[spoiler]This is a short chapter, which was difficult to write. Don't judge me too hard, I tried, alright?[/spoiler] ERA DRAKKA [i]Ava-3[/i] It was a beautiful afternoon on Venus. The beaches were clean, the jungles green. Birds, or whatever they may be, could be heard, their alien calls coming from the wild forests. A couple of small, lobster-like creatures were crawling over the hot sand of the beach, located at the foot of the rock that was Cape Orignal. No trace left of last night's storm, the sun was happily shining, its warm rays falling upon a couple, sitting on the white beaches. The waves were calmly cobbling, and one might feel the need to go for a swim in the water, which looked warm and inviting. However, this was an acid sea, innocently waiting for someone to foolishly walk in. It was almost like a predator, Ava-3 thought. She smiled at the thought of that. Echo, sitting next to her on a red Syndicate-issued blanket, noticed her and smiled back. It was the first sign of acknowledgement that she was there, but this was usual between the two, as they often sat next to eachother, watching the outside world out of their artificial eyes, not paying attention to anything else. Now, the calm acid water sufficed the couple's observational needs. For a while, they had passed the time by watching the never-ending waves, waiting for a signal to be picked up by their scanners back at the tents. For now, only two teams had been sent out to investigate. A Syndicate team, led by Lieutenant Burton, nicknamed 'the Fox' because of his typical slyness, and Cereghetti's group. They get to have all the fun, she thought, while I'm stuck with this idiot. She smiled again, this time laughing with the unspoken insult. Not that she hated Echo. On the contrary, she loved him more than anything else on this miserable world. The Warlock saw her smiling again, and this time he laid an arm on her waist, and pulled her closer, letting her metal head rest on his broad shoulders. "Enjoying the view?", Echo asked, his voice barely more than a soft whisper. Ava-3 grinned a little. "You always ask that. And my answer will always be the same" "Fascinating as always" Echo made a poor effort of imitating her voice, although he would easily be able to perfectly do that with his Exo voice, Ava-3 knew. But it made her laugh, and she knew how happy that made Echo. Oh, how easy she could manipulate him. Some people would have felt powerful, affecting the emotions of the leader of the mighty Syndicate, but she didn't care. She just loved him. There was a brief silence, quickly broken by Echo. "So you've become quite the hiker now, am I right?" While the other Exo said it jokingly, Ava-3 understood the worried tone in his voice. She hesitated for a bit, thinking about what to say, and then the words tumbled out of her mouth. "It's Eva", she simply began. "The loss of a Ghost is even harder than I could ever expect it to be. She was one of my only friends, Echo!" The last words were almost shouted, and she started sofltly crying against his shoulder. "I just don't know... if I can handle it anymore. There's just nothing left without her" It was so simple, yet so hard to explain. Perhaps the fact that she referred to the robotic creature as 'her' was clear enough. For most Guardians, the Ghost was their closest friend. You simply don't want to lose your best friends. Luckily, Echo understood, and she sighed in relief. A heavy burden had fallen off her shoulders. It was good she had talked to someone about it. And not just someone, it was Echo, now her closest friend, and a little bit more than that too. She knew it had been the right decision. Others would have started a so-called [i]peptalk[/i], talking about how it was difficult for everyone. Echo didn't, he simply calmed her down by sitting next to her in silence. Whether that was because he knew what to do or because he simply had no social skills, she didn't know. Despite her sadness, she smiled slightly at the old joke. She looked at Echo, and realized that he was thinking about what to say. Which happened a couple of seconds later. "But there's so much left, Ava" So simple, yet so accurate. At that very moment, she understood it all. There was a world without Light. You just had to know where to look. TO BE CONTINUED [spoiler]More stories will be added onto the main page, which I will link here. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/226647634?sort=0[/spoiler] [spoiler]Eva is Ava-3's Ghost, by the way[/spoiler]