[b]Chapter 4. The Flight[/b] "Oh man, you're going to love the tower. We've got this great ramen shop where the food is to die for, makes all the crap we deal with worth it-" [i]"H-He's be going o-on f-for a while, d-do you t-think he has an of-off switch?" [/i] Jack giggled, causing Cayde to look back at her; he sighed, "Alright, what did he say?" "Who?" "You know who, Sheldon or whatever your Ghosts name is." She smirked, "Oh, nothing, just wants to know if you have an off switch." He scoffed, "No, and believe it or not; you're not the first to ask." "I can't believe it," Jack said sarcastically. Cayde hummed as they continued walking, "Has he always been like that?" "Like what?" "Like with the stuttering, has he always been like that?" Jack nodded, "Yeah, ever since I woke up. It gets worse the more stressed he is; sometimes, he can't even make a sentence; he just gets stuck on one word. Why?" "Nothing, it's just unheard of for Ghosts to do that. Did he tell you anything about the Traveler?" She shook her head, "No, we've only learned about the Traveler and Guardians from other survivors." Cayde was silent as he thought. Jack shot him a glare, "He's not broken if that's what you're thinking; he's just different." Cayde eyed her before smiling and patting her shoulder, "Well, with a name like Sheldon, he might as well be." "And I guess you'd have to be some type of a weirdo to have a horn." Cayde gasped dramatically, "How dare you insult my glorious horn! It's both beautiful as it is deadly." Jack couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sure it i-" she suddenly stopped as they reached a clearing where a ship sat. Cayde looked at the ship and smiled, "This Ms. Jack is the Queen of Hearts. Isn't she beautiful?" "She's something," Jack mumbled, more from disbelief from the sudden realization that she'd be riding in that metallic beast. "Hey, hey, don't mess with my Queen," Cayde snapped as he pointed his finger at Jack, "Now come on, Ikora will have my head if I don't get back soon." "Ikora?" "Yeah, she's a friend of mine, also the Warlock Vanguard." "Ah yes, Warlocks... I definitely know what those are." Cayde sighed, picking up on her sarcasm, "Get in the Queen, and I'll explain." Jack followed Cayde to the ship and followed him as he climbed into the ship's compartment. She looked around the compartment with wide eyes as the entrance closed. "First time in a spaceship?" "And if I said yes?" Cayde smirked, "Better buckle in then; I'm a pretty fast pilot." Jack winced as she did what he suggested, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest as the ship rumbled to life. She looked out the window with widened eyes as they began to lift off the ground and fly into the air. "Warlocks are one of our classes," Cayde spoke, breaking Jack out of her trance, "They mix the powers that the Traveler gave them with their weapons or something like that. You'd need to ask Ikora more about it; I fall asleep whenever she tries to explain. There are also Titans and Hunters. I'm the Hunter Vanguard." She turned to him and gave a confused look, "So if you're the leader of the Hunters, then why did you come to get me? Is it because I'm a Hunter?" He laughed, "No, you can choose which class you want to be in. Ikora and Zavala just sent me because I've been bugging them about wanting to leave the tower and because I'm a master tracker. We've had a hard time finding you; your signal kept going in and out; I think it has to do with Sheldon and his condition." "Soooo, what are the Hunters and Titans like?" Cayde hummed as he thought, "Well, Hunters are the coolest first of all. We can jump super high, have these sweet cloaks, and are sneaky. Titans are basically tanks, the literal definition of all brawn and no brain. But don't tell any Titan I said that, especially Zavala. They're also a pain to deal with in the Crucible, you wouldn't believe how many of my Hunters come to me and Shaxx complaining about Titans and how obnoxious they are-" "So, what do you think I should be?" She interrupted, making a mental note to not mention Titans or the Crucible to him, whatever that was. Cayde shrugged, "I don't know, maybe Hunter? And I'm totally not saying that because I busted my bolts trying to find you." Jack laughed, "Well, the Hunters sound interesting, but then again, I think you might be slightly biased." Cayde scoffed, "Me? Never." She smiled and then turned to the window and stared at the vast number of trees and mountains below them. Everything seemed so small and insignificant as they blew past each tree. She looked back at the ship's control panel, frowning as she stared at all the controls. How could Cayde control the ship so quickly when there were so many buttons and dials to look at? She didn't think she'd ever be able to learn how to fly one of these things; it honestly looked impossible. She then turned her gaze out of the window, and her mouth fell agape. A large wall was before them with a giant orb hovering above the city. Cayde looked down at her and grinned, "Welcome to the last city, kid." "And that's the-" "The Traveler, the reason we're still here." "But why?" She asked, "Aren't you concerned about why it's helping us?" Cayde sighed, "At first, but it hasn't done anything harmful to us." "Doesn't mean it won't." "True," he nodded, "But sometimes you just got to trust something you don't fully understand." "Maybe," she mumbled as they approached the landing bay. Cayde leaned over and flicked a switch, "Hey Amanda, you miss me?" Jack gave Cayde a weird look as he grinned at her. "Cayde, finally," sighed a female voice, "It's about time you got back; we were starting to worry." "Aw, you do care." "I'm serious, Cayde," she snapped, "Did you at least find the missing guardian?" "Yup," Cayde smiled as he reached over and ruffled Jack's tangled and dirty hair, "Got her right here." "Her? Huh, nice to have another girl at the tower," the woman hummed, "Alright, Cayde, I'll have Elizabeth know there's a new guardian." "You're a lifesaver," Cayde said with his hand on his chest, "Cayde out," With that, he flipped off the switch. He looked at Jack and smiled, "Ready to meet everyone?" Jack shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so." "Don't be nervous; I promise they won't bite." She rolled her eyes and watched in anticipation as Cayde lowered the ship into the landing bay. Once he shut off the ship, he helped Jack out of the compartment and lowered her onto the ground. Jack brushed herself off and looked in amazement at all the ships surrounding her. Both humans and robots walked around her, busy focusing on their daily activities to even acknowledge her existence. "Hi there," Jack turned around to see a woman with short blonde hair and a very fit body approaching her, "You must be the disappearing guardian; my name's Amanda." Jack smiled and nodded as she shook Amanda's hand, "Jack, I didn't realize my disappearance would be this important." Amanda laughed, "Well, we need all the help we can get, though I'm sure Cayde made it sounds a lot more dramatic than it actually is." She smirked, "Is he always that..." "Arrogant, obnoxious, loud?" "I heard that," the two turned as Cayde walked up to them, "And yes, yes I am," he patted Jack's shoulder as he looked at Amanda, "Liz knows she's here?" She nodded, "Yup, just have to take her to the infirmary." "Infirmary?" Cayde smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, it's just to ensure you don't have any diseases or nasty bugs in your hair." "My hair looks fine!" He scoffed, "It looks like a bird's nest," he began to guide her to the exit of the hanger, "Come on, the sooner you meet with Liz, the sooner you can clean up," he glanced back at Amanda, "I'll talk to you later, Amanda." "See you around, Cayde; it was nice to meet you, Jack." Jack nodded and waved her hand, "Uh-huh, nice to meet you too!"