Halo: Under Cover Of Night

chapter one

John woke up with a start from yet another nightmare, this was the 4th one this week! He sat up confused, disoriented and still breathing heavily. He looked around seeing that he was up on a cliff on a random planet surrounded by a thick forest and the moon above giving everything a soft tilt, then he caught a glimpse of the arbiter lay down in the grass, breathing in and out slowly; which was oddly calming and then things started to come back to him. Him and the arbiter had gone out alone to a forerunner facility in search of clues to Cortana's  whereabouts but their pelican was shot down by the covenant plasma fire and they had to fight their way to safety.  They managed to escape but night had fallen quickly so they had to make camp up on a cliff that over cast a sea of trees; what should have been a simple and easy retrieval mission turned into a blood bath in a matter of minuets. The chief got up from his place leaning on a tree and sat on the edge of the cliff with is legs dangling of the edge. He pulled out the chip for Cortana and looked at it in utter despair. Gazing up to the stars shining brightly against the dark sky, he sighed. 

"What is the matter Spartan?"asked a familiar voice from behind him. John didn't reply which didn't come as a surprise, he had said even less than usual if that was even possible. "Is it your construct?" he questioned thoughtfully i'm not going to ask how he could have guessed that ."If it is, we shall find her and get her back. I swear upon my honor" the arbiter promised softly but firmly. John didn't say a word instead continued gaze up at the nights sky in silence. 

The arbiter got up quietly and went to sit next to the chief and he put a comforting arm around his shoulders, the arbiter expected him to move away but he didn't; chief had become very touch sensitive of late and almost flinched if someone went to simply talk to him. In reality, Chief didn't mind the arbiter near him for some odd reason, he liked the fact that the arbiter was there for him making sure he's ok, Thel's  the only one he could bare to be around and his touch grounded him from the torrent of emotions going on in his head. 

The arbiter looked up at the beautiful night sky and openly said "it's beautiful isn't it?" 

"Yeah" john sighed in agreement "... but... I-i can't help but think about her.. Cortana. What will I do when I find her..., what will she do" john revealed  his concern surprising him self with how honest he was and how he had just opened up to Thel without any questioning. The arbiter looked at John in shock but quickly sobered and went to say something but thought better of it and turned back to the sky. After a moment of loose silence the arbiter spoke again "Don't worry Spartan, every thing will be alright. You'll see." John only hummed in reply.

They just sat there in silence  staring at the glowing stars together in comfortable silence until john rested his head on the arbiters shoulder giving up on social boundaries, Spartans never really used them any way. At first Thel was quite startled but he regained his composure after a few seconds, as he realized that all John wanted was someone he could always rely on, someone he could always trust no matter what happens. 

 Thel couldn't believe that he had once hated the master chief and called him a demon. He never thought that he'd ever help him, become his friend and yet here they were on top of a cliff staring at the stars. Thel had never felt so happy in his life, so pleased to be with John once again, the years a part had some how brought them even closer together.

 At some point johns hand slipped into Thels and john drifted of to a comfortable sleep on the arbiters shoulder. Rubbing small soothing circles on the back of johns hand, he carefully moved them both further onto the cliff and lay down and fell asleep listening to john's gentle breathing while holding john who seamed to huddle closer to him.