Second chapter finally out guys.
Enjoy.
Alright guardian that's it, hold it in your hand like you would your gun, shape it, let the fire take form and mold it, oh careful now, last thing you want is for the power of the sun to explode in your hand." Cayde-6 said as he instructed Ichigo on how to form a golden gun.
"Like this" soon a flaming handcannon shaped in his hand by using the solar light passed on to him by Cayde.
"YES! Just like that, you're a natural Ichigo." Cayde congratulated him by giving him a thumbs up.
Looking towards the golden gun that he shaped in his hand, Ichigo could feel the power flowing through him, the cloak of fire that surrounded him, his light the fuel, and his will the match that set on fire. "this is quite handy" Ichigo thought to himself as he pointed the golden gun towards the three practice targets stood in front. Taking aim towards the middle target Ichigo fired, a golden burst of flame shot out from the barrel, like a brilliant star, it impacted the target in the chest area, the power of the bullet completely disintegrated the target in a burst of solar energy. Getting a little fancy, Ichigo decided to hip fire both the right and left targets, a few milliseconds was all it took as the two targets burst into flames and disintegrated.
The sound of clapping brought Ichigo back to his senses as he admired his handiwork, "that was nicely done guardian, most new lights still find it difficult to hip fire with a golden gun in quick succession and hit all their targets. Though you, you're something else." Shaking his head, Cayde turned to look at Ichigo. "well, as you get stronger, as your light gets stronger, the amount of shots golden gun will have will increase then the standard 3 shots you start off with."
"So, what did you think, a nice reward I would say, don't you think." Cayde asked.
Having ended his super, the warmth of the fire that engulfed him swiftly disappeared, leaving him slightly disappointed. "yeah, it was, now I have more options if I encounter another opponent like that archon." Ichigo agreed, a pleased smile on his face.
"honestly, I still can't believe you killed that archon, not that I think you're weak or anything, but, you know, you being a new light and everything one would expect you to be inexperienced. How wrong that assessment was." Cayde said, thinking back to the guardians return after having killed an archon.
A few hours ago.
Looking up from numerous reports, the sound of footsteps approaching him alerted him to the guardian approaching him. Recognizing the new light that he had met a few hours ago in the morning, he noticed how his armor looked a little more beaten up than when he first met him.
"Ah, guardian, you're back, you need something." Cayde asked, curiosity in his voice.
Ichigo for his part merely materialized Cortana in his hand, who soon after brought forth a severed Fallen head, levitating it in the air so that it wouldn't fall on the floor. The vanguard leaders that were around the table broke away from their work as they stared at the severed head.
"Uhm, guardian…" Cayde was somewhat speechless as he did not expect this.
"While we were away getting a warp drive, my guardian here killed an Archon! How great is that." Cortana took it upon herself to explain the situation.
Now this got the vanguards attention. Staring at the head, recognition soon passed through ikora's eyes.
"this is…" she started.
"that's right, this is the head of the Archon from the house of devils, Riksis." Cortana finished for Ikora.
Surprise passed through the eyes of the vanguard, after all its not every day the leader of a fallen house dies, especially those amongst the house devils, known as the most ferocious of the bunch.
"With the Archon dead…" Zavala began.
"If we start sending guardian strike teams to hit the House of devils while one of their leaders is dead…" Ikora too started having plans.
Both Zavala and Ikora turned to look at ichigo, a look of appreciation in their eyes. "The Vanguard thanks you guardian, with the Archon dead, we can now establish a greater foot hold over the Cosmodrome. For now, get some rest, you have earned it guardian. Ill have something for you to do in time." Soon Zavala and Ikora started contacting guardians, both in the tower and the in the wild, till the vanguard HQ started getting crowded by guardians who heard the news of how a new light had killed an archon.
A severed head was hung from the wall, a warning to those who would dare threaten the last city, and a promise to the Fallen that the battle had only just begun.
Throughout all this not only did the death of the Archon spread like wild fire in the City and the Cosmodrome, but the one who had a hand in it was being praised by the populace for having done a good deed. Some guardians were skeptical of course, but upon seeing the head hanging from the wall, they too congratulated the one responsible. Ichigo also received a huge reward from the bounty that was placed on Rikisis head, a whopping 100,000 glimmer. He could finally afford to buy some good gear. At the time Cayde also pulled him aside to congratulate him, he also promised to teach him something cool once he finished planning with the vanguard leaders.
Back to the present.
"I'm curious though but how did you kill the archon, if you don't mind me asking." Cayde asked, curious as to how Ichigo pulled it off.
"I don't mind, though honestly, between you and me, I think I just got lucky." Ichigo said.
"What makes you say that." Cayde questioned.
"Well, If I hadn't figured out how to use my light at the moment Riksis almost killed me, I probably wouldn't be standing here having this conversation." Ichigo said, looking back to how he almost died if he hadn't used his super to defeat the archon.
"Can you show me" Cayde asked, wanting to see how the new guardian manifested his light.
"Sure" Ichigo complied.
Standing a few feet away from Cayde, Ichigo concentrated on to how he first created those swords of light. Arc energy quickly spread across ichigo, shrouding him from head to toe. At first Cayde thought he was seeing a blade dancer, but soon he noticed how ten swords of arc energy formed around ichigo, and realized that this was something new.
"By the traveler…" Cayde began.
Controlling the swords with his mind Ichigo slowly let them surround him like a shield, then one by one he let them fly towards the practice targets. Like bolts of thunder, they struck the practice dummies, piercing them and exploding in a shower arc, completely annihilating the targets. Soon all the sword that surrounded him were used up and ended the super. Letting out a sigh, Ichigo looked back towards Cayde, "So, what you think." Ichigo asked simply.
Breaking away from his shocked expression, Cayde schooled his features before proceeding with his assessment. "Ehem, well, that's something new I'll admit." Cayde began. "honestly at first I thought you were a blade dancer, but upon a closer inspection, it looks to be a variation from the usual blade dancer, something new, something powerful." Cayde made his comparison.
"Blade Dancer?" ichigo questioned.
"Think of them like assassin style fighters that use swords to fight, and unleash waves of arc from their swords. Honestly, they're the scary types amongst the hunters, don't mess with them unless you want a blade in your throat when you least expect it." Cayde went on.
"So, how many swords can you summon at any given time?" Cayde asked.
"So far, only ten." Ichigo answered.
"I see, well, perhaps as you grow stronger in the light, the number of swords you'll be able to summon will increase, who knows perhaps one day, you'll be raining hundreds of swords from the sky and killing literal armies, wouldn't that be quite the sight." Cayde mused.
"You really think I'll be capable of that?" Ichigo asked, after all summoning hundreds of swords at a time sounded impossible, he could barely manage 10 at the moment.
"Yeah, after all, there is much potential to be gained from the path which you discovered. In time maybe, you'll teach others on how to wield the light like you. But for now, you should learn what you can improve with your light. It takes practice, if we consider the light to be a muscle, you have to work out to make it stronger." Cayde finished as he imparted his final words of wisdom.
"I'll keep that in mind when I'm out on the field then" Ichigo nodded.
"Good, now why don't we—" Cayde was stopped as a beep from a communicator caught his attention.
"This is Cayde-6" answered Cayde into the communicator. Walking around Ichigo kept himself busy by fiddling around with his knife as Cayde talked into the communicator. After some time Cayde ended the call and looked towards him. "Alright guardian, good news. You have your first mission by the Big man himself. Cayde joked.
Sheathing his knife Ichigo stood straight, a confident smile on his face, "when do I start."
Sidestepping the vandal who lunged to melee at him, Ichigo kicked its legs from under it, causing the vandal to fall over. Trying to quickly get up the vandal came face first with a handcannon to its face, right before the trigger was pulled and its head spread over the pavement. Looking towards the captain Ichigo threw his knife at him, causing the shields to flicker for a moment, seeing that it was ineffective, Ichigo charged the captain, pulling out his shotgun in the process. Sliding underneath the gunfire, Ichigo tripled jumped over the captain, quickly getting behind him and firing a point-blank shot into the Fallen's back, not only breaking the shield but also carving a hole into the captains back, killing it in the process.
"That's that, where to know?" Ichigo asked Cortana.
"Just head inside the Skywatch, we're close now." Cortana informed him.
Heading inside the old building that's probably crawling with fallen, ichigo prepared himself for a fight. Keeping an eye on his motion trackers ichigo, scanned the area for hostiles, it was clear for now.
"You know this place used to be one the skywatch's old array stations – a link to the lunar colonies." Cortana said as ichigo calmly approached their destination.
"Is that so? Would it be possible to reestablish connection" Ichigo asked out of curiosity
"hmm, perhaps, I can't say for certain really, after all a lot of this tech is centuries of years old now, probably irreparable." Cortana assumed.
"A shame." Ichigo didn't really have much hope for it.
Proceeding onwards they arrived at what appeared to be closed gate. "Dead end. Fallen sealed this gate. I can get it open." Appearing in a flash Cortana got to work on the door. "The Fallen really didn't want anybody getting in. Or out." Said Cortana after noticing how tight the lock was.
"Well, that's good to know, means whatever is on the other side is going to be a fun ride." Ichigo said sarcastically.
A few moments later the door was opened. Now ichigo did not know what to expect but, ominous green lighting and what looked like bone matter on the wall was not one of them. "Well, that's disgusting, what is this crap." Ichigo said as he touched the stuff covering the wall. A feeling of rough, and brittle chitin like substance was something a little hard to describe, but that's exactly what he felt.
"hmm, seems familiar, where have I seen this stuff before." Cortana said as she attempted to recall seeing such substance.
"Doesn't matter, we'll just kill whatever comes our way." Ichigo said as he started walking up the stairs. It didn't take long before complete darkness engulfed them, that is until Cortana appeared and provided some light. "thanks, but are you sure you're safe to be out and about." Ichigo asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine. Besides I got you with me don't I." Cortana reassured him.
Soon enough Ichigo's motion trackers started picking up a lot of movement. It didn't help that the spooky ambiance and surrounding darkness was very oppressing. "lots of movement ahead. I've got a bad feeling about this." Cortana said as she inched herself closer to him. Treading slowly Ichigo trained his weapon ahead of him, his grip tight and eyes narrowed. He knew something was watching him in the dark, the clattering of feet, the chittering and low growling of what was probably multiple hostiles surrounding him. Soon enough something in the dark rushed at him.
SKREEEEE*
A piercing cry resounded and soon enough multiple ones joined in as well. Turning around ichigo came face to face with what looked like a walking skeleton with no eyes and sharp claws. "WTF!?" was all he could say before he subconsciously shot a hole into damn things head. The resounding blast caught the attention of all hive within range. "THE HIVE" Cortana said shocked. Firing into the swarm that was quickly approaching him, ichigo formed a pulse grenade in his hand and threw at the approaching thrall, the resounding blasts obliterated them into ashes. Shredder rounds from hive acolytes impacted his shields but did little damage to him, still he wasn't about to become a sitting duck.
Springing into action ichigo fired round after round, be it an acolyte or thrall they all fell to him as ran up the stairs making sure to clear the area as he went. Reaching the second level, he was greeted my more hive, firing his handcannon, he made sure to kill every single one them, that is until a bone chilling scream was heard through the area. "There's a Wizard here. You have to kill it!" Cortana urged him.
"On it!" Ichigo sprinted towards the wizard, its ragged robes and skeletal frame gave it a macabre appearance, switching to his shotgun, Ichigo wanted to finish it in one shot. Though before he could a cloud of darkness appeared before him, slowing him down. "what is this!?" Ichigo said as he tried to break himself free, though he could move, it felt like he was walking through a marsh in which he was knee-deep in mud. A spark of blue light caught his attention as he turned to the wizard who was preparing its attack. "Damn it…" throwing himself to the right, ichigo narrowly avoided getting incinerated by a volley of arc blasts.
Seeing that its attack had missed the wizard summoned forth more thrall. Having finally broken out of the weird spell, Ichigo had enough. "two can play at this game." Activating his super, arc energy surrounded him like a cloak, ten swords of arc energy solidified around him. Jumping high into the air Ichigo unleashed two swords into the approaching thralls. The roars and screeches were cut in an instant as the exploding swords disintegrated them into nothing. Seeing that it was in trouble now the wizard attempted to stop him with the same spell as before.
"Oh no you don't!" like an arrow having been let loose, Ichigo slammed into the ground like a lightning bolt, right in front of the wizard, the shockwave and arc energy stunned the wizard, giving ichigo enough time to finish it off. "This is the end!" commanding one of his swords, the wizard was cleaved in half as the arc blade swiftly ended its life, with the only sound left having been its death throes.
"Mission accomplished" Ichigo said as his super dissipated.
"this is weird" Cortana said as she appeared.
"what do you mean?" ichigo questioned.
"Well, the Hive haven't been on Earth in centuries. I'm afraid the Darkness is a lot closer than we could have imagined. But, that's a problem for another time, we should probably report back now." Cortana said.
"yeah." Ichigo agreed.
"Cayde, this is Cortna, the missions complete, we're ready to return back to the tower." She informed him.
"Man, you guys are fast, well, I'll have to hear your report later as I have another mission for you." Cayde informed them.
"A new mission?" Cortana questioned.
"Yup, and it just so happens to be close to your location, well, relatively close." Cayde said.
"what's the mission." Ichigo asked.
"Fallen activity has spiked up in the forgotten shore. Reports from scouts in the area appear to suggest the fallen are searching for something. Well, whatever it is don't let them get to it first guardian, good hunting." With that, cayde ended communication.
Looking at each other, ichigo shrugged and went to check on the nav point that had been set up by the vanguard on his map. "looks like we aren't too far from it, if we use the sparrow we could get there in about 15 minutes give or take, maybe less if we push it." Ichigo commented. Looking towards Cortana who had so far remained silent, ichigo extended his hand towards her. "well partner, should we go shoot some baddies." Ichigo said, a small smile on his face. Seeing this Cortana approached the offered hand and dematerialized in a shimmer of light. "Of course, let's get going, ichigo." Cortana commented after a moment.
Walking out the building back out into the moth yards, ichigo summoned his sparrow and proceeded along the trek to the forgotten shore.
Some time later.
Having arrived at the shore, ichigo stopped his sparrow as he slowly surveyed the area. Sandy, rocky area with old rusted ships littering the area and what appeared to be a broken building higher up the hill. "what now? Ichigo asked Cortana.
"I've detected that fallen are using some sort of signal amplifiers. Let's see what they're transmitting." Two points of interest appeared on his map. "alright I'm on it." And with that he got his sparrow back into gear as he approached the first source point. Hopping off his sparrow ichigo arrived at one of the rusted ships, fallen could be seen aboard it. Not bothered by this ichigo engaged the hostiles.
Before anyone could notice him, ichigo had gotten behind a vandal and slit its throat. Seeing that its life blood was spilling out, the vandal, unable to cry out, attempted to stem the bleeding with its hands, though it was promptly kicked in the back where it proceeded to fall of the ship and lad painfully on its back. Having taken care of the first target, ichigo started silently taking care of any fallen that strayed too far from the group. After a few minutes only the fallen near the amplifier remained, none the wiser that their soldiers have been killed.
Noting that the captain was going to be the most problematic ichigo listed it as his priority target as he still had the element of surprise. Noticing that a shadow had loomed over it, the fallen captain looked up into the sky only to be met with the barrel of a shotgun pointing at his head. Ichigo who had jumped high into the air fired his shotgun straight into the captain's face. The sound of his shotgun, along with the captain's skull being shattered, alerted the nearby fallen. Witnessing what had just happened the dregs began to panic at the death of their leader. Though that soon would also be put to rest as ichigo began to make short work of them with blade and gun.
Having taken care of the fallen Ichigo approached the amplifier, letting Cortana out as she got to work on deciphering it.
"Give me a second…Got It! It appears to be some kind of distorted signal. Not Fallen. Let's check the other one." Cortana informed him.
Moving towards the next target, ichigo noticed that it led up into the ruined building he had seen earlier. Using the pieces of rubble as cover ichigo fired his handcannon into the approaching fallen, the dregs and vandals stood no chance with the captain being put down by a well-placed grenade thrown in its direction. Having taken care of all the hostiles, Ichigo approached the final amplifier.
"The same transmission. They're both linked to something in Skywatch. Let's check it out." Cortana informed him.
"What!? We were just there, Dammit, was this all a waste of time." Ichigo said frustrated.
"Hey, look at the bright side, at least there will be less fallen investigating the area now." Cortana said.
"Sure. For all the good that does." Ichigo said sarcastically.
"C'mon, times wasting, we can't let the fallen get their hands on whatever this signal points to." Cortana chided.
"yes, yes, on the move." Summoning his sparrow Ichigo followed the point on his map back to the area, though surprisingly there was shorter path they could take to the skywtach through an old parking ramp. Entering the Terrestrial Complex, Ichigo was immediately confronted by fallen who also followed the signal here. Ramming his sparrow into the nearest enemy, the dreg was sent flying into a wall cracking it a bit, the dreg did not rise again. Going on foot, ichigo cleared the area of fallen as he ascended the stairs leading up to a wide room. Having reached his target, ichigo looked around the area till he found a fallen contraption of sorts, regardless the source pointed here.
"Alright Cortana get to it as fast as you can, I'll buy you as much time as I can." Ichigo said as he looked towards the back of the room where a large number of fallen was starting to appear.
"On it. Be careful." With that Cortana got to work.
Turning his attention to the approaching fallen, ichigo got ready for battle. Knocking down the first few dregs at the lead with his handcannon. Ichigo made sure to pop as many heads as he could before moving into CQC. Shoving his knife deep into a vandal's throat ichigo shoved the body towards another vandal, knocking both to the ground where he proceeds to give the vandal a new hole in its head. Dodging a swing from a cloaked vandal, the sharp blade having only been a few inches from his face, he fired his handcannon towards it, decloaking it and proceeding to punch its skull in, knocking the vandal to the ground.
Noticing that some fallen were trying to sneak past him and head towards Cortana, Ichigo formed a grenade in his hands before throwing it to them. The sudden explosion made sure they wouldn't try again. Having taken care of the hostiles for a moment ichigo called back towards Cortana.
"How much longer!" yelled Ichigo.
"Just a bit more, keep holding them off" she said, not breaking away from her work.
Turning back, ichigo noticed more reinforcements had arrived.
Small drones flying through the air alerted him of his new foes, shanks it would seem. The mini-turret sent a volley of fire at him, dodging around columns and pulling in and out of cover ichigo quickly dealt with them, after all shanks were at best a supporting unit, and at worst mere cannon fodder. A single shot of his handcannon was all it took to shoot them out of the air, the shrapnel of the explosion taking out or damaging those within range.
Having silenced the area for a bit, ichigo turned towards cortana who had finally finished her task.
"OK. I've pulled out everything they managed to steal. We should destroy this thing so that it doesn't fall into enemy hands." Cortana advised.
"On it" a single shot into the receiver's core was all it took to destroy it.
"Mission accomplished" ichigo commented passively. Looking towards Cortana, ichigo noticed she was busy with something.
"Find anything?" ichigo asked.
"…It appears the fallen failed to get anything substantial kept hitting an active firewall. Old Earth, Russian." Cortana said, a moment of silence ensued before realization passed through Cortana's mind.
"Hold on…Russian? Now this sounds a lot like…but it would be impossible. NO! perhaps even…if this turns out to be true then…the stories are true!?" Cortana mused to herself, her thoughts spoken aloud as she tried to piece the puzzle together. Throughout all this ichigo just wore a confused face, his brow furrowing in confusion as he stared at his ghost not making any sense.
"Cortana what are you talking about? Do you know where this transmission came from, or who's behind it?" Ichigo asked, not liking being kept in the dark.
Breaking out of her thoughts, Cortana turned to face Ichigo. "Ah, forgive me Ichigo, I was lost in thought for a bit. Yes, I believe I have an idea of who's behind this." Cortana answered.
"Who?" Ichigo asked once more.
"Rasputin!" Cortana answered. Excitement entering her voice.
"Rasputin?" Ichigo said slowly, not knowing who this being was.
"Oh, right. You're not in the know, allow me to enlighten you then." Cortana said.
"Long ago, during the golden age, humanity built an AI designed to defend earth and all her colonies from any and all threats. So, during the collapse, not only did the Warmind manage to face the darkness, it also survived! and the transmission we intercepted seems to suggest this. We have to report this immediately to the vanguard." Cortana said, a hint of urgency in her voice at this discovery.
Realizing that such a huge find had been found ichigo ordered Cortana to contact the Vanguard immediately. It didn't take long before the Cayde's voice was heard through the comms.
"Hello, hello, ah, guardian what can I do for you" Cayde asked with an easy attitude.
"Cayde, we have something urgent to report, we have found traces of the Warmind Rasputin here in the Cosmodrome, we believe that it must be protecting something here." Cortana said quickly.
"Hold on a sec, did you just say, Rasputin, as in the Warmind Raputin?" Cayde said slowly. Having been caught off guard by such a discovery it was not surprising that his reaction was a bit slow. After all, Rasputin was such an enigmatic character that preferred to be best left alone. Signs of him could be found all throughout the system though such places were dangerous to explore and prohibited by the vanguard in fear of drawing humanities best weapons ire.
"Yes! Cayde! The warmind!" Cortana said with a bit of annoyance.
"Well, it appears you both found something quite interesting." A moment of silence as background noise could be heard. "For now, return to the tower guardian, and ghost send us what you found, maybe we can track this signal to the source and find what the Warmind is hiding." Another moment of silence. "Oh right, great job out there, get some rest." Right before the connection was ended Ichigo decided to say something.
"Wait, there is something else." Ichigo said quickly.
"there's more?" Cayde questioned.
"Before you sent us on our next mission, our previous one, we also found something alarming." Ichigo said.
"What did you find?" taking notice of the seriousness behind Ichigo's voice it was probably something not good.
"Hive" ichigo said.
A moment of silence seemed to stretch over the comms as Cayde took in what the guardian had just said.
"Hive? Are you positive?" Cayde said. Seriousness entering his voice. A rare thing for the usual easy-going hunter vanguard.
Turning towards his partner who nodded as well, ichigo answered.
"Positive."
A moment of silence.
"Return to the tower immediately then guardian, we have much to discuss, I'll inform the Commander and Ikora in the meantime. Maybe they'll know something." After a moment the call ended.
Turning towards his partner who stared back at him, they both transmatted back into their ship in low orbit.
Sometime later
Walking towards the vanguards meeting room, ichigo noticed that ikora and Zavala were in deep discussion while cayde stood at the side and listened.
"Guardian, you're here." Finally noticing his presence, the three heads slowly turned to him.
Turning his gaze to Zavala who addressed him, he spoke. "Commander, I have something to report."
"Cayde filled us in on what you found, but, is there anything else that you would like to add." Zavala said, already aware of the fact that hive have been found on the Cosmosdrome.
"honestly, I'm not sure, this is the first time I've ever encountered something so…alien, even more so than the Fallen. Though what I can say is that, what I felt there, the presence of something heavy weighing on me, like a tight grip on my very being…it was oppressive. Cortana here likened it to the Darkness, or Darkness zone as she called it." Ichigo did his best to describe what it was like to have been down there in that lightless zone.
"hmm, this is grave, if the hive have finally started to move after years of inactivity, then nothing good can come from this." Thinking a little more on it, Zavala shifted his gaze to Cayde.
"it seems we have to renew our efforts on luna, establish a foothold on what was once lost. Cayde I want you to increase patrols on the moon, see what your scouts can find, if the hive have finally started moving we can only prepare for the worst, traveler help us if the mistakes of the past reach our home." Zavala said gravely.
"Already on it, big guy." Switching his gaze to the data pad in hand Cayde went to work.
"Ikora, once we have some intel, perhaps some of those old tomes you have in your collection will come to use in helping us understand our enemies." Zavala said referring to the books of hive apocrypha and such accounts of hive lore.
"Will do" ikora said. Turning her gaze to the guardian she decided it was time to switch topics.
"Though I do believe there is another matter at hand is there not guardian." It was at this point that Cortana manifested to the right of ichigo as she decided to take the lead from here.
"Yes, on our second mission, it would seem that me and my guardian here discovered traces of the Warmind Rasputin on the cosmodrome. It seems that there is something in the cosmodrome that is being protected by him, though as to what I can't say." Cortana informed.
"Rasputin…it has been years since the last we heard of him, I wonder what could have caused him to act now." Ikora pondered.
"Indeed" Zavala cut in.
"For now, we should focus on figuring out what the warmind is up to, the hive while a troublesome thorn, is not an immediate problem as long as they haven't made any big moves yet." Zavala said.
"yes, you would be right. Cortana give me what you found, if I can figure out the source of the transmission and narrow down the source, perhaps I can deduce the location of the area the warmind so carefully guards." Ikora said, data pad in hand.
"on it" it was but a moment before the information they found popped into ikora data pad.
"Thank you, now in the meantime you should catch some rest guardian. We will inform you if we find anything." Ikora said, dismissing him.
"Will do." Said ichigo, ready to turn and leave.
"Oh, wait guardian, I have something to say to you first." Cayde interjected.
"yeah?" Ichigo questioned.
"I've taken the liberty to assign you your room in the tower, get you settled in." cayde said, surprising ichigo.
"Thanks, Cayde." Ichigo said expressing his gratitude.
"Though now that you mention it, I haven't exactly felt tired or sleepy despite all the running and gunning I've been doing…is this normal?" ichigo asked.
"HA! Took you a while to notice it didn't you. As you can see my friend being one of the undying comes with a few perks. Like less sleep and need for food, though rest is still important from time to time. After all you're not an Exo so that fleshy body of yours will still have some needs to take care of just not to a greater scale of what it once was." Cayde finished.
"Huh, good to know" Ichigo said to himself. Looking back to Cayde, he inquired "would that be all?"
"it appears, the speaker would like to have a word with you." Cayde finished.
"The speaker?"
"Leader of the consensus and spokesman of the traveler." Cayde quickly said.
"The Traveler speaks?" ichigo asked, disbelief in his face.
"Not in the way you're thinking, but yes, the Traveler indeed has a way to communicate with us from time to time, honestly, this is more Ikora's area of expertise than mine, or any knowledgeable Warlock nerd around here.
"Uh" ichigo did not know what to say to that.
"Well, hop to it guardian, no time like today." And with that the conversation ended.
Walking out of the meeting room and passed some wandering guardians who greeted him and he as well, he arrived at the courtyard, the moon looked quite resplendent tonight might he add.
"So, any idea where this Speaker would be located." Ichigo asked Cortana.
"Easy, just follow me." Letting Cortana take the lead Ichigo followed after.
Somewhere else
Walking through the bustling streets of the last city, the cool night air and colorful city lights brought a small smile to Esdeath's face as she walked to her destination. Naturally some people would occasionally stop and stare, after all guardians were always a rare sight as they usually mingled in the tower, or kept to themselves. Esdeath did not mind the stares as she was used to them. Breathing in some fresh air, the scents of delicious food coming from food stalls reminded her how she hadn't had food in a while now, was it yesterday, or the day before when she last ate? Oh well.
Ordering three kebabs, the roasted meat tasted heavenly in her mouth as she savored it. Seems that saying about hunger makes the food taste better appear to be true. After eating the three skewers, Esdeath went on her marry way, not the least bit worried about reaching her destination, after all she had time. Walking amongst the crowd, Esdeath noticed how people seemed so different from the Risen. Families enjoying themselves in oblivious happiness, groups of friends enjoying themselves in mindless amusement, and couples who simply basked in each other's presence. So very different from her life, from the bloodshed.
But, isn't this what they fought for? What they were born for?
It was enough for her, knowing that her actions, her suffering, could at least keep the people of the last city safe and happy. To allow them to live in the illusion of safety. It was enough. She hoped.
Resting on a park bench, the full moon looked resplendent today. The gentle breeze that gently caressed her face, and swayed her blue hair. The faint hint of freshly cut grass in the wind. Yes, it was moments like these, moments of blissful peace and quiet, that reminded her that she was like those people on the street, and not just a fighting machine.
"just like them" she reminded herself. The park was not as busy at night, only the occasional couple on a date, or passerby. It was a good night, she told herself.
"Oh my, well look who it is~" at least it was a good night till she heard that obnoxious voice.
"Gin. What do you want." The icy tone, and narrowed eyes that would send even hardened guardians running for the hills did not at all bother the hunter approaching her.
"Such a fierce look doesn't suit you, my lady, you should smile more, like you were doing just now." The shit eating grin that spread across the silver haired man, set Esdeath's teeth grinding in annoyance.
"You want to see me smile? Sure, let me just shoot a hole through that shit eating face of yours, then we'll see if that puts a smile on my face. Actually, that might just do it, so why don't we try it right now." The fierce grin that spread across her face finally changed the man's tune.
Backing up a bit, the man feigned a hurtful look. "Oh, such harsh words wound me, and here I thought we were friends." Said Gin playfully.
"Friends? With a snake like you, no thanks." Said Esdeath plainly.
"heh, suit yourself." With a shrug of his shoulders he moved to sit down next to Esdeath, unbothered by the nasty look he received in turn.
"Any reason why you're bothering me today." Esdeath had to ask. Seeing as her provocations and threats were useless on this fool.
"The meeting you were supposed to attend has been cancelled as urgent news has drawn the bossman away for a while.
"Is that so? Then what do I do with this." Esdeath said as she pulled a sack from her inventory. Roughly shaking it a bit the muffled 'hey' gave away to the fact that it was the ghost of the rouge guardian she had hunted down a few days ago.
"He ordered me to take the prisoner from your hands in his stead, The Praxic Order has more pressing concerns at the moment it seems." Gin informed her.
"Well, if you're going to play middleman then do you have my reward money." She asked.
"Sure, but where's the prisoner." Gin asked.
"Oh, right, the prisoner." Pulling a black bag from her inventory she let it fall into the floor with a thud.
"There's your prisoner." Esdeath finished.
Peering the body bag open, Gin came face to face with the wanted man, err, dead wanted man. "well at least the body is intact." Said Gin with a sigh as he closed the bag.
"The Glimmer" said esdeath. Hand softly resting on her knife.
"Already deposited in your account." Said Gin as he finished paying Esdeath.
"Pleasure doing business with you." Smiled Esdeath, having been payed put a smile on her face indeed, maybe she'll treat herself to a nice dinner, or maybe buy some new gear she's been eyeing for a while now.
"Please, the pleasure was mine. Oh, I'll also need that ghost, can't question a dead man after all." A bag landed on his open palm as Esdeath threw it in the air.
"Just don't break him." Warned Esdeath.
"heh, growing soft now have we." Gin joked.
"Pfft, hardly." With that Esdeath left the scene as Gin turned his attention to the bag.
"Now then" pulling the ghost out of the bag, its frantic eye looking around its new surroundings till it focused on him.
"wait who, where am I?" the ghost voice was shook.
"Worry not little one you're in safe hands now, well, at least less dangerous hands if you catch my drift." Said Gin, his narrowed eyes and creepy smile unsettling the ghost.
"uh, sure" the ghost answered uneasily.
"Good now, do me a favor and follow me back to the Praxics HQ. The guys there will like a word with you and your guardian." The downcast look the ghost gave him was of someone who knew they been caught and no way of escape.
"just go easy on him, it was an accident, he didn't mean to…" the ghost trailed off.
"yes, yes, I'm sure." Putting the prisoner back in its little bag. He looked back to the body.
"Now how to carry this through the city without drawing too much attention to myself." Gin stood in place as he looked for an answer.
Back with Ichigo…
After traversing a series of hallways and stairs they finally arrived at their destination. The speaker's office in a sense was almost like an observatory, with a great a view of the traveler in the center. The many trinkets and odds and ends were intriguing, but, their purpose eluded him.
"Now then where is this speaker?" ichigo thought to himself.
"There was a time…When we were much more powerful…But that was long ago." Turning to look back he could see a figure cloaked in white, wearing a white mask. His aged and gentle voice sparked some of his interest in the words he was saying. So, he listened.
"Until it wakes and finds it's voice. I am the one who speaks for the Traveler." Said the speaker as he approached the new light.
"You must have no end of questions, Guardian." The speaker gestured for him to follow as they gazed towards the traveler, reaching the railing. The night breeze soothing.
"In its dying breath the Traveler created the Ghosts, to seek out those who can wield its Light as a weapon—Guardians, to protect us, and do what the Traveler itself no longer can." The Speaker told his tale as he gazed at the traveler.
"What happened to it? The Traveler for it to end up like that, silent." Ichigo asked, curious as to the answer. After all it was this thing's doing for its new life, second life.
Looking pensive, the Speaker continued. "I could tell you of the great battle, centuries ago…how the Traveler was crippled. I could tell you of the power of the Darkness, its ancient enemy. There are many tales, told throughout the City to frighten children. Lately those tales have stopped. Now…the children are frightened anyway." The speaker said somberly, looking down.
Ichigo who had so far remained silent looked to the speaker as he switched his focus back to him. "The Darkness is coming back. We will not survive it this time." The speaker said ominously. That did not sit well with ichigo.
Cortana who had remained silent this whole time decided to speak. "its armies surround us. The Fallen are just the beginning." She said as she gave her input.
"What can I do to help?" Ichigo asked, not liking the overall situation. It would seem that in this war, they were currently on the losing side.
Facing the young guardian, the speaker advised. "You must push back the Darkness. Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond…join them. your Ghost will guide you. I only hope she chose wisely." Looking toward said ghost on his shoulder the speaker finished his tale and dismissed them.
"I did…I'm sure of it. We're in this together now" Cortana said as she looked at ichigo.
"Thanks buddy." Said ichigo as he looked to his ghost.
"Well, where to now." Asked Cortana.
"hmm, honestly I kind of want to rest for a bit, let's find that room Cayde told us about."
And with that, their adventures were bound to continue.
And done.
Sorry for the long wait guys, what has it been two months now. Yeah, I didn't mean to leave you hanging. Well, technically this chapter was done two weeks ago, I only just know had time to go back and see some mistakes I made while writing this and correct them. probably still have some but oh well I'm no expert.
Anyhow the reason for my lateness is simple, THE GRIND IS REAL.
Between guardian games, and finally the start of season 17 there was no time for me to write. Though now that I have completed the season pass and maxed out my Titan, I can safely feel like I have achieved something and can take it easy. That is until solstice of heroes coming in July, then it's back to the grind for that armor.
But yeah so far, I'm really liking this season story and loot pool. Specially that dungeon Duality, really like the weapons, though I don't really have any god rolls as weapon drops are abysmal.
Sad Guardian hours.
Regardless I do hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, I was planning on writing a 10k chapter but couldn't and I felt like I found a good stopping point so yeah, a 7k chapter is still good enough I hope.
Oh, right one other thing if the pacing seems rushed its done-on purpose as now that I look back on it, destiny 1 campaign was really boring, in the sense that the story was lacking and only really got good around the taken king expansion. So, I'm pushing myself to get the story moving so that I can get to witch queen, hopefully before the final shape expansion comes out.
There is a long road ahead, for me and Ichigo.
Once again thanks for reading and please leave a comment so that I know what people think and improve on.
Constructive criticism helps and will hopefully make me a better writer.
Hopefully.