Rest

She collapsed as soon as she entered the camp, exhaustion weighing her down. Carman rushed over to her, Yetta waving her off as she stood. "Good news everyone," she croaked. "Technically speaking, the Witness can die."

"I'm sorry?" Carman lead her over to the campfire. "And how exactly do you know this?"

"I met them," she explained calmly. "May have threatened them a bit, nothing major."

"And you didn't die?" Carman poured Yetta some water. 

"No. I shot them. It hit."

"My question stands. You didn't die?" Something akin to pride laced Carman's concern. "Was it a fight or…?"

"I dared them to face me, shot them, and said that if they kill me there'd be hell to pay. I think I shook them up a bit mentally." Yetta sat down with her cup of water, sipping slowly. 

"Exactly what kind of 'hell' can you bring them if you're dead?" her mentor fussed. "I'm not sure you realize, but the Witness can kill you and your ghost with just a snap." Carman snapped her fingers as an emphasis. 

"Well, maybe I won't be able to give them hell, but you will." The hunter looked up at the taller warlock faithfully. "You've killed gods before, right? What's one more?" She watched Carman hesitate. Yetta looked around the camp. Everybody had stopped, and looked to Carman, waiting for her answer.

Carman sighed. "This isn't just a god, Yetta." She held her hand out, Charon floating to her palm. Yetta gasped. The shell was cracked, small hairline fractures lining the small screen of the ghost. "They landed a hit on Charon, and they sure as hell can land a hit on me, maybe more." The hunter's face fell, regret filling her features. "I do appreciate your faith in me, and I appreciate what you did. Just, take it slow for now. Until we have a better plan."

. . .

*Swords clashed together, Yetta successfully dodging Carman's swing. She parried the oncoming blow, slashing at the exo's knees with a knife. It wouldn't cause that much damage, but it would knock Carman off her balance for a split second. Enough time for Yetta to cast her grenade, knocking Carman off her feet. 

The warlock hit the ground with a huff, scrambling to her feet as the grenade pulsed again. Charon revived her this time, and Yetta bolted as he did it. A tree loomed ahead, the hunter ducking behind it. She risked a glance back, just to make sure Carman wasn't following. 

Instead of the crucible arena, a white hallway loomed before her, clean and pristine. The harsh light of the fluorescents above her hurt her eyes, which had been trained to the darkness of several lost sectors that she frequented. She looked down. This wasn't the armor she had been wearing before…was it? The sound of revving chainsaws alerted her to Carman's presence, approaching her rapidly. 

Where was Jason? No. He wouldn't be here. He never was. Yetta turned and ran, running until her legs felt too slow to go anywhere. The walls were still passing her, decorated with bodies impaled on Stasis crystals, their blood frozen. She felt her own blood pour down her shirt, her injured shoulder screaming in pain once more. She stopped running. The walls still passed her, carrying her closer to Carman. Carman. Who stalked towards Yetta with her weird combination of chainsaw mixed with a sword. 

Yetta screamed, just as the horned warlock charged her, sword raised.*

. . .

The camp was lit up with laughter when Yetta crawled out of her tent. The sounds of various reunions greeted her along with the sunlight as she pushed her tent flaps aside, and she smiled softly upon seeing Saint. "Yetta! Little Fox! Come!" the titan boomed, and Yetta smiled softly and went to hug him, squeezing as hard as she could. The exo chuckled, bear hugging her back, lifting her off the ground while doing so. 

"Tell me. How was it to shoot the Witness?" he asked her excitedly. "Carman said you made them cower!"

She chuckled awkwardly. "I wouldn't say 'cower' exactly. Just rattled them a bit." She could feel Saint's proud grin, the war hero patting her head.

"You have come far, Little Fox. Very far from that small hunter everyone first knew."

Yetta glanced over at Carman, who was looking at her knowingly. Carman was reading the signs of another nightmare, written all over her exhausted face. The warlock walked over, excusing the both of them from the circle. Yetta followed her mentor out of the campsite, eyes trained on the ground. "What was the nightmare this time? Same as before?"

Yetta hesitated before answering. She knew she couldn't lie. Carman had always been able to read her too easily. "Almost the exact same. I don't know what's causing it."

"You're stressed. That could be triggering it." Carman sighed. "We are tired. All of us. The Witness is, as I've said, trying to wear us down. And they're succeeding, or close to it. I've been tempted to turn to them. You and Charon are what's keeping me from fully turning to them."

"What promises were you made?" Yetta asked curiously. "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

"Treasure. Glory. The world in my hands." Carman sounded almost ashamed. "What were you promised?"

"Same as you, almost. Glory, fame, getting out of my mentor's shadow." It wasn't meant as a barb, but that's how it came out. Yetta quickly covered it. "Well, here's what I have to say to that. If I'm kept to the shadows, they can expect me to fight that way." An awkward silence fell between the two. The hunter quickly broke it. "Will the nightmares ever go away?"

Carman sighed softly, the mechanical sound echoing slightly. "All I can say, Yetta, is give it time. Let yourself recover more from it, maybe even see somebody about it."

"Like a shrink would understand that."

Carman pulled Yetta into a hug. "Ikora might know a few therapists who specialize in guardians. Ask her when we get home." When. Not if. Carman was trying to have hope, and Yetta knew it. Carman wasn't the only one who could read people like the books she poured herself over. 

"There's more you're worrying about, isn't there?" Yetta sat on the ground, running her fingers through the grass. Carman sat next to her, placing her hand flat on the ground.

"Cayde is only back because Crow made a wish. I can't tell the rest of our group, because it would hurt them more than they already are. And we don't need that right now."

"We need to be strong, together. Right?"

"Exactly."