Archer's Line, Ocean of Storms, The Moon, Sol System

"…Osiris was investigating physical manifestations of her magic near the Scarlet Keep when… his Ghost, Sagira, was slain. Osiris delivered a message through a secure channel requesting that you personally aid him in this hunt. He's desperate, Guardian. I need you to save him from himself."

As the Young Wolf tore through the Hive forces of Xivu Arath, he felt a cold fear settle in his chest. He was making decent progress towards where he believed Osiris to be, yet he couldn't help but be reminded of how all too similar this was to that horrible day in the Prison of Elders.

He had been too slow to save Sagira, just like he had been too slow to save Cayde and Sundance, just like he had been too slow to save Taeko-3 and her fireteam. He refused to let the same happen to Osiris.

The Young Wolf was sick and tired of being too slow to save his friends.

Moving and fighting faster than he ever had, what had been a near paralyzing fear became an icy fury. Letting the chilling power of Stasis wash over him, he manifested two crystalline kamas, and unleashed the power of the Darkness upon the very Hive that worshiped it.

He would not fail again.

-LINE BREAK-

"We have to get out of here!"

The roar of the High Celebrant chasing them through the Ascendant Plane only emphasized Ghost's exclamation.

"I know!" the Young Wolf gnashed out, currently preoccupied with trying to reach an exit portal whilst avoiding soul fire blasts from Hive all around, and the High Celebrant behind him, all while trying to not fall to his death jumping across shifting rocks.

"We're almost there!" Ghost was valiantly attempting to keep calm.

The Young Wolf, however, was far too tunnel-visioned to hear a word at this point. A stray bolt of soul fire whizzed by his side, close enough to singe his chest piece. Grunting in frustration, he pushed himself to go even faster.

Jump. Dodge. Shoot. Dodge again. Jump. Jump again.

Finally jumping through the portal, he felt relief wash over him as the familiar sensation of leaving the Ascendant Plane washed over him. In the moment that he touched the portal, though, he heard the High Celebrant roar again behind him, followed immediately by a searing pain along his spine. As he landed in a heap on the ground, having thankfully managed to get transported out of the Ascendant Plane, he hissed in pain, before pulling himself to his feet.

As Ghost materialized next to him and began flitting around his latest injury in concern, a voice called down from a ledge above them.

"You're here! Finally," Osiris huffed impatiently, looking just as exhausted as the Young Wolf felt. "Are you alright there?"

Nodding jerkily and ignoring Ghost's concern, the Young Wolf grunted out, "I'll live."

"Good, is it done? I'll come down to-"

With a cry, Osiris is knocked to the ground by a Hive Knight that had managed to sneak up behind him, his rifle sent flying off the ledge he was on. The Knight raised its sword to skewer the weakened and defenseless Osiris, who threw up his hands in a futile attempt to block the strike.

"OSIRIS!" Ghost and the Young Wolf shouted in alarm, but as the Young Wolf brought his hand cannon to bear on the Knight, he knew immediately, he wouldn't be fast enough. The injury on his back had been worse than he thought, and was costing precious time to lift his arm. It was too slow. "NO!"

The Knight's sword moved as if in slow motion, heading straight for Osiris's chest, and all he could do was watch.

Too slow.

He had failed.

Again.

Osiris was going to die. He couldn't do anything to stop it. What was he going to tell Saint? That he had just sat by and let his-

In an instant, everything changed. An Awoken sword pierced through the Knight from behind, killing it immediately, its sword sent clattering to the ground next to Osiris. As the Knight collapsed, a darkly cloaked Awoken stepped forward, a Ghost appearing over his shoulder.

The stranger's Ghost skittishly floated down to Osiris, "We warned you it was going to be dangerous down here. Especially for the Ghostless. I'm… I'm glad to see we're all okay, though," the Ghost turned towards the Young Wolf, where he still stood frozen in some degree of shock, "I'm Glint, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Osiris gave a meek wave in response from where he lay on the ground, looking equally shell shocked.

Glint, as he was apparently named, briskly floated back to what was clearly his Guardian, muttering softly, "Go on, introduce yourself."

The Awoken Guardian hesitated, before taking a few steps forward, and as he spoke his eyes met the Young Wolf's for the first time, "They call me… the Crow. My boss wants to see you."

"My motive is simply loyalty, to a people, a Queen and a sister."

No.

"She's saying you owe us, Guardian."

NO!

A smirk and jaunty wave of Ace in farewell, followed by words that would haunt him for all eternity, "He didn't feel a thing."

HE'S DEAD!

That damnable smirk still on his face, despite being battered and bloody, crawling along the floor like the parasite he is, "Sooo, this is to be a reckoning, then."

I KILLED HIM!

Firm resolve, aiming Ace at the coward's skull, Petra doing the same with her sidearm beside him. Acceptance washing over the murderer's face, but not before delivering one last barb, "The line between Light and Dark is so very thin. Do you know which side you're on?"

Twin gunshots, followed by devastating silence.

WHY IS ULDREN SOV ALIVE?!

Kill him again.

His hand cannon was already in his hand. Loaded.

Just bring up your arm, and pull the trigger.

His arm inched upwards, unnoticed by the others in the room.

It would be so easy. You've done it before, haven't you? You're already a murderer, what's one more death?

Equally unnoticed was the frost forming all along his gun arm.

Osiris would forgive you, he understands hard choices. The Ghosts might not, but they're no threat to you.

His arm, coated in steaming ice, was almost high enough to shoot, when his body, weakened by the injury on his back, gave out. As he collapsed to the floor, he heard a cry from Ghost, and his world went dark.

A pity. We were so looking forward to seeing your strength.

-LINE BREAK-

Crow had met quite a few Guardians since he first woke in the Dreaming City, and each encounter had progressed pretty much the same.

He and a Guardian meet, likely while doing patrols. Guardian is cordial enough, introduces themselves (not that he really cares who they are), asks his name (which at first he didn't have an answer to), offers random gossip about the Last City (that he's never seen up close, and honestly he isn't sure if he ever wants to at this rate), etc. Glint says it's called small talk, apparently. Crow wouldn't know, considering the only company he had ever had worth talking to was Glint, and he usually did enough talking for the both of them. At any rate, all of that friendly behavior always, always, vanishes the very moment they see his face.

The look on their faces is the same every time. First confusion, followed by shock, then unadulterated rage. The "merciful" ones follow that up by immediately shooting him in the skull with whatever weapon they happen to be carrying. By the time he's been resurrected by Glint, the Guardian is long gone. Honestly, it's not so bad, just sharp pain, a quick nap (in the form of dying), and he gets right back to work.

The not-so-"merciful" ones, however… Well, they usually find all sorts of creative and fun ways to maim and torture him without immediately killing him. They usually leave him bleeding out on the ground, often with some scathing remark about him murdering someone, something about a queen, and just in general, how he's an awful person who deserves suffering and death. All in spite of the fact that Crow is quite certain he's never murdered anyone, he's pretty sure he doesn't know any queens, and he likes to think he's not an awful person (Glint's quite firm about that last one).

Needless to say, Crow's not overly fond of meeting new people. Especially since the person (which was a generous way to refer to a creature as vile as Spider) he met most recently had strapped a bomb to Glint and forced Crow to work for him or else risk losing his only friend.

So when he saved the Ghostless Warlock Osiris, who his new boss wanted very much not impaled, from being impaled by a Hive Knight, and introduced himself to the Warlock and his Hunter friend. He was already preparing for the inevitable of this interaction backfiring on him in some way, though he hoped the Osiris guy stuck around long enough for Crow to bring him back to his "boss". Crow saw the expected reaction begin to form on the face of the Hunter, but in contrast the Warlock only had a flat and calculating look in his eyes, no sign of distress at having almost died permanently.

So, rather than focus on the Hunter, who clearly was having the reaction he's used to from Guardians, he instead watched the Warlock, who was now conversing with Glint. Said conversation is abruptly cut off, however, when they all hear a thud and cry from where the Hunter was standing. Turning his gaze to the noise, he finds the Hunter has collapsed in a heap on the floor, and his Ghost is flitting about him in much the same way that Glint does when Crow is injured.

That… was definitely not what he was expecting.

As Crow watches, Osiris, who had jumped down to the Hunter in response to him collapsing, removes the Hunter's helmet to check for injuries. Upon seeing the man's face, Crow feels a sharp pain in his skull and a bizarre sense of déjà vu.

Clutching his head, he hears two distant gunshots, one the booming blast of a hand cannon, the other the sharp crack of a sidearm, followed by the sensation of falling. Gritting his teeth, he clenches his fists to stop their shaking, but it's ultimately pointless, as his whole body is being wracked by shivers and spasms.

The first time Crow had experienced a strange internal reaction to something innocuous, Glint had explained that it was simply his body having a physical response to something from the life of said body's original owner. He had gotten fairly used to the odd feelings of déjà vu and whatnot pretty quickly. Never before had anything triggered a reaction like that, though.

Looking back at the Hunter, still lying unconscious on the floor, Crow frowns, the beginnings of a headache already forming. Whoever this Guardian is, Crow's past life had obviously known him, and not in a good way.

With a sigh, he massages his forehead, realizing he still has to prepare an explanation for his "boss".

This was really not how he envisioned today going.