Chapter 31: Light's Trial

Ruby stood at the Crucible observation deck, her fingers absently tracing the silver tree pendant at her throat as she watched the match unfold below. Oscar leaned against the railing beside her, his own attention focused on the three newly-risen Guardians facing their latest trial.

"They're improving," Oscar noted, his voice carrying centuries of experience in evaluating combat potential. "Watch how Yang's timing her advances now."

Below, Yang slid into cover as enemy fire peppered her position. Instead of immediately counter-attacking, she waited for Blake's void signal - a subtle ripple in reality that meant her teammate was in position. Only then did she emerge, her Last Man Standing roaring as she pushed forward.

The opposing team - a trio of veteran Guardians who had volunteered to help train the newcomers - found themselves caught between Yang's aggressive advance and Blake's shadowy flanking maneuver. Their carefully coordinated defense began to crumble.

"Weiss is the real surprise," Ruby said with a small smile. "Look at how naturally she's adapted to Warlock abilities."

As if to emphasize her point, Weiss blinked through space, her movement a perfect calculation of distance and timing. Her Interference VI sang out, the grenade's arc forcing the enemy team to scatter. Yang and Blake capitalized immediately, their own attacks finding targets made vulnerable by the disruption.

"EXCELLENT COORDINATION!" Shaxx's voice boomed through the arena. "THIS is how Guardians fight together!"

"It's more than just coordination," Oscar observed thoughtfully. "They're starting to truly understand their Light - not just as a tool, but as an extension of themselves."

Ruby nodded, her silver eyes tracking Blake as she moved through shadow. "They're remembering who they are - who they've always been. The Light's just giving them new ways to express it."

Below, the match reached its climax. One of the Guardians, a skilled Hunter, managed to catch Yang in a crossfire. But instead of falling back, Yang let her Solar Light explode outward, creating space for Weiss to blink into position. Blake emerged from void-shadow at the perfect moment, her Funnelweb chattering as she cleaned up the kills.

"Match point!" Shaxx announced with characteristic enthusiasm. "Show me how Guardians finish a fight!"

"They're almost ready," Oscar said quietly, his hand unconsciously touching the tome at his belt. "But the Dreadnaught..."

"Will test them in ways the Crucible can't," Ruby finished. She reached for Oscar's hand, their fingers intertwining. "But they won't be alone."

The final round played out below as Yang, Blake, and Weiss moved with growing confidence. Their Light flowed together - Solar, Void, and Arc weaving into deadly harmony. The veteran team put up a strong resistance, but they were ultimately overwhelmed by the coordination of the newer Guardians.

"VICTORY!" Shaxx's voice shook the observation deck. "MAGNIFICENT!"

As the barriers came down and the Guardians began to materialize on the central platform, Ruby squeezed Oscar's hand gently.

"We should go congratulate them," she said. "They've earned it."

Oscar nodded, but his expression remained thoughtful. "They're learning fast. Almost too fast. As if..."

"As if they were always meant for this," Ruby finished. She touched the silver tree pendant again, a gesture that had become habit over centuries. "Maybe they were. Maybe that's why they remember who they were, why the Light chose them now."

"To help find Jaune?" Oscar asked softly.

Ruby's silver eyes carried the weight of centuries as she watched her old teammates celebrate below. "To help save everyone," she corrected. "Just like they always did."

The morning sun caught the Traveler's light, casting long shadows across the Crucible arena. Below, three Guardians who had once been Huntresses embraced their new power, their new purpose. And above, two who had walked the centuries watched over them, knowing that every victory here brought them one step closer to the real battle ahead.

The Light had chosen them all, across time and space and death itself. Now they just had to prove worthy of that choice.

"Come on," Ruby said, tugging Oscar toward the stairs. "Let's go tell them how proud we are."

Oscar followed, the tome's power humming softly at his belt. In two weeks, they would face the Dreadnaught's horrors. But for now, there was this moment - this small victory, this step forward on the path to something greater.

"GUARDIANS!" Shaxx's voice boomed across the Crucible hall, somehow even louder in the enclosed space than it had been during the match. "Your performance today has earned you more than just victory. You've earned the right to bear weapons worthy of your growing skill!"

Yang, Blake, and Weiss stood before the massive Crucible handler, their recent victory still humming through their Light. Behind them, Ruby and Oscar watched with quiet pride as Shaxx reached for three carefully wrapped packages.

"For the Warlock who has learned to turn space itself into a weapon," Shaxx declared, presenting the first package to Weiss. "Randy's Throwing Knife - a scout rifle renowned for its precision and adaptability. Like you, it turns calculation into devastation!"

Weiss accepted the weapon with practiced grace, though her eyes betrayed her excitement as she examined the sleek scout rifle. Its frame was elegant yet deadly, perfectly balanced for a Guardian who understood the value of precision.

"For the Hunter who dances with shadows," Shaxx continued, turning to Blake. Her ears perked forward as he revealed the next reward. "Nightfang - a sword that cuts through both reality and enemy alike. Its edge is as sharp as your tactical mind!"

Blake's fingers wrapped around the sword's hilt, and she felt an immediate resonance with the weapon. Like her own void abilities, it seemed to exist partially in shadow, its blade catching light in impossible ways.

"And for the Titan who has learned to temper fury with wisdom," Shaxx's voice carried genuine approval as he faced Yang. "Escape Velocity - a submachine gun that matches your own momentum. Let it sing the song of your Light!"

Yang grinned as she hefted the compact weapon, feeling its perfect weight. The submachine gun's frame hummed with barely contained energy, like her own Solar Light eager to be unleashed.

"These weapons are not simply prizes," Shaxx continued, his helmet gleaming in the hall's light. "They are recognition of your growth, your dedication, your willingness to die and rise again in pursuit of perfection!"

Ruby stepped forward, her silver eyes bright with pride. "You've earned them," she said softly. "All of you."

Weiss tested Randy's Throwing Knife's sights, her movements precise. "The balance is incredible," she noted. "The recoil pattern will complement my blink timing perfectly."

"Nightfang feels like it's part of my void energy," Blake added, the sword's edge seeming to fade slightly as she channeled her Light through it. "As if it was made for shadow-stepping."

Yang had already chambered a round in Escape Velocity, her grin widening at the smooth action. "Oh yeah, this baby's going to work just fine with my Solar charges."

"Use them well," Shaxx declared. "For soon you'll face challenges that make the Crucible seem like a gentle warm-up!" His booming laugh echoed through the hall. "But for now - celebrate! You've earned that much at least!"

"Adam won't go easy on them," Oscar noted, watching as the veteran Guardian checked his weapons - a hand cannon whose rose engravings caught the morning light, and the distinctive frame of a Cartesian Coordinate fusion rifle.

"Good," Ruby replied, her silver eyes sharp. "They need to understand what they're really up against."

Below, Yang rolled her shoulders, Escape Velocity ready in her hands. Blake's form shimmered slightly with void energy, Nightfang's blade seeming to drink in the shadows. Weiss held Randy's Throwing Knife with scholarly precision, already calculating sight lines and angles.

"MATCH BEGIN!" Shaxx's voice thundered through the arena.

Adam moved first, his hand cannon - Rose - barking out precise shots that forced Yang into cover. The rounds weren't meant to kill, Ruby noted, but to control space. Already testing their positioning.

Blake attempted to flank through shadow, but Adam's centuries of experience showed. His fusion rifle's whine cut through the air, forcing Blake to abort her approach as superheated particles ionized the space she'd been heading toward.

"He's herding them," Oscar observed. "Making them work together or die separately."

Weiss recognized the tactic first. Her scout rifle cracked three times in rapid succession, forcing Adam to shift position. The moment's distraction was all Yang needed to advance, Escape Velocity's rounds creating a corridor of suppressing fire.

"Better," Ruby murmured. "But he's still-"

A fusion rifle blast caught Yang mid-charge, her form dissolving into Light. Adam had baited her advance, knowing her aggressive instincts would overcome tactical caution.

"Too eager," Oscar finished. "But watch Blake."

The Hunter had used Yang's charge as cover to move into position. Nightfang's void-wrapped blade sang through the air as Blake emerged from shadow. But Adam was already moving, Rose's rounds forcing Blake to defend instead of press her advantage.

Weiss tried to capitalize, blinking into a flanking position. Randy's Throwing Knife found its mark twice, but Adam's shields held as he smoothly transitioned between weapons. The fusion rifle's distinctive whine gave Weiss just enough warning to blink away before the blast would have ended her.

"They're learning," Ruby said with pride. "Look at their positioning now."

The three had fallen into a triangle formation, covering each other's angles. Yang's resurrection had brought a more measured approach, her Escape Velocity providing steady pressure instead of reckless charges.

Blake moved like a shadow through their crossfire, Nightfang forcing Adam to remain mobile. And Weiss... Weiss had found her rhythm, Randy's Throwing Knife singing out at precisely the moments when Adam's attention was divided.

"But is it enough?" Oscar wondered aloud.

Adam's answer came in a devastating sequence of precision and power. Rose's rounds disrupted Blake's void-step, leaving her vulnerable to a fusion rifle blast. Weiss's attempted rescue was predicted and countered, her blink ending in a perfect hand cannon headshot. Yang lasted longest, but even her improved tactics couldn't overcome centuries of experience.

"Again!" Yang called out as they rematerialized. "We almost had him that time!"

"Better positioning," Adam acknowledged, reloading Rose with practiced efficiency. "But you're still thinking like three individuals instead of one team."

"Then teach us," Blake challenged, Nightfang's edge gleaming with renewed purpose.

"Gladly," Adam replied, fusion rifle humming to life.

The Tower courtyard hummed with its usual activity as Ruby and Oscar sorted through centuries of accumulated gear. Her vault inventory glowed on the datapad between them, each item a memory of battles fought and won.

"Keep or dismantle?" Oscar asked, highlighting an old fusion rifle.

"Keep," Ruby replied, a fond smile touching her lips. "That's the one I used during the Battle of Six Fronts. Still works too."

"You and your weapons," Oscar teased gently. "I swear you remember every single one."

"Says the man who can quote his own research papers from memory," Ruby countered, bumping his shoulder playfully.

"Well, well," a familiar mechanical drawl interrupted them. "If it isn't my favorite predecessor and her scholarly other half."

Cayde-6 approached, his hood pulled low but unable to hide the hopeful gleam in his mechanical eyes. He leaned against a nearby pillar with practiced casualness that didn't quite mask his restlessness.

"Cayde," Ruby acknowledged warmly. "Shouldn't you be in a Vanguard meeting right now?"

"Probably," he shrugged. "But funny you should mention Vanguard duties..." He pushed off from the pillar, his movements carrying barely contained energy. "You know, that Hunter Vanguard position has your name all over it. Technically speaking, you never officially resigned."

Ruby's hands stilled over the datapad. "Cayde..."

"Just hear me out," he pressed, his voice carrying an unusual note of sincerity. "You're a legend, Ruby. The Hunters respect you. And more importantly, they'd listen to you." He gestured vaguely toward the City below. "Meanwhile, I'm going stir-crazy up here. The wilds are calling, and I'm stuck filing reports about other people's adventures."

"The position is yours, Cayde," Ruby said firmly but kindly. "Has been for centuries. I'm not looking to change that."

"But you'd be perfect for it!" Cayde insisted. "You've got the experience, the reputation..." He paused, his optics flickering hopefully. "And I've got this great map of some totally unexplored territory that's just begging to be scouted..."

Oscar watched the exchange with quiet amusement, noting how Ruby's expression softened even as she shook her head.

"I've done my time leading from the Tower," she said. "Now I need to be out there, especially with what's coming." Her silver eyes met Cayde's glowing ones. "The Hunters need someone who understands both sides - the wild and the walls. That's you, Cayde."

"I'm a terrible role model," Cayde protested. "Half my reports are just chicken sketches with mission details in the margins."

"And that's exactly why they trust you," Ruby countered. "You remember what it's like out there, what it means to be a Hunter. You keep that spirit alive, even stuck behind a desk."

Cayde's shoulders slumped slightly. "But the wilds..."

"Will still be there," Ruby finished gently. "And right now, the City needs you more than they need me." She turned back to her vault inventory, highlighting another weapon. "Besides, I've got my own mission to focus on."

"The Dreadnaught," Cayde nodded, his tone growing more serious. "Yeah, I heard about that. Nasty business." He straightened slightly, his usual swagger returning. "Just... try not to die out there? The paperwork for resurrecting legends is a nightmare."

Ruby laughed, the sound bright in the courtyard air. "I'll do my best. And Cayde?" She caught his eye. "Thank you. For keeping them safe while I was gone."

The Hunter Vanguard waved dismissively, but there was genuine warmth in his mechanical features. "Yeah, well, someone had to stop them from jumping off the Tower for fun." He started to walk away, then paused. "But if you change your mind about the position..."

"Goodbye, Cayde," Ruby called, already turning back to her inventory.

They could hear him muttering about "wasted potential" and "perfectly good scout reports" as he disappeared into the Tower's shadows.

"He's not wrong, you know," Oscar said quietly once Cayde was gone. "You would make an excellent Vanguard."

Ruby's fingers found the silver tree pendant at her throat. "Maybe once," she admitted. "But not anymore. My path leads somewhere else now."

Oscar's hand covered hers, both of them knowing that path led to the Dreadnaught, to Jaune, to whatever darkness waited in the spaces between realities.

"Keep or dismantle?" he asked after a moment, returning to the inventory.

Ruby smiled, grateful for his understanding. "Keep," she said, highlighting another weapon. "Definitely keep."

The ramen shop's warmth was a stark contrast to the cool evening air outside as Yang set down her bowl, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"I still don't understand the timeline," she said, gesturing with her chopsticks. "Oscar left, then Jaune followed him, but Ruby was on the Moon... how does it all fit together?"

Oscar and Ruby exchanged an uncertain glance - they'd never actually discussed these parts of their history in detail. Around them, the shop's other patrons created a gentle backdrop of conversation and clinking dishes.

"Perhaps," Weiss suggested gently, "we should start at the beginning. After the Great Disaster."

Oscar's fingers absently traced the spine of the tome at his belt. "After we lost Ruby on the Moon, I... I didn't handle it well. The Hive had taken too much from us. I became convinced there had to be a way to fight them that didn't end in more dead Guardians."

Ruby's silver eyes widened slightly - she'd never heard this part of the story. "What did you do?"

"I started researching everything I could find about the Hive, about the Ascendant Plane. The deeper I went into their lore, the more I began to see patterns others had missed. Connections between their throne worlds, the way they navigated between dimensions..." He paused, shadows of old pain crossing his features. "A few years after the Great Disaster, I left the City. I thought I'd found something - pathways that existed before the Hive, natural channels between realities that they'd only crudely accessed."

"And that's when Jaune found you?" Blake asked softly.

Oscar nodded. "On Titan. He'd been tracking me for months, tried to talk me out of what I was planning. But I wouldn't listen. And Jaune..." A bitter smile touched his lips. "He wouldn't let me face it alone. Even though he wasn't prepared."

"What happened?" Ruby asked, her voice gentle.

"The calculations were perfect, but I hadn't accounted for certain variables. The pathways twisted, fragmented. My consciousness was scattered across multiple realities, while Jaune..." He trailed off, unable to finish.

There was silence for a moment before Yang turned to Ruby. "And you? What happened on the Moon?"

Ruby's hand tightened slightly around her cup. "The Hive... they have ways of trapping Guardians. Places where death isn't final but resurrection isn't complete either. I was caught in one of those spaces." She spoke carefully, clearly editing the worst parts from her retelling. "It took me sixty years to find a way out, to make it back to the Tower."

Oscar looked stricken. "Ruby, I... I had no idea."

"How could you?" she gave him a gentle smile. "You were lost in your own battles by then." She turned back to the others. "When I finally made it back, I learned that Oscar and Jaune were gone. I spent decades searching, following any lead I could find. Then, thirty years ago, I found something - patterns in the Ascendant Plane that matched what little I knew of Oscar's research."

"That's when you left the message for Adam?" Blake asked.

Ruby nodded. "I knew the search might take longer than anyone expected. Adam... he understood about long hunts, about not giving up no matter how many years passed."

"So he's been wandering all this time," Yang said quietly, "thinking you were all lost."

"Until now," Ruby confirmed. She looked at Oscar. "Though I still don't understand what made finding Jaune so urgent now. What did you see in the Dreadnaught that frightened you?"

Oscar's expression grew grave. "Savathûn's forces aren't just learning to corrupt Light - they're accessing those same pathways I discovered centuries ago. But she's not just using them, she's corrupting them. If she masters what I only barely understood..."

"Then no world would be safe," Weiss concluded. "She could spread her corruption across multiple realities."

"And Jaune," Ruby understood suddenly, "he's been trapped in those spaces between realities all this time. He might know things we need to understand what's coming."

The implications settled heavily over their small group. Outside, the Last City's lights began to twinkle as evening deepened into night. Each of them sat quietly, processing these revelations about each other's pasts - the battles fought alone, the pain endured in silence, the years spent searching.

"Well," Yang said finally, trying to lighten the mood, "at least we're all together now. That's something, right?"

The Tower library was quiet in the late evening hours, most Guardians having retired to prepare for the next day's duties. Weiss found Oscar among the stacks, surrounded by ancient texts and holographic displays showing complex dimensional calculations. Her footsteps were nearly silent as she approached, but he looked up before she reached him.

"Ah, Weiss," Oscar smiled, gesturing to an empty chair. "Come to satisfy that Warlock curiosity?"

"Actually, yes," Weiss settled into the chair, her own research materials tucked under her arm. "I've been studying everything I can find about the Ascendant Plane, but there's so much we don't understand. And you..." she hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "You found something there, didn't you? Something no one else had seen?"

Oscar's expression grew thoughtful as he closed the tome he'd been reading. "The Ascendant Plane isn't just another dimension," he began. "It's... think of reality as a piece of fabric. The Ascendant Plane is like the space between the threads, the gaps in what we consider 'real.'"

"And the Hive use it," Weiss noted. "Their Throne Worlds exist there."

"Yes, but that's just one application." Oscar's hands moved as he spoke, sketching patterns in the air. "The Hive carved out spaces, claimed territories. But what I found... imagine currents of pure possibility flowing through those gaps. Ancient pathways that existed long before the Hive discovered them."

He pulled up a holographic display showing intricate, flowing lines that seemed to twist in impossible ways. "These patterns repeat throughout the system. They're like... rivers of probability, channels where reality flows thinner than normal. The Hive use brute force to breach the walls between dimensions, but these pathways..." He shook his head in wonder. "They're natural. They've always been there, waiting to be found."

"What do they connect?" Weiss asked, leaning forward to study the patterns.

"Everything. Nothing. Both at once." Oscar's voice carried equal measures of fascination and unease. "They don't follow normal space-time. Some lead to places that should be impossible, or to moments that haven't happened yet. Others seem to connect to entirely different versions of reality."

"And you tried to map them?"

"I tried to understand them," Oscar corrected. "The mapping was... challenging. They don't maintain consistent positions. They flow, shift, respond to stimuli we barely comprehend. But they follow patterns - mathematical constants that suggest deliberate design."

Weiss's brow furrowed. "Someone built them?"

"Someone or something." Oscar's hand unconsciously touched the tome at his belt. "The architecture is beyond anything humanity could have created, even at the height of the Golden Age. But it's not Hive either. It's... older. Much older."

"And this is what scattered your consciousness? Trying to navigate these paths?"

Oscar nodded grimly. "I thought I had solved the mathematical framework, found a way to predict their flows. But there were variables I didn't account for. Forces I didn't understand." His voice grew quieter. "When Jaune and I attempted the crossing... something went wrong. The paths twisted, fractured. I was torn apart, my consciousness scattered across multiple realities."

"But Jaune?" Weiss pressed gently.

"Survived, I think. But trapped." Oscar's expression hardened. "The Dreadnaught exists partially in the Ascendant Plane already. Its very structure bleeds through the barriers between dimensions. If we can access these pathways from there..."

"We might find where he ended up," Weiss finished. She was quiet for a moment, processing. "The Witch Queen. She's looking for these paths too, isn't she?"

"Savathûn has always sought power through understanding," Oscar confirmed. "If she's discovered traces of these pathways, learned even fragments of their true nature..." He let the implication hang heavy in the library's still air.

"Then we have to find Jaune first," Weiss said firmly.

Oscar smiled faintly. "Still determined to save everyone?"

"Always." Weiss stood, gathering her materials. "Thank you, for explaining. I know it can't be easy, remembering."

"Actually," Oscar's voice stopped her as she turned to leave. "It helps, sharing it. Especially with someone who understands the drive to know, to learn." He gestured at her Warlock robes. "The Light chose well with you, Weiss."

Weiss felt the weight of his words, the responsibility and pride they carried. As she left the library, her mind raced with implications. Ancient paths through reality itself, waiting to be rediscovered. The question was: what else was waiting along those paths?

The answer, she suspected, would determine not just Jaune's fate, but perhaps the fate of them all.

Questions for Readers

-Which planet would best fit Ren and Nora, doesn't have to be the same planet

-Should I include Light 2.0 subclasses this early or wait til Forsaken