Chapter 24: Reunion
As the echoes of battle faded, Adam turned slowly toward the mysterious Hunter, his movements suddenly hesitant, almost fragile. The Hunter stood motionless, their helmet's visor still glowing with that strange yellow-green luminescence, the Arc scythe dissipating into sparks of lightning that danced through the air.
For a moment, no one moved. The tension in the chamber was palpable, heavy with unspoken recognition. Then, with deliberate care, the Hunter reached up and removed their helmet.
Silver eyes met pale blue, and time seemed to stop.
"Ruby," Adam breathed, his voice barely a whisper.
The years had changed her. Her face bore new scars, and her once-short hair now fell past her shoulders in streaks of red and silver. But her eyes—those silver eyes that had seen too much, survived too much—still held that same indomitable spirit.
"Hey, partner," Ruby said softly, a tired smile playing at her lips. "Took you long enough."
Adam moved forward, his usual composure cracking. In three swift strides, he crossed the space between them and pulled Ruby into a fierce embrace. She returned it just as tightly, her fingers gripping the back of his armor as if afraid he might disappear.
"I got your message," he murmured into her hair. "I've been searching—"
"I know," Ruby cut him off gently, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze. "I've seen your trail. Following the breadcrumbs I left behind." Her smile turned wry. "Still as stubborn as ever."
Blake, Yang, and Weiss watched in stunned silence, their minds struggling to reconcile the woman before them with their memories. This wasn't the same eager young huntress they'd known on Remnant, nor was she the legendary Warlord from the Dark Age. This was someone forged in centuries of Light and shadow, tempered by endless battles and impossible choices.
Ruby's eyes drifted to them, recognition flickering in their silver depths. "And you brought company," she said softly. "Old friends made new again."
Yang stepped forward, her voice thick with emotion. "Ruby—"
"Not yet," Ruby interrupted gently, though her eyes softened with affection. "There's no time. That Knight... it was different. Touched by something ancient and wrong." She turned back to Adam. "I found them, Adam. I found where they went. But we're not the only ones looking anymore."
Adam's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Oscar and Jaune?"
Ruby nodded, her expression growing grave. "They're alive. Trapped, but alive. The Hive... they've been trying to reach them too. That's what all this is about—the rituals, the portals, the mapping of the Ascendant Plane. They're looking for what Oscar found."
"Which is what?" Pyrrha asked, stepping closer.
"A way to walk between worlds," Ruby answered, her voice carrying the weight of revelation. "Not just through the Ascendant Plane, but between realities themselves. Oscar thought he could use it to strike at the heart of the Darkness." She paused, her hand unconsciously touching a scar on her neck. "He was right about the power, but wrong about being able to control it."
"And now the Hive want it," Blake concluded, her ears flattening beneath her hood.
"Not the Hive," Ruby corrected, her tone sharp with urgency. "Savathûn. The Witch Queen herself. She's been watching, waiting, moving her pieces across the board. And now she's found what she's been looking for."
Adam's jaw tightened. "Then we need to move. Now."
Ruby nodded, but her eyes held a warning. "It won't be easy. The path they took... it was never meant for Guardians. Even with the Light, it's going to be dangerous."
"When has that ever stopped us?" Adam replied, the ghost of a smile touching his lips.
Ruby's answering smile was fierce and familiar. "Never has, never will." She looked at the gathered Guardians, her silver eyes bright with purpose. "But first, we need to prepare. That Knight was just a taste of what's coming. If we're going to save Oscar and Jaune, we need to be ready for war."
The chamber fell silent as the weight of her words settled over them. Through the broken ceiling, Titan's eternal storm raged on, lightning illuminating the determination on every face. They had found each other again, across time and space and death itself.
Now they just had to survive what came next.
Suddenly, Penny's head snapped to the side, her emerald eyes tracking something at the edge of her vision. At the same moment, Pyrrha tensed, her hand instinctively reaching for her weapon.
"Did you see that?" Penny whispered, her voice carrying an unusual note of uncertainty.
Pyrrha nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on a point in the darkness. "A light... like a wisp."
The others turned to look, but saw nothing but shadows. Then, a flicker—barely visible, like starlight glimpsed through storm clouds. The wisp danced at the edge of perception, its glow somehow both inviting and ethereal.
"There!" Penny called out, taking a step toward it. The wisp retreated, then reappeared several meters away, as if beckoning.
"That light..." Penny breathed, her voice filled with recognition. She turned to Pyrrha, whose expression mirrored her own. "Pyrrha, it's just like—"
"The Moon," Pyrrha finished, her eyes never leaving the wisp. "And the Dreadnought. The same lights that guided us through Crota's realm..."
"And led us to Oryx," Penny added softly. The others looked between them in confusion as Pyrrha moved closer to the mysterious light, her Ghost scanning frantically. "Aegis, are you getting any readings?"
"Nothing concrete," Aegis replied, his shell expanding in confusion. "It's like... it's there and not there at the same time. The energy signature is unlike anything I've ever encountered."
The wisp flickered again, moving further into the darkness of the complex. Its light seemed to pulse with a gentle rhythm, almost like a heartbeat.
"It wants us to follow it," Penny said with certainty.
Blake's ears twitched. "Could be a trap."
"No," Ruby and Adam said simultaneously. They exchanged glances before Ruby continued, "This feels different. It's not Hive magic or Taken energy. It's something else entirely."
The wisp pulsed once more, its light growing slightly stronger, as if in response to their discussion. Then it began to move away, its path clear and deliberate.
Yang readied her weapon. "Well, we didn't come all this way to play it safe. I say we follow it."
Weiss nodded, her Warlock's curiosity piqued. "Agreed. But we stay together. No one goes running off alone."
The group moved forward as one, following the mysterious light deeper into the arcology's depths. The wisp led them away from the main chambers, down corridors that seemed untouched by even the Hive's corruption. With each step, the air grew heavier with anticipation, as if the very walls were holding their breath.
Whatever secrets this light held, they were about to find out.
The group followed the dancing wisps through the winding corridors of Titan's depths, their boots echoing against metal floors worn smooth by centuries of decay. Penny and Pyrrha led the way, following the familiar lights that had once guided them through both Crota's realm and the depths of Oryx's Dreadnought.
The wisps moved with purpose, their gentle glow casting shifting shadows on the walls. Each time one would fade, another would appear further ahead, beckoning them deeper into the complex. The air grew thicker, heavier with each step, as if the very atmosphere was pressing down on them.
Ruby walked beside Adam, her silver eyes scanning their surroundings, when something about the wisps caught her attention. She slowed her pace, her expression shifting from curiosity to dawning recognition.
"Wait," she whispered, her voice tight with sudden emotion. Her hand reached out toward the nearest wisp, fingers trembling slightly. "I know this Light."
The others paused, turning to look at her. The wisp seemed to respond to her presence, drifting closer, its glow intensifying slightly.
"Ruby?" Adam asked, his pale blue eyes sharp with concern.
"It's Oscar," Ruby breathed, her voice barely audible. "This is Oscar's Light. I'd know it anywhere." Her eyes glistened as she watched the wisp dance around her outstretched hand. "All those years fighting alongside him, feeling his Light resonate with mine during battle... This is him. Somehow, this is him."
Blake's ears twitched forward. "How is that possible?"
"The research," Ruby said, her eyes never leaving the wisp. "Oscar was studying ways to project consciousness through the Ascendant Plane. He thought if we could understand how the Hive navigated between realities..." She trailed off, watching as the wisp pulsed gently, almost like a greeting.
"He found a way," Adam concluded, his voice grave.
"But split himself in the process," Weiss added, her Warlock's mind racing with implications. "These wisps... they're fragments of his consciousness?"
"Breadcrumbs," Ruby corrected, a sad smile touching her lips. "He's leaving you a trail." She looked at Penny and Pyrrha. "That's why they appeared to you in Crota's realm, and again on the Dreadnought. He was trying to help, even then."
Yang stepped closer, studying the ethereal light. "So all this time..."
"He's been watching," Ruby nodded. "Waiting. Unable to fully manifest, but conscious enough to guide those he trusts." Her expression hardened with determination. "And now he's showing us the way."
The wisps pulsed more urgently now, their light growing stronger as they drifted toward a darkened passage ahead. The path they illuminated led downward, deep into the heart of the arcology.
"Then we follow," Adam said firmly, checking his weapon. "Wherever he leads."