, which failed lol). I intend to end the story as a whole with TFS, idk exactly how, or with what, but I do know that I have very little interest in continuing past that point.

I have a few ideas I may wind up turning into something of a sequel/continuation, but they would not be in any way tied to the actual official Destiny story, in the way this one is. I also have a couple plot-bunnies rattling around in my head for Warframe fics, if you happen to be a fan of that game as well, though those won't manifest for a while, I imagine.

Anyway, sorry for the very, very long wait (and the stereotypically long AN lmao), and I hope you enjoy this chapter, and any others, when they come. And hey! We've finally arrived at the scene I've been wanting to write for 3 damn years!

Remember to take care of yourselves, folks, both mentally and physically.

Goodbye for now!