Chapter Text
I fell asleep where I knelt, a thin layer of ice growing around my legs, keeping me stuck firmly to the ground. Set still hadn't woken up, Ordis was dead silent, the sounds of the forest were calming, even if they were occasionally undercut by the sounds of the Voidtongue. I’m sure I looked ridiculous.
My eyes slid open to the sounds of leaves crunching and the muffled sounds of trembling breathing. The forest was dark, the light of Lua barely clawing through the canopy, leaving the pitch black ground dappled with pale spots. I took a slow breath, feeling my lungs expand as wide as they could go, before coughing it all out again. The ice groaned quietly, snapping and falling away from my legs as I shakily stood.
That barely audible breathing went silent as whoever was watching be held their breath.
Still coughing, I hefted Set, clutching Ordis under my free arm, I began walking again. Hopefully I was going the right direction, who knows, maybe the one watching me was from the colony. The fact they hadn’t tried to rob me or kill me in my sleep made me think they were more curious that malicious.
Small twigs and saplings snapped under my slow footsteps, not standing a chance against the weight I put behind each step. I paused, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, staring at the tree trunk I was about to walk into. A little chuckle fell from my lips, it really was dumb of me to try and do anything right now, wasn't it?
The sounds of the river roaring at my back told me I wouldn’t lose my bearings easily, so I just sat down. Set was rather difficult to position, I didn't want her to be uncomfortable at all, just in case she woke up while I was sleeping. With a little maneuvering I managed to get her head in my lap. I could see her irises glowing behind her eyelids, which was a good sign.
And our watcher still hadn't tried to kill us, which was also a good sign. I was just gonna risk it, letting my head rest against the trunk, one hand on Set, the other on Ordis, waiting for sleep to claim me again.
It didn’t, annoyingly enough.
My ears ticked and swiveled, the muscles in my neck tensing instinctively, as I heard our watcher move around us, steps barely making a sound. Their breathing remained muffled, but still audible, it almost sounded like a woman. They would fall silent if I so much as opened my eyes, location vanishing from my mind.
Then she started getting close.
I could feel her, her body shifting the stale air around me. Her breath was shuddering slightly, steps falling a touch louder. There was a rustling about a meter from me, then another, then the sound of a flint being struck ripped my eyes open. My lungs expanded sharply, causing her to cry out, the vague shape of her falling back as the pile of tinder she’d build in front of me caught.
She was a slight girl, with a roughspun shawl of sorts draped over her shoulders, an upturned hood of the same fabric covering her hair. She was frozen, just staring at me, one of her heavy boots dug into the ground, bracing her to spring away at any moment. One of her arms was raised, as if to shield her from me, strips of dirty cloth wrapped tightly across her forearm, the frayed end of it dangling down almost to the ground.
Was she from the colony? What the hells was she doing so far away? My eyes ticked to stare at a battered wicker basket, wriggling grubs, berries, and leaves scattered across the ground where she overturned it.
For a few moments more we just… stared at each other, her irises shining a dull gold in the firelight.
Honestly, the time had passed for me to say anything, it had just gotten awkward at that point.
My fingers drifted slowly across Set’s face, my head slumping forward to stare down at her. I carefully lifted an eyelid, her eye ticking slightly, pupil dilating then contracting sharply from the firelight. Well… At least she wasn’t completely dead.
“She has no heartbeat,” the young woman whispered, voice gently accented, “Why do you carry her?” She dragged a broken branch from a small pile she’d gathered, resting it carefully on the flame. “It’s best to bury the dead, before the Kubrow catch your scent.”
I just stared at her. “She’s not dead,” I whispered, voice ragged from disuse.
“All living things have a heartbeat, it is known,” she whispered, setting about picking up the contents of her basket. “Her heart is still, her flesh is cold.”
“My heart is still, my flesh is cold,” I sighed, adjusting Set so I wouldn’t squeeze her head too bad as I leaned forward. Steam rose from my hands as I held them to the fire, the flames licking my skin, but not leaving any new marks. “By your definition I am dead.”
“Only the Tenno can live as such, so the elders say,” she whispered, eyeing my hands suspiciously, “that too is known.” She held out a grub, another held gently in her other hand. “Hungry?” she asked.
My lips ticked, “Always,” I whispered, reaching to take the grub.
I was half expecting her to try and take my pulse. She simply dropped the wriggling creature into my hand. It was amazing the size difference between us, she could stretch her hand out on my palm and not reach my fingers. I lifted an eyebrow, watching her bite the head off her own grub, sucking out the insides, swallowing quickly. The fire snapped as she tossed the husk into the embers.
I just threw the whole thing in my mouth, swallowing it whole. In all honestly it wasn't even the worst thing I’d eaten in the past week. I probably could’ve eaten the whole basket and not felt any fuller. A low sigh fell from my mouth as I rested against the tree, eyes drifting half-closed.
“Why are you out here?” I asked bluntly, “Only idiots or desperate fools forage at night.”
“You speak as if you know survival,” the woman whispered, holding her hands up to the flames, the flickering light reflecting the grease and grime that had built up on her face. “Your muscles say you are a warrior, but your hands say you are a craftswoman. You do not know survival.”
“My skin says otherwise,” I grumbled, baring my forearms, showing her my tattoos. I lifted the hem of my shirt, eventually just pulling it off entirely, wadding it up to make a pillow for Set. Her eyes widened slightly, seeing row after shaking rows of tattoos winding up my torso. “I’m guessing you can’t read Grineer,” I mumbled, opening my eyes.
“I have only learned a few words from the ruins they left,” she whispered, leaning forward, the scarf she’d used to cover her face sliding forward slightly… it almost looked like Corpus fabric. “What do they say?”
A cloud of steam blew from my mouth as I sighed. “Want me to start at the beginning?” I asked.
She nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest, staring intently at my left forearm.
“Born, Mars, the Red Wastes,” I whispered, finger tracing the faintest and largest lines of lettering, all of them stretched and warped oddly as I grew, “Mother, killed, father, claimed… Cried long, cried loud, born to be strong, our hope for rain: Toumai.” I sniffed loudly, blinking furiously, “Gah, sorry… sorry,” I wiped at my face. “That’s the first time I’ve read that in years… never fails to hurt.”
“Hope for rain?” she asked, leaning forward, something on her forehead glinting as her hood pulled back.
“I was my tribe’s hope for rain, their Toumai. I was the last child to be born, none of the women were able to bear child, the wastes left them barren. They put the future of the tribe on my shoulders from birth. The pain they must have felt when I fell, when they were forced to turn their backs on me by the law of our people. That my skin was full at so young an age, that I was laid low so easily…” I sighed, a patch of ice having grown across my back, the discoloration across my hands darkening. “I did them proud though,” I whispered, “They’re all dead, but I made my tribe proud.”
A strand of her dark hair fell across her face as she stared at me. “So you are a ghost? Your heart does not beat, your people are one with the gods. You are like the Tenno,” she whispered.
I snorted, smiling widely. “No… I’m nothing like the Tenno,” I took a shuddering breath. “I’m Grineer, no Grineer are Tenno.”
“You don’t look Grineer,” she huffed, “The Grineer all look the same, clones, swarmed with rot, that’s what the elders say. Seeds of the Old War, blooming into flowers of pestilence.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, but,” I bent down, resting my face close to Set’s, “My mother was a clone of this very woman.”
The young woman narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you are Grineer,” she admitted.
I smiled widely. “That’s the spirit.”
We chatted pretty idly for the rest of the night. She told me of her colony, her people and how they lived. She told me of their gods, the Tenno. That one took me aback.
The fire had long died, the first rays of the rising sun painting the canopy vibrant shades of red and purple as the gloom of the night was beat back. She’d stood, kicking dirt over the embers, smothering them. Her basket was scooped from the ground, and a light rucksack was thrown over her shoulder.
“Why are you confused?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as I stood, getting Set back over my shoulder and Ordis under my arm. “The Tenno destroyed the Empire, in the Old War, it is known. They toppled the Golden Lords, taking their place above us all. Knowing the power they held, the Tenno vanished, leaving behind their bodies as their souls traveled the infinite breadth of the unknowable Void.” She gestured grandly. “Their spirits are all around us, watching us, guiding us, this is known.”
It took everything I had to hold my tongue. It made sense at least, why she spoke of the Tenno with such reverence, she’d never actually met one before. It made me wonder though, what in the world she meant by ‘leaving behind their bodies’, it sounded an awful lot like she and her people were worshiping Warframe.
“We will have to approach carefully,” she said, hopping from the top of a gnarled ball of roots, “the Corpus have descended upon us, they would not take kindly to a Grineer walking among us.”
Well, that wasn't worrying at all.
...
“If you told me you were bringin’ baggage I’d’ve given you a bigger room!” Qin called as Koeplla and a very rattled Looking Tezz were ushered aboard the bridge, clad in their Warframe regalia. Held above the ground by the scruff of her neck, wriggling furiously, was Agira.
“Believe you me, we were just as surprised,” Tezz said quietly, dropping the young woman.
Qin tapped her teeth together, lifting an eyebrow as Agira glared at her. “I can taste the annoyance coming off of you, kid,” she huffed. “I’ll have a transport arranged to take you back to Uranus, Leona’vaya and Cressa need a talking-to.” She pursed her lips as Agira simply shook her head. “Ugh… Koeppla, go talk with Sue, we need to cash a favor, Tezz… Takh will show you to your quarters, Agira, I’m this close to just strangling you and sending you back to Uranus in a little grey box.” She crouched slightly, locking eyes with the forever staring child, “Now, convince me as to why I shouldn’t.”
“Qin! Don’t threaten to murder the child!” Sue yelled.
Qin’s eyes rolled as she rounded on the Archimedean, the telemetry from the Orbiter’s crash already pulled up. “This child punched my wife in the face, Sue! I’m still bitter!”
“Agira can shack up with Keppy an’ I for now,” Tezz whispered, resting a hand on the fuming Tenno’s shoulder. “We’ll get ‘er sorted. Honestly, I think she just wants to hear Surgat scream when Keppy puts him under load.”
“Nothing would make me happier,” Agira growled.
“You can feel happiness?” Qin gasped, eyes almost bugging from her head. She sighed loudly, slouching for a moment. “Just… don’t go wandering, if what Regor said is true, then whatever flavor of bullsh*t the Heart is cooking up likely isn’t exclusive to these two doofuses.”
Tezz snorted, “What a way t’put it.” She looked back at the silent form of Takh as she waited just beyond the threshold of the bridge. “Stay safe Keppy!” she called.
“She’ll never be alone, we’ll always have eyes on her… even in the bathroom.”
“Oi, that’s my job.”
Qin just snorted.
...
I crouched at the edge of a pond, the forest having fallen away to a mere scattering of towering trees. Wind whipped angrily, throwing my hair out, making my eyes water. I mean, the entire area was gorgeous, the mile tall mountain stretching up beside us was more than breathtaking, it really could’ve done without the Corpus touch to it though. Their litter was everywhere. The young woman came padding through the near impassable foliage, pushing bushes and bramble aside, clearing a path. Further down a shallow canyon, carved by the river over millennia, the faint warble of Corpus landing craft engines began to warble.
She was breathing heavily by the time she got to me. “We’ll have to be quick, the Corpus commander is landing, all eyes will be on her.” She looked back as the bulky shape of the twin-engined ship darted through a pair of distant rock formations, blowing away the few sparse trees that had managed to grow on their sides. “Would that she had crashed,” she hissed. “Quickly now!”
Set let out a faint grunt as I hefted her, breaking into a slow jog, following the girl, taking great care to step where she did, the ground was starting to get marshy. She ducked low, stumbling to a stop, gesturing for me to get down. This time it was Ordis who groaned, the first noise he’d made in a while.
Good to know they were both alive.
“C’mon,” she hissed, keeping crouched, moving considerably slower.
I followed as best I could, feet getting snarled in the battered vegetation as we got closer and closer, the distant sounds of Corpus chattering floating above our heads. I nearly walked right into her as she stopped sharply, pressing a finger to her lips. I could only nod as she scuttled off.
“Mmph… Toumai,” Set mumbled, begging to wriggle slightly in my hold.
I grimaced, seeing the girl dart from the tall grass, making for the same canyon the landing craft had landed in. Only now that we were so close could I see the myriad wooden structures built into the sides of the canyon, the river having been dammed and diverted. Clever folks.
I adjusted my hold on Set again, trying to keep my shoulder from digging into her gut. “Stay still for a little while more… I’ll explain when we’re safe.”
“Where are we?” she mumbled.
“The colony,” I hissed, watching the girl throw her shoulder into the side of the canyon wall, the stone itself shifting. “We got more than we bargained for, these people are uncontacted.”
“Wh-,” Set lifted her head, squinting against the sun that reflected from the stone, “Uncontacted?” she whispered.
“They think the Tenno are gods, Set. Or something damn close to ‘em…” I braced myself as the girl waved me forward. “And the Corpus are here.”
“Well that just makes everything better,” she muttered, voice slurring as she lost consciousness.
I smirked, “Don’t it just?” Without a thought more I broke from cover, hair billowing out like an ivory banner. No wonder she was so cautious, it was basically an open field from where I was to the rock wall.
The girl’s eyes were wide as I ducked low, waddling into the hidden tunnel, slipping in behind me, yanking the door shut. Pitch darkness fell, bar the faint glow of Ordis peeking through the handful of cracks in his containment unit. A whispered curse fell from the girl’s mouth and a sharp crack echoed up the roughly carved passageway, followed quickly by a dull orange glow.
“This way,” she whispered, “we have several storage areas the Corpus haven’t found yet, we will keep you there until we can get you free.” She squeezed past me, holding out the glowing tubule, lighting path ahead, her breath blowing in great clouds of fog where mine… didn’t. “I would ask if you minded the cold, but seeing as you grow ice from your skin… it would be a silly question to ask.”
“Fair,” I muttered, following her, wincing as I felt Set’s back drag across the low ceiling. I swallowed my pride and got on my knees, crawling after the girl. I didn’t even know this girl’s name and I was already willing to crawl into her cold storage room. Either I was an idiot, or she was actually just that trustworthy. “Do you have a name?” I asked, “You already know mine.”
“I am Mara, just Mara. I have no family name, not being one of the village.” She threw a glance back at me. “Apologies, we will be there soon.”
“Oh, I’m having the time of my life,” I mumbled.
We slowly moved along for a minute more before we came up to another stone wall. Now that we were up close though I could see the hairline seam running through the rock. If one wasn't looking for it, then they would never find it. Mara dug her fingers into the one faint lip on the obscured door, pulling with all her might. Without a sound the door swung open.
Forget Orokin tech, this was some impressive engineering.
We emerged into a decently sized room, the walls lined with shelves and boxes and baskets. A thin layer of frost clung to some of the crates, and a handful of icicles clung to the ceiling. Set let out a protracted groan as I laid her out on the ground, Ordis simply flashing as I rested him on the nearest box. Mara darted past me, tugging the door shut.
She handed me the glow tube, tucking her hands into her armpits as her nose began to run. “I’ll fetch you a more permanent light source, and some food,” she whispered. “I’ll also have to explain to the elders why I’ve stowed two Grineer in their icebox.”
“Just have ‘em talk to us,” I sighed, sitting down, the wall almost feeling warm against my skin. “We were going to need to contact them anyway, this saves us all some trouble.”
“It may take long,” she said hurriedly, clutching a ladder, patches of Kubrow fur wrapped around the rungs, “I will likely need to stand by for inspection, the Corpus are… I don’t have the word.”
“Persnickety comes to mind,” I sighed, “We’ll be fine down here, I need a nap anyway.”
She pursed her lips, giving me a nod before scaling the ladder, pushing open a hatch set into the ceiling. No light shone through it as she slipped through, leaving us three alone. I sighed loudly, letting my head fall forward.
“Ordis thought contact had been made with this colony,” the Cephalon muttered, “This is quite unprecedented.”
I waved him away as Set began snoring loudly. “Us crashing was unprecedented,” I huffed, laying back, trying to get comfortable. “This is all just a bonus.”
I tugged my stained and dirty shirt from over my head, wadding it up to make a pillow. My eyes drifted shut, my mind slowing down some as the white noise of Set’s snoring lulled me to sleep. Honestly, things could’ve been so much worse.
A regrettable thought to fall asleep upon.
