Hiyo, everybody! I was getting a lot of comments and questions about "Oh, he's dead" and such. So I just wanted to clear up what happened at the end of the Dreadnaught arc and introduce the new plotline. Mind, this will probably take a while longer because of the collab stuff. Speaking of which, how are you guys enjoying the collab? I know I've enjoyed it so far; The Management is really fun to work with! Also, I will put this in the status, but it might take a bit while longer to grind more scenes out because it's midterm week next week. ;( Plus, y'know, the new Star Wars movie. And Sparrow racing. And them emotes. I really want the face palm one; my friends tend to do stupid stuff sometimes (Lol) Anyways, enjoy! Chapter Index---------> https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/157266003 Scene 18 "Cya guys!" Ayria said to Jason, Atlas and Zeus. Zeus grinned. "It's been fun. Ralph, notify me when you've gotten done with that book." Ralph nodded, clutching the Lord of The Fallen under his arm. Atlas pointed to Sanders. "Hey, if Deuce comes back, tell her to meet me in the Crucible." He pulled up the current leaderboards; he was second overall, behind a certain Rush "Deadeye" Falzone. Jason handed them all plastic bags, which were filled with candy and gift cards to restraunts. "Aw, thanks!" Ayria cheered, hugging Jason. Ralph waved goodbye to Zeus, Atlas, and Jason as they walked their separate ways. They waved back, and he watched them go until they disappeared from sight. ------------------------- "Nice to be back at the Tower, huh?" Ayria stated, stuffing her mouth with her third taco. They had taken advantage of the gift cards. Sanders sighed. "I guess." Ralph took a sip of his cola, recounting the events of the Dreadnaught. After he had shot Zara, there had been a momentary spray of blood, and then she had disappeared. Just poof! Gone. He had preceded to revive the others, who thanked him, and there was a moment where they all had just sat there, reliving the events, being in each other's presence. Being thankful they were all alive. But why didn't Zara kill him? She killed the others. Could it be that she [i]feared[/i] him? That she trusted him? He couldn't explain that; he was the one who had pushed to turn her in to the vanguard, after all. And he had [i]thought[/i] he had broken all ties with her at the trial. He took another sip of his cola. "Something wrong?" Ayria asked, getting up to get fourths. "I mean, I can understand that you might be freaked out after that taken son of a bitch worked us over. I bet before she was taken she was a wh-" Ralph found himself punching Ayria in the side of the jaw, flames flickering from his skin. "Do [i]not[/i] insult her, or I will fry you, and burn you, and shoot you with your own gun!" he shouted, glaring at Ayria. She was appalled, and subconsciously spit a bloody tooth out of her mouth. She touched her jaw. Sanders's exo eyes were wide with anger, and he grabbed Ralph by the collar. "Don't hit a girl, and definitely don't hit our team member. I don't know what's wrong with you, but Zara's gone." he set Ralph down and turned to Ayria. His gaze softened. "And please don't insult our old teammate when she's not here to defend herself." Ayria sat back up in her chair, putting the puzzle pieces together. "Wait, are you saying... the girl who got banished... wait that was....." She looked at her feet. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did." Sanders shook his head slightly. "It's not a big deal. You didn't know." Ralph brushed himself off. "Yeah. I guess we should explain what exactly happened." Ralph started, and refilled his cola. He sat back at the table with a deep breath. "It all started with a crucible match. Me and Sanders were in the process of finding a third fireteam member, just having been given guardian status. We had almost given up, thinking about taking in one of [i]those[/i] guys. And then we saw her." "Who? Zara?" Ayria asked. Ralph gave a sad grin. "Yeah, otherwise known as Deuce. She was number one on the Crucible leaderboards when she joined us, and still was when she was exiled. But enough of that. So we managed to set up a meeting with Deuce, as she was commonly known as. And she didn't have many fans, even though she was ranked really well." Ayria frowned. "Why? That Rush guy gets just about flocked." Ralph gave a small chuckle. "Well, she was a bit on the [i]violent[/i] side if you will, and she was amazing at sarcasm. And she had peculiar ways of punishing people who poked fun at her." She tilted her head slightly. "Define peculiar." "Well, you ever know how the vanguard found out about the location of Sepiks Prime? That was Zara's doing." Sanders started to grin and giggle, struggling to contain his laughter. Aryia looked even more confused. "So she helped the vanguard." He snorted. "Except that she tied a hunter to a Fallen ketch and shot at him with a sniper rifle as the ketch flew away. The guy was missing for weeks, because he happened to end up in a Fallen war base. When he got back, he was nearly dead, and he knew where Sepiks was. She said he had called her a scrub." "Then me calling her a bitch would've resulted in...." her face went pale. "Yeah. Back to the main story. So me and Sanders got her to join our fireteam, and thus began the great adventure." "What great adventure?" Ayria leaned forward, and Ralph took another long sip. "The adventure that got us kicked out of the tower."