From the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon, carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been. –Celtic Woman; Orinoco Flow

4/20 – Forgotten Shore; Wed

It's been almost two Earth years since Ghost found me. Been through a lot these two years, figured I should document things so I don't forget the whole journey and those I met along the way; that and Ghost has been pestering me to keep a field book. (I think Cayde-6 wrote his adventures down, or so rumors say) Found this old sketch book today. It has some neat doodles but is mostly empty. I plan on filling what space is left with these entries.

Finally got closer to getting my exotic sword! Well, I should start at the beginning of the day, I'm pretty sure that's how these journals work… At least the few I have read in the Tower Library have. So back at the start of the day, Van and I heard Variks had new bounties for us to do. (so glad Van is around, my first year in the Tower was very lonely, but I'll write about that later). While we were speaking to him, we ran into Mech at the Reef! It's great having him on the Fireteam again! It has been a long time since we have seen him. He has been spending more time at his home in the City.

We all decided to go to Prison of Elders, and boy, that was fun. At one point taken Vex took out the whole Fireteam and Variks was trying to end the event, but we pushed through and defeated everything in the chambers. After having fun, we decided to actually make an effort and not piss Variks off, sure killing off Taken is good in the long run but Variks' temper could only last so long. I mean he's a cool guy, er… fallen… Eliksne? Did I even spell that right? Anyways, DON'T PISS VARIKS OFF! Just don't. Especially since the Queen went missing. Granted, anyone left at the Reef has been in a state of shock since the failed attack. Though failed is a harsh word, Her sacrifice left the Dreadnaught open for Guardians to go in and finish what She started.

Anyways, I kicked butt in the Prison today, even downed the most Taken. Ghost said the count was 155, but I think he was exaggerating. Had fun though, doesn't matter what the count was! I know some Guardians question the point of the Prison, they think it is immoral. I had Variks explain the main point of it to me one day and I can see why people have an issue with it. While the Taken is a real threat that must be dealt with, the main er… prisoners must be kept alive. Those of us participating in the Prison of Elders never actually kill the main boss; we do get super close before Variks pulls them from the event. He says it keeps us Guardians on our toes while constantly reminding the prisoners why they are held captive.

Van and I helped Mech search for a dead ghost supposedly lost somewhere within the Prison. He had been tasked with locating the poor thing. Eventually we found it wedged in the drop tunnel leading to Variks' treasures. He was pleased to have found the Ghost, hoping to return it to the Speaker in hopes of possibly recovering memory fragments. It is strange whenever we give the Speaker a dead Ghost, he seems almost happy, in a sad sort of way, to see the broken little body of the inorganic lifeform. I plan on going out to the wilds with him later in hopes of recovering some more, though I would rather the Ghosts to not be dead. Something just felt right about returning a Ghost to the Tower, as if we were bringing a lost friend home, though I do not envy Mech and his charge of returning as many as he can to the Tower. It is a depressing task that, like today, I will occasionally help him with. Seeing the Ghosts without their light, the spark of their little lives, makes me wonder what has been lost, what secrets it could have held.

After returning from the Prison and returning the dead Ghost to the Speaker, we sought help from Master Rahool to decrypt some engrams for us. He gave me Titan boots for some reason? Not sure why he thought I needed those, he had just got done telling me some old forgotten facts about my Warlock order. Sometimes I wonder if he is slowly losing his sanity.

Mech and I had a chat overlooking the City, mostly about just life in general and what we are really fighting for. He keeps talking about his fiancée, I'm pretty sure he is nervous about what will happen. She is a civilian he found in the city, I myself have never met her but I hear all about her; it must be nice to have someone waiting at home for you at the end of a long mission. It sounds like they make each other really happy, even if she doesn't like him going out on Guardian missions. He always tells me about the fuss she makes when he returns home, armor all scuffed up from some enemy. Maybe one day I will go with him to visit her, I don't take many trips to the City myself, I find it… unsettling. Being a Guardian, I get treated like an outsider. Maybe I am? Who knows. Perhaps it is because the idea of someone being revived from the dead is unsettling, which I can totally understand. All I know is that most of the Guardians here in the Tower don't venture much into the City for the same reason. Still, the City does look beautiful, peaceful even, from up in the Tower; maybe I will go try and visit again soon.

After our long goodbye chat, as Mech often has a habit of drawing them out, I decided to head back to the Cosmodrone. Van decided to go help out a Fireteam who was struggling with some smaller tasks given to them. Anyways, when I got to the Cosmodrone it was totally empty, minus the few Fallen who had taken up residence there. It was nice to be here, I had not been on patrol in what seemed like ages. The battle with the Taken army had kept me too busy to go explore older areas. I will have to run some patrols out here for Ikora sometime, there is something peaceful about being somewhere familiar. After running around to some patrol beacons, I remembered the main reason for visiting, finding some sort of rare material from Spinmetal. It took me all night, but I eventually found myself at the Forgotten Shore, and to my surprise there were Guardians here! Together we defended two warsats and one extraction team; it was fun, like the days before the Taken became a problem. After having my fun I found the last of the rare material for my sword and sat at the edge of the shore to watch the sun rise. This was my old favorite spot where anyone could find me; it was still just as peaceful as those many hours I used to spend here. It was actually here that I found this old sketchbook, so it seems fitting that I begin my writings here. Perhaps some Guardian dropped it. Perhaps even a Fallen had found it, not knowing its value, tossed it out to be taken by the tide. No matter who dropped it, I will fill it with writings.

Looking out, the sun already high in the sky, the sound of the water lapping at the shore, it calms me but I cannot stay any longer. Ghost is already pestering me to head back to the Tower for some sleep, something about how bad skipping sleep is. Guess I should get going before he nags me to death.

Guess I'm signing off.

-Krissa

I would like to take the time here to thank those of you who read my previous entry and for the two reviews you left; and the rating suggestion. It feels odd to know that someone has already found my journal entries, but the thought does not disturb me as much as when I submitted the previous entry. I do hope you enjoy what adventures I have had so far.

The next chapter will consist of multiple entries that I have written. I deeply regret not taking these field notes seriously sooner.

Signing off

-Krissa