William and the Dawning, Part 3

I had received a few pieces of SRL armor as prizes from the races and went to the Vaults to change around my gear. Storing some of the armor Rush usually carried for me to make room, I moved a set of newly earned SRL armor I to my inventory and willed them to replace my current armor set. These armor pieces were even lighter and slimmer than those that I had been wearing, and had little touches of racing flare on them. "Guardian William," the robotic voice of a Frame called out behind me. I turned to see Kadi 55-30, the Postmaster, standing behind her counter next to the Vaults, her optical sensor trained on me. "Yes?" I asked as I walked up to the desk. "Amanda Holiday has a package for you waiting with her in the Hangar, Guardian," Kadi 55-30 reported. "Thank you," I replied politely before starting to walk towards the Hangar. "Have a happy Dawning, Guardian," the Postmaster said in farewell. Amanda wasn't on her crate this time, but I found her sitting down in the main docking bay with some ship blueprints and the pad displaying live feed from the races. She noticed me coming and a small smile spread across her face as she set down the blueprints on a toolbox. "You have something for me?" I questioned as I reached her. "Sure do," Amanda answered cheerily, "Gotcha a little somethin' for all that racin' you've been doin' today. We make sure to give everyone who participates in several races a good new ride." "A new Sparrow?" I inquired. "Yessiree," she replied, and gestured behind me. One of the Frames that assisted the workers in the Hangar walked up with a vibrant blue Sparrow in tow, blue lights decorating the sides of its small and sleek frame. It put the Sparrow to rest right next to me and walked off to perform its other duties. "This here is the EV-42 Nightsteed," Amanda told me, running a hand over the body of the vehicle, "And she's all yours." "I love it," I responded, "Rush, take it up please." The Sparrow transmatted away in a flash of light and Amanda and I said our farewells, with her encouraging me to get back out on the track some more before the Dawning ended. The edge of the Sun was just peeking over the horizon as I came back up into the courtyard. Clouds were gathering in the sky once again, and I knew it would snow much more before the Dawning ended. I walked to the railing at the edge of the Tower and looked down on the City in all of its splendor. Even at this hour, when most would normally still be sleeping, the City was alive with lights, music, and merriment. An idea struck. "Rush, you got civilian clothes for me, right?" I asked, "I remember you put me in some on my first day." "Yes," Rush answered, knowing I was about to ask him for something. "Did you get winter clothes?" I questioned, "Like a coat and gloves?" "I did, actually," Rush told me, starting to realize what I wanted to do. "I'd like to wear them, and transmat be down to the base of the Tower," I requested. Moments later I found myself on the City streets, the Tower's ground entrance right behind me. I wore a warm black coat with matching black gloves, as well as a thick red shirt and some jeans. A few civilians walking down the street jumped a little as I appeared, but realized that I was a Guardian and continued on their way. But as I began moving down the streets, all those who hadn't seen my appearance thought I was just an ordinary person. Before long I found a group of children, running through the snow that had built up in a small playground area with their parents watching from benches or doorways as they talked with neighbors and friends. The children had woken up early to get a jump on the day and several of them were laying in the snow and waving their arms and legs to push the snow away. "Excuse me," I said, tapping one of the children on the shoulder, "What are those kids doing in the snow?" The little boy turned towards me with an expression that clearly showed his disbelief in my lack of knowledge, then pointed to his friends laying in the snow, "They're making snow angels." "Snow angels?" I asked confused. "Yeah mister," the boy continued, "They make the shape of the wings with their arms and the bodies by laying in the snow and moving their legs." "That looks fun," I told him, "Do you think your friends would mind if I joined them?" "They wouldn't mind mister," he shook his head, then ran to his friends and dove into the snow, exclaiming, "Guys guys! The strange man didn't know what a snow angel was!" I approached a patch of snow with space for me between the kids and fell straight down onto my back like a column toppling over. The children laughed and yelled as snow shot up on my landing and I sank into the drift. Beginning to wave my arms and legs to push snow out of the way, I created a snow angel and laughed with the children as those who hadn't been laying in the snow dove in around me. Then a wad of snow hit my side, and I sat up looking for the culprit. A few of the children had pushed up a drift of snow into a small barrier and now camped behind it, holding balled up chunks of snow in their hands. "Surrender or be destroyed!" one of the children behind the barrier, a little girl, yelled at everyone as she stood up for all to see. Someone then proceeded to throw a ball of snow at her face and she fell backwards with a delighted shriek. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!" another kid shouted, and all the children scattered, forming teams and gathering up snow to build forts and more balls. Before long, a few more snowballs hit me and I ran over to a little corner where none of the little teams were. Working quickly, I spread my arms and pushed up a large heap of snow into a small wall and lay on my belly behind it, starting to mold the snow around me into snowballs. Before I could make more than a few, a small girl jumped over my barrier and laid down next to me, beginning to make snowballs of her own. "Well hello," I greeted her warmly, ducking a snowball. "Aren't you the strange man?" she asked incredulously. I laughed at that and replied with, "Yes, I'm the strange man, but you can call me William." "I'm Ashley, and I'm seven," she told me, grinning in a wonderful display that showed her missing two front teeth, "We're a team now." "Nice to meet you Ashley," I responded, "We're gonna be the best team ever." I then sat up on my heels and began gently throwing snowballs, mostly hitting my marks but sometimes missing as the snowballs fell apart or the children ducked out of the way. Ashley stood up and began throwing snowballs as well, usually missing as she swung her arm in huge arcs that only flung the snowballs several feet. It was adorable, and she bounced with joy each time she managed to hit someone and laughed even when she missed. All the other kids performed in the same manner as Ashley. A couple of other groups took notice of me and Ashley and began throwing snowballs exclusively in our direction. One little boy eventually ran up only a few feet away and threw a snowball that hit me square where my heart was, then proceeded to run away and trip as he got hit in the back by Ashley's snowball. I fell backwards as if the impact had knocked me down and held my hands to my chest as if in pain. "Ashley," I coughed weakly, "He got me. I don't think I'm gonna make it." "No mister William, you gotta make it," she giggled, putting her hands in my chest and shaking me. "Tell my family, I love them," I croaked, then let my arms and head go limp and my tongue lull out of my mouth in feign death. "No!" Ashley yelled, then put her head against my chest with her arms wrapped around her head. But then I saw her eyes glance over at my face and she could no longer hold in her laughter. I laughed with her as she got off and began making more snowballs to throw, but before I could get up as well, a single snowflake fell before my eyes. The clouds had rolled over the sky, beginning to let out a sprinkling of snowflakes but not yet blotting out the Sun. Willing a Force Barrier to form around only my right hand, I held up my palm and let that first snowflake settle down on it, not melting as it touch the cold, smooth surface of my Force Barrier. I sat up and inspected the snowflake, as well as the others that began collecting on my hand. A small gasp caught my attention and I glanced up to see Ashley staring in wonder. She scooted over on her knees and grabbed my fingers with her little hands, pulling them down to turn my palm where she could see better. "It's cold," she murmured, inspecting my Force Barrier, then looked up at me, "Mister William, are you a Guardian?" ____________________________________ Link to part 2:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220044549/0/0 Link to part 4:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220044617/0/0 Link to ToC:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0