"Alright. Get ready for transmat, we should be in place now." Maruko informed.

Bendy braced themselves again as the sequence began. They shut their eyes tightly, feeling everything slip away as the transmat took place. It was a curious feeling. A sudden loss of feeling everywhere, as if the world simply crumbled around them.

And then it came back in a sudden jolt, wind feeling alien against bare skin. They slowly opened their eyes, and now they were standing somewhere else.

The ship hovered right above them, moving to the side and then down, down, down, into the bowels of the facility.

They turned around from that sight, seeing the rest of what Bendy assumed was a hangar bay. Hustle and bustle of various construction workers buzzed around like bees, seemingly trying to get the place into some kind of order.

Maruko stood by their side, but Bendy could see quite a few curious eyes looking their way. It made Bendy a little nervous. Stress was beginning to creep back in.

Something which Maruko could clearly see written on the demon's features. They put a reassuring hand on their shoulder, and the demon looked up at them, slightly relaxing their shoulders as the Hunter did so.

"Let me do the talking." Maruko whispered down to them as a single figure approached. They wore a cloak much like Maruko did, however no helmet was in place, and what was there did confuse Bendy.

They seemed to be… a robot? That was something Bendy thought was restricted to books. Metal men, workers for the future. This world became more alien by the minute.

Then they began to speak, their mouth lighting up like a strobe light as they spoke after word.

"Maruko Faulkin." they spoke, crossing their arms. "Where in the hell have you been, man?"

"Scouting, travelling the world. Got plenty of data." Maruko spoke casually.

"And avoided a war which cut our number of guardians by half. I'm not much for serious talk, never was my specialty, but we could've definitely used someone like you." they retorted, a clear layer of annoyance filtering in with their voice.

"And if I had participated in the war, you would probably have one less guardian alive right now." Maruko replied, voice just as casual as before.

"Really? Could've fooled me, Mr. 'I can go 1 vs. 5 in the Iron Banner'. Cut the crap, Faulkin, even without space magic, you could've done a lot against the Cabal." the robot replied.

"I doubt it, but what's done is done, Cayde. Besides, found someone quite interesting out there." Maruko finished, head glancing over to Bendy, who's nervousness began to show again.

"I was wondering when we were going to get to that." Cayde spoke, looking over to the walking cartoon in question and lowering themselves a bit to their level. "So, who are you, little guy?"

"M-my name's Bendy. Bendy the Dancin' Demon." Bendy spoke, trying to mask their nervousness with a small smile.

The robot seemed to raise one of the plates above it's eyes, an equivalent to an eyebrow raise. "That so?"

"Found him in the North American zone. Fallen were attempting to hunt them down." Maruko informed.

"That region hasn't been messed with that much, Not surprised we missed something, lots of unknowns." Cayde looked up to Maruko for a moment before looking at Bendy once more.

"Do you remember where you came from?" Cayde asked.

"I… I just remember pulling myself out of… something, and I found myself in the basement of some.. place. I think there was some kinda weird machine down there?" Bendy said, closing his eyes for a moment to think. "Yeah, yeah. I pulled myself out right in front of it. Don't know what it is, though. Big and rusty."

Cayde glanced over to Maruko. "Faulkin, tell me you made a map of wherever you found them."

Maruko nodded. "Ghost has one."

The Ghost in question appeared. "Yes, I do. Here."

The Ghost projected a 3D map of the town they were in before, marking the building Bendy had come out of.

"Our friend here came out of this building. It's very, very old. From just a cursory scan, it easily exceeds the age of every other building by a factor of hundreds of years."

Cayde seemed to whistle at that statement. "Should probably let the Cryptarchs know in advance then, so they can get their frothing out of the way. Get a copy of that map uploaded pronto, and i'll see about sending a couple of guardians out there to get that machine. Might help us in figuring out our friend's sudden appearance here."

"Alright." the Ghost said. "And also, you should see about doing a detailed scan of Bendy here…"

The Ghost turned to the character in question as their projection shut off. "If that's fine with you, that is."

"Will it hurt at all?" Bendy asked.

"Nah. It's just like a regular Ghost scan, but longer. Usually involves multiple Ghosts, somethin' about correlating data or whatever. Not my field of expertise. Point is, it's safe." Cayde waved off.

"You sound more knowledgeable than I'd think you would, Cayde." Maruko teased.

"Blame Ikora mumbling to herself. I don't think she even realizes it half the time." Cayde shrugged. "Anyways, probably should get our friend over to the Warlocks for scanning. Check the other side of the Tower, they've mostly been over there with Ikora. Faulkin, you're in charge of our friend here until further notice."

"Fine. Let's get moving then, Bendy." Maruko spoke, gesturing Bendy along. Bendy carefully did so, twiddling their fingers as more people began to look their way.

As the duo walked away, Cayde sighed, raising his newly created hand to his forehead, rubbing it despite it just being metal. "This day just gets weirder and weirder."


Once more, the Vanguard were called together for another time today. It wasn't a formal meeting area by any means, simply a small quartered off area of the bazaar.

"Today is just one big heap of a mess, isn't it? Cabal, Traveler, and now scouts bringing in strange people without prior permission." Cayde started.

"Indeed." Zavala stated, fists holding their head up, a somewhat more casual pose than what most would expect of the Titan, but the day had drained most of their energy, even with the return of the Light. "Ikora, have the Warlocks gotten a read on this… 'Bendy'?"

"Yes, and there were some quite interesting findings. Like Faulkin's own ghost had found, their body seems to be entirely made of substance very similar to ink." Ikora started, Cayde looking quite surprised.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Considerin' how he looks, does that mean we're dealing with some sorta… living drawing here? A cartoon character?" Cayde asked.

"If you'd let me speak, Cayde, I wasn't finished." Ikora spoke in a more harsh tone, Cayde shrinking back a little. "What was more interesting however was the very large abundance of Light in their body."

"How much?" Zavala asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Every cell in their body has at least a small amount of it." Ikora finished. "It's a far larger amount than even most guardians have."

That got both of the other Vanguard's attention very quickly.

"That little guy? Don't tell me you're gonna put them into combat." Cayde spoke with a touch of disbelief. "And don't tell me they could be better than me. I have a rep to upkeep."

"They have great potential, and stifling it by keeping them here would be a waste. Cayde, we need the help more than ever. We may have one guardian who's taken down countless servants of the Darkness, but they're not invincible and they can't be everywhere at once." Ikora stated.

"From what I've heard, they can barely fire a gun. They didn't come here with instincts like we did when we were revived. It'd be a ton of training, they don't have the fantastic life insurance the Ghosts give us, and they may not even want to fight." Cayde countered.

"While the potential may be great, Cayde does have a point." Zavala started. "You also must factor in their size and shape requiring specialized equipment, and most resources we have right now are being dedicated to rebuilding."

Ikora was about to say something, but Zavala rose a finger. "But. If you are right about there being great potential in them, we should ask them about this first. It should be their choice, regardless of the risk."

"Works for me." Cayde added. "That all? We done here?"

"That we are." Zavala stated. "Cayde, find our guest and direct them to the outer rail in a couple of minutes. I'd like to see this… Bendy for myself."

"Alright, you'll get them in a bit." Cayde spoke as they began to move away, moving out of the bazaar quickly.

"You're dead set on inducting them as a Guardian, aren't you?" Zavala asked as they got up.

"Yes. Very much so." Ikora stated, as they looked up to the Traveler.

"It's not just because of the Light, is it?" Zavala asked simply, knowing the answer.

"Don't you think it's convenient that on the same day the Traveler awakes, a scout finds a creature filled with more Light then we've ever seen before outside of a Guardian?" Ikora asked.

"Do you think this Bendy could be a... gift from the Traveler?" Zavala asked.

"The possibility is there. A very distinct one." Ikora casually stated, looking over to Zavala. "One I think we should look into. The Traveler works in strange ways."

"We'll see." Zavala replied, beginning to move away themselves.

Ikora took a breath in as Zavala left, looking up to the Traveler, taking in it's damaged yet beautiful nature.

"That we will." Ikora said to nobody, finally taking her leave as well.


Bendy cautiously walked through the Tower at Cayde's request. Alone. They didn't like it whatsoever. Countless eyes still watched as they passed, both civilian and Guardian. And this made the 'toon very anxious, ink dripping down their face once more, forcing them to wipe it off. They thought the person who wanted to see them must be important.

The person in question was quite obvious as the demon approached. Subtlety amongst the others in the Tower was never Commander Zavala's specialty. To the small character, Zavala was a hulking giant, nearly twice their height. A Titan in more ways than one.

"H-hello, sir? You… wanted to see me?" Bendy asked.

"Yes, yes I did. For a few reasons." Zavala spoke, turning around to look at Bendy. "I am Commander Zavala, and I would like to formally give you an introduction to our City."

"Oh, um… thank you, Mr. Zavala." Bendy nodded, reaching up a hand. "I'm Bendy. It's nice to meet you."

Zavala reached down a hand and shook it hard. Bendy did their best not to flinch from the strength of it.

"It is good to meet you as well. Now, I'd like to ask you a question. What do you know about Guardians?" Zavala asked, putting his hands behind his back.

"Well, um, they apparently get fancy powers from that big ball, n' one o' them saved me!" Bendy replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Simply put, the scan you undertook has shown us that you have that very same Light that powers us Guardians within you. In fact, you may even have more."

Bendy looked at Zavala with a mixture of confusion, realization and a swirl of other emotions, coalescing at different moments.

"I mean, when we were escaping, one of those… Fallen fellows grabbed my leg. Maruko couldn't help me, so I just… threw my hand out at them." Bendy recalled. "N' that forced them back! I didn't think of it much at the time, considerin', you know, everything."

"Perhaps you saw a spark of that power, coming out when you truly needed it. Your Light can be shaped, be forged into something greater. If you wanted it to." Zavala spoke, a more formal tone being applied than normal.

"Would I have to fight monsters like those Fallen?" Bendy asked, a droplet of fear within their voice.

"Not if you want to. Many Guardians, or others with the Light take many jobs here in the City. There is still much to rebuild, the War took much, but with the Traveler awake, I believe things will be better. You could help, if you so wanted."

Bendy looked deep in thought, thinking through all their options. "Maybe. I'd like to at least learn a bit, figure out things."

"I can arrange that. If there's anything else you need, or have questions about, simply ask." Zavala stated.

"Well…" Bendy started, rubbing the back of their neck. "There was also that dream…"

The demon seemed to be somewhat lost in thought, and Zavala rose an eyebrow at the last comment. "Dream?"

"Yeah, yeah, it happened after I feel unconscious because of that transmat… thing. There was that Sphere, the… Traveler or whatever. I'd never seen it before, but it was nice and warm. Better than those… other things." Bendy spoke somewhat nervously as they twiddled their fingers.

Zavala leaned down somewhat towards them. "What other things?"

"They were… pyramids. Or at least really big ships that looked like them. Big, jagged things. The Traveler was nice and warm, but those things… it felt like I couldn't breathe." Bendy explained slowly. "I don't know what they are, but there were a lot of them. I don't even think I could see them all. The Traveler let out a big… pulse, I guess you could call it, and they went away."

"I've never heard reports of any ships like that. You still remember them in detail?" Zavala asked, a genuine curiosity rising within them. Bendy nodded. "If you could draw them, even something simple, I would like to see these ships you describe."

"Well, I don't have any paper with me. Or… anything. Oh, I must've forgotten my stuff. Eh, no, later, later…" Bendy mumbled a little to themselves.

"I can get you that. For now, I'll also see about getting you a room and sending some paper there." Zavala asked. "Is that all?"

"Well, thank you. I… I haven't seen generosity like that in a while. But, um, I do have more questions." Bendy said, curiosity bubbling over.

"Ask away." Zavala spoke.

"Why's your skin blue?" the demon asked.

At that moment, Zavala knew this was going to take a while. But in the end, as they talked for a couple of hours, going over countless topics and testing Zavala's knowledge in every one, both learned quite a lot about the other.

And for the first time since they had been unceremoniously dumped in this alien world, Bendy had a genuine smile on their face.


Author's Notes

And thus, Bendy's true journey into this world of Light and Dark begins.

I'm unsure if I got the tones of the Vanguard right. I did want to do a slightly more serious approach to Cayde, since they were just straight comedy fodder in 2, which I despised, but i'm unsure as to the others, as Zavala and Ikora are somewhat similar to each other. Tell me what you think of that, because i'm clueless, despite my research into their characters.

Otherwise, I liked writing this chapter. It was shorter than I thought it would be, but it gets the job done, I think. Next up is the beginning of Bendy's training, and a deeper look to see what this little ink demon can do.