Farewell.
Hot rays beat down from the early afternoon sun. Birds chirp in the distance as the man follows the, now quite familiar, path to the remnants of the village. He is clad in simple robes with modest protection. He carries a small sidearm on his hip. As he approaches the edge of the village, he finishes his radio communication. "One last trip and everyone should be accounted for," he says, his tone betraying his low spirit.
"I thank you once again, Guardian. You may not have fought on one of the six fronts with the Titans, but the warning you provided was invaluable to our defense of the City," Osiris says with pride in his voice.
"Glad I could do something to help," Klutz replies, somewhat detached from the conversation.
"As I understand, you fought a difficult battle of your own," the famous Warlock notes. "It's a shame so many lost their homes. I hope they can find peace within our walls."
"Yeah… So do I." When he enters the village, Klutz signs off and closes the channel.
A calm quiet fills the air. The bodies of the invaders still lay across the grass and dirt. All of the villagers have left their broken homes to seek refuge, under the protection of the Traveler and its Guardians, behind the great walls of the Last City. All of the villagers except one.
Klutz finds him exactly where he thought he would.
Standing wordlessly over the fresh grave, Eyran inspects the clean white headstone once again. He sighs when he hears the Guardian nearing.
"I know you said you'd find your own way there." Klutz walks close and looks at the headstone for a moment. "But I still had time after I walked the last group over. Thought I'd check in, see if you changed your mind."
The elder says nothing.
"Or maybe you just want to… talk things over? Get a little… closure?"
Eyran says nothing still.
A frown threatens to grow across the young Guardian's face. "People may say otherwise… but I know I failed you."
Eyran closes his eyes.
"I failed this village… I failed Marin."
A puff escapes the Awokens nose as he stands stoic.
"I can't rebuild everything that was lost, and I can't bring her back." Klutz takes a deep breath. "But I'll do everything I can to give our people a good life in their new home. Took a little bit of a push, but the land you were given is pretty nice. It's open and remote, not gonna be bothered much at all, if you don't want. From what I'm told, the soil's good for growing stuff. Land is flat too, not gonna be much work getting the prefabs up. Got resources to build anything else you want…" Klutz can tell he is not making much progress with the stubborn man. "I'll do anything I can to make sure everyone lives comfortably. I'm committed to that. We can talk about it on the way there?"
Eyran opens his eyes and looks at the eager Lightbearer with a blank face. "Thank you for your charity. Now, let me be clear about what I ask of you."
The Guardian listens attentively.
"I only ask that you leave my people be."
Klutz almost flinches as he narrows his brow.
"As I said before, I'll find my own way to your city. And when it comes to 'talking things over…' We have nothing left to say." The tired man takes another look at the grave before leaving. He gathers a pair of large bags and heads toward the walls on the horizon.
The sun shines heavy on the Guardian's back as he looks down at the grave he dug not long ago. He sticks another, older arrow in the dirt near the headstone before he turns away. "Call in the ship, Spark."
"Where are we headed?" the little light asks gently when she pops up at the man's side.
"You got what you could from the armory?"
"There was lots of heavily encrypted data, but I accessed a good few things of note. File names, security information, and even access history. Some of the remote logins are particularly interesting!" Excitement bubbles to the surface as she speaks.
"Great work, Spark. Don't know what I'd do without you," he says with a half smile. He walks from the abandoned village as he sees his ship start to land nearby.
"I'm sure Osiris would be willing to assign us something interesting after everything you've done. I've heard rumors he is going to be taking on more responsibilities, so he may even have some serious work we could help with!" Spark keeps a steady pace with her Guardian. "Although… I understand if you would rather not take a field job right away. Many other Warlocks and Cryptarchs would be quite interested in the data we've collected on this 'Black Armory.' I know you have a personal investment in that subject."
Klutz scratches at his neck when he arrives at his jumpship. Spark transmats them inside, and he gets comfortable in his seat.
"So… Where to, Guardian?"
The spacecraft lifts off from the ground and soars over the empty village. Beams of bright blue light trail behind the vehicle as it blasts up and into the distance.