The sun shines brightly in the blue sky over the tower plaza, promising yet another beautiful day. A gentle warm breeze dances around the guardians that are congregating in the plaza. Some sit on the soft grass lazily while others gather around stands set up in the surrounding area.

Standing around Banshee-44's stand is a trio of hunters. They are talking about weapons. One is trying to check if there is an upgrade for his handgun while another wants to get his sniper rifle repaired.

The stand's owner holds up a hand, "One at a time."

Meanwhile, two rookie warlocks stand in front of a stand owned by Rahool. Their reason: to have their engrams decoded. Titans check their vaults in the middle of the plaza, either depositing or retrieving items, while others are checking their mail with the postmaster. As all of this is happening, pilots teleport to and from their ships within the plaza square. Those arriving, once their feet touch land, the spacecraft would switch to autopilot, directing itself to the docking bay until the guardian is ready.

One guardian phasing in is an Awoken. Ashen skin with a hue of blue contrast nicely with ocean blue hair with electrifying blue eyes. The armor she wears is a rare warlock set, Dujia Shou chest plate. Gauntlets and Temporis Flo 4 leg armor, both black, are strapped upon her body.

Two fellow Warlocks turn from talking with Rahool to watch the Awoken female walk past them. The Exo Warlock leans over to her human partner. She whispers, "Is that her?

Seeing who the female is talking about, the male nods his head slowly, trying not to attract himself. "Yeah, that is her, the crazed warlock. The older Warlocks have warned us about her." He watches her from the corners of his eyes, "I went on a mission with her once. And you know what? The rumors are true.

The plates around the Exo's eyes go up in surprise. She asks, "What happened?"

"We were fighting the Fallen, and she went crazy fighting them. She got all up close and personal with them. She looked like a feral woman with all that blood on her."

Turning, the Exo eyes the Awoken female casually talking to her ghost and comments, "She doesn't look like a feral woman. Are you sure?"

The male huffs, "That's because you've never been on a team with her. You're lucky Ikora chooses to send her out on solo missions."

Stopping mid-step, the awoken spins on her heels and turn towards the two.

"Oh shit!" Swears the human under his breath. He quickly grabs his partner's hand, "She heard us. Let's go," and drags her away from the stand.

Instead of focusing her attention on the two retreating guardians, the woman glances at the stand they were just at. Grinning, she jobs over, waving at the stand's owner. "Rahool! Morning!"

Hearing his name, the man looks up. He finds a female coming his way all too chipper. "Guardian Nax, what can I do for you?"

Stopping in front of him, Nax places a finger on her chin in thought. "From you? Let me see, Hmmm," She thinks about what she wants for a while more before her lips curve up in a lazy smile, "How about a smile?"

Rahool is not amused. He studies her smile before looks down at his tablet. There is too much work to do. "Do you have any engrams for me to decode?"

Sighing in disappointment, Nax nods her head. She begins pulling out a few engrams and hands them. "Yeah, I have a few."

Nodding his head, Rahool takes the engrams. Immediately he begins to decode them. No words are exchange as the silence fills the void. The silence starts to make Nax uncomfortable, so she decides to strike up small talk.

"So, how's your day? Mine has been super busy!" The chipper tone returns to her voice.

The man nods his head. The movement causes his hood to shift just slightly. "I can tell by your finds." Turning his tablet around, he hands it to her to reveal the items of hers that he decoded.

She says enthusiastically, "Hopefully, I found some good ones!" Taking the tablet, she scrolls through what she found. "Oh well. I'll have better luck next time," sighs the woman.

The decoded items reveal standard boots and a gun. The gun, though, it is not any better than her current gun, that outranks it. Typing in her vault and access code, she transfers the items. Later, she can dismantle them. Handing the tablet away, she turns and starts walking away.

Stopping, she looks over her shoulder, a smile playing upon her lips, "One day I will get that smile!"

Rahool retorts, "On that day the day the Traveler awakens, guardian."

"When the Traveler awakes, I'm holding you to it!" She calls out. On that note, she turns back to her next course: The Hall of Guardians. Passing through, she makes sure to wave toward Banshee.

Taking the stairs down, they lead her into a large room at the end of the hall. A voice calls out to her as she walks, "Guardian."

Stopping the warlock turns to greet the other woman warmly, "Eris! How are you today?"

"I am well. Did you find what I was asking for?"

"Oh, right! The stone you wanted." Immediately, she starts patting and checking her pockets. As she searches herself for it, Nax explains, "It was a bit hard to find. For a while, I didn't think I was going to find it."

Not finding the stone, she frowns. Looking up, she asks her bobbing ghost, "Beeze? Do you know where I put it?"

"Did you forget already? After you killed the captain, you gave it to me." States the ghost.

Snapping her fingers, as a light bulb goes off, a grin on her face reflects it. "That's right! When I killed the captain, he had it; wearing it like a necklace." Holding out her palm, she asks, "Beeze, the stone please?"

"Of course." Eager to please his guardian, the ghost materializes a small green-blue stone in his guardian's open palm.

Nax holds out the stone to the other woman, "Here you go, Eris."

A small smile forms upon the vendor's face. She thanks the guardian. "Thank you, guardian. This artifact will be a great help to further my studies."

Nax shrugs her shoulders, "I'm glad I could help. If you need me to make another run, send a message to Beeze."

"Nax, we better go. Ikora is waiting for us to report in," Interrupts Beeze.

"Okay, Beeze. I'm on my way." She asks, "I'll see you later, Eris?"

Eris Morn nods her head, turning around to her table. Nax takes this as her cue to leave, "Alright, see ya later!"

She turns around and begins to head to the vanguards. A pair of cold hands on her arm causes the Awoken to stop. Turning, she gives Eris a confused look, "Is there something you need, Eris? Did Cayde-6 mess with your stuff?"

Eris shakes her head, "No. Be careful, warlock. I hear rumors swarming around the tower, stories about you. She stares into Nax's blue eyes with her three glowing green ones.

Nax is not unnerved with Eris's three eyes. Truthfully, nothing about the other woman frightens her. Sighing, she is annoyed by the rumors. "Yeah," She places a gloved hand on the other's, "I hear them too. I will be careful. I need to check in with Ikora. I'll see you later, okay?"

Nodding her head, Eris lets go of the warlock's arm. "I will call upon you when I have another task."

"I'm counting on it!"

She waves goodbye to her fellow friend before turning around. Entering the hall, Nax greets her elder, "Good morning, Ikora."

####

Cayde looks up from his map upon hearing someone greeting Ikora cheerfully. The person is a warlock that he had seen a few times before, not as often as the others. However, it is hard to forget her.

Returning his attention to the map, he pauses when he notices something off. Even though Ikora has greeted her warlock warmly, Cadye takes notice of her stance: stiff. Seeing the change this causes him to wonder what has her on alert with this warlock. Keeping his eyes on his map, Cayde leaves an ear out for their conversation.

"Guardian how was the mission," asks Ikora as Nax approaches her.

"Oh, it went great," says Nax, a smile pasted on her face. "I was able to disband that Fallen group that was setting up camp a bit too close to one of the wild settlements."

Smiling at her, Ikora congratulates her, "Excellent work. Go ahead and take a few days of rest."

"Oh...um... sure, okay." The ocean haired Awoken shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

Noticing the other's movement, the Warlock Vanguard asks, "Is there something wrong?"

"Well, um...is there another mission I can do?" asks Nax shyly.

"Another one?" The older warlock asks surprise, her raising. "You just came back from a mission."

"I know, but..." She pauses, trying to figure out what to say and convince Ikora to let her have another mission.

Cayde takes notice; he is not the only one listening. Another has also looked up, taking note. Zavala has taken an interest.

"Going from mission to mission is not ideal. Doing so will burn out any guardian, even experienced ones. Take Ikora's advice. Take a few days off. There will be plenty of missions when you return," states the commander.

Knowing there is no way to convince Ikora and Commander Zavala, Nax's shoulders slump in defeat. She gives a simple nod of acknowledgment. Remembering something, she focuses her eyes on Ikora. "Do you, by any chance, know if Evie is back from her mission?"

"Evie?" Ikora turns toward the Hunter, "Isn't she one of your hunters, Cayde?" She knows the Exo was listening. Nothing gets past them.

"Huh?" He looks up, trying to pretend that he is not paying attention. However, the look in Ikora's eyes tells him she is not buying it. She knows he was listening just like Zavala.

Coughing, he clears his throat. Picking up a pile of papers strewn about his area on the table, he shuffles through them. "Yeah, Evie is one of my best. I sent her to Venus, I think." Finding the report on the mission, he glances through it, "Nope! She's on Mars." Looking up, he eyes the younger warlock, "I'm afraid she won't be back for another few days."

Ikora offers, "Consider this a chance to get to know your fellow Warlocks."

"Yeah, a great chance." Nax shares a look with her ghost.

The Exo sees the look. He knows it, having given them to his ghost when Zavala lectures him on skimping his duties. Curious, he asks, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Nax quickly shakes her head at him, "No. Nothing wrong with that." Turning back to Ikora, "Thank you, Ikora. I will take a few days of rest. Commander. Cayde-6. Have a wonderful day." She quickly retreats from the room, giving another wave goodbye to Eris before climbing the stairs.

Once the warlock is gone, Cayde looks up at Ikora, "Wow. That was rude.

The other warlock explains, "Nax is not what you call a people person."

"So, what's this about her getting to know her fellow Warlocks?"

"Nothing to worry about; she has a tough time making friends, especially with other Warlocks."

Cayde chuckles as he teases, "Do I see a lone wolf among your ranks, huh?"

"Yes. This wolf needs to understand the benefits of being in a pack," states Ikora with a strained expression. She picks up a book, a sign to Cayde that their discussion is over.

Shrugging, he returns to his map. He thinks, Not my guardian, not my problem.