#this one got kinda wlw on accident but Im chill with it

[talyn-the-warlock]

(Finally getting back into the swing of writing, Guardians!)

The glare of fluorescent lighting shone through the jumpship's windscreen, assailing Talyn's tired eyes with hard light. She closed them, her eyelids giving her pounding head the barest respite. Leaning back in her seat, she drew a deep, measured breath. In, to a count of four. Her imagination made brilliant, twinkling starlight fill her breast in lieu of stale hangar air. As she breathed out, her mind saw inky smoke pour out of her nostrils. With it went the pain in her head, and the anxiety in her chest. Her Light was capable of so many things, if she gave it a little coaxing. Something always forced back the murk inside her when she breathed in this way. When she was mindful of herself, her actions, and her presence in the natural world, a tranquility followed. Now, in this fleeting moment of solitude, she sought it as best she could.

Talyn didn't know why she felt the way she did about such a routine mission. She had fought the Cabal in entrenched attrition for days at a time. Alone, she had hunted beasts of the Hive who refused to die no matter how many times they were felled. The halls of the Vault of Glass had stolen eons from her. There was no logical reason for a simple strike operation to leave her this way. On a good day, Talyn would have torn through it effortlessly and asked for more. Perhaps it was merely a matter of circumstance. It was a scenario she hardly could have daydreamed just a year ago. An unlikely Eliksni ally, leading Talyn and her best friend to a time-sensitive battle against a beast of their past. Two Guardians bested a trial intended for three, and were rewarded with a weapon of dubious origin. She and Hangman would have a field day picking the gun apart, but that was for another day. A promise called to her now. She wasn't about to rest until it was upheld.

A heavy clomp at her six o'clock made Talyn snap her eyes open, craning her head around to make sense of the noise. A redheaded Hunter clad in chess-set monochrome had appeared just beyond the cockpit's entrance, arms still curled around the handrails of a ladder. She had always warned Soren (and the members of her clan, besides) about sliding down those things. One of these days, she'd trip and need an embarrassing resurrection. It didn't stand repeating an umpteenth time- if it hadn't stuck before, there was no reason to believe it would now. The Hunter was nothing if not reckless and free, and it wasn't hard for Talyn to concede it was one of the many things she loved about her. As her friend approached with a whistle on her lips, the Warlock set her eyes back forward and pretended to be busy. Sending her Ghost to ready her ship would give her an alibi if Soren had noticed her awkward gawking.

"Going somewhere?" she asked in a smooth drawl, taking hold of her shoulders. The feeling of Soren's firm hands working kinks out of her muscles was a welcome one. "You're scheduled for R&R after this, dude."

"So are you," the Warlock parried with a cocked eyebrow. Soren was still in full armor and cloak, revolver strapped to her thigh and rifle slung across her back. It was clear she was in as much hurry to rest as Talyn was.

"Touché," she conceded, leaning over the pilot's chair to tap in a set of coordinates. "My buddy told me there's a floating island in the EDZ right now, though. It sounds bitchin', you wanna come check it out?"

Talyn shook her head. A glance to the side told her that her vessel had just pulled in to dock. The only thing keeping her seated now was the massage she was getting. "I can't. I've got a prior engagement."

"With?"

"Petra Venj."

"C'mon Tal…" Soren's voice had taken an almost maternal edge. It was plain she knew exactly what her intentions were. "...you're exhausted. Don't say you ain't, I can tell. Why don't you just stay here and chill?"

"Because I promised," said the Warlock. Stinging memories of her battles across the Tangled Shore and muted conversations with the Queen's Wrath rose and fell in her like choppy seas. The jolt in her chest synchronizing with the bark of the Ace of Spades as she took an innocent life. Her silence when those six Guardians left to slay Riven, doubts stayed on the tip of her tongue. Everything she could have done. Should have done. Talyn's home from a life before was cursed, tainted, teetering on the brink as endless repetition tore the defenders down. As far as she was concerned, the blame rested with the vengeful fool who killed Uldren Sov. She needed to make it right. "They need me."

As she tried to rise, Talyn found herself pinned by the grip on her shoulders. Nothing hostile, but enough pressure to make erecting herself difficult. "Listen...I realized a long time ago they need something we can't give," Soren said. "You don't have to keep doing this to yourself."

"If not me, then who?" Talyn demanded, far sharper than she had intended. "I'm not giving up on them, Soren."

"Ain't asking you to. I just want you fighting your own battles first."

Frustration swelled, a fanged leviathan threatening to crest the storm-lashed waves of emotion rolling inside her. This was her battle. Nothing would be in the state it was were it not for her blunder. For everything she had done, Talyn had been the architect of the Awoken's misery. Often she wondered if she was the only one still enthralled to duty. Too many Guardians had become wrapped up in old world arms races and the games of a snake to pay the Dreaming City attention. Soren was one such, even if she hadn't thought much of it. She didn't understand. Maybe she couldn't. But Talyn knew the Hunter was a good woman. She was only trying to help, putting her best friend's welfare well before the plight of a doomed people. There was no shame in keeping your own. In a breath, Talyn swallowed her knee-jerk reaction. She didn't plan to back down, but she reassessed her strategy.

"To choose your battles is a privilege," she said with finality. "A luxury the Corsairs don't have."

Soren shook her head with a small huff. "You reckon you can help them, Tal?"

"I have to try."

It seemed to take a moment to chew, her gaze going from the dashboard to the Awoken and back again. Her grip on Talyn's shoulders slackened, arms instead wrapping around her to hold her from behind. It too was welcome, and Talyn conceded to lean back into the embrace. Drawn-out seconds ticked by in silence. Neither woman moved, save for to look into each other's eyes. Talyn could see everything her friend was thinking. Debating. Coming up with alternatives and frustrated argument only to shoot them down one by one. It was clear nothing she could say would satisfy either of them. She closed her eyes and nodded, chuckling at it all. Her breathy little laugh made Talyn smile, too. They had come to a quiet catharsis, the kind of mutual understanding only friends so close could share. The Warlock supposed now would be as good a time as any to show herself out.

Before she could work her way up, Soren again leaned forward and punched new commands into the ship's console. An inquisitive tone took Talyn's voice. "What are you doing?"

"Setting a course for us," she explained, her air of cool mischief creeping back into her voice.

Puzzled, Talyn couldn't help but ask. "Where?"

"The Dreaming City," Soren answered. "Don't mind if I tag along, do you?"

She replied through a glowing smile. "Of course not."