"We will be landing at the Tower in T-minus 10 minutes. Prepare yourself for departure." My eyes slowly opened as the sudden jerking from entering orbit rattled the ship slightly. My HUD slowly flashed on as my helmet began running scans of my body's life signs. While several errors were appearing explaining what I already knew, I glanced about at everyone else. Sri was sitting by Angelica near the corner of the ship, speaking softly to her. Her face was of worry and Angelica coiled away slightly as he head disappeared into her knees. Laurentine was sitting silently in the opposite corner of front, still staring quietly at the broken Ghost in his hand. Kate was sitting quietly near the exit, practically waiting for the door to open to meet Rex who was put on another transport for security sake. The only other person with us was Kyle Busch, one of Shaxx's Crucible Representatives or Red Jacks, and our contractor of sorts. He looked at each of us, speaking quietly to his Ghost, who was speaking back and writing things down as she pushed her glasses up on her figurative nose. I exhaled slowly just as Charles appeared infront of my vision. He quietly stared at me. Busch took notice of this and perked up a bit. "Is he alright?" His voice was strained slightly like he had been yelling for long periods of time. Charles continued to look at me before sighing and turning to face Busch. "Yea... The suit was running a diagnostic and it startled him a bit. Nothing more." "Ah..." Busch gave a worried or guilty glance at me then settled back down. "Good... good... He's fine..." "You should calm down, there is no reason to be upset." Kyle's Ghost spoke in a feminine monotone. "You obviously didn't hear Commander Zavala then..." Busch crossed his arms and settled further into his seat, letting out a sigh of frustration. "I heard him clearly. It's hard not to when his voice rattled the glass till his face turned violet." "Coco don't start... He had his reason for being... upset." "As you had for being their representative. It was a risky venture and sadly we got the worse case senerio." "We? You two haven't done anything." Sri glared over at Coco angrily. "They've been through hell and back and..." "And Kyle and I haven't?" She pushed up her glasses once more. "Kyle didn't become a Redjack because he did 'nothing.'" "Coco please." Busch sighed again and ran his hands through his hair. "Just drop the subject for now." "As you insist." Coco dissapeared from sight. Busch looked upwards when the comms crackled slightly from being turned on. "We are arriving at the Tower now. The Vanguard are on standby." Busch sighed again and stood, holding on to a bar near the ceiling, grumbling under his breath. The ship began a slow desent and shifted clockwise before settling down. The back door bays made a crack noise from the locks and the bay opened up into the spacious Docking Bay of the Tower where we were just a short time ago. Standing a bit away were Zavala, Ikora, and a somewhat bored Cayde as well as Holliday and a few other Guardians. Busch made one final sigh and put on a fake smile as Kate bolted out of the door, babbling about Rex until several Titans restrained her and attempted to calm her down. I stayed perfectly still as Busch helped Sri get Angelica off and another Guardian came in to usher Laurentine. A few moments passed before I saw Zavala walk infront of me. I glanced up to see his calm but worried face as he held out his hand. "Do you need help, Guardian?" I simply took his hand and stood up. He put his arm around my shoulder and we walked out into the brightly light bay. I blinked several times as the HUD adjusted and I looked around. Several Guardians were looking down at us from the catwalks and I could tell rumors were spreading like wildfire. Thomas O'Neil's distinct face stood out amongst the rest as the looked at us with some degree of horror. Zavala led me over to Cayde, who was the only person still standing where he was as he scratched his nose and inspected his finger slightly. He looked straight at me. "Well atleast you came back alive. Not may can boast that after what happened." He meant well but Zavala shot a warning look. Cayde raised his hands and stepped out of the way, keeping quiet. Zavala kept us moving up the staircase and towards the barracks in the North Tower. Guardians lined the way like a funeral parade, whispering quietly about what happened or about us. Some had a look of worry, others seemed indifferent, still others seemed to sneer at a failure. I tried to keep my head down but the gazes were still there. Taunting me. Looking at my failure as a leader and a Defender. After a short hobble, we reached my room. Zavala shoved open the door and set me down on the bed. He stood up straight and addressed me formally. "The Speaker will be along at some point to talk to you about what happened. We will accommodate what we can to help out your team, that I can assure you." I stayed dead silent as I looked at him. His formal indifferent face dropped to a upset frown as he sighed and his posture slouched a little before straightening again. "Robinsun, don't let this get to you. The sooner you figure that out, the sooner you can heal. Mental wounds are the death of many soldiers because they don't need to be as deep." I felt my anger rise and my body tightened like as spring. He waited for a reply for several more seconds, studying me before nodding. "Let us know if you need anything." He gave another nod before turning and walking outside and stepping past the threshold. "Is there a training room?" My voice carried anger and malice as I watched him leave. He paused and turned to look at me, the indifferent condescending tone on his face once more. I cleared my throat and forced my voice to smooth out. "I need to... let off some steam..." Zavala watched me for a moment then nodded. "There are several within the Vanguard Hall but I would suggest you rest for a few more days before straining yourself... and even then I wouldn't recommend it." I gave a nod and looked at the floor. Several seconds passed before footsteps left my quarters and the door shut to encompass the silence within. I took off my helmet and set it on my bed. I looked at my hands as they slowly opened and closed, flashbacks of blood and dirt staining them like invisible ink reappearing in the right light. Soon every blood vessel in my hand bulged like a balloon as more red began to cloud my vision. [i]His[/i] obnoxious laughter and sadistic smile clouded my thoughts as my hands formed a grasp, then claws, then a fist as my muscles screamed for comfort but [i]his[/i] blades would let up. They kept going, biting like wild dogs on a fresh kill, tearing flesh and breaking bone. Everything was his fault, all of it and... "Josiah?..." My mind blanked for a moment as I looked to my side. Charles was floating next to me, partially crying. "Your... bleeding again..." I blinked and wiped my eyes with my fingertips. I examined them to see a blotch of red as my head pounded like a drum as more red took over my vision. I wiped my eyes some more and hobbled over to the sink, splashing my face with cool water. I grabbed a towel and patted the wetness away and looked in the mirror. I was greeted with the face of some worthless being. Something sub-human. A long fresh scar crawled over its right eye and it's skin was slightly wrinkled from constant contortion. Large deep bag were under its eyes as the once bright but now dull green eyes gazed at itself. The hair was slightly splotched with small stands of silver or white depending on the lighting and the lips were cracked and redish. Small stains were on its face where fresh blood tricked from the eyes, curling around the frown and dissapeared past the chin. The thing gave out a slight sigh before turning and sitting back on the bed, placing it's helmet back on before leaning against the wall in utter silence. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/205968335/0/0 link to chapter 31.5 https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/208175980/0/0 link to chapter 33