Rust and Water: Part Seven - Two to Tango

Part 7: Two to Tango --- The Hunter had had many years to perfect this skill. It had been necessary to learn, first on the long journey to find the Light, that inexplicable draw towards the Traveler not caring through what it may lead on the way. Here, in this second afterlife of water and steel it had been refined, the lead and draw, lure and entice. To make the enemy, or even the friend, think that [i]this[/i] was the way they should go, even when it wasn’t. She crouched on the rooftop, letting the diffuse light of the waxing moon glance off her gun, just a touch, and then she melted back into shadow. The other had seen. Now, the question would be if he would decide the invitation was truth or lie. [i]How long are you going to play with him? [/i]Toby asked, not judging, just curious. She shook her head, stepping off the ledge and letting a gentle bounce take her down to the nest of vines and stone below. They softened any noise she may have made, and she rolled down the tilting edifice, gaining her feet and moving along a path that only she knew. An extra energy moved her feet, the source of which she wouldn’t acknowledge. “Until he takes his toys and goes home.” She told her ghost, no inflection in her husky voice. [i]Don’t you think it’s rather risky? Letting him roam?[/i] “Yes.” The Hunter replied after a long moment of contemplation, feet never wavering on her moonlit path. --- Cayde-6 leaned against the railing overlooking the City, just taking a quiet moment to think about how long it would take for anyone to notice if he just took a little stroll down. Maybe to one of the City gates. The Titans on guard wouldn’t think anything of it if he just continued on through, maybe take his sparrow out for a spin, make sure it didn’t need a tune-up…maybe keep going for a while. A day, two at the most… Or maybe a week, two at most. He really did deserve a vacation… “Cayde!” The Hunter Vanguard kept his back turned just long enough to hide his eye-roll before he turned to face Zavala. Usually he wouldn’t have bothered, but it was still early and he didn’t want to rile the Commander up just yet. Although if Cayde were to judge from his tone of voice, Zavala was on the verge of riled already. And he hadn’t even had time to [i]do[/i] anything yet. “Good Morning.” He told the Commander cheerfully. Zavala blinked at him. “Ah, yes. Good morning.” Cayde successfully restrained his snicker. ‘Polite to a fault’ was a phrase that seemed coined for the awoken man and Cayde was more than happy to take advantage of the fact. The Commander cleared his throat, looking down at the holographic tablet he held in one hand. “In any case, we need to discuss your continued diversion of City assets to…” Cayde held up his hands in protest. Zavala ignored him. “To non-essential areas.” The EXO held up a finger, cocking his head in question. “Which assets are we talking about, here?” Zavala raised an eyebrow. “And to which would you assume I was referring?” Cayde shook his head. “I can sense a loaded question a mile away,” he commented, rolling his shoulders. “So why don’t you just go ahead and tell me.” The awoken man narrowed his eyes slightly. “Very well.” He glanced back down at his tab. “I was going over deployment orders for the last two months and noticed that one of your Hunters was assigned to a forbidden…” “Restricted, not forbidden.” Cayde corrected easily before giving a mocking little wave at Zavala’s irritated stare. “Sorry, do continue.” “As you seem to already know to whom I am referring, perhaps you could enlighten me as to your reasoning.” “I sent one of my Hunters to Old Chicago to have a look around.” Cayde shrugged. Zavala’s jaw clenched. “There is nothing there.” “We don’t know that. It’s been a while.” “Nothing relevant.” “Again,” Cayde leaned back against the railing. “We don’t know that.” “Flyovers have revealed…” “Bit of a tangle, Old Chicago. Could be hiding all sorts of things, things you can’t see from the air.” Cayde leaned back a little further, glancing down at the City below. It would be so easy to just let himself fall. Other Guardians did it all the time, for fun. “People, places, Golden Age technology….people.” “You said people twice.” Zavala pushed his tab shut, his own eyes drifting to the view over the railing, bright blue sweeping from the hulking mass of the Traveler to the City resting peacefully below. “Did I?” Cayde replied innocently, bringing the Commander’s attention back to him with sharp focus. “My mistake.” “Why do I highly doubt that?” Zavala replied drily, tapping his closed tab against his palm. “What are you hiding?” “Lots of things.” Cayde admitted, raising his hands and pushing himself away from the railing with one last regretful glance at the City below. He gestured towards the Vanguards’ hall and Zavala fell into step beside him. “But I was trying to keep this one a surprise.” “I do not care much for surprises.” The Commander spared a nod for one of the early risers as they passed. Cayde touched his own finger to his forehead. “Oh, I know.” Zavala glared as they passed down the stairs and between the Crucible tables. Shaxx was fully occupied with his stats board and didn’t look up, though Arcite 99-40 at least acknowledged their passage. “So…” Cayde sighed, stopping to lean against the doorway and survey the long table he would be standing by all day. Another sigh. “I heard a rumor that there was a Guardian there.” “Newly revived?” Zavala asked, pulling his tab back open and preparing to make a note. “Not according to my source.” Cayde told him. “Herro-7 made a wager he shouldn’t have, since he lost, so I decided to send him there to find out if the rumor was true.” “He’s been gone two months.” Zavala snapped. “Must’ve found something.” Cayde straightened and continued to his position, sighing again when he saw the pile of messages waiting for him. “He hasn’t been in communication?” Cayde shrugged, shuffling through the papers. “He’s never been good at writing letters and there’s something about the place that makes electronic communication difficult at best, impossible at worst.” “You’re not concerned?” Maybe a little, but he’d never admit that. “I was going to give it another week before I sent someone out to check on him.” Zavala took his place at the head of the table, fingers working at the tense lines of his forehead. “So this…rumored Guardian…” “If my source was correct, it’s ah, who was it now? Oh, yeah, Alia Tev.” Cayde looked up at the sound of a loud crack. Zavala’s broken tab fell to the top of the table as he stared at the EXO. “Surprise.” -- https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/227486469/0/0 - Part 8 https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226526566/0/0 - Table of Contents