0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover
A Frozen Light
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
Chapter Four
Settling In
-0-0-0-0-0-
There was silence in the Northern Respite Bar as the patrons stared at the TV with open-mouthed shock. Guardians one and all, it was after all the bar directly across from the location of the former third tower, they knew exactly how impossible what had occurred on TV was. Shaxx was a legend, he had been a Chosen of the Traveler for longer than the City had been around. He had fought in every major war and been in both the Battle of Six Fronts and the Twilight Gap. He had led the counter charge that broke the Fallen at Twilight Gap. He was the master of the crucible, the invincible Lord who had only lost to Ikora of the Vanguard. Once. And Cayde, but most people liked to forget that match.
And they had all just watched him get utterly humiliated by a no-name rookie who, by Vanguard Commander Zavala's own words, hadn't even gotten her certifications yet.
Hibiki didn't care about that detail. His eyes remained glued to the monitor even as the rest of the bar exploded into whispers and outraged shouting as bets were called due. Red. All he could see was red hair as the girl on the screen turned to chat with her ghost. It was that shade. That impossibly bright and shimmering shade that was never seen in the City.
"Is that her?" he muttered, lifting his beer to his lips.
"Is who what?" His drinking companion, an Awoken Firebreak Titan by the name of Dace, asked.
Hibiki shook his head. "Nothing, just… That girl looks familiar," he said, nodding to the nearest TV. Off in the corner, a Stoneborn punched a member of the Firebreak Order and the table devolved into a fistfight that was swiftly broken up by way of a glowing hammer flying from the bartender to vaporize the participants. Four very annoyed-looking Titans were resurrected by their ghosts. One glance at the literally burning man behind the counter was enough to send them walking away from each other.
He shook his head. There was a reason this was a Guardian-only bar.
"You recognize her? She's supposedly new," Dace said. He tipped back his beer as he watched the heated debate between a trio of off-duty female Stoneborn one table over.
"I know. You know I remember bits and pieces, right?" Hibiki said.
"Ah, From before then. Let it go, my friend," Dace said with a shake of his head, "Even if you knew her there's no way she knows you anymore. You know that, right?"
"Yeah yeah…" He sighed and tipped back his own drink once more. His eyes drifted to the screen again. Red hair. Brilliant, glowing red hair that shimmered in the lights of the arena.
Just like the memories. A voice, a laugh, a moment with… Hair, it was always the hair.
He set the drink down, empty at last, and stood up. "I need to go get ready for my next duty shift," he said.
"That's not until tomorrow," Dace said, blinking at him in apparent confusion.
"Lots to get done," he replied, heading for the door, "Have a good night my friend."
"It's barely noon!"
He ignored the protest as the door of the bar closed behind him, leaving the First Pillar Titan on the bustling streets of the northern wall district. He needed to visit the Tower. He needed to meet that girl and… He sighed as he started down the street. Dace was probably right, but there was a small part of him that hoped she'd have a few more pieces to stick together.
Maybe. Hopefully.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Who?" The blue-haired woman asked, looking flummoxed at Ranma's words.
"I- Um…" Ranma trailed off uncertainly. Was this woman Cologne? Or just similar?
"Excuse me, but do you know her?" Ikora asked. The Warlock leaned forward curiously.
"... Maybe?" Ranma said after breaking off her staring match with the spitting image of a much younger version of the old woman who had taught her so much. "There was an old woman, its really complicated, but she taught me a lot of what I know. Her name was, technically, Khu Lon but most of the time-"
"My name is Khu Long. I'm a Warlock working for Vanguard Ikora-" the woman said, then paused. She waved a hand and a crimson painted ghost appeared above her hand. "What do you mean 'Oops', Moon?"
"Um…" The Ghost spun in place, its corners expanding and contracting nervously, "It's possible that the scratching on your tombstone may… not… have been indicative of another letter." The last bit was said in such a rush it took Ranma a moment to decipher. She, along with everyone in the room stared at the Ghost with flat expressions.
Ranma sank into the chair, her eyes locked on the other girl, and she was scarcely older than Ranma. Was this really Cologne? She searched for some form of recognition in the other girl, but nothing seemed to be appearing as she argued with her ghost. It was surreal just like it had been when they used the Nanban mirror to travel into the past.
"So, what are the odds that you wind up knowing someone who just randomly walks in?" Cayde-6 asked, "Cause that is just weird timing, know what I mean?"
"Cayde," Ikora chided.
"What? I'm serious. What are the odds?" The Hunter Vanguard waved at the two of them.
"Whatever the odds, Guardian, are you certain you recognize Khu Long here?" Zavala asked.
Silent, Ranma stood up and walked across the room. Khu Long leaned back as Ranma leaned in to examine her. "Um, hello? Personal space please?" the Warlock asked as Ranma circled her.
Ranma ignored the protests as she looked deeper than the other girl's skin. Beyond the hair, the face, to the energies beneath. There was Light there, yes and strong too, very strong, but… Yes, there was the Ki. Hidden away beneath the layers of Light was the core of this girl's lifeforce. Compared to the Cologne she had known it was weak, but it was still far and away stronger than anything she sensed from the average Guardian. Enough, perhaps, to have equaled Kuno at the time she arrived in Nerima. Most importantly though…
"Her Ki is the same. You're definitely Khu Lon," Ranma declared, stepping back with her arms behind her back. This was the weirdest thing she had ever encountered. By leagues. What was she supposed to do now?
The other girl stared back at her with wide eyes. "Uh, Miss Ikora?" she asked, "What is this about?"
"Guardian Saotome here has all of her pre-death memories," Ikora replied, "She has some skill in what she calls 'Ki'. We've yet to have an opportunity to examine it, but you apparently share the appearance and 'Ki' of someone she knew before."
Khu Lon stared back at her, her eyes narrowing as she in turn examined Ranma properly for the first time. "I-" her head tilted to the side. "My memories are little bits and pieces, but would you have any idea why I feel the urge to call you 'son-in-law'?"
"Of course, that's what you remember," Ranma sighed. Really? Was this what her life was going to be from now on? She didn't even know what to think about this.
"Excuse me? Son-in-law?" Ikora asked.
"Its complicated. There was a tribal law thing. We uh… Well, I never recognized the validity of it," Ranma said, taking another step back just for safety, "It's complicated."
"When aren't things with you complicated?" Cayde asked.
"Not as often as I'd like," she replied.
Khu Lon sighed. "So we know each other," she said.
"Yes, but you were a lot older the last time I saw you. I only recognized you because of an incident with a time-traveling mirror," Ranma replied.
"The more you talk, the less I know what to believe," Cayde-6 deadpanned.
"This universe is full of many mysteries," the Speaker said, drawing the room's attention, "I would hazard a guess that this reunion is the Travelers' will. Rejoice, for such reunions are rare things indeed."
Ranma looked back at the older girl who had also turned back her way. "Hello, I'm Khu Lon," the Chinese Warlock said, extending a hand, "I understand we know each other."
Ranma took it and they shook hands. It was, Ranma decided, the weirdest feeling to be shaking hands with someone you knew, yet didn't know. "In the past, yes. You taught me a lot," she said, pausing awkwardly, "Perhaps… I can return the favour if you'd like?"
"It would be fascinating, I'm sure," the far too young Jouketsuzoku Elder replied.
"Well then, I'm sure the two of you will have much to talk about in the future, " Ikora said, "But I believe we are done here for the moment, Ranma. Zavala? Cayde? Speaker?"
"I believe we are done here as well," Zavala agreed.
"I'm good, but I've got a lot of questions for later, Ranma. You hear?" Cayde said. She nodded.
"I believe we are all in agreement. Ranma, if you wouldn't mind stopping by my office sometime in the next few days. I have some further questions about history that you may be able to answer," the Speaker said.
"Sure. I'll see what I can do," Ranma agreed. It was probably a little unfortunate that she hadn't really paid much attention in history class. How was she supposed to know that she was going to be the last source of historical knowledge left?
"Then you may go," the Speaker said.
"Khu Long, your delivery?" Ikora asked.
"Oh right… We'll catch up later then? I'll have Moon transfer my credentials to your ghost," Khu Lon said.
Kiko popped up next to Ranma. "I've got them already. I'm efficient," she sang before popping out of existence again.
"Then… We'll catch up later," Ranma agreed. She turned to leave and made it four steps before pausing. She half-turned back to Khu Lon who was handing over a data pad and several books to Ikora.
This was the strangest feeling. To know and not know someone at the same time. To be both alone, and in familiar company at once.
She didn't like it. Not one bit.
-0-0-0-0-0-
The world returned to Shaxx in a very familiar wave of light. He groaned and pulled himself out of the crater his body had formed when it crashed into the wall of the east-side financial building. He rubbed his helmet and nodded to his Ghost. It spun in place then returned to his armor.
"Hell of a hole you dug this time, Lord Shaxx," Amanda Holiday said as she looked bemusedly at him from the lift she was riding, "Need a lift down?"
"It would be appreciated, Ms. Holiday," he said as he pulled himself out of the hole and stepped onto the platform.
"Hell of a light show. Did you seriously get your ass kicked by that new kid?" she asked as the lift lowered to the ground where a group of emergency responders was holding back a group of curious onlookers.
There was no way he was going to live this down. Not in a human lifetime. If Zavala had his way, not in ten. "I made a few tactical errors," he said, rolling a shoulder to get a lingering kink out of it. The Light healed a lot, but there were always a few lingering phantom issues after a particularly violent death.
"Tactical error? So that's what they call picking a fight out of your weight class these days, huh?" Amanda chuckled, "I've got a lift over there for you. Zavala wants to chat." She waved to a nearby square where the familiar form of an FotC transport was waiting with a pair of guards.
He sighed. "Very well," he acquiesced. There was no point in putting off the 'I told you so', besides, they needed to chat about that girl.
The ride back to the tower was, thankfully, quiet. The FotC guards had been left behind to help organize repairs, while Amanda was flying the ship. It gave him time to put his thoughts in order. Time to think, judge, and analyze. Ranma Saotome was something else. He could admit that he had been too hasty in judging her by her age. Despite not wearing armor, or carrying any of the usual Light enhancing tools that Guardians had developed, she had bested him. Not once, not twice, but all five rounds.
Five rounds, back to back. He was not undefeated, he would be the first to admit that he had lost to all three of the Vanguard on at least one occasion. He had been bested by others as well, but never by someone so new to the tower. She did, however, have her memories of before based on her own words, so perhaps judging her like a novice was foolish. No, his words had clearly stepped on the pride of someone just as stubborn and practiced as he was. She may not have had the centuries, but he had challenged a Master in their bailiwick and had been shown the door.
What was less understandable, and in truth utterly terrifying, was that weapon of hers.
He rested his head against his fist as he recalled the weapon. It had been crude, a pale easily shattered copy of his hammer at first. It wasn't unusual to see the hammers of new Firebreakers shatter on first use, much like her blade had. But they had people to coach and teach them how to improve. This girl, this Ranma Saotome, had invented a whole new application of Arc Light and refined it to the level of his hammer in minutes.
All while he tried and failed to kill her.
Never had he seen the like.
He grinned beneath his helmet. "The Age of Triumph is getting more interesting by the day," he said softly.
Ten minutes later he walked down the steps to the Vanguard's war room to a combination of wolf whistles, insults, and mocking gestures. A perfectly normal response to losing so spectacularly. Most of them had probably lost some glimmer on him. A lot of glimmer.
He could handle a few days of recriminations with grace. It would serve a lesson. No one was invincible. Arrogance could cost anyone victory.
Shaxx strolled into the war room and was promptly met by sarcastic clapping. "Hail the conquered hero," Cayde-6 called from where he was lounging in a chair with his feet up on the center table. He tossed a small yellow ball up and caught it again. "You won me seventy glimmer. Should have asked for more."
"Not happening Cayde," Ikora said, casting him a glance as she looked up from her data pad, "Quite the show Lord Shaxx. I'm curious as to why you decided a certification examination needed to go that far?"
"Indeed," Zavala agreed from the head of the table, "Your temper is usually under better control."
Shaxx coughed into his fist. "We may have gotten under each other's skin, I will admit," he said with what dignity he could muster. He would admit there wasn't much left. Not after the way she had gone after certain… sensitive bits of his anatomy. There were going to be changes made to his armor in the near future.
"That is putting it mildly. I know you have to maintain a level of intimidation, Shaxx, but she has been a Guardian for two days. Two days, Shaxx!" Ikora said. He was thankful that his helmet concealed his wince.
"She approached me right after I finished chewing out two idiots for nearly shooting each other's ghosts during a crucible match. My mood was fairly bad at that moment," he said in defense, "but you are correct. This became far more of a spectacle than it should have."
"Ah ah, that is not your fault," Cayde said, "The moment you booked that arena an alert went out to half the tower. I did a little sneaking around while we were waiting for you and, it turns out the lady at the desk down there noticed and fired an invite to everyone she knew. Things snowballed from there."
He really should have expected that. The non-Guardian population loved a spectacle.
Zavala stepped forward and planted his hands on the table. The glow of the lights illuminated his face from below. "More importantly, however," He said, "What observations can you make concerning Guardian Saotome's skills?"
"She's probably the best hand-to-hand combatant this city has ever seen," he said without hesitation, "Certainly better than me. I would say that there is a solid chance that she might even be the most dangerous person currently in this tower."
"Including the Young Wolf?" Zavala asked seriously.
Shaxx laughed, his voice booming off the wall as his body shook. "Better than the Young Wolf? Zavala, the Young Wolf is no hand-to-hand master. She's a master of guns, of light and unconventional tactics. More importantly, she has died frequently. Unless your eyes fail you, did you not see me go down five times back-to-back without doing more than singing that girl's clothing?" He gestured back out the door with both hands. "The Young Wolf is among our best, but I have beaten her. Repeatedly. Today I lost, repeatedly. No one has ever done that. Not even Saladin if you recall Zavala."
His old training partner nodded thoughtfully. "An excellent observation, Shaxx… So she has passed her certification?" he asked.
"Only for hand-to-hand. By her own admission, she knows nothing of modern weapons or equipment. But I'm sure she'll pick it up quickly enough. She certainly picked up the light quickly enough," He said, his voice dropping to a mutter. Watching a technique form from nothing to completion in the middle of a frantic battle to the death was going to haunt his dreams for a while. The talent and skill required for such a feat…
"I'll give her a hand with the guns," Cayde said, getting looks from the rest of the Vanguard. "What?"
"Don't you have duties to be attending to?" Ikora asked.
"Yeah, 'duties'," Cayde repeated wiggling the yellow ball in his hands sarcastically, "So much to do right now. You know I normally complain about this job's workload, but the last two weeks have basically been dead. Teaching Miss Nutcracker how to shoot should be fun."
Shaxx winced as certain parts echoed the pain he had felt. "Be sure to teach her to aim for the head, Cayde," Shaxx said. He did not want to get shot down there next.
"I'll teach her just where to aim," Cayde mimed shooting a pistol at Shaxx, "Don't you worry."
"I can see where that hand is pointed, Cayde," he told the Hunter.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
He eyed the Exo for a long moment before snorting. "Is that everything, Zavala?" he asked.
"One last thing, what the hell did she say that made you book a deathmatch?" the Awoken Titan asked.
"Let's just say we both said some regrettable things about each other's competency and stepped on each other's pride, and leave it at that, shall we?" Shaxx said after a moment. Off to the side, Ikora sighed.
"She was quiet when she showed up. I wasn't expecting her to have an ego," the woman said.
Shaxx chuckled. "You should know better, Ikora," he chided with a laugh, "Its-"
"If you say, it's always the quiet ones, I will not be responsible for the hole you have to fill." Void Light sparkled in her open palm.
He chuckled. "Time for me to get back to my desk. I've crucible matches to organize," he said, turning to leave.
"Hey, Shaxx, maybe next time don't challenge the rookie to a deathmatch? Looks bad," Cayde called after him. "Seriously, does no one take time to get a read on people anymore?"
Shaxx tuned out the joking Exo as he walked back to his desk. He stifled a groan as he saw the number of messages that had arrived in his absence. He paused and then glanced up at the ahamkara skull he kept on the wall. Why did he have the feeling that it was suddenly laughing at him?
Shaking his head he returned to work.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"... Six fancy sets, sixteen workout, another ten regular. Where are you planning on using these? You do realize most female Guardians get like one type of bra? I checked several surveys just to be sure," Kiko said as they walked out of the third clothing store of the day, a small boutique on the edge of a plaza that Ranma was fairly sure was designed to double as a kill zone.
"And most of them look like they have a brick wall for a body," Ranma replied blithely with a sniff. Before she had kept female clothing for disguises, but undergarments had been… situational. Very situational. "Look, I can't turn back anymore so I'm going to need this. Most of them will just wish that they could benefit from these."
Kiko stared at her and spun her shell once. "Gee, ego much?"
Ranma rolled her eyes and turned away as she slipped the bag into her ki-pocket. She could feel the Ki-construct straining at the seams as she did. She was going to have to carry the rest by hand. "How's our budget?"
"You've spent a hundred grand in three hours. What do you think?" Her ghost deadpanned.
"Doing fine then."
"I've seen people spend less buying weapons!" Her ghost sounded actively pained by the spending spree.
Ranma shrugged and looked about the plaza. It was getting late. After leaving the Speaker's office she had gotten a shower before heading out. Kiko had managed to find a list of recommended stores and boutiques somewhere and she had put it to good use. Or not so good as Kiko seemed to think. Was she supposed to wear the same four sets all the time? Honestly.
Finding silks had been… It was rather apparent that silk production was basically nonexistent these days given the high prices for even a single item. High in comparison to what she remembered, even after factoring in the different values of the Last City's credits versus the Japanese Yen.
"I could use something to eat. Anything good around here, Kiko?" she asked her ghost.
"You mean in the quantities you eat? You realize your budget only goes so far, right?" Kiko asked.
"I have standards," Ranma replied. This was one of those things she had wished changed over the years. The clothing she picked up had always been a bit pricey in most people's eyes. But for Ranma, it was well worth it. Silk was a very nice fabric and wearing other things tended to irritate her after so long wearing it.
"Pricey ones," Kiko muttered, "... Burgers?"
"Do I look American?"
"What's an 'American'?"
Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to that.
There was silence for a few moments before Kiko said, "How about Ramen?"
"How far?"
"A few blocks away. In the direction of the train station," her ghost said.
"That'll do," she agreed, putting her feet to work as she walked in the direction her ghost indicated. Walking through the streets was easy with her ghost floating by her shoulder. A path opened in the crowd seemingly without thought. It was like the idea of a Guardian caused people to step away out of respect, or fear perhaps? It was hard to tell. The people kept sending glances her way as she walked past stalls selling electronics, carpets, plushies, and clothes amongst other things. Whispers spread in her wake and she was hardly naive enough to not recognize it. Nerima had had similar moments. The most common word she heard was 'Shaxx'. The name of the Crucible master. Evidently, a lot of people had watched the match.
As she met the gaze of a few street punks her age they shied away and disappeared. This place was strange compared to Nerima. Back there everyone had some level of martial arts training. It was just something weird about the place that seemed to draw the martial artists to it. Here… Well, despite clearly having a greater need for it, no one moved like they were martial artists. A few people had combat training, but no one moved like people in Nerima did.
She really had to wonder how they had managed to stay alive even with the help of the Guardians.
Still, they seemed to be thriving. The people didn't seem fearful as they walked about the streets. It felt like Tokyo on a nice calm day. A few more flashing lights, screens that would start talking to you when you walked by, and far too many stalls in the streets, but nice.
As they turned the next corner Ranma's eyes fell upon something unexpected. A Torii gate stood at the far end of the street. Painted red it stood across the entrance of what appeared to be a Shinto-Buddhist temple.
As they walked down the street, Ranma came to the conclusion that the temple wasn't dedicated to anyone she recognized. She couldn't see the typical dedications to Amaterasu or Inari, or anything for Susanoo, Tsukiyomi, or any of the others. Instead, there were a pair of statues on either side of the Torii gate. Each was a statue of a woman with long braided hair, dressed akin to a female samurai. A single blade was held by each, pointed upwards towards the sky while the statues looked down upon the people walking past.
She was curious as she peered through the Torii gate, but she set it aside as her stomach grumbled. An inspection could wait until she had time, and food. It would be there tomorrow after all.
-0-0-0-0-0-
After a meal, the next stop was a grocery store. Things were… Honestly, they were normal when Ranma walked in, picked things up, paid, and walked out. It was just a little weird. Some part of her kept expecting things to be different in this future, but everything felt just… normal.
It was weird. A lot of things were weird.
The trip back to the tower drew a few odd looks, what with her being laden down with grocery bags, but she made it back up to her apartment without incident and dropped onto the couch the moment the food was put away. She left the bags of clothing in a pile on her table.
She stared out the window as Kiko hummed somewhere in the background.
She was lonely. After coming home from school or an adventure she was used to listening to her pops and Soun cheating at shogi, or her Mother and Kasumi in the kitchen prepping dinner. Maybe Akane breaking something in the dojo. Or, if she was unlucky, the cry of some lunatic looking for her head.
She'd have killed for a jealous suitor to attack her right then. At least she wouldn't be staring out a window at the apartment across the way feeling completely alone.
She practically jumped out of her skin when a deep 'Ding Dong Ding' rang out in her kitchen. "Kiko?!" She called.
"Doorbell!"
Ranma blinked. Who was coming to see her at, she checked the clock under the TV, eight o'clock at night? The doorbell rang again.
Then there was a bing and Kiko said, "Hello, who is it?"
In a remarkably clear voice compared to her experience with telecommunications in the past, came the voice of Khu Lon, "Its Khu Long- Lon- ugh you know who I am. Can I come in?"
"Let her in," Ranma said, sitting up and trying to smooth out her hair, which was overdue for a proper meeting with a brush anyways, with her hands. She stood up and started walking to the door.
"Thanks." The call ended with a click and twenty seconds later there was a knock on the door. Ranma opened it and gave a shaky smile to the girl on the other side.
"Hey, come in," she said, stepping aside to let Khu Lon into the apartment.
"Thank you. Nice place," the former Amazon elder said as she glanced around.
"I suppose it is," Ranma sighed, "I haven't done anything with it though."
"Most people don't until they move out," the blue-haired girl said, "Not until they get a place along the wall anyways."
"Along the wall?" Ranma repeated. Khu Lon nodded.
"There are rules about minimum response times in case of an attack that Warlocks and Titans in the city have to keep in mind. Hunters are so rarely in the city for long that they waived the requirements for them," she said, "So most Guardians get a place in one of the condos built into the wall. They're available for FotC personnel and Guardians. They're usually a bit bigger than here, but not always. They can have a better view though since they aren't shoved into a walled compound."
"Huh, oh, um, would you like something to drink, or?" Ranma brushed her hair back behind an ear. She really needed to braid it, it was getting annoying hanging loose.
"I'm fine for the moment," Khu Long said. An awkward silence hung between them for a few moments before the bluette sighed. "So, we know each other?"
"Yeah… Well, knew anyways," Ranma said. She walked over to the couch and moved some bags out of the way. "Feel free to sit I guess. I just got home so things are a bit of a mess right now." She dropped into her chair and pulled her knees up to her chest. Khu Lon took a seat much more gracefully than Ranma did.
"I suppose you're right about that. It is knew, now anyways," the older girl said, "I can't imagine how this feels to you. For me it's… I've always been curious about what came before. It comes from having brief flashes of memory here and there. Little details, words, thoughts, ideas, sometimes in the middle of a fight I'll just do something I don't remember learning. I always wondered where it came from."
She brushed a blue lock behind her ear. "This is a chance to learn the why and how, but for you… Its like meeting a stranger with your friend's face, isn't it? Like I've been replaced by a doppelganger of some sort."
"That's one way of putting it," Ranma agreed, "But, I only really knew you at the end of your lifespan. You were around three hundred when we met and you were the tiniest old woman I'd ever met in my life."
"Age wasn't particularly kind I take it?" She quirked her lips in clear amusement.
"You were two feet tall on a good day," Ranma deadpanned in reply. She smirked at the dropped jaw that she got.
"Two feet? No human can get that short. The organ issues alone-" Khu Lon protested.
"Don't really matter to a master of Ki. You weren't the only tiny old person I met. Seems like the more powerful you get the tinier you tend to be when you get old. Everyone that was two feet tall I ever met was a powerful martial artist," she replied. There had to be something weird about whatever technique they used because she really couldn't see the advantage of being two feet tall.
"And people call guardian's bullshit," Khu Lon muttered.
"You get infinite do-overs. That's more bullshit than most martial artists ever get," Ranma said with some amusement.
"Coming back from the dead is a known phenomenon. People don't just lose four feet of height from age!" Khu Lon protested.
"Only if they live three hundred years," Ranma said.
"It wasn't an issue in the Golden Age." She sounded actually offended.
"Probably because they didn't use ancient Ki techniques," she said with a smirk.
"Yes, they knew better than to rely on flawed superstition," Khu Lon huffed.
"You were the one that loved boasting about the superiority of three thousand years of Chinese history, not me," Ranma said. There was a moment of silence before the other girl sighed.
"Did I really?" she asked softly.
She shrugged, sending her red hair rippling. "All the time. It was obnoxious," Ranma replied, "But I learned a lot, and frankly from what I've seen you could use some of that three thousand years of Chinese knowledge. If Shaxx is your best, then Guardians leave a lot to be desired."
"He isn't, but he is amongst them," Khu Lon said, "Are we really that far behind the ancient past?"
"Ancient… It was the day before yesterday for me…" Ranma said, eliciting a wince from the other girl.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be. Not your fault… What do I even call you? You know I used to call you Old Ghoul?" Ranma quirked her lips in a grin.
"Well that's rude," Khu Lon grumbled.
Ranma shrugged. "You may have taught me a bunch, but… You were the old hag that kept trying to get me to marry your great-granddaughter, who was the girl who had spent the last year trying to gut me like a fish for winning a contest."
Khu Lon took that in with a strange look. "Huh… I… The more you say the more I'm questioning how much I actually want to know," she said, chewing her lip thoughtfully.
Ranma shrugged. "It's all rather complicated. The last three years were just… nuts. Completely nuts and now I'm…" She took a deep steadying breath and closed her eyes and buried her head in her knees.
"A thousand years or more out of time," Khu Lon said quietly.
"Yeah." She could feel the tears coming again. She squeezed her eyes shut harder as the tears continued to form. This wasn't the time to be crying. She started as a hand came to rest on her knee. She looked up to find the face of Khu Lon just above her.
"I know we're coming at this from opposite sides, but you aren't alone, Ranma. I'll be here, I'm not going anywhere, I promise," she said, leaning over to give Ranma a hug.
Ranma stiffened up reflexively at the hug, but sagged after a moment. She placed a hand on Khu Lon's arm. "I- Thanks. Thank you. I don't…" She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears welled up. Kiko bumped into her shoulder. "I went for a walk in the park, something jumped me and… I woke up a thousand years later…"
"Probably more. Ikora said that you died before the Golden Age," Khu Lon said softly.
"I didn't die. Someone put me in… What was it called Kiko?" She asked.
"An early Cryopod. They made several attempts to save her, but eventually gave up," her Ghost said.
Khu Lon pulled away and disappeared into the kitchen as Ranma watched. A few moments later she heard the kettle she had picked up at the grocery store being set onto the stovetop. "I think we could both use something to drink, right?" Khu Lon said, peering around the corner of the kitchen.
"Tea sounds great… I'm surprised how much seems the same as back then… It's all so weird," Ranma said.
"I can't even imagine," Khu Lon replied. They fell silent as the kettle heated up and the tea brewed. Once the tea was done, and they both had a cup in their hands, Khu Lon sat down on the couch again. "You know I've only been a Guardian for eight months?"
"What?" Ranma perked up. Khu Lon simply nodded.
"Eight-months. You know a lot of children don't even learn how to walk in eight months let alone… It's been a really weird eight months, and I don't even have anything to compare it to," she said. She sounded sad to Ranma. Melancholic, much like she felt.
"I know what you mean…" Ranma sighed. She closed her eyes and took a sip of the tea. The warm liquid was soothing as it rolled down her throat. This was Khu Lon, but it wasn't the Khu Lon she knew. She was basically as lost and confused as Ranma was, only with even less context to rationalize it all. She lowered the teacup and stared down into the liquid.
"Khu-chan, do you think we can be friends?" Ranma asked. This wasn't the old hag. She might have been, in another life, but now she was just a girl… Just a girl like Ranma was…
"Khu-chan? Is that some sort of honorific or something?" Khu asked, curious. Ranma nodded.
"It is. Take a bit to explain everything I guess. English is… Honestly, I'm surprised we even speak the same language," Ranma sighed. She would have expected to be speaking something entirely different after a thousand years of drift.
"The unintended benefit of having immortals around to keep your language relatively comprehensible," Khu said, "and the fact that our population isn't all that large compared to the past."
"Trust me, population size has nothing to do with it," Ranma deadpanned.
"Oh?"
"I'll have to tell you about some of the ancient scrolls I've had to try and read over the years. Population size has nothing to do with how weird a language can get," she said.
Khu sipped her cup of tea. "I wouldn't mind being friends," she said after a moment. She smiled at Ranma. "Hello Ranma, I'm Khu Long."
"Hi, I'm Ranma Saotome. Friends?" She asked with a smile back.
Khu raised her teacup. "To new old friends," she said and as one they raised their teacup and drained the glasses.
"To new old friends," Ranma agreed as she set the teacup down on her leg, "I wonder if anyone else became a Guardian?"
"Not likely. There aren't many Guardians compared to the old population," Khu said, shaking her head, "Rumour has it they can more reliably bring back those who died recently, but I've never seen the statistics myself."
"I kinda figured… No idea how I'd handle it if someone like Ryouga or Akane came through that door like you did," Ranma said.
"Who?"
Ranma shrugged. "Do you have time for a long ridiculous story?"
"It can't possibly be worse than the history of the city," Khu said.
The redhead quirked her lips and laughed. "I bet you ten glimmer you'll take that back before I'm done the first six months of my time in Nerima."
"I'll take that bet."
Twenty minutes later Ranma was ten glimmer richer.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"So what is it?" Ranma asked several hours, and several tales, later. The item in question was the rifle she had picked up from the dead guards in the Kuno-Lung facility.
Khu pursed as she turned the rifle over in her hands. "Different design from the usual recovered weapons," she said, "Sleeker design for one. Integrated launcher here… I'm not sure what this fires. I've never seen this weapon before. You said you got this in Old Tokyo?"
"In a hidden basement complex for Kuno-Lung Technologies," Kiko said.
"Kuno-Lung Technologies? I haven't heard of them before," Khu said, "I'll have to check the archives and see what we have on them, but I think your best option would be to take this over to Banshee-44. He's half-senile, but there's no one better with weapons. He'll probably be able to tell you about it, though he might confiscate it until you get your certs."
"I'll hold off until I get those then," Ranma replied.
"Hrm…" the bluette turned the weapon over in her hands one last time before she set it down on the counter. "Another item to look into I guess. Not that I have all that much to do at the moment."
"I thought you worked for Ikora?" Ranma asked.
She shrugged. "No more than any other Warlock. The fact is I'm not part of an Order and I'm not a troubleshooter for the Vanguard. For a new Guardian, things tend to be a bit slow unless there's an ongoing crisis," she said, "I mean, I could sign up for the Crucible matches or sparrow races, but…" She shrugged.
"Not interested in a rolling deathmatch?" Ranma asked.
"Basically, and I hate sparrows," Khu replied, "They drift way too much. I'll never understand people's fascination with them." Her ghost appeared by her shoulder.
"She keeps crashing them," Moon said.
"Moon!"
"You're lucky they don't charge anything for replacements," it continued.
"Why not?" Ranma asked.
"Because Sparrows are temporary constructs created from templates that can be broken down and reformatted on the spot," Khu explained, "It's complicated, but they'll explain it during the certification classes."
"... I'm still having issues with my doorbell. How exactly do they expect me to understand some future tech infinite bike system?" Ranma asked.
"You'll manage," Khu said with a smile.
Ranma went to tell her how she was getting tired of hearing that when Moon dinged abruptly. Khu's expression fell.
"And that is my reminder alarm. I've got to get back home and get some sleep," she sighed.
Ranma sagged. "It was nice to have you by," she said honestly. She was lucky that it was Khu Lon that she ran into honestly. The only time she had seen the Elder looking this young was back in time and she hadn't known her then. Seeing the lack of recognition had hurt for the first few minutes, but it was nothing like what seeing a blank look or confused expression on Akane or her Mother, or Ryouga, or… Literally anyone else.
"It was nice to come by," Khu said, still smiling. She reached around and pulled Ranma into a hug. The redhead let out a surprised eep. "We should do lunch tomorrow."
"Sure?" Ranma said, unsure what else to say.
"Excellent. I'll come by and pick you up. There's this nice little pasta place downtown. With the train its only like twenty minutes from here," she said, pulling back, "Sound good?"
"Sounds great," Ranma agreed.
"Laters then," Khu said with a wave before leaving.
When the door clicked shut behind her Ranma sagged against the refrigerator. "What did I just agree to?" she asked Kiko.
"By the sounds of it? Lunch with a friend. Relax," Kiko said, floating out before her, "I know you have issues with clingy suitors and such, but I don't think she's into girls that way. This'll just be lunch with a friend."
"You say that…" Ranma muttered. Kiko was probably right, but in her experience 'just friends' was a phase that lasted at most two conversations before someone reached for a hidden sword, or used the plates as shuriken.
Nerima just sucked some days.
"You'll see. Now, why don't you get that stuff put away and have a shower? After that, let's see what's on TV," Kiko said.
A shower sounded nice after spending hours walking around the city. "Sure." What even qualifies as TV these days?
-0-0-0-0-0-
Three bright shots ripped through the holographic target, leaving shimmering outlines of the impacts over the heart of the fallen-shaped target.
"Nice shooting," Cayde-6 cheered, "Now can you do it aga-" Three more shots passed through the target in the exact same spot. "Nice."
The shooting range in the tower was a busy place, frequented by FotC and Guardians alike. Dozens of people were present at any time of the day as the population of the tower cycled through for both recreational and professional purposes. More than a few groups were holding small shooting competitions with each other.
Ranma lifted the shooting goggles off her face and leaned the smoking rifle against her shoulder. "I expected this to be harder," she said honestly.
"And I expected your choice of targets to be more amusing," Cayde said walking over to her. He tapped a button on the side of her stall and the hologram flickered out at the other end of the hall and reformed right in front of them. "Seriously, even when it was a human target you didn't pick the happy fun place."
"I'd rather avoid making a habit of that," she replied flatly.
"Why not? It'll make the guys stop hitting on you," said the girl who had, over the last several days, rapidly become a good friend from where she was sitting on a bench against the wall.
"I withdraw my statement," Cayde said, pointing a finger at Khu who smirked back, "You are a scary lady."
"Thanks, I try."
Ranma snorted. "So what's left?" she asked.
"Let's see… You nailed the hand cannons and sidearms, blitzed the shotgun and submachine guns, and nailed all three types of rifles… I don't think I need to mention the bows," Cayde put his hand to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "I think that just leaves the high explosives, and I'm nervous about letting you near those after last week."
"The launcher malfunctioned!" Ranma protested. It wasn't her fault that it hadn't locked onto the nearer target, but instead the one directly behind it.
"You keep saying that, but that was an expensive ship you blew up. Gunnery Sergeant Jones still isn't happy about the damage. He won't even let me on the range at the moment. Me. I wasn't even the one holding the launcher," Cayde said, pointing to himself. He patted her on the shoulder a moment later with a grin. "Eh, not like you need a high explosives certification, technically. It just means no one will sell you explosives until you pass it."
"Gee, thanks."
"No problem. Now, you had that driving test earlier today?" he asked.
"Passed just fine," Ranma said. Learning to drive was a pain in the ass. Not because of the rules. Sure the city had rules you needed to follow, but this wasn't a driving course for City Streets. No, you needed to take a different course for that apparently and it had a lot more restrictions. Guardian drive certifications were…
They were what happened when immortals who laughed at death came up with a combat driving course. It was terrifying, death-defying, and just plain nuts. She hadn't died from it, but from the looks that the instructors kept giving her she suspected she was probably supposed to have done so at least once.
Probably a lot more than once.
"Really? I was wondering why Shaxx was cursing your name this morning," Cayde said, tapping his chin again.
"I didn't do it with Shaxx," she replied.
"Really? Huh. Must be something else then," Cayde shrugged, "I'll figure it out later. So, with today's performance, I'm happy to give you your firearms certification. From now on you'll be able to purchase, own, and operate firearms as any other Guardian can. Congrats kid, though I know you don't like them." He shrugged.
"I'm more dangerous without one," she deadpanned.
"It's still good to have the option, Ranma," Khu said. She stood up and walked over to toss an arm over Ranma's shoulder. Even after a couple of weeks of this, Ranma still tensed up for a moment before relaxing. She kept expecting to hear Akane's angry shouts.
"I suppose. I just don't like guns," Ranma grumbled. The other two exchanged exasperated looks. She had good reason to not like them.
"I'm going to go and file the paperwork. You girls stay out of trouble, you hear? No doing anything I wouldn't?" Cayde said as he backed away.
"So we're allowed to set the tower on fire?" Khu asked.
"And hijack one of Amanda's fighters for a joyride?" Ranma added.
"Or maybe we can try to con the Eververse out of their custom holograms?" her friend asked, giving her a wide-eyed look.
"First, that was an accident. Second, I didn't hijack, I asked, not my fault she then went and got drunk that night and forgot. Third, I have never tried to do that," Cayde said, "But I totally should. Those things are so overpriced. You girls have fun. Cheers."
They watched him go. "So… Do I need to pick up the certification or what?" Ranma asked after a moment.
"I'll get it once he files the paperwork," Kiko said, materializing next to her, "Until then I think we're free and it's getting close to lunch."
"Let's get something to eat then. My treat," Khu said, patting her on the shoulder and stared for the door, "Come on, I've got a few things to share about that company of yours."
Ranma snapped around. "You found something?" she asked.
"A few things. Come on, let's get some Yakitori," Khu called.
Thirty minutes later they were sitting at the bar of the Yakitori place Cayde had brought Ranma on her first day. "Here you girls go," Nina said as she set a plate down in front of each of them.
"Thanks, Nina," Ranma said.
"No problem dear. Give me a shout if you've got something," she said, moving onto the next customer.
"So," Ranma said as she speared a piece of Yakitori with a chopstick, "Spill."
Khu chomped on a piece of Yakitori and sighed happily. "So good," she said between bites. Moments like this it was hard for Ranma to believe she had ever been the elderly Amazon who smacked her with a staff whenever she was feeling 'generous'. Or just mischievous.
"Khu…?" She prompted, taking a bite herself. It was good.
"Yes yes, one second," she wiped her mouth off with a napkin and pulled a datapad out of a bag. "So, Kuno-Lung Technologies still existed as of the end of the Golden Age. That much I can confirm. They were a defense contractor according to the records I've managed to find. There's a long list of items attributed to them from household appliances to mining equipment, shipbuilding, etc. Not a lot that survived into the city age, though. We know they were headquartered in what was Japan, but other than that there isn't much information about their facilities. That's not unusual, by the way. Most companies either lost most of them or kept them quiet for one reason or another."
It sounded like industrial espionage had become quite popular during the Golden Age. It was mildly depressing to think about. Humanity reached so high, and yet they apparently couldn't stop trying to steal each other's things. Ranma sighed.
"That's… a lot more than I was expecting," Ranma admitted, "Anything on that gun?"
"You said they were being used by the guards, right?" Khu asked as she paged through the datapad between bites of the Yakitori.
"Yeah."
"Hrm… I don't really see much on their small arms. You know it might not be a Kuno-Lung product. It could be someone else's," she mused, "Honestly, you could have just asked that AI you mentioned when you were there."
"I was a bit… Occupied," she said lamely. She had just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and hadn't thought to ask the questions that she probably should have.
"And Kiko?"
The Ghost in question appeared above Ranma's shoulder. "I was busy," she said, spinning indignantly in place.
"She also didn't think of it," Ranma said.
"Uh huh," Khu hummed as she flicked through the datapad, "Kuno-Lung isn't held in the same regard as legendary companies like Clovis Bray amongst the City, but from what I can tell no one really knows much of anything about it. Its history is basically a postage stamp compared to even the Black Armory, and they've deliberately tried to obfuscate things. I can tell you who was the last CEO, but that's not really helpful. At least I don't think so. You haven't explained why you're so interested in the company."
"Kuno," Ranma said. Khu stared at her as she speared a piece of Yakitori.
"And…?" she prompted after a moment.
"I had a classmate in High School by the name of Tatewaki Kuno. He was obsessed with Akane and I," Ranma said, waving the chopstick around, "I woke up in a shrine, in a hidden complex, of a building owned by a company whose first half of their name is Kuno. I… I want to know what led to me being down there. What happened to everyone if I can find it and this is my only lead."
"You realize the Vanguard generally discourages Guardians from pursuing their pasts for a reason, right?" Khu asked.
"Going to stop me?" Ranma asked, sipping her tea. Her grip tightened on the cup. She owed it to her family, to everyone, to at least try and find out what happened. The questions would drive her nuts if she didn't.
Khu waved the datapad at her. "Does this look like stopping? I'm coming with you," she said.
"Oh?"
"You aren't the only one wondering about the past. I want to know what happened," she said before taking a bite of her own food.
Ranma smiled sadly and sipped her tea. "Thanks, Khu. I… Company will be nice," she said.
"No problem. Now let's put this away and relax. We've got plenty of time to dig," her friend said, dropping the datapad into her bag. She rapped a knuckle on the bar. "Nina, two shots of whatever!"
A few moments later Nina came back over with a pair of shot glasses and a bottle of a green liquid. "Two shots of whatever. Are you two girls sure you want to be drinking? You're a bit young," she said, glancing from one to the other.
"Just pour them, would you?" Khu groaned to Ranma's amusement.
"I've drunk a lot stronger," she said. Though it had been under duress at the time.
"If you say so. You know if you two weren't Guardians I'd refuse this," Nina said pouring out the two shots. She pushed one towards each of them. Ranma picked up hers.
Khu raised her glass. "To forgotten friends," she said. Ranma mimicked her.
"To lost family," she said.
They clicked their glasses and downed the shots. Ranma watched with a grin as Khu gagged and gasped.
She started laughing as Khu moaned, "Oh god the burn."
"Told you," Nina said smugly before going back to her work.
It took a while for Khu to stop gasping for air, at which point she was met by the shit-eating grin that Ranma was giving her between bites of Yakitori. "Cayde is a terrible influence on you," she said.
"Me? I'm not the one who ordered two shots of 'whatever'," she snickered. Khu grumbled but returned to eating her food.
Ranma smiled as she ate. This wasn't so bad at the end of the day. Not at all.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Hibiki pushed open the door of the Northern Respite nearly three weeks after he last left it. The Guardian bar was as bustling as ever as Hibiki glanced about. Spotting the person he was looking for he walked over to the bar and dropped into the seat beside Dace. The black-haired dark-skinned Stoneborn half-turned towards him as he sat down.
"Hey," Hibiki said, waving the bartender over, "Eastside pale ale."
"You got it," the bartender replied, reaching for a mug.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up," Dace said as he lowered his mug, "Three weeks. Everyone else thought you and your ghost had gotten shot by a Fallen someplace no one could find."
"I didn't leave the city," he replied. There hadn't been a need to.
"Figured as much. Watch Commander Jacobson is pissed with you. Three weeks without a word?" Dace shook his head, "I half expected to hear that you'd run off to Mars as part of an expedition or something."
"Your drink," the bartender said, placing a foaming mug in front of Hibiki. He raised it in thanks before chugging half of it. He put it back down with a sigh and wiped his mouth on the back of his gauntlet.
"You going to tell me what the hell you spent three weeks doing? This better not be about that girl," Dace said, shaking his head.
"And if it was?"
"Then I'd call you an idiot and ask for details. What happened?" His friend took a swig from his own drink.
Hibiki took another swig himself. "So, they put a seal on her information," he said, "Vanguard Eyes-Only."
Dace stopped mid-swig and sputtered. "Wait, what? On everything?"
"Yup."
"City ID?"
"Yup."
"Guardian registration?"
"Yup."
"Uh… Firearms certification?"
"She doesn't have one."
"... Driver's license?"
"Also doesn't have one."
There was an awkward moment. "I don't know whether to be impressed you went that far, or disturbed that you spent three weeks doing it," he said. Hibiki dropped his head to rest on the edge of his mug.
"I- I know you don't get it, Dace. You don't remember anything, but I do and it drives me nuts. I know her, I'm certain. I just… The one thing I managed to parse out from the recordings of the fight before everything got locked down? She remembers, Dace. She remembers everything."
Dace glanced around before leaning in. "Everything, everything?" he asked quietly.
"If she lost memories it was negligible," he replied in a low tone, "Odds are Dace, if I knew her, then she knows me."
"Knew you, you mean."
He growled and smacked his friend on the shoulder. "You know what I mean," he grumbled, going back to his drink.
"Ow, grumpy today aren't you?" Dace said before taking a swig of his drink. "So you just need to talk to her then," he summarized.
"I don't know where she lives. I've tried every avenue I could think of but I'm a line guard… was a line guard." He had probably been fired.
"Man, it'll take more than running off for three weeks to lose you your post, but if you do it again… Well, he's already pissed with you," Dace said.
Hibiki winced. "I'll… go and talk with him about it," he said.
"You do that. So, you are interested in the newest sensation amongst Guardians, and you somehow don't know where to find her?" Dace asked, a glance confirmed the grin that Hibiki could hear.
"Don't be an ass. What are you thinking?" he asked.
"So, she's new, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Like, shiny new, right?"
"Your point?" He demanded.
"... Have you considered checking the Guardian quarter at the Tower?" Dace asked.
Hibiki stared back at him, mouth slightly open, before he smacked himself in the face with his palm. "Gah, of course. Fuck." Dace laughed as he cursed.
"Got so used to looking everything up on the network you forgot to use your brain, huh?" his friend chuckled.
Hibiki stood up. "Thanks man. I should-" Dace dragged him back into his seat.
"Have a drink, get something to eat, and relax. She'll be there tomorrow. Seriously. Take a moment, relax, have some fun then go home and take a shower and get some sleep. You look like shit. Think of what kind of impression that'll make," Dace said.
Hibiki sagged into the barstool. "Yeah… So, what's on tonight?" he asked.
"There's this team Crucible match that'll be starting in ten minutes. Martian Skyjumpers versus the ED3. Should be good fun. Hey, bartender, a plate of wings to share."
-0-0-0-0-0-
The morning started with something pointed prodding her in the cheek. She waved a hand and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Gmah," she grumbled.
"Time to get up Ranma," Kiko chirped with far too much cheer for her tastes. Over the last three weeks, Ranma had taken a liking to one detail of her situation.
She didn't have to wake up early if she didn't want to.
"Go 'way. Nothing t' do today," Ranma grumbled through her pillow.
"Well, no, not according to the schedule, but Cayde's in the kitchen and eating your bacon," Kiko said.
Ranma lay there for a moment before she mentally resigned herself to not getting the extra three hours of sleep she had wanted. She rolled over and stared at Kiko. "How is Cayde in my kitchen eating my bacon?" she asked her ghost.
"I let him in when he knocked and came to get you? He was pulling out your bacon. That was five minutes ago. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wake you?" Kiko asked irritably.
She pushed herself up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Should have gotten me up first," she said.
"And leave a member of the Vanguard on the doorstep?" She gave her ghost a look that said quite clearly the obvious answer should have been yes. "You know that wouldn't make you very popular."
"But my bacon wouldn't be being stolen by a certain robot," she grumbled as she stretched and stood up. She opened the blinds and peered out at the street. It was, as ever, fairly busy with young Guardians and shopkeepers going about their business. Even if it was… oh.
Ranma glared at the clock. There was no way it was ten-thirty. It felt like seven at most. After a moment she turned away from the sight and looked around for her housecoat. There was no way she was walking around in front of Cayde in nothing but a tank top and panties.
Several minutes of searching found her housecoat hanging from the back of the door, right where she should have remembered leaving it, and she made her way out into the kitchen yawning and tugging at her bedhead hair. "What now?" she asked with a loud yawn as she spied the Exo in question humming at her stove, quite obviously cooking.
"Hey, look who's finally crawled out of bed," he said in turn, as he flipped a couple of pieces of bacon onto a plate beside a pile of scrambled eggs. A few more were added after a few seconds. "I was going to just eat this myself if you took too long. Apple?"
Ranma blinked and caught the- Pink? Yes, pink fruit with one hand. She stared at it. It looked like an apple except… It was pink. "Are you sure that's an apple?" she asked.
"Course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" Cayde asked.
"... They used to be red and green," Ranma replied before taking a bite out of it. It tasted mostly like an apple. Mostly. There was a slight tang to it she couldn't place and the insides were just as pink as the skin.
"Now you're just pulling my leg," the Exo scoffed before dropping a plate in front of her, "Here you go. Eggs, bacon, and a couple of slices of toast." It all looked fairly normal to her, at least compared to the pink apple.
Thankfully the eggs weren't green.
"So, what's this about? You normally wait for me to show up at the Tower or just send a message," She asked as she picked at the meal.
"We are going on a field trip," Cayde said with a grin as he laid out a couple of slices of her bread and started layering bacon, eggs, and whatever else he could seemingly find in her fridge onto them.
"Um, wt?" She asked through a mouthful of eggs, "What?"
Cayde shrugged. "So that AI you found. Zavala seems to think it'll try to conquer the world or something and Ikora wants to know if it will share its technology, and ya know I'd like to know if it plans on doing some conquering myself."
"It doesn't," Ranma replied. She was fairly sure Durandal didn't have an interest in world conquest.
"You say that, but we'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I doubt it has any horses," Cayde tapped his chin with a knife, leaving a streak of mayonnaise on his chin, "Ack." He wiped it off.
"You know I have a link to him right here, right?" Ranma asked. She didn't use them often, but the frames he had sent along had proved useful when it came time to move the furniture around. Being able to stand back and give orders saved time… most of the time.
"Those frames, right?" Cayde asked.
"Yup." She ripped off a piece of toast with her mouth and chewed it. He'd managed to burn it.
"Zavala also wants a look at the site, just in case. So we're going to be doing both at the same time," Cayde said as he put the finishing touches on his sandwich.
"So we're headed back to Tokyo?" she asked, a touch of dread creeping along her spine. She really didn't want to go back to Tokyo. Not yet. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, leaning against the table.
If Cayde noticed he didn't give a sign as he continued. "So," He took a bite of the sandwich, "Mhmm, that's good. Anyways, we'll be leaving around noon. Since I know you don't have field equipment yet I took the liberty of borrowing your measurements from the registration and placed an order with Eververse. You'll need to pick it up yourself. Oh, and stop by Banshee's shop. Since you got your cert he'll be more than happy to hook you up with a gun. Tell him I sent you."
"I don't like guns," Ranma said, opening her eyes and taking a bite of bacon. The crisp crunch distracted her from the inevitable return to Tokyo.
"I know, but the rules say you need something to defend yourself with, even if you don't use it. Just get a handgun or something. You'll be fine," Cayde said, "Oh, and since this is your first trip out, feel free to invite Ms. Purple along for the ride."
She could bring Khu along? "I'll give her a call. Now get out and stop eating my food. I need to get a shower," she said, pointing at the door with her fork.
"No appreciation for making you breakfast. I'm hurt, I really am," he mimed being stabbed in the chest before saluting her with the sandwich. "Remember, noon in the hangar. I'll have Amanda prep your ship."
"Mine?"
"Well, we aren't all fitting in mine. See you at noon," Cayde said as he walked out the door with his sandwich.
Ranma groaned. "I'm so not ready to go to Tokyo," she told Kiko as she dropped her fork on the empty plate. The cutlery clattered loudly as she walked back towards her room. She undid her housecoat and tossed it over her shoulder as she walked.
"I can tell. I thought the plan was to go back at some point. You do have to deal with Durandal after all," Kiko said.
"No, I don't," Ranma replied. She didn't have to deal with the AI if she didn't want to. She was under no obligation to deal with the AI. She just… didn't have many other options. Not really.
She tossed the housecoat onto her bed and went looking for proper clothing.
"Uh huh," her ghost replied, clearly unconvinced.
"I don't! I don't have to deal with that Kuno-designed AI if I don't want to!" she protested as she pulled out an orange silk shirt and a pair of silk pants to go with it.
"And yet that's what the Vanguard wants you to do," Kiko noted. Ranma let out a sound of disgust.
"I know."
"And he is the only real lead you have and you were planning on finding out what happened to everyone," Kiko continued.
Ranma flopped face-first onto her bed and punched the mattress… softly. "I knooooow. I know!"
Kiko hovered over her as she repeatedly punched the mattress. "Then why are you being childish? This was the plan."
"... Cause I don't want to…" she mumbled. She didn't want to go to Tokyo yet. She didn't want to be reminded how much had changed. She didn't want to think about all the years that had passed. Going there, seeing the buildings, the ruins, Mt. Fuji…
She could already feel the tears trying to form.
"... We could ask for more time? I'm sure the Vanguard would understand," Kiko suggested. Ranma rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
"No. No, I'll go," she decided after a few moments, "I'll go. I'll hate it, but I'll go and…" she sighed, "and we can get Khu to come with us." Having her along would help.
"If you insist. Just don't forget, I'll be there with you as well," Kiko said, nudging her.
Ranma smiled. "I know… Mind calling Khu?" she asked.
"She might not be up yet," Kiko pointed out.
"She probably didn't go to sleep. She said something about studying," Ranma replied.
"Point… Calling… connecting… connecting…"
After a few moments there was a click and a sleepy voice said, "This issssssss- aah, oh- This is Kuh Lon. Can I help you?" her friend asked. If anyone had told Ranma that Khu Lon had been the type to stay up all night studying, she'd have thought they were nuts, but in this life she seemed to have more love for books than sense.
"It's Ranma. Didn't get to sleep, did you?" she asked.
"Mughu- huh?" Khu articulated, "Mahbe?"
"Listen, Cayde came by and woke me up. He's taking me out to Tokyo at Noon and suggested you come along. Think you'll be able to function?" she asked.
"... Tokyo?" She sounded confused.
"Yes, Tokyo."
"Tooooeee kyo. As in… aaaah." Ranma leaned away from Kiko as the yawn reverberated off the walls. Kiko dialed the volume down for a moment while the yawn ran its course.
"As in where I came from, yes," Ranma said after a moment of silence.
"That's… that's a few hour flight, right?" she asked.
"Yup."
"Noon?"
"Yup."
"... I'll see you at eleven." There was a click.
"I've reminded her ghost to set her alarm," Kiko said after a moment.
"Great. I'm going to get a shower," Ranma said, rolling out of bed and toward the shower.
An hour and a half later Ranma walked out of the walled compound shared by new Guardians and headed towards the Tower's plaza where the Eververse was located, that rifle from the compound over her shoulder. She really didn't like the Eververse. It didn't have anything to do with the lady that ran it, she seemed fairly nice, but their habit of using their own currency for certain services rubbed her the wrong way. To be fair, it seemed to rub a lot of Guardians the wrong way and if they didn't offer some of the most efficient delivery systems in the city she suspected a lot fewer people would be using them.
As it was she retrieved Cayde's package with minimal fuss. The suit of armor, helmet and boots were all dropped into her ki pocket as she said thank you to Triss and crossed the plaza to the tables and racks of weapons that were stuffed in the corner beneath the banners of the Vanguard. More importantly, she was headed for the Exo at the table.
"Just a heads-up," Kiko said as they approached the table, "He's a bit on the forgetful side."
"I heard," she replied as she trooped over to the desk. The Exo looked up as she approached.
"Hey, you're uh… I haven't seen you before have I?" the Exo, the infamous Banshee-44, asked.
"Maybe walking around the plaza, but this is my first visit," Ranma replied, glancing over the literal arsenal the Exo had spread out across the tables.
"Ah… So new Guardian then. Got your certs?" he asked.
"Kiko?"
"Here you go, Banban," Kiko chirped, flashing the certifications before her.
"Banban?" Banshee repeated before shaking his head, "Your certs check out. What can I do for you? I can do anything except explosive."
"Well, first of all I picked this up in the place I woke up," Ranma said, slipping the rifle off her shoulder and holding it out.
"Huh," Banshee took the rifle and ran a hand over it, "KLT-630… no, lacks the brace. 620. Don't see many of these."
"Why not?" Ranma asked, mentally noting the KLT bit down. Khu would find that interesting.
"Not so sure really. Not many have been found. They uh… what was it…" Banshee-44 paused before nodding, "The popular theory is that KLT moved away from small arms before the collapse. The 620 and 630 were both produced a couple of centuries before as best we can tell. You won't find them in the Vanguard's archive these days. So rare the only references you'll find of them is in private collections. Like mine."
"Is it any good?" she asked.
The Exo snorted. "Good? Damned sight more lethal than anything of its size should be, but it's a tricky gun. Fires an elemental arc round. The system is more powerful than you find in most weapons like it, but the downside is it tends to pull the gun to the right because of how they've got things lined up inside the weapon. She's powerful, but it can't be used at its theoretical maximum without… uh…" He paused, "Without… Well without pulling itself out of most people's hands. You need a strong grip and a light trigger finger to get the most out of it. Might have been better if they'd used the mechanism on a scout rifle or sniper rifle, somethin' with a lower rate of fire but, eh, what can you do?"
"Could you rig it up to be a scout rifle then?" Ranma asked. Banshee looked at her, then down at the gun.
"Rig it up as a… Huh. You know that might work. She'll need a lot of work to make it possible, but she's already going to need a lot of work. You haven't fired her, right?" he asked. She shook her head. "Smart. She'd have blown up in your hands. Coils are misaligned."
Ranma gave Kiko a sideways glance. The ghost shuffled in the air and spun her shell in that manner that spoke of deep embarrassment.
"I can rig it up, but it'll take a while and I might need you to find a few things for me," Banshee-44 said as he examined it, "You'll need something to use in the meantime."
"Yeah, Cayde-6 told me to come by and get a weapon to use for today's trip," Ranma said.
"Cayde did? Cayde- oh right, yeah he said you'd be by. One sec," Banshee-44 set the KLT-620 down and walked over to a gun cabinet set off to the right. He unlocked it and came back with a hand cannon. Clean black lines painted with a yin and yang painted just behind the six-round revolver chamber.
"Cayde," Ranma sighed, "'Get a hand cannon' he says, ass." She shook her head.
"Here you go. Cayde asked me to make this for you a week ago… Maybe two," Banshee-44 said, holding it out to her.
Ranma took it carefully by the handle and pointed it down towards the ground as she took her measure of it. "It'll do. Did Cayde give it a name?" she asked.
"He called it 'Memory'," Banshee-44 said.
Ranma paused and turned it to look at the mark on the side. Yin and Yang. "... Appropriate I guess. How much do I owe you?" she asked.
"First gun is free," Banshee-44 said, patting the rifle, "and Cayde paid for the handgun."
"Thanks. Hopefully I won't need to use it, but Tokyo's a bit of a mess these days," Ranma sighed as she slipped it into a ki-storage.
"Tokyo? That's… East… East… Hmm…" Banshee-44 crossed his arms in thought.
"East Asia," Ranma finished.
"Right. Far East Asia if I recall," he continued, "Not a lot of big-name Fallen activity out that way. Mostly lesser houses, raiders, that sort of thing. You hear scuttling, go for your gun because they won't hesitate to shoot you."
"I noticed," Ranma said.
"We had a run-in right off the bat," Kiko said.
"Ah. Not uncommon. Nice job coming back. You keep safe out there and give 'em hell," Banshee-44 said, "I'll have this thing stripped down and a list of parts by the time you get back." he patted the KLT-620.
"Thank you, I'll see you later then," Ranma said, nodding to the gun. She turned and walked back down the steps. She still needed to get changed into her armor, which she hoped fit, and spend the next little while figuring out what all the little gizmos and gadgets that came with it did exactly. At least she still had a few hours.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Gekkou here!~ Rejoice!~ For i share my birthday gifts with you all!~ (two years running, I have proof-read my birthday prezzies, cuz that's how I roll)
Grounders10: And I constantly wonder if I'm evil because of it. *concerned floof*
Gekkou: Oi you! I saw that! Chur not a Gekkou!
Grounder10: But this is the A/N location. Where else am I supposed to write?
Gekkou: Not that, Chu started to type Gekkou, when starting chur reply
Grounders10: I have no idea what you're talking about. *innocent kitsune-floof*
Gekkou: Suuuuuure!~
Grounders10: So everyone, be happy and rejoice! For Gekkou is magnanimous! Enjoy the words this good Valentines day… Even if it is a day late for ninety-percent of the world.
Gekkou: *snuggles her S.O.*
Grounders10: *Snuggles!*
Gekkou: This is the second time I have requested this fic for my Birthday, maybe we will get a chapter before my next one?
Grounders10: ;-; I have a lot of projects. Depends on how interesting Witch Queen is?
Gekkou: It's Bungie, they will Bungle it, but make it interesting enough to be enjoyable.
Grounders10: Probably. But for now, enjoy the wordz everyone~