K: Hey, Drakon?

D: Hm? Oh, Keira! What do you need?

K: I was exploring the Cosmodrome and something just hit me... is Drakon your real name?

D: ...Come again?

K: I mean... was it your first name? In your first life?

D: You sure love to ask me the personal questions... but yes. It is.

K: That's actually pretty cool. But how-

D: How do I know it? I got lucky. First resurrected in some ruined Golden Age military base, found a locker locked to my DNA with a name on it.

K: So... how much do you know of your past, then?

D: Not much, but some, from what Lairon managed to pull from the data banks. It helped keep me anchored those first few chaotic decades.

K: 'Helped'? Doesn't it still?

D: Well, to a lesser extent, yes. But I have people to keep me anchored, now.

K: Oh? Does that include me?

D: Heh, of course it includes you.

||Three Hours Ago||

"You do realize Zavala and Ikora are going to go ballistic when they find out about this."

"Nah, it'll be fine! Besides, they'll have to find out about it first, right?"

"Eh, I suppose you're right."

The sniper checked his magazine in his Myosotis, feeling the familiar grooves in the chitin, before reinserting the mag, hearing that delightful click as he did so.

"Not like I can complain anyways; it's not my head at stake." Drakon chuckled, before a new figure entered their view.

Said figure was an Awoken with an eyepatch on her left eye, with one hand on her sheathed knife, the other on her sheathed gun. While more than a few Guardians would admit to not knowing who this was, Drakon knew very well.

"PV! Good to see ya! Hey, could you do the thing?"

And of course, Petra Venj obliged by doing her signature knife trick with a rolling of her eyes, but a fond chuckle escaping her lips. The Warlock of the trio had to admit that it was a neat trick to watch, though he could probably replicate it given a few hours of free time.

"Ooh, ooh! Again!"

Cue another rolling of the eyes. "Maybe another time, Cayde. On the matter at hand, there are prisoners running rampant, and I'll need you two to secure the security center while I check on maximum security."

"Oh, right! So, Drakon, I take high and you take low?"

"Sure. Wanna bet two hundred Glimmer that I'll make it there before you? After all, I never miss a shot." He punctuated that statement by resting his rifle in his shoulder. But the Hunter Vanguard smiled widely (well, as much as an Exo could) at the offer. "Brother, you are on."

"Sov!" The Warlock understood the situation in a matter of microseconds, and fired a round at the Awoken Prince's heart... but he moved at the last second, catching the round in the shoulder before the doors closed. He... he missed.

||One Hour Ago||

"What do I do now?"

"Push the red button."

"They're all red!"

"Then push all of them!"

Drakon couldn't help but smile, despite the situation at hand. The only other times he heard Lairon sound so exasperated was when he was doing something utterly stupid. Or making fun of him, but that's fair game.

At least, up until another section of cells started rising again, showing the Hive corrosion gunk up in the systems, and simultaneously releasing Thrall and Acolytes into the room he was in. Good thing he had Merciless with him. "Do I need to go in there, Cayde?!"

There was a delightfully quick humming before a burst of fiery energy burst from his rifle, consuming the Dark creatures and turning them into ashes. It also had the bonus effect of scorching away the corrosion.

"Wait, wait, I got it!" The Hunter fired several rounds into the console, even as Drakon called forth a few arcing bolts of lightning to devour the remaining enemies.

Alarms rang out for a brief moment, before the cells retreated into the ground and sealed shut, making the Warlock look at Cayde incredulously. "That, of all things, worked?!"

"Hey, I'm just awesome like that! Also, you owe me two hundred Glimmer."

"Lairon?" Drakon's voice was shaky, the centuries old warrior brought to his knees, gently cradling the dying Exo in his arms, trying to hold some measure of hope, effort it was swiftly extinguished as the Ghost sadly looked at him and shook a negative. "There's... nothing I can do."

A rattling cough made both of them look down at the broken Hunter. "Drakon... brother, it's not your fault. I... I just missed. Heh. Guess I won't be getting that Glimmer after all."

||Ten Minutes Ago||

"All of this corrupted Ether... Traveler, the Tower is going to be having conniptions at this. We really don't need Fallen with Hive sorcery around." Drakon muttered as he burned the sample he had been examining with but a thought.

Comms had been down, and with him in supermax with nothing but radio silence and empty cells really didn't help his concern.

"Drakon, prioritize. Get to Cayde and Petra first, then get explanation for corrupted Ether later."

"Right, right, sorry."

Drakon promptly swapped out the mags in his Myosotis, readying it before continuing his trek in the now quiet prison, keeping an ear out for more of those twisted Fallen that had tried to ambush him earlier.

Right up until he was stopped by a sudden surge of Light coming from below, which made both Ghost and Guardian stare at each other in shock and panic. "Cayde's Ghost... she's dead..." Lairon muttered, eye wide.

The Ghost's words shook the sniper from his stupor, immediately blasting a hole in a vent near his feet with a burst of Solar fire, easily tearing through the weakened metal and then leaping in it after the epicenter of the pulse.

When he landed, he saw what at first he assumed was an Ogre pounding away at a door, but it was a notion quickly dispersed when he saw the fallen head on that giant muscle mass that could only be described as an abomination of Ether and Darkness.

In any other circumstances, the Warlock would've been much more cautious of this new foe, but urgency sent his emotions and his Light into overdrive. "Out of my way!"

Arc crackled around him as he charged the monstrosity, before he unleashed enough power to utterly obliterate it.

Drakon felt the last dregs of life slip away from his comrade, finally succumbing to his wounds and passing through the Final Dark and into the Light. The warrior fell into a silence as he cradled the body, a sob building up in his throat.

...Why?

Why must he lose so many loved ones? Jacobs. Keira. And now, Cayde. Who else will he lose? Ikora? Zavala? Amaris? Odin?

||Present||

Drakon finally could not contain the pain he felt within, it coming out as a choked sob. He sensed another approach him before stopping with a gasped 'Cayde', but he could not care, lost in his mourning as he was. Even his Ghost knew better than to say anything now.

"You did not deserve this." He finally choked out, tears gathering at his eyes, blurring his HUD.

At that, the warrior of the Light broke down, tears dripping down his face until he could cry no more.

He finally looked up to see Petra standing at a decent distance away from him, her pain, her guilt as plain to see as his own. "...Drakon?"

The Warlock ignored her, looking back down at Cayde as he pulled his jumbled mess of emotions inside of him into a somewhat orderly fashion. His eyes landed on his cloak, as an old, old memory came to the forefront of his mind.

If you learn nothing else, Drakon, learn this:

His hands, almost without conscious thought, went to slowly undo the many clasps keeping the cloth attached to the armor.

When a Hunter takes up the cloak of a fallen comrade...

The clicks and snaps echo throughout the chamber as the cloth finally comes free, as he pulls it out from underneath Cayde, but ever so careful to treat him gently.

...this is a vow.

"...I am a Warlock. And this is my vow." He whispered, sparks of blue lightning starting to flicker from his body, even as he carefully wraps the ragged cloak around him, fastening it to his own armor.

"Uldren... I am coming for you."

AN: Well, hello guys! Despite my lack of motivation for other projects, the launch of Forsaken definitely spurred me into making this one-shot! So, I hope you guys enjoy my little contribution to one of the best expansions the Destiny franchise has ever had!

Some things to say: firstly, Myosotis is a Harrowed Defiance of Yasmin, but named to his preferences (Forget-Me-Not in Latin), because honestly, some of the weapon names are kind of random. Sure, the lore explains who some of these people are, but why would a Guardian choose to name a weapon after some person/event they've never met/experienced? So I had Drakon choose a name that hits a little closer to home than that.

Secondly, Odin, and Amaris (and the timeline I'm using in general) originates from Fyiad's fic called Son of Light, which I really do recommend to anyone who hasn't come across it. It really is one of the best fics I've had the pleasure of reading, and he's not even done yet!

Thirdly, the whole ownership thing, I don't own Destiny (oh if I did I would be so happy), or Odin/Amaris/SoL timeline which belongs to Fyiad, yadda yadda yadda.

Anyways, enjoy!