[b]Recording starts.[/b] “I can‘t believe this, now all the Titans I usually drink with will laugh at me.” [i]“I do not think so. Nobody is going to laugh at you.”[/i] “I’d sure like to think so. But it doesn’t really matter, does it?” [i]“It does matter. To me.”[/i] “You’re the best Ghost a Guardian could wish for.” [i]“When I chose to resurrect you from all the bodies in that crater, I became your Ghost. I will always be on your side.”[/i] “.... Thank you, Whisper.” [b]For a few moments, no word is spoken. [/b] “So, can we start recording?” [i]“I am already recording.” [/i] “Great, great. Ah... Phew... I... Now I don’t know what to say, ha ha. I’m getting nervous, who would’ve thought.... Okay... Relax, Temujin. Relax. Everything is fine.” “You can cut that out later, right?” [i]“Of course.”[/i] “Good, good... Ah, here goes.” [b]The sound of a deep breath being taken is audible. [/b] “My name is Temujin, I’m a Titan. When Whisper resurrected me in that barren wasteland, I barely understood what was going on. Only a few minutes after I regained consciousness, we were already being followed by Hive abominations. I couldn’t remember anything from my past life, yet even at that moment I was sure that I had never seen something quite so horrible. We barely made it out, and if Whisper hadn’t prepared a ship, I think my new life would have been very short.” [i]“I thought, better come prepared. It always helps to have Amanda owe you one.”[/i] “I remember the first time I set foot on the Tower... I was confused. I still didn’t know what was going on. The Speaker... tried to explain things to me, but I either wasn’t able to comprehend or I was just still too shaken up from everything that had happened on that day... but it’s not like that guy made any sense in the times after that.” [i]“Barely.”[/i] “Anyway, my point is, even though many Guardians tried to help me to get back on my feet, I had a hard time these first few months. People told me what had happened, I knew why we were fighting, and I also knew the importance of our success. Yet, I couldn’t get used to life in the Tower. I felt like I didn’t belong. My Titan masters told me how to fight. How to learn through study, how to find strength. But even with all that power in my hands, I felt weak.” [b]A loud noise is audible.[/b] “Are we okay?” [i]“I think so.”[/i] [b]For a moment there is only silence. [/b] “I never quite managed to cope with the fact that I did not remember anything from before the collapse. Who was I? What was my name? What life did I live? Did I have any family? What happened to them? These questions kept me awake almost every night, I ended up sleeping mostly between assignments and in my own ship. Whenever I talked to my fellow Guardians, not many seemed to care about these questions. Most of them were concentrated on the fight ahead. But for some reason, I could not let go. I found myself strolling around the city more often than not. Talking to the descendants of the survivors often made me feel better. They were positive. Nothing had happened in the city for quite a while. They only knew of our struggle from the reports. Sometimes I felt that I could have escaped. I was not in a good shape...” [i]“I was very worried about you.” [/i] “I’m sorry Buddy, for letting you down so often.” [i]“It is okay. Please go on.”[/i] “Yes.” [b]Another noise is audible. [/b] “All of that changed. It changed when I met her. It was a rainy day. I just finished eating a bowl of noodles at the farthest restaurant from the Tower that I could find, when I saw her. She stepped out of an alley and looked around, before she started walking down the street. She made no effort to protect herself from the rain, even though she looked like she had been in a dry place just moments before. Her white hair looked wild, but her bright, green eyes seemed almost calm. Her lips full and her skin a nuance of purple that I had never seen. She was an Awoken, but her cloak told me that she was also a Hunter. And she was beautiful, but it was not her beauty that caught my attention. I had never seen another Guardian here, no matter how often I had come to these parts of the city. She didn’t see me, but I followed her with my eyes. The way she looked around, at the stores and the small shacks, the makeshift houses, the lanterns, the wooden rest house. She seemed like she was looking for something, but she gave off a feeling that I knew only too well. She was lost, too. She disappeared down the road, so I quickly paid for my meal and went after her.” [i]“Against my advice.”[/i] “Yes, well, sometimes you don’t know what is best for me after all, that is why we work together, Ghosts and Guardians.” [i]“Very wise.”[/i] “I followed her to this small bath house near the river, but decided not to follow her in that day. Alone and wet I went back to the tower on foot, thinking. Maybe I wasn’t the only Guardian who felt like he didn’t belong.” [b]For a moment, only silence. [/b] “In the days that followed I could not stop thinking about her. It was less affection, but rather curiosity that drove my thoughts. Who was she? Why did she, an Awoken, happen to be in that part of town? I couldn’t get her out of my mind, but also could not find her anywhere in the tower. I inquired with the post master, but there were many Awoken Hunters that fit her general description.” “I decided to go back to the bath house. It was a nice little place, wooden structure, hand drawn designs and pictures, an old lady maintaining everything with her companion. There was only one big public bath. When I went there for the first time, I was all alone. The hot water, enriched with herbs and other things I had no knowledge about felt good on my skin. I relaxed and almost forgot why I came here in the first place. She did not come that day.” “The next time I went there I encountered a bunch of kids, that came into the bath shortly after me. They seemed to come regularly, because they talked about never having seen me before. They asked me lots of questions and when they learned that I was a Titan, they started talking about how they would like to be Guardians, fighting for the future of mankind and the solar system. I smiled, and I envied them. These kids are living in the hardest time humanity ever had to face, and they are willing to risk their lives protecting what is left. And there I was, a Guardian with a Ghost, unable to find the sense and joy in what I was doing.” “I asked about the Awoken Hunter, and the kids told me that she had been here several times. I was happy, because that meant I had a chance of meeting her again, if I just came here at the right time." "I went there whenever I had the time to do so, in between assignments and taking care of my equipment. But for many weeks I met only the kids and some other regulars that I started talking with anytime I went there. At some point, I believe, I already gave up on meeting her and just enjoyed the bath for what it was. An escape from reality, free from responsibility. No enemies. No death. In here we were all the same. It did not matter if I was a Guardian, a carpenter or just a student. We were all naked and it gave me a sense of freedom that I had not felt since I was first resurrected.” [i]“You always made me wait outside, that made me a bit uncomfortable. We Ghosts are not meant to be separated from our Guardians.”[/i] “I know. But I am glad that you understood and respected my wish.” [i]“I also tried to be a friend to you, after all.”[/i] “You are my friend, Whisper. You are.” [b]A howling, like the wind, is audible for several moments. [/b] “Then one day, after a long mission on Venus, I went there again. I was alone, and I closed my eyes and soaked in the hot bath, smelling the herbs and salts and listening to the sound of water being circulated, when I heard the sliding door open. I looked and saw her. There she was, completely naked, looking at me. I quickly realized that I was staring at her and looked away to not be rude. It was never my intention to meet her here in order to catch a glimpse of her body, and no matter how often I had waited for her to come, I had never thought about that we would both be naked when we finally met. I felt like that was the flaw in my plan that I should have realized the moment I came in here for the first time. Needless to say I was very embarrassed.” To be continued... [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/114379232]Part 2[/url]