#and the peek inside of that ghost and guardian connection

[phantomwarrior12]

Uncertain

A flirtation.

Is that all this was?

The Young Wolf sits on the edge of the platform, fingers tracing over the elegant engravings along Hawkmoon's barrel. Their mind alight with that night by the fire. The night they drank and laughed and became more comfortable with Crow than they've been with anyone - anyone other than Cayde.

With the Exo, it was a friendship. A trust-bound connection that they sought out in an otherwise lonely existence. A feeling of familiarity, of warmth, of playful ribbing and shared respect.

But with Crow?

With Crow, it is fierce and sparking. It is heated and eager and everything that frightens them. There is no rage that lingers from the Prison but there is a sense of uncertainty. A spark they are unsure whether to fan or quash when it comes to the former Prince. 

So, their anger isn't a factor. But their trust? Their aching fear that it's impossible for Crow to feel such things for them because of his past. When he finds out their role in Uldren's death, could he still look into their eyes with warmth and affection?

They're afraid it's impossible. 

And yet, they can hope, can't they?

Another trace over the feather before they slide it into their holster and push themselves up to their feet. The Annex is quiet this time of night, and they wonder if the Drifter keeps it that way or it's a coincidence.

No guards down here. Just…cleaning bots and the Dredgen.

They venture near the room, peering inside to see him occupied with a crate of what cannot possibly be legal goods. They note Spider's sigil on the side and know.

"You gonna stand there all night or come ask your questions, Guardian?" Drifter calls without lifting his head, still inspecting the case.

They step inside awkwardly, meandering over to the crate to peek inside.

It doesn't look to be anything particularly harmful.

"If you're here for Gambit, 'fraid it's all done for tonight."

They shake their head, reaching into a crate to investigate before the Dredgen bats their hand away.

"Ah, ah. Not for touchin', Chosen One."

Their head tilts curiously but they recoil all the same. They stand in silence as Drifter continues his inventory, not at all bothered by their presence nor inclined to hide anything about what he's doing.

"You know, you come down here for the quiet an awful lot."

Their head tilts, silently prodding him to continue.

"I imagine there's a lot you gotta think about." Drifter hoists another crate up from the floor and removes the lid.

They peek inside - that looks particularly dangerous. Their spine straightens a little at the Eliksni detonators but Drifter just keeps on with his inventory.

"How's things with Spider's enforcer? I hear Osiris hooked him up with a comfy position at Zavala's side."

They shrug noncommittally, opting to avoid investigating any more crates for deniability reasons. Instead, they prop themselves against the railing, but their gaze still lingers on the Dredgen while he works.

"Trouble in paradise?"

They shake their head.

"At some point, you're gonna give me a verbal answer, Chosen One." He heckles and they snort. "Ghost can't always speak for ya. You gotta make yourself clear."

The Young Wolf casts their eyes around the room, drumming fingers against the railing behind them. He has a point as much as they hate to admit and a conversation only works if both parties contribute.

Are they looking for a conversation though? Or is this a distraction to keep them from the H.E.L.M. just a bit longer?

Crow will be working late and–

"That son of a bitch," Drifter chuckles softly, hands settling on his hips as he gazes down into the crate.

The Guardian pushes off the railing and moves to his side, following his gaze to the contents. Some appears to be missing - perhaps Spider took a cut? Or intentionally shorted Drifter.

"Guess I'm paying the Tangled Shore a visit in the morning." He looks over at them, "Care to join?"

They shake their head. Their presence may make things worse. They haven't been back to the shore since they freed Crow - they can't imagine Spider would be very pleased to see them again so soon.

"Oh, right. You pissed Spider off the last time you set foot there."

Thank the Traveler that Drifter can fill in the blanks on his own.

He shrugs and sighs before moving to another crate. "You gonna spend all night down here?"

He doesn't turn so there's no point in shaking their head. They meander back over by the railing, idly skimming over objects laid out on the table.

"Silent as ever, I see." Drifter remarks, "Well, if you're gonna hover, you may as well help."

…maybe this isn't the distraction they want. If Zavala catches wind, they could be pressed about what exactly Drifter has smuggled in and they don't want their loyalties strained either way.

So, they move toward the door with an apologetic look.

Drifter laughs, "That's one way to get rid of you. One thing before you go, hero."

They pause near the threshold and turn to face him.

"Whatever's eatin' at ya? Face it headlong. Uncertainty gets ya killed, especially in our line of work."

They smile slightly, giving a solemn nod before the Dredgen moves back to his inventory and the Guardian begins their ascent toward the hanger.

Drifter gives surprisingly good advice, even if he assumes it has to do with a life or death situation. They should face whatever this is with Crow, head on.

It'll be better for both of them and they'd be lying if they said the possibilities didn't both excite and entice them.

So, to the H.E.L.M. they go before doubt can dig its claws back into them.

Crow is at his station, going over files. The Guardian strides in, they're certain he's heard their approach but he doesn't turn. They entertain the idea of winding their arms around him, holding him close as a greeting but perhaps when he's less jumpy.

They ease against the console beside him, propping themselves there with a smile.

It takes a moment but sunset lifts from the files and drifts to their features. There's a line of worry along his brow, a solemn furrow that all but vanishes when their eyes lock.

"Guardian, I didn't know you were dropping in tonight–"

They hold out their hand abruptly and the Hunter looks from the outstretched appendage to their eyes once more before accepting it.

Their smile broadens as they straighten to their full height, leaning down a bit to press a soft kiss to his knuckles. 

Crow blushed, simply put. His face flooded a soft rose and his eyes diverted immediately. But he's smiling. A gentle, sheepish, giddy sort of smile.

They love it.

"W-what was that for?"

They squeeze his hand, slowly maneuvering fingers into an entwined state. His eyes are entranced with the shift of leather against skin.

"Guardian?"

Their title a whisper on his lips.

They shift half a step closer, their free hand lifting. Fingers hook beneath his chin, tenderly tilting his head up until sunset finds their own eyes.

How many times could they get lost in that vibrant color? That spark of something defiant and strong and warm and sweet all at once.

Crow's eyes suit him.

It's a stupid thing to say. Thankfully, it never makes it to their lips.

They register his other hand cupping their jaw and then they move.

Impulsive. Impatient. Intent.

They kiss him and he melts beneath their fingertips. They kiss him and his hand slips free of theirs and traces up their forearm to the base of their skull. They kiss him and he returns it, eagerly, lovingly - everything they've always wanted.

It sparks and flourishes and the next instant, they've stumbled back against the console and broken away if only to preserve the expensive equipment.

But their hands remain in place. Their foreheads meet and breath intermingles. 

Crow is the first to laugh. It's not in embarrassment or discomfort. It's…relieved, almost. So full of life and yet, so quiet to avoid shattering their comfortable silence.

"That was–"

They smile, closing their eyes as a thumb traces along his chin, up his jawline and back down. 

He doesn't try to finish the sentence. They both know. They can feel it.

The Guardian tucks a few strands of silver back away from his face before they kiss his cheekbone softly.

Crow leans into the contact. His fingers trace slowly along the base of their skull before he sighs softly.

"We should…probably not do this here."

The Guardian chuckles softly, gently kissing down his cheek, to his jaw and then his neck. The Hunter’s breath hitches for an instant.

His fingers snap up to their shoulders, bracing himself as the Guardian slowly circles back to his lips.

One more caress. One last tender kiss to tide them over before they finally withdraw.

They retreat a few steps, giving Crow space to process. His eyes are on them but his hands hover in a half extended reach before he recoils and they fall to his sides.

Did they break him? 

Concern flashes across their features, a tightness welling in their chest and throat as panic tugs at the edge of their sanity.

Crow?

They take half a step forward and it's enough for him to snap out of whatever daze the Young Wolf accidentally put him into.

"I–" he hesitates, shaking his head and clears his throat. "I had no idea you felt that way…about me."

They smile ever so slightly. A shy, nervous sort of smile as their brow rises a fraction.

"I suppose you're wondering how I feel about this? About," his eyes lock with theirs, "you."

They nod slowly but gesture vaguely as if to say there isn't a rush.

They know this was sudden but the Drifter has a way of helping them make decisions whether he realizes it or not. 

Maybe that’s the reason they went to see him. Subconsciously, they knew he was the right call to help them with this.

"I'm," Crow takes a deep breath and they nod encouragingly. "I'm new to this sort of thing. Not a lot of…options on the Shore." They share a soft chuckle. "That being said, I enjoy your company, Guardian. I enjoy working at your side, being close." He rubs the back of his neck with a shy smile, " And I enjoyed that. But, I'm not sure where that would leave us–"

The Guardian shakes their head and steps closer. Their hands settle on his shoulder and they nod and smile. Their way of assuring him they are in no rush - that they will be patient and limit themselves to what he's comfortable with. In fact, he gets to take lead on that sort of thing.

They will show him how much they care but they don't expect him to know how he feels about them just yet.

His hand settles over one of their own and he smiles, nodding back. 

"I know, Guardian. Thank you."

Of course, Little Light.

They hug him gently, enjoying the warmth of his embrace for a time.

None of this is perfect. Neither of them are completely ahold of their uncertainties when it comes to this, whatever this is. But they will navigate it together.

After all, the Drifter was right about one thing: they must face these things head on.

And with Crow at their side, how could they fail?

------------------------

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[pastelsandpining]

Bittersweet

Previous | Next

Summary: Link stays a moment with a friend to think about the princess and her valiant, endless fight against evil incarnate--and what she might mean to him.

Words: 2112

Warnings: questioning of faith, survivor’s guilt if you squint, let me know if there’s anything I missed, it’s kind of just super bittersweet haha

Masterlist

Please do not comment anything HWAOC related as I do not want to be spoiled! :)

______

“Master Link, are you alright?”

The Rito bard meant well. He was one of the many who’d been nothing but kind and helpful towards him since the very beginning. Yet his question made Link pause the drumming of his fingers against the wooden platform and frown.

“I’m just thinking,” he decided to say as he looked up.

“Ah,” sighed the bard, who turned his gaze towards the vast expanse of Hyrule. “Yes, happens to the best of us. Would you perhaps like some company?”

Link shrugged with a gesture to the open area besides him. 

“I apologize if I overwhelmed you with my song,” spoke Kass again as he took a seat. “But I suppose everything is a little overwhelming.”

“That’s generous,” Link replied simply and busied his fingers with the Sheikah Slate. He tapped through the compendium, through the photo album, through the map, just to have something to look at other than his friend. And after a moment of thought, he shuffled back from the edge of the platform. “She’d kill me herself if I dropped this.”

“Do you remember much about her?” Kass asked, ending another stretch of silence. 

Link frowned again, tracing the swirling patterns with his fingers. What could he say, really?

Everything from the mossy trees to the breath that sustained life carried the Princess of Hyrule with it. There were bits of her everywhere. 

She was nothing more than another ghost in the beginning—a face he couldn’t make out, a voice that called from nothing, a girl he should know but could not recall. But when he stood under the arching gate of Lanayru Promenade, with the overgrown grass scratching his boots and chilled wind from the mountain biting his nose, her face became as clear as crystal.

And suddenly, every petal of a Silent Princess carried her name, and every gust of wind echoed her voice, and every touch of the sun’s light mimicked her smile, and every Hot Footed Frog was a hypothesis, and every piece of Sheikah technology he uncovered was her passion, and every drop of rain was her grief, and every deactivated guardian was a totem of her power, and every glance towards the castle was a token of her love.

There were glimpses of her hiding a smile behind her hand. There were glimpses of her fingers brushing so softly against his that he wasn’t sure any of it was real. There were glimpses of his fingers tracing gentle lines over the shapes of her face while she slept. A kiss, light as a feather, to the inside of her wrist. A grab of her hand as they ran for safety. She was the heartbeat that kept Hyrule alive, and there were so few who knew that—but he did.

“She’s everywhere,” Link answered softly, wondering vaguely if she could see him or hear him from the confines of her prison. If she could, the wind was quiet.

Kass gave no response, but his gaze was something understanding, and he was compelled to continue speaking.

“I don’t remember everything,” he said and fiddled with the Slate again. “I don’t think I ever will. I didn’t know where to start at first. But she left me pictures and now everything reminds me of her. Sometimes she’s the only thing I know, and I don’t even know her.”

“Would you like to?” Kass asked, as if he really had a choice in the matter.

“I don’t even know if she’s alive,” Link spoke, but it wasn’t quite true. He couldn’t be certain, but a part of him simply felt that Zelda was, somehow, very much alive. It came with every warning she whispered out when the blood red moon was high in the sky. It came with every tap to the Sheikah Slate, which she once held and studied so dearly. It came with every glance towards Hyrule Castle, and each feeling of dread, of guilt that it caused. It came with every memory of her, whether she be submerged in a spring or invested in her studies. It came with the very life that filled the kingdom—the life that she’d been draining herself of for the past century.

“She is stronger than anyone gave her credit for. I would love to meet her.”

“She’s smart,” Link added, turning his gaze back to the ancient piece of technology in his hands. “Too smart. Research was her passion, and all that remains of it is with me. I hate to keep her waiting.”

“For you, Master Link, I believe she would wait however long it takes.”

If it were possible, she would. But fighting took so much that she didn’t have a forever to give. She’d served enough time.

“You said she loved me,” Link spoke at last. The words made his heart twist violently, like it wanted to wring out all of the pain. 

“Loves, yes,” Kass said softly, setting a feathered wing on his shoulder. “She loves many things and many people, and she loves very deeply. I believe it was my teacher’s one mistake—her sacrifice was not solely for you. Yet one does not throw themselves into the aim of a kill without harboring a deep connection.”

Link turned his gaze towards the castle again, wondering not for the first time if perhaps he’d loved her too. He woke with nothing, with hardly a name to himself, and still he followed her. She was but an echo in a vast and darkened tomb, and still he was compelled to listen to her, to obey her, to call out to this being that filled him with such a foreign familiarity. He’d never met her—not in this Hyrule, but he craved getting her back from the thing that had separated them a century ago. And he knew that simply being a knight devoted to his kingdom didn’t sink this far. Her voice was a comfort, her face in his memories was a safety he didn’t know he’d lost, and a simple knight attendant wouldn’t dream to see her smile, rumored as warm as the sun, with his own eyes.

And faintly, he could remember the feeling of her lips on his—a moment of clarity in what must’ve been the worst birthday on record. Goddesses, what he wouldn’t do to have her back.

“Can you love someone you don’t know?” Link wondered aloud, watching the clouds move slowly over the darkening backdrop of the sky. 

“There are little rules that love follows. Once you accept that, I think, then answers come easy.”

A soft sigh slipped past his lips. Kass was right of course, just as he always was, even if he didn’t know what to say to someone with a situation as twisted as his.

He knew Zelda before, had loved her before—and if the demon of destruction Calamity Ganon had become could surpass lifetimes on hatred alone, then why couldn’t love last past a century? It made him all the more anxious to end this, because only then would he know for sure. Only seeing her before him, feeling if she was truly solid, would answer his questions. And she was the only tie he had to his life over one hundred years ago.

“And if I fail? Again?” Link asked, and the weight of the Master Sword doubled, like the burden had never left his shoulders after all—because it hadn’t.

Everyone he’d met, they were all depending on him. And if he failed, then the events of a century ago would repeat. There would be no resurrection shrine this time, no sacred princess to hold the Calamity back as they waited for their hero. 

“I believe our fates have been set out long before us. There’s no changing what the goddesses have in store. Whatever happens was always meant to happen, and no fault for that lies on your shoulders, Master Link.”

“Would they let their kingdom burn?” Link said, gripping the Slate so tightly that his knuckles whitened. “Would they turn their backs on us again, on Zelda, after we’ve done nothing but show them loyalty?”

“Do you believe they would?”

He turned his gaze away, because he did. They’d already done so in the years they ignored Zelda’s pleadings. They’d already done so by allowing the slaughtering of Hyrule as their princess begged and cried for those same people to be saved. They’d done so by making their goddess incarnate wonder whether or not she was meant to be who she was. And they’d done so by ripping him from her grasp, then dropping him back into existence with nothing but a body and a deep, foreign sense of grief. And maybe this anger, this blame he felt towards the goddesses was not helping them to grant him the kindness he knew he needed for this journey. They’d taken everything from him, and now they expected him to turn to them for help and grovel at their feet and beg them to save their own kingdom.

How cruel the deities could be.

“It’s alright,” Kass continued, as if he simply knew. “I think everyone doubts their faith at times. With the suffering you’ve endured, how could you not?”

“What do you think?” Link asked. “About the gods.”

For once, the bard did not have an immediate reply. He hummed as he thought, and Link took to watching the first few stars peek through the dusk. A light twinkling at the end of the darkness. The irony was not lost on him.

“I think the more time that passes, the more clouded it becomes,” the Rito said at last. “The details of the goddesses become fuzzy, and we take to retelling victories alone. I think the gods of our world are very old, and communications have dwindled even in hours like these because they, too, are tired. But I know that we will never truly understand the gods. Oh, we may have our theories, but they have existed far longer than us.”

Link wondered partially if that was true. The sword told the tale of a thousand lifetimes, with a hero’s spirit tied to each one. And with every hero, there was a daughter of Hylia to go with them.

At this point, living a century after the time he once belonged in, he absolutely felt like a god that had lived forever. 

“I’m angry,” Link admitted, though he was sure he didn’t have to. “I’m angry they turned their back on us, and I’m angry for Zelda—that she’s had to fight alone for the past century after everything else she’d been through.”

“Are you also not fighting alone?” Kass asked. 

“No.” His reply was immediate, coming without a second thought, because he’d never truly been alone for any of this. Even before he met his newfound friends, Zelda guided him. And he could do no more than whisper into the air and hope that it carried on the winds to her, and that she was listening. “I’m not alone.”

“Neither is she,” the bard assured. “As long as there are people who remember her, and as long as you stand with intentions to help her, she will never be alone.”

The words made his voice catch and his lip tremble, so Link ducked his head and fiddled with the gloves over his hands. 

Zelda deserved the world as soon as she got out of her prison. It was time he stopped with his fears, because she was counting on him. All of Hyrule was counting on him—again. And he needed her like he’d known her his whole life.

“You'll be the first to meet her,” Link promised as he glanced to his friend. “She’ll love you.”

“It would be my honor, truly. And perhaps then I will write my own song about a boy who traversed mountains and deserts for the girl he held dear, and a girl who brought destruction to its knees for the people she loved.”

Link cracked a smile and said, “As long as I’m the first to hear it.”

“Oh, of course.”

He turned his gaze back towards the sky. The moon was just beginning to peak over the horizon, as big and white and calming as it belonged. He wondered vaguely if, wherever she was within that castle, she could see it too.

“I think I do love her,” he said softly.

“And there is no shame in that,” Kass replied. Another feathered wing was set upon his shoulder. He was grateful for the comfort. “I have faith that you will get her back for us. For you.”

“I’ll do anything.”

And he meant it.

[gryffindorcls]

Open Your Eyes

Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I had WAY too much fun writing this one!  This is @flashflashitsash​‘s request from my Lovesquare Fluff Bingo.  She asked for “Seat Buddies” with an identity reveal.  (Sorry, Ash...Tumblr ate your ask lol) A big thank you to @falling-oceans​ for being my super awesome beta! (Also, being on a couch counts as seat buddies, right?)

If anyone else would like to request a bingo prompt, pick a number and a prompt from the board below, and send it to my inbox here.

AO3

Fanfiction

Marinette never considered herself a morning person. She hated that gritty feeling in her eyes and the thick taste in her mouth that always accompanied a pitiful night’s sleep. It was on days like this that the sun was her enemy and her pillow was her only consolation.

Unfortunately, today was one of those days.

Without opening her eyes, she flopped over, grabbed the blanket that covered her torso, and pulled it up to her chin.

In her groggy haze, Marinette’s hand searched for the familiar softness of her cat pillow. Her quest proved fruitless when her palm slid across a smooth, cotton-clad surface and collided with a fluffy mop. Her fingers tightened around the foreign object inside her personal bubble.

Did a cat sneak in through my hatch last night?

Then the mop groaned.

With a start, she recoiled her hand, but fear kept her eyes glued shut. Momentarily pushing the pillow texture mystery out of her head, Marinette gathered all the courage she could muster and moved her hand through the unidentified mass of silky strands.

The clenching in her gut lessened when she wasn’t immediately attacked, but she knew better than to let down her guard. Paris was no stranger to bizarre occurrences, and the last thing she needed was to be caught unawares by another one of Hawkmoth’s Akumas.

She didn’t want to fight the mop, but she would if she had to. After all, she was Ladybug. Albeit a detransformed Ladybug, but Ladybug nonetheless.

Marinette retracted her hand and let it slide down the strange pillow beneath her. She pressed against its surface only to find that it had little give and was somewhat chiseled.

What kind of mop is this?

“G-murnin.” The mop was speaking to her. “Swerm I?”

Well, it was mumbling, but it was sentient.

Please don’t be an Akuma.

Without warning, Marinette’s well-defined pillow-mop shifted beside her and took a deep breath. “Why hello, my lady! How do you manage to smell so good all the time?”

Marinette froze.

This was no pillow.

These were abs.

Very familiar abs.

Familiar abs that were definitely not in a super-suit right now.

“Chat!” His name came out as a squeak. “Please tell me that it’s really you! You’re not a talking pillow Akuma, right?”

His body shook with the rumble of a laugh. “It’s just me. No Akuma to fight right now.”

Marinette wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but a nagging worry still consumed her. “I’m not so sure about that, Chaton. Something’s not adding up right now.”

“Now that you mention it, all of this does seem a little strange.” A pair of strong, steady arms wrapped around her torso. “Don’t get me wrong, waking up next to you is a dream come true, but I’m definitely supposed to be at a friend’s house right now.”

“Me, too.” Marinette buried her face into her partner’s chest. “And neither of us are transformed for some reason, so don’t open your eyes.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious! No peeking.”

“When have I ever given you a reason to not trust me?”

“Hmmm, let’s see. Well, there was the time when-”

He cut her off, sending her into a fit of giggles. “My lady!”

The mock hurt in his voice brushed away some of the uncertainty that shrouded her mind. “Don’t worry, Chaton. I trust you with my life.”

His arms tightened around her waist. “That’s good because you had me worried for a second there.”

She nuzzled her face against the crook of his neck, wanting more than anything to stay with him forever, but unfortunately there were more pressing matters to attend to. “So, as much as I'm enjoying this unexpected cuddling session, we really do have to figure this out.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed and pulled his head away from hers. “And it’s just my luck that I finally get to hold you in my arms like this and it’s probably because of stupid Hawkmoth.”

“Sorry, kitty, but if it’s any consolation, I’m really enjoying it...even though we might be in danger.”

“None of this makes any sense! We aren't supposed to detransform unless we’ve used our powers, and I don't remember fighting a second Akuma yesterday. Come to think of it, I don't remember transforming at all last night.”

“Neither do I. The last time we were transformed was when we fought Masked-Tape, but that was in the middle of the day.”

“Surprisingly, this new problem is an even stickier situation than the one he created.”

“Focus, Chat Noir! Now is not the time for jokes!”

“Sorry, my lady, but I haven’t been able to focus since you gave me that little parting gift yesterday.” His mouth came dangerously close to her neck, allowing the warmth of his breath to cling to her skin. “And you kind of ran away before we could talk about it.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks. “I was about to detransform! What else was I supposed to do?”

“So, does that mean that you leaving was not meant to be a reflection of the quality of that kiss?” His breath once again caressed her bare skin as he spoke, sending a shiver through her body. "Because you have no idea how worried I was about that last night."

“I'm sorry you felt that way. I never meant for you to think that I didn't like it." Marinette turned her head and rested her nose against his. "I loved it, and I wouldn’t mind doing it again sometime.”

“Oh, really?” His lips ghosted hers, sending her thoughts into a frenzied blur. “Because kissing you was the greatest moment of my life.”

“But it wasn’t our first kiss.”

“But it was the first one I remembered. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was the first one that meant something to you.”

Her breath hitched. “It meant everything to me. You mean everything to me.”

Chat erased the remaining space between them and gently pressed his lips against hers. Unlike the previous day’s kiss that had taken place after watching her partner nearly die, this one was soft and cautious. She leaned into the kiss, giving him silent encouragement.

It had taken years, but Marinette was happy with how her relationship with Chat had evolved. Shortly after she’d become the new Guardian, there was a brief period where he stopped using any nicknames when addressing her. She hadn’t realized that she’d missed it as much as she did until she heard him refer to her “my lady” after a particularly difficult Akuma battle. From there, her heart slowly began softening towards his affections.

Giving up her first crush had been painful but necessary. Adrien belonged with someone else. Even though she still loved him, Marinette had managed to become good friends with Adrien, and she learned how to open herself up to the possibility of loving someone else. After coming to this conclusion, she knew it was only a matter of time before she finally allowed herself to fall in love with her partner.

For years, she’d been brushing away her feelings for him, but yesterday had given her the wake-up call she’d needed. Sure, Adrien would always hold a special place in her heart, but without a doubt, she was also deeply in love with Chat Noir.

And now, he was here, and she was in his arms. While the situation was not ideal, she felt safe and loved.

Marinette lost herself in his essence. Her hands rested against his chest as his arms tightened around her torso. His breath tasted sweet on her lips, and the steady thrum of his heartbeat against her open palm sent fireworks shooting through her veins. Their connection was electric.

When the need to breathe finally overtook her senses, she pulled away from his face, and the coolness of the morning air sent her thoughts hurtling back towards reality.

Chat shifted beneath her, but before his lips met hers once again, she turned her head away from his. “We still have a problem to solve.”

“Ugh, fine. But I want an extra kiss later.” There was a teasing lilt in his voice.

“Deal.”

“Wait, really?”

“Chat, I will give you endless kisses if you can help me figure this out.” Doing her best to maintain some semblance of self-control, she gently pressed her lips against his jaw. “As many kisses as you want.”

“Wow.” A noise similar to that of a balloon slowly losing air manifested itself as a strained whine from Chat’s throat. “I’d like that.”

Marinette bit her lip in an attempt to hold back a laugh. “Then we should probably get to work.”

“You got it, my lady.” His voice cracked before he paused to clear his throat. “Um...what should we do first?”

She took a deep breath and did her best to focus. “Okay, well, let's retrace our steps. What’s the last thing you remember doing before you woke up this morning?”

“I was watching movies with some of my friends.”

“Me, too! Maybe it was a technology Akuma that brainwashed us or erased our memories.”

“I guess that would explain how we wound up on this couch together.”

“We’re on a couch?”

“It definitely feels like a couch.” The sound of his hand dragging across textured fabric heightened her senses. “Actually, it kind of feels like my friend’s couch.”

Her stomach dropped. “Does that mean we’re at your friend’s house?”

“Uhhh...probably?”

“Wait...is your friend here in the room with us?”

“Do you want me to look around and see?”

The only voices she’d heard since she'd woken up were theirs, so she had assumed that they were alone; however, the success of their escape plan hinged on their ability to speak freely.

“Yeah.” She nodded her head against his chest. “You can look. Just make sure you don’t look at me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of breaking your trust.” Chat kissed the top of her head, calming some of her nerves. “I’ll just take a quick look.”

Tension hung in the air as she awaited his findings. “Anyone else with us?”

“Okay, so we’re definitely in my friend’s apartment, but we’re alone right now.” A muffled crash and a chorus of laughter sounded from another room. “But I don’t know how long that will last.”

Marinette huffed. “Well, that’s just great! How are we supposed to get out of this without revealing our identities?”

Chat grew silent before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. “My lady, may I offer you a suggestion?”

The increased pressure of his body against hers sent her heart fluttering. “I’m listening.”

“What if, and try to stay with me here, okay?” He took a deep breath. “What if we stopped keeping our identities a secret?”

She deflated. “We can't do that.”

“Yes, we can.”

“You know we can’t know each other’s identities.”

“Would it really be the worst thing in the world if we did?” One of his hands slid off of her back and cradled her cheek. “We could open our eyes right now.”

Pressure began to build behind her eyes as tears threatened to fall. “Chat…”

“My lady, please. Just think about it!”

“But Hawkmoth…”

“Is going to get his butt kicked.” His breath came out as a chuckle. “Just imagine how much we could accomplish if we could plan and hunt for clues together as civilians.”

Her heart yearned for the world that Chat described, but the voice in the back of her mind screamed louder than her desires. “But it would put us in danger.”

“We are already in danger. We’re in danger just by feeling emotions, and we will continue to be in danger long after Hawkmoth is defeated. Danger is just one of those things that comes with having a Miraculous.”

“Master Fu was pretty adamant about us not knowing.”

“But he’s not here anymore, and you’re the Guardian. Do you know how much easier it would be if I could find you outside of the mask? What if I need more of that magic cheese? Or what if something happens and one of us can’t show up to a fight?”

Her racing thoughts came to a screeching halt, allowing the protest in her heart to shatter some of her resolve. “I never thought of it that way.”

“My lady, do you know how worried I am that one day you’ll just disappear and I won’t know how to find you?”

“That won’t happen.”

“But what if it does? I already had one important person in my life disappear. I barely made it through that, and losing you would break me.”

“Oh, Chaton.”

“I love you, Ladybug.” He nuzzled his cheek against her head. “I always have and I always will. I know this is scary, but not being able to get to each other if we’re in trouble is even scarier.”

She pressed a hand against his cheek. “I love you, too, Chat. You mean everything to me, and...”

“And?”

“And…” Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to his face, attempting to drive away the rest of her inhibitions by finding safety in his steady embrace. “I think I’m ready to see who you are.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “Then open your eyes.”

Marinette took a deep breath and allowed her eyelids to flutter, briefly letting light pierce through her self-inflicted darkness. A shock of blond moved in her periphery, forcing her eyes shut once again.

She slumped against him and silently cursed the fear that still prevented her from filling Chat’s request. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” Marinette knew he was right, but the nagging voice that was usually in the back of her mind was screaming in her ears.

“But it’ll change everything!” Her words tumbled out involuntarily, and when her brain finally registered what she’d said, a broken sob escaped her lips. “So much has changed already, and I don’t know if I’m ready for more.”

“Don’t forget that change can be good.” He buried his face in her hair and breathed in. “For starters, knowing will change how much we get to see each other, and it’ll change what name I put on the flowers I’m going to give to you on our first date. But it won’t change how I feel about you because we’re still the same people underneath the masks.”

“Yeah, we are.” The fear gripping her heart ebbed away as rosy visions of a life with her partner formed in her mind. “That’s what Tikki says to me all the time.”

“And she’s right. I’ll always be your partner who’s madly in love with you, and you will always be my brave and beautiful lady.”

“It would be nice to see what color your eyes really are.”

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Fun fact...they’re still green.”

His breath tickled her skin, melting away any remaining trepidation and replacing it with an overwhelming need for more. She wanted that first date. She wanted to hear him say her name. She wanted to feel the touch of his hand on hers without the barrier of their suits.

With a renewed vigor, she made her decision. “Alright, I’m actually ready this time.”

He peppered her face with kisses, sending her into a fit of giggles. “Thank you, my lady. Thank you!”

“Well, someone’s excited!”

“I have been waiting three years for this moment. Of course, I’m excited! No, I’m beyond excited! I’m paws-sitively o-fur-joyed!”

“Okay, now I’m starting to rethink my decision.”

“Oh, you know you love my puns.”

Marinette did her best to stifle a laugh. “Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about that.”

“My lady,” he whined, “I thought we were having a moment!”

“Hey, you were the one who brought puns into the conversation.”

“I only pun when I’m comfortable, and I usually don’t feel comfortable enough to make jokes like that around most people in my civilian life. But I feel completely at ease with you, so think of me showing you my sense of humor outside of the suit as a compliment.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I love you.” She kissed the tip of his nose. “Puns and all.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “How about we both look on the count of three?”

“Sounds purr-fect.”

“My silly kitty.” Shifting her position on the couch, Marinette pulled Chat into a sitting position and held his hands. “Ready? One.”

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “Two.”

“Thr...wait!” Marinette moved forward until her knee was touching his leg. “Before we open our eyes, could you do something for me?”

One of his hands moved to cup her cheek. “Anything.”

“Kiss me.” She leaned in further as his hand buried itself in her hair. “Kiss me like you kissed me last night.”

His lips crashed onto hers as his fingers pressed against the back of her head, erasing the space between them. Her hands eventually landed on his back and gripped his soft cotton t-shirt. The kiss transcended words, for she could feel his ceaseless declaration of love grow stronger with each passing second.

“Girl, I can totally see where you get your clumsiness from! Your dad just spilled an entire…OHMYGOD, YOU’RE KISSING ADRIEN!” Marinette opened her eyes and whipped her head towards the voice that had entered the room.

She shrieked and launched herself off of the couch, landing on the floor with a thud. Her heart pounded against her chest as she tried to catch her breath. As her vision became acclimated to the light, she scanned her surroundings only to find an equally stunned-looking Adrien Agreste holding his hand over his lips, curled up against the corner of the couch.

“Marinette.” The reverence in which he spoke her name almost made her forget that they were no longer alone. “Of course.”

“I heard screams. What happened?” A somewhat frazzled Nino burst into the room, hopped in front of his girlfriend, and assumed a battle-ready stance. “Is there an Akuma?”

Alya whipped out her phone. “No Akuma, but it seems as though our best friends have been holding out on us.”

Nino dropped his arms to his side and looked back at Alya. “So, no one’s hurt?”

“Marinette just flew off the couch, so she might be. But I think she’ll be just fine.” Alya smirked and turned towards Adrien. “Right, sunshine?”

“I...uh…” Adrien visibly swallowed. “What?”

“Are you going to let your girlfriend just sit on the floor like that?” Alya pointed at Marinette.

Nino held up a hand. “I’m sorry, did you just say girlfriend?”

“Yup. I came in to tell our Sleeping Beauties that breakfast was ready, and what do I find? These two making out.” Alya chuckled. “And let me just say, it’s about time.”

“Bro, why didn’t you tell me?” Nino slung his arm around Alya. “We should totally go on a double date sometime. Just think about how much fun we would have!”

Pressure began to build against her eardrums as she slowly began to process the events that had transpired over the last few minutes. The ever-growing ringing in her ears made it hard for her to concentrate on anything outside of her own thoughts. As her mind wandered, she entered her own private bubble, quieting the voices around her and allowing every hidden truth to make itself known.

She was in her house.

She’d been in her living room all night.

She’d just kissed Adrien Agreste.

And Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir.

“...and then Marinette yeeted herself off of the couch.” Alya’s voice slowly drifted back into focus. “And from the way she’s staring off into space right now, I’m guessing she might actually be hurt. Girl, are you okay? ”

Marinette shook herself away from her racing thoughts in time to see a wave of panic wash over Adrien’s features. “Are you hurt?”

Her body still felt somewhat numb from the shock, but a dull ache in her lower back was beginning to pulsate. “Only a little.”

Within seconds, Adrien was on the floor next to her, holding her in his arms. “Could you guys tell Marinette’s parents that we’ll be there in a few minutes? We just need a moment.”

Alya held up her phone and snapped a picture. “Oh, come on! This moment is too adorable to not capture. You won’t even know we’re here.”

“No, we need a few minutes alone this time.” Marinette could hear the exasperation simmering beneath the surface of his words.

“Aww, but you two are just so cute.”

“Alya, please...”

“Okay, fine! You two deserve your alone time, but I expect some details later.” Alya winked at Marinette, grabbed Nino’s wrist, and dragged him out of the room. “Come on, babe. Let’s see if Mr. Dupain still needs help cleaning up all that orange juice and flour.”

“Thank you!” Adrien called after her.

When they were alone once again, the room grew quiet. Adrien scooped Marinette into his lap and held her against his chest. She slowly felt the shock from the reveal begin to wane, and she found herself snuggling against him.

Her heart pounded against her chest, each thump another confirmation that the boy who held her in his arms was her true love, regardless of whether she called him Adrien or Chat. Of course, she’d fallen in love with him twice. Of course, he was her partner. There was no one else it could have been.

The more she thought about it, Chat’s identity was something she’d known in her heart all along. Her mind had pushed the idea away so many times, creating a wall between them, but now, there were no more secrets or barriers.

Her kitty had been right. Danger would follow them wherever they went, but as long as they had each other, they would be unstoppable against any force that threatened to tear them apart.

With him, she could be at peace.

“This definitely changes how I feel about you.” He declared, making her suddenly doubt every resolution her mind had just made.

“O-oh?” Her voice was shaky.

“I once said that I would love whoever was behind the mask, but I was wrong. I’ve had my suspicions of who Ladybug might be over the past few years, and I was only truly happy when I thought she was you.” Adrien kissed her temple, dissolving any hint of worry or doubt in her mind. “I always knew you were more than just a friend to me, but I was too scared to admit the truth.”

“The truth?” She met his gaze, finding nothing but adoration in his eyes.

His hair brushed against her cheek as he whispered into her ear. “That I am hopelessly in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I just fell in love with her even more.”

All the air rushed from her lungs, leaving her breathless. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she clung to Adrien’s shirt and buried her face against his chest. For the first time in years, she felt complete.

Adrien released her from his embrace and leaned back, seemingly unsure of what to do with his hands. “My lady, are you alright? What’s wrong? Is it something I said?”

Marinette shook her head, looped her arms around his neck, and pulled him close. “No, please don’t go away! I liked the hug.”

Adrien returned the gesture and began rubbing soothing circles on her back. “It’s okay. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Good.”

“Does this mean I didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Oh, kitty, no.” Marinette used the back of her hand to wipe the wetness off of her cheeks. “I’m just so happy.”

He leaned her forehead against hers. “That’s a lot of happy tears, Bugaboo. Are you sure everything is okay?”

“There’s just a lot of emotions to process right now, and I’m a little overwhelmed. I can’t believe that we’ve been in love with each other this whole time, and we never even knew.” She released a watery laugh. “We've been dancing around each other for years!”

“Okay, now I’m confused. You didn’t kiss me until yesterday, and you always told me that you were in love with someone else.”

She tightened her embrace. “Oh, my wonderful, kitty. Three years ago, I fell in love with a kind boy who gave me an umbrella after clearing up a misunderstanding. And then I slowly fell in love with him all over again, even though I called him by a different name.”

Adrien’s stunned expression made her giggle. “So, that means the other boy was…”

“You.”

“...me.”

“It was always you, Adrien. You have my whole heart.”

“My lady, can I kiss you again?” His breath ghosted her lips as his face inched closer to hers.

She could barely contain her smile. “You can kiss me whenever you want.”

This kiss was soft and gentle, for behind it was the promise of countless more just like it.

Another crash came from the kitchen followed by groans and laughs, prompting Marinette to pull away from Adrien. “I should probably go see if my parents need help.”

“Yeah.” Adrien chuckled. “At least we can spend time with each other a little later.”

“But you have to leave by ten for a photoshoot, and didn’t you say that your dad was expecting you to practice the piano when you got home?”

“Well, Adrien has to do all that stuff, but Chat is available to meet up with a certain Princess around say...seven o’clock? Purr-haps he’ll bring ice cream if that’s something the lady wants.”

Marinette leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. “It’s a date.”

Maybe early mornings weren’t out to get her, after all. Maybe the sun wasn’t really her enemy. And maybe this was the start of something wonderful.

Now that her eyes were open, she never wanted to close them again.

As she made her way out of the room, Marinette took Adrien’s hand and laced her fingers through his. He gave her hand a squeeze, sending a flurry of butterflies coursing through her body.

Yeah, she could definitely get used to days like this.

[thenameisel]

Origin Stories Part Four: Dangers in the Dark

A black garbed Hunter stood out against the off-white wall of the warehouse, pacing and judging the best way to scale it, as it was unfortunately much too high to jump. There was a rusted out fire escape that just might hold Boop's weight.

"Heard anything from them?"

"Nope!" Pip chirped.

"I'll admit I'm a little concerned. Caush usually doesn't go radio silent."

"Oh the two of them are probably busy inside. How long do you figure till we start hearing explosions?"

Boop laughed and started carefully climbing upwards. The fire escape thankfully held. Mostly. It helped that the Hunter didn't weigh very much. Pip kept pace, scanning rungs as they went, pointing out the ones that should be avoided. Even still there were a couple close calls as the old metal cracked unter the weight.

Halfway up Boop paused and turned to admire the buildings of the old world. Eyes narrowed momentarily at a disturbingly uniform set of potholes leading away from the warehouse. Pip noticed what his Hunter was looking at, and made a singular, slightly worried sounding beep.

“The pattern of those tracks seem to be headed away. Let’s be glad for that.” The Ghost said, and the two continued their climb.

Eventually they made it to the rooftop, which was a wide gravel covered expanse, warm from the day's sun. There was a large hole in the center where the roof had collapsed some point in the past.

"Oh that's… not good. Nope. Nope." Pip exclaimed as he vanished in a flurry of sparks. Boop shared a few choice curses. Running like some giant web across the surface of the roof was lines of ash and green fire.

“Boop. Caush still isn’t answering me. Now I’m worried.”

“C’mon.” Boop said, carefully picking a route across to the hole and staying well away from the lines of Hive magic. “Any idea what this does?”

“No, sorry. But I bet nothing good.”

The hundred meters or so to the gap was made painfully long with worry about Elliott. But eventually, Boop made it to the edge. Crouching down to reduce the chances of being seen, the last few meters were taken at a crouch, each step careful to not disturb any pebbles, least any drop over the edge. Readying the sniper, Boop peeked over into the warehouse below.

Surprisingly, the space was clear of debris, and a wood floor made it much more home like. At the edge of the sunlit area the wood gave way to a concrete floor and the maze of cubicle-like living spaces favored by the Eliksni. Carpets and fabric hangings softened the ramshackle walls.

“Oh.” Pip said excitedly. “So there is Fallen here! Or was! I was starting to worry that informat was lying. But why the Hive magic?”

“No idea." Boop scanned both light and dark areas, but couldn’t see anything moving. "Any sign of Elliott and Caush?”

“No. Nothing.” a pause. Boop could feel Pip thinking. “Wait. That’s it! The magic! It must be blocking my sensors!"

"Ok. So we're blind right now. Let's wait a bit. Elliott can take care of himself. We haven't heard any noises so it's likely he hasn't come across anything. He might be working his way through that maze down there."

And so they waited. Eyes scanning shadows for any sign of movement. Something about the whole thing didn't sit right with Boop though. And the longer they waited, the stronger the feeling got. Why was the Hive here? Why was the roof criss crossed in their weird magic fire? The whole thing didn't sit right.

"I think it's a trap."

"You do?" Pip said excitedly. "Oh we haven't encountered a good trap for years! Oh! Oh! What do you think this one does? Cave the roof in? Summon a Tomb Ship?"

"Seriously?" Boop shifted the sniper rifle anxiously, really wishing Pip was visible. That Ghost needed a good poke for that comment. "It's one thing when it's us! It's not right when it's Elliott in danger!"

"Oh he's fiiiiiine. Betcha Caush already figured it out. Besides, when was the last time Elliott went up against something he couldn't punch his way out of?"

"Quiet. I think I see movement. Ten o'clock."

"Oh you're right! I think that's them. Weird. It's like they aren't there."

Boop's shoulders stiffened in concern. The Titan was walking nonchalantly down the corridor towards the open space.

"Wait. More movement. Two, four, and nine." Pip's voice went up an octave. "Also not on sensors! But I think I see Hive eyes!"

Boop didn't hesitate. Cover didn't matter at this point. Standing up with a pebble in hand, the Hunter tossed it with the aim of years of marksmanship practice. Watched as it pinged off Elliott's helmet. His response was slow. Too slow. Waving madly Boop finally managed to catch his attention. Tried so hard with a chopping motion to encourage him to back away. But it was too late. The Titan was surrounded.

Below, Elliott engaged the hive with that ridiculous auto rifle, the paff paff paff-ing noise cutting through the chaotic screeching of the Hive. Anything that got too close for comfort got punched with an Arc covered fist.

Aiming the sniper rifle expertly, Boop started felling targets, Pip calling out locations of the most pressing ones. Hive Knights getting behind Elliott. Corrupted Thralls creeping too close. It almost looked like they could turn the tide.

Then the Ogre stepped out of the gloom.

For a split second Boop considered jumping down, but something about the way the Hive as a whole kept pushing Elliott back towards the center of the open space was concerning. The Knights never stepped more than a couple feet onto the wood floor. The Ogre did, but started backpedaling when Elliott gave ground. That sealed it. There was definitely a trap.

Boop watched in horror as the Titan jumped into the air, Arc energy flowing around him violently. Watched him plummet towards a knot of Thralls that looked like they had been herded out into the open as bait.

Boop screamed his name knowing full well it was too late as Elliott punched through the floor into the hidden pit below.

A wave of green fire erupted upwards before the depths sunk back into darkness.

"Oh no no no." Pip exclaimed "Now what? NOW WHAT?"

"Now we improvise. Keep trying to contact Caush."

"You can't be serious. I know what you're thinking! What if you fall too?"

"I'm a whole lot lighter than a hurtling Titan." Fire erupted along Boop's arm as a flaming gun appeared out of nowhere. "We'll be fine."

With that the Hunter hopped into the building, firing the flaming gun on the way down. Spent, it dissipated into ash and embers, but each shot had hit it's mark. The Ogre was dead, and so were a handful more Knights.

Using Light to break the fall, Boop landed gracefully at the edge of the open area, footsteps making a distinct hollow sound. Quickly slipping into the shadows the Hunter became a whirling dance of hidden death. Knives were thrown, shotgun was fired, and Hive fell not knowing where the onslaught came from. Boop kept moving, kept them guessing.

"I'VE GOT CAUSH!" Pip all but screamed in excitement.

"Thank the Light. Are they ok?" Another dodge, the Hive Thrall that had gotten to close lunging through the smoke like trail of Boop's passing. A shotgun blast dispatched it.

"Enough." Pip said relieved, between Boop's blasts. "But Caush says there isn't much Light down there. They have some time but…"

"So we better move faster." Boop said, resuming the dance.

--------------------

"...hear me? Hello? Elliott?" Caush's voice cut through the ringing and fog. "Look, I need you to wake up. Or specifically, you need you to wake up and get out of here so I can heal you."

"What happened?" Elliott groaned. Everything hurt. He tried to roll onto his back and failed. His legs were pinned under something heavy. He did manage to twist around enough to see a jagged outline above them. "How far did we fall?"

"It was a trap. False floor. Walls covered in Hive magic to conceal it. We are so far out of my calculations that for once, I've scraped my analysis entirely. We are now, officially, winging it."

"Ok. Let's have some light to see."

"No. Not happening. There is so much magic here I can't tell what it does. I can't justify that risk. But I can tell you that there is so little Light here that unless we move, and you die, I won't be able to do anything about it."

"So. You need me to free myself, and climb out, injured and blind."

"Yes."

The Titan groaned in frustration and tried to shift the mass again. Part of the floor no doubt. It moved slightly.

"You got this." Caush said encouragingly. "You're the strongest…"

Caush fell silent mid sentence. Elliott could feel excitement building through their connection to each other. He held his breath and listened. He could still hear the Hive shrieking above, no doubt in joy for him falling for their trap. Then he heard something different between the screams. Shotgun blasts. The shrieking was in frustration! Boop!

“Connection reestablished!” Caush proclaimed proudly. “Your fall must have disrupted enough magic to get a signal out. I’ve updated them on the situation, Pip says they will come as fast as they can.”

“Ok. I guess I better keep trying.”

Again Elliott tried to move the mass. But being pinned face down was not helping. Somehow he did manage to get enough leverage to extract himself down to his knees and flip mostly over. Elliott grit his teeth as fresh pain in his left leg assaulted him and he suddenly felt very faint. He knew immediately what was wrong. Being a Guardian let you experience death in so many ways.

"How bad is it, Caush?"

"Unless you can stop the flow, I figure you have about three minutes." This time there was concern in his Ghost's voice.

"Great." Elliott said, and tried again to free himself. He had a sliver of hope though, the time between shotgun blasts above was starting lengthen.

----------------------

Unfortunately Boop was quickly running out of ammo. Fortunately targets to shoot were starting to run thin too. A pull of the trigger took out one of the three remaining Knights, the second Knight got a knife in its head buying precious time to reload. Sliding through the last knot of Thralls, and firing at a choice few, Boop managed to get near enough to blow a hole through the last Knight. When it fell the remaining Thralls bunched up almost nervously. A single grenade finished them off.

Panting heavily Boop lifted a hand. Pip appeared, gave his Hunter a quick one over, patched up a few cuts and a nasty acid burn, and vanished again quick as can be.

“All right. Down?” Boop asked, carefully picking a path to the hole in the floor. Lighter by far than a Titan, the damaged floor held the Hunter’s weight. Mostly. But one misstep could cause another collapse risking Boop being in the same state as Elliott.

“Little more to your left, near that jumble of cables. Wow that hole is deeper than you’d think. Oh! Oh! Oh! I bet the Hive were digging a new nest right under the Fallen! Perhaps they thought it would be an easy food source?”

“Maybe. Can you patch me through to Elliott?”

“Done!” Pip said after a short pause.

“Elliott?”

“Hey.” His voice was weak but there.

“You ok?” Boop kept moving, listening to the creek of the floor.

“Nope.” a grunt of pain, and sharp intake of breath. “Look. Caush is gonna need your help with this one. Not enough... Light.”

Boop understood. They were playing a dangerous game. If Elliott died down there, Caush wouldn't be able to bring him back alone. Boop and Pip’s own Light could help, but if they got there after Elliott’s faded away completely… there would be no bringing him back.

Boop was getting close to the edge.

“Talk to me, Elliott.”

“About… what?” His voice was strained.

“Well. It’s your turn.”

“Now… is not... the time.”

“I heard McKay made the whole thing up. For the attention.” Boop said mischievously. Felt Pip’s amusement at the taunting.

“You take… you take that back!”

“Well.” Boop said, having reached a beam that jutted out over the hole. Carefully walking the length, the hunter peered over the edge, judging the distance. Pip helpfully highlighted Elliott’s form in the gloom and shifting dust below. “I guess you better survive to set me straight!”

Boop stepped off the edge casually, dropping feet first. At the last moment a burst of Light propelled Boop upwards, breaking the fall. Landing gracefully, the Hunter quickly headed over to the Titans form. Elliott lay there limply amongst the debris of the false floor. Blood seeped from a poorly wrapped rent in the armor on his left leg, ran down the rubble, collecting in pools on the dirt floor. Way too much blood.

“Damned Hunters...” He managed faintly. “Always showing off… with that jump. Worried you’ll… miss… one day. Break… something.”

“Well I’m here an’t I? Besides, I’ve done that enough times to learn my lesson.”

Elliott didn't reply.

A chill ran down Boop's spine as the realization hit that the Titan was no longer breathing.

“Where you at Caush?” Boop lifted a palm for Pip in a bout of sudden panic. They had precious moments before Elliott's light would be gone forever.

“NO! Too much Hive magic! It’s not safe!”

Boop’s hand dropped instinctively.

"You serious?” Pip exclaimed, Boop was getting the distinct impression Pip thought Caush was being ridiculous. “Sure, it's a gamble, but we don't have time to find another solution!”

Caush was quiet at that.

Boop raised a hand again.

A flurry of sparks filled the air above it as Pip entered material space, his light illuminating the area.

There was utter silence for a few moments, as Pip’s facets rotated back and forth anxiously.

But nothing happened.

After a moment Pip made an angry sounding burble, his shell twitching in rage.

Caush appeared directly above his Titan, his eye shifting between various sickly hues of embarrassment. His shell span, splitting open, facets glittering pale gold in the low light. His own stores of Light were pitifully low. Certainly not enough to bring Elliott back.

Wordlessly Boop reached out towards the glow, eyes closed, shutting out Elliott's broken form and trying to focus on the flow of Light within and quickly found it. A sensation like a warm bubble, Pip's emotion filled consciousness pressing on the barriers of Boop's. The connection made, Light poured out from Pip, through Boop, and into Caush.

Boop's eyes opened just in time to see Caush, now glowing brightly with plenty of Light, start spinning faster and faster. Suddenly with a blinding flash his Light enveloped Elliott, settling on him like a mist. Boop watched breathless as Light mended the rent armor, the unneeded bandage dissolving into motes of light which reformed in their correct place as an unflawed Mark at Elliott’s waist.

With an audible snap Caush’s facets pulled back into place. The Ghost gave a little shake, and with sharp nervous movements floated over the Titan’s face.

A heartbeat stretched into an eternity.

Boop jumped as Elliott inhaled violently. With his fist exhalation he rolled and stumbled upright, instincts telling him to move. He took a few staggering steps, his breathing heavily and swaying like a drunk. Boop ducked under an arm to help Elliott stay upright as he got his balance back. He shook his head trying to clear the fog of resurrection.

“Thank you.” He said, his voice coming back to its usual room filling quality. “Now if you ever talk smack about McKay again...”

Boop laughed. “How about we get out of here, hmm?”

“Sounds good.” Elliott looked up wearily. “Better start climbing."

"You better be careful about it. Neither of us have enough Light left if you fall again."

"No promises" Elliott chuckled, then grew somber. "Too bad this place was overrun by Hive. No Fallen Captain in sight.”

“Not a total loss there. Pip? Caush?”

Both Ghosts did a deep bob in the air in acknowledgement.

“Oh! Yes! Caush and myself compared some notes, and we believe the Fallen vacated only a couple days ago, and it looks like they had a Spider Tank with them. Should be easy to track!”

“So?” Boop asked, elbowing Elliott in the ribs. “Wanna check it out? Take the sparrows and follow the tracks? You can tell me about your first day on the way!”

“Yea. Sounds good to me!”

[sohelish]

Progress

Never had Helena thought that she'd be working with Ada. Not because she disliked the Exo or anything. On the contrary, it seemed that it was Ada-1 who held prejudice against the Guardians.

Frankly, Hel couldn't blame her for thinking so and not trusting the Traveller. What puzzled her was: why would anyone openly express their disdain around the people one was to work with regardless? It only created unnecessary tension and ruined any chance of finding allies.

Had Ada been less emotional and more careful, were she to ask around discreetly, she'd learn that the Guardians were prone to questioning their own way of life.

No, she did not dislike Ada, but she deemed her foolish and short-sighted. Book smart, not street smart at all.

Things have changed, however, now that she had returned with an entirely different attitude. Perhaps it was her legacy that had been weighting the woman down and, since the Forges were lost to the enemy, nothing was ruining Ada's mood anymore.

'That's not the only thing that's changed. She's also---' Hel rummaged through the laboratory looking for something to use as leverage to open a panel. 'Afraid. Subdued.'

'That might be. Still don't see why we are working with that obnoxious lady.'

Izi the ghost had been bothering her guardian about Ada all the way to the frozen Europa and more, along their adventure.

'She pays well.'

'All she does is share information on what we've already found for her.'

'Matter transformation and storage was exactly one the pillars that revolutionised the society back during the Gold Age. Really think looking into that isn't worth our time?'

'I think fighting the Vex is more in our interest.'

Hel glanced at her ghost, amused. There was some mischievous intensity about her. A healthy dose of arrogance seen only in those who knew a lot more than they were leading on.

This gave Izi the ghost pause. The grumpiness - easily forgotten, the drone was trying to put together what it knew and form a bigger picture.

'I don't get it. You think the synthesis can somehow help us fight the Vex? Why? Because... Clovis worked on it?'

'Aha!'

The woman exclaimed happily as she reached for an object that resembled a screwdriver. She then approached the masterfully hidden panel in the wall. Good thing she'd snatched up the schematics and knew exactly where to look.

She didn't say anything back to Izi, though, just peeked over her shoulder and winked, still grinning.

The ghost got nervous if a ghost ever could truly experience such a state of being.

'Say, how much of his project Clovis based on the Vex tech, do you reckon?'

'Don’t know. All of it?'

'You think it's that connected?'

Another pause followed as Helena finally ripped the panel out and revealed an intricate box full of fuses and circuitry.

'Tsk, darn it.'

It was all frozen, however.

Hel squinted, studying the contents.

'Mm, yeah, looks like this is the one Ada asked for. Let's see what we can do.'

The Guardian removed her gloves and started rubbing her hands together while breathing meditatively. She had to do it just right, using enough Light to warm up her hands but not too much so that she didn’t ruin any of the pieces inside the panel.

Having thoroughly concentrated and mentally prepared, she finally placed her hands inside the fuse box, heating and melting away the ice.

It took much effort to do this carefully but eventually, she was done with the procedure. A water puddle has formed at her feet, the pieces became free to remove.

Hel went on to do that, but she also unscrewed a few more parts just in case. Maybe she would need them, or Ada would, or perhaps she'd sell them to the Drifter or Spider.

'You think most of the technological progress was based on the Vex, don't you?'

It was as if Izi's switch was flipped, and it started chattering on again, right where they left off.

'Yeah, something like that, Flashlight.'

Hel suddenly looked and sounded very tired, shoulders slumped, her whole posture was off.

'The Vex are known for many things, time loops included and not only. Do you... Do you ever stop to think that humans become the Vex in the future? With all the connection to the Exos and how comprehensible and comfortable their tech is to you guys?'

'Future. Alternate timeline where the Traveller never arrived. Yeah, I've thought about it a lot, Izi.'

'...oh.'

A sigh.

'I didn't mean to...'

'You never do. Right now, I figure, we should learn as much about the Vex as possible. The more insight we have, the better, and anything to do with Clovis provides good insight, okay? Okay, so let's look around some more. Gather data. Sell it twice - to Ada and the Stranger. Rinse and repeat.'

‘Too bad we can’t ask that giant head of his.’

‘Yeah, at this point, it’s going to lie, whether it actually knows stuff or not, but perhaps one day? Last time I talked to him, I swear he’d warmed up to me already.

A lone narcissist, recognising a fellow lone narcissist...

Hel put the gloves back on and clapped her hands.

Something moved behind the closed doors, and aggressive chattering could be heard.

The woman reached for the gun on her heap.

'Alright. Back to work.'

[blueskindrifter]

DRABBLE; Is it just a name or something more?

Mun’s Notes: I felt compelled to write this after listening to a Hyper Light Drifter playlist, so yeah.. Random, but I like it? Also I’m aware that technically The Librarian doesn’t have a set gender in the game, but I’ve seen the creators of the games and many others refer to them as a her so I decided to do so here. Also yes, The Drifter doesn’t talk at all in the game, but my Drifter is a selective mute meaning he can talk, he just chooses not to sometimes, mostly because he struggles to speak correctly and such. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

                                           What is a name?

The Drifter was sure he had one at some point in time as he wanders the long forgotten library, the projection of the Librarian flickering in and out somewhere in the background behind him. As far as he was aware, everyone had a name so the chances of him having one had to be a possibility as well, but considering how long he’s been wandering here, perhaps it was merely lost to the fragments of his memories and his kind alike, never to be heard or spoken again.

Did the Guardian have a name too?

Surely he must have. He had a wife and child. They must had names. Lovely names, he bet, but were they forgotten or did he merely never tell him? That was a possibility. He didn’t even become aware of the fact the Guardian had a family until... well, until he went searching for him in the South for that very last time. The Drifter tensely grips a slim book, the flood of emotions threatening to resurface inside him once more. Charcoal eyes felt the need to spill tears like he had on that day, but he refused. Right now wasn’t the time for crying, he had done so already and as far as he was concerned, that was that. No amount of crying was going to bring the Guardian back... It wasn’t going to heal him and it wasn’t going to save the world, so why bother?

Pulling the book from the shelf, he gazes at its cover for a moment before opening it, a puff of dust emerging from its papers. That’s enough to trigger a small coughing fit and almost drop the book entirely, but he recovers and begins to skim the contents. As always, he had came here in hopes of finding answers, knowing fully there were none here. That didn’t stop him from trying however. Perhaps, he told himself, if he kept looking, he may find a book, a scroll or something he overlook and that thing alone would hold all the answers he was looking for. It was a farfetched wish as ever, but it was something. Better than nothing.

The Librarian blips out and then suddenly appears near the Drifter’s side, ever so keen on helping him. He could never tell if they were some sort of program or a ghost trapped in the system. It was hard to tell, but either way, a sense of familiarly and pity would spring up whenever she would emerged. He wasn’t sure why, but he would always allow her near, even if sometimes he wasn’t in the mood for company. It would make sense considering she once upon a time shared the same infliction that he did, but instead of heading off to face Judgement, she used her time to travel the world and gain vast knowledge before succumbing to the illness ultimate demise. She now lingered here or around the Monoliths whenever the Drifter would activate them. She too was a Drifter just him like. 

One would begin to wander if that was a curse or some other thing.

“What are you looking for today, Drifter?” She gently inquires, her companion floating around her head in delicate bop. Unlike the Drifter himself, she was soft and careful. Peaceful and non-violent. The Drifter could be those things if he wished, had been those things long ago, but changed perhaps for the better. He sort of envied her for being able to keep those traits considering that now-a-days, you could no longer be as such unless you wish to be taken advantage of.

Turning his attention to the book, he sighs, “Looking...” Came his honest answer, for why else did he come here? For the view? Maybe. The Library was certainly pretty, even if it was falling apart. The Librarian dips her head in his view, the tassels of her beanie waving slightly, “Don’t tell me you’re trying to look for a cure again. You know you will not find one here.” The Drifter shakes his head, snapping the book shut.

“No. Looking for name. Traces for name. You having name?” Curious black eyes peek up at her as he places the book back on the shelf, awaiting her answer. The Librarian looks confused for a moment, her white eyes widening in shock before she giggles, floating back, “I had a name. Long ago, I don’t remember it though. I don’t think any of us do. I have a theory--” She presses her hands together and when she parts them, a projection appears showing Anubis the Divinity they're both familiar with, “That when the Jackal chooses one of us, otherwise known as Anubis, because of his connection to Judgment, we lose a part of ourselves in the process as well as contact this disease. This is just a theory of course, but it was something I always wondered myself. It could simply be that since we live so long, thanks again to Anubis allowing us to live for that long, we begin to lose memories, we lose our names. We lose our families. We lose traces of our pasts, but in the end, don’t you think that’s fine considering what befalls us?”

“As far as I’m aware, the Guardian was the only one that had a family and still remembered them. In fact, his main goal was to find a cure to help them before they sadly perished...” The Librarian’s white eyes diminish some in a melancholy manner, “You, however, you are shrouded in nothing but mystery... Even I have no idea where you’ve came from or if you had a family. The only traces I can gather is your skin color and even that is a mystery of its own.”

At the mention of his skin color, the Drifter can’t help drawing his hood a little closer around his features, turning and preparing to leave. The Librarian notices and hurriedly floats after him, looking concerned, “Wait! Did I insult you? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! P-Please.. Forgive me. I.. I’m sorry.”

With a wave of his hand, he dismisses her before drifting over a gap and continues on, “Don’t be fretting... My kind not be liking, so it fine. I am use to remarks.” Glancing over his shoulders, the corners of his eyes crinkles some, showing he was smiling behind his mask, “I will be coming back tomorrow perhaps? I will be seeing you.” He steps up to the ledge and with not a care in the world, jumps off and drifts multiple times to the other side before disappearing in the shadows. 

[shepherd-of-the-stars]

Artificial

My submission for @hetabang​ ! Hope you like it! 

Word count: 3,590

Summary: Novovol, Russia, the 36th century. The people of this new age have formed two distinct societies: those of the upper world, high in the sky in pearly cities, and those of the lower world, living on junkyard scraps and breathing polluted air. These societies, both run on fear and power, were meant to forever stay separate. But one night, an android fell from the sky and broke through the barrier that divided them. An android who has no memory, not even his own name, programmed to be a companion, but also a guard. His weapons system had been upgraded illegally, and without proper maintenance, could prove to be dangerous and unstable. Ivan, one of the best mechanics of the lower world, fixes him up and gives him a name; Alfred. Together, they go on an adventure, discovering things about their world, themselves, and their feelings.

Chapter summary: Ivan ventures into the junkyard to dig through the heaps for useful treasures, his almost nightly activity. One wild decision changes the course of his life. 

Warnings: brief mentions of death and bodies, hints at abuse(through scars)

Rating: T (to be changed)

Chapter 1: Hell’s Wasteland

The cold night air did wonders in smothering the noxious scents that blanketed the junkyard like a fog. While the sun’s heat cooked them and made them more powerful, nighttime forced them into hiding. The stench of death and rusted metal was enough to make a normal person retch, but Ivan frequented the location often enough that it was nothing but a minor nuisance. 

With his scarf pulled up to cover his nose and goggles to protect his eyes from the chemicals and dust, he weaved through the heaps of filth, looking for treasures hidden amongst the trash. His mechanical pack mule followed behind him dutifully with its heavy, steel feet making square indents in the hard dirt. The droid was bulky and large, similar to the size of its namesake, but its well oiled parts allowed it to move silently. The only noise that came from it was when the luggage it carried clashed into each other inside the bins on its back. 

This machine, that Ivan had built from scraps and named Buster, carried his maker's oddments so that Ivan could dig through the heaps freely. Every couple feet, the man stopped to poke through the collection of garbage and junk to pick out pieces that he could use for his work. There was a time when he'd jump at every eerie thing he found, but after years of coming here, those things only made his heart skip just a little. 

Spotting a human-like leg sticking out from a pile, Ivan scanned it with his device and waited. "Artificial, 20% damage," it said, allowing Ivan to release his breath and drag the limb out so he could toss it into his bins. He had learned the hard way that it was better to be safe than to drag out a corpse. 

It was one of the reasons the place was nicknamed "Hell's Wasteland." Broken androids tossed out here made it look like the place was littered with human bodies. The gangs saw that as an opportunity and began to dispose of their enemies here, hence the smell of decay. No one but vultures like Ivan went through here. No one would ever see. And even if someone did, the law would never listen to someone who only had 2 sets of clothes and ate crumbs for meals. 

What was once a scrap yard had now turned into a dumping ground. After the owners had disappeared, no one was left to take over. Local rumors said that the owners were still on the land, buried under rotten food and broken refrigerators. “If you listen closely, you can hear them crying,” they would say, “they’re waiting for someone to rescue them. But once you get close enough, they’ll snatch your body and use it as their own.”

But Ivan knew better than to listen to wild stories of ghosts and possession. He knew after many visits that it was the cries of cats. When they yowled in the night, it sounded like a child who had lost their guardian, or perhaps someone who was in pain. And since they ran away at the slightest sound, it was no surprise many people have never seen the source of the sound. 

Just then, that exact sound that people dreaded hearing pierced through the air and struck Ivan’s heart with chilling fear. He knew it was only a cat, but even the bravest of men would flinch at a shrill noise breaking silence. Head tilted towards the night sky, he listened, waiting for the sound to meet him again. 

When it came, he followed it with the stealth of an assassin. Even the slightest disturbance could send them running, and Ivan didn’t want to miss his chance of seeing a cute cat. 

With every step, he drew closer, which meant the cat had not discovered him yet. Maybe this time he would be able to catch it and bring it home. Then again, his budget could barely support his sisters and himself. To add another mouth to feed, that would leave them eating out of the dumpster. But one could dream. A small part of him hoped that the soft clanging of metal in Buster’s bins scared the cat away so he wouldn’t have false hope. 

But things never seemed to turn out his way. As he peeked out from behind an overturned car, he spotted the cat that had been yowling for attention and finally understood why it had not run. 

What he saw was an unfortunate black cat stuck in a discarded raccoon trap, its paw reaching out past the bars in an attempt to open the spring doors. Ivan approached it slowly, his large body hunched over in an attempt to make himself smaller for the cat. The mental image of himself looking like a crooked, old witch approaching their animal apprentice crossed his mind and made him smile. 

“Don’t scratch me, please,” he whispered after tugging down his scarf, “I’m just trying to help you.”

Back arched and hairs standing straight, the cat was not happy at all that such a big creature was so close while it was defenseless. It hissed and swatted at Ivan’s hands when he got too close, but eventually, the human proved to be trustworthy. 

He didn’t make any sudden movements, and for that, the small creature was thankful. Slowly, it relaxed, pressing itself against the corner of the cage instead of trying to shred Ivan’s helping hand. 

“You’re very beautiful. I will call you Novi. Do you like that?” He smiled down at the black cat that stared at him with wide, wary eyes. The cage jolted and clicked when it was finally opened and the cat took off with such speed, he could see bits of the ground scatter as her claws tore it up. 

Ivan let out a soft grunt of disappointment watching her disappear behind a pile of garbage bags. “What? No ‘thank you’? That’s a little bit rude.” He chuckled at his own silliness before walking back over to his droid. “Did you get that, Buster?” 

Those keywords made the droid open his sealed mouth with a click. Ivan reached between the spiked teeth to grab a cord to connect to his phone while Buster’s eyes flashed red to verify his identity. They turned blue when the iris scan passed the test, his tail wagging as his defense mode was disengaged. Only Ivan, his sisters, and people he approved had access to Buster’s security files. If anyone else had tried it, the jaws would clamp shut with enough force to take their hand clean off their body.  

With a few taps, he was able to see what his droid’s eyes had recorded. Crystal clear footage of Ivan interacting with the cat popped up on his screen. The quality was good enough that Ivan could pause and zoom in on it just to get a closer look. He took a screenshot and smiled.

“Send this image to Kat. Caption it, ‘rescued a cat from a raccoon cage. Named it Novi. Can I keep it?’ Message complete.” He continued to scrub through the video as he waited for the droid to do as he said. 

The droid went completely still for a few seconds then moved his head in a nodding motion once it was done. He spoke in a human-like voice with a slight mechanical buzz. “Message sent to Kat: Rescued a cat from a raccoon cage. Named it Novi. Can I keep it? Image attached.” 

“Good boy.” Ivan pat him on the head twice before disconnecting the cord and tapping his chin, making his steel jaws slam shut. Turning to the left, he began to return to his previous task but Buster stood firm. 

“Novi spotted.” 

Ivan stopped, turning back to the droid. “What?” 

“Novi spotted,” he repeated, looking straight ahead. 

He followed the eyes of his droid until he saw what his target was. There, standing on top of an old monitor, was Novi. Her tail swayed in the air playfully, as if waiting for Ivan to notice. “Are you back to thank me?” He asked the question as if he expected an answer.

Novi stared at him, completely still except her tail, then she blinked and hopped off the pile of scraps. Ivan had expected her to run a second time, but she turned back to look at him and waited. 

“Buster,” he said, his eyes not leaving the cat.

The droid chimed once. 

“Choice: Follow, or don’t follow.” 

The droid chimed twice. “Choice: Follow, or don’t follow. I choose follow.” 

Ivan hesitated. “Buster, what’s my luck today?” 

Two chimes again. “Your luck today is amazing! Who knows what will happen when you take a chance!” 

“Take a chance,” he repeated under his breath. Every fiber of his being was screaming to him that this was just like the start of a horror movie, but he took a deep breath and began walking towards the cat. “Maybe she will show me her kittens. Yes. This will be good. I have good luck today.” 

Even as he told himself this, his hands were cold and clammy from nervousness. A black cat on a full moon wanted to lead him somewhere. It didn’t seem like a good sign. Any rational person would ignore this stray animal. It could be a trap. Maybe demons. Or maybe Ivan was just being too superstitious. 

Several times, he had attempted to turn the other direction, thinking that following a cat was just too silly, but every time Ivan tried, Novi would walk back over to Ivan and stare. Waiting. Whatever it was Novi was trying to show him, it must be important. 

“Alright alright, I’m following,” he muttered after a fourth attempt to escape. 

They were nearing the center of the junkyard now. The piles here were stacked so high, even Ivan had to crane his neck to catch only a small glimpse of what was at the top. 

He tended to avoid this area. Located directly below the highway, it was a popular spot to toss things over the side. If one wasn’t careful, they could be crushed flat by someone tossing out their garbage. It was also very unstable. One misstep could cause the garbage to topple like an avalanche, and if one was alone, once they were buried, that would be the end. 

“I don’t think I can follow you further, Novi.” Ivan watched as the cat hopped gracefully on the pile, her light body barely making the objects move. But for Ivan, every step he took made garbage tumble down the sides. 

The foolish human had already come this far on his quest, and he didn't want to waste it by turning back. But one wrong step made his foot slip into the pile, a broken beer bottle cutting into his leg. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to make him hiss and stain his torn pants with blood. 

Maybe it was a sign that he should stop trying to climb this mountain of garbage. The wound on his leg was small, but if it wasn't treated, it could cause an infection. “I’m sorry but this is the end of our little adventure. My sister will be very angry if I die trying to follow a cat.” 

Of course, Novi gave no response. She only stared at him a while longer, looked at the highway above, then took off. At first, Ivan thought that perhaps she had run off because she knew Ivan would no longer follow, but the sound of a car door slamming shut told him otherwise. 

“Oh no.” He looked up at the highway, spotting two men approaching the side, working together to carry something heavy. Ivan shouted for them to stop as he scrambled to get to the bottom, but they couldn’t hear him. From the highway to the ground was a drop almost a hundred feet. His pleads would never reach them. And even if they did, they wouldn’t care. 

Ivan had only caught a glimpse of what looked like an old sofa being chucked over the edge  before the impact of it crashing down into the pile caused everything to topple over. Like a mudslide, everything on the top layer tumbled to the ground, Ivan included. 

He did what he could to protect himself as he fell; his limbs cut and bruised as he tried to shield his head. There was nothing he could hold on to. Nothing was stable. It only stopped when everything pooled on the ground, adding to the mountain’s size. 

Buster, who had stayed on the ground while Ivan chose to climb, ran over to the spot his maker was buried. He dug him out as fast as he could, then dragged Ivan to the side where he’d be able to avoid the damage of falling garbage. 

“Are you okay?” What Buster got wasn’t an answer to his question, but a smack on his metal head. “Ow.” 

“You liar. You said I have good luck!” He hissed as he stood up. His clothing was torn in several places and his body was covered in filth. 

Buster tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Luck readings are chosen randomly from choices you programmed into my system. If you are not satisfied with your reading, please ask ag-... Ow.” The droid was cut short when his maker smacked him again. 

“Maybe if I rebooted you, you won’t be so sassy.” 

“My personality is also programmed by you.” 

“Stop talking.” 

“Silent mode: On.” 

Ivan sighed when the droid went silent. He knew it was his own fault for following a cat into such dangerous territory. Now he had to go home and tell his sister that he needed to borrow money to buy a new set of clothes. At least his scarf was okay.

He wrapped the piece of cloth back to how it was when he started his hunt and tended to all the cuts with the first aid kit kept inside his droid. Then, pretending like nothing had happened, he went back to digging through the rubble. If he was going to ask Kat for money, the least he could do was sell a couple more of his projects to earn it back. And to do that, he needed the parts. 

The more he looked and the more he collected, he was beginning to believe that perhaps Buster’s reading was correct. While this area was dangerous and risky, it also held the freshest picks. He had collected so much scrap metal and spare parts that the bins grew full. 

Dozens of different projects zipped through his mind. He could make a small pet droid. Maybe a drone. Or maybe he could invent something brand new! He could be rich! 

A noise from the highway above only added to his excitement. He took a couple steps back from the pile, just to be safe, then watched to see what the people would toss over. “Come on. Give me something good.” 

All he could see were dark figures, but the mystery of it made his heart race. It all stopped when he saw the discarded object reveal itself in the moonlight as it fell. “No way…” 

Like before, the impact of the tossed object caused the pile to crumble. Anything on the surface was buried once again, but Ivan’s eyes were locked on the new addition. 

He waited until the trash had settled and the men above had left before dashing over to where the object was resting. It was buried under bags of garbage and electronic trash, but Ivan had found it. It was broken and damaged, but it was unmistakably an android. 

“What a beauty,” he said to himself as he admired the human-like machine. If it wasn’t for the broken skin revealing metal underneath, Ivan would have thought it was a human. 

The body was built to be male, a strong one too, and it had a head of long, blond hair with a firm but pretty face. The model wasn’t one Ivan has seen in the catalogs either, so it must be custom built. Which also meant it was an expensive model. The more expensive the model, the more he could sell it for. 

“Let’s see… Are you still active?” He waved a hand in front of the android’s lifeless face but gained no reaction. Snapping his fingers to try and wake it by sound did not work either. But when his hand made contact with its silicon skin, its eyes snapped open and locked on Ivan. 

Ivan jumped back quickly when blue eyes flashed red. “W-wait!” He snatched up whatever he could to protect himself. Unfortunately, his weapon of choice turned out to be a bent pole. “I’m friendly. I promise.” 

The android stared at him for a long time. Ivan could hear the whir of his engine as his system tried to determine whether or not Ivan was a threat. Several times, his eyes had gone dark only to flash back on again seconds later. 

“Battery failure,” he whispered as a mental note, “but reaction is good.” That brought a smile to his face. With a couple quick fixes, he could have this android good as new and sell him for thousands. So no matter how long it would take, he waited. 

He waited, with an eager smile, until the android relaxed his body, his eyes dimming down to a natural blue. “Identify yourself,” he spoke. His voice box was damaged, making his speech sound like he was speaking through a static tube. 

"My name is Ivan. I won't hurt you," he keeps his voice calm and quiet like he had with Novi. Now that the android had calmed, he lowered his weapon and came closer until he was within his arm’s reach. 

Ivan had opened his mouth to speak again, but the android’s arm shot forward and grabbed his scarf. He pulled the human down until Ivan was staring into flickering blue eyes. “Who… am I?” 

"I don't know. We've only just met. But I can find out." Dig through his memory files, erase them, reboot him, sell. 

"Are you ICON?" The android spoke the word as if he didn’t know the meaning. 

“ICON?” Ivan paused, his train of thought halting. "I'm Ivan, not ICON. What is ICON?"

He was silent and still for a while, making Ivan believe that it was another system malfunction. But since he had continued to blink, Ivan knew it was just his mind trying desperately to process an answer. "I... don't know. My limbs are damaged. I don't believe I can walk."

"I can take you to my home.” He took a step to the side, gesturing to Buster. “I can fix you. Would you like that?"

"I lack the currency required. At least... I believe I do..." His eyes moved sluggishly from Ivan to the droid, then back again. 

"I don’t require currency. Only your permission. Will you allow me to fix you?"

The android grew silent again, then slowly, he nodded. “Okay.” 

"I'm going to pick you up now. Is that alright?" 

"... I give you permission," he nodded again, "but become a threat and you're dead."

Ivan gave the android a nod in return before he slowly moved the junk off of him. It wasn’t until all of it was cleared that he realized the reason the android couldn’t move. 

His left arm and both of the android’s legs were marked with plasma burns. The damage of it melted through the synthetic skin, past the metal plating, and scorched the circuits underneath. The pattern of the injury looked like it was done with a rope, or perhaps a whip, wrapped several times around each damaged limb. Thoughts of fixing and reselling the android quickly began to fade. Not even a machine deserved to be treated like this. The rich were truly inhumane. 

“Does it hurt?” 

"Of course it hurts," he gave him a puzzled look, "but that doesn't matter."

"It does matter. You shouldn't suffer. Do you want me to power you down? I promise I'll turn you on again when you're safe. It’s so you won't suffer any pain when I move you."

The android frowned, his face scrunched up in distrust. "How can I trust you?"

"I guess you'll just have to. But I won't force you to agree." 

The android had no reason to trust Ivan. They had only just met. If Ivan was a dishonest person, he could shut Alfred down, take him apart, and resell every piece for a good price. Both parties knew that. But Buster had predicted that today was Ivan's lucky day, and that prediction showed to be true. The android, who couldn’t even process his own memories, had decided to trust him. 

“Fine,” he said, his voice soft. “Turn… turn me off. But I’m trusting you.” 

"You're making the right decision. I'll speak to you again soon. I’m turning you off now." He reached forward slowly, praying that the android wouldn’t activate his defenses once again. His fingers felt around the back of his neck until he grazed across a circular dent. 

For a second, his fingers rested there as he stared into the android’s eyes. He recognized the fear, the panic and uncertainty, but if Ivan was going to move him without hurting him, he would need to be shut down. 

“You can trust me,” Ivan reassured him. 

Then slowly, the android’s eyes slipped shut. 

[thedistantstorm]

A Gentle Truth [1/3]

A Ghost finds his Guardian in the ruins of Tokyo. She asks him for a name. He agrees, but only if she grants him one in return.

It is not yet dawn. The sky is painted beautiful shades of velvet orange, violet-blue, and midnight over the once thriving metropolis. Once, it would be loud, as bright as daylight, and bustling with activity. Now, it is silent, the flicker of half-functioning lights from collapsed skyscrapers dull and short circuiting. There is no one in sight.

Except for one tiny, nimble Ghost, darting across rubble-coated streets and into buildings. He hovers over huge expanses, cracks that run kilometers deep into the ground, casting his gaze at them quickly before continuing on. There is a purpose in his intent, methodical searching. 

Then, all at once, his entire body freezes, hanging unnaturally in the air. Flick, shift. His small plating realigns itself around his body and he dips forward before hesitating, as if he cannot believe whatever his sensors have uncovered.

He proceeds slowly, over a destroyed roadblock with large chunks of the skyscraper above crushing it into the ground. Takes a left and finds a mostly in-tact alley. A warm breeze pushes at his back not unkindly; As if telling him that he's moving in the right direction.

On the other side of the alley, he takes a moment. The sun is not up yet, though the horizon is getting brighter. He looks around, takes stock. No movement on his radar for miles. Good. He reminds himself not to get so caught up in his search that he forgets to check his own six once in a while.

And then, he begins.

He always searches the deepest recesses first. Under large boulders and ruins, in small inlets and cozy nooks. As always, his search is fruitless.  He makes another check of radar. Still good.

The next thing he does is comb the area. The unsuspecting alley opens into a small respite from the apocalypse shattered city. It becomes a wide, sprawling greenspace that is not terribly deep, but ends at the foot of a temple that looks centuries older than the decaying metropolitan architecture around it, though it is surprisingly intact. 

Behind the small temple lies the sea and the coming dawn. If he is no closer, he'll take a moment to watch the sunrise.

The Ghost scans the body of a humanoid nearby, a pile of bones propped against a decaying wall. Not his Guardian. Undeterred, the back fins of his shell spin, reorienting. His Guardian is close. The Light, the feeling of the tether between their souls is almost tangible now.

Across the archway outside the temple, delicate vines of yellow-white flowers grow, petals kicked up and swirling in the wind. The Ghost turns his optic to look through the Temple to the golden glow of the sunrise.

A pointed breeze blows through the open space from the sea, stronger than the gentle nudges from before. There is the serene clacking of wooden chimes. The Ghost doesn't hear them, though.

The wind dislodges the petals scattered across the cracked stone pathway just enough to reveal the ivory of bone. There is something terribly heartrending about this body, he thinks. All the others he's scanned in this area were hidden, likely terrified. 

This one, unlike the rest, stands in defiance. A Guardian, something deep in his mechanical body dares to hope.

He can see where something has cut through bone, their ribcage irreversibly damaged on the left side by a sharp object, likely a blade. A killing blow. He shivers. It must have been painful.

Tentatively, he spins his shell, front half clockwise, back half the counter-clockwise, preparing to scan the remains. A fragile blue beam touches the space over their sternum and widens to catch the rest. Quick as a blink, as though electrocuted, he draws back.

"It's you," He whispers, voice tiny and awed and reverent. The carmel-smooth quality of his voice is not drowned out by the synthetic overtone of it. "Finally," He murmurs, louder. Warmly. Overjoyed. "I've finally, finally found you."

With gusto, he hovers around the skeleton, taking inventory. He catalogues the rising sun, peeking just over the horizon. For as long as he exists, there will never be a more wonderful moment. Once satisfied, he opens his shell like the jasmine blooms hanging from the nearby vines that blossom to greet the day.

Light floods him, overrides his sensors, overrides everything-

-and then there is nothing but the golden glow of daybreak, and the damaged wood chimes clinking in the dawn breeze.

He blinks. They gasp.

Two glowing eyes, almond-shaped and diamond-white stare back at him.

"Hello, Guardian," He coos, trying to remember to orient them, but also trying to peel his optic away from their gaze so he can determine the rest about them as well. This is his greatest moment. His Guardian - they don't know it yet - they are his purpose. The very sun he orbits around. "You've been down for a while, but that's alright. I'm here to guide you."

Full lips and a flat, wide nose scrunch almost imperceptibly. Confused.

The Ghost's shell spins idly. He gives them a once over. Awoken. Female. Does not speak common, he reckons, based on her bewildered gaze. He lowers himself, moving slowly, as not to frighten her.

"W-watashi wa…"

She frowns, looking at her hands, watching the ripple of pastel blue illuminate her digits. Her skin is an alabaster color not unlike the moon, with an ethereal bluish tint. Darker blue markings paint the inside corners of her eyes, where the bridge of her nose and forehead come together.

She is nothing like he expected her to be. She is so much more. She is perfect.

"You might not speak the common language," He tells her slowly. "Can you understand me?"

Her pout is back, but there's something cute about it, watching her ponder. "Ano…" She trails off. "Gomen," She finishes, looking to his optic, and he does not need to know what language she's speaking to understand that she's apologizing because she does not.

It doesn't matter. None of it matters now, because he's found her. Together, they can do anything.

Without thinking, he butts his whole being into her chest. She flinches, but before he can draw back, whining mechanically, concern and regret - the fear of rejection - flaring through his every synapse, pale fingers cup his being and cradle him against her.

He can feel it. He can feel the jackrabbit beat of her heart, her fear, her wariness. But he can feel her trying to smooth that feeling over with comfort. Reassurance. She can feel their connection.

Minutes old and his beautiful, perfect Guardian is already trying to soothe him. He thinks words of gratitude to the Traveler. There could not be anyone more lovely in the absolute entirety of the universe.

And she's his!

Instead of speaking, he projects those feelings back to her, like a wave of gentle hope and safety. He focuses on telling her without words that it's alright, that he is here for her. Her fingers envelope him a little more closely, and his fins sag in relief.

They can work with this. They can still communicate.

When she cautiously releases him, he hovers close to her. "Ghost," He says.

A pale finger points at him.

"Ghost," He repeats.

She puts a hand on her chest. He sees the exact moment she realizes she doesn't know her name, can feel her panic. She should know it, he's sure that's what she thinks.

He pushes every soothing thought he can toward her, saying, "It's ok. It's normal."

"Oh-kay?"

"Yes," He agrees.

"Ghost," She murmurs. 

"Yes," He answers. "I'm your Ghost. Yours."

"Mine?"

He bobs in the affirmative, fins spinning excitedly. She might know some common, after all. Shock was common among new Guardians, he'd heard. "You don't have to talk, it might take a moment for it all to come back," He rambles. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She smiles nervously, and nods, projecting a mixture of trust - he feels like he's been broken apart and put back together - and unsurity. Panic. Swirling together under the surface.

A loud sound, a crash, the pop of gunfire flattens his newly reborn Guardian into a crouch. Her eyes are fearful and alert, darting around. Above her, the Ghost sighs, drifting down in front of her.

"I'm sorry," He drones sadly, then erupts into sparks of Light.

She looks down at her chest, reaching for the glimmer of sparkling, warm Light in the air. He feels her terror, her grief at his disappearance is like a bomb going off somewhere in his circuits. He urges calm feelings forward, marking a location he knows will be safe for her to hide. He can't hear her thinking, but he can feel her probing tentatively in her mind, reaching for him gently after the initial fear that he's left her subsides.

I'm here, He tells her, testing the link all Ghosts and Guardians share. I'm with you, always.

Ghost, she answers. 

Yes, Guardian. We have to move. The sounds of the skirmish sound closer now.

She focuses, adjusting to the marker in her vision. Then, she dips carefully into the shadows, staying behind cover as much as possible. He continues to relay as much calm and serenity as he can.

But things become too close.

Fallen, his sensors tell him. Hide! 

She doesn't understand, the panic he's projecting overwhelms her until she's frozen under the weight of it. She cries out when a bullet grazes her arm. Out of pure instinct, she dives under a mangled barricade, breath coming in heavy pants, heartbeat escalated dangerously high. She scrambles into the skeletal husk of a building and holes up in a crack in the rubble.

The sound of rushed footsteps come through, hot on their heels. 

Breathe slowly, He instructs, praying she understands. Don't alert them.

Ghost, she pleads back. Her fingers find the wound on her arm, blood thick and tacky. She squeezes her eyes shut and tears escape. Kowaidesu.

He doesn't know what she's thinking to him, but he tries for context. She’s terrified. It's okay. It's okay. Stay calm. I've got you.

Really, he doesn't, all he can do is heal her when the coast is clear and bring her back if they kill her. The thought saddens him. He doesn't want her to die. He can tell her wound hurts. He wants to protect her. His job is to protect her.

The imminent danger passes eventually, and he phases out of her chest. She shivers at the loss, but he hovers carefully in front of her face.

"They're gone," He tells her. Safe, he says through their link. The wordless communication seems to soothe her the most. "I'm going to heal you."

Her breaths turn sharp when he sets to mending her, the gouged wound sealing back together in Light. She looks down at the torn fabric on but healed skin on her arm in confusion.

"Better?" He asks kindly.

"Hmm," She says, and holds out her cupped fingers to hold him. He hovers carefully above her palms, sinking down slowly. "Arigatou," She hums, sounding thankful.

He looks up to her. The tears on her face are drying. "We need to find somewhere safe for us to hide. I've heard that new Risen," He pauses, "That's you," He bobs, "Get tired quickly. I want you to be safe."

She focuses on him intently, and he can see her brain trying to process. It will be easier when they are somewhere safe, when she can rest and they can bond and he can explain.

"Kakusu hitsuyō ga arimasu."

"Hide," He repeats, unsure of what she's saying. "Safe."

"Yes," She agrees, and he perks up. Frowning, she stumbles through the rest. "Ghost…" She bites her lip, whispering, "You lead… way?"

He spins happily in her hands. Perhaps things would right themselves with time, as her mind adjusts to being alive once more. "Yes. I'll lead the way!"

She smiles at him, then, and releases him so that he can guide her. He thinks if he had a heart, it would have leapt right out of his body.

[the-gunslock]

Hiver 2 - Gunslock

This is the story of how I got this title months ago, and why I stuck with it.

At the dawn of a new day, Hiver and her two Hunter clanmates, Selene and Reyla, were off to seek their allies in the Tower Courtyard, joking the whole way. They are immortal, but they love to make every second count.

“…Hawthorne went ‘Dead Orbit?’ and I was like–”

“Gunslock.”

They heard someone shout. All of them got confused and tried to find the source of the call. Turns out it was two Hunters who were loitering near the railings, looking at Hiver’s fireteam. They approach them. Selene, although confused, decides whatever they have to do for the day is more important than these two.

“Uhm. Can we help you?” She asks in annoyance, hoping to get it over with soon.

“Yeah, this one Warlock here…she made a name for herself around her fellow Strike fireteams. You, as Hunters, oughta be ashamed of it.” One of the Hunters, an Awoken, replies to them, scratching his chin, voice full of venom.

“What does Gunslock even mean.” Hiver questions flatly.

“It means,” the second one steps up, replying beneath his rusty greenish Prodigal Mask, “that you’re doing a better job at being a Gunslinger than actual Gunslingers.”

Hiver’s hand unconsciously floats over her thigh where her cannon is stored.  “A… Gunslinger… Warlock?”

“Ya think just because you got a Cayde’s fancy Hand Cannon,” He points towards her replica of the Ace of Spades, “and can shoot some heads, it means you can try to step into our turf?” He asks, his body language smug and accusatory. It almost feels like a challenge.

“I’m better than them?” Hiver turns to her friends, puzzled. “…Am I better than you? I know I was revived a bit earlier, but…” Both shrug. Hiver turns back at the Hunter, eyebrow raised.

They trade looks, impatient. The Awoken one transmats on his white Floating Cowl helmet and makes a proposition. “How about a showdown, smartass? Braytech, Mars, one hour. Bring your best cannon.”

Hiver shrugs at this situation. “Sure, I think. Just gotta do our thing here at the Tower.”

The Hunters transmat away, into their ships. The clanmates go get their bounties and soon they’re also on their ships, on their merry way to Mars.

“An actual ‘standoff’. I thought these only existed in fiction.” Trinity, Hiver’s Ghost, comments, bobbing beside her in the ship’s cockpit.

“Something’s not right. They felt crooked to me.” Reyla states, thinking out loud. “These guys are weird. Hiver, be careful.”

Trinity looks at Hiver in worrying. “Do you girls mind watching my back?” The Warlock indulges, arms behind her seat’s headrest.

“Sure. I’ll keep them on the other side of my scope.” Reyla replies, loading her Long Shadow sniper.

“Selene?”

“I’ll do the best I can.” The other Hunter loads a clip into her Jade Rabbit scout rifle. “Joan,” she whispers to her own Ghost. “Patch through to Ana. Send that footage, tell her that this could be dangerous. Just in case.”

They exist Slipspace and quickly enters Mars’ orbit. The three guardians meet in front of the BrayTech Futurescape, right beside Rasputin’s Escalation Protocol pillar. Ana is looking on from inside her headquarters with her optic enhancements.

Hiver, laid back, left hand on her belt and right one near her thigh, is facing the first Guardian, the one with the Prodigal Mask. His stance was alert, almost predatory, and his gauntlets were crude, with metal crooked and bent in all directions; If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought it was just improvised armor. 

However, her miserable Crucible matches made her aware that these bent blades were a piece of Exotic armor – Shards of Galanor. On his leg, a black gun with green lights, one she didn’t immediately recognize.

But she had a hunch. One that gave the duel higher stakes if she was right.

Trinity was out of sight, playing an old, pre-Golden Age song. Intense, instrumental, said to be a theme of a famous movie about duels of old Hunters. Perched in the unused trains to the east, Reyla sat with her sniper at the ready. Peeking from around a corner, Selene was ready to run in at any sign of danger.

The Hunter’s companion was nowhere to be seen. Hiver’s Eye of Another World helmet highlighted an enemy behind her, so she could only assume it was him, and not some stray Hive Acolyte. Escalation Protocol was not active. It seems they went a great length to clear out the showdown area.

The music only got more intense as time went on, and the Hunter spoke.

“You shouldn’t get that close, lady.”

“I’m like ten meters away from you.” Hiver said, her hand begging to draw Ace at any moment.

“No.”

The other Hunter, using his crisp-white Sixth Coyote vest, has managed to quickly close the gap behind the Warlock, putting her in a full Nelson hold.

She can’t move.

He’ll probably break her shoulders or neck. She silently panics for a while, while her clanmates are listening in on the comms, trying to understand just what is going on.

The first Hunter takes some steps towards them and takes his gun, fiddling with it. “Looking for his cannon too, are ya? You do not know what you’re getting into by going after ‘every Hand Cannon that exists.’” He said, nodding at her leg where Ace was holstered. “Think you could convince that foolish rat with his little game at the Tower into turning a blind eye to your ‘collecting’? He prolly did.”

He twirls his bulky gun in his hand before turning it towards the Warlock’s head. It reeks of death.

“But we didn’t. You’re gonna have to get this one eventually. And when you do… you’re sealing the deal of who you really are… Dredgen.”

Trinity sends a sign to Reyla. At the same time she shoots the cannon out of the Hunter’s hand, Hiver unleashes a Thunderstrike out of her hands into her captor, who is staggered and lets her go. She elbows him in the face and notices the Prodigal Hunter leaping into the air, channeling Solar energy to his knives. The white-armored hunter behind her is trying to grab ahold of her again, this time with his knife in hand.

Selene jumps out of cover and manages to shoot his chest with Jade Rabbit and cause him to flinch, giving Hiver the chance to blink forward as the Prodigal Hunter launches his Blade Barrage, mistakenly hitting and killing his ally.

Mirroring Cayde’s performance in the Prison of Elders, Hiver uses her blink momentum to slide under the airborne hunter and shoot him in the chest and throat with Ace, causing him to lose all chance of a smooth landing and crashing near his friend, almost dead.

The Warlock catches her breath and examines the Prodigal’s gun as she walks past. She recognizes its luminescent, arcane smoke. The otherworldly fear that this one gun represented – just now pointed towards her.

Thorn.

It’s back. She didn’t even know.

She holsters Ace and walks up to their bodies. The first Hunter, who wore white armor themed after the Trials of the Nine, laid deceased and his body bled from where the Prodigal Hunter’s knives hit. The other wasn’t dead, but was choking and struggling to breathe.

“Shadow.” She said, her voice full of spite over almost ending all her lives to the hand of two insane, power-hungry vermin.

He coughs. “Yeah… So what?” He tries getting up, but simply doesn’t have the strength. “You think yourself a hero, like… like the Man with the Golden Gun?” He points towards his fallen Thorn. “D’you dare to use the Dark… if it meant you got what you wanted?”

Hiver remained silent. He continues. “You two… are just as foolish. We… we do. It’s… heh– incredible. Addicting. And… there’s…” wheeze “so many more. You think… you can out-shoot us all?”

Having enough of this man, Hiver plants a foot on his chest and puts one of Ace’s bullets through his head. She twirls it and puts it back on her leg. Even though she has that wish to grant herself – she doesn’t dare touch the Shadow’s Thorn. Her connection to the Light feels rotten by even coming near it.

Reyla and Selene are slowly coming to rendezvous, guns still in hand. Ana has contacted the Vanguard and is reporting the situation to them. Trinity pops out of transmat near Hiver’s chest. “You know, they are Guardians too. They can just come back after you if they have Ghosts.”

With that, the squad hears the characteristic summoning of a Golden Gun. They all look back to see the bandits’ Ghosts being destroyed in two fiery explosions, the last one shattering the corrupted cannon on the ground.

Looking around, they spot the source. A meddling Gunslinger, wearing battered, outdated armor. But he stood with pride, and it showed, even though his face was covered by his visor. And, under it, perhaps a layer of satisfaction.

“Warlock. Hunters.” He greeted. His voice was deep, almost guttural. She greeted back with a thankful nod.

“Hello.”

The Hunter eyed the ashen bullet-hole that his Golden Gun left on the ground where Thorn was. He quickly turned to the fireteam, and all he uttered was a slow, very clear “Nice work”.

The Fireteam was ready to leave it at that and go on with their day.

That is until the Gunslinger turned around to leave and, under the swooshing motion of his tattered cloak, the women spotted the glint of a golden hand cannon on his leg.

[destinyquest]

Trouble at the Farm: Part 3

Evening, Somewhere in the forests of the EDZ Donnie had taken lead on scouting a path through the woods. Although she had only just been Risen, she felt naturally inclined to stalk through the unfamiliar territory. It also gave her a moment to herself, and a chance to emotionally cope with the incredible and terrifying day she had just had. It seemed like just yesterday she was tending to her farm, and now she was living in some sort of nightmare. As she deftly maneuvered the forest with a low profile, she would occasionally catch glimpses of the Exo Hunter and Awoken Warlock trailing her. In spite of his smug and charismatic personality, she couldn't bring herself to trust the robot. Last she remembered, robots were best at delivering packages and making coffee; she couldn't wrap her mind around the complex consciousness that defines an Exo. Even Nil wouldn't be able to comprehend his existence, if asked. The first alien Donnie met tried to kill her, and one of them actually did. The second alien species she met, this one significantly more human in appearance, saved her life. Although he has his quirks, she felt that he was at least honest. Zulgren spoke with a matter-of-fact tone of voice that, from most men, would be grating to Donnie. Something about his personality convinced her and convinced most people who met Zulgren that he knew even more than he was saying. His tone didn't come from a place of over-confidence, rather from a staggering wealth of knowledge. Most Guardians know this personality trait of void Warlocks far too well, not all are able to stomach it. After the sun set, Donnie picked a well fortified and hidden campsite. Even though she had been extremely active all day, she realized she wasn’t feeling hungry at all. The fireteam takes shelter in the cover of an ancient oak tree, and Nil begins to pick up firewood. He seems intent on winning the trust and approval of his new fireteam and forms an awkward fire pit out of some relatively damp wood he'd found lying about. He then attempts to set a flame by rolling a twig between his hands, spinning it as it bores into another piece of wood. Donnie has been watching as Nil attempts in vain to get a fire going. "Do you need a hand there? I remember, there used to be this show called Survivor and they had to start a lot of fires- I think that method you're using isn't gonna work too well." Nil grumbles and looks at his sad pile of wood. Still crouched over the fire pit, hiding his shame, he focuses his Light into Solar energy and throws a flaming knife into the heart of his kindling. The fire pit erupts into flame as Nil jumps to his feet in a celebratory pose. "First try", he says, smugly. The team make themselves comfortable and begin to settle in for the night. Nil performs a light-hearted dance to entertain his fireteam, claiming it is a "dance of his people." Donnie recognizes it as "The Robot" dance. "Some might say this dance is offensive to robot-folk, but sometimes you just gotta please the people", Nil says feigning a noble attitude. Zulgren is not watching the performance, instead he is staring deep into the sky. His eyes are not focused on the stars, but on a point beyond the glittery veil draped over the sky. He feels a gentle breeze pulling him in this direction, to a place he cannot see, to a location farther than he can comprehend. He is the first to fall into a deep slumber, levitating slightly off the ground. Donnie takes first watch as Nil also starts to doze off. She watches as Nil flinches slightly in his sleep, his lights dimming, blinking suddenly, then dimming again. She hears distant gunfights and the constant turbulent roar of the Traveler's Shard in the distant mountains. Eventually Zulgren relieves her of her duty and she manages to get some sleep. Morning comes, and Zulgren approaches a still groggy Donnie to ask her something that has been on his mind since they'd met. "Your Light, do you know how to wield it?" "I'm sorry, my what?" "I... I recognize the Light affinity you have. When you were Risen... I think you also share a connection with the Void." "The void?" Donnie asks. She rubs her eyes as she realizes that she has still not awoken from this nightmare, and wonders if it could get any more bizarre. "Reach out your hand, Donnie. Do you feel the energy within the spaces of the atoms? Do you feel the nothingness that binds everything together?" Donnie tentatively holds out her hand, and starts to lightly wave it around. In spite of her skepticism, she does feel something: a subtle yet thick fog of magnetic energy. "Close your fist, and collapse that energy into the space within your palm", directs Zulgren. Donnie chuckles lightly, and shakes her head. Zulgren stares intently at her, with unnerving stable eye contact. Donnie realizes he is not joking, and closes her fist and begins to concentrate. A moment passes, and Zulgren senses that Donnie's faith was wavering. Her fist still clenched, she mutters, "Nothings happening..." "The Void is not just the absence of light, but also the dark. It is not the vacuum of space, it is the space without the vacuum. There is infinite distance between every atom in the air, grasp it!" Zulgren suddenly sounds more intense. Donnie lets out a soft gasp as she feels something within her fingers. Slowly, she unfolds her hand and observes a violet orb. Staring into it, she sees the midnight sky. Zulgren gives something that could resemble a smile, and says to himself, "A Nightstalker, as I thought." Donnie anxiously asks, "Uh... hey... what is that? What's in my hand? What did I do!?" "That is a void smoke bomb. Throw it." Zulgren calmly instructs her. Donnie delicately tosses the orb a few feet in front of them. As the orb touches the ground, it bursts into an impossibly opaque dark cloud. "Whoa." Donnie is dumbfounded, "I didn't know I could do that." "Now you know. Let's move." Zulgren abruptly starts walking. Dinklebot indicates (with his usual dull tone of voice) that the Whispering Falls Lost Sector is only a short walk from their campsite. They spend a brief moment burying evidence of their campsite and hasten their pace towards their objective.

Mid-Day, Whispering Falls Lost Sector The fireteam comes across a babbling brook and begin to follow it upstream. The brook grows in volume until it is a sizable river, nearly 10 feet across. By mid-day, they reach a large pool being fed by a roaring waterfall tumbling over a wide and rocky cliff-face. Donnie approaches the cliff face to inspect it. With a brief cursory glance, she turns to her companions and curtly states, "There's loot behind that waterfall." "How do you know?" asks Zulgren innocently. "Well, in video games there's always loot behind the waterfall." "Video games?" Nil asks, interested. "Oh, y'all don't...?" Alexa, Donnie's ghost, pops out excitedly, "Oh I heard about those! Used to be a source of entertainment for humans during the Golden Age. Humans used to have so much free time when they weren't fighting for their lives." Donnie frowns, as realization dawns that she will never be able to play the Dragon Age series again. She puts this upsetting thought aside and turns to properly investigate the waterfall. Peeking as close as she dared to the frothing water, she is able to confirm that there is some sort of cave entrance behind the waterfall. "See, told you." Donnie claps her hands and readies herself to climb. Taking a slight running start, she starts to grasp at the stone but is unable to grasp the slick rock and falls flat on her back. "Ouch." Donnie rubs her lower back as she stands back up, "Hey Zulgren, do you mind boosting me?" Nil has been staring nervously at the pool since they arrived at the falls, calculating it's depth and relative position to the hidden cave entrance. "Hey, uh... guys? I can't swim" admits the Exo. "What? What do you mean you can't-" Donnie starts to ask, but Nil simply points at his face with an exasperated expression. "Heavy metal doesn't float well, and, well... Yeah I can't swim. I might be able to climb in there, but if I fall then one of you better be ready to fish me out." Donnie and Zulgren ponder this unexpected setback. While they discuss alternative ways to enter the cave, Donnie notices a poorly maintained stone path leading away from the pond into the woods. "Ok, if Zulgren and I can hop in and take a peek, maybe we'll be able to help you climb in too. If that doesn't work, we might be able to explore that path and see if we find something else to help us out." The fireteam agrees on this plan of attack, and Zulgren begins to help lift Donnie into the cave. Donnie manages to crawl in, and turns around to give Zulgren a hand. The two push through the intense volume of water hammering down on them until they are both fully inside the cave. Between gasps for air, Zulgren hears a strange noise from within the cave. Unmistakable beeps and clicks: hexinary. Although he cannot understand what they are saying, he is certain there are some Fallen constructs within this cave. As he gets to his feet and his eyes adjust to the darkness, he sees the walls are lined with surveillance technology. He gestures to Donnie to be quiet, and turns his attention to a blinking Fallen control panel attached to an installment in the cave wall. Dinklebot pops out from behind him and begins to assist him in hacking the control panel to learn more about the cave and it's invisible inhabitants, but before they are able to learn anything valuable the control panel shuts off. Echoing through the cave, Zulgren hears the hexinary chatter amplify. Although the cave path disappears into darkness ahead of him, he makes out the glow of a floating construct approaching him and Donnie. The two Guardians start to inch back towards the mouth of the cave, as the floating construct enters within visible range. It is a shank, but instead of a repeater blaster assembled to it's underside, this one has a small satellite dish attached to it's head. Zulgren turns to Donnie and says one word, barely audible: "Jump." Nil is staring at the pool of water, about to summon his ghost to check on his companions, when two Guardians come bursting through the waterfall and splashing into the water below. Donnie and Zulgren swim ashore and breathlessly explain to Nil what they saw. Then, the three look to the waterfall, expecting Fallen to come bursting through. Instead, all they hear is the roar of the waterfall. "Seems the sound of the waterfall hid our escape" Zulgren notes. "Ok, we need an easier way into that cave, so that Nil can join us. Let's see where this path leads" Donnie points at the stone path she noticed earlier. The fireteam follows the path only a few yards into the woods and come across a small log-wood shack. Scratch marks line the walls near the door, and the window is shattered inward. As Donnie and Zulgren inch cautiously towards the door, they hear a heavy thud followed by scrambling from within the structure. "Oof. I'm good." Nil had attempted to dodge into the house through the shattered window... and landed on his face. "Uh, oops. This doesn't look good" says Nil. Donnie and Zulgren rush in through the front door and see Nil standing over three human bodies. Their flesh is lacerated and seared with jagged lines. Judging by the odor, their bodies have been here for a few days. Donnie gags, while Zulgren and Nil begin to inspect the bodies and the interior of the cabin. The space is quite small, barely enough space for 3 humans to live comfortably, and only enough resources to support a meager lifestyle. Zulgren finds a small steel key attached to a belt on one of the bodies, and uses it to open a large metal tackle box at the foot of one of the beds. Zulgren and Nil meet Donnie outside, who is getting some fresh air and trying to clear her mind of the grotesque scene she had just witnessed. Zulgren holds up some climbing gear he had found, and some fishing line. The gear includes more than enough rope and carabiners to help the three of them scale the wall, so they head back towards the waterfall. "Quiet, when we enter... ok?" Zulgren sternly warns his fireteam. Donnie and Nil nod and the three quickly ascend into the cave with the help of the climbing gear. The sound of the waterfall is reverberating throughout the mouth of the cave, but Zulgren can make out the distinct sound of hexinary chatter ahead of him. He signals for the other two to follow behind him as he sneaks forward. As they venture deeper into the darkness, they come across two carved cavities in the wall. Past the dark cavities, they see the path forks abruptly. Zulgren leans to peek into one of the cavities and spots the Sentry Shank that had chased them out earlier. He starts to gesture to explain the situation to the other two when another Sentry Shank appears from one of the forks ahead of them. "Ok, go!" Zulgren commands as he charges into the cavity, hand raised. Nil jumps into action and summons a dagger of solar energy. Zulgren's hand glows with violet energy and blasts the shank in front of him into atoms. Nil charges towards the fork in the path, his hand at the ready. The shank turns, and tries to move out of the way but a blade of pure solar energy carves into it's circuitry. The smoldering shank crumbles to the floor. "BOOM, nailed it!" Nil celebrates. Electronic lights suddenly begin to glow behind Nil as three more shanks suddenly become aware of intruders. Donnie notices the lights are coming from one of the forks ahead of her, and dashes with her pitchfork leading her assault. She enters into a small room and finds herself face to face with three more shanks, except these ones have blasters. Nil and Zulgren also rush in to help, and they manage to quickly dispatch two of the shanks with minimal effort. The third, realizing it's predicament begins to raise an antenna. Before it can signal an alarm, it is abruptly impaled by a pitchfork. Donnie dislodges her pitchfork, and the three Guardians freeze. The sounds of combat echoed briefly against the narrow walls of the cave and then died. Silence fell, and they could again hear the distant thunder of the waterfall coming from the entrance. As they left the small room where some shanks had been hiding, they returned to the fork in the path and inched cautiously down the other path. After a few minutes of tense sneaking through the damp and claustrophobic space, they come across a sharp bend in the path. At the crease of the bend an armored corpse is resting on the ground, with a small heap of shattered metal by its side. Nil rushes to the body and gently lifts the torso, looks at his companions, and shakes his head. Alexa appears in front of Donnie and approaches the pile of crumbled metal. Her frame seems to weigh down heavily, and her light dims temporarily. "His ghost has been destroyed. He isn't coming back." whispers Alexa, her voice wavering. "I knew him well" mutters Nil. "Oh no, I'm so sorry Nillion", Donnie can't tell if he's being serious or not. The armor is lacerated with tendrils of energy, and the helmet is severely crumpled. A hand cannon lies shattered on the opposite side of his destroyed ghost. "I can scan his- what remains of- his ghost to see what did this." Donnie nods silently at Alexa, who begins to point a beam of light at the pile of metal. After a brief moment, Alexa begins to softly play back what data she can recover. They hear the sound of the waterfall roar within the recording, and then the sound of the ghost speaking. "Leon, I don't like the look of this. We should call this in." "It's going to be fine... Fallen don't usually send high ranking officers to distant outposts like this. Besides, I've been itching to put some Dregs in the dirt." The playback is just barely able to produce the sound of wet footsteps slowing to a halt. "Did you see that?" "What? I don't think there's anything there..." "I swear, I thought I saw-" Suddenly, the sound of electricity rips through the air. They hear Leon gasp in pain, followed by a few blasts from his hand cannon. "Come out and face me you coward! Fallen scum!" Then, they hear a deep voice growl in Eliksni. "What the- AGH!" There is more gunfire, and then the sound of metal ripping through metal. "Leon!" yells a distressed ghost. The recording ends. Donnie, Zulgren, and Nil all look at one another. "Where is it." Zulgren says suddenly. "That is what the Fallen said, in the recording." They stand and Zulgren gestures towards the darker end of the cave. Nil grabs the body and hauls it over his shoulder. "Wait, what are you doing?" asks Donnie "Well, I don't want to leave his body here... seems wrong." "Oh, I guess. We could also grab him on our way out..." "It'll be fine, lets go." Donnie shrugs and accompanies Zulgren in delving deeper into the cave. As they progress, the walls begin to widen. They come into a large open room, so great in size that the far wall is completely shrouded in darkness. The only thing they can see from the other end of the room are tiny blinking lights in red and blue. Zulgren recognizes this to be from Fallen technology, and due to the near dead silence, he figures these lights do not belong to shanks. Donnie and Zulgren creep slowly towards the far side of the room while Nil falls behind slightly, encumbered by the body on his shoulders. As the far wall comes into view, Donnie and Zulgren see two large Fallen barricades; the far wall is a slightly concave feature completely stuffed with stolen goods and technology. Donnie gestures to peek around one of the barricades, and Zulgren leans up against one side. Donnie begins to sneak around one end and sees a Dreg sitting cross legged on the cave floor, sharpening its blade. Beyond this Dreg, she sees another hiding behind the other barricade. She turns around to hand-gesture at Zulgren, who nods in response. They count down, then Donnie charges out at the Dreg closest to her as Zulgren does the same. They are both able to subdue the Dregs with ease, but something catches Donnie's eye. She looks at the wall with the stolen goods, and rubs her eyes. The light is bending in strange angles, making it hard to focus on some of the objects. "Hey, Zulgren... what is-" As she turns to point at the wall, she realizes that she no longer senses the aberration. "Whoa... something weird is going on here..." Suddenly, an arc of electric energy slashes at Donnie, who yells out in pain. Nil quickly places Leon's body on the ground and draws his hand cannon. Donnie growls as she wildly swings her pitchfork in the direction of the invisible attacker. Her weapon makes contact, and for a brief moment she is able to perceive the outline of a formidable Fallen creature. Unlike the Fallen with two arms she'd faced previously, this one had four extremely large arms. Just as soon as she caught a glimpse of this creature, it disappeared. "It's a Marauder!" yells Zulgren. Nil focuses his vision in the direction of his teammates as he approaches them. He senses some unnatural light diffraction and quickly fires his hand cannon in its direction. His bullet blasts into the cave wall. Zulgren reaches out his hand in the same direction that Nil fired, and blasts as much void energy as he can muster. The violet energy from his hands explodes outward and encompasses a large Fallen creature. The Marauder stumbles backwards into a corner, its cloaking disabled from the immense damage it suddenly took. This Fallen is significantly larger than the Dregs lying at their feet, and lets out an aggressive shout at Zulgren. Nil and Donnie charge up to flank the Marauder and box them into the corner. Just as Donnie is about to lunge with her pitchfork, the Marauder disappears from view. Something large shoves between Donnie and Zulgren in the direction of the middle of the room. "Crap! Spread out!" commands Donnie. She backs away from the corner and stabs her pitchfork in the direction the Marauder dashed, but her weapon is unable to connect. Zulgren runs in the same direction and thrusts out his hand, also unable to find their assailant. Nil dashes in another direction, wildly throwing a punch at the air. Nil growls in frustration, and focuses as hard as he can in the dim light. He hears electricity crackle directly behind his neck, but is unable to react in time. A blade charged with intense arc energy tears down his back, dropping the Hunter to a kneel. Nil yells in agony as he feels the ripping pain nearly bring him to lose consciousness. "No!!" Zulgren quickly raises his pulse rifle, but is unable to hit any of his shots. Nil raises his eyes to meet Zulgrens', and though his body is still writhing from the savage attack he just took, he manages a wink. As rapid as the wink he gave Zulgren, Nillion-7 whips around while drawing his hand cannon. He falls onto his back onto the cave floor, aiming his weapon at a point 8 feet above him; he fires. The bullet penetrates under the Marauders chin with such force the creature is lifted into the air. The large Fallen creature crumples to the floor, uncloaked and dead. Nil sighs and rests his head on the rocky floor. "Nailed it." The cave is silent again, and being unable to see any other avenues for exploration, the fireteam decides to unhurriedly loot the various Fallen salvage. Donnie finds a small concrete token with a sigil inscribed on it, and a blank dog tag. Nil finds an expired ramen coupon and a brass-colored coin-sized tool. Pressing it emits a small burst of flame; he pockets it quickly. Zulgren uncovers a small marble made of an impossibly dark material, it is oddly warm to the touch. As he lifts it to inspect it closer, Donnie asks, "Whatcha got there? Find anything interesting" Zulgren quickly palms the marble, and grabs the first item at his feet. "Nothing. Just found a..." he looks at the object in his hands. It is an engram-shaped stress ball. He squeezes it. "A stress ball." Donnie nods slowly, "Ok." She sits down against the cave wall, and rests for a moment. As she watches her new companions sift through the wreckage of their conquest and feels the fatigue of combat catch up with her, she realizes this waking nightmare was not one she was going to wake up from. This was the world she lived in now, one devoid of sheep and goats and relaxed iced tea on the porch. One where a strange little robot brought her back to life twice in the same day, and where some aliens want to kill her while others want to help her. Zulgren mulls over the events of the day, absentmindedly squishing a stress ball in one palm while rolling the dark marble in the other. He could feel a mystery clawing at the back of his mind, something was not as it seemed with this mysterious new Fallen House. Although he was deep within a cave, his eyes locked onto a point far beyond the walls. He knew it was foolish to hope that he could find guidance in such a distant figure, but he wondered what she would make of all this, whether she would have figured it all out by now. Nil plays with his newfound Cabal lighter, having almost forgotten his near-mortal wounds.

[trecheon-blog]

Running Chapter One

Summary: Rindel Zivas seems at first to be your run-of-the-mill Hunter- Somewhat aloof, prone to be anywhere but the Last City- But where most Hunters are in it for glimmer or glory, Rindel has been running. Some would say from his duties, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Now, he has returned to the Tower for the first time in a while, both to pay respects to a lost comrade and face the ire of Zavala. But Ikora Rey has called on a debt to be paid, and what seems at first to be the simple oversight of a rookie Warlock may yet determine the fate of humanity.

Warnings: Some language, regret and PTSD.

Genre: Angst, original characters, campaign adaptation.

Author’s note: Well, this has been a long time in the making! There characters have been floating around in my head for a while now, and I’ve finally found the time and inspiration to put their stories to paper. Without further ado, lets get to it!

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Chapter One: Showdown

The Crucible could hardly be called “quiet” on the dullest of days. The series of open-aired arenas were sectioned off from the rest of the City, but the varied architecture made it perfect for honing the skills of humanity’s protectors- Guardians.

The late summer sun beat down on the battlefield like a drum, matching the staccato bursts of gunfire. It was already a stressful environment- Every engagement was live-fire, with death being a daily occurrence. Of course, that didn’t matter when Guardians had their Ghosts to revive them and get them back into these elaborate matches. But today was different.

--------------------

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

The Hunter ignored the little voice inside his head. His Ghost, Solas, was phased into him, at least for the moment, so it made it a little easier to disregard him.

Solas let out a long, metallic sigh. “You can't just run from the Vanguard's debriefing, you know. I've been getting pinged for months.”

“Later.” The Hunter finally spoke, his voice hoarse from a lack of use. “We need to finish this first.”

Though Solas was still phased, the Hunter felt him tilt, as if to affect a quizzical look. “If this is about Kira, I’ve been saying for years-”

The Hunter bashed a fist to his chest. Solas rolled his eye. “For the record, I don’t see the point of this exercise. But when you get called out by the Vanguard in front of the entire Tower, I’ll be the one saying I told you so.”

The Hunter shrugged. He didn’t care about the reports, about Zavala and how he’d inevitably be lectured on being out alone, about not coming back to report more often.

He clenched an amulet that lay close to his chest before tucking it under his armor. For your memory, my love...

“Hey! Are you deaf? We drop in ninety seconds!”

The Hunter turned. The only problem with the Crucible was that multiple Guardians had to take part. The Warlock who yelled at him was flanked by a pair of Titans. Their equipment looked flawless next to the Hunter’s muddied cloak and tarnished armor.

Like they haven’t been in the wilds for some time, the Hunter thought.

“I haven’t seen you before.” The female Titan standing furthest away hefted a large multi-barrel machine gun like it was a rifle. “When were you rezed?”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter!” The Warlock’s faceplate did little to hide his exasperation. “We should have waited for Anthony. Now we’re matched with some rando, and we lose our winning streak, so help me…”

“Easy, Tray.” The other Titan looked about as apologetic as he could in the moment. “He’s a few matches away from meeting Ikora’s record. I think you can tell he’s on edge.”

The Hunter shrugged. He activated a small screen on his left arm, going through some menus.

“You know, if you want to listen to some music, all you have to do is tell me.” Solas’ voice came as if whispering in the Hunter’s ear. The Hunter continued tapping his screen.

“You know, it bothers me when I speak to someone and they don’t respond.” Tray the Warlock moved up to the Hunter, grabbing his chestplate. “You too good to talk to us or something?”

In a lightning-fast motion, the Hunter drew a large-framed revolver and pressed the muzzle into the Warlock’s robes. It took a moment for Tray to register what had happened, but he shifted slightly, moving further from the Hunter.

“I'll talk when I've got something to say,” the Hunter almost whispered. “I suggest sticking with your fireteam. If you're worried about the match, don't worry about me.”

Tray released the Hunter and backpedaled to the Titans. “Just hope that you don't cost us the round, stranger.”

“Guardians!” The booming voice of Lord Shaxx echoed through the staging area. “Welcome back to the Crucible! As a reminder, this round’s game is Elimination. If you're killed on the battlefield, your Ghost will transmat you back to the staging area after fifteen seconds, where you will stay until the round is over, last team standing wins. You may revive downed teammates if you can get to them in fifteen seconds, but just remember that you’ll be painting a Cabal-sized target on your back!” He let out a jolly laugh. “Get out there and show me what you're made of!”

The group transmatted to the field. The Hunter took off before the others on his team could say anything.

The female Titan sighed. “Typical Hunter. Should we connect him to our comms?”

“Well, as long as we can stay alive, why should we care?” Trey pumped his shotgun. “To victory!”

----------

The Hunter lept behind cover as a hail of gunfire hit the wall he had been in front of. He had managed to take down one of the opposing Guardians, but according to his HUD, two of his teammates were down for the count. That’s just fine, he thought. I work better alone, anyhow.

Bullets continued to pepper the thick concrete between him and his assailant. The Hunter swung open his Revolver chamber to reload, when a burst of energy zinged just over his head. The opposing gunfire abruptly stopped.

“That’s two!” Trey pumped a fist into the air before running over to the Hunter’s position. Trey pat his shoulder. “Hey, no hard feelings about earlier, huh? It’s just you and me, so we need to work together if we’re gonna win this. Any ideas?”

The Hunter simply shrugged. Tray shook his head.

“Contact!” the Hunter felt something nudge his shoulder “Six o’Clock!”

He leapt from his position as a pair of Pulse Rifle bursts fired, their rounds finding their way to Tray’s faceplate. The Hunter spun midair and threw a pair of cylinders toward his Titan opponent. Seeing the cylinders, the Titan formed a shield of pure Light- but no explosion came, not even smoke. If those were grenades, they were duds.

The Titan chuckled. “It’s just you left and two of us, Hunter. You may as well call it quits so we can go back to the Tower early. There’s no shame in admitting you’re outgunned.” He looked around, his Pulse Rifle raised. “Hell, I’ll even buy you the first round when we get back! How ‘bout it?”

From cover, the Hunter held out his display and pressed an icon with a triangle on it. A small smile formed on his lips.

Suddenly, a strange noise, like a beam building energy, could be heard in the area. The Titan leveled his rifle, confused. Then he heard singing.

Well it's been such a long time coming, I thought you'd understand

The realization hit the Titan like a warhammer.. The Hunter hadn’t thrown grenades. They were speakers.

That I'm so far ahead of the lines you've been drawing in the sand

The Hunter smirked under his helmet. He holstered his revolver and moved to a higher position.

'Cause it's simple, you were wrong

He decided to hazard a peek into the next area. True to form, the Titan held his position- And based on his movements, he was extremely confused.

You must have known that we’d end up alone

“Where are you?” The Titan’s voice boomed in anger in the small space as he tried to cover every entrance to the space he could think of.

I know you thought I'd sold my soul, but you never told me to my face

The Hunter reached into the air and grabbed at pure Light. It manifested in his hand as a revolver cast in flame. It was now or never.

I just had to leave you cold and blow this shit away!

The music broke into a crescendo as the Hunter revealed himself. He jumped from his perch into the space occupied by the Titan. His Golden Gun erupted in a glorious volley of devastating Solar Light.

A bust of bullets hit the Hunter in his side for his troubles. He felt the bullets burn his flesh, but his momentum could not be broken. His first shot had gone too high- just over the Titan’s helmet. He rolled as he hit the floor, stopping abruptly in front of his opponent.

The Titan, in a rage, threw his rifle away. His fist crackled with Arc Light. The Hunter was close enough that a punch enveloped in electricity would likely finish the match.

The Hunter sprung away from his landing, putting just enough distance between himself and the Titan that the punch missed. The next volley from the Golden Gun, on the other hand, found its mark. As the Titan fell in front of him, he felt another burst of bullets strike his leg. He dove for cover with what strength he could. Traveler’s Light, it hurt!

“Give me just a few seconds,” The Hunter heard his Ghost in his head. “I’ve already transmatted out the bullets in your chest cavity, and lucky for you, only one bullet is still in your leg. Give me twenty seconds and you’ll be right as rain.”

The Hunter hardly felt the cooling sensation of Solas’ healing. Somehow, he felt calm in the moment. I feel like you’re right here with me, Kira, He thought to himself.

A noise from behind snapped him from the reverie. A Warlock stood behind him, bringing a Pulse Rifle to bear. The Hunter raised his Golden Gun to fire.

The flaming revolver fizzled away in motes of Light like embers.

Swearing, the Hunter kicked himself away from the wall to avoid a burst of gunfire from his opponent. Stupid, stupid! A weapon made of pure light never lasted very long- and he let himself get carried away. He sprang to his feet as another burst of bullets only served to remind him of his opponents presence.

As he rounded a low wall, he turned toward it, intending to jump over and ambush. His own auto rifle was stowed behind his cloak and would be impossible to draw without stopping- He drew his revolver and lept for his opponent.

The next thing he noticed made his heart stop.

This Warlock- She looked like Kira.

But that was impossible. She was dead.

He felt a burst in his head and everything went dark.

----------

The Hunter sat up from his position, holding his head. It didn’t matter how many times his Ghost brought him back from the dead- It always gave him a massive headache that caused his vision to blur for a few seconds. The next thing he heard almost made him wish he’d stayed on the ground.

“Outstanding!” Shaxx entered the battlefield with the downed Guardians from both teams, slowly clapping. “I don’t think I’ve seen a performance so glorious in a while. He clapped the victorious Warlock on the shoulder. “That was an impressive performance.” The Hunter could tell that the Warlock was pleased with herself, helmet or no. He pictured a smug smirk on her face.

“Equally impressive,” Shaxx continued, “Was the performance of this Hunter. Distraction is a valuable ally when overpowered in battle. It can drop the most well- laid defense if done correctly, but also remember that you should never let your opponent distract you from your objective. Remember this lesson. Of course, I can think of no better teacher of that lesson than the Iron Wolf himself. Isn’t that right, Rindel?”

The Hunter flinched. That nickname. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Shaxx had identified him, he brought up a name which had its fair share of spectres associated with it. Before he could respond, a page came in over the citywide comms system.

“Guardian Rindel Zivas.” Commander Zavala’s voice echoed throughout the city. “Report to the Vanguard for debriefing. Now.”

Rindel looked toward the tower. The jig was up now. He sighed before looking at Shaxx.

Shaxx shrugged, a motion that looked more comical than it should have with the Titan’s enormous shoulder pauldrons. “Sorry, Rin. We’ve all been told to report sightings of you. Commander’s orders. Now, get up there.”

Rindel made is way to the exit. He looked around. All the Guardians were now talking amongst themselves in hushed tones. Even Tray, the arrogant Warlock seemed like he was in awe.

Rindel kept walking. It took everything for him to ignore the stares. This was one of the reasons he avoided the Tower as much as he could.

Solas phased out of him. His red shell had seen better days- it looked more brown from a lack of maintenance. He focused a beam at Rindel’s throat and rotated side to side, looking as if he was shaking his “head.”

“What?” Rindel’s voice was much clearer, showcasing his annoyance. “Gonna say ‘I told you so?’”

“I would,” Solas started, “But then, you just did.”

Rindel glared at his Ghost behind his faceplate. Getting from the Crucible setup to the Tower was a long walk in any case. Answering to Zavala’s ire would make it feel far, far longer.

[eggsmuses-a]

NOTTS •:

"Because you wanted to watch us freeze our asses off?" Church grouched, peeking around Notts' hand to glare at Exo Stranger. "And I ain't little!"

"Church," Forget-Me-Not admonished softly, "don't be rude." In response, Church huffed and dug down deeper into her bag.

Notts sighed. "Sorry," she apologized for him. She knew that this was likely Church being protective. After all, she hadn't really wanted to come back to Europa without good reason... She just considered the Exo Stranger's council to be a good reason.

She could feel the Stasis within her, and could swear it moved with the storm outside. Perhaps there was something to what Exo Stranger said. If the storm was a result of the Darkness responding to them, could this be tamed? Notts had placed great importance on working her Darkness, controlling it and making sure it didn't control her. She hoped that the storm wasn't a sign that she was failing that.

"I might be able to get a message out," Forget-Me-Not said with a nod, "though I'm not sure when, or if, it will be received, or if we'll hear anything back." It was worth a shot though, and her comm crackled to life. "Commander Zavala, Fireteam Silent's Forget-Me-Not reporting in. Unexpected storm on Europa is causing issues. Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

"Ikora, this is Forget-Me-Not. Are you getting this?"

A crackle, but no words.

"... Artemis? Khalom? Are you two out there?" Her voice wavered slightly at the end. She didn't like feeling so isolated from her friends... but at least she wasn't alone.

Forget-Me-Not shook her head. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "We might be on our own. I imagine what you called me here for cannot be done inside here?"

EGGSMUSES •:

It's easy for Elsie to brush off Church's antagonising. Two could play at that game if she really wanted to, but it wasn't worth spending the time arguing with the Ghost. Her optics drift before she simulates eyes squeezed tight, #ﾞ ᴇ ——— ❝ That's alright. One unleashed dog is nothing compared to what I've seen, rabid or not. ❞ One more jab, because she can't resist the bite. Church was very funny to aggravate, she will admit.

She almost smirks, snuffing a scoff that dares to escape her throat. Before Exo Stranger can truly get comfortable though, the moment is cut short by the sound of static.

The connection to the Vanguard is cut off. Unsurprising, the radio outside the camp barely had enough in it to reach the channels to begin with. But the Guardian comms devices ? That was certainly a problem.

❝ No need to apologise, ❞ she repeats. ❝ If it is just a weather anomaly, we can wait it out. There's no harm in spending a little time back. ❞ Ironic to say for someone who has such little time to make things right. No time to explain what can't be explained ?

❝ Yes, Savathûn. I heard about the Darkness on Mars from Ana. She wanted to inspect the reappearance of the planet &. if it changed anything to the Warmind facilities. ❞ Her sister had kept close in contact since their reunion. Constant updates on Rasputin, small updated on her training with Darkness &. Braytech facility notes. In turn, Elisabeth was there to give guidance that she couldn't give Ana in the past — future ?

❝ Guardians returned to Europa to recommune with the Pyramid. I wanted to know if those reactions had intensified Stasis, ❞ The Exo gestures outside, ❝ but it seems I already have an answer. ❞

Of course, it's not the Pyramid alone. Perhaps, the Witness is watching Europa at this very moment, pulling strings in an attempt to succumb the timeline to another Collapse. Maybe they're both puppets to this hellish scheme that Elisabeth just can't seem to avoid. She had gotten so far too, if she were to lose it all — see that scene of the past all over again, lose her progress — she wouldn't know what to do.

That wouldn't happen. Elsie won't allow it. Especially since Ana is on their side now.

❝ It looks like our time is better spent reflecting than trying to change anything. Take a seat, everything in this camp is yours too. That's the least I can do. ❞

#ﾞ ᴇ ——— ❝ THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE , ❞ Exo Stranger’s eyes glaze over the table before her before icicle optics that burn with Stasis meet Forget - Me - Not’s own . A drumming finger against the elevation ; Elisabeth’s vocals crackle with an inner frustration as she gestures to the snowstorm beyond the glass door of base . ❝ Beyond is supposed to be one of the purest sanctions of Europa before &&. after the Pyramid’s appearance . How has a Darkness Zone formed ? ❞

Never had Elsie encountered any form of blizzard in the campsite –- not even Charon’s Crossing experienced this weather despite being sandwiched between Cadmus Ridge &&. Asterion Abyss -– this was new . What failed to ease her concerns , too , was House of Salvation’s debris . If anyone could argue that it could be natural weather , the idea was completely invalid . Not with the Eliksni’s attempts at harnessing this power .

Originally requesting the other Exo come train to keep moderation on the effects of her Darkness wielding , Elisabeth had plans to send Notts on a few bounties . Kinder ones than usual , as a test . But now even those plans were ruined by this sudden development . ❝ We’re stuck inside now , unless we want to reveal our location to House of Salvation . Just our luck . Our chances of this ending soon is slim , so get comfortable , Guardian . ❞

@fireteam-silent liked and replied for a starter !

[terryblount]

Massive new 7GB update released for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, full patch notes revealed

Ubisoft has released a massive new 7GB update for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. This patch will update your game’s version to 1.0.3 and aims to address some of the most pressing issues that the game’s community has reported.

Going into more details, update 1.0.3 makes improvements to the issue where scopes would flicker when players ADS. Furthermore, it now allows players to do a camera shoulder swap while in cover. It also makes a number of adjustments to player’s stamina.

This patch also features some PC-specific tweaks and fixes. For instance, it improves controls on PC to prevent conflicts when the same key was assigned to several functions. It also improves the Side Missions scroll bar to make it easier to scroll when using mouse and keyboard.

As always, UPLAY and Epic Games Store will download this patch the next time you launch their clients. Below you can also find its HUGE changelog (so prepare yourselves for a wall of text).

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint Update 1.0.3 Release Notes

AI

Improved AI behavior of Carl’s driving path in the A Great Escape mission.

Fixed an issue where the turrets did not follow the players.

Fixed an issue where the turret cannons did not turn with the player’s camera.

Fixed an issue where turrets sometimes became unusable by players after being hacked.

Fixed an issue where enemies would sometimes break cover before reacting to the players.

Fixed an issue where enemies would sometime stop aiming directly at the players if they broke visual contact.

Fixed AI navigation path for a enemies in Fen Bog Testing Zone.

Fixed an issue with NPC behavior when exiting a vehicle they were stowed in if the players shot the vehicle.

Fixed an issue where sometimes the enemies in helicopters would not detect the players.

Fixed an issue where the Taipan air patrol crew would survive a crash.

Fixed an issue when convoy escort enemies would stop firing at players if they got behind them.

Fixed an issue where enemies would not spread an alert after players’ host migration.

Fixed an issue where Wolves could detect and shoot players through Submarine Bay at the entrance of Shark Bay.

Fixed an issue where the NPCs remained stuck after being freed during a mission.

Fixed an issue where enemy patrols would get stuck at a specific location on Skell foundation campus.

Fixed an issue where NPC remained stuck in vehicle instead of exiting.

Fixed an issue where drone and enemies blocked each other and remained stuck.

Fixed an issue where Hunter drone spawned at inconsistent distances.

ANIMATION

Fixed an animation bug where the character sometimes used the adaptive aim animation with no reason (not near a wall or an obstacle).

Fixed Wolves coat texture near second crash site.

Fixed character animation when trying to go under a small waterfall.

Added spasm animation when an ally is being revived by medic’s drone.

Added a delay to player detection during the healing animation when using the revive drone.

Fixed animation replication bug when teammates were killed while carrying body.

AUDIO

Fixed audio issue where Fury figure sometimes had male voices during interrogation scenes.

Fixed an issue where players couldn’t hear outdoor sounds from inside the building in Auroa Data Farm camp.

Fixed surrounding sounds issue at the Battery Farm underground settlement.

Fixed an issue where the data transfer sound kept playing when players were interrupted during a hack.

Fixed an audio issue in Skell’s Villa where players could hear the rain while indoors.

Fixed an audio issue where firing or explosion sounds could not be heard if players were in different environments (indoor/ outdoor).

Fixed an issue where the Medic Skill sounds were not always present.

BIVOUAC

Fixed an issue where sometimes players would be standing if joined when deploying the bivouac.

Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get an infinite loading screen when entering a player-card from the Bivouac menu.

Fixed an issue where bivouac behavior would be corrupted if a teammate logged out when the player was deploying the bivouac.

Fixed an issue where the character’s backpack would sometimes be invisible in the bivouac.

Fixed an issue where players could sometimes get stuck or get KIA when breaking camp from bivouac.

Fixed an issue where the camera transition did not work properly if a player was in the Tacmap menu while breaking camp from bivouac.

CAMERA

Fixed an issue where the camera could pass through the Tavor Assault weapon.

Fixed camera stability issue when players stopped to turn while in ADS.

CHAT

Fixed an issue that caused chat input box to reset during game flow transitions.

GAMEPLAY

Fixed a bug that caused some players to respawn under the map.

Fixed vehicle emergency exit animation while in water.

Fixed an issue that caused players to remain stuck if they were pulled into a cinematic in co-op while investigating an intel.

Fixed an issue where visual feedback was not always triggered when the players fell and received damage.

Fixed an issue when players landed a helicopter on top of another.

Fixed an issue where players could go through obstacles if spamming the climb button during animation or revive.

Fixed a graphical issue that occurred when players deployed a drone and then quickly ADS.

Revised priorities so that the game now prioritizes mission interaction over vehicle interaction to prevent blocking players in some circumstances during missions.

Frag grenades now deal more damage to vehicles.

Fixed an issue where in a four-player co-op session, players were able to launch additional sync shot drones after the host of the session left.

Fixed an issue that caused the drone to stop deploying on some occasions.

Fixed an issue where some players could not reach rank 10 Field Medic.

Fixed an issue that sometimes allowed players to go through Biometric doors while in prone.

Fixed an issue where MK.2 explosives and Intel Grenades were not available to buy in Maria’s shop after unlocking them.

Fixed an issue where changing fire rate while ADS deployed the drone.

Players can now cancel the go-to animation before entering a vehicle by moving away from the vehicle.

COVER SYSTEM

You can now do a camera shoulder swap at cover! It will also rotate the main player on the spot.

Lean aiming is now available from a wider distance and the avatar is less likely to be seen.

Looking over and peeking off a cover is now easier to do when holding the movement input towards the cover.

Increased the angle to preserve the orientation of the avatar when stopping to aim over a cover up to 45°, so the camera stays more often on its initial side.

LOOT

Fixed a bug where ammunition was not received after being picked up.

MENU

Fixed a notification bug where the mission name would not be displayed if a teammate replayed a mission that is locked for the player.

MISSIONS

Fixed a bug that caused the programmers to instantly die when in contact with the car regardless of its speed in the A Great Escape mission.

Fixed a bug where players would have their weapon misplaced when entering Puri’s office in the Meet Puri mission.

Fixed an issue in the Rosebud mission where the mission did not consult if the player skipped the investigation step.

Fixed an issue in the An Ingenuous Genius mission where all players spawned in Daigoroh’s cell if they get KIA after the extraction.

Fixed an issue during the onboarding mission where players could not talk to Holt in Erewhon if they had not checked the third helicopter crash.

Fixed an issue in the Guardian Angel mission where Cromwell sometimes did not go to her computer to trigger the mission’s next step.

Fixed an issue in the The Siren’s Call mission where players respawned inside the cave after being KIA, without validating the step.

Fixed an issue in the The Great Escape mission where Carl did not drive to the vehicle if it was too far from its spawn point.

Fixed an issue in coop that could block the mission flow for all players if two players joined at the same time.

Fixed an issue in the The Great Escape mission where the player would respawn inside the prison after getting KIA.

NVG

Fixed an issue where L3GP night vision goggles blocked the weapon reticle.

Realigned the angle of the panoramic night vision goggles to align better with the character’s eyes.

ONLINE

Fixed an issue where sometimes players could not join a session using the in-game lobby if they stayed idle for too long.

Fixed an issue where players would get an Infitinity-00002 error after a failed host migration.

Fixed an issue where players would remain in infinite loading when leaving a group in PvE after playing PvP.

PC

Fixed an issue that made the Windows key not functional in menus and during gameplay.

Improved controls on PC to prevent conflicts when the same key was assigned to several functions.

Fixed a crash occurring when trying to access the options menu after changing graphics preset.

Improved the Side Missions scroll bar to make it easier to scroll when using mouse and keyboard.

Fixed an issue preventing the “Win + Shift + Arrow” shortcut from switching displays in full screen.

PHOTOMODE

Fixed an issue in photomode where no visible change occurred when setting grain parameter to values higher than 16.

Fixed visual issues in photomode when camera is under water.

There is now a message in-game informing players they cannot use photomode when drone is deployed.

Fixed an issue in photomode where sometimes the camera would go under the map.

GHOST WAR

Balancing

Sniper weapons no longer one-shot while using the Rolling Thunder perk.

Sniper weapon damages have been slightly reduced to bring them into line with other sniper rifles (Weapons Affected: HTI, L115A3, M82, SRA1, TAC50, Victrix).

Drone health has been reduced, making it less likely to need more than one mag to destroy.

Connectivity

Fixed several causes of the Infinity error.

Gameplay

Hit damage indicator accuracy improved when taking shots from the front – the hit damage indicator feedback is orientated in a top-down fashion rather than from player’s perspective.

Shooting downed enemies will no longer trigger hit confirmations – which should improve feedback on whether the enemy is down or not.

Gas drone damage now interrupts a player using a drone.

Improved audio feedback of the Gas Grenade.

Added a cooldown to the Ping system to avoid spam.

Maps

Tech Port: We’ve added new objects to prevent the accidental falling off stairs while running up / down them.

We’ve made some general fixes to the maps.

Matchmaking

Players will no longer join matches in progress, regardless of the round number.

Improvements implemented to the balancing of teams after matchmaking completes.

Milestones

Players can now pin more than 1 milestone for tracking.

Replication

General improvements to player replication.

Stats

Fixes implemented to Ghost War stat tracking.

The Total Skell Credits gained stat now includes credits earned in Ghost War as well.

Ghost War stats are now display correctly in the Loadout menus.

Custom Matches

Fixed missing cursor on setting up match screen.

Fixed an issue that was blocking players from joining a custom match.

SAVE

Fixed a bug where players spawned in Erewhon after creating a new save on a slot that previously had progress.

Fixed a rare issue where sometimes Ghost Coins did not appear in the inventory after purchase.

CHARACTER

Fixed a bug where players could get stuck after using their ability or frags while Panther Class is equipped.

Fixed an issue where players would no longer have the items wheel available after an emergency exit from a vehicle in water.

STAMINA

Increased the base stamina by 66%.

Increased stamina re-gen speed by 75%.

Reduced the stamina consumed when sliding by 50%.

UI

Fixed an issue where the mini-map would not update when players are detected by SAM launchers.

The mute icon is now more visible in the menus on player avatars.

Fixed an issue where sometimes the second perk slot would not unlock after being acquired in the skill tree.

Fixed an issue in co-op where one player in the team would get a permanent notification on screen to go back to Madera after being KIA during the One Last Thing mission.

Fixed an issue where Markers Size Alert values in the options menu did not trigger any change.

Fixed an issue where the Beacon and Ping shortcuts where not displayed in the Control Helpers for the Medic Drone.

Removed hardcoded text from several places in the menus.

Fixed an issue that could lead to unintended transactions if players move the cursor during the Hold Action Buy or Sell prompt in Maria’s shop.

Fixed the NK3 Ritual CQC weapon name in menus (formerly called NK3 K Black | Ancient).

Fixed an issue where sometimes there would be gaps between the tab icons after opening the loadout menu.

Fixed an issue where store notifications would sometimes have unknown characters after changing the game language to a language with a different alphabet.

Fixed several instances of incorrect unlock requirement or descriptions for items.

Fixed an issue where the Objective Board would sometimes remain locked if players left the game during the Onboarding mission.

Fixed an issue where the input to consult intel was displayed as “press” instead of “hold”.

Fixed missing text on most location discovery pop-ups.

The camos earned in Battle Crates now indicate whether they are for gear or weapons.

Fixed an issue where the Vision Mode ability on drone appeared as an option on the drone HUD before the ability was unlocked.

Fixed an issue that prevented players from using the tutorial shortcut while driving.

Fixed an issue that prevented the notification to let players know when the public matchmaking was canceled due to host migration.

Fixed several typos.

Fixed an issue where the Mission Completion tutorial pop-up would display after every loading screen.

VEHICLES

Fixed an issue where some convoys would spawn vertically into the ground.

Fixed an issue where helicopters spawned from Erewhon would sometimes be damaged.

VISUAL

Fixed an issue where thermal vision in binoculars was not working properly at night.

Fixed an issue that prevented the replication of the rocket trail, missile, and explosion visual effects.

Fixed an issue where textures would sometimes not load properly in the Sentinel Corp Naval Base.

Fixed an issue where the chests would sometimes flicker in co-op if several players opened them at the same time.

Fixed an issue where helicopters sometimes would not disappear properly from the sight of players when moving away from them.

WEAPONS

Fixed an issue where the MAWL-DA rail was overlapping with the built-in ironsight of the A2 ASR.

Fixed an issue that allowed the P227 to penetrate heavy helmets and one-shot enemies.

Fixed an issue with shotguns that often caused only a one-shot pellet instead of several.

Fixed an issue that prevented the Zasatava’s unique ability to work properly. It can now pierce helmets as designed.

Improvements made to the issue where scopes would flicker when players ADS.

Flashbang can now blind through vegetation (such as low bush).

WORLD

Fixed a bug where players could get stuck behind Maria’s shop in Erewhon.

Removed floating objects in Auroa Data Farm.

Fixed an issue that prevented players from accessing the Skell’s Last Log collectible.

Removed a hole in the map near White Ridge Bivouac in Mount Hodgson.

Removed a prop structure that was floating in the middle of the ocean.

Fixed an issue where the water animation did not trigger when a helicopter hovered over the water.

The post Massive new 7GB update released for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, full patch notes revealed appeared first on DSOGaming.

Massive new 7GB update released for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, full patch notes revealed published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[monstersofsilence]

Pure science

Knocking on the door. Multiple times that anyone can count in the span of three minutes. Alexandra got up, hearing the knocks on the door, already getting annoyed by it but wondering why someone would come to Jaisnt's house. Going to the intercom that was next to the front door, she pressed the button and began to speak. "Hello? Who is it?"

"Oh! This is a new voice. Are you Alexandra? The human? I'm a friend of Jaisnt and I came by to drop something off!" They replied back.

A friend of Jaisnt? How many friends does he have? Then again, she doesn't know all of his friends currently other than the ones she has met, or has befriended him in the midst of her. Opening the door, she was greeted with a girl with a crazed, but, joyful look on her face as she quickly stepped in, taking a look at Alex. "Holy shit! He wasn't kidding! You are nothing like us!" The troll quickly grabbed the human's hand, extending her arm and caressed it, feeling the texture of Alex's skin. "Hmm... relatively normal skin texture albeit the color is quite beige in a way. More close to pink." She then pulled out a flash light, shining it in front of Alex's eyes as she was quickly blinded by them. She was ready to say something but was then cut off from the troll's rambling. "Blue eyes, bright, and light. Maybe could be consistent of what could be on the inside..." And the final part was pricking the human's skin with a needle that the troll carries with her, watching the small drop of red blood coming out from the human's finger. "And exactly that, you are indeed human!"

"Hey! Ever heard of personal space?!" Alex yelled.

"Oh... yeah. Sorry! Shit, what are my manners. My name is Linith Dimava. I'm a scientist. I got excited from what Jaisnt told me that I HAD to come and take a look for myself... and do a quick examination."

"Well, I can tell you that this is all you're going to look at... but it's great to meet another scientist." Alex smiled a little. "But Jesus Christ... why do you even have a needle with you?"

"You can never be too sure if you really need one... that and I just remembered having it in my pocket from the last time I used it for my experiments... it is sterilized!"

"You are a weird kind of troll."

"And you are a human stuck in a world where there's hostile species. I came here to meet you... and to give you something that me and Jaisnt have been working up." Linith searched through her pocket, pulling out a metal chip that was almost the size of her palm. "Jaisnt told me of your little adventure out in the city and almost biffing it."

"Ha ha... asshole... so what the hell is that supposed to do?" Alexandra asked but not too confident of what's being shown to her.

"You need a disguise, but obviously you don't want to go through the hassle of putting on make up, getting fake horns and all that stupid crap, right?"

"Uh... yeah! It's a lot of work and it would seem monotonous if I have to keep doing that every day."

"Exactly my thought. So I gave Jaisnt an idea that maybe with his brilliant inventing, and my excellent mind of science, that we can make you something that would able you to change your appearance, minor, without all that hassle. First, I'm going to need you to turn around."

Alex raised a brow, confused from this though she complied and turned around, having her back facing Linith.

"Now, your gonna feel a slight sting... and maybe feel a bit woozy for a quick second, but I assure you that this won't harm you in any way, shape, or form." Linith tugged a bit on the human's shirt, placing the metal chip on her bare back which connects her spine as tiny needles retracted and embedded into her skin. Alex flinched as she felt the needles and almost fell as she was seeing her vision becoming blurry for a moment.

"Okay... so what now?" Alex said until she was caught off guard as the chip retracted out, extending an arm that hovered above her head and then lasers shined all over her body. "What the fuck is going on?!"

"This chip pretty much reads off your body through lasers. It reads your brain that connects to your nervous system, which the needles are connected to on your spine. Once that's done..." And soon enough the human's body began to change, her skin becoming grey and horns appearing on her head. "... It grants you the body of what we look like. Mostly the horns and, if you want to become a sea dweller, fins or gills."

Alexandra examined her skin and then touched the top of her head where the horns are, feeling them. "Please tell me this is not permanent."

"It's not. You are still you. Think of this as some of kind high level illusion using cutting edge science. The horns may seem real, may feel real, but they're not real in some sense. It's pretty much the chip on your back that's doing the work for you to look like the way we do. Here's the best part." Linith pulled out a tablet, showing it to the human as she's seeing a full body image of the human from head to toe. "This is you in troll form. Jaisnt designed this program which would allow you to change whatever you want on appearance horn and sea dweller-wise."

"Wow... this is... really nice of you to do... and Jaisnt, too..." Alexandra takes a look at the program, looking at the horns she has right and touched the screen, editing the horns to not look completely ridiculous and she can even see, from the reflection on the screen, that it is changing what's she's doing in the program. "Holy crap! This... this is amazing!"

"Another neat thing about this is that whenever you're not in public, or near any trolls, you can disable the program and you'll have your normal human skin without horns and all the other stuff."

"Thank you so much. This is really amazing, Linith."

"Thank Jai. He's looking out for you. Let me just tell you one thing, but I'm sure he told you at some point. We are violent people, but some of us want to be peaceful and often times help others that deserve it."

"Yeah... I think he told me something similar to that. Oh... my name is Alexandra... Alexandra Pyrite." The human said, almost forgetting to give her name even after all this.

"Pyrite... that's a name of a-"

"Type of rock. Yeah. On my father's side. He's a scientist like me and that's why I became one."

"Hmm... you have to tell me that story some day. I'd be interested to listen on everything that is human related. But, for now, you don't have to worry about going out in public! You might have to change your first name though... shrink it down to six letters. Anyway, where the hell is Jaisnt?"

"Oh! He's at his shop."

"Well, thank you, miss-"

"You can call me Alex... or Alexa. Whichever you want. I really don't mind."

Linith smiled, nodding to her. "Alright. Thank you, Alex. I hope to see you next time!" The red blood turned and walked away, waving to her as Alex stood and smiled from the generosity that was bestowed to her.

Closing the door, she was then greeted by Zenira, startling her for a moment. "Holy shit! You nearly gave me a heart attack Ze..." Zenira frowned and gestured to her in a apologetic way. "It's okay... I know you didn't mean it. Anyway... what do you think? I look just like you guys now!"

Zenira smiled, nodding to her. "You look nice."

Alex was shocked hearing her speak. She's a mute, right? "You... you can talk?"

"When I want to." The orange blood answered. "But I am still a mute either way."

"Huh... small world I live in. If you can speak, who taught you?"

"My lusus. Our guardians. They all consist of creatures, animals in the wild that gained the intelligence to raise trolls. Mine is spidermom. I was once feral, living off in the wild. I can still remember myself running through the forest butt naked with nothing but my bow and spear, hunting for food, gathering water. Funny how times change."

"That's really interesting..."

"It was. My lusus saw others that were different like me and decided to change my life. She began teaching me the language that all troll's speak. Overtime, I even took the liberty to even look at how troll's acted, how they dressed, how they are to others. Though... I'm still learning."

"I think Jaisnt told me the many stories of you breaking into other people's homes just to steal their food."

Zenira blushed, bowing her head to stare at the floor. "I was hungry! What am I supposed to do?! Starve?"

"It's alright. You're still learning, but I don't think you'll be able to learn the right way if you keep burglaring people's food. Hell, I don't think anyone has done that back on Earth. That just seems weird but partially funny."

"Right... does... your people also deal with anything that they can never explain?"

"Well, there's ghosts and all that, but there's always some rational or scientific explanation for those things."

"What about... magic?"

"Oh god. No. No. I don't want to get into-"

"So you don't believe in it." Zenira said, her words being serious and Alexandra can tell by just hearing and looking at her expression.

"I mean... a lot of things can be explained!"

"How can you explain something that you can never understand? What you can't comprehend?" Alex had nothing else to counter her argument. She was starting to even doubt herself on the whole subject of magic. "A while back... I found an idol. A strange looking one. I thought it would look nice to bring it home, but it broke and something came out of it. A soul. A dark, negative spirit. Ever since then, I keep getting dreams of me being my ancestor, as if I was seeing through her eyes. It's as if I'm peeking through her memories of when she was alive. There are often times I always think I see her in full form and whenever I look back, she's gone. Do you have a way to explain that? Possibly hallucination. Delusions maybe. But why would I have such things like that? I'm not on the brink of insanity nor have I taken anything that would cause me to hallucinate in any way. Alex... whether you want to deny it or even disprove it, magic is real. The super natural, witches, demons, mythical beings beyond our understanding. They're real. This is Alternia. Some day... you'll learn to believe it... but it's not going to be pleasant." Alex was frozen from Zenira's lecture. She didn't know what to even say or how to respond to something that was thrown at her suddenly. "Anyways... have a good evening. I'll be out practicing with my bow if you need me."

The orange blood walked out, leaving Alex alone as she is stuck taking in everything that was told to her. It can be explained, right? Magic doesn't exist. Though now she's not so sure after what Zenira told her and possibly a hint of a warning behind it. Perhaps she should forget it and consider it being something out of character from Zenira. Yes. Just something out of character. Possibly.

[theboxreviewers]

Paper Street Books and Comics Review – April/May 2017 http://ift.tt/2qX97Dm

 Paper Street Books & Comics is a bi-monthly mystery book box for those who are obsessed with reading! It is for readers who are adventurous, imaginative and definitely not afraid to explore. We offer both graphic novels and adult fiction, featuring books that are quirky and humorous and sometimes thrilling! These can be in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy,  and Horror genres from indie and mainstream publishers!

As a member, you'll receive a box featuring:

Adult fiction and/or graphic novel 1-3 items related to the theme/book Bookish swag from our featuring authors or publishers (if available)

Available Plans:

The Book Addict (Book + Accessories) $29.99/bi-monthly+shipping

The Comic Addict (Graphic Novel + Accessories) $29.99/bi-monthly+shipping

The Book Warrior (Graphic Novel + Book + Accessories) $44.99/bimonthly+shipping

*Worldwide Shipping is Available*

April's theme was “Terra & Luna” and I couldn't wait to receive the Book Warrior box!  This was also Paper Street Books and Comics' one-year anniversary box, so that made it extra special.

  Paper Street shows up in a simple white box with the logo on the front!  I like how straightforward the packaging is.  The box is also big enough to hold all of the items inside, but small enough that the items won't move around during shipping.

The items in the box come carefully wrapped in tissue paper!  I love this care that goes into the packaging.

  The box comes with this brochure which includes a note from the owners of the box and an item list!  The design is gorgeous.

On the left of the inside of the brochure is the letter from the owners.  I like how they explained why they chose the books that they did as well as their reasoning behind the theme.  It makes the box so personal!

The book included this month is Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele!  This book was included because it takes the reader back to the golden age of sci-fi, which I LOVE!  I am a huge old-school sci-fi fan, so this book made me squeal.

Here is the synopsis:

Allen Steele, author of Arkwright, gives us a thrilling piece of science fiction pulp with Avengers of the Moon

Curt Newton has spent most of his life hidden from the rest of humankind, being raised by a robot, an android, and the disembodied brain of a renowned scientist. This unlikely trio of guardians has kept his existence a closely guarded secret after the murder of Curt's parents.

Curt's innate curiosity and nose for trouble inadvertently lead him into a plot to destabilize the Solar Coalition and assassinate the president. There's only one way to uncover the evil mastermind—Curt must become Captain Future.

With the permission of the Edmond Hamilton estate, Allen Steele revives the exciting adventures of Captain Future.

The graphic novel this month is actually a young adult graphic novel!  The book is called Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer, and it is part of The Lunar Chronicles Series.  The Lunar Chronicles is a young adult science fiction series, and it brings classic sci-fi literature to a new generation.

Here is a synopsis for the graphic novel:

The first graphic novel from #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller Marissa Meyer!

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new, action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold.When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers' leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, Winter, and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

Also included is a single comic of American Gods: Shadows #1 by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton.  American Gods has had a resurgence of popularity since a new television series based on the book has been airing.  That being said, I was very excited to see this comic included in the box!  Comics are my guilty pleasure, and that is one of the reasons why I adore this box.

Here is a synopsis of the comic:

WAR IS COMING!

Shadow Moon just got out of jail, only to discover his wife is dead. Defeated, broke, and uncertain as to where to go from here, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him to serve as his bodyguard—thrusting Shadow into a deadly world of the supernatural, where ghosts of the past come back from the dead, and a brewing war between old and new gods hits a boiling point.

The Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, and Nebula award–winning novel and upcoming Starz television series by Neil Gaiman is adapted as a comic series for the first time!

  The first of the bonus items included in the box is this Crystal Growing Cherry Tree by Copernicus Toys!  This tree is part of terraforming – creating a world based on Earth – and it literally grows before your eyes!

It adds a nice touch of spring to my room, and it is so delicate.  It goes with the terra theme perfectly.

The owners of Paper Street make their own candles from time to time, and this month they made a candle based on Sailor Moon!  I love Sailor Moon – she is one of my favorite characters of all time – and the scent of this candle goes perfectly with her personality.  It has such a lovely spring scent.  It is nice receiving an item based on Sailor Moon because you don't see these items very often.

Paper Street also included this exclusive Sailor Moon magnet!  It is gorgeous, and I love how Luna – the cat – is part of the design.  Paper Street designed the artwork themselves!

As a bonus to subscribers who have been with Paper Street for multiple renewals, Paper Street sent out these gorgeous space lollipops!  These are a throwback to the first box that Paper Street ever sent out, and I love that.

Here is a close up of this lollipop!  I haven't eaten it yet because it is just too darn pretty, but I did lick it and it is delicious!

The last item included in the box is this sneak peek of Beautiful Nightmare by A.M. Nestler – which is me!  Beautiful Nightmare was my first novel, and Paper Street was kind enough to include this sneak peek in their box.

Here is the synopsis:

What if your true love was only present in your dreams?

In the dystopian town of Lunamoon, everything is structured. Humans are created by science and everyone is programmed to follow certain regulations; but one girl, Shawneleigh, never lived up to the Council’s regulations. Shawneleigh has the disorder of narcolepsy, a disorder that causes her to fall asleep at random times without warning. Because of her illness, the Council banned her to life in a hospital since she cannot be counted on fulfill other duties. Lunamoonians all receive prophecies for their lives through dreams that the Dream Maker sends to them, but Shawneleigh hadn’t received a dream in years until she found herself falling into a dream during her sleeping spells. It is during these spells that she meets a man named August who claims to be the Dream Maker himself. He also lives in solitude outside of Lunamoon, and they begin to form a bond; however, Shawneleigh cannot control when she falls asleep, and soon August finds a way to manipulate her illness. The only problem is that when he manipulates her sleeping disorder, she continues to grow sicker. But no matter how hard they try, they can’t stay away from one another.

“Beautiful Nightmare: Some Dreams Become Your Reality” is novel about love, life, and the importance of those who care about you. Love, above all else, is the best thing that we have to give.

Final Thought: Paper Street Books and Comics is the best box to get your fantasy, sci-fi and horror book/graphic novel fix!  The curation is always on point, and I love how the owners put so much thought into the items so that they all connect to the theme.  This is the perfect box for hardcore comic and book nerds!

*NOTE: This box was sent to us to review for free.