[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/254979692/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] I open my eyes slowly, blinking against a torrent of white specks that flit across my vision like tiny sparks of Light. My body aches but my safety harness held true during the crash. I’m unharmed. When my head stops spinning I focus and look around the cabin. Elta and Javier are still across from me, shaken but okay. Hendal is unbuckling his harness and Olly is already on his feet, an ornate helmet materializing to cover his face. Beladona is nowhere to be seen, and Elena- I put a hand to my mouth and tear my eyes away from the Warlock’s mangled corpse lying at the front of the cabin, buried in a pile of salvaged jumpship parts. Her harness hadn’t held. My body heaves as I gag violently. I squeeze my eyelids shut but the image of her limbs bent at all the wrong angles is burned into my mind. “Hey,” a large hand grabs my shoulder and I look to see Olly looming over me, “Are you alright?” “I-“ I point shakily at the dead Warlock, “El-Elena-“ Blue light flashes in the cabin and Elena suddenly springs up to her feet, sending up a spray of bolts and plates. She looks perfectly fine, as if she hadn’t been a corpse a second before. Before I even have time to remember Guardians can revive themselves Elena starts shouting at us, “C’mon! We’ve gotta get out of here!” Olly starts unfastening the straps over my chest, snapping me out of my shocked state. I fumble with the buckles and Olly backs away. Out of the corner of my eye I see Elena barge into the cockpit. I hear her speak then the pilot stumbles out, nearly falling on his face. “Stand clear!” Elena hollers. The sound of glass shattering cuts at my ears. There’s a couple more tinkling and scraping noises, then Elena is leaning back into the cabin, waving at us frantically, “It’s clear! Everyone out!” Olly grips my shoulder again, pulling me forward. Hendal herds the others behind me and we all squeeze into the cockpit. There’s a massive, jagged hole in the windshield, and Elena is already slipping out through it. Her cloak snags on shards of glass, but she effortlessly tears it free and uses her armored gauntlet to scrape away some of the remaining shards in the broken window. Olly goes next, his large frame knocking out some of the hanging glass as he passes. Then the Titan reaches back and helps pull me out. My feet crunch in a thick layer of snow, and I step aside as he does the same for the others. Elena is peering around the side of the ship, a rifle in her hands. “You seem to know what you’re doin’,” Hendal remarks, climbing out last. Elena spares a small smile, “Cabal tactics, remember?” “Where’s Beladona?” Javier questions, looking around worriedly. Olly pulls his hand cannon out of its holster and answers, “She transmatted out before we crashed. Probably hit the ground not too far away.” The thought of the Huntress falling from a speeding jumpship and hitting the ground almost makes me sick again, but I swallow and ask, “Why?” “Trust me,” Olly assures, moving around the other side of the crashed Hawk, “It was a smart move. We’ll be better off with her coming from a different direction.” “Traveler,” Hendal swears, taking in our surroundings, “Had to land in a Light-forsaken plain? Couldn’t ‘ave been a forest?” I furrow my brow, confused, “Wha-“ “I see ‘em!” Elena calls. She’s out of sight, towards the back of the ship. “See what?” Elta asks, her voice cracking fearfully. My eyes widen as it dawns on me. The House of Winter is coming. Hendal steps in front of Elta, Javier, the pilot, and me. He spreads his arms in a guiding gesture, “Get by the ship. By the ship.” We follow his directions and huddle against the nose of the Hawk. “Sit, sit,” the short Titan orders and we hesitantly drop to our hindquarters, sinking into the snow. Hendal leans over us, his poorly-concealed stress doing nothing to calm my nerves, “Listen, this is the safest you’re gonna be. We’re gonna protect you. I’ll be right here.” “Shouldn’t we run?” The pilot presses, panic starting to set in. I nod in agreement, feeling my own fear strangling my chest. “They’re already here,” Hendal warns, shaking his head, “It’s too dangerous out in the open.” The Titan crouches in front of us, resting his hands on my knee and Javier’s, “If worst comes to worst, you run and don’t look back. But we won’t let that happen.“ We’re all quiet for a few seconds. I pull my knees up to my chest, trying to prepare myself for whatever’s coming. We all know what’s about to happen. Hendal sways and coughs awkwardly, “Anyone cold?” We just stare at him. He tries again, “It’s cold, right? Here.” He holds out his armored hands and a blanket materializes in them. He offers it to me, and I have no choice but to take it. “Y’all can share,” Hendal says. I think he’s trying to distract us from our building terror; from the Fallen coming for us. “You carry a blanket around?” The pilot mutters in disbelief. It’s definitely strange, imagining an all-powerful Guardian having such a common thing. “A gift from a friend,” Hendal replies. A single gunshot splits the air from the other side of the Hawk, where Elena and Olly are. My heart jumps into my throat. “Hey,” Hendal says, forcing a smile, “We’re gonna be fine.”