Chapter Text
The Prison of Elders was a daunting sight. It loomed over the desolate landscape around it and a dark aura radiated from its oppressive presence. A sense of dread washed over you as you saw it come into view, growing larger and larger as the sparrow you were on whirled and whined its way through the landscape. You had requested a new placement, but you didn’t expect to actually get what you wanted. You thought maybe you would get placed in a different sector in the Tower or even sent with patrols to help them repair any gear or old tech they found or perhaps even called crazy and sent home. Zavala seemed to have an unique sense of humor though, and decided to kill two birds with one stone.
A certain Exo had been nagging him about getting off the Tower, and you, an innocent engineer, just happened to be seeking some spice in your work life at the same time, so why not agree with your demands to go work at the Prison of Elders with none other than Cayde-6 as your escort. Though it was unusual for a human to leave the Last City to be present in the Tower, you proved yourself to be rather handy and managed to wiggle your way up the ranks in the Tower. Of course Zavala was initially not enthused about your presence, he soon became fond of you as a father is fond of his least favorite child. Yet, he did not wish harm to come to you, in fact it was more that Queen Mara was not opposed to an additional set of hands on deck, though she seemed to not be interested in much involving the Tower and those who resided there. Her apathetic view on the situation and the presence of many guardians at the Prison of Elders, gave Zavala enough confidence that perhaps this assignment would not be as dangerous as he was anticipating and you were under the impression that he expected you to come crying home within a week because an Eliksni growled at you the wrong way. However, as long as it didn’t interfere with her work your presence was simply an afterthought to Queen Mara which you intended to use to work on some personal projects that you lacked the ability to focus on in the Tower.
It had been a journey so far and with your lack of sparrow riding knowledge you had been glued to the back of Cayde-6 for the entire trip. It wasn’t so bad in the jumpship, at least there you could relax a little and tinker with his ship calibrations, you couldn’t wait for him to leave and find the little surprise you left for him. Hopefully he remembers how to revert the language settings on his shuttle. The sparrow skipped over a rock, jostling you, your arms flailing around before clutching tightly onto Cayde in an attempt to not fall off.
“Woah there girl, you good?”
His light hearted voice echoed in your helmet as he spoke through the comms system. You just nodded, pressing your head into his back and steadying your shaky breathing. You really weren’t cut out for this kind of travel. Cursing, you pondered over if Zavala was right, maybe you were not really fit for this; you settled back down and sighed. This was a lot, perhaps more than you bargained for. The click of the comms rang through your helmet again,
“Not much further now. A storm is coming in so it might be a little bumpy, I gotta ramp up our speed a little.”
“T…this wasn’t as fast as this thing goes?” you whimpered out.
“Oh no little engineer, I was actually going pretty slow cause you seemed…uncomfortable. We can turn back if you’d like.”
A pause.
“No. Keep going,” a spark of defiance rippled through your voice as you answered him harshly.
He was trying his best to be kind, you could tell that much, but you couldn’t help the wave of guilt that washed over you after your little spat at him. You were delaying the trip with your inexperience. Maybe this whole thing was a mistake, or maybe it is some cruel joke and you are really just going to head back to the jumpship after you had been scared enough to never ask for anything again. You felt weak and clung to Cayde, your fingers clutching the fabric of his uniform and your chest pressed firmly against his back as if you were attempting to become one with him and maybe absorb his bravery and comfort on this cursed thing. The hum of Cayde’s mechanical inner workings faintly buzzed as your head was nestled in between his shoulder blades.
“Just don’t let me fall off. I want to make it back to the Tower in one piece after this. Gotta show us regular people can hold their own right?”
Your voice tapered off with uncertainty as Cayde laughed loudly into the comms, causing you to wince, his chest vibrated as his mechanical voice rang out and you couldn’t help but let a small smile slip. There was nothing to prove, you had already exceeded expectations by just existing on the Tower, but Cayde’s kindness and jovial attitude eased your concern.
“Roger that partner, hold on tight.” He whooped in excitement as he floored the handles of the sparrow. It was extremely nerve racking to be jumping from rock to rock at an alarming pace, but part of you was beginning to enjoy it as the looming shadow of the prison overtook you both. Your fear of riding was replaced with anxiety as you peaked over Cayde-6’s shoulder to get a better look at the place. It was breathtaking, sure, but it wasn’t a breath freely given. It chilled you to your core. This was stupid. You buried your head back into Cayde-6’s back again and tears streamed down your cheeks. I’m stupid. It was too late now, you knew if you went back to the Tower or the Last City you would regret it. It was monotonous there, you felt hollow and unfulfilled. Was perhaps one of the more dangerous places to go the best alternative? No, but you were desperate, dying for a release from your life. Perhaps actually dying wouldn’t be that bad. You shook your head and inhaled deeply against Cayde-6, perhaps it was just riding on the sparrow or being out in the open that was causing your emotions to be erratic and unpredictable.
You hoped he didn’t notice your sudden shift in mood, but something was telling you that he knew perfectly well how you were fairing, or rather he definitely would when he found the dried tears and unfortunate nasal leftovers of your little crying episode on the back of his suit. The remainder of the trip was spent trying to collect yourself, poor Cayde had become a stress relief tool as you held him tighter than necessary to stay on the sparrow. It seemed that he picked up on your attempt at relaxation and he began to hum. It was a tune heard around the Tower now and again and it eased you. You focused on him as the sound of the wind slowly faded and the whine of the sparrow began to cease as you pulled up to your destination. You didn’t raise your head for a moment, desiring to be frozen in time, in limbo, carefree. Yet, that peace was interrupted by Cayde-6 as he was wont to do.
“Train’s at the station little engineer,” his voice was clear and chipper through the comms. Slowly, you unstuck yourself from his back and peeked over his shoulder up at the monstrous structure. It was a daunting building. It blended amongst the debris floating in the air around it and held an almost eerie silence that was suffocating. With shaky legs, you dismounted the sparrow and felt even smaller as you stood on the cold, unforgiving ground. This was it. A hand touching your shoulder garnered your attention. Turning, Cayde-6 was standing beside you, giving you a small smile before gently guiding you to the door, his hand never leaving its newfound home on your upper back. The door creaked open as you approached and Cayde-6 did not slow his stride as the two of you just barely slipped through the opening. His chest pressing against your back as he guided you up against him to fit through the small crevice, stepping over the mouth of the horizontal base and ducking both of your heads to not hit the top of the fixture. It was always curious to you how he was so warm. You doubt that he would let you tinker around in his chest cavity. The two of you finished wiggling through and Cayde-6 separated from you, but his hand remained in its place.
“Sorry, we’d be here till the next Dawning if we would’ve waited for that blasted thing to open.” He grinned at you as he guided you to the second door, which opened much faster and required no theatrics or acrobatics to navigate. As you entered the next opening, a vast display of corridors, lifts, and cell block signs greeted you. You looked around the grand space, it looked so alien to you, which you weren’t expecting. You were familiar with lost sectors and other planets from reading and eavesdropping on guardians around the tower, so you thought you were prepared for almost anything, but not this. The Prison of Elders was spoken about only in hushed conversations around the Tower, at least when you were around, at the time you just assumed there wasn’t anything of interest to note about it. That was far from the truth. This place was anything but dull and lackluster.
A screech echoed through the halls and startled you. You took a step back, your hands clapping over your mouth to stifle a yelp. Mechanical hands held your arms from behind steadying you, and Cayde’s voice was soft as he murmured in a soothing tone. His hands moved up and down your arms, easing your fear as you relaxed.
“Little engineer, please, I can take you home. I’ll tell Zavala I was worried for your safety,” his grip tightened on you, “You don’t have to do this. We can go home.”
You bristled at his comment and pushed his hands away.
“No Cayde, I have to do this. I need to do this. I am not some damsel in need of rescuing-”
“I know that,” he snapped back.
You stared at him, in silence waiting for him to say something else. He rubbed his eyes, perhaps a habit of a past life instilled in him, and sighed.
“I know you can make your own choices. I just… I just worry about you. Who else will keep me in tip top shape other than you? The Tower is full of warlocks with sticks up their ass, hunters who can’t calm down for two seconds, and titans headbutting each other for fun. I…I am going to miss your company especially with you being in a place… like this.” He averted his gaze.
Your glare softened. He wasn’t trying to ruin your grand plans, he was just going to miss you. Guilt flashed through you again. If Cayde was good at anything it was making you feel bad for being mean to him.
“I’m sorry Cayde. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that I…I just want someone to trust that I can do this. I need someone in my corner, Cayde. I need you to support me in this.” He glanced back over to you, and let out a cheeky chortle.
“O maiden, will thoust write to me?”
Your laugh echoed through the halls as you about doubled over. Cayde was holding back snickers as he kept you from falling completely to the floor.
“Fair consort…I…I will,” you barely choked out between fits of laughter. Cayde’s face lit up and his motors whirred a little faster.
“That is all I ask. Just let me know if you are safe and if you need rescuing I will be there.”
“With theatrics?”
“Oh fuck yes with theatrics.”
The both of you fell into a fit of giggles again. However, it was much more short lived this time as the sound of someone clearing their throat caught your attention. Wiping tears from your eyes you looked over to the source of the noise to see a rather tall Awoken glaring at you. Well, upon further inspection she was glaring at the Exo who was still laughing behind you.
She cleared her throat again.
Cayde-6 looked up that time and in a feeble attempt tried to stifle his laughter.
“Ah, Petra Venj, looking as terrifying as usual.” He opened his arms wide in a greeting and her glare somehow intensified. You were starting to get concerned that the lines in her face may just be permanent.
“Cayde-6. Is this the human engineer?” She pointed down at you, still not making eye contact with you .
“ Yes ma’am! The one and only. Oh, show her that thing you do!” He clapped excitedly.
“The thing?” you questioned and her eyes finally met yours as she sighed. She pulled out a dagger from her side and Cayde gasped with delight. Your eager eyes watched as the dagger ascended in her hand and spun a few times in the air before falling back into her grasp.
“Oh do it again!” Cayde practically squealed and nudged you. She shook her head as the dagger spun again briefly. He leaned over his hand covering the wrong side of his mouth so Petra could still hear him and whispered,
“It really freaks me out but I can’t get enough.” A small smirk lit up the grumpy Awoken’s face at his comment and the tension she had arrived with seemed to ease slightly.
“Perhaps after we get your friend to the Warden to get her assignment. If you have time I’d like to discuss some plans with you while they are getting acquainted.” She gestured to the two of you to begin following her.
“I guess I could clear my very packed schedule to squeeze you in for a few moments.”
“How kind of you.” Petra commented sarcastically. Oh. She wasn’t actually mad at him. They reminded you of your younger siblings who would bicker and a tinge of homesickness. You shook it off and took note of your surroundings. Petra and Cayde maintained a steady conversation about some business in a lost sector as you trailed behind them. The wails of the prisoners became louder as you approached what you presumed to be the warden’s hub. Your nerves kicked in again as you had no idea what to expect from the warden. You didn’t even think to ask if they were human or perhaps a cabal, you had no idea. As you approached the doors, Cayde glanced back at you and shot you a wink. It was enough to quell your nerves slightly.
Petra knocked rhythmically before the doors slid open. The room was dark and full of electronics, cameras, machines of all types, a dreamscape for you. Your hands twitched, eager to explore whatever circuits or wires they’d let you get your hands on. As you looked around, four aquamarine lights, roughly ten feet in the air, flickered as if they were focused on you. How curious, you thought to yourself before the lights moved closer. Ice shot through your veins, those are not lights. As the creature moved from the darkness into the dim light that filled a small portion of the room, your eyes traveled up its form. Clothed in intricate fabricates, the figure approached, four arms adorned with hefty three fingered paws, two of which you noted were mechanical. His collar had soft looking white fur lining it and the chainmail from his face plate dangled just below his chin. His helmet had what looked like horns sticking out of the side of it and a heat radiated off of him as he stood before you. He was an Eliksni. You’d never seen one in person and by the sheer size of him he had to have been a Kell, right?
“Guardians? What have you brought Variks?”
Variks, that name sounds so familiar.
His tone was almost like a mechanical purr, his intonation sounding slightly off as the common language was not his native tongue, you had a feeling perhaps his voice mods were not functioning properly. It made you shiver as you listened to his deep breathing coursing through the module.
“Cayde-6 has brought you a new engineer to help maintain the prison systems.” Petra stated.
Variks chuckled, the noise was almost a wheeze but you could hear the underlying chitters of his laughter.
“This creature? She is … small.” he chortled again but stopped mid laughter as Petra’s gaze did not waiver.
“You are serious, Petra?” He inquired.
She simply nodded and handed him a few documents, no doubt orders from Queen Mara and permission from Zavala. It felt akin to turning in a permission slip to visit the Tower when you were in elementary. Variks reviewed the documents, humming quietly as his eyes darted to and fro. He scanned them one last time before placing them down and returning his gaze to you. It was hard not to avert your gaze and even harder to not step back as he approached you. He leaned down so his face was in front of yours and spoke firmly.
“Welcome aboard, little engineer.”