#blitzherz

ikora rey is so... so very tired.

they have been fighting nonstop every since the drifter arrived with his game. even more so now that he demanded them to pick a side; him or the vanguard, the ones they’ve known and relied upon, or a chance for a better life. it’s too much for her, but still she soldiers on. she HAS to. they need her.

her guardians, her vanguard, the mortals they walk these streets— they all need her, and she cannot fail them. she will NOT become another osiris, too caught up in his own prophecies to notice the pain of those at his feet. even as it drains the last bit of her energy, even as it stretches her far too thin, she remains. she gives it all to them. what else can she do?

keylime takes her hand, presses it to his cheek, and she smiles. he is her son, through it all. the arcstrider, one of cayde’s hunters, a child who had watched his friends and family be torn apart by the drifter’s games. HE is her son, and she is here for him. not just because of all he has done for her, but because she loves him through it all. the good and the bad; the victories and the mistakes. 

“i’m not going anywhere, keylime,” murmurs the vanguard. pulling him closer, ikora presses a kiss to his forehead. “the tower is my home. you are my family. there is no need to fear abandonment, for i am here with you.”

she pulls him into her arms, pulls him down onto her bed. covers are wrapped taunt, pillows stacked almost like a shield against the outside world. she will take care of reports and battle plans later. she will return to her duties in a few hours. but for now, her son needs her. surely a short nap cannot hurt. 

It’s been a while since Yaviks’ last encounter with Keylime, which was just fine by her. She’d rather hang out on her own and play games on her datapad or ride her pike than waste her time with Lightmongers. As far as she’s concerned, all any Lightmonger is, is a waste of space and a waste of time.

Unfortunately, she won’t be so lucky as to go another day without a Lightbearing nuisance to deal with. She’s holed up somewhere in the old Vestian Outpost, though her father had scorched the place some time ago. It made a good place to hang out when she wanted space. She didn’t count on someone familiar turning up.

Question of the century, if he kept count.

The timing for this one’s appearance was almost as if planned, with the Annex empty and all frequent visitors already in orbit for the next round. Drifter didn’t mind sudden company, after all, he had to keep business as normal regardless of how many snitches tried to sneak up on him to deliver fresh intel on someone already proven innocent.There was a wrench in his hand, one he set down while he moved towards the table holding most of his jade coins. Why have you brought this upon all of us, indeed.

“You gotta be more specific on what you’re talkin’ about, brother” he had no reason to play stupid, but he wanted to hear him speak. Wanted to see what he would be blamed for this time, although he had a faint suspicion he was aware already of what the next words of the exo would be. Why should he be the one always providing answers to their questions? Of all he had been asked, only one thing deserved a defense from his end, and Drifter had repeated himself countless times to whoever takes the time to listen. Would he be accused of the apocalypse soon to come just because he dared to look at it in the eye?

Sometimes he hated living in the tower. The Traveler should be the one dealing with all of this. It’s not his mess, after all.

“i want to say... i want--” a pause, a deep breath. ikora reaches out and up, resting her hand gently on the exo’s face. hazel eyes soften. there is something there, something warm and real just beneath the surface. “but i guess i’ll just say... thank you.”

   “That depends on your definition of startling.” 

   After centuries piled upon centuries of life, Yor has become rather desensitised to even the most gruesome of sights. Death, rot, horrors living in the Darkness. All were nothing more than part of being alive and he was intimately close with both sides. He has been witness to things that’d make most anyone else turn away, and smiled, thrived in all the bad things that the universe shunted upon people. 

   The Dredgen offers a smile towards Keylime’s statement, although hidden, it cannot stop the amusement that had entered his tone. “And have you trained your eye to find my way?” Decades in the making did it take anyone to figure it out, and they even started with a vague idea towards his will. They were nothing short of ambitious to search for the answer until it drove them into either insanity, death, or answers. 

   Even now all the answers had not been found, centuries later. 

she answers with gentle touches of her own. a hand on his head, stroking along his audials, with one resting on his shoulder. the world has been so terrible lately; so cruel. with so many lost and the drifter driving a wedge between the vanguard and their guardians, what is a woman to do? what can she do, other than work harder, try to gain their trust? 

sit with her son and relax, apparently. take a deep breath, focus on him. he needs her now, and she will try to be what he needs.