Before the Fall
The Warlock let out a sigh and gave the Exo equivalent of a bemused smile as she heard the doors open behind her. Where she stood, perched on a ladder with her back toward the entryway, she had no way of seeing who had entered the library, but she knew exactly who it was none the less. Even if she had had numerous visitors here, which she did not, the cadence of the footfalls were a dead giveaway. No Warlock moved that way and the books would be rattling on the shelves if it was the Titan.
A glance over her shoulder confirmed her suspicions. The Hunter stood near the first collection of books, bright green eyes hungrily taking everything in. Those green eyes burned with a desire to know, and one could find themselves lost in them if they were not careful. She was different than any Hunter that the Warlock had ever known and would have made a fine Warlock herself, had her Light chosen a different path.
Different, the Warlock mused, that was a perfect word to describe Eris Morn.
"I am afraid I am all out of books on zoology and ethology, Eris," the Warlock called over her shoulder. "You have read them all."
"That is quite alright, Eriana," the Hunter replied, "I was looking for something of a different nature this time. Not to mention, some of the changes the Traveler wrought limit the value of old knowledge in that area anyway. No one from before the Golden Age had dreamed of the Ahamkara or batodactyls, for instance. I was wanting to delve into a little botany and herbology this time."
"Well, if you are concerned about changes due to the Traveler, those will only take you so far as well," Eriana-3 replied with amusement, "given the lack of vegetation on Venus prior to its arrival."
"Lucky for me I am only concerned with terrestrial flora, then," Eris stated, turning her attention to the nearest book shelf, running her index finger over the ancient spine of a manuscript.
"Give me a moment to finish and I will see what I have," the Exo responded, re-shelving the book she held.
"Anything I can give a hand with?" Eris asked, turning her attention back to the Warlock.
"No, thank you," Eriana replied. "I just need to... Ah ha!"
Eriana-3 spotted the tome she had been searching for and gently lifted it from its place. She climbed down the ladder, book in hand, then set it on her desk. Turning her gaze back to the other woman in the room, Eriana studied her for a moment. She knew of no other Hunter who sought information in the way that this one did. Coming to a Warlock the way she consistently had was out of the ordinary as well, as most Hunters seemed to take an almost antagonistic view of their more scholarly compatriots.
"Botany and herbology, you said?" she asked, to which the Hunter replied with a nod. "I am curious about something, Eris."
"What would that be?"
"Why you keep coming here," Eriana stated directly. "Surely there are larger collections in the Tower. I know that the Cryptarchs, for instance, have much more raw information to offer than I could hope to."
"That is probably true," the Hunter conceded, "but they also hoard their knowledge more greedily. Many other Warlocks are the same, especially if it is a Hunter that comes calling."
Eriana-3 nodded at that, then stepped over to a different shelf. Scanning the books it held, she slid one from its resting place. Turning back to Eris, she was surprised to see that the Hunter had silently slipped across the room and was studying the cover of the book she had pulled down earlier.
"What is this?" Eris asked eagerly, tracing the image etched on the front with a fingertip.
"Something I acquired a few years ago," Eriana replied. "Information from the end of the Golden Age about the species called The Hive."
"The creatures that drove humanity from the moon," Eris said quietly.
"Exactly," Eriana nodded. "You have been studying. I'm impressed."
Eris gave a small smile and looked away, uncomfortable with the praise that came all too rarely.
"They drove us from the moon," the Warlock continued, "and then stopped there; no one knows why. They have been silent and seemingly dormant since then, but now something is changing. Scanners have been detecting faint traces of signals. There has also been evidence of large scale seismic shifts, which is very odd coming from a celestial body with no tectonic activity. There is some concern that whatever has been sleeping on the moon all these centuries is being roused."
As Eriana spoke, Eris opened the book carefully. The pages were covered with recorded eye witness tales and sketches. People who had encountered the Hive and lived to tell the tale. They spoke of creatures that resembled nothing so much as walking corpses of the long dead, dry skin flaking away; of unbelievable supernatural abilities such as floating beings firing darkness from their fingertips. Before the first Risen, such powers would have been beyond the understanding of humanity. A strange dread that she had never felt before gnawed at Eris' stomach as she looked at the drawings.
"Forget the other books," the Hunter said to the Warlock, looking up from the yellowed pages to look at the Exo, "do you have anymore books like this one?"
"No," Eriana replied, taken aback by the urgency in the Hunter's tone, "that is all I have on the matter. I am sure the Cryptarchs have more, but like you said..."
"They don't like to share," Eris finished. After a brief pause, she continued, "This is important enough to make them share. I think I'll go have a little talk with the Master."
What the Hunter had in mind with the word "talk", Eriana did not know. Whatever it was, however, the feral grin that spread across her face and light blazing behind her green eyes made the Warlock certain that she did not want Eris having the same sort of "talk" with her at any point. In a blink, the Hunter had turned and walked out of the study. A glance at the page Eris had been looking at revealed a hand-drawn image of a creature labeled Wizard. Nothing specific jumped out at Eriana that would have caused such a strong reaction in the Hunter, but if one Guardian reacted that way, it gave her hope that she could make others consider the potential threat.
…
"Ah, Rahool!" Eris shouted as she saw the Awoken Cryptarch in the hallway near their library. This was about as good a turn of events as she could hope for, as he was rumored by most to be next in line to head the order.
The Cryptarch turned looked at her, then rolled his golden eyes. He turned away from her then and made to continue on his way. Eris grimaced, narrowing her eyes, and picked up her pace. She easily caught up with the Awoken man and stepped in front of him, blocking his path. He came up short and tilted his head, literally looking down on her.
"What can I do for you, Hunter?" he asked condescendingly.
"I need information, and I need it now," she told him, "and I want you to get it for me."
"We've been through this, Eris," he replied, "our records are not free for perusing with dirt encrusted fingers. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Rahool made to step past the Hunter. Eris drew a knife and spun, stabbing the blade into the wall in front of him. The Cryptarch arched an eyebrow and glanced at her, attempting to give a stern look of disapproval. Eris, however, noticed the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed hard and the slight tremble in his lip as he spoke again.
"Quite the display. Are you finished?"
"No, not remotely," she hissed. "I can think of a thousand ways to make you change your mind, should it come to that. Some you may find in ancient manuscripts, many of my own devising. Test my resolve, Cryptarch, and you may learn something new today."
"What could be so important that you would risk the repercussions of such an act?" Rahool asked, the tremble becoming more noticeable.
"The Hive," Eris said quietly.
Rahool's eyes widened. Bingo! He did know something. Eris extracted her blade from the wall, checking the tip before putting it away and gestured for the Cryptarch to lead the way. He strode in the direction of the archive, and Eris fell in line, smiling triumphantly.
…
While Eris visited the Cryptarchs, Eriana-3 had scooped up her book and made her way to visit the Vanguard. If she was right about the moon, someone needed to say something. If the Hive were stirring, she had no doubt that they would set their sights on Earth. If something was not done, they would find the planet easy plunder, as the City was still recovering from The Battle of Twilight Gap, the Vanguard was still adjusting to a change in membership, and things were still in disarray after The Faction Wars. Perhaps the Hive were somehow aware of how tumultuous recent years had been and looked to take advantage?
She found the Vanguard in their usual place, going over reports from the failed raid into the Vex's "Vault of Glass" on Venus for the umpteenth time. While it was true that the Vex presented a curious threat, Eriana knew she needed to get them focused to something a little closer to home. She made a noise that was the Exo equivalent of clearing her throat, and the three turned to look at her. Andal Brask, longtime Hunter Vanguard stood to the left, newly appointed Titan Vanguard stood next to him, and to the right was Ikora Rey, herself still relatively new to the post as well.
"Hello, Guardian," Ikora spoke up first, "what can we do for you today?"
Eriana proceeded to outline her findings on the moon and the Hive. She showed them the book and discussed her fears of what the Hive could do if they woke. The three Vanguard listened, though she found it difficult to read anything in their faces as she made her plea. When she had finished, she stood and waited, hopeful.
"This could indeed present a grave threat to the City," Zavala said after a moment, crossing his arms and considering the Exo.
"We could send a Guardian to check it out, perform a quick scouting mission" Andal suggested.
"Indeed, but who?" Ikora asked. "We just lost a team of our best to the Vault, and Saint-14 has never reported back in regards to his search for Osiris."
"I may have someone in mind," Andal replied. "I'm sure he'd be happy to go searching for nightmares."
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention," Zavala intoned.
Eriana nodded, then returned to her study. She found Eris waiting outside the door, holding several volumes of material. Excitement flashed behind her green eyes when she saw the Exo and she waved one in her direction.
"I knew I could convince them to share," she said.
"Impressive," Eriana responded honestly. "Remind me to stay on your good side."
Eris smiled again, and Eriana stepped past her to unlock her door. The Hunter followed the Warlock into the room eagerly.
"I had a productive time as well," Eriana continued. "I met with the Vanguard, told them of what I had noticed about the moon, presented them with the information about the Hive. They are at least considering the possibility of a threat. They are sending a Titan, Rezyl Azzir, to investigate."
"Only one?" Eris asked in surprise. "Traveler's Light, I would expect better from them."
"We have lost many reliable soldiers recently," Eriana conceded. "The caution isn't unexpected. Once Azzir comes back, though, I'm certain they will feel the need to do more. I have you to thank for it, actually."
"Me?" Eris asked in genuine surprise.
"Yes," Eriana replied with a smile. "Your reaction to the book. I was concerned about what was happening, but could almost write it off as my own fears. Seeing another respond so viscerally to the book, however... it convinced me that others might see it my way."
"Well, I'm glad I could be of some assistance," the Hunter said, giving that embarrassed smile again.
"It almost makes up for all the times you have come in and interrupted my work," the Exo stated in mock seriousness before letting out a chuckle that was matched by Eris.
…
Years later.
The memory slips away as Eris Morn comes fully alert. In a rare moment, she had let her guard down and the past had rushed back to visit her. She blinked and searched for the source of the noise that had snapped her from her reverie, then realized her hands were empty. She had been holding something before, had she not? A quick glance at the floor revealed an ancient book, pages crisp and yellowed with age. A Hive rune was emblazoned upon the cover. Lifting the book, she traced her finger over the familiar image like she had done so many times before. The book.
Eriana's book, she thought.
She pulled the book tightly to her chest and choked back a sob. Once again she felt the overwhelming loss of her friend. Why did she have to remember? She glanced at the book again, then set it reverently back onto the shelf she had taken it from. Her hand lingered, then fell away. Eris turned away from the book, away from the past. She stalked across the room toward the door. As she did, she caught sight of her reflection in a picture frame.
Her hand reached up almost involuntarily, fingertips tracing the contour of her face. The Hive had taken so much from her. She had lost so much of her self in that pit of Darkness. Though changed, there was one thing left. Her eyes were still green. That was one thing they had not taken from her.
…
AN
I don't know if it's all the entries related to the past others have been doing recently (Iron Lords, etc), but I've been thinking a little bit about the backgrounds of some of the Tower characters lately, and wanted to do something with Eris in better days. These One Shots all come from a moment of inspiration, and my inspiration for this one was the final two lines of this entry.
It's kind of funny to me that so many of these entries have heavily featured Hunters, as they are my least favorite class to play.
Jayfeattheris Awesome – a little childish maybe, but it amused me at the moment. After publishing, I thought of a few better ways I could have wrapped it up, but I think it works.
Daydreamer B.A – I'm happy you were happy with it. When I saw your Guardian on your profile, I instantly had visions of Celeste trying to work with her due to their similarity in origin. I could definitely see an entry that involves Astrid sneaking out and Celeste having to track her down. Or maybe aiding in the escape and having to play innocent...
Order and Chaos – Glad you liked it. How much it would weigh on Claney may depend on where this falls on my timeline, but dealing with the two of them at full speed would be enough to drive anyone to modern Eris levels of insanity.