Of Eliksni And Ether: Part 10 - A Kell's Call

FINALLY OEAE is back. Sorry for the wait, I’ve been busy for the past few weeks and it has been tough finding a time to write, but I’m on it, and the crossover with Liam_Gue will be coming soon (this week). Hope you enjoy this episode of OEAE. Toros got the signal beacon from Scar, even though it was a civilian beacon for one of those outlying towns. That could be a bad sign, he thought. He trusted the eliksni at least a little bit, but his history with them proved that they liked to kill and steal, and a fallen kell had slain his fireteam long ago. Toros grunted and turned to address Orion as he pulled the ship down for a landing. “If you promise not to shoot him, my friend probably won’t attack you.” he said, thinking of Scar’s hulking frame. The hunter snorted and said “What is he, a dog?”. Toros didn’t answer and transmatted out of the cockpit. The townspeople came up to them to greet them. “Are you looking for… it?” an old woman said. “If you are, it’s in the shed over there.” The two guardians walked into the large garage where a vehicle sat, touching the metal wall of the building. A heavy breathing, almost like a horse, vibrated rhythmically through the garage, almost like snoring. Orion pulled out his hand cannon and spotted a large, hulking form shaking slightly with the breathing, laying on the ground. Orion pulled out his knife and it sat up, sniffing the air, and staring straight at him. Scarkis started to speak “Wha-”, but Orion yelled and lunged at him, and tackled him, staggering him onto the ground and making him lay on his back. Scar didn’t fight and only defended himself as Orion tried to stab him with the knife, but stopped as the weight was lifted off of him. Toros lifted Orion off the ground by his collar and threw him to the side, where he rolled and got to his feet. Orion said “Why are you protecting it? KILL it!” “No, Orion. This is the friend I told you about.” Orion was at a loss for words as the Kell stood up, wincing slightly. Orion shot Toros a glance, and gave a stare so judgemental that Toros didn’t even need to see his eyes. Toros stared back with just as much intensity, and just to break the silence Scar stood up, wincing, and said “Yes, I am Scar.” Orion slowly put away his knife, but kept his gun trained on the fallen, and Spark was so shocked that he appeared with a quiet *whoosh*. “You can talk? You’re… not evil?” Scar shook his head. “Things are more complicated than just good and evil, little light, yessss? But yes, Scar means you no harm.” Orion took aim with his hand cannon to shoot Scar in the head, but Spark went in front of his sights. “Orion, Stop! Scar won’t hurt us, he’s not a bad fallen.” the ghost said, turning to Toros to confirmation, who nodded. “But he’s a fallen!” Orion hissed at him. “They can’t be trusted!” Scar sighed and sat back down on the vehicle, which creaked. “Scar can hear you, Guardian.” Orion jerked his head towards the eliksni and said “Yes, I know! But… wait, you can?” Scar pulled out a massive shock blade and studied it. “Yes, Scar does not fight guardians and city, Scar fights Darkness. And Hive.” Scar growled at that. “The three-eyed abomination could threaten our very existence. Guardians and Scar must destroy it before it can do this.” Orion turned to Toros and said “You-”. “Yes, I do trust Scar.” Toros snapped, with the impatience of someone who isn’t used to speaking politely with people. “And so should you. So stop acting like some single minded battle frame, and understand!” Orion thought for a moment, and muttered “Well, I was made to kill. And as an exo, that offends me.” he twirled his hand cannon and holstered it. “But fine, I won’t kill you.” Orion said uncomfortably. “What now?” Scar stood up straighter. “Scar is Kell. However, Scar is not kell without House. Scar need house.” Polaris popped into existence. “How do we do that, Scar? We don’t know any fallen, and as far as I know, every other fallen hates you.” Scar grunted. “Unfortunately, this is true. Betrayed by kings, slew Traec- Shade, hated by Devils, Winter, and Wolves. Especially wolves. But, there is one that does NOT hate Scar. Exiles.” Orion stopped him. “But bug- I mean Scar, the Exiles are terrible! They’re the trash of Fallen society!” Scar regarded him with his four eyes, unflinching at the silent insult of his idea. “Indeed, guardian, but that is why Scar needs them. Scar is cast out too. Broken Eliksni are easiest to unite.” Spark saw the logic in this and said “So, we need some way of broadcasting a signal. Orion knows how.” “Spark!” Orion said. “What? It’s our best option for a system-wide signal!” Scar regarded the hunter with some interest. “Guardia- Orion, what is this… option?” Orion sighed. “Well…” he started. “A few centuries ago, I got an access code for Rasputin. Cayde gave it to me without really knowing or caring, and I took it and have kept it ever since. Thing is, there is a good chance that if I use the code… Rasputin will obliterate me for intrusion.” Orion fell silent. “I’ll just go get it for you.” Spark said, knowing Orion’s reluctance to do anything for or trust Scarkis, and transmatted out of existence. Scar held the tiny scrap of paper a few inches from his face and squinted to read it. “Alright. Thank you for code, Orion. I will keep it somewhere. I go to the bunker alone, yesss?.” Polaris popped into existence again. “Of course not, Scar.” He said in his unusually deep voice. “Only Ghosts can use the codes, and you don’t have a ghost! We’ll come with you.” Orion quickly signaled to Spark to have a conversation. “We are?!” Orion hissed. “Spark sighed. “Orion, you owe him for almost killing him and being so distrustful of Toros. Besides, you haven’t been doing anything for years.” “Fine then!” Orion snarled. “We’ll go!”. Scar blinked, giving no indication that his sensitive ears had heard the muffled voices inside of the helmet, and said “Decided?” Orion gave a curt nod. All three of them stood there awkwardly. “Well, let’s go then” Polaris said awkwardly. “I’ll have to bring in one of our larger ships, Toros.” the titan nodded and the two of them transmatted out. Scar hunched over in the cramped interior of Toros’ jumpship and glanced around, trying to stretch out as much as possible without pushing Toros’ pilot seat. “Nice ship.” He said, trying to make small talk. “Very… quaint.” Toros grunted. “Yeah, sorry, I’m not used to having Fallen Kells on board.” Scar shrugged. “It is fine, Gua-Toros. Scar knew this was coming anyways, Guardian ships not designed for Eliksni.” Toros stopped staring out the front of his ship and regarded Scar inquisitively. “Eliksni? Is that the fall- I mean right word for Fallen?” Scar nodded. “Although in dark times like these, Eliksni are Fallen indeed.” Toros *humphed*. “You learn something new every day” He mused, falling into the awkward but necessary silence for him to concentrate on flying. The unlikely trio transmatted into existence and appeared in front of a massive vault door. Suddenly, it hit Scar. “Scar realizes that the signal will likely only carry over Earth, not Moon, where most Exiles are.” he said, slightly disappointedly. Orion brushed it off. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure that word gets around with Fallen.” Scar had had enough, and was insulted that he used a joking voice when speaking of ‘Fallen’. “Guardian, I am sorry you do not like me, but there is nothing I can do.” Orion realised what he meant, and sighed. “I’m… sorry, forgive me. I’ve been fighting your kind for centuries and I’ve grown to kill you on sight.” Scar lowered his head. “I can understand, Orion. Eliksni and Guardians have bad history, yessss?” he said understandingly. Orion nodded. “I’ve slain more fallen than I would like to remember, I hope you can forgive me.” Scar brushed it off, one killer to another. “So have I. Too many to count, and for selfish reasons.” Orion was surprised by the empathy from what he had thought of for hundreds of years as cold and casual killers. “Thank you… Scar.” Toros cleared his throat. “Now that we’ve made up, should we do what we came for?” Scar waved one massive arm sarcastically. “After you.” I hope you enjoyed this longer-than-usual part of OEAE. It’s back, but not in black. Not much action, but not every chapter needs big action. Which, by the way, there will be plenty of in my other chapters and stories. Bye-bye.