It's funny how something so mundane & commonplace can permanently alter the way you see the worlds around you. It started like any other day, I completed a couple of standard bounties because I needed the experience to raise the damage on my newly acquired Universal Remote. Beautiful gun, pity about the ammo restrictions. After asking Petra out for the seventh time this month & getting mercilessly knocked back yet again I thought I'd run the Prison of Elders on level 28. I figured since I had a couple of keys to the Queen's special chest burning a hole in my pocket I'd do a nice easy run with a couple of randoms. Once we'd taken down the Pilot Servitor & claimed our rewards from the treasure room we were returned to orbit in the Reef. One guy, a hunter with a faulty comms device, left the fireteam immediately without a word. The other, a Titan named Braykipac, remained in the fireteam.
"What now?" he asked.
"Well I've got a couple of blue engrams to get decrypted so I thought I'd go get that sorted out first." I replied.
"Sounds like a plan. After that I need to do a bit of farming on The Moon, I've almost completely upgraded my Felwinter's Lie & I just need some more helium coils. That thing's an utter beast in The Crucible!" he told me.
I responded nonchalantly "Yeah, so I've heard. Alrighty then, to the Tower!"
"WAIT!"
"What? What's wrong?"
"Would you mind if we went to the Reef instead? I'd much rather have Master Ives do the honours."
I detected a slight quaver in his voice, a hint of fear I found fascinating & wondered what the deal was. I didn't know the guy well enough yet to press him further but my curiosity had already gotten the better of me & I was already formulating a plan.
"Sure, the Reef it is. Any excuse to examine what Petra has on offer... if you catch my drift."
"Awesome!" He laughed & I could hear the relief in his voice.
After getting knocked back by Petra for the second time in the last couple of hours & a quick visit to Master Ives which earned me a Mote of Light & an ugly Hunters cloak I'd seen a hundred times before, I asked my enigmatic companion if he wanted to grab a quick drink at the watering hole that had recently opened just off the docking bay opposite one of Xur's occasional haunts. He agreed & I ordered us a couple of pints of that green ale all the Kinderguardians seem to be drinking these days.
A couple of rounds later I felt we had a bit of a rapport going.
"What can I say? Maybe it's the eyepatch or the way she makes her throwing knife levitate when she thinks nobodies looking. She's a saucy little minx & I think I'm wearing her down. Did you see that flicker of a smile when I commented on the versatility of her sidearm?" I joked.
"HA! Yeah! Who says Awoken don't get euphemisms?" he laughed almost falling off his stool.
"Listen, just out of curiosity, why didn't you want to go to the Tower earlier?"
His smile slowly faded as he told me solemnly "It's not the Tower, it's Master Rahool."
"What about him?"
"He's not right!" He almost hissed at me. "Haven't you noticed?"
"Not really." I told him slightly confused.
After a furtive glance around him which seemed glaringly obvious due to his mildly inebriated state he whispered "I'm not really comfortable talking about it here at the bar. Lets grab that booth in the corner."
I ordered two more pints & carried them to the booth. The comfy red leather seats & ale stained table reminded me of the dingy bars back on Earth.
"Okay, what's the deal with Rahool?" I asked quietly.
"I can only tell you what I heard & please promise me you won't tell anyone else. I'm not sure quite how deep this goes but I have some idea & I don't want to get anyone in trouble, especially me!"
"These lips are sealed." I assured him sombrely.
He whispered quietly enough that I could barely hear him over the ambient noise in the half empty bar
"He's sick... he's insane... Rahool is a serial killer!"
Part 2 can now be found here: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/129562680[/url]
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Just for the record this is my first attempt at a fanfic. I haven't written anything for the fun of it in years. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.