Part 6: Circles of Smoke --- The Hunter looked at Herro for a long moment, then to the Fallen corpses that surrounded her. He could just feel her raised eyebrow as she looked back at him. “Okay, yeah, no. I didn’t say that right.” The EXO stuttered. “I [i]meant[/i] I was sent to find you, and, you know, help out if you were in trouble.” He could swear he could almost hear her eyebrow climbing higher. He rubbed his forehead plates with his fingers. “So much for first impressions.” He muttered to himself. Ghosty swam into existence, “What my Guardian is trying, and failing, to say is that Cayde-6 heard rumors you might be here and sent us to find you.” “I lost a bet.” Herro provided, helpfully. “So I got volunteered.” “Cayde-6?” The Hunter asked, her voice low and throaty, with a hint of a rasp. “You know, the Hunter Vanguard.” She drew back a little. There was a long pause before she asked. “Andal?” Herro blinked. “Oh, you didn‘t… Andal Brask, um, also lost a bet... His was just a little more…permanent.” “He’s dead.” She said, no color to her voice at all. Herro nodded. She withdrew a little more. --- The bar was dark and crowded, smelling of dust, smoke, leather and gunpowder, relics of its usual clientele. Most civilians who wandered into this bar by accident would quickly walk out again, but never without paying for a round of drinks first. That’s why the Hunters liked it, she supposed. She had thought that by coming here she would feel less alone. She had been wrong. “Hey kid, doing okay?” The Hunter looked up at the human who stood over her with a sympathetic smile. “Want some company?” She hesitated before nodding, swirling the drink in her hand, not even glancing up when there was a commotion at the poker table a couple other Guardians had set up nearby. “I know you’re cheating, Cayde!” One of the Hunters at the table accused. “Oh, yeah? Dare ya to prove it.” Andal glanced over and shook his head before taking the seat beside hers and signaling for a drink. “So…want to tell me about it?” She looked at him, and there was the memory of smoke in her eyes. --- “Ghosty, I’m losing her.” Herro said out of the corner of his mouth. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the Hunter, lest she disappear. “Isn’t that what you wanted?” Ghosty asked. “Find her and go home?” “That was before I saw her fight.” Herro-7 protested. “We’re going to need someone like her.” The Hunter’s helmet twitched between the two of them. “Leave.” She said, turning, her water-stained and rust flecked cloak swirling around her ankles. She vanished through the empty doorframe. Herro looked at his ghost. “Did she mean leave here or leave in general?” “I’m…not sure.” “Maybe she meant that she was leaving.” Herro strode towards the door the Hunter had disappeared through as Ghosty reintegrated himself into his armor. [i]Wouldn’t she have said ‘leaving’, then?[/i] “Dunno.” Herro shrugged, putting his helmet back on without breaking stride and pulling his hood back up. “I get the feeling talking isn’t her strong suit.” He paused once they made it outside, looking for traces of her passage, since he figured she hadn’t stuck around for long. Sure enough he saw only a flicker of movement a slight distance away and somewhat above him. It took a second to figure out the route she might have taken and he sighed before giving chase. “So… first Kings and now Devils.” He said conversationally to his ghost, trying to keep his mind off how close the water was in this section. “Think it’s significant?” [i]We know that the Kings mainly pull the strings of the other fallen Houses from the shadows. Maybe they called the Devils here for a reason?[/i] “Or maybe they’ve been here all along.” Herro’s foot slipped and he flailed for a second before recovering his balance and soldiering on. [i]A stronghold?[/i] “Could be.” He kept his eyes on the flickering shadow in the distance. “I’ll bet you she knows.” [i]We’re not getting any closer, are we?[/i] Ghosty observed. Peeved silence was his only answer. [i]If we lose her I doubt we’ll ever find her again.[/i] Herro didn’t say anything. He’d lost sight of her. No, wait. A little further down the vegetation choked street, he saw the flash of fabric whipping around a distant corner. He took off, Bones of Eao giving him extra maneuverability as he continued the chase. --- [i]Guardian?[/i] “Yeah.” [i]We’re back at the beginning, aren’t we?[/i] “Yeah, and now she’s gone, vanished like smoke.” Herro said, looking out at the dark expanse of water stretching out endlessly to the east. He turned his back to the violet-colored sea. “Hey, Ghosty. You want to know what I think?” [i]…Maybe?[/i] “I think we were getting close to something she didn’t want us to find so she lured us away.” The ghost’s voice sounded relieved. [i]That seems likely.[/i] “Hey, Ghosty.” Herro adjusted his hood. “In your experience, what’s the best way to get a Hunter to do something?” [i]Make a wager?[/i] “No, the other thing…” [i]Pay them a lot of glimmer?[/i] Herro sighed, but he couldn’t argue that. “The [i]other[/i] other thing.” [i]Oh…tell them they can’t.[/i] “Precisely.” Herro agreed, dropping back into the jagged maw that was Old Chicago. --- https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/227103334/0/0 - Part Seven https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226526566/0/0 - Table of Contents