Serene, Tranquil. Violent, Hurtful.

"Yes, yes, I know. 'Oh don't do that, Yetta. You'll get yourself killed!' Well, I'm still fucking here!" Yetta threw open the flaps to her tent, storming inside. Carman followed. Of course the warlock had to bring up the last mission, and how Yetta had come back to camp covered head to toe in her own blood. 

"What do you want, Yetta? I'm tired of trying to guess, when it's only going to make you more of a fool."

Yetta turned sharply, her hand on the dagger. "Foolish? *I'm* the foolish one? No, Carman. What's foolish is you keeping everything locked up! What's foolish is you acting like I'm not strong enough to be here!"

"You are strong enough!" Carman yelled. "You are. And I wish you didn't feel like you have to prove it. I messed up, Yetta! I did! I shouldn't have said those things to you! But acting out like this isn't a way to go about it!"

"Oh. You'd like me to tone it down, wouldn't you? Just so that you can stay in the spotlight? Sure. I'll stay to the side, as always. You can take home the glory. Just like you've always done."

Carman flinched. "I didn't mean-," she tried.

"Oh, of course you didn't. Greatness just comes naturally to you, doesn't it?"

Carman stepped closer, a hand on Yetta's shoulder. "I didn't want any of it. I still don't. I just…" She sighed, heavily. "I don't want to see you burn out like Cayde did, Yetta. That same recklessness that you have? It killed him. And I don't want to be the one who brings your body, and what remains of your ghost, home to the tower wrapped in a shroud. I can't do that again. I wish you never have to understand that. I really wish it. But you're a guardian. And, well…death seems to follow us everywhere."

Yetta let her head thunk into her mentor's chest. Sobs began to wrack her body, and Carman hugged her tightly. "I just want to be as good as you," Yetta choked out.

"And you are, you made it here on your own. I…I'll be honest, that surprised me. I was wrong about you. And I'm sorry for that." Carman's hand came to rest on Yetta's head. "I shouldn't have doubted you. I know you being here was an accident, at least on your part." Yetta pulled away, wiping her eyes. 

"Well, I'm here now. What's the next step?"

"We find Ikora. I'd say that I'll go find her, but let's be honest. You have a hell of a time staying in one place. You're coming with me." Yetta snapped her head up, a wide grin stretching across her face. "I could use a hunter, anyways. You may not be good at navigation, or at jumping around, but you *are* decently good at tracking. Somehow that works."

"You need me?" 

"Don't let it get to your head, let's go." That was a yes in Yetta's book. She shouldered her rifle. She was about to walk out, but the sniper rifle and bow leaning on the wall interested her. She'd take them in case she needed to be stealthy.

. . .

Naturally, Cherry was left at camp. Carman wouldn't let Yetta bring him along, so the war beast stuck close to Crow, huffing grumpily. Yetta jogged to keep up with Carman, holding her auto close to her chest. The exo's strides were long, the sidearm in her hands looking particularly intimidating. The hunter gulped. Hey, at least it wasn't going to be aimed at her. She'd already been there done that. Carman rarely missed. 

She groaned to herself tiredly when enemies appeared on her tracker. "I'll deal with most of them. You keep an eye on the sky," Carman instructed

"Got it." She switched to her bow, nocking an arrow back. The arrow found its home in the knight trying to jump on Carman's back, knocking it to the ground lifeless. 

. . .

The two went back to the campsite, Jason healing a nasty tear in Yetta's shoulder. Carman walked slowly, keeping an eye on Yetta, who'd been quiet. "Are you ok?"

"Just sore." She wasn't lying, technically speaking. She'd seen the way Ikora had looked at her, shock, and mild disbelief that she'd even made it in. Did everybody hold some kind of doubt for her? Well, Crow didn't really hold any doubt. Cayde didn't know her enough to doubt her. Carman and Ikora? They knew her too well, reading the small hunter like a book. A children's book, no less. 

She let Carman go off to talk to her vanguard when they got to camp. She would have taken a seat next to Crow, but if she remembered right, he was scouting around. So, she plopped down next to Cayde. "So," she began. "You're the former hunter vanguard."

"That's me." He was cleaning the gun in his hands, which looked strangely familiar. "You're Carman's student. The tables turned on her, didn't they?"

"How so?" Yetta leaned in, interested.

"I used to train her a bit. Just a little bit. As best as a hunter can teach a warlock."

The words sounded familiar. She searched her brain for anything, any memories. One in particular struck. *More Crucible training. At this point, Yetta had gotten used to repeated death, but now she felt like it was a little much to do it for this long. "If you can best me in a fair duel, you can best whatever else comes before you," Carman announced once more, her hand behind her back. 

"Yeah yeah, you've said that." Yetta replied, checking the mag of her rifle. It was a gift from Drifter. "First one is free," he'd told her. The gun was older than Carman, but then again Carman wasn't that old, despite the jokes. "I'm ready to get my ass beaten again, old lady."

 Carman twitched at the insult, but stood silent. She unholstered the Ace with a short twirl, checking the cylinder then flicking it back in place. Over several hours they fought, died, then came back. Well, Yetta did, anyways, she never got one point against Carman. Despite several close calls, she was always outmaneuvered in the end. Eventually, Yetta fell against a broken wall and slid down to sit, her legs sprawled out on the rubble of Widow's Court.

 "Alright, I'm done, I'm fuckin' tired." Yetta complained, her exhaustion obvious.

 "You might be done, but what if your enemy isn't?" Carman asked rhetorically, she twirled and spun the Ace of Spades in her hand, letting rounds slide out to insert new ones and spinning the cylinder shut. 

"Calm down, Miss Fancy." Yetta heaved. 

"Oh, sorry it's just something that-" Carman stopped, staring at the cannon a little too long. "It's nothing, just a trick I learned, a habit. Think nothing of it." 

"Uhhh, yeah, no I'm definitely thinking of it now. What was it?" Yetta pushed, trying to learn more of her mentors oh so secretive past exploits.

 "I said it was nothing!" Carman suddenly yelled. Birds that had perched on the high walls had fled, the air then felt hotter for a short moment before returning to normal. "I'm sorry, it's just…someone I knew, that's all. He trained me a bit when I was a New Light, at least on what a Hunter could teach a Warlock. You…remind me of him more than I'd like."

 Yetta was surprised at her mentor's openness. She had eyed the cannon, remembering the bust of an Exo Hunter she saw next to that tree near Zavala.* "You're the one that gave Ace to Carman, aren't you?"

"Well…technically yeah. She still has it?"

"Rarely see her without it, honestly. If…you knew Carman before, what was she like?"

She could hear the grin in the exo hunter's voice. "Oh. Have I got some stories for you."