Chapter 3
I wake up to the smell of toast and bacon, which is unusual since I'm the only one that cooks. I wake up and am met with Leslie cooking up eggs and bacon, with a side of slightly burnt toast. I look at the clock on the wall and it says 9:10. So that means she woke up early to cook breakfast or she's cooking breakfast because she happen to wake up early. She turns her head and notices me standing in the doorway, "Morning sleepyhead. Better eat up, we have a long day ahead of us." I wipe my eyes tiredly then ask, "Whaddya mean?" She serves two plates with scrambled eggs on the table, with the bacon and buttered toast already set, and a small jug with orange juice inside. She turns to me and says, "Our first mission together of course!"
That was enough to snap me awake, "Wait, how did you find out?" "Cayde told me of course." She replies. I sigh, mostly out of relief because I thought I would have to explain. We sit on the table and start eating breakfast. The eggs were fluffy and the bacon was crispy. The toast was sweet and buttery as well. The orange juice gave me a feeling of relief and clarity. It was such a relaxing breakfast, along with some music playing in the backround. Future House, a soft rhythmic type of music with a danceable beat, but this one had soft, soothing synths. Perfect for waking up.
Suddenly she turns to me, "Hey Jason, I have a confession to make." I turn to her with a strip of bacon still hanging from my mouth, "Sure, what's up." She took a deep breath and continued, "About the first time we met, Cayde described me as an idiot right?" I swallow the piece of bacon I was eating and remain silent for a few seconds, "Well, he didn't say that…" "But more or less he said that right?" I sigh and nod. She goes on, "Well in reality, when I met Cayde I acted like an idiot for a specific reason." She was acting? Well then… "For what reason then?" She looks up to me and smiles, "So I can meet someone more intelligent than I am, rather than someone who's on my level. That's how we met. Cayde must think you're really smart and strong if he picked you over other Hunters or Warlocks." She… was right. Cayde picked me despite being a titan and male. She was absolutely right.
"Besides," she continues, "I'm not trained for combat. I can't hold a weapon straight and I haven't discovered my first subclass. What classes can you control?" I remain silent then I answer, "All my Titan subclasses really. I have been a Guardian for a long time, so I've spent my time being productive and learned to wield the light all 3 ways as a Titan." She laughs and punches my shoulder, "Show off!" I laugh as well. I can say things are starting to look up.
I drink the last of my orange juice, finishing my meal. "Alright, we gotta start getting ready. So once you're done with your meal, you can start getting ready too, okay Leslie?" She looks up at me while chewing and just nods. I put on the body suit and then start putting on my armor. My greaves and chest piece are both Iron Companion armor from Iron Banner. My helmet is a chroma Duskrender, with the chroma glowing to look like a red visor. My gauntlets are the Ruin Wings I received from the Black Garden. Spooky yet useful gauntlets they are. My mark is the Dead Orbit Exotic mark to represent DO wherever I go. I grab my Imago Loop, which I also found in the Black Garden after killing the Undying Mind. For my secondary I grab my Stolen Will which I received from defeating that Taken Archon Priest. Terrifying experience I tell you. My Heavy of choice is my Raze-Lighter. My solar abilities help with amplifying the strength of the blade. I keep the blade sheathed and have the hilt hanging from my side. I strap my Imago Loop on my belt and throw my Stolen Will over my shoulder and step outside my door.
Leslie happened to step out the same time as me. She was wearing the standard Vanguard Hunter gear that Cayde assigned. Typical Bog Wild gear set. She was armed with the Down-and-Doubt 00, which is a super light hand cannon. Smart decision really. I lent her my spare Sol Edge and my Weylorean's March sniper rifle. Kinda have to admit, she looks like a Veteran Guardian, if you didn't know how she fights.
"Hey Jason, have anything lighter than this sniper?" she complains. I have Pyro look through my vault and finally recommends something, "Here, try this." She drops the sniper rifle and my Chaperone appears in her hand. She seems to have an easier time holding it, which is good. "Okay Leslie, The Chaperone is a slug shotgun, meaning it fires one round at increased damage, so aim carefully okay?" She just nods respectfully. I still have a sick feeling in my stomach. I've never been this nervous before a mission. I think it's because I'm protecting a lot more than my own skin. I'm protecting someone else as well. But I can do this, I know I can.
A couple of hours later…Location: Old Russia, Cosmodrome Time: 11:22 am
"Its c-c-c-cold!" Leslie cries. "*sigh* Fine, hold still." I grumble. I turn her around and charge my Sunstrike. But instead of sucker punching her, I press my hand gently on her back. It's a trick my old instructor taught me; back when I was training to become a SunBreaker. He used to train me in cold weathers in order to help me harness my solar abilities to remain warm. Right when I pressed my hand on her back, I felt her shoulders relax and see her posture slump a bit. She let out a relaxing sigh, which was a sign it worked. I stepped back and she turned to me, obviously relaxed. "What was that?" she asked. "It was an old trick my master taught me to remain warm. It was back when I was a training to become a SunBreaker." I replied.
We started walking to the area where Cayde pointed out. It was an area near the Rocketyard heading towards the Shattered Coast. There was a cave that I never seen before. It didn't look natural either. It looked like it was blasted out. "This seems awfully normal, don'tcha think?" I say to her. "You're telling me we have to go in THERE?" she replies. "Yep, excited?" I reply happily. I see that she's trembling, which isn't good. I walk up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey look, you don't have to feel nervous about this." I say. She keeps looking at the floor and replies, "I'm not nervous, I'm scared! What if I go in there and I don't come back out? What if ghost can't revive me? What if-" Her knees give out and she sits on her knees in front of me, trembling. I can hear the sobs in her voice. I remember I was like this on my first mission, but not to this degree. I was scared too, I was worried about all the things she's scared about. But unlike her, I had a good mentor. No. She does have a good mentor. She has me, and I'm going to establish that.
I crouch down and pick up her chin. I give her a hug and let her head rest on my shoulders. I can feel her chest still heaving, but she seems to be relaxing a lot. Once I feel her breathing slow down, I begin to speak to her, "You okay?" She sniffles then replies, "Yeah…I think so. Yeah." "Alright, now let's get-" She puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "Can we stay like this a bit longer?" Thank god I didn't take off my helmet, cause I blush and reply, "Yeah, sure. No problem."
There was a short silence before I began to talk to her, "You know, I won't let anything happen to you." She looks up at me, "You promise?" I smile and reply, "Yeah, I promise." She sits up and looks at me, "You gotta pinky promise though." She holds out her pinky. I chuckle and curl my pinky around hers. She gets up and holds her hand out, "Alright, if anything happens to me I'm gonna kill you, okay?" I laugh and agree, and we go into the dark cave, with our ghosts lighting the way.