World Tree MUSH

    It all started with a bet.

    For those who know Cayde-6, this probably would not come as a surprise. Naturally, it's not something that the Exo cares to mention when he has his Ghost send out a message. Keep it short, keep it simple. And most importantly don't make it sound like it's your fault, because it most definitely is not.

    <<Hey guys! How's it going? Look, I'm gonna go ahead and jump right into things as you're probably already suspicious. And Thanny, don't you give that look. So. I kinda got myself caught up in a bit of a situation and after something of a false start I'm thinking it'd be more fun with people and you were the first two I could think of to really pull this off. ... I mean. Yeah. Um. It's not as bad as it sounds. Really! You guys like helping people out, right? Anyway, I'll explain the rest once you get here. Sundance is including the directions...>>


    ...

    And thus is what brings our intrepid heroes to this old, worn out town, two shacks shy of complete dilapidation. It's on a dark dustball of a world; the dirt underfoot is the color of rust, its presence a perpetual part of life, rising easily in the wake of footsteps in soft, swirling clouds. The air itself is breathable, gravity slightly lower than that of Earth, enough that you'd notice that jumping to reach higher places wouldn't take as much effort, but not so much that it would be uncontrollable. 

    The skies seem locked in an eternal sunset, slowly crawling towards the violet-black of twilight. It's an eerie setting as the red-ringed moon hangs high in the sky above over what would have appeared to be a ghost town, if not for the lights that flicker dimly in the windows of the buildings flanking the streets.

    It's not a big establishment. An aerial view would reveal the town to be built roughly into four ramshackle quadrants, with two main roads converging to divide each, running in the four cardinal directions. Buildings are made with some type of wood and stone, drab but natural tones from mahogany to dark grays, braced here and there with the odd bit of metal. There's obvious damage to be seen without having to look too hard, cracks and pock-marked walls, broken windows, crumbling exteriors. It's not that repairs haven't been attempted so much as time taking its toll, and some of the damage looks much more recent. 

    The Hunter Vanguard can be found at the town square. Town circle, he'd called it, since technically that's the shape of it, right where the roads intersect. The only real landmark there is what looks to have been a large statue, its top half one of the structural casualties, making it impossible to really tell what it might have been save that it must have happened not too long ago, given that large chunks of rubble still remain scattered around it. Cayde sits at the base of the statue, idly twirling his favorite gun back and forth in hand, his Ghost hovering near his shoulder. 

    By the time the message got out, Dante's already on his way. He's curious what the Hunter's got in mind. The white-haired devil slayer makes it into town astride a swanky red ducati motorcycle, hopping off with a sleek flourish of his red coat. Instead of going about shirtless under that thing, he's tailored up with a black button up shirt and red waistcoat beneath the red duster, and black leather chaps to go with his jeans. Cayde might even hear spurs going off as Dante strides toward him, grinning ear to ear as he absently tosses away the helmet.

    "Howdy. Where's Thanatos?" He asks, replacing his helmet with a sleek red cowboy hat, black leather wrapped around it.

    Where did he get the hat? Why'd he toss away a perfectly good helmet? WHo cares, it looks cool. And the coat swaying in the breeze? Even cooler.

    Deep down, Dante's *always* wanted an excuse to have this kind of look.

    Of course it started with a bet.
    Though Thanatos is not clued into this little fact, the Warlock is already fairly certain that was the reason for the whole reason Sundance even floated his way. Well, Dis was happy to see her at least, but Thanatos? He's already giving that look, just as the other Exo had predicted.
    So it is with a waery sigh of resignation that the ever irrascible Warlock gears up, changes out his robes for his combat uniform longcoat, and sets a course for the dusty old town of a dusty old world, with dusty clouds.
    "Huh... It's hard to make out what time it is with the sunset that's been in place for the past half hour." Dis notes from where she nestles in the collar of the Warlock's cloak. "I'm surprised it's not perpetually high noon though in a place like this!" She chirrups as the scholar-warrior starts making his way through the town, toward the town center where Cayde awaits.
    "I'm here." Thanatos says, ever in his gruff business oriented tone when Dante questions his presence, tugging his helmet off to ESPECIALLY make sure that Cayde knows he is giving That Look. That Look of narrowed optics which subtly traces to the son of Sparda when he goes and dons his new hat.
    Well, at least aside from being the Warlock's apparent favorite shade of bright red, his coat looks enough like a duster to fit in. The Exodus Down helmet however not so much when he locks and seals it back into place. "What's this about, exactly?"

    See, this is why Cayde gets on so well with Dante. As soon as he sees the man pull up in his motorcycle- and that is a -nice- looking ride that he pulls up on- the Exo Hunter is up and on his feet, sliding the Ace of Spades back into its holster as he strolls on over. He glances up and down at Dante's get-up with a grin. 

    "Glad to see you're up for doing things the right way. I would've worn a hat but none of them'll fit my metal noggin. ...not to mention this beautiful piece of work kind of gets in the way," he says, tapping the metal horn sitting over his forehead. Then he points at his boots, which he apparently has attached a pair of spurs himself. "But look! Spur twinsies!" The previous owner totally didn't need them anymore.

    At Dante's question Cayde looks about to answer when the Warlock does for himself. Exo and Ghost look over, and once again Cayde looks about to say something before Thanatos gets right to business.

    "Aw, you're not even trying!" He goes ahead and says it anyway, pointedly looking over Thanatos' choice of battle wear. Exchanging a look with Sundance, he looks back at the two of them then. Dis gets a wink of a blue optic.

    "Actually, that's not the sun. It's...well, 's far as I can get, it's the moon, and that's about it for light around here. Which is part of the problem." He thumbs back at the broken remains of whatever stood in the town square. 

    "That there used to be where they kept some big ol' glowy orb called a starstone, and it absorbs light from this moon thing as it goes trundling across the sky, and serves as a light source once everything goes out. 'cuz apparently, it gets -really- dark out, and there's these things that come out.... Anyway, gettin' ahead of myself." The Hunter holds his fingers up. "Yeah. So obviously it isn't there anymore, so once night really falls, the lights get dim, and this town's as good as toast. Or dinner."

    "What, do you want me to call you pardner and be a cowpoke?" The Warlock replies, surly as ever.
    "Ah think it'd be fun, don't y'all agree?" Dis toots, "It's been like. For-ev-errr since I've seen Thanatos smile." She does add, glancing up to the Exo's skull-like face.
    "... Maybe he shouldn't." The tiny Ghost decides after a beat.
    But they both listen to Cayde, and though it can't be seen, Thanatos' already hard skeletal expression hardens behind the visor of his helmet. Of the moon being the only source of light, he says nothing, his focus is more upon the fact of what happens when the moon sets and the things that go bump in the night come forth, crawling from their dark places.
    "That's it?" Thanatos asks incredulously. "Nothing else. Just 'There's Darkness to fight', and no ulterior motive nor reason?" He presses skeptically, turning his head to watch the celestial body.
    "Believe it or not, I like to believe I'm not a hard man to call to action. You could have just said so."
    "What Thanatos means is 'we're in'!" Dis translates for her gruff Guardian.

    "Shame, maybe you could get a retool or something." Dante suggests, tapping the side of Cayde's head after a second. "Still not sure why I got the spurs for these silly things, but hey, they look cool." His boots make that telltale sound of spurs as he steps. Once Thanatos joins the two, he whirls about and claps the Warlock on the shoulder. "Hey buddy. Still all-business, huh?" He grins cheekily, before Cayde begins to explain things.

    He smirks a little. "Hey, if Cayde's robo-mug can smile I bet you can do the same thing." His eyes then glance toward the moon, as if sizing it up.

    "Last time I saw anything like that was Temen-Ni-Gru. So we go there and kill some monsters, then we get the sun back? Easy enough."

    Dante doesn't need much convincing either, as he grabs Rebellion right off his back and gives the greatsword a twirl. "Let's go, boys."

    Cayde pauses, for a moment batting around the idea of Thanatos using ol' timey western jargon before he shakes his head as the two speak their agreement on joining him for this little run.

    "Whoa their cowboys. Hold yer horses." He has to grin a bit to himself, proud of his puns. Clearing his throat, he starts to circle around the two, gesturing down the road and out of town.

    "Fun as it might be to go beat off some darkness or the things that come out of the dark, that's a back-up plan. See, the starstone thinger? Um. It was kinda stolen. By this group called um..."

    "Shivas Six," Sundance supplies, earning the red and gray ghost a nod and a snap-point. 

    "Although technically they're down to five now cuz I at least killed one of 'em before I got blasted into the statue back there but anyway," Cayde hurriedly pushes through that last detail as he waves his...well, guess they're a fireteam now, ain't they? Right number and all.

    "Real objective- we still go out there an' kill some outlaw monsters, and we get these 'ere townfolk their sun back. So to speak." He turns and looks at the two again. "We still on board? -that's probably a dumb question. Anyway. We ride!"

    That seems easy enough. Too easy. Hunt down five varmints, get the stone and or put them down.
    Thanatos looks to Dis, and the Ghost and Guardian exchange a nod. Before Thanatos' ship in orbit transmats his Sparrow down.
    Swinging a leg over the hoverbike and into the saddle he revs the engine once.
    "Shiva's Zero by the time we're done."
    "Those varmints won't know what hit them."
    Thanatos pauses and just... Looks at his Ghost.
    "Eheh heh~. Sorry, I might be getting into things a bit." She concedes.
    Right then. Ride on.

    "Five guys? I've killed way worse before." Dante says with a chuckle. He wanders over toward the motorbike and redons the helmet again. Somehow, his hat is just not there. Why? Demon stuff, I dunno.

    He revs the engine and glances toward the hoverbikes. "Fuck, I want something like that." He mutters beneath his breath as the Sparrow is summoned and brought to life. Dante's just kind of waiting to know where they're going.

    He's still picturing himself on a demonic hoverbike. It's pretty sweet.

    "Dis, we may have to end up gettin' you a Ghost-sized cowboy hat yet."

    Cayde swings up onto his own Sparrow as Sundance brings it up, and he would have probably laughed at Dante's comment, especially considering that he was thinking along similar lines with the devil slayer's own vehicle. What can he say, you can't get any more classic than that, and he that's with him having always considered his own model of hoverbike a classic!

    "All right! Sundance, where're them varmints at!" If Thanatos won't humor his Ghost, the Hunter sure will!


    As it is, motorcycle and Sparrows can cover a considerable amount of ground, and most of the way they have to travel is pretty flat terrain, dotted with rocky outcroppings that gradually rise up on either side of the trio to form a low canyon. Tracks can eventually be made out, left in the red dust, that Sundance doesn't need to say much to keep them going in the right direction. 

    "Can't be too far off. The townsfolk said the Shivas were based somewhere in these canyo--"

    The unmistakable crack of a gunshot interrupts him, but the shot itself zings past Dante's head- from behind. 

    Cayde's already pulling his Sparrow up to slow as he looks back, Sundance vanishing into the Guardian for cover. 

    Dust billows after the rumbling sound that comes around from a hidden slope, its rider lanky and in stained leathers, a broad-rimmed hat pulled low over a reddish face but not enough to hide the two pairs of glowing orange eyes in its shadow, nor the protruding horns that curve slightly around each side of his jaw. A gun is cocked and taking careful aim once again as he rides his strange, quadrapedal beast, overly long legs and ears that might be horns and might also double as handlebars. Who knows, weird planet. Another shot rings out.

    Thanatos and humor are like oil and water. They don't mix.
    So it's on to the canyon's, the Warlock smoothly piloting his speeder until the sound of gunfire makes him swerve. He does not slow.
    <<Looks like we found one already.>> He mutters into his comms, the whipping winds at high speed hissing in his voice.
    Thanatos one-hands the controls of his Sparrow, right hand dipping to the holster at his waist. It's not his usual auto rifle that the Warlock draws.
    TThat is a handcannon.
    It's not as special as Cayde's favored Ace of Spades, but it looks like the Warlock clearly knows how to use it as he thumbs back the hammer and lines down the sights, beginning to fire a volley at rider and beast.

    Dante meanwhile is all for it. "YEE HAW!" He bellows, as the motorcycle speeds off.

    The three amigos cover a lot of ground before they're interrupted by sniper fire, "FOUND 'EM!" He says, before he stops the bike and leaps off, swapping helmet for hat again. Where does he keep those?

    Anyway, Dante draws Ebony and Ivory, the pistols spinning in his hands, as he tries to get a look at where the shots came from. "Pretty far off...gonna need something from the bike." Cue Spiral.

    The massive Lahti anti-tank rifle is stashed on the bike, and Dante grabs it, having no issue carrying the thing despite it looking like it's taller than he is.

    Not waiting around, Dante takes aim at the rider and his alien-horse thingy, Spiral firing off a loud report as its shell streaks through the air, zig-zagging on the way.

    The lone rider ducks at the first of Thanatos' shots, his horse-thing letting out a shriek as he spurs it forward. He starts to squeeze off a few more shots before another of the warlock's hits his shoulder and the next sends his gun flying, his hand rendered useless. 

    And then Dante whips out the big guns, literally. 

    Glowing eyes widen as he fires off that shot, and the rider jerks at his beast's horns, not so smoothly done with only one good hand as he tries to anticipate the trajectory of the shell coming at him. But between the shots that Thanatos lays down and his impaired steering, the resulting seems inevitable as the creature lets out another shriek, paired with the scream of its rider upon impact and explosion. Thrown off of his mount, the gunman is left a smoking form, twitching in a final attempt to get up before sinking, lifeless.

    "You'll pay for that!" The shout comes from up a nearby ridge. Several other figures appear behind the first, shadows stretching down towards where Cayde and Dante have stopped. The one who had spoken is tall and lean, dressed in black coat, pants and boots that look all too nice for such a dirt-ridden setting. He tilts his head enough that his matching hat won't obscure the glare as four eyes narrow balefully in their direction. They widen just as quickly.

    "Yer s'pposed ta be -dead-!" he shouts, pointing an accusatory finger at Cayde. 

    The Exo Hunter just sorta shrugs. "I got better! Guess you can't say the same for number six, eh? ...make that five- okay, so I hope you didn't already figure out a new name because Shiva Four doesn't exactly have the same ring to it..."

    "KILL 'EM!" the other hisses, immediately bringing his own guns to bear. One of the others at his side begins to skid down part a ways down the ridge to an outcropping for cover, bringing up a shotgun. Another simply vanishes in flames to appear.... over near where their recently fallen comrade smolders, fire wreathing her slim figure as she holds up an equally slim pistol, cocked and aimed at Thanatos.

    The largest form flexes and makes a leap to stand several feet away from their boss, built thick with arms like tree trunks- and one of them looks like a cannon's built right into it, which he all too gleefully takes aim with at Dante.

    "Yeah, that thing? Don't get hit with it," Cayde suggests helpfully, with all the tone of one who has learned from experience.

    "Gotcha." Dante makes a move, zipping to the side to evade any shot from that massive cannon. He's dropped the rifle in favor of his pistols, taking aim at the massive raider. Ebony and Ivory open fire, showering the ground in bullets as the guns throw lead at a ridiculous rate. "COME AND GET ME, UGLY!" He taunts, grinning wide as he aims for the mount's legs.

    And where there was one, of course there will be the other four. Though the initial rider is shot off his steed, Thanatos swings his aim around as soon as he hears the new voice.
    'You're supposed to be dead' earns... It actually earns a small chuckle from the Warlock as he turns his helmet just enough to glance at Cayde sidelong.
    Guardians don't tend to stay dead as long as their ghosts are there, after all. But he remains silent. Focusing on his driving, as he holsters his hand cannon. He has another issue to deal with when gunfire starts pelting at him and his sparrow.
    The Warlock swerves wide, but not before he unlimbers something from his back.
    One-handing the smooth silhouette of a shotgun in hand he takes aim at her general direction, ignoring the bullet that lodges in his chest to squeeze the trigger. Slim lines of glowing light flare to dim life on the shotgun's profile before it blares with sound and fire, purple void light erupting from the barrel once- twice- three- four times- in rapid full-auto succession as he empties the shotgun, Invective, Ikora Rey gifted him, its raging reports shooting off like a stream of foul language bad enough to kill a person.

    Dante, meet Iron Bhen, who may not be able to spell but he sure likes to blast things. The cannon begins to glow within, light expanding before a bright blast erupts and punches into the ground not far from where Dante had been standing. It leaves a two-foot crater where it had hit. Iron Bhen snarls as shots ping off of his arm cannon as he lifts it to shield himself, and a decidedly insulted grunt given as he once again swings it outward to fire again.

    With all the giant cannon blasts happening all too close for comfort, Cayde's ghost-stepped out of the way of both Bhen and Dante, tucking into a roll as he brings up the Ace of Spades and fires a few shots at the shotgun-toting Nixas. The latter jerks his head back, eyeing the crisp hole in the brim of his hat before growling and setting sights on the Exo Hunter, pulling the trigger. Blam! Rocks crumble, dust swirls.

    Shreya's got another name, the female of the group whom Thanatos faces grinning with sharp teeth, an expression that falters when her shots don't seem to have much effect. Her eyes narrow at the impressive weapon that the Warlock brings to bear. She vanishes in flames, reappearing not too far from where she'd stood, barely avoiding the first of those brilliant shots. This time she does not raise her gun, but instead sucks in a breath and belts out an ear-piercing shriek that reverberates sharply, kicking around pebbles, tossing up dust, if not distract Thanatos so she can line up a better shot. Shreya the Siren. They didn't quite like her voice in the local tavern.

    Dante sees Bhen move to aim his gun again, and he begins to move again. Running fast as he can, the Devil-Hunter speeds off towards Bhen while his gun charges up. He closes the distance, swapping his guns for Rebellion as he charges out against the giant.

    "TIME TO SHAKE IT UP!" he roars, before his blade practically dances in Dante's hands, slashing and stabbing repeatedly with gradually increasing speed until he twirls and slashes with one last hit, swinging Rebellion like a baseball bat. "You ready? Time for the home run!"

    And then she's gone. Just like that. Thanatos curses under his breath, voice lost to the wind as Shreya evades his hail of fire, he swerves hard to re-align his aim. He's intent to take her out and he raises the shotgun again as Shreya lifts her voice.
    Invective clicks empty in his hands.
    "Hell..."
    The sheer concussive force of her shriek makes his steering wobble, he can't reload in time, and it'll be seconds before Invective reloads itself with the energy of his own Void light.
    It means Shreya gets another good shot at him. One bullet in his chest he can live with.
    Two make him crash his Sparrow. Rider and speeder hit the ground, the sparrow's nose embedding in the dust and launching Thanatos and sending him bouncing along the ground. He hits once, tumbles, bounces, hits again, bounces, and screeches to a stop, laying near dead at Shreya's feet.
    His body crackles with short circuiting wires, dark smoke vents pitifully from his neck and skull, and it look like this may be the end of the scholar warrior...
    Until he clasps at Shreya's ankle.
    It is a force of will, or perhaps something else that compells Thanatos to continue to fight even in terrible condition. But he has the strength to wobble to his feet. Red-orange optics blaze as he looks Shreya dead in the eyes and grabs her by her shirt.
    Then he lifts her up bodily, voice hissing in a growl.
    "Let me taste your light..." The Warlock hisses, purple Void light glowing from his hands-- enveloping the outlaw and giving her one last chance to scream before it will begin to rapidly just... Disintigrate her body, break her down to the base constituent atoms she's made up of, and swallow her life into his body.
    In a flash of soft white Light, Thanatos's injuries are *gone* as he reaches down, plucks up Shreya's cowboy hat from the ashes that remain, and set it atop his helmet.

>> GAME >> Thanatos-4 spends an Edge for: Devour

    The sudden movement from Dante catches Iron Bhen off guard. He's used to people running away from him, not -towards- him! A sneer curling his lips, he lifts his right arm and cannon once again, completely intent on blasting a hole right through the devil slayer. 

    Alas, he's slower than the swift-footed Dante, and in for another surprise as the white-haired gunsman proves to be a swordsman as well, bringing out the large blade before he can even register the shift. The blade slashes and stabs all right, Bhen making for a large target impossible to miss at such a distance. He hears a disconcerting thud just as his right arm feels a whole lot lighter, Dante successfully disarming him. Staggering back amidst the storm of swordstrikes, he's wide open as Rebellion arcs and smacks soundly into him with enough force to actually send the large gunman flying. 

    It's a short flight. Into the adjacent canyon wall.

    Dante's not going to be short for company long, however. A shot pings off of his blade, several more following as the ringleader of the Shivas fires off with both his guns, one after the other. Arvas hisses as he hops from his mount and onto the edge of the cart another is tethered to, a dusty tarp thrown over its load with just the smallest glimpse of a pinkish glow coming from beneath it.

    Cayde's busy trying not to get his head blown off by Nixas as another spreadshot takes off just a bit more of the rocks he'd taken cover behind. He grumbles, peeking around to make quick note of where the rest of his team is. 

    He'd seen Dante carve up the big guy. Sundance had reported Thanatos' tumble. He's sure the Exo won't die from something like this but he'll still feel bad for it if it happened. BLAM! Duck. He dusts off the crumbling rock chunks from his hood, then turns and lobs a grenade over at the shotgunner. And then he makes a dash for it as Nixas tries to decide which target to aim at first. He chooses... poorly. Well, either way it would have been bad for him, really. The grenade explodes in the air as he blasts it, only to find the Hunter Vanguard near up in his face, far quicker than he'd anticipated. Another shot, another body.

    Shreya leers over the fallen Warlock, her chuckle cut short as Thanatos grasps her ankle. And oh, does she scream. It's a sound that gets near everyone's attention.

    Cayde winces but looks back over in Thanatos' direction before giving the Warlock a double thumbs-up. "It's a good look for ya!"

    His shout is near drowned out by the sheer shriek of -rage- from the lone survivor. Arvas turns his guns towards the wagon, kicking off the covers from the starstone.

    "If I'm goin' ta hell, I'm takin' y'all with me!" he announces, cocking both guns as he aims them towards the large, glowing sphere.

    "He's kind of right you know, it doesn't look half bad." Dis notes from her hiding space in Thanatos' coat collar. He pays Cayde and his Ghost no mind beyond donning the hat. That's as far as he's going to play along today; crashing his sparrow has placed the Guardian in a sore mood.
    But then. Then Arvas makes it into a regular Mexican Standoff.
    Thanatos' hand cannon is back in his grasp, and though he has it levelled and aimed, he doesn't pull the trigger.
    "Just walk away." He advises. "Just walk away and leave the stone."

    Dante's blade claims Bhen inevitably. "He had guts, you sure as hell don't." He says as Arvas tries to take out the sphere instead of fighting properly, returning Rebellion to his back in favor of his pistols, aiming at the outlaw.

    "Walk away, drop the rock. Maybe you'll keep your dignity if you do that." He advises, little more than that.

    Cayde has his own hand cannon leveled, completing their deadly trifecta as they cover Arvas. "You heard 'em," he says, tossing in his two cents. "What say you go march right on back to where you picked this thing up from, the townsfolk have their security, I make good on my end of things, we all don't have to waste another bullet..."

    Fingers tense upon the triggers of Arvas' pistols, and though he doesn't turn his head, his eyes shift from one gunman to the next and again. The determination that flares in his eyes next are an easy read as to what his decision is, his teeth set into a grimace as he presses each gun against the orb and pulls the triggers--

    Thanatos watches. Thanatos waits. They gave Arvas an option.
    He doesn't take it.
    There's no hesitaton. Thanatos adjusts his aim by a fraction. He squeezes the trigger of his hand cannon, wrist jerking with the recoil and the report of the gun. He's aiming for a shoulder, or an arm. But he'll really not shed any tears if he hits the outlaw's center of mass, where his shot lines up in the event he doesn't hit the much more precise target.

    "Jackpot."

    Just as Arvas is about to open fire, Dante does the same. His pistols aim center-mass, without hesitation they blaze away with several blasts each.

    There's really no point in NOT shooting, given the circumstances. There'll be Shiva Zero after all, it seems.

    Click-click. While his intent was unquestionable, Arvas had neglected to keep track of his shots. Each hammer taps down, but the resulting gun shots that actually sound are from neither of his pistols.

    Thanatos hits his shoulder, Cayde, his hands, and Dante puts the matter to rest with two shots square to Arvaas' chest.

    The last of the Shivas Six doesn't even get a chance to gasp, his expression locked in surprise from his first mistake, frozen with the shots to follow. One by one each of his pistols falls from limp hands, clunking against the starstone and sliding into the wagonbed. Arvas lists and falls off the wagon, a new cloud of dust rising in his wake. 

    Twirling Ebony and Ivory, Dante holsters the pistols before he approaches the starstone. "SO!~ How are we gonna bring this back where it belongs?" He does realize they're gonna have to find some serious rope to get the thing attached to either Sparrow.

    And the matter is settled. Arvas is no more. Thanatos, grim and dour though he may be, had tried to be an actual good guy for once, so he can't be blamed.
    He still sheds no tears over the matter though as he holsters his gun.
    "He had nothing left. What a fool, throwing his life away." The Warlock mutters.
    As for getting it back, he motions lazily. "Perfectly good wagon right here."

    Mirroring Dante with a similar move to reholster his Ace of Spades, Cayde does so near simultaneously before nodding to devil slayer and Warlock. "Good work, all." He says nothing in response to Thanatos' muttered comment, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He could see both sides of it, but in the end, Arvas just made the wrong gamble to begin with.

    "And they were nice enough to leave us at least one of their mounts," he says as the Warlock indicates the wagon to Dante while Hunter jerks a thumb towards the creature nearby. He reaches down into the wagon to pick up the guns that had fallen in, giving them a light appraisal. 

    "Soooo who's ridin'?"

    "Mm." Dante just pops his neck and returns to the bike. "Not it. I don't do well with animals." He says, before peeling off on his bike, issuing a salute toward the two exos. "I'll be in touch!" is all he can call out before he's heading toward the horizon, someplace. Somewhere.

    "Don't look at me." Thanatos says. "I'm better with books than I am with..."
    He just motions at the beast at the head of the wagon.
    "Besides. You're the big hero that promised to help the town, aren't you?"
    Have fun bringing it back to town, Cayde!

    ".... H-hey, wait a sec guys-"

    Dante's already a growing dust cloud in the distance. Cayde looks at Thanatos, metal jaw working a few times, but dangit if he can't find anything to refute that point. He -hates- it when the Warlock is right.

    "...welp."

    Sighing, he steps over around the wagon, picks up Arvas' hat and gives it a few thwacks to dust it off before pushing back his hood so he can wedge that hat onto his head as well he can. Jaunty angle and all. And fingerguns.

    "Yippee-ki-yay."