Explanation, if you missed it! : https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/256751222/0/0 Shadow's amber eyes glowed brightly with excitement. The violet glow of the reef complimented her ivory awoken skin. It was her first time here, yet vague memories pulled in the depths of her mind. "Good luck out there, hunter!" The cheery voice stopped her thoughts short. She turned back to the Queen's Wrath and nodded once. "Thank you." Irritation crawls beneath her skin. "Are you alright?" Her ghost floated after her, hovering over her shoulder. "Yeah..." She glanced back again, confused as to why she felt so irritable, despite Petra's commendable attitude.      Shadow shrugged, turning away. Her relaxation, however, didn't last. In a heartbeat the hunter's hand was at her gun and the other already holding her knife. Her ghost chirped in alarm, following his guardian's panicked gaze. "Guardian, relax!"      Shadow stared wide eyed at the vandal looming over her fellow guardians. "What do you mean, [i]relax? That's a fallen![/i]" She struggled to keep her voice down. Her ghost twirled his shell anxiously. He would hate to have to explain to the Queen why one of her servants was dead. "He belongs to the Queen, remember?" She paused, raising a now curious eyebrow. "He? How can you even tell?" Ignoring the stupid question, the ghost gently nudged his guardian's shoulder. "Petra said to talk to him. You'll be working with him." [i]Working with him! A fallen? Ha! No way! [/i]Regardless, the hunter bit her tongue and cautiously moved foward until she was close enough for him to notice her.      The other guardians had dispersed, leaving the two alone.      The fallen turned his head to her with a sharp clatter of his chainmail mask. Shadow drew in a sharp breath as she found herself staring into the startlingly blue eyes of what was supposed to be her enemy. She had never been this close to a fallen, unless she was stabbing them. But for some reason, something calmed the agression in her almost instantly in his equally curious gaze.      Her hand fell away from her knife slowly as they stared at one another. Odd growling, clicking sounds broke her out of her trance and she was once more thoroughly disturbed. "Hello." She held out her hand, attempting to hide how uneasy she felt. He stared at her as if she'd grown a second head— and then made some gutteral noise causing her to flinch, hand gripping her knife once more. Did fallen ...laugh? "Ahh, a guardian... It is good to meet you yess?" He leans in far too close for comfort and she shrinks away nervously. His voice is unnecessarily loud and high-pitched, echoing around the reef. She decides she doesn't like it. Or the creepy way he's staring at her. Or him.      The hunter's rude behavior doesn't seem to deter him at all as he presses on. "You speak to Variks, of House Judgment." He straightens himself proudly and slams his staff against the floor, causing her to jump. "Uh, good to meet you," she mutters awkwardly.      The hunter swears she can see some sort of a smirk behind that mask, and it lights a fire in her stomach. [i]Im not letting him think im scared of him. Smug b*stard.[/i] He blinks all four glowing eyes at her and she shivers. "You have traveled far from your light..." He leans in close again, observing her far too thoroughly for comfort. "You will tell me your name?" "Shadow... you can call me Shadow."      Ignoring her cold stare, he takes a step even closer to her.      She holds her ground this time, staring straight back at him. Even drawing herself up to her full height, she is at least a head shorter. She can feel his warmth against her and she blinks rapidly, her confidence evaporating fast. "Sorry, it's just— I've never talked to a fallen before," she admits nervously. "'Fallen'. An unflattering name" he clicks softly. Understand this creature was difficult. It was hard for Shadow to imagine they thought of anything other than murdering her people.      And now she was working with one? "Oh- uh- I'm sorry?" "We are [i]Eliksni[/i]," he corrects her. "E-lik-sni," she pronounces hesitantly. How odd.      He snorts in amusement, shifting around, and the sudden movement attracts the guardian's attention to his upper arms. She stares wide-eyed with open curiosity. [i]I don't remember any fallen having those...[/i] "Are you staring at my arms?" The sharpness of his voice catches her off guard. "Oh, um—" she stutters as he backs away from her, his head lowered. [i]Does this guy have split personalities? [/i] The hunter is just as confused as her ghost as to why she's apologizing or stuttering at all. His little gray shell twitches while he watches her intently. "Where Skolas [i]cut[/i] me?" He grips his staff tightly, refusing to meet her gaze. The vandal spits the name like poison. "Look away," he commands. She can hear the bitterness in his voice, and it sends a wave of pity washing through her veins. Were the fallen so cruel as to maim their own? There's a moment of silence between them before she responds gently. "Alright... I'm sorry." She rotates her knife in her hand, takes a deep breath. "Its been nice meeting you, Variks." His name feels odd on her tongue but for some reason she wants to say it again. "I should be going now." The vandal shakes his head as if to clear it and straightens himself again. "I look foward to working with you, guardian. You and me, discuss our plans very soon, yeesss?" [i]Does he want me to leave because of the arms thing? Have I upset him? Why do I care? Why does he keep saying yes?! [/i] A million questions with hardly any answers are scattered about in her mind. She realizes he is watching her patiently, his hands clasped together tightly. "Oh. Yes, we will. I'll be in touch."    They stare at eachother for a long moment before the hunter begins feeling odd and unsettled and finally starts to back away. "Hopefully I will see you sooner... rather than later..." She blinks. Was this fallen really different from the rest? Could they really trust him? She needed to know more about him. The guardian made a mental note to ask her ghost later. She walks away, prepared to go to her ship, but can't help a last glance behind her. The fallen's piercing blue gaze hadn't left her, and she meets it one more time. Inwardly, she continues to battle between anger and pity. "Guardian? Are you ready to go?...............Hello?..............Shadow?.... Shadow!" "Huh?" "Hey..... are you okay?" He floats around infront of her, breaking their eye contact. She blinks and flinches back, startled as he begins scanning her body. "What's the matter?" She asks irritatedly. Her ghost stares at her with that intense little eye, wandering over the features of her pale face. "Your heart was beating so fast, I was worried." "Oh." Her ghost doesn't seem to take the hint to be quiet and presses the subject further. "Did he scare you?" [i]Yes[/i]. She waves him away from her face, eager to be on their way. "Of course not.... come on, let's go already."