[spoiler]Happy Mothers Day, everyone! I’ve posted a day late again, but I promise I won’t make it a habit, this time is for the holiday. For those who want to read a little something in the Mothers Day spirit, here’s my one-shot from last year called [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/252067547/0/0]Mother[/url]. Today is for all you amazing mothers out there, thank you for all you do.[/spoiler] [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/250301867/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] Keis had lost track of time years ago. Even the agelong days of Venus had begun to blend together. It felt like he was pulling on an endless rope and so much had already passed through his hands that he’d forgotten how much lay behind him. His Ghost drifted ahead of him, leading the way as she had for countless years and undoubtedly would for countless more. He didn’t ask how long they had been stranded on Venus, or how much of the planet’s surface they had explored, or how much was left. He didn’t want to know. It had been many cycles since they last spoke to each other with more than half-sentences and incomplete thoughts. They’d run out of things to say. Nothing but rocks could be seen in every direction. Navigating over the jagged and uneven surfaces was a delicate process at best, but Keis had ages of hiking experience. There were no cities or ruins here, no signs of Humanity or Vex or Fallen, nothing that could get them off the planet. All those things were around the Ishtar Sink, the only place on Venus where anything was. They had strayed too far. Here there was nothing but isolation. “Ghost.” The word slipped out of his synthetic mouth, barely louder than a whisper but still enough to cut through the silence like a shock blade through flesh. He didn’t know why he had spoken. His Ghost halted, spinning in the air and scanning their surroundings before focusing her single eye on him. “Keis?” Keis held her gaze, and she waited patiently. They had time. He collected his thoughts, piecing together what it was he wanted to say, “I…there’s nothing out here, Ghost.” “We’ll find something eventually,” the Ghost assured softly. “We won’t find a way out like this,” Keis said, “Not out here.” The Ghost was quiet for a moment, and the white bits of her shell began to rotate slowly around her core. “Then where?” She asked. She already knew what he was going to say. “The Ishtar Sink,” Keis answered. His Ghost’s shell spun faster, switching directions nervously. For awhile they stayed there while the Ghost thought. Keis watched the clouds drifting overhead, counting lightning strikes and listening for the thunder. “You’re right,” she finally gave in. Neither one of them wanted to risk facing the Fallen or the Vex, but it was a necessary risk if they wanted any hope of escaping to Earth. Keis’ Ghost drifted around him, and he turned to watch until she came to a stop. Her blue eye was fixed on the horizon, in the direction where she knew the Ishtar Sink awaited them. “You’re right, Keis,” she repeated, “I really wish you weren’t.”