Chapter 1
A few birds fluttered overhead. The drones and chirps of some of the insects filled the air. Nothing really lived in these forests but its indigenous residents. Nothing but a group of a Fallen House, and the ones who hunted them down.
There were three of us when we started our assignment, but near a day in, that changed when we needed to cross some cliffs. While crossing, a boulder gave way and Jacks went tumbling down the Cliffside. Crimson and I went down to check on him; he was alive, but his legs were beaten to hell and we both knew Jacks wouldn't be able to continue on. So we told his Ghost to transmat him out and take him back to the Tower.
Guess I should explain who we are while I have the chance and before we get too far. My name is Kanin, I am a Hunter and serve as a Guardian for the Traveler, the Last City, and the Tower. I am also the fireteam leader for our mission to track down and eliminate a group of Fallen hiding out somewhere in the forests and ruins of Old Europe.
Jacks is another Guardian, but a Titan. Normally Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks don't get along as best of buds, but Jacks and I have been through enough together to trust each other, and make jabs at each other.
And last, but most definitely not least (that honor is reserved for Jacks, broken legs not accounted for), is Crimson. While Crimson is not her real name, everyone calls her that because of the color of her cloak and armor. Even though she is not a Guardian, she is still very much capable of handling herself in a fight and mastering the Light and making it her own.
It's now been a couple days since we lost Jacks, but we were moving faster and quieter without his lumbering around. And now we were closing in on the Fallen. As we moved through the forest we kept our fingers on triggers and weapons at the ready in case we found some stragglers or scouts.
"I'm picking up some Fallen activity." Piped up Spartan, my Ghost.
"Any idea on distance?" Asked Crimson.
"Close to two klicks."
"Care to take in half a klick before setting up for the night?" I inquired of Crimson, realizing that the sun was already setting. And wondering around a forest in the dead of night alone is dangerous enough without the possibility of running into rouge Fallen.
"Let's make it a quarter; stay close, but give us some room for warning."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
We trekked for another half hour before finding a safe place to rest. By then the sun had set and we were in the dark of night. If stealth hadn't been a requirement for this mission, I would have killed a couple of elk for Crimson to grill up, because man can she cook over a campfire. But instead we only had food packets stocked up from the Tower. We took off our helmets and two things happened that completely refreshed me almost to the point of standing up and just finding the Fallen to finish the mission. First, the cool air rushed in and felt nice. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold either. It was… nice. But the second was seeing Crimson.
Her dark red hair fell down to just below her shoulders. She looked over with her deep sky blue eyes. What was she looking at? Just some schmuck with short cut, brown hair and a close trimmed beard.
As we finished our "dinner," we contacted the Tower one last time before shutting down all radio transmissions to stay under the radar. We set up some warning systems around our small camp and began to wind down.
"Not going to happen." Crimson said without looking over at me.
I looked away, "What do you mean?"
"You know damn well what I mean. We both need our sleep especially if we are going to be facing as many Fallen as we think we are."
"Come on Crims. We're on a mission right now, do you really think I'd ask about that now?"
"Please, I know you. You have that look that says you would ask. And now that Jacks isn't here, there's nothing to really stop you. Now let me take a shot at how the conversation would go.
"First you would plain out ask. I would say 'No,' you would then say, 'well we should at least huddle together to stay warm.' Am I getting it right so far?"
I paused. "Well, I have plenty of room on my rock, and we will most likely need to stay warm tonight, so you would be completely welcome to join me." I said with a smile.
Crimson walked over and kicked my thigh. "You're such a child sometimes, you know that right?" She said as she sat down. "How did the Traveler ever choose you as a Guardian?"
"I'm not even sure if the Traveler knows why at this point." I said as I checked The Last Word's ammo. I placed the hand cannon down by my side in easy reach in case we have any trouble, and my left arm around Crimson as we let sleep take us down.