[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/255163108/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] “Happy Crimson D-“ Shadow cuts off mid-sentence, tearing her golden eyes away from mine and fleeing. I am surprised by the sudden action and she is gone before I can say another word. What a strange tradition. Did the Eliksni have such rituals, before the Whirlwind? I tap my staff thoughtfully, looking down to the gift held in my undocked hand. It is small, but the symbol of Judgement sewn into it is perfect. Shadow made this. She knew the symbol of my House so well. I study the banner closely, searching for some secret meaning to the thing. What is the meaning of this Earth holiday, where friends gift each other things? Why did Shadow come to me instead of celebrating this day with her kin? My clawed fingers delicately caress the cloth. She called it an exchanging of gifts between friends. Shadow has given me a gift. Should I have given her something in return? Perhaps that is why she ran. Another resounding impact sounds as I strike my staff against the ground once more. I must do something for Shadow in return. She has shown me her appreciation of my friendship. Now I must show her mine. Not doing so would be an insult to her and myself. I would be docked again before I betrayed her trust. But what can I give her? I gaze out of the Vestian Outpost, into the wreckage of the Reef. Rocks and wreckage drift by, a silent graveyard filled with salvage and lost things. Surely there is nothing out there worthy of her. What could she want, what does she not have? The cloth dangles by a corner pinched between my claws, Judgement held up by a thread. This small thing, so fragile, so easily torn, so insignificant. But it was made with such delicate care and attention, a promise of new things, growth, bonds, friendship, a future. It is so much like House Judgement, so much like the fallen Eliksni. My people who were torn apart and made small, insignificant, fragile. One day we may rise again. This gift can be the beginning. I cannot give Shadow anything equal to this. Her House is together, strong, guided by purpose, blessed by the Great Machine. There is nothing the lowly, Whirlwind-scattered Eliksni can give to a Lightbearer who has everything the Eliksni long for. All I have is wants, desperation, and docked things. I tuck away Shadow’s present, deep in thought. She has never told me of the things she likes. All she ever did was ask me about myself and the Eliksni and listen. She listened like Judgement listens, guarding her secrets. I lean on my staff, defeated. I do not know what I can do in return for her kindness. But I must do something, after all she has done for my House. She hunted the Wolves, defeated Skolas, was a friend to me and my House. I click my mandibles in disappointment. I am still weak, still a failure. Nothing has changed. Once again I must seek the help of others.