[b]Down this long stretch of road I look back and wonder.... Where the hell did I put my glasses. I'm pretty sure you know every character in this story by now. Chapter 67: The Speaker Speaks[/b] The first thing Vala could see when she was escorted out of the ship was the overwhelming crowd smashed together in the Tower hangar. Guardians and regular humans alike stood alongside each other, eyes watching her like hawks. Bolt whimpered as he was brought to stand next to her, her son trying to hide behind her but not being able to do so. Those looks hardened when they landed on him and without thinking, Vala stood in front of him. Glare at me. Not him. You leave him alone. Miraculously, the attention shifted once more. But she could taste the anger this time in their stares. Accustomed to such looks and hostility, Vala stood with her head held high and eyes defiant. Some held her stare, some caved under her relentless look. A few even walked away, not wanting to look one more second. Well this was not the welcoming she had thought of coming back home. Ah, this is not my home anymore. She mused, grinning at the thought. Bolt is my home. Drokantoro appeared behind her, his giant hand encasing her shoulder in a gentle squeeze. Bolt stood ramrod straight, three of his four arms holding her arm so tightly that the nerves began to numb but she didn't mind. Drokantoro brought his other hand to Bolt's shoulder as well, slighting pushing the two together. Now that she had remembered where she was back again, it was always bustling and loud. But now there was a hushed silence only broken by barely noticeable whispering. Vala even spotted Amanda Holliday sitting on top of her favorite crates, hands for once stopping to wring a wrench between her hands. Lakshmi was still atop the second floor in her space of the Future War Cult room, a hand moving to write on a piece of paper as she watched silently. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch... Vala suddenly felt small, a tiny specimen being studied closely by hundreds of eyes. She didn't like it. Drokantoro noticed her plight, giving her shoulder another squeeze. "Come walk with me. The people here are just wanting to see what was going on." The Hunter nodded at the Exo's hushed tone, her eyes glancing over to her son to make sure he got the message. But Bolt was not looking at her or Drokantoro at the moment. His eyes were transfixed, hypnotized at the many Guardians standing a ways from him. What was going through his mind? What was he thinking of her kind? "Come now, son." The Vandal jumped, clicking worriedly before realizing it was her. With a trill of fear, he nodded. Drokantoro gently pushed them forward, his towering frame and terse face warning off any shenanigans that some were probably planning. He was a silent comfort, a piece of familiarity standing next to her. Thankful, she didn't put up a fight. She caught sight of a few familiar faces amongst the throng of people. They seemed impassive about this, their helmets off with cold eyes seeming to search hers for any answer. Andal. The other Guardians, Hunters, jumped at the soundless word mouthed to them, a tired smile forming at their cowed expressions. Why? What did you do..? Andal would not have done this. Vala why... All gave their voiceless response, their eyes glassing over the unanswered questions she would not respond to. They knew of what she always wanted anyways, their pasts intertwined by a single thread of one Hunter. Seeming to figure the same thing out, most turned the other way. A few gave her sympathetic nods, the pity in their eyes reaching out to her but she scorned such things. She didn't need pity. She was a damn Hunter. All pride and about the glory of the hunt, the reapers of treasure troves and the night. Vala Tash didn't need pity. As they neared the crowd, words could become more clearer. "She's crazy." "Why didn't she kill the thing?" "Does that thing have a cloak? What's it trying to be?" "She's a disappointment to us I tell you." The words were scalding to her ears, the taste bitter like wild herbs and medicine. But no ointment could heal her animosity and glowering face at each of those faces who uttered words. "Don't speak ill of my son while your sins haunt you too. Coward" She spat at an unsuspecting Warlock who had began muttering about her apparent 'fetish' of the Fallen. The Guardian in return growled at her, the sound low and dangerous. But before they could act, an arm shoved them back into the crowd with a growl of their own. "Move along, Guardian." Vala's eyes widened, her head swiveling to the side to look at none than Omali. The Exo had his metal face set in an angry scowl. "That's right, Warlock. Back off from the beautiful Hunter." Perplexed, she then turned to the other side, a smug looking Alice walking beside Bolt. Where...? "She's not supposed to be here." Drokantoro griped, making the female Warlock laugh. "Shade said to get off his ship. And then proceeded to try and throw me off his ship. I didn't want to stay with that blue skinned junk collector anyways." Ah. Good old Alice. Slowly, as the crowd moved aside for them, Vala felt the fear claw at her insides that was trapped. It rose up her throat, threatening to erupt with a scream of defiance and fear of what was to come. Because what would happen? The future was unpredictable. The fear did actually escape her throat in the form of a surprised shout as a random Titan grabbed Bolt. "Don't touch him!!" But her demand was not easier said than done when they did not let up. Bolt screeched, his three arms a vice once more on her. No. They couldn't take him from her. Not now. Not ever. Over her dead body. "Desist or I will shoot you." The Guardian manhandling Bolt said, easily breaking the handcuffs apart like it was made of plastic. They pulled again but Bolt would let go. Hell, even she wouldn't let go, her arms grabbing him close to her chest and embracing him. "I am warning you!!" The crowd was suddenly shouting, all wanting the same thing. They wanted blood. Wanted to see her little boy a body on the ground. If only if she let go. No. She wouldn't ever let go. Too scared and angry, she didn't feel the muzzle of the gun pressed underneath her chin. Only when she heard the gun cock did her mind snap back to the situation at hand. Looking at the damn bastard in the eye, she sneered. "You will have to take him from my dead body and take him fast because when I come back I'll spill your blood. And I will carve your miserable life on a canvas of red and hate. I will never let go." She spat, hissing as hands grabbed at Bolt. All she heard was screaming. Screaming from both of them, from the crowd closing in like hungry wolves. She couldn't fight them off. Not all of them. And where would she go anyways? She was trapped, lured in and caged in with a den of animals. I'm scared. Help me. Please. Andal- A loud gunshot rang out, echoing off the walls that shut the mob up as fast as they began shouting at her earlier. All eyes went to a certain Exo with his hand poised in the air while the other was on his hip. "Now," Cayde-6 said, putting his gun back in its holster. "Shut the hell up." Vala tried to catch his eye but he wouldn't look at her. It hurt her heart to see such a cold front but her heart froze at the next voice. "Cayde. Don't treat our guests like that." Vala narrowed her eyes as the figure behind all of this mess appeared, his hands folded behind his back and mask ever present. "Welcome home, Hunter." The Speaker spoke in that ever grating voice she despised. "This isn't home." God, she even hated his chuckle. "It will be soon enough." Somewhere deep, deep down inside, in the farthest corner of her soul, she felt her Light flicker like a dying candle.