If you missed the last chapter of REEF MOB, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/222173190/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! ***  [i]Faceless red demons pursue me, chasing me, running me down as I struggle to keep away – the howling, voiceless horde descends, features contorted, blurred, as the words they scream blend together into a shrieking din – Something catches my leg as I run – I fall forward, smacking my face against the ground. Tasting blood, I look back and see my leg is missing – The horror sinks in as I hear a powerful blast above me – looking up, I see my ship descending, more faceless demons leaping out to get me – I struggle to pull myself away, to move, but find I can’t – there’s a number of thick, pulsating red vines twisting themselves tighter around my body, choking, suffocating – A shadow descends over me – I look up and see a monster, red tendrils undulating eerily from it as it pulls me closer, consuming – I open my mouth to scream, and the figure turns – Taniks’ face smiles wickedly as the red vines start boring deeper into me, under my skin, my screams of terror silent against the onslaught of the crimson horde – [/i] I wake up in a cold sweat, still screaming – I sit up in bed, chest heaving as dry gasps rock me back and forth, the taste of copper heavy in my mouth – [i]THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.[/i] There’s a rhythmic, pounding noise that matches the thundering of my own heart – [i]Just a dream…..just a….[/i] I look down at my leg and see everything from above the knee down missing. [i]THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Mostly a dream….[/i] I flop back down, the mattress squishing with sweat. I groan with disgust, and struggle to rise again. Finally looking around, I notice the dingy squalor of the small room I’m in, the stained walls, the burnt-out lighting flickering over the door – [i]Where am I? THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.[/i] I look at the wall opposite me, and see it buckling from the rhythmic pounding coming from the other side. [i]What the hell…. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.[/i] A scream punctuates the repetition, and I instinctively rise at the noise before hearing it peter out into a low moan – a giggle follows shortly, followed by more [i]THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Oh dear gods….[/i] Finally realizing where I am, I struggle off the bed, retching and shivering. “Ewwww……ewwwww……” Gingerly hopping onto my remaining leg, I suddenly realize I’m clothed. Looking down, I see Corsair fatigues tied off at the left leg, a regulation boot beneath – a ripped and worn jacket covers a stained shirt that smells like someone died in it, old patches and marks torn away from the faded outlines of where they used to be – [i]As if I didn’t feel dirty already…. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.[/i] Positively quaking with revulsion, I quickly hop out of the room, hands clinging to the wall, and make my way out into Slumberland. I’d only ever been down here once since I first arrived on 6 Demeter, but it hasn’t changed much from what I remember. Old crusted walls stained with I don’t want to know what, lost and forlorn aliens putting on a smile to attract their clients, people shifting past, determined not to make eye contact – [i]How did I end up down here? Where was I – [/i] I struggle to remember, but catch only snatches of memories all running together through a haze of loss, pain, and [i]ether[/i] The compulsion hits me the second it crosses my mind. [i]etherether Need to find some, gotta find – etheretherEther[/i] My eyes rove the corridor desperately – I hop along the wall, hands shaking as I pull myself forward, scanning, searching – Ahead, a painted-up Vandal and her Awoken friends coo at some passing Verge – I struggle forward, feeling my eyes twitching, my tongue spasming in my cotton mouth, heart thumping violently against my ribcage – [i]THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. EtherEtherEther –[/i] The Vandal turns and catches sight of me – she taps the Awoken and the three all stare at me with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. “Sadsy ther, m’love,” one of the Awoken mumbles, tears welling in her eyes as she sees me. “Havens’t eaten, ‘avya?” I ignore her, shoving past the two Awoken to seize the Fallen – [i]EtherEtherETHER –[/i] The Vandal growls and struggles, trying to pull away – the two Awoken grab me, yanking my arms – I wheel on them, attacking blindly, recklessly – [i]ETHERETHERETHER –[/i] I swing and connect with one of their jaws, knocking her down – the momentum spins me and I lose my balance, crashing to the deck – the Awoken tries to run, but the Fallen attacks, seizing me and slamming me against the bulkhead – I spit in her eyes and kick with my leg, knocking the wind out of her – as the two Awoken try to pull me off, my hands clasp desperately at the Fallen, fingers twisting into claws that rake across her body – [i]ETHERETHERETHER!![/i] A tinkle of metal hits the deck, and I look to see the small knife the Fallen had tucked away falling harmlessly from her – I grab it in a blink and press it ruthlessly to her throat – “BACK!” I growl to the Awoken, and they freeze, eyes wide with horror as they watch me – fingers trembling, I reach out to pull the Vandal’s ether mask away – [i][b]ETHERETHERETHER!!!![/b][/i] She struggles, pushing against me, and without a thought I trace the blade quickly across her throat – the Awoken gasp as the Vandal convulses, gasping and wheezing horribly – With a moan of pleasure and pain, I fix the Vandal’s mask to my face, taking a deep, grateful breath – rolling onto my back, I breathe again deeply, eyes growing unfocused – I don’t notice the Awoken women running away, don’t notice the other denizens of Slumberland catching sight of me and running in the opposite direction – all I notice is ether, the relief, the escape – I don’t even notice the two Verge looking down at me until they grab me roughly by the arms – I struggle instinctively to fight them off, but one of them draws back his fist and launches it at my face, everything suddenly going black – … Someone slaps me awake from a dreamless sleep – I grunt as my eyelids flutter – [i]etherether[/i] They slap me again, knocking my head back, and my eyelids snap open. “Wheresa – “ I slur vacantly. The question only earns another slap. “Enough,” a voice says nearby. I peer through the semi-darkness at a round shape in front of me, two pinpoints of light gazing shrewdly back. “Wheresa muh breakfast….” I slur again. “Who are you?” I stare at the shape as the question runs through my mind – [i]etherEther –[/i] “Who are you?” he asks again. I know the answer he wants to hear, the answer that will stop the pain, the answer that will give me more [i]EtherEtherEther –[/i] “Jussa Tanis,” I mumble back obediently. The shape whispers to the shadows, and I hear whispers back. The shape steps forward, further into the light, and I finally see a graying old Awoken man, round as he is tall, eyes calculating and a little… [i]Pitying? EtherEtherETHER![/i] “How did you end up here?” I shake my head. [i]Stop asking me, just give me my – ETHERETHERETHER!![/i] The man pulls a Fallen mask from behind his back, and I nearly leap at him to grab it before realizing my hands are shackled – I rattle the chains violently as I struggle to reach my [i]ETHERETHERETHER!!!![/i] The man lowers it to my face and I take a deep, grateful drag – before I can take another, though, he pulls it away. “Not too much,” he says sagely, tucking the mask back behind his back. “Gotta teach you how to control the impulse so you don’t keep attacking my clients.” I look at him curiously as the compulsion fades into the background of my mind. Finally gathering my thoughts, I look him deep in the eyes, questioning. The man chuckles at the look knowingly. “My name is Rafe,” he tells me. “And I think I can help you.” “….how….” “Don’t worry,” he tells me, patting my shoulder. “I think we can come to an agreement that will benefit both of us.” He nods behind me, and someone releases my shackles – I fall to the ground and look up at him suspiciously. “How?” Rafe smiles again, and turns to the shadows – someone from behind hands him a large package wrapped in cloth, which he takes and presents to me, folding the wrapping back to reveal a cobbled-together assortment of metal struts, wires and pistons, all ending in a wicked claw – I realize what it is in an instant and look at him again suspiciously. “Why?” Rafe shrugs as he kneels before me and gently affixes the metal appendage to my stump – locking it in place, he rises again and holds out his hand. I knock it away as I struggle to my feet, gingerly resting my weight on it, getting the feel of my new leg. “Because we missed you, Ia,” he says sincerely. “Welcome home.”