Rust and Water: Part 10 - Old Unwelcome Memories

Part 10: Old Unwelcome Memories --- The Hunter worried her bottom lip under the concealing mask of her helmet. The other…Herro, had proven to be far more adept at learning the steps than she originally estimated. In mere months he had begun by standing on her feet, making only the moves she allowed, but now…. He moved through the ruins of Old Chicago as though he had been taking in its trips and traps for as long as she. There were other concerns as well, and this constant chase was preventing her from fully pursuing them. The movements of the Fallen had been…strange lately. First they had abandoned their ketch, then she had seen the colors of Kings and Devils mixing where they shouldn’t. Flashes of other colors, other crests. Then they’d all vanished. She pulled her hood tighter over her head. She’d have to venture in, hope that the…that Herro wouldn’t be able to follow. So many risks. More than she’d wanted to take. Her head snapped around at the sound of a splash where there shouldn’t be one. Her head turned again and she stood at another sound. A ship. Another ship. Why? Why now after all this time? She watched it flash overhead through the gap in the ceiling. She…knew that ship, those markings. Instinctively the Hunter shrank back, pushing herself against the wall as though she wanted to melt into it. The void began to roil around her. [i]Guardian, please calm down. [/i]Toby pleaded. She put her hand against the crumbling wall, forcing the void into it. With a loud crunch the section of rubble caved in upon itself. She stared down through the new hole, breathing hard, to see Herro standing in the street just below, his violet and gold cape billowing in the constant breeze. “Alia Tev!” He called out. She flinched. Too much. It was all too much, too quickly. She let herself fall into the void, shade-stepping away before emerging at a run. --- “She sure is fast!” Herro commented to his ghost. [i]Pay attention![/i] “Whoops!” Herro vaulted over the wall, taking another jump on the other side, touching down on solid ground and taking an instant to get his bearings before taking off again at a sprint. [i]Don’t lose her![/i] “I got this.” the EXO replied, taking a one-eighty midair and landing on a higher platform. He bounded from section to section, hardly paying attention anymore to the oily water far below. [i]Guardian?[/i] “What?” [i] I think something’s wrong…[/i] “What do you mean?” Herro vaulted another section of wall, landing on the rusted girder on the other side and quickly traversing it. [i]Look at how she’s running.[/i] “I can’t do that and not fall at the same time, Ghosty. Do you want me to fall?” He leapt from one crumbling rooftop to another. [i]It looks like she’s trying to get away from us…[/i] “And that’s different how?” [i]No, I mean really trying to get away.[/i] The ghost paused. [i]Desperately.[/i] “Well, if she’s trying to do that she’s heading the wrong way. We’ll hit the lakeshore in a second and there’s nowhere to go from there.” Herro said, an inkling of misgiving running across his circuits. [i]That’s what I’m worried about. [/i] Herro skidded to stop atop one of the leaning buildings. “Wait!” He yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. She didn’t hear, or didn’t listen. Now that he had stopped he could see she was nearly frantic. A guilty feeling flickered through him. She had stopped playing the game and he hadn’t noticed. [i]Guardian, she’s not stopping.[/i] “I see that!” Herro backed up to get a running start. “Bones, don’t fail me.” He mumbled, beginning his run-up. “Also…” He continued, just before he hit the edge, “please don’t answer.” She leapt off the last piece of building, not seeming to care that the only place to land was the waiting water. The wind tossed the waves, reaching higher, their white foam fingers beckoning. A dark figure separated itself from the shadows, and in a burst, glided on an intercept. Robes whipped in the wind as the figure reached out its arms and caught the Hunter, pulling her close and wrapping itself around her as the two bodies landed on the other side of the gap with a crash. Herro nearly checked his leap mid-air, hovering for a heart-stopping moment above open water. His last desperate jump took him to the head of an old statue. A big cat of some kind, maybe. He landed in a crouch, before standing and looking over to where the other two had landed. A moment surveying his surroundings gave him a path and he leapt off the cat’s head. “What just happened?” He asked. [i]…Remember that ship earlier?[/i] Herro nodded, hopping from broken slab of concrete to broken slab of concrete. [i]My guess is whoever it was used the same transmat zone we did.[/i] Herro made a disbelieving sound. “Seems like an unlikely coincidence. They just so happened to be there in the right place at the right time.” His ghost didn’t answer. Herro leapt to the hole in the wall the two had disappeared through and stopped, one foot on the broken piece of wall, one hand grasping the torn vines. The two figures were huddled in the middle of the floor, the hulking robe-clad Warlock still curled over the Hunter he had caught. Gently he removed her helmet. Her eyes, silver and glowing in the shadows, stared blankly at nothing, nothing Herro could see anyway. A memory? Whatever it was must have been terrifying. The Warlock’s own helmet joined the Hunter’s on the floor. He glanced over at Herro, a warning in his bright red eyes before he turned back and wrapped his arms around Alia‘s shoulders. Herro nodded at Knight‘s silent request, drawing back further into the shadows. “Alia.” The Warlock’s voice was low. “Alia, look at me.” Her silver eyes flickered. She blinked, her wide gaze turning to look into the red optics of the EXO holding her. The glow turned her pale blue skin violet. She blinked again, seemed to come back to herself. She lashed out, but Knight’s position made her strikes ineffective at best. “Let me go!” She shouted. He shook his head, expression turning as warm as an EXO was able to emote. He pulled her in closer. “You’re alive.” He murmured, holding her against his chest. She started shaking her head frantically. “No, no, no!” The EXO held her even closer. He began to rock gently, one hand on the back of her head. Somehow that simple gesture seemed to get through to her and she quieted, taking in a shuddering breath. She mumbled something Herro couldn’t quite make out. “No one thinks that.” Knight replied. She mumbled again. He didn’t answer and she pressed her face against the EXO’s robed shoulder, curling her fingers around his bond. Herro heard a muffled sob. Knight’s shoulders seemed to loosen. He looked over at Herro. “And I thought finding the two of you would be [i]difficult[/i].” --- Part Eleven: https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/228008222/0/0 Table of Contents: https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/226526566/0/0