"Uh-oh," Tony agreed. As thrilling as the jump itself had been, leaving them swinging wide away from the cavern wall, their hang time was brief and Tony was feeling the wrench on his shoulder from holding his life in one hand before they came crashing back against the rocks, the long delay between the shift of the rope and the rain of debris pebbles and sand it rubbed from biting into the edge of the hole reminding him of the length of the climb ahead of them. In that time, he managed to kick the non-bug-gunked grips under one foot to try to get some traction on the wall and adjust into a more functional position that wasn't crowding Cayde on the rope, but he still clenched his unwrapped arm around Cayde's neck as the small shower seemed to be the last hit the beetle could take. It fell abruptly from wherever it was climbing, the meager connective tissue still holding it together squelching and snapping apart as the body hit the ledge and half of it continued its endless descent into the pit. "Oh, well, never mind," Tony muttered. Cayde had really blasted it apart.

Very aware of Cayde's generally sticky situation now, Tony curled his lip and tried to shake some of it off of his arm, admitting, "Sorry about the flare, it was supposed to work the opposite way." It had worked, Tony thought, that wasn't the flaw in his plan, but it did rather compromise their firepower. Tony still wasn't about to get his chance to compliment Cayde, though, as the scratching noise returned. He froze again, watching the what was left of the dim light at the cavern mouth catch briefly on a multitude of smooth, skittering legs.