Tale of the Phantom

Chapter 46: Entry Log 146 - 00:35:14

The moon is a crescent in the sky that is currently playing peek-a-boo with dense dark clouds. The camera pans after a few moments, shifting to take in Sundance' partner who has taken residence of Skylar's normal stargazing shelf. Cayde is alone, the glow of his optics and sensors in the dark night are like piercing radiant stars. He glances at the feed and then sighs, pulling back his hood and rubbing at the interlocking joints that make up his neck. A few minutes tick by in silence as the Exo enjoys the quiet night before a sharp beep draws his attention back to his partner.

"Incoming call from Skylar," Sundance informs him evenly and his eyes seem to flicker brighter for a moment, something that happens when his interest is piqued. He nods his head in a silent command to put the call through and after a moment there's a click and a brief shiver of static before her voice comes over the feed.

"You know," she starts off, a playful tone in her voice. "If you wanted to check in you could have just called me and not had poor Shiro feel like he needs to keep checking in on me." There's a murmur in the background of her voice, something like a howl or a sharp wind. It's expected given her location. Cayde smirks and leans back against the railing that he's supposed to be on the other side of.

"What fun would that be?" he teases, pausing for a moment as she snorts over the connection. "I figured it was a safer bet than maybe distracting you on a mission," he relents finally. It's a smart move realistically and not that surprising of one for a leader to make. Interruptions and distractions out on the field could be devastating. Skylar lets out a small, tired sigh and the sound of her sitting down is heard by way of her armor scuffing against something hard and sliding.

"Well, to answer your question, I'm doing fine. This has turned out to be a much larger problem than any of us thought," she informed him and Cayde nods out of habit despite knowing she can't see it.

"So I've heard. SIVA is nasty stuff from what I know of it, so be careful and watch each other's backs." He pauses thinking for a moment. "How's Saladin doing?"

"As good as one can be I suppose. I had no idea that's what happened to his group. It sounds awful... The Iron Lords did a lot for the City in the beginning so it's important we do what we can for them. Winter has been talking with him off and on, I guess I should have know they'd known each other well, probably why he called for her."

"She's been around awhile," Cayde agrees scratching his jaw. "Heard once she could have joined their ranks but turned it down to help Ikora with The Hidden instead." A sound breaks through the mic then, belonging to several voices, not speaking words but notes. Wolves are howling. "Where are you exactly?"

Skylar gives a small laugh in reply before speaking. "Outside. Did you know this place has its own pack? They're all pretty docile to us unless we get too close to their meals. One of them keeps following me around, it's pure white. Saladin told me he's a yearling from this last spring. I asked if I could keep him and the guy just shook his head and laughed. You think that's a yes?"

The Exo chuckles, shaking his head, closing his eyes. "I don't think so, plus I'm pretty sure Zavala would bust a blood vessel if you showed up with a wolf." He gets the sound of her laughter again as a reply and smiles. "How's Fenrir?"

"Fine, he's a fast learner though he seems to like living dangerously. Keeps teasing Winter about how long she's been alive. She's going to throw him off this mountain if he's not careful. Saladin seems to like him, says his name sounds like an Iron Lord, which of course boosted his ego exponentially." She snorted a laugh again, sighing at the end of it, exasperated. They're quiet for a few moments, gathering their thoughts as it were and the feed flickers twice as Sundance blinks. "Am I missing anything there?" she asks finally and Cayde tilts his head in thought.