The Vanguard
Aro opened his eyes. Or at least he felt like he did. The room he was in was pitch black. He tried to move but couldn't. Only then did he notice that he was not touching anything solid. He couldn't feel his bed or the wall. He was upright but there was nothing under his feet.
He was floating.
Then he heard a roar.
This one terrifying roar was joined by another. And another and another until he had lost count of the different creatures adding their voices to the nightmarish orchestra. He started to feel grimy, darting hands pick and pull at him but there was a tension behind it. Almost like they wanted to do much more but had to restrain themselves. He felt them on his head, his backs, his arms and he struggled to shake them off.
Aro couldn't see the obviously massive creatures screaming at him or the small ones poking and prodding him but he could see someone in the distance. Seven people in fact. All faceless with a massive, horrendous swirling dark cloud above their heads. he started to hear whispers in his ears from all around. Overlapping each other but all saying one thing. The whispering started to die down only for a booming voice to be heard repeating what they said for the entire universe to hear,
"THE GATE IS RISEN!"
And with that, the roars became louder and grew closer, stomping accompanied it. The prodding hands that restrained themselves stopped restraining. They started to viciously claw and pull on him, razing his skin. The monsters were getting closer and were practically on top of him. He opened his mouth to scream…
And woke with a start.
He looked around. He was back in his bed.
"It was just a dream" he whispered to himself, flopping down on the pillow. It was true but he couldn't believe it. Every part just felt so real. Even after waking up, he could still feel the pain from the scratches and his ears were still ringing from the demonic symphony.
"Aro come on and get ready. You gotta eat before we go. Are you ok?" Kain asked, worried.
"You didn't see it? I thought you could read my mind?" Aro said, starting to calm down.
"Yeah I can but I didn't see anything on your mind. There was no dream activity. But I'm reading your mind now and I see everything. We'll have to discuss later though. We have to go." Kain said.
Aro got out of bed…only to see that he wasn't wearing clothes. "What happened to my clothes?" Aro said, quickly wrapping the bed sheet around his waist.
"Oh calm down. You humans and your reproductive organs. Your uniform is inside the bathroom. " Kain said nonchalantly. Rolling his eyes , he pushed past Kain moved towards the bathroom and roughly closing the door. The uniform consisted of boots, dark grey cargo pants and simple form fitting black shirt. On the front of the shirt in the upper left corner was a single pyramid. On the back were two open circles. Opening the door and sticking only his head and the shirt outside the door, he asked Kain, "What do these symbols mean?"
"The small one on the front is the mark of the class-less You haven't been assigned to a class yet. When its decided, that pyramid will be changed to match the emblem of your class. The two circles on your back symbolize the elements you will hold." Kain answered.
"Elements?" Aro inquired as he put the shirt on.
"The Light allows us to weaponize it into three different forms. Solar, Arc and Void. Each class is a master of two. Titans weaponize Void and Arc. Hunters utilize Solar and Arc. Warlocks can command Void and Solar."
"No one can use all three?"
"We actually have no idea. But do not get curious. We don't need a trans dimensional vortex opening up in our bedroom." Kain warned sternly.
"Alright. Alright. Just asking, damn." Closing the door behind him again, Kain continued to fixed himself up and did one last check to decide if he was presentably. Exiting the bathroom and the bathroom, he walked towards the kitchen to see Asura and Spirit also leaving, ready to close the door behind them. Noticing Aro and Kain, he stopped in his tracks and waved, "Morning, didn't know you were awake yet." Opening the door again.
"Really? You didn't hear him yelling?" Kain asked sarcastically, earning a glare from Aro and a laugh from Asura and Spirit. "C'mon. I'll show you to the dining hall. When's your test?" Asura said as they started walking together.
"In about 2 hours." Kain answered as he and Aro followed him, noticing his uniform. He wore the same boots and grey cargo pants. His shirt was still black and right at the chest was a glowing red light. On the upper left corner was what Aro assumed was the Hunter emblem. Six rectangles leaning against each other by their corners, stacked on top of each other. The space in between formed three pyramids. On his back, the same two large circles but unlike his own, filled in. The upper circle had a shimmering orange flame that he figured was Solar, while the bottom had a shimmering light blue buzz saw which he assumed was Arc.
The dining hall was large and filled with other people in the same matching uniforms. Among the crowd, he saw a few empty circles. Other new Guardians.
Grabbing a plate and a table with Asura, they spent the next hour and a half eating and talking. "You need to eat?" Aro asked seeing his plate of food.
"No. It's just for pleasure. I'll just end up burning it off." Asura mostly talked about the City and what it had to offer, piquing Aro's interest to see it when he had the chance. Asura also introduced Aro to other recently classed Guardians that he met. But like every good thing, their time came to an end. "Good luck you guys." Spirit called out. Asura simply raised his drink in silent salute, mouth too full to speak.
Turning around, Aro realized he almost pumped into a tall woman. "I'm sorry." He said moving past her. The "she" in question was an Awoken with stern eyes, short hair and a hard mouth, quickly nodded and walked past. On her chest was a four pyramids with the heads pointing each other, forming a hexagon. As she walked away, her back had the Arc symbol and a swirling violet sphere Aro guessed represented the Void element.
"Kain. The woman we just bumped into. Is she a Titan?"
"Walk faster and yes she is. So you're learning. " He answered in Aro's head. "Anyway, forget about her. We're here." Aro stopped in front of a door. After a moment of silent preparation, he took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in." A strong commanding female voice echoed.
Aro did as he was told.
It lead to a large room with a solitary circular window on the back wall. Below it was a large desk with 4 chairs and 4 people sitting in them. A woman with a shaved head, russet brown skin and a serious, no bullshit expression on her face, stood and spoke, "Arochukwu correct?" She said in the same tone she used to bring him inside.
"Yes ma'am." Aro answered quickly.
"Welcome. You must be tired after what you had to go through to get here. We'll do this quickly. My name is Ikora Rey. Vanguard of the Warlock Order." Next to her was an Exo, with a crystalline blue body and blue eyes to match. His most noticeable feature was the horn protruding for his forehead and the eternally bored vibe he gave off. "Cayde-6. Vanguard of the Hunter Regiment." He simply said raising his hand. As if he'd pay very good money to be anywhere else right now.
An Awoken male next to him stood only slightly. "Zavala. Vanguard of the Titan Corps. Welcome Guardian." He had a darker shade of blue skin and blue eyes common than most of the Awokens Aro had met but what set Zavala apart was his obvious imposing height and rippling musculature, evident through his uniform. He was a Titan for a reason.
The last one silently stood and said in a soft voice, "I am called The Speaker. I monitor and decipher the Traveler as well as act as Commander in Chief of our Guardian force. Welcome Aro. We have some questions for you if you wouldn't mind answering them?"
"Um, yes sir." Aro hesitantly.
"Well then let's begin. We were told in a report from your Ghost, Kain, that he found your remains with a piece of cloth tied around your arm. It had two names, Arochukwu and Kain, the former you took as your own. After he found you in the Cosmodrome of Old Russia, you came across a group of Fallen. While fighting them off, a Dreg attempted to pounce on you and you. You stuck out your hand to stop him and it suddenly evaporated in a flash of violet light. All of this without you touching him, am I correct?" Ikora Rey asked.
"Yes ma'am that is correct." Aro answered immediately.
"Have you at anytime been able to replicate the ability?" Commander Zavala spoke up.
"No sir. I have not attempted to." Aro replied. "As it happens sir, I have the fight recorded in my memory." Kain spoke up. It then promptly flew over to an electronic box and started to fire a high powered beam into it. An image started to shimmer into existence in front of them. Kain showed the Dreg running towards them from Aro's point of view. Again just as the Dreg jumped, Aro's hand rose up, followed by a flash of violet light and a rush of wind and the Dreg shimmered out of existence. The image followed suit.
"Impressive." Commander Cayde said, sounding at least a little lively.
"Very. Most Warlocks who start training take a little while before they can drain at that caliber. But I would like to see the full extent of your abilities." With the press of a button in front of her, a plain metal dummy came out of the ground. A press of another button and the dummy came to life and wildly came at him.
Aro jumped back to narrowly avoid getting hit only for the machine to keep coming. He put out his open hand and tried to force push it back, but the impact only slowed its movements. As the Vanguard looked on, the dummy got more and more aggressive in its attacks and Aro tried his best to avoid being hit and looking a fool in front of a crowd.
But in his panic, he missed a step and fell over. The machine lunged at him causing him to flashback to the Dreg, ready to devour him with its grotesque mouth. His panic built up and in one final desperate effort, Aro stuck out his hand, hoping to at least slow it down.
Then just like before.
A rush of wind.
A hard impact.
A flash of purple light.
And suddenly, the rampaging dummy was gone.
He didn't know how he felt. On one hand, he felt energized. As if someone had injected caffeine straight into his veins. On the other hand, he felt sick and dizzy, laying his head on the floor to calm himself down.
The Vanguard looked on in surprise. Even Commander Cayde seemed fully invested in where he was now. "An advanced ability with absolutely no training. I've never seen anything like this before." Ikora Rey said thoughtfully.
"I assume this means you will be taking him under your wing Master Rey?" The Speaker asked.
"Yes sir."
"Then we are done here." The Speaker said, all four rising.
Aro felt the room start to stop spinning, keeping his head on the ground. Cayde's face appeared right over him, looking down at him with an amused expression. A blue hand appeared over his head. Aro reached for it to help himself up, only to be pulled up by Commander Zavala as if he was a toddler being picked up by his father.
Zavala helped him over to a seat while Ikora handed him a bottle of water, ordering him to drink slowly. "Ikora and I will handle the rest here, you two may go."
"Welcome to the family Warlock." Cayde said before briskly walking out. With a small nod and a pat on the shoulder, Zavala followed his friend, closing the door behind him.
"So I guess I passed?" Aro asked dizzily.
"You can say that." Ikora replied
"Can you stand and walk Guardian?" The Speaker asked. Aro confirmed he could on shaky legs.
"Head back to your room and rest. Your uniform and other items will be there shortly. Amara, have you gotten the information you need?" Rey asked opening her hand. In a flash of light, a Ghost appeared over it. "Yes Ikora, I've gotten everything I need from his Ghost." it replied.
"In that case, we best be on our way. We will see you both later. Welcome to our Order, Aro." Ikora nodded, turned and briskly strode away, her Ghost following her.
"It's best I get back to work as well. You need to rest. I will walk you back." The Speaker said.
"No sir it isn't necessary." Aro said quickly.
"No it isn't but I'm in no rush. Besides, we don't need you collapsing again." With that answer, he walked towards the door and after a moment's hesitation, Arochukwu followed.