Note: It's been awhile since I played the mission to retrieve Crota's essence for the Taken King so the dialogue might not be completely correct for the first half, however - you get the gist of it.

—

A crackling cut along his senses...The coms...They were loosing her!

...In the mist of Fallen, surrounded and alone.

...One guardian, and her Ghost.

...If either died, It was over. Yet it was more than that. He would feel it.

"Eris - do something!" He clenched a mechanical hand, knuckles hard against the desk.

"Guardian," the woman ignored him, speaking into the rapidly failing com line. "You mustn't die, we need that essence if we are to stop Oryx."

"Is that all you care about?" He shouted, mouth lights ablaze in his rush to speak, to vent his pure panic.

"Guardian-"

"Eris, do not let her die!-"

He was rooted to the spot, unable to move, even as he wanted to round the table and shake the infuriating woman's shoulders!

"Silence, infuriating hunter," the woman snapped back, mirroring his thoughts. "Else the Guardian will be lost to us, in the endless darkness."

That damn orb she carried, green and sickly, was lifted in front of her face. Three glowing eyes focused on it, and then she began to chant...

He could make no sense of it, didn't want to make any sense of the strange, dark language.

What was she doing? Would it even work?

Another crackle, and a flash from that orb. He could only stare on, tenseness running over his shoulders, down his entire frame.

"Eris," her Ghost came through the coms, though his locked limbs did not ease up, not until he knew she had made it out alive-

"Did you teleport us?" Her Ghost continued.

'Us' - that was a good sign, wasn't it?

Eris lowered her orb, seeming more tired than he'd ever seen her. "There is nothing I fear more than the darkness, but I will not loose another Guardian."

Cayde listened through the com, could hear her breathing. He couldn't bring himself to ask if she was hurt, if she was okay - he had to stay professional. She was one the best, and he couldn't over step his mark by fretting over her. It would be insulting, even as he so desperately wanted that reassurance.

Instead he released his fisted fingers, pushed up from the table and straightened his shoulders beneath his cloak. "Head on back, Guardian." Was all he managed to say.

"We will, Cayde," her Ghost answered for her.

...

There was blood!

She'd pulled her dusted and scuffed helmet off, only to reveal a cut at her temple for either a bullet or claw that had ruptured the golden metal.

The red liquid of human blood tricked down her face, over her ear and down her neck. It knotted in the orange flame of hair, and stood out against the cool grey of her eyes.

"I have the essence," was the first thing she said, looking between himself and Eris. Her Ghost hovered close to her shoulder, his gears shifting in concern, Cayde would have had to guess.

"Very good, Guardian. With this we will make you Ascendant."

His Guardian hunter let out a breath, forced a smiled and nodded once.

He was damn worried, but he had also never spoken to her without some sort of joke underlaying his tone, so he had to continue with that charade.

"Come on, Eris. Let the Guardian rest a bit at least before you hurtle her into more...unfortunate situations."

The Guardian turned her cool gaze on him and raised an eyebrow at his comment.

"Or have you forgotten that you're bleeding all over my floor?" He cocked his head, and pointed to where his temple would be, if he weren't an exo.

Both the woman ignored him. "Come to me when you are ready to end this, but do not leave it too long, Guardian." With that, Eris glided off. The Guardian offered him one more glance, with an unreadable expression and then took off in the direction of the main tower floor, above his work place.

He only allowed himself to stare after her openly for a second before he leant on the table, over his maps and watched from the corner of his glowing eyes.

She sometimes spoke to him when she came to collect her missions, not often, but she was pleasant. Even offered a small tilt of her lips for his jokes, on occasion. Even still, he was drawn to her. Damn him for it, but his eyes travelled to her whenever she was in the same room. It wasn't the startling hair, or her incredible skill she'd shown over, and over - well, yes, that was part of it, but she just had a presence. A quiet storm, which pulled him in despite himself.

He wanted to speak with her more, to learn more but what right did he have to ask that of her? She had enough of her hands as it was. Light, they were sending her to face down Oryx - solo!

Her eyes seemed to see right through him at times, and he remembered that she had seen much. Faced darkness head on, and fought back against it with everything she had.

All the while he stood from behind his desk. Offering witty comment over the Com. Distracting her, no doubt.

He sighed, more a sound of voice than the exertion of breath.

"Get a hold of yourself, Cayde," he muttered, and attempted, unsuccessfully to return to his work.

...

It was later that Eris creeped up on him, with those silence footsteps that often had him jumping in his skin - metaphorically speaking, of course. Exo did not had skin. Jumping out of his casing, maybe?

"Oh, Eris - what do you want? Has our Guardian despatched already?"

She looked at him, with those eyes that saw and yet didn't see.

"'Our' Guardian is down by the docking bay," was all she said, shifting round the desk in a way that made him think he'd just turned into prey.

And she'd noticed the 'our' and read into it - Fantastic.

"Okay?" He drawled, following her movements with a turn of his head.

"What do you want then?"

Eris glanced down to the orb in her hands. "I thought you would like to be informed. She is there alone, casting her gaze out onto the incoming ships-"

He was about to make a joke, when she finished:

"You might wish to say your goodbyes."

That stumped him. He could only stare, before he recovered himself enough to say, "Come on now, Eris. No need to talk like that. Have faith in the Guardian."

Eris lowered her face. "All will fall to the darkness, if the light does not succeed. I lost many, too soon, and was never able to have those final farewells."

Was Eris...was she trying to do something nice for him? He couldn't quite tell. One the one hand, she was sharing her regrets, making sure he did not have them, and then on the other hand she was talking as if the Guardian would not succeed - he didn't know wherever that made him angry, or defeated.

He settled with, "Yeah, okay." If only to move away from Eris, out of range of her all seeing eyes.

So he moved quickly down the hall, jogged up the stairs and out into the night air. The tower was crowed, as it usually was. Cayde enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the other Guardians coming and going.

He waved to a few of his hunters as he passed, heading towards the docking bay. He was nervous, and didn't know exactly what he was doing, but his feet moved for him.

Cayde should have hidden in the corridor, thought about what he was going to say - for starters, but he rounded the corner, humming to himself with nerves and noticed her almost immediately.

She was the only Guardian leaning on the rails facing the ships, yes, but he could never miss the golden, white and bronze armour - or her presence.

As he approached, he noted the new helmet sat on the floor at her feet. The other would take time to repair, time neither had.

It settled in his gut then, where they were sending her very soon, who she would face alone.

A being that had destroyed the Awoken fleet, and their Queen in a blink of an eye.

"Guardian-" he began, and then coughed. Nervously scratching at the back of his hood, not that he physically had an itch, it was more to keep his hands busy.

She turned to him, surprised and then concern in her eyes. "Cayde, what is it? Has something changed about the mission?"

"No, that's not it - I mean nothing has changed with the mission, Guardian. I just, uh...," he looked away, to the hallway he could retreat to if he made an idiot out of himself... Even more of an idiot.

"Are you alright?" She asked, coming to stand in front of him. She nearly reached his height, head slightly lower than his but they were almost eye to eye.

Cayde took in her fair face. "I...er... I will be, when you come back alive."

The Guardian blinked, and he saw for an instant doubt behind those grey eyes. He couldn't go with her, but surely he could give her some hope, some motivation.

"Guardian," he started, and boldly lifted a hand to her shoulder. Life, light - was fleeting. They might never know when the darkness would swallow them up, no matter how they fought.

"When you return, when you've kicked that bastard back to whatever dark realm he came from - I'll be waiting. For you. And if you ever want to talk, or... to get a drink, I'll be there."

With that he removed his hands, saw her shocked expression and span on his heels, heading for that getaway. He'd told her 'when' as he fully believed she would come back - couldn't think anything else, and she shouldn't either - and he'd given her a choice. If she wanted more, he'd be there.

He paused, before getting too far away. When he glanced over his shoulder, she looked down at where his hand had been, a small smile on her lips. A jolt shot through him, and his mouth activated before he could think better of it.

"Oh, and Guardian!" He called back, she raised her gaze to him.

"Eyes up. And beat those bastards back to hell."

—

End. Feeling pretty crappy at the minute. Decided to write some Destiny, and Cayde in an attempt to cheer myself up. Turned out better than expected for such a quick idea.