The Traveler's Chronicles

Rating: T - M (Rating my increase in later chapters).

Disclaimer: Bungie, I don't own this. Also, please hire me. My headcanon has some pretty awesome ideas, and I wouldn't even be jelly if they were used in the game!

Summary: The Traveler has many children, and these are their stories. Small drabbles, new prompt every chapter. Today, a Russian Warlock, Katya, reminisces on her day of awakening.

Warnings: For this chapter, there are none. All further chapters will be labeled with corresponding warnings. Some will feature language, gore, or disturbing topics. In the meantime, enjoy Katya's musings.

Author's Notes: Katya is the nickname for a Russian woman I teach at my ESL class. This Katya is actually modeled very well after her - the Katya I know is very quiet, reserved, and prone to a lot of inward thinking. You'd be surprised at how little she contributes, but how smart she is. Russians, I've learned, tend to be very quiet and closed - but don't mistake this for not caring. They simply view silence as a benchmark for intelligence. No need to till it with idle chatter.

. . . "Say only what you need to say" is kind of a big motto I've run into with Russian students.

Here's to you, Katya.


"Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn."
-Mahatma Gandhi


"Are you feeling alright today?" Her Ghost asked.

Katya looked up from the datapad she was perusing, bemused. Normally, her Ghost was a quiet little thing, content to simply offer some unhelpful advice from time to time, or to chirrup that she was approaching an objective point. . . or her favorite still, announce to the world that she was desperately in need of medical assistance, and if anybody happened to have a medical kit, that would be very beneficial to her situation. Katya looked at the spawn of the Traveler, and she cupped her chin in her hand, content to simply stare at the mysterious piece of machinery for a moment.

Katya remembered everything that she and her Ghost had been through, and a small glow of affection flared to life in her.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." The Russian replied. She closed her datapad, and collecting her robes, stood from her seat. The archive had contained no new entries on the Fallen, which was a great shame, for she desperately wished that she could find a new way to exploit the Void against the Captain's arc shields. . . But it appeared such experiments had not yet been conducted, leaving her to carry out her own studies in the matter.

Considering that she was leaving with an Irish-descended Titan, Quinn, tomorrow, she highly suspected she'd get her chance to test out her theories.

Her Ghost followed behind her, a silent companion that hovered near her shoulder, its optic open and shuttering shut to imitate a blink as it passed by things it found interesting. Katya let him collect his thoughts as she returned the datapad to its rightful place on the shelf, and continued on her way, her robes trailing along on the floor behind her. They were a deep white color, embossed with the glossy crest of the Queen of the Reef. The crest itself was colored a rich gold, and if she stood in the light, it shimmered beautifully. Warlocks of her stature - and age - were to be above such petty motions of vanity, but, as Katya mused, not every Warlock owned robes bestowed upon them from the Queen.

She could stand in front of a mirror all day if she liked.

As they passed through the archives (and Katya nodded in respect to several fellow Warlocks), and emerged into the closed courtyard above the Hall of Guardians, her Ghost zipped in front of her and hovered at eye-level, his brilliant blue optic boring into her.

"Guardian, I can detect faint traces of adrenaline in our bloodstream. Acceptable, given your nervous tendencies about missions - and you do have one tomorrow - but that does not take into account why your heart rate seems to be increased this entire day. It spiked when I asked you if you were feeling alright."

Katya tucked her hands behind her back, used to her Ghost's intensive inquisitions. Thought, to be quite honest, the Russian woman thought it was entirely unfair that her body was always plugged into the Ghost's sensors. It made lying and hiding her health conditions damn near impossible.

"I can't hide much from you, can I, small Ghost?"

The Ghost shuddered from side to side. "No, not really. So, Guardian. . . tell me what's wrong."

Warm rays of sunshine flitted over her skin, warming her. Katya decided to take a detour, and meandered over to the balcony, where she could see the sun setting behind the mountains. She took a moment to breathe it in, closing her eyes, and letting the rays touch her. Yes, there was something very wrong today, an anniversary she didn't want to remember. . . today was a day of mourning for Katya, and in all honesty, she was surprised her Ghost had forgotten.

"Today," The Russian said, "Is the day of my Rebirth."

For a long while, her Ghost was silent. Finally, however, it swiveled out to look at the sun, muttering a quiet, empathetic 'oh.' Katya nodded her head, staring out into the expanse of wildness just beyond the Tower, and she sighed in longing. Katya knew that her day of Rebirth was meant to be celebrated, but after 7 years of greeting this day, and having the same nightmares, again and again. . . she'd come to dread its arrival.

Rebirths, according to most Warlocks, were meant to be a day of honor. It was the day when the Traveler's proxies chose their selected Guardian, infused them with Light, and gave that Guardian purpose. But Katya. . . Katya knew she'd never be able to see it that way. Leaning against the railing, she took a second to reflect, allowing her mind to travel to a day, seven years in the past. . .

And, the terrible, anticlimactic truth of the matter was she didn't remember much of it.

It had been such a terrifying, disorienting event, that Katya recalled crying hysterically for a great deal of it, all while her Ghost flitted by her head, whispering and pleading with her to collect herself. As confusing and curious as the Ghost had been, Katya hadn't been sobbing because she was terrified of the Ghost. She'd been crying for all she was worth because she'd clearly remembered dying. And for a good few hours, she believed that this barren, rusted landscape she'd woken up to was clearly purgatory - meant to torture her for the rest of her existence.

Because. . . Because she'd been there. Though her memories of her first life had been stripped from her, Katya remembered looking up into the sky, and the frantic tugging at her hand, and she'd looked down. . . into the face of a man. A man Katya thought she knew very well. But, as seven years had proven, her memory of him had grown quite dim and fuzzy, until she couldn't even remember his facial features anymore. She knew that he'd had brown hair, and maybe even hazel eyes. . . but that was it.

After that, there had been a rush of fire, of pain, of screams. . . and then nothing. It had all ended with the sweet abyss of death. And the most impressive feat Katya had ever managed was not being terrified of that blackness. She'd merely been there, hovering in the black, permanently at peace.

And then, in that same rush of fire, of pain, a hand had viciously reached into the jaws of death and yanked her out, forcing her into a broken, and pained body. . .

It took little imagination to wonder why she'd been a sobbing, broken mess for hours on end.

"I'm glad it was you," The Ghost said, dragging Katya's mind back to the present, "If it's any consolation, the capacity of Light that I saw inside you. . . I knew you would be capable of great things."

"I know," Katya said, without an ounce of ego, "I know. . ."

". . . If it helps any. . . I'm sorry." The Ghost said quietly.

Katya smiled, a tiny, bitter, humorless smile.

"I know this, too. . . I'm just not sure I forgive you."

Katya separated from the railing, and for a moment the Ghost lingered behind. It may have been her imagination, but Katya swore she heard a faint, "I understand." Still, the Russian Warlock was glad when her Ghost rejoined her side, and together, the two strode into the main Tower's entrance, where plenty of Guardians greeted her warmly. And, Katya nodded in response, a few even offered her congratulations on her 7th Rebirth.

She accepted the words with a warm demeanor, but if there was a small, tight-lipped smile on her face, well. . . That was Katya's business.