So hi. I know Forsaken has been out for quite a while but I just still can't believe they ripped off Cayde, he's probably the best character in the whole game well in my opinion. So this is a FanFiction taking place somewhere before Forsaken and Tevis never died nuh uh because if I wrote he did it will mess up future Destiny fanfictions from me. To be honest if Bungie doesn't bring him back I don't know if the game will be as enjoyable for me. Anyway 'The Long Slow Whisper' was mentioned in one of Caydes messages to his killers. In this a guardian is mentioned with no name, gender nothing do as you please with them you can pretend it's you or you ingame guardian. Please show no hate it will hurt my feelings. I talk to much. Or and the flashback at the end was set when Andal was Vanguard not when the Savathuns song was. Enjoy! :)
Just A Normal Day
The Red War was finished, the Tower was rebuilt but most of the citizens were still worried if they were safe or not. The Traveler was shattered, emitting light everywhere around it filling in the black night sky. The Cabal were done, finished but being the stubborn, serious, protective (boring) person Zavala was he wanted to make a plan on... something Cayde wasn't really listening. They got a new map installed almost looked exactly like Caydes but different.
Zavala and Ikora were chit chattering around the map, Cayde was leaning against the wall throwing a dagger up and down. Everyone else was sleeping or drinking, Exos don't really sleep so Cayde, Banshee, and maybe Shiro would go to Amanda (Amanda mostly stayed up with them but eventually she would go to sleep) and just talk or get drunk (mostly Cayde) but still Zavala didn't even let him quickly go to the spicy ramen shop to get a take away.
"Cayde!" Cayde was startled by the sound of Zavalas voice and nearly dropped his dagger on his foot. He put the dagger on his leg holster and crossed his arms at Zavala.
"You are supposed to be helping us"
"What are we even doing?" Cayde walked over to the map.
"We must plan defences for the city"
"And why exactly?"
"For the safety of our people"
"Wait, how about you and Ikora do... this and I go out there" Cayde pointed to the doorway and started slowly side walking to the door.
"Cayde!" Then he made a break for it and ran.
Ikora sighed and looked at Zavala.
"At least it's not like his first day" she smiled softly.
"He shows no worry or concern for our people" her face turned to a frown.
"Zavala-"
"We will continue tomorrow" then he left heading in the same direction of Cayde and Ikora stood alone with worry covering her.
Cayde was with no one since Banshee was busy repairing a guardians gun, Shiro was on a scout mission for Cabal somewhere on planet Shiro never really tells him as if Cayde cares and Amanda he just didn't feel like visiting her she's probably asleep or something anyway. So he was at a bar, drinking. At least he wasn't drunk yet, he held to cards infront of him, Ace of spades and the Queen of hearts. He'd made lies to himself saying he had a son and a beautiful woman who he referred her as his queen but they may not be real they may just be figments of his mind who knows after all he'd been rebooted 6 times each time he lost more and more of his memory he only has quick flashes of his memory from his first life a woman and a boy to back that up also he found one of his old journals and apparently it was written to someone called Ace and apparently that Ace was his son? Cayde just likes to imagine their real even if they are long dead or... or they never existed in the first place.
Zavala saw Cayde and went up to him and grabbed the back of his cloak and dragged him away making him drop his glass on the floor making it shatter into hundreds of pieces. He quickly shoved the cards in his pocket.
"Can't a guy have one drink?!" Zavala put him down out of everyone's sight.
"You show not the slightest concern for our people!"
"Of course I do" Zavala narrowed his eyes at Cayde.
"Then why do you refuse to join in our meetings"
"Can I tell you what would be a better plan, if I go and kill the darkness myself" Zavala unnarrowed his eyes and stared down Cayde as he pulled out his hand cannon and pretended to shoot.
"Is that what Andal would want" Zavala turned away and walked away. Caydes blue optics were wide and he was just surprised and... upset. He froze completely at the memories of Andal. He slammed his face on the wall his horn accidentally leaving a dent on the wall. Zavala stopped and spoke over his shoulder.
"Foolishness will get you nowhere" Zavala disappeared in sight. Cayde dusted himself off then put his Ace if spades back in its holster and walked the opposite way of Zavala and double jumped on top of the Eververse shop and sat down. His ghost flew out to beside him.
"Ignore him Andal would be happy. Cayde?" her mechanical worried female voice that sounded a lot like Sagira reassured him.
"Do you think I'll ever get out of this place Sundance?"
"It depends"
"Yeah I guess it does"
"Why do you want to leave so bad"
"I guess... I don't know"
"What about Zavala and Ikora?"
"I'm sure they'll hunt me down" he chuckled to himself.
"Cayde?"
"Yeah Dance?" he flicked a bullet off the edge.
"That person you talked about"
"Who?"
"I don't quite remember the name"
"Ohhhh you mean the jerk who made me yeah what about them"
"Rasputin?"
"Along the lines of that"
"Do you remember their name"
"Don't know, don't really care"
"You are very careless"
"Really?!"
"I was only saying..."
"You sound like Failsafe" he sighed.
"Annoying?"
The Tower was filled with people and the sky was gleaming blue Cayde ran towards the meeting area, he eventually had to jump over everyone to get there. Sundance disappeared and Zavala and Ikora were both staring at him confused.
"Cayde?"
"Yep thought I actually come" he really wanted to add, because every other time I get dragged here.
"So any reports?" He asked.
"No"
"Cayde" he turned his head to Ikora.
"We wanted to send you a mission" Cayde tried to copy the human actions of choking but it just seeemed like he was just malfunctioning.
"Serious?!"
"Do not mess this up"
"I won't" he saluted to Zavala with his fingers crossed behind his back.
"So where am I going?"
"We'll send you the coordinates"
"See ya" he ran off to the harbou and yelled through the comm.
"I'm free baby! WOOHOO!"
"Cayde!"
"Yeah yeah sorry" he ran past a very confused Amanda who was raising an eyebrow at him and the new speechless guardian and their ghost.
"WOOHOO!" And that was the only response they got before he got into his ship, 'The Queen Of Hearts' he called it, the ship door closed behind him, Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed quietly. He got into the pilot seat did a little celebration dance before calming down.
"Sundance coordinates?"
"Planet Mars, X 15, Y 23, Z 17"
"My language please"
"(Sigh) Clovis Bray lab"
"I actually hate him" he flipped a few switches and the ship took off.
"Cayde"
"Oh hey Zavala you could of gave me a head ups that I'm going to th worst place ever" he replied through the comm.
"So what am I supposed to do anyway"
"Patrol th-" he switched off his comm.
"Not happening I have my own plans"
"Their going to kill you Cayde" Sundance appeared at his shoulder.
"Well they can go to the back of the line"
The ship landed on the sand and Cayde and Sundance walked out, Sundance disappeared into his head. Infront of them was the Clovis Bray lab. On Mars there was only 2 labs and on Enceladus... ohhhh on Enceladus was the true nightmare.
"As I said before this place gives me nightmares" Cayde walked in the lab and saw things he wished he never saw like machines that looked like torture devices. He rested his hand on The Ace Of Spades just in case, he pulled it out as he got ready to turn the corner, he turned the corner with his gun aimed, a table with dried up stains of some sort a holographic screen and a desk with some partly burned pieces of paper. What a waste of time well nothing was a waste as long as he could get out of the Tower. He scrambled through the paper and just as he read something that... would've changed Cayde mentally for a long time.
"What the-" a wave of electricity went through him sending him to the floor, when it came to electrical things Exos are at the bottom of the list. Cayde forced himself back online, his grey optics flickered blue to see a shadowy figure walking out with the the papers and a bit of his cloak?! He grumbled and turned over to push himself up.
Zavala heard the sound of Cayde comm turn back on and him grumble.
"Cayde?!" Anger coursed through his voice grabbing Ikora's attention she stared at Zavala waiting for him to tell her if Cayde had replied. Nothing.
The electric shock probably brought his comm back on and even though Cayde could hear Zavala he didn't reply he was way to curious with this person and wasn't about to listen to some trash from Zavala saying oh how dangerous this is. Cayde slung himself up and aimed at the back of the figure and pulled the trigger but the bullet just passed through them. Cayde tried to maintain his emotions and yeah he did but everything was technically telling his to make a break for it. The figure stopped but kept their back turned to Cayde, everyone's got a few fears and one of Caydes was not being able to kill someone because that means they will probably kill you guardian or not. Just like Andal and Taniks...
"Looks like we got off on the wrong terms" Cayde kept aiming but when the figure turned around he had no face just shadows, a incinerated purple cloak and now he came to think about it pretty hideous. Cayde tilted his head but then the figure started to run at him and ran... through him. Cayde clutched his chest before being punched into through a wall. He got up stumbling and looked at the figure that started to run at him again, he shook his head to himself. Ignoring all the pain he started to sprint to his ship. He felt so frustrated that he couldn't just shoot this guy in the head plenty of times instead of watching his bullets just pass on through.
"Cayde?!" Zavala and Ikora heard everything was happening and were about to send a Fireteam to go get him actually Zavala was that angry he was going to consider sending himself but his people come first as usual.
He ran in through the his ships door and pressed the button to shut it behind him and ran to the pilot seat and put it on autopilot to the Tower. Cayde wasn't the one to flee but everything about that wasn't right especially how the creep ran through him that made Cayde almost feel like he'd been stabbed.
Zavala switched of his comm and slammed his fist against the wall.
"Where is he?!" He more demanded then asked Ikora, she pressed something then a hologram came up with coordinates on it.
"On his way Zavala and reason with him not shout"
"I have reasoned enough with him"
Cayde wasn't aware half his face plate was hanging off and he was leaning against one of the ships he walls trying to think about everything while slightly grabbing his chest. Sundance appeared infront of him and if she had a face she would be worried. He squinted his optics shut then images came in his mind,
"If you die not my fault" Andal laughted on the other side of the comm.
"If anyone's dying it's you"
"Anyway what's the plan"
"Shiro take the higher levels, Cayde low, first one to kill this son of a gun gets 1000 glim"
"See you on the streets" the comms cut off and about thirty minutes of slowly making their way through Cabal. Cayde had finished the lower level and made his way to Andal. But time stopped as he heard to identical versions of Andal one from him crying out in pain over the comms and the other was Andal crying out infront of him. Cayde couldn't move Taniks shoved his damn sword through Andals chest and the worst part was Cayde could make out shattered pieces next to Andal, his ghost Micah. Taniks was laughing proudly over Andal just barely staying alive. Cayde ended up running at Taniks but by time he was about to jump onto his back he disappeared. Shiro came out and shook his head disbelieving what he saw.
"Glimmers... on me" Andal chuckled then all life left him, Cayde fell next to him and Exos couldn't cry but that was the time Caydes systems broke that instruction. He was completely shattered in the inside, Andal was exactly the same to Cayde as what Andal had to him, they had their equal amounts of getting drunk well Cayde probably got drunk a lot more and got in plenty more fights with the wrong people but Andal was always their to drag him out and knock some sense in him, he remembers the time when they met just outside the city boarders and they had attacked eachother hand cannon pointed at Andals head, dagger at Caydes metal throat eventually Cayde just stalked off not the wanting anything to do with him but wouldn't you if you don't know anything about yourself and your sick of losing people. Andal had tracked him and after a while he became Caydes mentor, best friend and brother. It took a hell lot of people including Shiro to get him away from Andal and he immediately ran away and it took Zavala and Ikora 2 months to find him hidden on Nessus being his self before he met Andal with zero humor murdering Taken, Fallen anything he saw as a threat. If only Andal said something like 'Hey I need help my ghost just got obliterated!" or something like that and only if Cayde didn't just stand there watching shocked and did something.
"I'm fine" He said to Sundance who was hovering just infront of him while he was gasping for air. His memory ended and he nearly let himself break but he remembered Sundance was there and Cayde knew she saw the first time Cayde ever cried but he never was fond of crying number one reason, Exos shouldnt even be able to cry and second it was... just hard to explain why he was. Cayde tried to reassure her but it was 100% not working. Sundance was having a little trouble healing him it was like a faint wall in between them but it was probably because Cayde was struggling and needed to calm down.
Amanda watched as Cayde sprinted out from the ship and noticed how different he looked from when she saw him basically skipping to his ship earlier she was he had little noticeable sparks flying from him. She looked down at the sparrow she was repairing and back at Cayde then sighed.
"That's not right..." she dropped her wrench and ran after him.
Cayde ran through the doors to see Ikoras face drop and Zavala's fists clenched and looking pretty angry...scratch that extremely angry. Amanda appeared behind through the doors behind him.
"Do you have anything to do with this?!" Zavala turned his attention to Amanda.
She knew talking in this situation would be a horrible idea so she silently shook her head then looked at Cayde with a bit of disappointment and sorrow in her eyes that he had done something stupid again after he had promised to her a while ago that he wouldn't anymore after a little (really bad) incident.
"What did you do?!" He walked up to Cayde and stared him down. Cayde started to walk around the room ignoring everyone's glares around him.
"Saw some things, a creep knocked me out, ran through me and knocked me through a wall"
"Ran through you?" Ikora has seen plenty of things the person Cayde was probably describing was a-
"And it wasn't a Taken" Cayde stopped roaming and turned to everyone for a moment and Sundance finally healed him making his faceplate sling back into place.
"That gives you no rights to disobey orders" Cayde was about to reply but Amanda spoke first.
"What exactly happened?"
"Did you not just listen to a thing I just said?!" Cayde shouted at Amanda and watched as Zavala explained that he was supposed to be doing a regular patrol but ended up nearly endangering his life and the Towers? What the heck did the Tower have'd to do with this. Cayde started to walk out the room out of boredom and he was gonna burst out in laughter otherwise because Zavala had suggested taking Caydes ship but luckily Ikora shut that idea down.
"Where are you going?"
"Duh not in here" Zavala waited till Amanda had left also to speak.
"Send a guardian"
"Zava-"
"Now" And with that Ikora sent the silent guardian to the Clovis lab.
"Do you think Cayde was really telling the truth about everything Zavala said he said?" The guardian shrugged and walked into the lab and was horrified by all the things that were inside.
"No wonder why Cayde hates this place" Ghost took the words right out of the Guardians mind. They turned around the corner and stopped in their tracks.
"He really wasn't lying!" Both of them looked at the hole in the wall and the numerous bullets that lay on the floor.
"Well duh"
"Oh uh hi Cayde!" Ghost stated nervously through the comm before following the guardian around the room.
"Any sign of mister shadow there?"
"Nothing, Cayde you said you found somethings what exactly did you mean by that?"
"Oh just some papers..."
"Cayde"
"I'll explain later just don't let the maniac touch you ok?
"Um ok?"
"Because if he does..." So it was a he. The guardian and Ghost both noticed his hesitation but he don't sound like he was not telling them because he wanted or whatever it was to him himself it was like he literally couldn't say it just sounded like it hurt him to say why.
"Uh Cayde?"
"Oh, oh yeah sorry I just... don't worry"
"Ok well nothing's here except dead bodies and machines"
"Oh I just remembered!"
"What?"
"He took some of my cloak to no idea why"
"Huh well that's weird, did you get to read any of the papers?"
"I think I did I don't remember though"
"You don't remember? Oh wait he knocked you out"
"Yep son of a gun" The guardian look at the holographic screen which just proved to be a waste of time because it only said things about Exo manufacturing and things.
"That's a new catch phrase"
"Anyway don't tell Zavala but... You'll see"
"Wait Cay-" to late. The glow of a transmat appeared right next to them and Cayde was looking right at them.
"What?" He shrugged his shoulders and smirked knowing that Zavala was going to get even more angry with him. He walked off to the wall and just faced it a while before putting his hand on it then he walked through the wall.
In there was like a security room, a desk with a screen infront and a swingiy chair which Cayde took and started typing thing in.
"This is where you were made?" Cayde frowned at the word made he'd always call it reborn.
"No just one of the many I went to I don't know don't really remember" then the screen infront of them played footage of earlier on. The guardian and Ghost watched intriguingly then the weird shadow guy torn some of Caydes cloak and he actually did read the papers.
"So you did read them"
"I guess I did"
"Why would he take a part of your cloak?"
"Who knows"
"Guardian?"
"Commander Zavala"
"Is Cayde with you?" Cayde shook his head and mouthed no and did a prayer to the Ghost.
"No why?"
"He's disappeared"
"He's probably hiding in the Tower"
"Hmm, Keep up the search" Cayde took a sigh of relief when he heard the comm shut off then continuing with their conversation.
"He also had a paralysed state afterwards" Cayde raised his metallic eyebrows that Sundance actually had told them.
"And I also hate you"
"Paralysed state? What does she mean by that?"
"She was joking"
"I was not" Cayde slung his head back in defeat. The guardian snapped their fingers to get his attention again. Cayde slid his hands down his face.
"Fine but not here no where near this place, later"
"Fine" Cayde continued the footage until it showed the figure walking back to the lab and wait... this is now.
"That means he's here" Ghosts words made Cayde stand up alarmingly and pull out his Ace of Spades still not turning away from the screen. The figure burnt the papers with blackish purple flames from his hands and then pulled out the part of Caydes cloak and admired it for a moment. The guardian and Ghost saw Caydes concern on his face knowing that he was worried as much them guardian and Ghost. Then he burnt it. Caydes world changed.
"So I'll go this way, you go that way" Cayde pointed to the left side and watched as Petra walked past him to it. She did a farewell sign and hurried off to the left while Cayde ran off to the right. A hell lot of fallen everywhere. This was supposed to be the Dreaming city not a home for shadows and Taken and Fallen. Cayde had signed himself up to work with Petra for the first time there were plenty of reasons why he agreed to this, Andal was busy playing Vanguard so he didn't really come out much, Shiro on some dumb patrol and if he got bored he does stupid things so he's doing this to entertain himself really.
"Cayde any signs of civilians?"
"Nothing" he heard the squeal of a Taken as he guessed she stabbed one out of anger.
"Hold on a minute" he heard little Awoken cries grow louder and louder until he saw a small blue girl in the corner.
"Hey hey hey it's ok I'm here to get you out ok?" The girl pointed behind him with her hand shaking crazily. Cayde was absolutely horrible with kids considering he'd never had any himself he thinks he's still debating if Ace is real or not but he can't even begin to remember what it was like when he was as a kid.
"Hey P.V I need some-" when he turned around everything went cold and black and when he came back online he found himself in some sort of Hive place. 'When did the Hive live in the Dreaming City?' He mentally asked himself but when he saw the little girl infront of him on her knees with tears rolling down her faces he went to pull out his gun to try to protect her but he couldn't, chains were around his arms. When he saw a wizard come out from behind her his face fell and then he watched the wizard take the light out of her, he didn't even think she was a guardian she looked to young but it was to late now. Things like that kept happening all the survivors him and Petra had been looking for had been imprisoned by the Hive and now he was watching Awoken guardians have their light taken even if they weren't guardians the Hive still took something from them Awoken magic or something but at one point a vision came in his head, Petra running up to Andal and telling him Caydes gone missing and the reply she got was-
"Hes probably blowing something up i'll find him tomorrow" Ever since he lost the bet for the dare and became Vanguard he'd been spending less time with his friends. Cayde let a little smile get to him after realising how much Andal knew him but it quickly faded after he remembered hes stuck in a cave near the Dreaming City watching guardians and Awoken die. Then he had a thought, why were they not taking his light? He had no clue. Eventually P.V. convinced Andal to come find him now and then it ended, Cayde had no idea if they were coming or not but that didn't mean it stopped him from getting beaten and having to have no choice but to watch the Hive take light and magic or whatever from others. The worst part was Sundance wasn't with him when he had the time to think he thought she probably was with P.V because the Hive probably spelled her to stay out of this place. When he thought he was seriously going to die when one the Wizards looked like he was going to take his light a shadowy person stopped him, Cayde laughted to himself.
"You... sure your not... Oryx?" he was referring to how Oryx could control other life forms but that must of seriously made him angry because he did a hand sign to control to beat him but don't take his light or something.
Cayde was forcing himself to stay online even though he rather be dead then experience any of this. When a portal appeared just to the left of him madness reeked, gunshots, genades everything.
"What the hell? Cayde?" He felt himself fall and Andal pick him up gently and all he saw was Shiro, P.V. , Andal and Tevis he managed to to whisper two words before losing consciousness.
"Dream team..."
When he woke up he saw Shiro kneeling next to him doing something with his gun but Cayde wasn't going to fall for it again after the Hive had faked being them a few times but actually just being the Hive.
"Hey budd-" Cayde raised a dagger to Shiros throat and when Andal walked in he used his other hand to aim his hand cannon at his head.
"Woah woah woah" Andal put his hands up in defeat and saw Shiro keeping his mouth shut for Andal to do his bro talk.
"It's me Andal and that's Shiro. Listen whatever happened your with us now ok?" Cayde didn't budge and didn't speak and the minute he didn't respond Andal and Shiro knew something was seriously off considering Cayde usually cracks horrible jokes and starts fights with mostly everyone and he's usually the fun in the team but not now.
"What happened?" Shiro spoke softly and worry stalking his voice. Cayde lowered his gun and threw the deck of cards next to him from his pocket doing a head sign for them to go to them while moving back a bit to give them some space keeping his weapons up at them. Andal moved the diamond away from the pile and Shiro moves the Clubs away while moving the Ace towards Cayde. He lowered his weapons and sighed. He did that because once when he was drunk he'd gone on about how people in his life had their own card he'd given them and he'd pick diamonds for Andal and clubs for Shiro he'd never told anyone else.
"Am I dead yet?" Shiro chuckled and placed a hand on Caydes shoulder.
"Do you think you can explain how you nearly did" Dhiro mentally short himself for asking that as Cayde fell dead silent and was looking down with a frown.
"Cayde! Cayde!" The guardian was towering over him with their Ghost shouting at him, he found himself leaning against white wall with his optics wide and doing as he did earlier catching his breath.
"" he pushed himself up with the guardians help leant against the wall.
"You passed out and...Um who's Andal?" Cayde did some fake choking at the Ghost until just changing the subject.