#trailend

She understands his reservations. Knows full well how foolish it would be if she ever truly let herself believe they could trust their world couldn’t be ended in one night. Still, she chooses to push aside that dark truth to focus on the sound of his chuckle, the familiar smell of his cloak.

There’s a small smile on her lips when he clasps her shoulder. If he said no, she’d simply stay by his side for the night. Her shimmer visibly turns a brighter gold for a moment, until she hears his question. Then, a sheepish and guilty smile touches her lips.

Ace had retreated away from prying eyes after leaving the Vanguard, desperate to escape the prickly sensation of everyone staring at her to find one of the people on the Tower she felt would understand right now. It had been almost unbearable when she’d returned from the Prison with Cayde and she’d needed time to take stock and focus before deciding where to go next. Though it’s nigh impossible to push her father’s final words out of her mind, and her skin still tingles from the burst of Light that had washed through her as the Rifleman had killed Sundance.

His cloak lies in her lap, taken during the flight back to the City when the only thing her mind had been able to hold onto was the desperately angry promise that she couldn’t let Uldren live for what he’d done, what he’d taken away from them all. Though she hadn’t been able to bring herself to put it on yet. It’s heavy with the weight of two murdered Vanguards, and she feels horribly like a child playing dress-up at the thought of donning such a symbol.

𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙲𝙸𝙵𝙸𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝚁𝙰𝙶𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂. / accepting!

Cybel pauses in the middle of his lengthy stride, facial plates furrowing with genuine concern. Shiro takes another couple of steps until he realizes the other Exo's not following, stops, turns.

What? he signs in Hunter shorthand. Cybel can tell his mind has already moved to their surroundings, some immediate danger that Cybel's somehow sensed before him. But he's not sensed anything immediate. Only a thing which might be festering in Shiro's core.

W̷͎̙͙͓͔͓͂̀̂̽͘Ë̸̻͎̫́ ̶͎̥̝̺̥͙͎̥̪̺͌̏́͋Ḑ̵̢͍̫̥̊͛O̸̻̰̮̮̖̱̩̯͙̓͋̌̀͐͑ͅ ̴̢̛̦̙̳̼͍̟̖̔̓N̴͕͍̪͇͇͓͔͙̩͇̾̓̒̈̂͋͘̚͘Ȍ̵̢̱̬̺̳͍̥͕̟̈̽͑͌̓͘̕̕ͅT̵͎̗͖͚̫̎̎̏̚ ̶̳̪͎͖̳̭̃̓̒H̵̡̡̗̩̰̥̞͔̰̪́͛̔͐̔̎Ạ̷̢̼̥͌̉̉͛͗̒͑̀͜ͅV̷͔́͗̚Ẻ̷͈̍̃͑̑̏͆ ̵̻̗̯̲̘̜̹̭̋̉T̵̡̤̝̐́̐̈͘O̸̡̡͇̘̗͖͇͎̬̪͗͗ ̸͖̑̊̆̿B̸̗̩̻̩͎̹̀E̶̡̢͚͔̗̜̿ ̶̜̯̭̮̰̣̙̦͙̜̽̃͆̀̓̽̕R̴̢̨͉̮̥͓̙̦̱̞̋͋̈́Ư̵̝͖̳̪̿͒̍͐́̔̒̃Ṯ̷̨̰̖̮̲̋͗͌̒̈́͆̋͐͠Ḩ̸̜̪̉̎̉̈́̓̍̈́͝L̶̬̬̗̠̝̖̯̘̄͋ͅĘ̷͎̂S̴̮͉̘̳̈̾͜ͅS̷̪̪̼̰̱̣̥͔͙̊̿̿̑͋͆̃͝͝͝ ̸̱͖̠͎̘̘̐̽͆̄͜͝A̸̢̡̜̪̭̺̘͓̳̘͒̀̊̐̒̀̌̅͑̅L̸̝̰̲̗̟̪͓͕̦̆͗̎̈́͜Ẅ̴̓͗̇ͅḀ̷̧͙̒͘ͅỸ̶̫̱̘̻͇̩̓̅̾̌͝S̸͚̺͙̠͌̓̏̀̎̓.̶̨̳̤̮̰̬̈

His voice crackles and keens, pitching variably above and below human hearing. Exospeak is an ugly language to those not attuned to it. He signs while he speaks it, more out of habit than necessity: Shiro can understand him. But Shiro must also learn to sign, for times when Cybel cannot speak at all.

From where she sits perched, Isiel can’t help but sigh. Shiro, as was the case most of the time, made a good point. Unfortunately. She wished the Darkness would let them breathe for a moment, but she doubted there was a chance she could shout the cosmic entity into allowing that to happen. Still, even in the face of it all, she was glad Shiro could still laugh at her own grumpiness. 

“I hate it when you make good points like that, y’know?” she says, full of dramatics and certainly no hate as she hops down and walks over to him.

Veles listened, though brought up her hand to silently imply she had more to add to their debate. “It would likely feel...corrosive, if not sick. I do not believe Light is so much an extension of ourselves as it is a reflection. It grows stronger as we grow stronger, as we learn new things--as we find new paths to walk down.”

“Our Light works better for beings like us than any mirror could. Would his Light be evil, or would it only show what he has become?” Fingers moved to take to tapping against her thighs, simple rhythms as she mulled over what words she wanted to use.

“...I don’t believe your Light will be switching sides of its own accord anytime soon, Mister Shiro. It is who you are that makes your Light, not the other way around, I think.” Something of a smile pulled at her lips, then.