Beyond, Rathmore Chaos, Europa, Sol System
"Damn this cold."
Wrapped up as much as possible in her cloak, Elisabeth Bray stared into the fire in front of her, its crimson tongues serving as a distraction from her thoughts. Seated not far from her camp, she was waiting to hear back from the Guardian she had quite possibly sent on a suicide mission. Until she did, she would have to continue huddling by the fire to stave off the unbearable chill of the blizzard.
Normally, the cold of Europa didn't bother her; being an Exo had some benefits in that regard. It was so cold now, though, that her joints were beginning to lock up. The fire did alleviate the ache of her servos somewhat, but not entirely.
It did nothing for the ache of her soul, however.
Countless timelines of nothing but death and Darkness could not be overcome by something so simple as a fire. Especially not when she worried that she had doomed this timeline to the same fate. She wasn't yet sure if sending the Guardian to the Deep Stone Crypt was a mistake or not, and if it was, she honestly didn't know what else she could do to stop the inevitable.
Any hope she had of a future that wasn't Dark had died with her sister, the first time Elisabeth was forced to kill her. All that was left now was a grim determination. She had suffered and fought too much already to give up.
Lost in thought as she was, she almost didn't notice someone transmatting in a small distance behind her. Fighting the urge to tense at the new arrival, she kept her gaze firmly on the fire, knowing that anyone who could transmat here wouldn't be an immediate enemy. Recognizing the footsteps behind her, she knew she had been right.
The Young Wolf walked towards the other side of the fire, speaking as he went, "The Crypt is secure, and the Morning Star has been destroyed, Elisabeth."
Finally tearing her gaze from the fire, she watched as, with a groan of exhaustion, he took a seat opposite her, mimicking her position by wrapping his furs and cloak around himself. His Ghost flitted around his shoulder as usual, though just as tired as the Guardian.
"And what of Eramis' lieutenants, Atraks and Taniks?" she asked, still tense, as she always was when seeing him, no matter how much she tried to fight it. It was almost impossible to forget how much of a linchpin this Guardian was, and the Dark and terrible things all of his counterparts in other timelines had done.
"Atraks and Taniks are dead," the Young Wolf gestured to his Ghost as he spoke, and on the ground the head of the late Taniks was transmatted into reality with a thump, "For good this time."
He had done it. He had actually done it.
Elisabeth felt a small ember of something resembling hope begin to grow in her heart.
Maybe this time…
Shaking her head free of the naive thought, she looked to the Young Wolf once more, "Well done, Guardian."
At his nod, she went back to staring at the fire, expecting him to leave now that his job was done. To her surprise, he simply relaxed further into his seat. In what was clearly a practiced motion, he pulled off his helmet, placed it on the ground beside him, smoothed his hair out of his face, and cradled his Ghost in his lap. He imitated her again by gazing into the fire, while Ghost relaxed in his hands.
After a few moments of her staring at him in surprise, he finally noticed, and, glancing at her, his brow wrinkled in confusion.
"What is it?" he asked.
Shaking off her momentary lapse, she shrugged, "I simply expected you to leave and get some rest, somewhere not in the middle of a blizzard. You've had quite a long day, I'm sure."
"I have," he sighed, weariness etched in his face, "But I found something in the Crypt I thought you may have wanted returned to you."
Being careful not to jostle his Ghost, he reached into the folds of his coat, pulling out a data pad and tossing it to her. A very familiar data pad.
Catching it, she quickly activated it and confirmed that yes, it was exactly the data pad she thought it was. She had hoped to never see it again. With a shaky breath, or as close to one as her Exo body allowed, she turned off the data pad and set it aside.
"Did you listen to the logs?"
"I did," he replied gruffly, his eyes soft, "I thought perhaps there would be something relevant to the Crypt itself within. Instead…"
"Instead, you found the record of one of my darkest moments," Elisabeth snorted bitterly. She found her gaze drawn back to the fire, away from the understanding she saw in his eyes.
With a sigh, the Young Wolf fidgeted with his cloak for a moment, "I'm sorry if this is rude, but I need to ask. What exactly happened in these other timelines you keep referring to?"
Clenching her fist, she turned her gaze back to him, thinking.
"Are you sure you want to know? None of it's good, and you might regret learning it," her piercing stare was fixed on him, measuring his response.
"It wouldn't be my first time learning of a potentially horrible future," he glanced downward for a moment, "Besides, whether I want to know it or not, I need to if I'm going to be able to stop it from happening."
A few tense moments passed of her considering his words, before she responded, "You're right. You've done everything I asked, and you've more than proved your commitment."
Drawing in a deep breath and releasing it, she continued, "You deserve to know."
Besides, if she was being honest with herself, she was tired of never telling anyone. Of being completely isolated and alone, even from her own sister.
"Very well," she began shakily, "It all started when the Last City fell…"
-LINE BREAK-
Hours later, the camp was completely silent. The blizzard and fire had completely died down, and night had fallen, all that remained of the fire were embers.
The Young Wolf was lost in thought, processing everything he had just learned, and Elisabeth was much the same. For once, though, she felt… lighter, somehow. As if a great weight she never realized was there had suddenly disappeared. The Guardian speaking interrupted her thoughts, however.
"Thank you, truly," peering into the distance, he was clearly thinking very carefully about what he was saying, "I'm so sorry you had to experience all of that. It was certainly more than I expected, but you've given me a fresh purpose."
He turned his gaze back to her, his eyes now filled with a burning determination she had never seen in them. Reaching into the collar of his coat, he snapped a pendant chain of some kind from around his neck, and tossed it to her. Catching it, and turning it over, she saw an engraved sigil of a wolf on its face.
Looking back up to him, she asked in confusion, "What's this for?"
With a smile matching the fierceness of his eyes, he replied, "It's a promise. I swear to you on my oath as the Young Wolf, Elisabeth, I will not let that Dark Future come to pass," his smile grew, "As for the pendant, keep it. Keep it, until the Darkness is defeated, and the system is safe, then you can give it back to me."
Her eyes widened in shock, and glancing back down at the pendant, she tightened her grip on it.
This… had never happened before. This was new.
The small ember of hope within her heart had suddenly become a crackling fire, spurred on by the Guardian's unerring spirit in the face of doom.
"I will. I'll keep it safe, Gu-" she smiled, "my friend."
While the fire in the camp had long gone out, and with it the soothing of her aching body, in its place was a fire borne of nothing but determination and hope.
Finally, her soul didn't ache.
