What if? [DESTINY OC STORY]

9- Arjun

The three of us ended up being called to Mars sometime later- after it had been returned to us by the Darkness. Not even minutes after our arrival, Savathun's ship arrived, and we had to break our way into it. Things went as they usually did, save for a couple of extra safety precautions put into place to keep me from death- such as the fact that I essentially made armor made of Light to help further protect me from harm.

We found the Hive Ghosts. It was a shock, but we took care of it. Things went normally until we were face to face with Savathun, at the top of her bell tower and ready to take her down. She had been eyeing me with particular interest the entire time- I could sense it, feel the way her eyes glimmered and shone as they laid themselves upon me, strange and inquisitive.

There was an odd sense of connection between me and her, and I knew I wasn't the only one who sensed it. She did too, there was no doubt about it, and I think Gwaine may have noticed it as well. There was a tugging, a restless pulling. My symptoms got worse and as we got nearer my eyes would brim with black tears and I would cough- loudly. But I'd burn it all away with the Light and my overclocked Lumina, waving it off to the other two to simply be allergies.

Only when we stood before her, the Witch Queen moment from death, did she acknowledge it. "I sense my brother in you, guardian." She stared right at me. "Your friend may have his talents, his Taken, but you have his soul." She meant that literally, but it could also be taken metaphorically. I laugh at it now. I feigned shock for a moment, only for it to turn to confusion as I turned to Gwaine. Savathun's eyes had flickered to him when she mentioned the Taken. He was tense, shoulder's squared uncomfortably with an iron grip on his hand cannon. "Gwaine? Arjun?" Vulkan asked, looking between the both of us uneasily. "What did she mean by that?" I shook my head slowly and uneasily, but kept my eyes locked on Gwaine's visor, where his eyes would be. For once, it would seem he was hiding things from me.

We called in Ikora and Eris and the Hidden to take care of Savathun. After that it was the matter of dealing with her worm. And after that, the most important event was the dealing with the Disciple of the Witness, who resided deep within the Ziggurat that had planted itself within one of the bogs of Savathun's throne world. It was... quite the battle.

The six guardians rushed up the stairs to where Rhulk resided, continuing to loom ominously while occasionally dashing to try and slice someone in two with his glaive. Gwaine and Vulkan took care of the callouts, and Joe caught on quickly and would lend his aid whenever it was asked of him, which became a frequent occurrence. It was an incredible help- especially now.

"It's dark!" Joe cried as Gwaine rushed over to one of the corners of the arena. He was slower than usual- they could all somewhat tell, but he was still doing his part perfectly, so no one thought to bring it up. Arjun would have a talk with him after, maybe, but that'd be about it. The slowness was bugging them a lot- and he had incredibly delayed responses when they tried to sign to him.

Arjun whirled around at the sight of an ominous glow glimmering over them. "Watch out!" Vulkan and Evelyn cried, but it was too late. Arjun made to leap, but Rhulk materialized before them- they were sure if he had the teeth to grin, he would be. In an upward arc, his curved glaive sliced right through their side. They screamed, falling to their knees as their arm fell away, detaching from their shoulder with an ugly ripping of the skin. For a moment, Arjun did nothing but scream and choke as they clawed at the socket their arm once attached to, but soon their voice became gurgled. Their blood turned black, spewing out in an eruption of thick sludge and enveloping the space around them, crawling along the floor as if it were alive. "What is this?" Rhulk questioned, curious as he took a step back. All of the guardians dotted around the open space watched in horror.