Chapter Text
The moon was the last place he expected to be wandering around. Filled with nightmares, floating faces that seemed to turn and look at you no matter where you were, and disembodied screams were enough to make even the hardened lone gunslinger want to turn on his heels and walk the other way.
After one particular cave whereas Shin got close enough to the opening, he could hear someone screaming for help and to not be left alone in there the light-bearer just noped the fuck out, turned and walked the opposite direction. If he wasn’t chasing a rumor from his ghost that a certain dredgen was seen there he wouldn’t have bothered with this hive infested hunk of space rock, but now here he was, looking through the entirety of the moon’s surface for a nightmare that looked like someone from his past.
At the top of a particularly steep incline Shin poked his head up over the ridge to scout the area below, spotting three knights, at least five acolytes, and who knew how many thrall. Not his favorable odds so he tried to ease his way down the slope he had climbed up when the ground under his feet started shaking before crumbling under him, sending him down into one of the many caves that now littered the lunar surface. He didn’t register much after that except for the hot, sudden pain that ripped through his body. What had happened he wasn’t sure but it hurt like hell and he could hear his ghost in the back of his mind telling him not to move at all and not to scream in pain. Shin wasn’t sure if he had ever heard the ghost sound so concerned but he did his best to obey the construct.
He laid there for what felt like centuries; being as still and as quiet as he could to avoid being found by the hive. Could they smell blood? He wasn’t sure but the sound of approaching footsteps, mixed with the occasional gunshot from a hand cannon, made him hold his breath and close his eyes. He didn’t want to see this if this was how he was going to die for the last time.
The footsteps slowed to a cautious sneak, slick with the squish of hive matter under their boots, “Hello? Is there someone here? We received your distress beacon” He opened his eyes at that one. His ghost had been signaling for help the whole time? They could have told him but did they? No. No, they didn’t. With his luck, he would be found by a freshly risen guardian with no idea about how anything worked. A warlock eventually poked its head around the corner, hand cannon at the ready to shoot pretty much anything but they lowered it once they spotted him, “a guardian…” The warlock sounded like they couldn’t believe that this was what they would find; a guardian run through with a knight’s sword, “Stay still okay? I can try and break the sword off…but I’m not sure how that will go…” Sword? It made sense now as to why his ghost told him not to move. He was impaled on a sword, a knight sword apparently, but that was the least of his concern as Shin shifted his eyes to follow the guardian as it knelt beside him.
The warlock opened a healing rift under the both of them before they started examining the wound, “Clean through, might be breakable though…” He grabbed the sword with one hand, pulling his own off of his back with the other, and gouged a nice groove the width of the blade on both sides, “Okay, this might hurt but I’m going to break the sword now, bear with me okay?” Shin didn’t get much time to answer. Not like he really could with the constant radiating pain in his chest which got worse as he felt the sharp snap of the blade breaking, “Okay, you’re free but not out of the woods…and my rift won’t last much longer…” The warlock paused for a minute before making an executive decision about the hunter’s well being, “come on, I’m take you back to my ship.”
After a little hesitation and trying to figure out how he could lift the hunter without causing much harm to him the Warlock shifted one arm under the hunter’s knees and the other one behind his back, below where the sword was located. Shin didn’t think that this warlock of all people would be able to pick him up but he was proven very wrong when he was lifted off the ground fairly easily, causing him to put an arm around his rescuer’s neck for stability. Casting a glance up, Shin couldn’t see anything through the visor of the other’s helmet but the familiar, weightlessness of the transmat taking effect was worth more of his attention. Letting his eyes fall closed Shin held his breath again as they transmatted to the warlock’s ship. Opening his eyes yet again he looked about the best he could without moving his head much. The ship was bigger than he had been expecting, an Arcadia class by the style of the interior and the layout, not a bad looking ship and it probably served this guardian well.
His rescuer took him to what was essentially his sleeping quarters and laid him on the bed, avoiding putting pressure on the sword protruding from the hunter’s back. He left the room then, coming back with the most advanced medical kit his ship had, “I don’t need these supplies really…They do me no good at all…” He stopped and looked at the armor that was obstructing his ability to take care of the hunter, “Can your ghost transmat the armor off? I’d hate to have to destroy that, it looks like a really nice set,” His ghost seemed to take the hint as he got rid of Shin’s armor but didn’t stray from his guardian’s side, “That’s better…it looks like the poison is what’s keeping it from healing…” The ghost gave him a questionable look but the warlock ignored it, “do you want me to try and remove the sword? You have your ghost here so in case something goes wrong but…” the guardian shuddered slightly, “Hive poison…the moon’s hive has the worst of it…not so bad on Mars, they’ll just freeze you to death…and Titan isn’t really mentionable…” Helping Shin to sit up more the warlock made sure he was comfortable, holding him as steady as possible.
The thought of this guardian trying to remove the sword piece from his body was not one that the light-bearer was willing to entertain but no sooner had he started thinking to tell him no he felt himself go numb with void energy. That was certainly a different way to use the void but it also made his vision hazy so he couldn’t see much of anything, “W..what…are you?…” How much he could be heard he wasn’t sure since his voice felt rough and scratchy. The warlock looked up to him though and nodded, holding up the piece of the sword just as his vision started clearing, “You…removed it?…” again the warlock nodded before placing the sword down on a piece of fabric to start cleaning and dressing the wound. The sword was broader at one end than it was at the other, probably why it didn’t hurt as bad when he removed it if he pulled it out so the thinner part was the part that was passing through his body. Shin stared at the warlock as it quietly worked, no wasted words after the one-sided conversation that happened.
Soon the warlock was finished and headed back up to the cockpit of his ship, presumably to leave the hunter to have some time to himself. Resting back against the pillows Shin looked to his ghost who was still beside him, “where do you suppose he’s taking us?” The construct looked at him before floating closer, its eye focused more on Shin’s injury and why it couldn’t fully heal him, “Do you think moon hive poison is the worst? It’s something I have never thought to stop and actually think about,” Of course he never thought they would reopen the moon to exploration against either. This was a guardian though, and there was only one place a guardian really lived and that was the Last City. Groaning Shin put his head back and stared at the ceiling, at least this guardian didn’t seem to have an idea of who he was.