The Balloon Game

Eris Morn was not amused. The ruckus from the Tower Watch had pulled her away from her very important work and up the stairs. She stood there scowling at the group of Guardians dashing back and forth across the Watch in an attempt to keep a large purple ball from hitting the ground.

A Titan collided with a Hunter as they jumped for the ball at the same time and they both went flying into three other Guardians. The five Guardians hit the ground laughing, and slid into the Postmaster's building. Kadi 55-30 merely looked down at the pile-up briefly, then turned back to a screen when one of the felled Guardians casually asked if they had any messages.

Those still paying attention to the game let out a collective groan as the ball floated dangerously close to the ground. A Warlock that had managed to quickly disentangle herself struggled up to her feet and made to run toward the ball, but a Titan got there first. The newcomer slid into the ball, kicking it up from the ground right before it touched.

The ball flew toward Eris.

The Exo Titan who had saved the game followed the ball with his eyes as he prepared to run for it again, but suddenly froze when he noticed who it was about to hit. The other Guardians noticed too, and those on the ground scrambled to their feet, not to go after the ball, but to potentially run from an angered Eris Morn.

Slowly Eris reached out a hand and lightly tapped the ball away from her. The Guardians let out a cheer, rushing forward to continue their game. A Hunter gave her a crooked grin as she ran past and motioned for Eris to join them. When Eris shook her head, declining the offer, the Hunter nudged a Warlock, who nudged another Warlock and the three broke away from the crowd.

Each Warlock lightly took one of Eris's sleeves and pulled her forward while the Hunter grinned widely and waved to the Titan about to hit the ball. The Titan raised her eyebrows, but hit the ball toward Eris anyway.

As the ball descended toward Eris the two Warlocks pushed her into open space and took a step back. The players all seemed to hold their breaths as Eris stared up at the ball. She spent a moment debating whether or not she wanted to join in the tomfoolery, but then decided that she might as well. The Guardians certainly weren't going to take no for an answer.

Smiling slightly, Eris swatted at the ball, and was suddenly part of the game. Guardians swarmed around her and jostled her around playfully as they all moved for the ball. A Hunter got there first, double jumping above the other's heads and kicking the ball in mid air.

"The tree!" Someone shouted. Eris realized they were drifting toward the Gunsmith now and the ball was indeed heading straight for the upper branches of the tree there. The frontrunners began to scramble up the tree, but most were pulled down good naturedly by their opponents.

Eris found herself pressed into the front of the crowd, right into the tree trunk. She found a decent hold, and without waiting to think her actions through, she pulled herself up. Guardians laughed, albeit a bit nervously, as Eris scrambled up the tree. She watched the ball bounce off the upper branches before drifting down and away from the tree, but she didn't climb up here for nothing. Launching herself from the branches with a battle cry of utter nonsense Eris reached for the ball. She smacked it toward the bounty tracker.

The Guardians went running, laughing freely now, and Eris landed in the midst of them. "Go wide!" A Guardian not in armor yelled when they got to the ball. Eris took in the Guardian's wide gesture and ran for the openness of the Watch. She was the first to make it.

Smacking the ball full force back toward the stairs leading to the Hall Eris yelled, "Take that you son of a thrall!"

A few of the Guardians paused, confused or perhaps a little scared, but one Warlock made an undignified dive through the crowd to get to the ball in time. They underestimated the time it would take for the ball to reach the ground and ended up awkwardly laying on the ground staring up at the ball as it floated into range. Some of the Guardians looked between the waiting Warlock and Eris before backing away slowly.

There was a borderline deranged look in Eris's eyes as she watched the ball finally drift within range of the Warlock. The Warlock hit it back into the air and scrambled up from the ground themselves. There was a massive panic within the tightly pressed group and most of the Guardians ended up falling over each other in their attempt to go after the ball.

"Get your head in the game, Guardians!" Eris yelled, causing even more confusion. She was sprinting across the Watch toward the ball way ahead of any other Guardian still in the game. When she reached it she wasted no time in kicking it hard back toward the group. A group that was now slightly smaller as Guardians lost interest, or were scared away by the enthusiasm of the usually silent Eris.

The Hunter that had originally pulled Eris into the game was the only one who didn't look at all nervous as she ran for the ball, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Speak for yourself, Eris." She called, slipping through a pair of spectators. She did a backflip, posed for half a second on the landing, then hit the ball back toward Eris.

"Ris!" A group of five other Guardians came walking out of the Hanger, each of them battle ready. "Ris, we've got to go!"

The Hunter didn't even spare them a glance. She was too busy watching Eris run for the ball. "Give me a minute." She snapped, annoyed with the interruption.

Her fireteam glanced at eachother before four of them ran forward to join the game.

"Guys!" The one remaining Guardian, another Hunter, shouted after them. "We have a job to do, remember? The universe isn't going to save itself!"

To everybody's surprise it was Eris that responded, tone laced with irritation. "The universe can wait."

Ris laughed loudly, jostling another member of her team as they ran for the ball. The other Guardians that had been playing had drifted to the sidelines. Now it was just the five Guardians and Eris. She was knocked to the side by her teammate and the the Titan was the one to hit the ball back across the watch toward the railing.

Eris was there. She was up on her toes, ready to move should the wind catch the ball and knock it off course. Then, quicker than anybody was expecting, the team's second Hunter was there. He jumped at the last second and hit the ball straight over Eris's head and over the railing. Everybody turned to watch the ball float down toward the city before six pairs of eyes met the Hunter's.

"James, why did you do that!" Ris shrieked, hand over her heart. The very picture of betrayal.

The Hunter was too busy backing slowly away from Eris to answer. "You have made me lose the game." She snarled.

"We h-have to g-g-go…" James stuttered. "I-it's kind-da time sens-s-sit-t-tive…"

"You have made me lose the game." Eris repeated. James backed into one of the vault access kiosks and stopped suddenly. Eris continued to advance slowly.

"Should we do something?" One of Ris's teammates whispered. Ris just grinned, holding out a hand to stop the concerned Warlock.

Eris stopped when she was nose to nose with James. He was white as a sheet and shaking uncontrollably faced with all of Eris's wrath. Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by a soft cough. The two looked up to see the Vanguard walking up the stairs. Cayde-6 was telling a joke that nobody else seemed to find funny.

Eris backed away from the terrified Hunter, dragging one finger across her throat in a silent threat. James nodded and gulped loudly. Then Eris was straightening her robes and stalking past the Vanguard mumbling under her breath the entire time.

James cleared his throat. "Let's go kill some Fallen monstrosities now." He said as if he hadn't just started his own death in the face.

"I'm starting to really like Eris." Ris patted James's back as she walked past him toward the Hanger giggling. The others followed, most of them struggling to contain their own laughter.

Back at her own desk Eris muttered to her rock. Nobody paid any attention to what she was saying. Eris was always mumbling. "Next time I will win the game of balloon." she said "yes, next time I will show those Guardians who's boss. It is me. I am boss."

~ASDFJKL~

OH MY GOSH GUYS THIS WAS THE IDEA THAT STARTED THIS RANDOMNESS AND IVE BEEN AVOIDING FINISHING IT BECAUSE I NEED IT TO BE PERFECT AND IM STILL REALLY UNSURE ABOUT IT BUT I THINK ITS PRETTY GOOD SO I GIVE YOU THIS BEAUTY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT COMPETITIVE, OVERACHIEVER ERIS BECAUSE HONESTLY THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE IM SORRY IM YELLING AND THERES NO PUNCTUATION IM EXCITED