Taken but not Forgotten

What are they?

Roach returned to the Tower and was greeted with cheers. Cayde and Agony walked up to Roach and hoisted him up onto their shoulders. They all began chanting his name.

"Now you know what it feels like to be me." Agony said amongst the cheering crowd.

"This is amazing." Roach said amazed

"After a while it gets annoying but, hey you've earned it." Agony and Cayde set Roach down. Agony raised one hand to the sky and used the other to gesture at Roach.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE ROACH WHO INFILTRATED THE DREADNAUGHT!" Agony cheered, the crowd went wild. The rest of the day Roach was showered with praise and cheer, while Cayde and Agony were scolded by Zavala for their unorthodox mission. That night the hall of guardians was alive. Shiro, Cayde, Roach, Tevis, and many others huddled within the area.

"So, any idea what the taken are exactly?" Shiro asked looking around, a few guardians mumbles but did not speak up.

"They're fun to shoot." Roach responded jokingly, "but the real question is, what are awoken? I mean we work with them, my partner is an awoken. Agony what are you exactly?" All eyes were on Agony who had an irritated smile on her face.

"Awoken are mutated humans, we adapted to the cold depths of space and the twilight. Now, I have a question for you. What exactly are Exo's?" Everyone stood in silence pondering.

"I hear Exo's are war machines, created by Rasputin." Tevis said breaking the silence, "I highly doubt that theory but, it is a theory."

"Really? I heard that we were once human." Shiro said

"I'm really uncomfortable right now." Cayde whispered, only a few caught that remark but it was obvious to everyone else that Cayde was uncomfortable.

"You having an exostential crisis?" Roach joked causing everyone to laugh. Cayde laughed, but it wasn't real, it was forced.

"Alright everyone, that's enough, we need to get some sleep. The Taken King knows we've been on his ship. Now we've gotta move fast. So scram!" Agony barked causing the guardians present to scramble.

"Night." Roach said with a salute.

"Yeah, and you guys made more work for me. Can't wait to go out into the field." Shiro said as he left the room, and Agony left without a sound.

"Cayde, what's up? I've never seen you act like this." Tevis asked his friend concerned.

"It's nothing... go to bed, Agony's gonna be mad if you walk into the room late."

"She won't mind. C'mon Cayde, you can talk to me."

"Tevis you don't get it, my kind has no origin story, all we have are theories. We don't know who we are."

"Trust me, I get it."

"No Tevis, you don't." There was a heavy silence, they were going into deep waters and both were too stubborn to back off.

"Yes, I do. Everyone sees me as this amazing guy, but in reality, I know nothing about myself."

"Tevis it's not the same! All of these books and all of this history is all human history! Where is my history! Where is the Exo history! Tevis I don't know who or what I am, I don't know who or what my friends are, I'm just here! I just woke up one day and bam!"

"Well maybe if you'd stop being a bitch about it I could help you!"

"How could you help me, Tevis! You're not an Exo. You're HUMAN!"

"That doesn't mean I can't help you Cayde! Please, it's me, Tevis, your best friend, your bro!"

"Being human means you can't help me, Tevis, you know how you work. I'm not entirely sure how I work. Now fuck off! You're just making things worse."

Both of them were well aware that they had crossed a line, but there was no going back down. Per usual by the next day, they would both act as though nothing happened. In a few days, this argument would be history. But Cayde's problems were deeper than 'what am I? who am I?", for how does one understand an enemy if they cannot comprehend themselves. How do you keep your will to live, if you don't know why you're alive, or what you're living for? That night both men went to bed, but barely slept. It had been years since an argument like this had occurred. Both men wondered what they did wrong, and what they did to bring forth this argument. They both knew deep down that this was caused by the coming war because it is easier to let go when distance is created.