Where Light Trembles

breaking the ice

The night was long, both figuratively and literally on this frozen backwater moon.
The night had fallen sometime while angel attempted to sleep and would stay that way for several earth days. She reckoned based on when she finally fell asleep it would be around another eighty or so hours before she'd see day light again.
She woke to the smell of food cooking. What it could be she could only imagine, but it smelled vaguely like beef.

She sat up to find Bo in a similar pose as the hologram she'd seen not so long ago. He was cooking over a small makeshift stove, he looked over and saw she had awoken and said nothing.
He reached next to him and grabbed something before tossing it at her feet.
It was his helmet, burned from the flame of solar light.
"You'll bring that back. It came to a gun fight and your golden gun did me in." He smirked with that last remark, something which she felt a bit perturbed about.

"I know what you're thinking, and I have an answer to that too."
He went to a lock box next to her and pulled out fragments of a dead ghost. Her eyes went wide with a mixture of emotions, anger, alarm, fear.

"Did y-"

"No I didn't." He interrupted her question knowing she was fixing to ask what any guardian in their right mind would ask.

"I recovered them from a dead guardian long ago... one holds out hope for miracles sometimes..." He let's out a long weary sigh.

"Those times have long passed however. That should be enough to convince whoever you're reporting to. Bring that to them, but I'd still like to salvage what you can spare to make repairs but if you refuse I don't intend to fight you on it."

Angel rolled a myriad of thoughts and questions in her mind, finally settling on one that had lingered with her.

"Why are you so adamant about not returning to the vanguard?"
It wasn't completely unheard of for a guardian to part ways or fly solo. Hell, she was a hunter after all. The most notorious group among guardians for disappearing to explore and chase adventure. She had a gut feeling however that this was something more than thrill seeking or wanting to retire.

"I know you're no new light. But you're definitely not that seasoned either. If you somehow are, you've managed to avoid the worst of it. I was brought back shortly before six fronts, I was a new light in the midst of a war. I wasn't scared to fight, and I took to combat well, but I was a bit sloppy, my light was weak in those days, but put me in a brawl or let me get the lead out and I do well. Though I admit, you're a hell of a shot, definitely my better at a distance, probably mid range too. That said, up close and personal is still where I'm a monster. A little more time though and you'll probably beat me up close as well."

He smiles "I digress. My mentor was a protégé of the late Vell Tarlowe. Vell was a monster, a siege engine in a man's body. I'd wager his strength more than rivaled Lord shaxx. He was known for beating hive knights to death with nothing more than brute strength and his fists. I'm tangenting again, my mentor's name was Elias, if he had a last name he never gave it. He was adamant about rigorous training, my body, my skills, and my connection to the light. While I was mentored he often spoke of duty and of passion. He and I frequently talked about twilight gap and how Lord shaxx defied orders and it ended up saving the city in the end."

He took a deep breath as he stared into the distance thinking. "When Cayde-6 died... it was a wakeup call for a lot of guardians. Zavala... is as much a warrior as a leader, both a commander and a politician, but one with a heart. When cayde died, I believed we should have sent fireteams en masse with a reward on Uldren's head. If I had heard a man hunt had been put out on him, I'd have gladly returned to be reinstated."

He laughs "oh cayde, I'll be damned if you weren't a card shark... would have hunted you down over my glimmer you owe me too..." he gets lost in thought again.