I had a name now. I had never really thought about having a name. Why would I need one? I wouldn't be the one people would know. They would know Ryuko. Perhaps it made her feel less alone and alone she was. She told me of how she lived apart from her people. She lived a solitary life, only leaving her home when someone needed killing. She told me how she died. I recoiled in horror at several points. I hadn't had much interaction with anyone aside from other Ghosts since the Collapse. Were all of her people that barbaric? Was she? I had serious doubts about my choice to bring her back but it was a choice I was stuck with. Most Guardians who had been revived at this point in time were nothing but skeletons at best. When they had been revived, their Ghost took their base genetic material and reconstituted it. Most Guardians didn't even look the same as they did before they were resurrected. I had a mostly complete body to work with and one would think that would be easier but it wasn't. I had to sift through her ever growing list of wounds. Lacerations covered her back and torso. Bruises painted large portions of her body an ugly mix of purple, green, yellow and brown. She had numerous broken or cracked ribs and a multitude of internal injuries, mostly ruptured organs. She had lost her left arm just above the elbow, her right leg just above the knee and her skull was, for all intents and purposes, shattered. And I had to put all of that back together. When you have instructions and the ability to build a new thing, it is easy. When you have something that looks like it had been run over by a transport ship, it is much harder. From the effort, I had fried my healing unit. If she gets injured, she has to heal the old fashioned way. If she dies, she is gone for good. I do wonder how was she able to fight back with injuries that would have, should have, killed her far sooner?-Nolan

"Ryuko, we need to get this ship planetside. What are you doing," Nolan asked impatiently.

"I'm looking for a shirt. Don't get me wrong, I love tits just as much as the next guy but I don't want to run around giving folks the wrong impression," Ryuko hollered back from a stack of boxes. "Ah-hah! Right size and everything." Ryuko came out from behind the boxes and strode toward the cockpit with a new black tank top with 'I iz genius' emblazoned on the front.

"I was kind of hoping to find a long sleeve shirt and some gloves but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Just hope where we land is warm 'cause otherwise this is gonna suck. Hey, why don't you land the ship Nolan," Ryuko said as she flopped into the pilot's seat.

"I don't have hands. Or arms. Or anything required to operate a ship," Nolan replied.

"Okay, sure but you do have that little hacky-programmy eye beam thing. You could use that. Could've landed the ship while I was hunting for a shirt," Ryuko said.

"While this is true, this ship's avionics are dead. The batteries cannot afford to run the autopilot which, coincidentally, requires the avionics to work and on top of all that, this ship model requires an organic pilot with arms and hands and feet to land. I have none of those so you have to fly," Nolan grouched.

"Well then we are well and truly fucked," Ryuko growled. "Why," Nolan asked. Ryuko glanced uneasily at her Ghost. "You'll see."

Nolan's voice dropped low. "You don't know how to fly do you?" Ryuko whirled in the seat, her face furious. "I know how to fly the goddamn ship, asshole. I told you I live in the Reef. I've docked with stations, flown into hangers, landed on an asteroid's surface, not entered a planet's atmosphere. Name one asteroid in system that has an atmosphere or noticeable gravity. Just one."

Her Ghost took a moment to think. "Phobos. Asteroid that settled into Mars orbit over a billion years ago. It has both. It was terraformed and turned into a ship yard during the Golden Age."

Ryuko's eyes narrowed. "You live dangerously, Ghost." She turned back to the console and started going through her preflight checks. "The batteries have just enough juice to restart the engines. Inertial dampeners are shot, landing gear are destroyed but the flaps work, most of the maneuvering thrusters need replacing and the heat shields are offline. Great. First time landing on a planet and I don't even have half the shit I fucking need to not get 86'd goddamn time, I'd like for a day of mine to not go tits up," Ryuko lamented as she punched buttons.

Nolan floated up next to her. "You aren't dead yet." Ryuko finished her checks and grasped the flight stick. "Given the events of my life up until this point, you could have fooled me."

She eased the throttle forward and nosed the stick down. The ship shuddered under even the minimal strain as it eased forward. The ship eased downward towards Earth and shook violently as it made contact with the upper atmosphere. Before long the view port was nothing but a wall of fire. "Ryuko, were coming in way too fast and the angle of approach is too steep. Pull up and slow us down!" Ryuko gritted her teeth as she wrestled with the stick and eased back on the throttle. "I can't! The ship is locked at full throttle and the stick is not responding! How high up are we?"

Nolan thought for a moment. "I am not certain but given our trajectory, estimated speed, wind variations an-..."

"Just fucking tell me I don't need a goddamn essay!" Ryuko interrupted, yelling over the noise of re-entry.

" I would guess 15 miles up. Why?"

" I am unfamiliar with planetary atmosphere. Can I breathe out there this high up?"

"No. The highest up you can breathe is 26,000 feet, why?"

"Because I am going to jump out. This ship is beyond fucked," Ryuko replied as she undid her harness. She stood and unsteadily made her way towards the aft as the ship rocked and shuddered violently. Nolan looked out the window and saw the starboard wing had been ripped from the body of the ship.

"What do you mean you're going to jump out? A fall from this far up would render you little more than paste!"

"The escape pod is still functional but the door is jammed and won't shut. What I'm going to do is strap in, launch it, climb onto the top of it, remove it's parachute and attach it to myself."

"That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard," Noland shouted as he followed her.

The port wing was ripped off which caused the ship to buck hard and threw Ryuko into a bulkhead. She pulled herself to her feet and continued towards the escape pod. "Do you have a better one? Staying here, we die. Trying my idea, we may die. I have one pistol with three spare magazines of ammo. I'd like to at least try and live to used them."

"Ryuko this is asanine! Maybe I can fix it!"

"Estimate how far we've fallen since we started arguing?"

"I don't see what that has to d-..."

"How far," Ryuko screamed.

"Another eight miles."

"Then we don't have time for this. Either you're coming with me or you're staying. Choose. Now!"

Nolan hesitated. "I'm coming," he said then dematieralized. "Nolan," Ryuko screamed. "Nolan where did you go?" She jumped in suprise when the response came from her own head. "Don't worry, I'm still with you. I...it's complicated. What you need to know is that I'm never really apart from you. Count to fifteen then launch the pod. We should be under twenty-five thousand feet by then. You should be able to breathe and pull off this hairbrained scheme of yours."

Ryuko nodded and strapped herself into one of the escape pods seconds seemed to creep by like hours. After reaching four, she could take it no longer. "Fuck it," Ryuko screamed as she smashed the launch button. Her world was launched sideways and then started tumbling as the escape pod shot out from the ship. It didn't take long for the tumbling to stop as gravity grabbed hold of the pod, heavy end pointed at the ground. Ryuko unbuckled herself and started climbing up the seats to the open hatch. When she reached the hatch, the wind grabbed whipped at her so violently that she almost was ripped from the pod.

"Nolan, I need a ETA to impact," Ryuko yelled at the top of her lungs.

"3 minutes to impact at current velocity."

Using every ounce of strength she had, she started hauling herself down the side of the pod towards the parachute assembly.

"2 minutes, 23 seconds at current velocity."

Ryuko pulled herself along side the access hatch to the parachute and gripped it with her metallic left hand. She wrenched the hatch with all her might. She pulled it up enough that the rushing air caught the hatch and ripped it off. Her hand caught on the hatch for a moment but it was just long enough that, as the hatch flew away from the pod, her arm was wrenched so hard in it's socket that it almost ripped her arm from her body. She screamed in pain as she lifted her arm back towards the parachute. She grabbed a rail inside the access port and pulled used her damaged arm as an anchor.

"1 minute 36 seconds to impact. Your arm won't hold your weight. You have mostly destroyed your shoulder," Nolan warned.

Ryuko ignored him and locked her the grip in her left hand. She released the pod with her right hand, almost blacking out from the pain in her shoulder as her entire weight was put on it. She reached in and pulled the maintenance released lever which ejected the assembly. She leapt out after it and grabbed a hold.

"One minute until impact."

Ryuko looked wryly at the assembly. The way this model worked, at least from what she had seen, the parachute was kept inside a case the size of a wall locker. When activated, a hatch large enough to fit a person would open and the chute would billow out. It would then take roughly 4 seconds to catch the wind and deploy. If she tried to climb in too early, the chute wouldn't deploy properly and she would die. If she tried to climb in too late, the chute would deploy as intended and she would be thrown out into open air. She had one shot.

"30 seconds to impact."

She popped the release and the chute shot out of it's casing. She counted to two and then slipped in. The chute caught the air and it felt as though she was crushed at the bottom of the casing.

Nolan let out what could only be a machine's version of a sigh of relief. "At current velocity, ETA to impact is five minutes. It will be a hard shot but it won't kill you."

Ryuko nodded and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, they reached the ground. The parachute assembly hit the ground on a hill and started rolling down it. Ryuko was thrown clear. She rolled onto her back and stared at the bright blue sky and started laughing. It started as a chuckle and grew into a hysterical laughing howl.

"Yes! We did it! Nolan, quick pinch me so I know I'm not dead," she giggled. Her Ghost paused and gently tapped her bad shoulder with his casing. Ryuko gasped in pain. "Okay, still alive and very wounded. How bad is it, Doc?"

Nolan scanned her shoulder. "Its bad, very bad. When that hatch blew away, it broke your upper arm in three locations, pulled your bicep and tricep completely off the bone, your deltoid has been torn completely in half and your collar bone and shoulder blade are basically powder. If you want to save your arm, we have to get you to a surgeon and soon."

Ryuko looked at her shoulder and then back to Nolan. "Can you do anything for my arm?" Nolan shook his casing. "No I can't. As we fell, I noticed a settlement about three miles to our east. If we're lucky, there may be a doctor there who can do something. I'll make a sling for your arm so it doesn't get jostled around too badly."

She looked at her shoulder. Bruises were starting to form. "I'm putting this in the win book. Not one of the more inspired ideas I've had though. There was this one time I had to escape a space station by remote piloting my ship a hundred yards from an airlock. I spaced myself and was super lucky I got the ship positioned right. Even half a meter off and I would have been in serious trouble."

As the Ghost went about transmaterializing the proper materials, he sternly started rebuking Ryuko. "Before I say what I want to say, I need to tell you I am having very strong second thoughts about reviving you. I am beginning to think you were a bad idea and I should have left you dead. That being sai-..."

"Then go. Leave. I wouldn't blame you. I've been a loner for a long time, I think I can handle it," she said as she stood and started to walk away.

"Ryuko, stop."

"I mean, we made it didn't we? I don't understand why you're so upset. This kinda thing is the norm for me. You leaving would honestly be best for your health. "

"Ryuko...stop."

"If you are having second thoughts about resurrecting me then why not go find someone else?"

"Ryu-"

"Maybe someone who knits. That would work for you. They don't see many crazy situati-"

Nolan rocketed towards her back and smashed his shell into her ruined shoulder. Ryuko screamed in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her shoulder. "I. Said. Stop," he roared, his shell trembling in fury. "I had a choice whether or not to resurrect you and I'm beginning to regret it making it. Ghosts only have one match, one Guardian to whom they bind themselves. I didn't choose you, you were chosen for me, I can't leave! My life is bound to yours. If you die, I die not long after and you seem to be hell bent on dying again! Whether you want it or not, you have a second chance at life. You can throw your life away in a meaningless blaze of pride or you can be what you were meant to be. You could be a light shining in the darkness! A beacon of hope for others to follow and not a weapon for a deranged madman. You have to let me help you. That's what I'm here for and you are making it incredibly hard to do that. You spent a month threatening to kill me and through that I never stopped trying to help you! Today you came up with a hairbrained scheme without any regard to my well being. Given how you decided to make it planet side, I'm thinking you were hoping your plan would fail and you would die but you didn't and, even through that, here I am still trying to help you so fucking let me! You are my Guardian and I your Ghost. I can't leave and you can't make me. If you had listened to me instead of threatening to kill me up on that ship, you'd know this already. The way this solar system is, I am your best friend and the last Traveller-damned thing you want to be your enemy," he yelled.

Ryuko stood, her back to her Ghost. She stared at the sky for a minute, then the ground. She turned to look at Nolan. "Ryuko I-..."

"C'mon, we have a lot of ground to cover," she said as she turned to walk away.

She stopped after a few steps. "Nolan, it just occurred to me, I have never been on a planet before. I don't know what flora and fauna are edible here. I am familiar with north, south, east and west but don't know in what directions they are. I don't know the languages here. I don't know anything about this place. I need your help. Will you help me, please."

"Yes but only because I die if you do. Follow me, I'll lead you to the settlement."

"What about the sling you were making," Ryuko looked at the discarded, half finished rag. "What about it," Nolan said. It wasn't a question. He floated off towards a grouping of trees. "Let's go, it is this way." Ryuko walked over to the parachute. She knelt and pulled her knife. There was a roar from the trees just as she started cutting the parachutes chords. She frantically started cutting the cords. Nolan came zipping back as fast as he could. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes I did and I don't like it."

"We need to, wait, what are you doing?"

"I need to bind this arm before I do anything strenuous. It hurts like a mother bitch and I'd like to not pass out from just pain of my arm flopping all over the place," she said as she severed the chord. She grabbed the cut end and rushed to do the same to the other end. She heard a crashing in the trees and glanced over her shoulder. She saw nothing and went back to cutting. She severed the other end and tied it around her left wrist using her right hand and her teeth. Once she was satisfied with her knot, she set her bum arm across her stomach and wrapped the chord around it and her torso. She tied off the end to her belt. She stood and jumped to make sure her arm was secure. She pulled her pistol and aimed it at the trees in time to see a large four legged creature come lumbering into the field. "What in the good goddamn is that," Ryuko exclaimed. "That is a bear and a hungry one from the looks of it. From what my information tells me, playing dead would be your best bet however given your current physical state it may just decide to try a bite anyway," Nolan replied. "Your pistol should be of sufficient caliber to deter or kill it."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I'd rather not waste the bullets," she replied not taking her eyes off the bear. "Lead me around it. We have got to get to that settlement before my arm is no longer salvageable. How long should it take?"

"Given all current factors, four hours."

"Best get a move on then. We need to get there before the sunsets. Dunno if you know this but Awoken kinda...glow in the dark. I'm white enough as is without making us a glowing meal ticket."

Ryuko followed her Ghost as fast as she could. She could hear the bear dogging them every step of the way. Every now and then she would glance over her shoulder to see the bear closing the distance. The sun was getting extremely low in the sky and soon she wouldn't be able to keep eyes on the bear but it would be able to see her as clear as if it were day. They weren't going to make it. She had to fight the bear. "Nolan, fly as fast as you can and get help. I may need it." Nolan glowered at her for a moment and zipped off towards the settlement. She turned to face her pursuer. She took aim with her pistol. The beast stopped short of her and rose up on two legs and roared. Oh my shit, this thing is huge, she thought to herself. She fired a shot into the bear's underbelly. The bear instantly dropped down to it's paws. It closed the distance between them frighteningly quick and headbutted Ryuko. She was tossed like a ragdoll to the side as the bear continued forward. It turned as she landed and charged again. This time it was intent on biting her. Before it's teeth could find flesh, Ryuko lashed out and kicked the bear in the face. The force of the blow stunned the bear momentarily but only really succeeded in pissing it off. It swiped at her with it's huge paw. The claws caught her in the thigh as she tried to roll away. The gashes were deep but not deep enough to inhibit movement. Ryuko fired off two more shots at the bear and hit with both. The bear smashed her to the ground and stood over her. It lunged down with it's maw wide open. Ryuko tried to dodge the bite but was too slow. The bear's jaws clamped shut on her ruined shoulder. She cried out in excruciating pain. Then the bear started shaking it's head, it's teeth ripping deeper into her flesh. She bashed the bear in the head with her pistol to no avail. She got in a lucky swing and hit the bear's eye causing it to drop her. Ryuko put the barrel of her gun under the bear's jaw and pulled the trigger until the bear dropped on her, pinning her to the ground. It wasn't breathing so she was sure it was dead. She could feel the blood pouring from the dead creature's wounds as well as her own blood from the vicious bite the bear had given her. Her Ghost would return though she wouldn't be dissappointed if he didn't. I have kinda been a dick to him, she thought.

Meanwhile...

Nolan moved as fast as he could. He heard the first gunshot and it urged him to try and move even faster. Of all the people. Of all the Traveller-damned people for me to have a Guardian, I had to have this one. 'I only have a destroyed shoulder. You go get some help, I'll kill it.' Damnit, Ryuko, I know you don't care for your life but could you at least care for mine? Her screams of pain interrupted his thoughts. Shit, shit, shit, shit. He heard the screams intensify and then several gunshots, the sounds of combat growing fainter behind him. When Nolan flew into the settlement, night had settled in. People were milling around, talking in hushed tones. They had their weapons out. They must have heard the shots.

"Help, help please! My friend is hurt and she needs help," Nolan yelled. The crowd turned to look at him. A few did so with raised firearms. "Don't shoot, I mean you no harm. I'm just looking for help for my friend. We were attacked by a bear and she sent me to get help."

A man with a badge stepped forward. "I'm Wyatt Holliday. I'm the constable here. We have had a lot of bandit attacks in the last few weeks. How do we know this isn't a trick by you to lure us out of town so you can try and sack us again? Who are you?"

Nolan stared hard at the man. "Constable Holliday, I am Nolan. I am a Ghost created by the Traveller to find those who can wield it's light as a weapon and be heralds of a new Golden Age."

"Traveller, huh? Damn thing ain't moved in going on 40 years. It even still alive?"

"Yes it is. It is badly wounded and will die unless me and my brethren can find a sufficient number of Guardians to beat back the Darkness. Guardians like my friend who will die unless you help me get her back here."

A mountain of a man stepped forward. "Go back to the inn, stranger," the constable said. "We've got this well in hand."

The man looked at the constable and held out his hand, palm face up. In his hand materialized another Ghost. "What this Ghost here, Nolan I do believe he said his name was, said is true. This man is my Guardian. We cannot afford to lose one of our own. If are too apprehensive to go help this woman, we will."

Holliday looked from the Ghost to the stranger. "What's your name son?"

"I am Gregor. I am going to get this woman. I am sworn to protect humanity from the Darkness and if her Ghost says she needs aid then I shall lend her aid."

"Deputy Kidd, you are in charge until I get back. I'm going with this mountain to get our damsel in distress. If we aren't back in an hour, batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst," Holliday ordered. "Yessir," Kidd replied as he snapped a salute. Holliday turned back to Nolan and Gregor. "Let's go, big man. The worst in that forest comes out at night. We need to get 'er before the wolves do. Lead the way, Nolan."

Ryuko had managed to pull herself out from under the bear. She thanked every god she could think of there was not enough light to see her shoulder. It didn't hurt but she attributed that to the shock she knew she was in. She stood, trying to remember which direction Nolan had gone in. She heard voices. One sounded vaguely familiar. She made her way toward unsteadily toward them. She was extremely lightheaded. I must've lost a lot of blood. She saw three lights in the distance. Two bright lights so white they looked blue and another more subtle one, probably from a candle or lamp. "Here," she tried to yell. Her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. "Over here! Help!" She stumbled and crashed to the ground. She thought she heard someone say 'What was that' but couldn't be sure. She picked herself back up and made her way forward again, using the trees as support.

Holliday and Gregor followed the Ghosts. Nolan had assured them he and his companion were alone and Gregor's Ghost said he believed him. Holliday felt uneasy. He was constantly scanning the trees. At any moment things would go south and he didn't want to be caught with his pants down. He saw a faint glow through the trees and then it disappeared. "What was that' he asked.

"What was what" Gregor replied.

"I saw a glow over there," Holliday pointed. Almost as if on cue he saw it again. "See, there."

Gregor squinted. Sure enough, there it was. "Ghosts, go check that out. We will continue in this direction and see if we can find the girl." Gregor's Ghost nodded in agreement and made it's way toward the glow. Nolan looked at Gregor for a moment before following. Several minutes later Gregor and Holliday heard a shout from the direction of the Ghosts. "We found her!"

The two men raced in the direction the Ghosts had gone. It wasn't long before they spotted them and a faintly glowing figure on the ground. "I ain't seen a person glow before. Think it's a disease," the Constable Holliday asked.

"She's not sick. She's an Awoken. There aren't many of them. Dunno why but they have strange rivers of light under their skin. That's why they glow," Gregor responded. He knelt next to the girl.

"This is her," Nolan exclaimed.

"Hear that, Constable? We found our damsel in distress," Gregor grinned."I am a quite content damsel. No knights please. I just need a doctor," Ryuko whispered. Gregor looked at her blood soaked form. "How much of this is yours?"

"Most of it. Some is from where that thing's throat exploded all over me"

Gregor slid his arms behind her knees and her upper back and lifted her off the ground. "Lead the way back please, Constable."

Roughly half an hour later they strode into town. Holliday hurried to find the doctor. Gregor followed at a slower pace. In the light from the windows he could see the sleeping girl's arm and shoulder. What he saw made him wince. Her shoulder and upper arm were torn to shreds. Crushed bones were embedded all through the muscles. If the doctor could save her arm, she would be lucky if she could feed herself with it. He looked up and saw Holliday motioning him to come quickly. Gregor picked up his pace and stepped into the doctor's office. He lay the girl on the designated table and moved out of the way. A robotic man, an EXO, walked in while wiping off his hands. "Will she make it Doc?" The EXO looked over the wounds. After a long moment, he turned to Gregor and Holliday. "She'll make it. Any longer and she would have lost too much blood. I have to remove the shoulder and arm, fashion a prosthetic and attach a lot of nerves. Go get me my assistant. We haven't much time."

Review responses

cmech54 -I wouldn't say a master of words but I do thank you for the compliment. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. The shit has only begun for our hero. ;)