they’re closer than they probably should be, but this is out of saladin’s and anyone else’s gaze in this part of the temple. there’s a faint laugh that threatens to bubble up as the hunter speaks and for a moment she’s not quite sure which she’s doing. there’s void light at her hands, just enough to give him an icy chill as she backs away slowly. a smirk tugs at her lips before she shrugs.  ❛  guess  you’re  gonna  have  to  follow  me  to  find  out.  ❜  with that, without so much as another word she blinks away into the darkness. oh, this was going to be fun.

        it’s the first time she’s laughed since coming back to the tower, eyes falling shut for a moment as she takes off her helmet; the skull of dire ahamkara. it’s whispers rivaled that of the void and always spoke in the same voices; mimicking and mocking those she’d lost and had yet to lose. she fueled her anger towards the unliving thing into the crucible match where none could escape the blooms of chaos at her fingertips. lips press to the metal that mimics a cheek as she breezes by him to put her weapons away.  ❛  it’s  a  gift  though,  ❜  it’s odd, for a woman whose existence is synonymous with the very void that protected her to have a smile so warm.  ❛  and  i  mean,  you  could’ve  been  naked.  that  might’ve  been  worse.  ❜

              ❛  that’s  pathetic.  ❜  the guardian remarks without so much as a second glance to the redhead. she takes a swig of her drink, as if she doesn’t self-medicate; as if she doesn’t wash trauma down with a method to forget just as lady fortune does. void dances at fingers, not in a threatening way but in one that screams of boredom.  ❛  i  would’ve  thought  you  stronger  than  that,  you  seem  like  the  type  to  go  out  in  a  blaze  of  glory  not...  that.  ❜

          gutted yet still breathing, this was the life of the guardian and she couldn’t blame the drifter from walking away from the light. cayde’s words are soft as he anchors her not only to himself, but to the tower  ---  the vanguard who she’d been outright deceiving. the voidwalker sinks against him, eyes fluttering shut as he holds her. suspicions had been confirmed and it seemed nico corvin could no longer hide behind the mask of luna; the darkness was coming. her saving grace was she didn’t have to face this uncertainty alone. the idea of dealing with the praxic order however made her uneasy. there was no middle ground with them, but then again: she knew no concept of middle ground.  ❛  there’s  no  more  trying  cayde;  we  have no  more  second  chances.  it’s  just  this  or  annihilation,  but  we’ve  killed  gods  before.  it’s  not  like  this  is  new  by  any  stretch.  ❜

       ❛  ———  hey  nora,  i  found  some  decent  food.  ❜  the voidwalker breathes out with a tray of food in two servings as well as drinks. perhaps she was a server in a past life, but that doesn’t matter. her breath hitches as she looks at the city, the shattered traveler floating just above it all; awake and alive and after these two years  ---  it still feels odd.  ❛  that  cute  little  taco  stand  finally  re-opened.  ❜   //  @synthmama.

       he’s unique, and that difference intrigues the guardian. this galaxy had been left alone by the light and rather than touching it; both the light and the darkness had left it alone. why had they been allowed to walk without such horrific delights? nico isn’t sure yet, not even a working theory to her name but she’ll figure it out; she always does. his words remind her of ghaul  ———  not the words themselves but the careful deliberation; vyxsis is no wannabe god though. if he was that unworthy his star would’ve burned long ago.  ❛  umbara,  ❜  the word sounds foreign on her tongue, as if her mouth wasn’t made for those syllables. still, she finds herself curious.  ❛  strange  that  the  void  reminds  you  of  ---  i’m  assuming  home.  ❜  it was in the way he said it; she knew that tone.

                    shiro’s a force to be reckoned with, that much nico corvin remembers but she has to play the role of the naive kinderguardian; despite being older than the vanguard itself. older than most of these guardians; iron lords included. she watches him laugh, deep inhales and exhales as he speaks.  ❛  i  never  said  it  was  difficult,  ❜  nico remarks with trickery in her voice, she truly was a hunter at heart  ---  even if she was bound to the warlock’s world in the vanguard. ❛  not  long,  it’s  easier  if  you  have  an  idea  of  where  you’re  blinking  to,  ❜    she explains,  ❛  but  i’ve  seen  a  lot  of  hunters  struggle  with  it.  ❜

                                       it isn’t cayde’s job to protect her, then again it never was. still, the hunter vanguard had found himself far too concerned for her; for this deceiver. truth be told, sometimes nicolette wondered if this was just a ploy to pull information in true hunter fashion. her concern lingered in the back of her mind, but was overridden by his outright worry for her and more than that: his willingness to keep her secrets. her breath hitches, the softest laugh drifting from lips at  the mention of the cosmic evil having a better name. she remembers the taint it left behind, the way people went mad from it’s touch.  ❛  i  haven’t  died  yet,  ❜  the void walker speaks, trying to soothe him. her hand moves to his shoulder, anchoring herself to him.  ❛  you  won’t  lose  me,  especially  not  like  that.  i  promise.  ❜

        her thumb absent-mindedly rubs the area beneath her, eyes remained locked on the hunter vanguard. there is nothing cayde does without meaning, even if it’s to make someone laugh and a faint smile tugs at her lips. squishing bugs, yeah she can see the similarity there. the only thing is, being around that much darkness, it reminds her of when she was brought back to the land of the living and the american dead zone. his words of worry don’t trouble her though, she’s survived this long.  ❛  there’s  something  coming   and  i  think  this  is  probably  the  best  way  to  get  prepared  for  it,  ❜  she admits with a shake of her head, a faint smile at her lips,  ❛  besides,  if  i  get  too  close  to  the  darkness  you  can  always  pull  me  back.  ❜