Legend Untold Chapter 19
Blank Slate Chapter 33
[i]Freehold Part 3[/i]
“So why are we here again?” Trixie questioned.
“By the Traveler! Every five minutes?!” Sierra shouted. Crag showed his own annoyance with a quiet huff.
“We’re here to kill stuff!” Drew pumped his fist in the air, “Wait is that right? We usually do other stuff while killing things.”
“No you’re right this time Drew,” I sighed, even my patience wearing thin, “Now that the City has a presence here again the Vex and Cabal are going crazy to reinforce the area and strip it bare of anything that could be useful to us. We need to find as many enemies as we can and eliminate them. The higher value the target, the better, but caution is encouraged.”
“Heha, sweet,” Drew rubbed his hands together excitedly.
“Honestly I thought we were here to follow William into some old library or laboratory,” Sierra confessed.
“Oh so you just weren’t listening during my other explanations,” I accused.
“I…the details are never important, I just point and shoot,” Sierra dismissed.
“That is the saddest excuse I have ever heard from you,” I feigned shock.
“There’s a lot of sand here…” Trixie was looking around with her hands over her eyes like binoculars.
“Oh poor baby,” Veronica pulled Trixie over to her and wrapped her arms around her collar, “Sorry everyone, today’s one of her bad days.”
“I want to meet the sand man over there,” Trixie babbled.
“Trix, there’s no one but Cabal and Vex around here,” Veronica tried getting her attention back.
“But I want to meet the man from the sandy place!” Trixie whined.
“I call it Sand Land,” Drew thought aloud.
“Guys!” I quieted them all, then pointed down the road to some lower dunes past a few more buildings, “There really is someone else here.”
Everyone turned to where I indicated with hushed surprise. There at the crest of one of the dunes was a Guardian, too far away to make out clearly but waving at us frantically.
“Told you,” Trixie giggled.
I waved back at the distant Guardian, and after a moment they waved their arms in some series of gestures that I guessed was supposed to mean something, then bolted away over the other side of the dune. “…Did anyone get what he was trying to…to tell us?” Sierra asked.
“Not a clue,” Crag answered, followed by everyone else mumbling agreement.
“I guess we should wait here for them?” I suggested.
Before anyone could respond the Guardian ran back out over the dune and waved their arms energetically some more. After a moment another Guardian came up next to them and started waving as well, then they both rushed down the slope towards us.
“First one is a girl,” I squinted as they approached, “Second one’s a dude.”
“No one cares if I messed that up at this distance!” Sierra snapped.
“Look at all the little people!” Trixie exclaimed.
Five more Guardians came over the crest several seconds behind the other two, following behind at a jog. “Wow, seven?” I counted, “Why are there so many people here today?”
“It’s too crowded already,” Crag grumbled.
“You’re staying with us, darling,” Veronica grabbed Crag by his cloak as he tried slinking away.
“They better not be a bunch of idiots,” Sierra crossed her arms.
“Hey, everyone be nice,” I warned.
“Only if they do,” Sierra retorted.
“Don’t they look kinda familiar?” Drew put his hands to his helmet like a telescope.
“Kinda…” Trixie agreed, hands still up like binoculars, “But I still can’t make them out.”
“Guys, those don’t actually help you see further, it’s just your hands,” I tried explaining.
“I know that big red one!” Drew ignored me, “And that crazy girl that was waving her arms!”
“That’s Keis!” I recognized the red-clad giant as well, “The whole gang is with him!” After another moment I identified Nat and Welkine as the two who had been waving.
Without warning Trixie bolted off to meet the approaching Guardians, followed immediately by Drew. Only Welkine began to slow as the distance closed, but he probably regretted it as Trixie plowed into him with a hug. Drew and Nat collided at the same time, falling down in the sand as the other two had from the impact. After a moment Trixie got up off of the stunned Welkine and dove onto the other two Titans.
“Are they fighting or hugging? I can’t tell,” Sierra asked rhetorically.
The other five Guardians went past the four grounded people, letting them take their time with greetings and instead moving over to us. I saw a foot fly out and hit Welkine in the head as it passed, clearly belonging to Yvan. Our two groups met with friendly cheer. Ilya came up to me and gave me a warm hug, Null and Quintel visibly stiffened as Veronica wrapped her arms around them, Sierra accepted a few handshakes, and Keis lingered at the edge of the gathering. Crag and Yvan nodded to each other, but other than that kept everyone away at knifepoint.
“Who’s the pretty girl?” Trixie asked me.
“Who?” I was confused, “Oh, you mean Ilya. I forgot only I’ve met her. Nat introduced me sometime when none of you were around. Wait, how do you know she’s pretty? She has a helmet.”
“She seems pretty,” Trixie answered simply, then went off to introduce herself to Ilya. I was left confused as Ilya made acquaintance with the others and I welcomed in the others.
As I finished welcoming Null I heard footsteps pounding through the sand and was surprised by a weight knocking me to the ground. Recovering quickly, I looked around to see that Welkine had tackled me with an embrace as Trixie had to him. I patted him on the shoulder in return, still a little confused, and luckily he got up before things could get any more awkward.
“Sorry Will,” Welkine helped me up and dusted himself off, “Wanted to try it out after getting hit by Trix, and you looked like the only guy I could knock down without getting kicked immediately afterwards.”
“Ha! Hear that Will? Everyone knows you’re a pansy!” Rush zipped around my head.
A moment later Drew and Trixie returned, coming up behind Keis and hugging him on either side. Keis looked down at them curiously, but other than that didn’t move and let them hold on as long as they wanted. I spotted Nat’s approach a little too late and got taken down again. “Why me?” I gasped as air refilled my lungs.
“You’re so huggable!” Nat squealed, but got off so I could recover and moved on to the next Guardian in line.
It took a few more minutes for the greetings to close, but eventually everyone quieted. Even the Ghosts had all come out to say their hellos, with exception to Crag’s, making it hard to tell who some of them were with so many matching white shells and only a few colorful ones.
“What are you guys doing here?” I started with the obvious question.
Pt2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/245634428/0/0
Pt4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/245634624/0/0
ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0