I can still hear your feet as you ran from the house
Knowing you won't be back doesn't mean that I will stop waiting
You told me then, "hold me down, hold me up to the fire
But don't you dare hold me back"
Radical Face – A Pound of Flesh
-
They had been half a world away when it happened, on a long haul. Tevis was off on a strike with a pair of Praxic Sunsingers. Shiro and Cayde were on the in-and-outer in Old France. That left Azra and Andal to raid the Fallen stash at Anchorage and take everything not nailed down (and a few things that were).
They worked well together. They always had. The two of them hit the nice balance, with enough patience to do the mission the right way and enough firepower to burn the house down if things didn't go right.
The grab required a bit more stealth than usual, which is why it was just them two. Three days, two nights, no long-range comms, no jumpships (though they did manage to get a Fallen Skiff out of there in good enough condition to limp back to the Tower).
The radio silence meant they didn't hear the news.
-
December 22, 2889; the Last City, Earth
Two hunters, one in black, one in dark green, walked through the Tower courtyard. From the confidence in their stride and the lights in their eyes, they'd just come back victorious from a hell of a run. The pair looked like they had some good stories to tell.
Their strides faltered when a voice echoed out over the green. "Andal! Azra!" The pair turned, surprised to see Shiro-4 running towards them, cloak askew.
"We should make the report before we get caught up-" Andal began. Shiro grabbed their arms.
"It's important. Nian Ruo is dead. Lush's lost his Ghost."
Azra didn't miss the tears in Shiro's cloak or the dents in his armor. Even more, Shiro was urgent in a way he rarely was, and worried, and scared. "You're looking pretty banged-up yourself," she commented. The metal on Shiro's finger joints was scratched to hell. A few of his holsters sat empty. Sudden fear gripped her. "Is everything...?"
Shiro's Ghost, Pace, appeared, much to the pair's relief. "I'm okay," she said, "but this is important."
Andal and Azra made eye contact. Andal nodded. "I'll write the report later. What's happened?"
"Follow me," Shiro said.
-
The energy in the deli was more tense than usual. Guardians (Hunters mostly, with a few Warlocks and Titans thrown in) clustered around one of the tables. The trio shoved their way through.
In the center, Cayde sat, looking even worse for wear than Shiro was. Lush sat next to him. The young Hunter's face was clouded with deep, existential panic. Warlocks or Titans could live many years without their Ghosts, but Hunters rarely did. Who'd want to spend their days cooped up in the City doing paperwork?
Shiro settled down next to his protégé. Cayde scooted on the bench to make room for Andal. Azra took a look at Lush's scared face and turned to the curious crowd. "Could we get some privacy, please?"
When the people seemed reluctant to leave, Azra glared and let sparks gather between her fingers. She wasn't famous for her temper, but things like that were easy to forget when the air hummed and crackled like an Arc storm. It did the job to disperse the onlookers.
"Listen," Cayde said, "I know we've all laughed it off, but Taniks is real."
Andal snorted. "I don't doubt that he's real, just-"
YOU ARE READING
You've Got Time ( a Destiny Story)
Fanfiction"No one can open the Vault alone. I opened the Vault. There was no one with me but I was not alone." A team of six entered the Vault of Glass. Kabr fought and died. Praedyth was captured. Pahanin ran. Two were cut away, and one hid. This story story...
