The impulse to agree is already on her lips, but she stops herself. From the rooftop, she peers down over Sanctuary, sleepy, cool, and quiet in the dark. No one is beating down the Crimson Raiders’ headquarters. For the moment, there’s only that unknown source of smoke winding into the sky.
Maya nods. “Under one condition,” she says. “If I can drive.” Admittedly, out of most of them, she isn’t the best at it, but a little practice couldn’t hurt. They get to their destinations in a single piece. That’s what matters.
Zer0’s turns his head to her, a smile projecting onto his helmet. “Of course.”
With that, he begins the climb down. It’s easier than climbing up, his feet almost silent on the rooftops of Sanctuary. Which was just as well, it wouldn’t do to have an angry citizen dash out to yell at him to get down when he was already in the process of doing so. When his feet hit solid ground, he turns back to watch Maya’s descent.
“We should check it out / Could be a worthy challenge / Or nothing at all,” Zer0 said. The face plate on his helmet flashed a smiling emoticon, indicating that he liked his idea. Whether or not Maya wanted to venture out into the night was beyond his knowledge. It could be risky. Or, it could be fun.
"I guess you have a point." She doesn’t prompt him to follow or otherwise; that’s up to him.
From where Maya comes to stand, her hand raises to shield her eyes as she gazes into the distance. There’s a plume of smoke rising higher and higher into the sky. “I wonder what that’s about.” In this chill, it could be someone keeping warm.
Zer0 climbs after her. When he brings himself up to full height, he follows her look out towards the wilds of Pandora. Smoke could mean any number of things, most of them unpleasant.
"A blow worth noting / Injury comes to those unprepared / It doesn't hurt to check," he says, the emoticon gradually fading from his helmet. Zer0 watches her, his blank helmet following her movements the only indication that he does so. He wonders if she wishes for him to follow. On the battlefield, everything is certain. When it comes to downtime, he doesn't know much about how to behave.
Characters: Maya, brief mentions of the other Vault Hunters
Warnings: Blood, violence
Summary: Maya's path is both difficult and uncertain.
A/N: Written as a gift for the lovely mayaasthesiren. She's my biggest source of inspiration and one of the best rp partners I could ever ask for. My headcanons do not reflect her own.
9. Defense comes first. Her powers were capricious and difficult to control. Plenty of practice dummies had fallen victim to her Siren powers. It’d taken some time to master the art of not setting parts of the Abbey or worse. When she performs her first phaselock on a living target, she’s pure nerves. He hangs serenely in the air, unharmed. Maya lets out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
8. She begins to develop a curiosity for the things that are beyond the Abbey. Her free time is spent in the library, pouring over historical texts of Athenas. She expands outwards, to the six galaxies. As her knowledge of the outside world grows, her place within it becomes uncertain. Sirens are always absent from the books she reads. When asked, no one can provide her a satisfactory answer. She is a goddess and a leader, and that should be enough. But it isn’t.
7. When Maya leaves the Abbey, she learns of all the things she’d never done before. Buying a ticket off world is more difficult than she first intends. She has all of the skills to do so, but fear keeps everyone at what they believe is a safe distance. It’s nearly two days before a ship captain agrees to take her to Pandora. It takes more to convince him that she won’t kill him.
6. Pandora proves harsh and unsympathetic. She meets others, all looking for something too. They agree to stick together, and Maya assumes the role of leader with ease. She’s looked to for answers, some of which she doesn’t have. Maya makes do as best as she can and they stay alive. Before long, she realizes she’s good at this. She’s proud.
5. Maya doesn’t find the answers she’s looking for. Not even when she meets another Siren. There are only legends, and those change with each embellishment. It’s frustrating, to come so far and yet still know so little about her powers. She has purpose, however. Her cause is better than anything Athenas might have had in store for her. Maya will never stop looking, but she enjoys Vault hunting.
4. Her team works together well. They adapt to one another. A phaselock will be followed by a quick snipe, the turret will provide cover, and bullets and a robot will clear the field. She helps nudge them in the right direction. When she introduces them to the psycho that saved her, though, things get shaky. There’s mistrust in her judgment. Maya knows what’s right, and she knows that there’s more to him than her teammates believe. They’ll adapt, like always.
3. The tide of the war shifts. She discovers more about her enemy, but loses a friend in the process. It’s difficult, not at all like what she’d faced with the loss of Brother Sophis. He’d been cruel and controlling, but the only guiding force in her life until she’d met the people on Pandora. Grief is a difficult emotion, rubbing her raw. She remains strong in the face of adversity.
2. A job goes south. Maya decides how to best care for the injured. She discovers her powers can be used for more than just violence. Knitting together flesh and stopping the flow of blood prove to be a useful skill. With as many injuries as the group sustains, it’s also in high demand. She stills her mind and sets to work after a psycho injures Zer0’s arm. His simple words of praise are some of the best she’s ever heard.
1. Stopping Handsome Jack proves to be the most daunting task that she’s ever undertaken. Hyperion personnel surround her team, their robots aim at them with raised weapons. She’s learned invaluable skills, from both the Abbey and from her friends. She has purpose
There’s a roll of her shoulders, a shrug, and a thin smile.
The next blow never comes. The battle stance drops. Satisfied, Maya bows.
It’s never about winning — for her, anyway. Staying sharp on a planet where a mistake is as good as a shallow grave has more substance. Which, when she thinks about it, usually does require some sort of clear outcome, her standing when someone else isn’t. After all this time, she catches herself thinking in circles, discipline and honor at odds with practicality and necessity.
Still, she doesn’t think Zer0 is here to eviscerate her any more than she’s here to do the same.
Upon seeing that they will not be continuing, Zer0 too drops into a more relaxed stance. Absently, he tests the spot where her blow connected, rolling his arm in the process. It wouldn’t do to sustain real damage while practicing, but it could still very well happen. Their bout had been relatively quick and without the strength behind it of some opponents he’d faced before.
“Thank you,” he says, returning the bow while a smiling emoticon projects itself onto his helmet.
Though she moves to dodge, she isn’t quick enough, the blow landing at her shoulder. She stumbles off balance but rights herself before she can completely lose her footing.
It gives her a moment to put space between them — what little space there is on a cramped rooftop. Her arms continue to protect her vulnerable spots.
This time the blow connects. Zer0 observes that she is both quick and powerful, a combination that he uses as his own advantage. Even though she’s stumbled, he knows that if she really meant harm it would come easily to her. She wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Something they shared, at least.
“Impressive,” Zer0 says, remaining in an angled position to better protect himself. He waits to see what her next move will be.
The blow meets only his suit; the impact vibrates from where her hand hits his arm. Maya shakes it out with a flick and a roll of her shoulder, easing a few steps back on the balls of her feet.
When she next lunges forward, Maya feigns throwing a punch high but with the opposite hand, follows through with a shot directed at the ribs.
Zer0's there to meet her. This time, he redirects her blow so that it doesn't strike home. He angles himself towards her in the event of another jab, and then leaves his fists as loose as his muscles.
Then, he lashes out with a blow of his own, lightning quick.
Maya has to throttle down the instinct that ripples through her skin that would ignite the markings along her arm and the dormant power tied to them. That arm comes up to block the swing instead, a shallow barrier between her face and Zer0’s fist, nearly too late.
With her other hand, she hooks her knuckles in his direction.
Zer0 was impressed. His movements were not unlike a mirror of her own, blocking her blow with his forearm before darting backwards and our of reach. He'd seen her in action before, her Siren abilities suspending enemies that made for easy targets. It didn't hurt that she wasn't a bad shot, either. However, he'd never seen her fight without either.
He stood still—unnervingly so—waiting for her next move.
Hey, I wrote a poem! Check it out: On Pandora I stand / The manliest man around / All the people swoon. Pretty ace, right? I learned how to write like that in English Lit class. Go figure.
Hey, Tact and Grace are my middle name. Well, maybe not Grace — that’s a girl’s name. (Obviously…) Either way, everyone knows that confidence is the main ingredient for any Vault Hunter, and I am a good source of your daily recommended value.
Maya shakes her head, trusting that Zer0 knows where to draw the line, and focuses on warming up. With some sense of a pattern, she alternates from twisting her torso side to side into extending and flexing her arms and legs, working her joints and muscles loose.
When she brings herself back to her normal height, which isn’t much by comparison to Zer0’s, she puts as much distance between them as a rooftop can afford. “Ready when you are.”
It was the only warning he gave before he sprang forward. The adrenaline rush that followed was gratifying. The thrill of a fight, of a worthy enemy made his limbs feel loose and capable of anything. He struck out with a closed fist, lightning quick.
Hey, I wrote a poem! Check it out: On Pandora I stand / The manliest man around / All the people swoon. Pretty ace, right? I learned how to write like that in English Lit class. Go figure.
Hey, I wrote a poem! Check it out: On Pandora I stand / The manliest man around / All the people swoon. Pretty ace, right? I learned how to write like that in English Lit class. Go figure.
Hmn? Unless you’re willing to head out to the Highlands to search for Tannis’ lost ECHO recordings, I don’t have any jobs at the moment. Sorry about that, killer, I know how much you like the challenge.
