King of the Sky
Chapter XI
Ripples
Silence…
The battle was over, and now all was quiet and still, save for the sizzling and smoking, dry ground, around Sora, who stood there, panting with his weapons buried in the ground.
Sora held that pose for a good long while. Not because he was exhausted but because he felt empowered.
He still didn't understand how this Sword logic thing worked exactly, but he understood enough to know that the amount of absolute POWER he felt surging though his body right now, had come from Xôlak's death.
Sora was finally broken from his state by the P.A. and Variks' voice, echoing out "success Guardian…successssss…"
And with that, Sora gave a sigh of relief as he let both weapons dispel and fell on his rump "glad that's over" he sighed as he let his top half fall the rest of the way to the ground.
"You're telling me" Chirithy sighed with emotional exhaustion as he appeared and fell on Sora's chest.
The Guardian laughed in response as he reached up and pet the Ghost on his chest "hay, at least all that Darkness is gone" he thought aloud as he breathed in the slightly cleaner air. The Solar flare, having cleaned away some of the Hive rot and purged the stifling Darkness from the room.
Chirithy gave an uncomfortable hum though "about that…" he trailed off with uncertainty in his digital voice, as he lifted up off Sora and the boy lifted his head to look at his Ghost.
"Your worried about my Rage Form aren't you?" Sora accurately guessed, as Chirithy stared at him intently.
Sora sighed as he let his head fall back before pushing himself up into a sitting position, with his legs crossed "ok, first of all, I don't think this is a new thing. I'm pretty sure I've been able to do it for a while" Sora began and Chirithy started to vibrate nervously.
Sora cupped his hands under Chirithy and pulled him down to eye level "look Chirithy, you need to understand that the Darkness it's self, isn't inherently good or evil. It's the thing in the Dark that wants to control us" Sora began as Chirithy continued to stare at him.
Sora then held a hand over his heart as he took a breath and let a little of the Darkness within him, bleed out, in tandem with his Light "there's Dark and Light in all of us. Not just the Awoken or the Hive. We all have a little Darkness in our hearts, that's just natural for everyone. The trick is not loosing yourself to it" Sora finished as he gripped tight, the chains he wove around his Darkness and pulled it back in.
Chirithy whined with uncertainty as he scrunched up the "face" of his shell "I don't know" he muttered as he gazed down and into Sora's heart.
The Ghost then looked up to his Guardian's face though, and saw that radiant and pure smile of his. A smile that no evil could mimic.
It was then that Chirithy felt his resolve strengthen "but I trust you" he said with conviction and Sora's smile grew brighter if possible.
Sora then picked himself up off the ground and stretched a little "man, I feel like I could use another nap after that" Sora thought aloud, as he shook the stress out of his muscles.
Sora stopped suddenly with a curious hum though, as he looked down at ground in front of him.
It would seam that not everything at the epicenter of his Solar flare, had been incinerated, as Sora and Chirithy looked down with surprise, and some sadness, at Xôlak's trophies, surrounding a yellow, dodecahedron.
"Wow, an exotic Engram!" Chirithy said with childish excitement as he floated down and looked the Engram over "I always wondered why the Hive have these. Though I guess it was probably a trophy in this case" he thought aloud.
The Ghost quickly noticed that his Guardian wasn't paying attention though, as he looked up to see the boy just staring with a sad expression.
"Sora?" Chirithy asked with worry, but Sora didn't seam to hear him as he walked up to the fallen trophies.
Sora kneeled down and picked up the green Warlock Bond in his left hand and a blue Titan Mark in his right.
Sora's Solar flames had cleansed them. The metal now shined as if polished and the hologram, while still broken, seemed to glow with new power and Light.
And the Titan Marks had separated. The Hive sinew that stitched them together, having burned up and leaving them pristine, aside from some frying.
Sora hummed as he looked at the former trophies "we can't leave these here" he said as he gripped them tightly.
Chirithy then floated down in front of his face "we can take them back to the City. The Vanguard will know what to do with them" he said and Sora finally took notice of his Ghost again before giving a nod, and Chirithy Transmatted the Engram, the Bonds and the Marks, to his storage.
Sora then gave a curious hum as he looked to the Hunter Cloaks that Xôlak wore. Or rather, the new Cloak that lay in it's place.
"Huh?" Sora muttered as he grabbed the Cloak and stood, so he could hold it up in front of him.
The Cloak had visibly shrunk to a Human size and unlike the Titan Marks, the Cloak hadn't separated into it's component parts, though the Hive flesh that held it together was now gone.
Instead, threads of Solar Light, now held the stitching together on the patchwork Cloak, as the eternally burning flames, danced along the frayed edges of the now pristine cloth.
The patchwork pattern wasn't that bad ether. Four of eight component cloaks, met at the center, forming a sort of makeshift emblem. A golden hawk over a maroon background, with the cloth angled so that it looked as if the hawk were pulling up from a dive, was ripped in half and forming the top left quarter of the emblem. The top right quarter of the emblem, was a crimson flame over a royal blue background and also ripped, with the diagonal seam joined to the hawk, so that the flame looked like a wing. The bottom right was once two crossed Colt revolvers, over a steal background, now ripped so that only one remained and angled to the right, at a downward angle, lined up with talons of the hawk. The last quarter was a blue lightning bolt, over a yellow background and angled down and to the left, also lined up with the hawk's talons. The seams of the emblem, meeting in a deformed X.
The final four Cloaks formed the outer edge of their joined form. A crimson red Cloak, with gold leaf embroidery, bordering the edge, formed the top left, reaching about halfway down, before meeting with a white Cloak with black feathers, bordering the edges, formed the bottom left.
The White Cloak was stitched on in a way that had it's bottom skewed and reaching further down to the right, where it met with a midnight black Cloak with a star pattern on it, going up a quarter of the way, before meeting a simple grey cloak, that made up the top right.
All of it held together by Solar Light and the cloth burned clean.
As Sora stared at the Cloak, he felt the Light imbued in it, resonate with his own. Almost like a thank you.
Sora felt a small smile, form on his face before he closed his eyes and set his face into one of determination. Then, with a flourish he threw the Cloak over his shoulder and clasped it to his suit. Sora then slowly reached up and pulled his hood over his head, leaving only a little of his spiky hair to stick up and out, before opening his eyes.
Chirithy stared at Sora for a moment before giving an approving nod "now you look like a Hunter" he said cheerfully and Sora smiled at him.
Sora then gave a hum of confusion though, as he realized something "wait a minute. Why hasn't Variks opened the door for us yet?" he asked while looking around and Chirithy did so too, before the two looked to each other and the Ghost shrugged the sides of his shell, like shoulders.
Elsewhere, Petra and Variks were staring at a monitor. The Fallen's four glowing blue eyes, looked as though they might pop out of his head and Petra was sure that his mandibles were hanging wide open, beneath his breather and chainmail moth covering.
"Well…that was…most interesting…" Variks trailed off and for once, Petra couldn't tell if his pauses were do to the language barrier or their collective stunned state.
"Indeed" Petra added a little numbly at both the amazing feats she just witnessed and the revelation that Sora could probably destroy the Reef single handedly and with minimal effort, were he inclined.
Petra finally tore her eyes from the screen to look around the room at the others with her. A few of the Techeuns had actually fainted after seeing, and to a degree, feeling the Guardian's display of power. The biggest surprise of all though, had to be the revelation that Sora could wield the Darkness. THAT had definitely caught their eye.
Petra found herself sighing while rubbing her face with stress. All the while thinking, why couldn't it have been a normal, arrogant and annoying Hunter, instead of this overpowered ball of sunshine she didn't know how to deal with.
Meanwhile, Mara Sov was also watching a display from her throne, showing Sora's progress.
The Queen's face was an impassive mask, as she processed everything she just witnessed. She knew that the boy was powerful and had Darkness in him, but even she didn't expect this. She was at least glad that she was able to keep her emotions and facial expressions in cheek this time.
Her brother on the other hand…
Uldren wasn't quite so lucky, with his arms dangling and shoulders slouched, while his mouth hung open and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Incoherent sounds spilling from his mouth, as he tried to process what he'd seen.
Mara actually chuckled as she glanced over at Uldren. She then reached over and pushed his jaws shut, snapping her brother out of his trance.
Uldren had the decency to look embarrassed as he straitened up and shook his head clear "well…that was…something…" Uldren trailed off.
"Now you are being to understand how important the Guardian and his weapon are" Mara said as her eyes burned into an image of Sora using his Keyblade on the monitor.
Mara sat there, staring in contemplation for a long moment. What really got her attention was what the Guardian had said to his Ghost, regarding the Darkness. It was a philosophy that few Guardians would accept and something frighteningly similar to the Awoken.
Eventually, Mara looked to one of her guards "inform Petra and Variks that further trials will not be necessary and have the Guardian brought here" she ordered.
The guard bowed, before moving towards the exit and sending a message to Petra as she went.
Mara leaned back in her throne as she thought on all that had happened and the implications. A powerful new piece had been added to the board, in this game between Light and Dark. A piece she had the chance to influence.
But that only begged the question though…
What other forces were in motion now, and how were existing players reacting to this drastic shift in power.
Meanwhile, at that same moment, wind blew gently as the sun shined down upon the Tower and the Last City.
Something was out of place though.
Standing, not in his study, but at the landing where Guardians normally Transmatted down before their ships docked, was a Warlock in white robes and wearing a white mask.
The Speaker stared up at the Traveler with an air about him that no one had seen before, drawing the attention of many a Guardian, going to and fro. The three century old Guardian had been standing there the entire day after all. Staring up at the Traveler with an air of something almost like…fulfillment.
The Speaker wasn't the only one acting odd though, as the unusually quiet, Hunter Vanguard, stood a ways away, watching the Speaker.
Cayde-6, flexed his hand as he worked up the nerve to approach the man. Eventually he sighed though and started making his way over to the Speaker.
Cayde clapped his hands together once, to get his game face one "hay, Speaker! What's shakin'!" he greeted as he leaned on the railing next to the old Warlock.
The Speaker finally broke his gaze from the Traveler and turned his attention to the E.X.O.
"Cayde" he greeted before looking back to the sphere in the sky "I was wondering when someone would come check if I'd gone senile" he joked, halfheartedly.
Cayde chuckled lightly in response "yah, a few of my boys are making bets and I think Ikora's starting to get ancy" he replied. The Hunter Vanguard's expression became unusually serious though "but…that's not why I'm here…" he trailed off.
The Speaker turned his full attention to the Hunter at his admission and waited patiently for Cayde to organize his thoughts "I've been uhh…having dreams…" Cayde started "like the Deepstone Crypt ones, but…this one was different" he said.
The Speaker hummed as he thought on Cayde's words. It wasn't often you could get an E.X.O. to talk about the Deepstone Crypt dreams…well, unless you managed to get them drunk, but still "how was it different from the others" the Speaker asked.
Cayde sighed as he turned to face the city. He took a while to answer, but finally "I had help" he said simply.
The Speaker waited patiently for Cayde to continue and the E.X.O. eventually shook his head with a sigh "it started out like usual. I'm walking through a field of millet, an army standing between me and a tower, but then…a hawk made of Light, came in and dived into the ground next to me and went up in flames, like a phoenix. And then, once the fires died down, a boy was standing there at my side…" he began "I couldn't make out what he looked like, on account of him being made of Solar fire…well, aside from the spiky hair maybe…and he fought with me, all the way to the tower" Cayde paused to chuckle a little "and get this, he fought with a-"
"Giant key" the Speaker interrupted him and Cayde froze. He then looked over to the Speaker, his unspoken question obvious.
The Speaker just looked back out to the Traveler though "Cayde…I speak for the Traveler…" he began and Cayde sensed an unusual seriousness in his voice "and in all the time I have served it…it has only spoken to me once…" he said before looking back to Cayde "last night in my dreams" he finished.
Cayde blinked and looked back out to the city "huh…well ain't that somthin'…" he said and the Speaker nodded as he looked back up "in my dream, I became the hawk and flew in an infinite void of Darkness. And in the middle of it, there was a pillar of Light that was flickering out. But as I drew closer, I saw a warrior, made of Solar Light, battling Dark creatures, atop a tower with a mosaic of glass as the top. And when he was victorious, the tower shined with such Light. It became a beacon in the Darkness" he said.
Cayde hummed as he thought on the Speaker's dream "when we reached the tower, we climbed it…as far as I know, no E.X.O. has ever made it to the top in our dreams, but we did. And when we got there, the floor was a stained glass picture of me…and then the dream ended" he recounted.
The two stood in silent contemplation for a moment.
"Something has happened" the Speaker finally broke the silence as he looked to Cayde, "something powerful has arrived. Something that has roused the Traveler from it's death slumber, if only for a moment" he finished.
"Something we need to keep an eye out for" Cayde added as he leaned on the railing and looked out over the city.
Cayde in no way doubted the Traveler, but he had never put all his faith in it the solve everything. But this…to actually experience this vision stuff happening himself…it painted things in a different light.
Any further contemplation was cut short though, by static erupting over his comm. "Cayde, we have a situation. Get back here now" Ikora called with urgency.
Cayde glanced over at his Ghost before looking to the Speaker, who'd received a similar message.
"Well, duty calls" the E.X.O. quipped, as his mood returned, somewhat, back to normal, and the two made their way to the Vanguard hall.
[EXTRAS]
Collector's Lament
"Thanks for set'n things strait for us Hunter" -unknown Hunter
A/N - Just so you know, this won't be Sora's final appearance. He'll get better gear later.
Also, what Exotic do you think Sora should get. Let me know in the reviews.