"Normal speech."

[ Ghost speech. ]

Hello there! This story has been in the process of being written for months now. It is co-written with a friend, and you can visit her on Tumblr just look up coyote xhunter .tumblr .com (without the spaces). Updates will come fairly often, but don't expect a schedule to appear. If anyone has any questions or concerns PM me. ManLion out.

Disclaimer: We don't own Destiny. No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

The sunset was the same every night, yet it was still beautiful to stop what you were doing, just to look on over at it. Not a cloud in sight in the skies, the moon vivid in a soft glow beginning to show as the shadows consumed the ground. Stars appear in unison as its light-empowered neighbor slowly disappears in the horizon. The creaks and noises of Fallen stir. They seemed to be most active at night in these areas between the Mothyards and Skywatch.

The crisp view was left after a rough rainstorm earlier makes the night sharp, clean - regardless of the rust and decay of the Cosmodrome. Black boots interlaced in gold tend to hang odd off of the building ledge high up on the top levels of the Skywatch helipad, well isolated from others. At this time of night, Guardians would soon become active in patrols.

It was interesting to watch them run about, doing their part to help the city.

The Hunter can spot four: three in a fireteam in the Skywatch area, and one lonely soul at wreckage in the Mothyard. How interesting, and dangerous to be alone in active territory at this time of night. Regardless of their actions and experience they had behind a gun, Gold can relate to this lone wolf, whoever they were.

She hasn't worked in a fireteam for years. Nor would she for some time. Being alone seems to have its perks in the wild when doing missions solely for Cayde-6. With the Ice Breaker lying over the Hunter's lap, fingers tapping the top of the scope, her eyes follow the movements of her Ghost. The ever so silent, shy Ghost, swirled around her slowly, his mechanisms and ridges rotating back and forth, blinking endlessly; he was taking in information around them.

He's the only one who's been there for her in time of desperation, in need of companionship. Gold took care of him, he took care of her. Their bond was strong. How long has it been since they've had each other?—

Never mind that. Something catches his attention down at the Mothyards, past some plane wreckage. There was heavy activity. The Hunter looked on over towards that direction. He vanished from sight within her armor, just in case - as she moves from a sit to a crouch, perching herself on the building - looking down over through the scope of her Ice Breaker, examining the Fallen… and Hive.

One.

Two.

Three shots later.

A twitchy being of static hovers over her shoulder, coming to reality from the base of her shoulder. The twinge, looking around at the headless from afar. [ Well, you still have good aim. ]

Her smile is ever simple, lowering the rifle down in her lap. "Thank you, Lazarus." The Hunter comments with a gentle, soft touch. She sits back down on the edge of the building. All seemed safe at the moment, for now. The silence seemed to return to the environment. The shots and kills amongst the Fallen groups startled them, backing up to a rather distant section in the Mothyards, out of her sights.

Another day's work for a short patrol.

Standing up to take a short break, walking on towards the hideaway she has made in the upper storages, things well pushed to the sides as her ship sat on the roof. It was cozy in there, the only home she had, really. Once in a while she goes to the Tower. Usually only when necessary; bounties, requests from the Speaker or Cayde-6, or even when Crucibles were scheduled to entertain. Now wasn't the time to retreat back to the safety of the Traveler.

She places her helmet down on the crate, resting her equipment across from her in the personal room of the ship; the weight in her limbs forcing her to sit down and attempt some relaxation. The Hunter tends to lose track of time when there is so much movement around her, forgetting the importance of rest and recovery.

For now, rest. – And a protein bar, maybe.

Patrols were always the same.

Day in, day out. Nothing.

No matter where she travels; Old-Russia, or even the Moon, there was no movement. All but a painful silence as the beacons idly beep every so often in the distance, picked up by the wind. It caused endless frustration for her. She needed action. Feet pace back and forth, back and forth, outside her ship. Lazarus, her Ghost, seemed to be focused on a sudden spike of movement down below. It was at the Mothyards, the same place that she scouted days ago with no sign of excitement.

[ Well, that's different. ] Lazarus twitches, floating at a fixed height.

"Different?" Eyes turn, raising a dark brow. He caught her curiosity, moving over to him.

[ Look. ]

Biting at the lead, she crouches down at the ledge of the building. The Ice Breaker is removed from her backside, turning on the scope. Light eyes set through the flare of the lens, scanning the environment. It seemed someone, or something - had riled up not only the Fallen, but the Hive, once again.

"Wonder what got them worked up this time." She comments.

[ Seems like that Titan's having fun over there. ]

With a squint, she adjusts the handling of her rifle, looking over into a separate direction where Lazarus hinted by the traveling of his voice. So, what's what gotten so much movement picked up on Lazarus' scans? The Hunter was certainly impressed that this one was handling it quite well. He might've been a Titan, facing a stream of enemies coming in every direction, but he was strategic doing it. It caught the Hunter's attention, the scope zooming in further to get a better look at who he was.

He looked… familiar. Where did she see him before?

Never mind that, he was getting swarmed to his left; the direction he was not paying attention. With a Captain in her sights, her finger steady, she releases several shots out into the cold air. Two took down the Captain, and several others took down weaker Dregs, one bullet per enemy. She was careful, precise; not wanting to alarm the Titan if he happened to look over and see a stream of focused energy zip past his shoulder. By the time he took out those in front, his left flank was steady with corpses on the ground.

That should keep the heat off his back - allowing her heatsink to regenerate in the Ice Breaker. The lens shifts in the cloudy weather, focused back onto him. Something about him, watching his movement…

He felt too familiar. "Who are you…?"

Who was he? Just a Titan gathering materials.

Whether it was ether sups, temper cloth, or even the raw material for weapons, it didn't matter. The gatherings for the Awoken were necessary and simple to obtain. It wasn't a successful mission, but it certainly was enough that they would be pleased with his return if he decided to leave for orbit. Deciding to scout more for the specifics for his District, he continued on in his path past the Steppes.

Why in the heavens and universe the Districts would want such materials from Earth was surprising. Maybe it was just putting out feelers on the battlegrounds of rust and Northern Lights in the skies, or actually needing the resources – the Titan had no clue. It was quite a mystery about the Awoken, even to his knowledge. To whether or not they truly needed supplies in the scarce lands of the once-green planet, or just sneaking around in places they should not put their noses to, remains questionable. The Titan, ever the smart one, does not question it. Not too much, anyways.

He listens to the Queen, respecting her wholeheartedly in loyalty and friendship. She asked him to go on out to the planets for vital resources and information. Another one of the typical patrolling schemes that she tends to give out to those who offer help.

While the Titan walked towards the Mothyards, he found something peculiar. The Fallen and Hive were at it yet again. It seemed the Hive were in Fallen territory.

The Titan does a double-take when he sees the swarming thralls beginning to clamber all over a Captain at the front of the fight. It was trying its damn best to get the horde off of themselves – and failing terribly. It was in that moment that the Titan felt a surge of energy in his footing. The moments that he blinks, he's rushing with all his weight and armor down into the crowd. He leaps up from a slanted rock, lifting himself high in the sky. With fists glowing bright blue with energy, he ignites.

He causes quite the noise in the center of the pile. Bodies disintegrate from the world into the skies, vanishing into nothingness.

The Titan stands up to his full height, grabbing the Mida Multi-Tool from behind his back, fully loaded. Shot after shot, he takes down the surrounding enemies. One by one, whether it was a precise headshot or even taking a good swing of the fist, the Titan cleaned up the Mothyard of enemies. The adrenaline slowly begins to ease in his blood, making him relax in his footing after the last Fallen went down.

He hoists the rifle over his shoulder, the other hand stiff on his hip – looking around at the damage he dealt to the crowd of enemies. Feeling rather satisfied, he decides to move on and see where the journey will take him, but something catches his eye. A bright red light. Almost like the lens flare from a rifle. On top of it all...

A fallen captain's head shot clean off. Burns indicated a solar burn sniper was used.

"..." He didn't do that, did he? No, of course not. His Multi-Tool never does such devastating damage to the corpse if a precision kill was noted. The burn marks were too obvious.

The Titan brings himself to stand again, looking around in thought - returning his gaze up far to the Skywatch buildings. There was a lens flare there earlier, wasn't there? Now there was nothing in sight. He tilts his head down to dwell on his confused thoughts. His small Ghost, Roth, decides to become visible over the side of his shoulder – floating at fixed rates around him, more so inspecting the damage that had been done.

[ Well. It seems like you have a Guardian looking over you. ] Roth twitches, looking over at him.

The Titan replies with a deadpan expression behind the helmet, staring, "Really."

Roth, in return – lowers the upper optic over his eye, staring back. [ Maybe. ]

"You so certain it might be a Guardian?"

[ Guardians are always helpful of 'others.' Besides, who else might be it? ]

"... True. But what caused it? It was not Hive that shot the Captain, that much is certain."

Without commenting back to his titan, Roth moves on over to examine the scorch-marked corpse, scanning for a moment and taking several blinks. The optic eye looking up at the Titan. [ There are no bullet fragments, only extremely hot energy marks. Enough to make steel melt. It has to be an Ice Breaker. A solar railgun. ]

"Makes sense."

[ Whoever was up there, certainly was watching your every move, Quoris. ]

"So it seems..." His eyes trail back up to the area where the lens flare was, staring for a short time. He stands there dwelling on the confusion and complications within his mind. For now, he needs to focus on his task and not on a person who might or might not be looking over his shoulder as a helpful hand. Which means it's back to business for him. Time for more scouting.

Things go quiet over the span of several days since the event. As he returns to the decaying Earth like the Queen requested, he would find the lens glare in the mid-day sun from time to time. In repeat to events, he'd find scorch marks on enemy corpses near his location. Each time he investigates with a thorough look over to that Skywatch building, the glare would soon vanish.

Enough. This was getting repetitive. A pattern had formed between them every time his presence was known.

This oddly fascinated Quoris enough to turn the tides on this unknown watcher. Rather than revealing his presence out into the field of empty enemies, he hides amongst the shadows – pulling out his own Benevolence. He raises it up to look on over at the building. For a moment, nothing had popped up in his radar, until finally a brunette head appears into view. He pauses briefly to zoom in closer as far as the scope goes on the rifle, attempting to get a better look at the view.

Woman. Brunette. Hooded… and an Ice Breaker.

"Well… What have we here?"

[ Have what? ] Look who finally popped out from the safety of his chest piece, twitching and rotating the shell on the body. Roth blinks up at him, looking at the Ice Breaker, then on over at the view. [ See anything interesting? ]

"Possibly."

[ Like what? ]

"Someone."

[ And who might that someone be? ] Does he ever stop asking questions? … No.

"Someone who might be our mysterious 'guardian', if you are so curious."

[ Really. ] The shell does a twist as he moves around in the air, blinking several time. [ Interesting. So, who are they? ]

"They look to be a hunter, judging by the hood."

[ Well you have a hood too, and you're a titan, Quoris. ]

"...True. Well fine, since you're pointing out the technicalities, they look like a hunter because I don't see heavy armor or robes."

[ Certainly makes sense. Only question is this: when are you going to confront them? It wouldn't hurt to meet your 'guardian' for a change. ] Speaking as straight as possible, with undertones of humor and mocking him ever so slightly. A thing they tend to do. If Roth could grin, it'd be ear to ear.

"While that sounds intriguing, what would it achieve?"

[ A one-way ticket to meeting the Guardian who's been protecting your six for quite some time. Who knows after that? Maybe get some answers? ]

"Well all I'm doing at the moment is scouting for who knows what. I'll admit my curiosity is getting the better of me right now. Fine, I'll go meet my 'guardian.'"

[ As you wish. ]

Soon enough between the two bickering about how to get up there, Quoris just follows his own path – lifting himself up from rock formations on the side of the building to the pipes along, then right up onto the helipad roof. It was of ease for his type of stealth. He had taken the underground tunnel under the Skywatch that opens up to the side of the building, in the Guardian's blind spot to the right. She seemed out of focus, solely on looking down at the Mothyards than her surroundings.

Without struggle, Quoris lifts himself up carefully to the helipad with a high jump. Moments later, he notices the ship is left with idle engines. It must have been her ship. Looking around, he finally notices her. Crouched on one knee, eyes glued to the scope. She takes four shots to something, but what it was - he was not sure, himself. Not only lack of helmet that lay near her, but the Ghost. It was floating at her shoulder, watching her with a focused look.

Bickering ensures.

[ So, where's your Titan now, this time? He usually roams before sunset. ]

"'My' titan? Hm. He's probably busy with scouting. Or whatever he does. Punching things."

[ Ever curious about him? ]

"Why would I be curious of him?"

[ I know you like to watch him. ]

"I do not. I just shoot things."

[ Keep telling yourself that. ]

She can't help but chuckle behind the hood, too fascinated by something to pay attention or move. Only the movement of her Ice Breaker was following a target. Unlike her, the Ghost moves to give a thorough look around - immediately detecting motion when Quoris nears. And he freezes in place, staring at him with a wide optic bright.

[ Uh, Gold, you might want to turn around. ]

"Not now, I have a Captain in my sights."

[ Goooooold. ]

"Lazarus."

[ Turn. Around. ]

With a harsh huff, she takes the shot - the head of the Captain soon gone. The body collapsing. She swings her head to look at the Ghost, brows furrowed. "What is it?-" And immediately seeing her Titan in view, standing there not even six feet from her position.

"...U-Uh— … What are you doing up here?" Her grip on the gun almost slipped out of her hands from the jolt his presence gave to her. She lowers it enough to let it rest in place on her knee.

"I could ask you the same."

"..." Eyes dart around, then look away – almost embarrassingly. "... Sniping things?"

"I can see that."

"... Yes, yes you can. – You didn't answer my question, though."

"Does it matter?"

"It might, actually. I could've shot you."

[ No, yoooou wouldn't even dare. ] A teasing tone from her Ghost, nudging closer to her shoulder.

"Shush." A whisper at her ghost, glaring in his direction; then returning her attention back to the Titan, whom by his stance, he was easily amused by her small arguments with her companion.

"You could have easily shot me."

[ Oh, I doubt she would. ] A voice comes from his chest piece, appearing a Ghost in view. Just as curious as ever. Lowering down to zoom around her once - checking her, and then hovering over his shoulder piece. [ So, this is the Guardian that has been watching your six? And it's a lady. ]

"That's not important now." His tone is blunt towards his own, a tilt of the head shifting into the direction of the Ghost. It was almost as if he was side-eyeing him.

[ Suuure it isn't. ]

"..." She clears her throat for a moment, lowering her rifle down to her lap. "So, uh – yeah. I have been watching you… But not like what you think though, but you know – Guardians helping other Guardians in need. Just watching your six, sometimes. You tend to get swarmed when you get in the midst of the action..."

Quoris chuckles for a brief second. "Guardian? Ha ha. Guardian. That's funny."

"..." She squints, although clearly her face is beet red. For some reason. "You're... not a Guardian?"

"No. Not the type of Guardian you're thinking of. I'm more of a protector."

[ Yet you have a Ghost. ] Lazarus interferes, his back shell twisting and rotating. Blinking twice.

"So? You snipe people as they go by. Does that make you a Fallen Vandal?"

"... Clever." She adjusts herself. Deciding to stand up, holding her Ice Breaker comfortably in her grip.

Quoris briefly chuckles again. "I try." Quoris notices Gold blushing like mad and decides to fluster her even more. "Say, you look a bit red in the cheeks. Are you ok?"

A pause – good job, Titan. She's nearly as red as the marking streaked across her face. "No! Just a little…warm in this armor. Sun and all."

"Well then maybe you should do something about that."

[ Real smooth, Quoris. Smooth. ] Seeing that her reaction was nearly priceless.

"... U-Uh—Um. … …" Nope. She turns her head away for a moment, biting her lip. Internally, she's cursing at herself for not wearing her helmet. Her fingers tighten on the barrel of the Ice Breaker ever slightly. "Wow."

[ Get it together, Gold. ] Lazarus chuckles ever slightly, his shell bobbing as he does.

"Quiet."

Quoris briefly chuckles again. "Well, to answer your earlier question, I decided to come up here to find out who 'my guardian' is," Quoris gives Roth a dirty look as he says 'my guardian', "and guess what I found? A blushing hunter."

She gives a huff, turning her head away briefly. "Blushing? You're funny."

[ Can't really deny it, Gold. You are quite…red. ] Lazarus twitches, swinging his optic over to her, then back at the Titan, known as Quoris – blinking several times.

"Whose side are you on, dammit." She snaps her head over to him, pursing her lips tightly together.

[ Yours, obviously. But he's right. You are red in the face. ]

"..." Gold scoffs, running a gloved hand through her hair. "Alright. … You got me. – I'm sorry if I took any of those kills from you. Just trying to help out. It's what I do."

"You have a funny definition of helping out, then."

"... Not sure what you mean." Gold squints over in his direction, unsure on what to say. She merely was helping, wasn't she? Or was she missing the point of this conversation all along? This was getting awkward.

Quoris briefly chuckles once again. "Sure you don't. Well, it was nice to see who 'my guardian' was. I'll see you later."

[ Oh, it'll be the other way around, Quoris. ] The twitching of the machinery in his shell whirred, nearly resembling a chuckle, floating closer to his shoulder.

Quoris politely bows, causing Gold to fluster even more. It certainly didn't help her in the situation, staring at him as he takes his leave from her. At this, point, she's speechless once again – not having enough time to even say goodbye to him. Instead, she ends up doing a half wave with her hand raised up.

"... Uh… huh."

[ You like him. ]

"I do not."

[ Don't lie. ]

"Stop."

[ Come on. ]

"Little Light."

[ … Alright, fine. ]