Destiny | The Blackened Heart | Discontinued

16: Ex-Sparrow-menting

"So!  Where to?" 

"I'm picking up heavy Fallen activity near the Forgotten Shore," Lily replies.  "Let's go!" 

"That's miles from here," North starts, but is cut off by an electronic hiss and a small speeder appears at her side.  She swings onto it with ease as Lily vanishes, ready to go.  

Then she stops, looking up at me.  "Don't you have a Sparrow?" 

I grin apologetically, shaking my head.  "New Guardian, remember?" 

"Right.  Sorry."  

"Guardians set up a vehicle grid here," North cuts in.  "We sync to that, and we can summon ground transport from our ship.  Let's go." 

I cast a glance at Rose.  "Can that thing hold both of us?" 

She pats the Sparrow's light frame lovingly.  "No clue.  She might be a little slow.  And a little tippy.  Maybe a lot.  Okay definately a lot, but we could try."

"It's fine then, I'll walk-"

"No!" she interrupts firmly.  "It'll be fun and quicker, no need to be shy."  

"Alright," I agree hesitantly.  "How do I-"

"Get on behind me." 

"Okay."  I edge closer, using her shoulder for balance as I swing one leg awkwardly over the  seat and sit, curling my legs up out of her way.  Rose lifts her planted foot from the snow, tucking it back into its place on the thruster pedal.  The Sparrow wobbles as she engages the engine, but rises without flipping.  

"Yay!"  Pressing down on the right petal she steers us toward the path, and glances back at me.  "Hold on." 

I barely have time to catch hold of a niche in her shoulder guard before we're shooting forward, skimming the snow at tremendous speed.  I cling to the Titan's waist as we zip in and out of the gully and turn parallel to the hill between us and the Mothyards, following a beaten track around.  

"The grid is in that bunker," North directs and Rose follows, leaning to bank left toward a rusted shed, silhouetted darkly against the starlit sky.  Before she can decelerate, a sharp grating sound comes from behind us, and before either of us can turn or even think the world tilts up and over and we are rode over by the flipped Sparrow. 

For a moment, I lay there winded.  Then Rose chuckles softly, and snow shifts as she sits up.  Groaning, I push myself up on my elbows, head spinning.  

"Well that was fun," she says brightly, rubbing the back of her head.  Despite the pain, I can't help but agree.  

"Guardians..." North mutters irritably, appearing over me and humming off inside, spinning his scanner around the room as Rose and I inspect the damage to her Sparrow.  After we crashed, it smashed into the wall of the bunker.  The left rear fender has a large dent in it.  It had clipped a rock with the extra weight, and sent us flying.  The front fenders are crumpled like tin foil from impact with the wall and a fire has caught under the hood.  Rose kneels, scooping up snow to pack onto the burning circuits.  

"She's shot," she announces after inspecting the damage.  "Lily!  How's our spare?" 

"Repaired and ready to go," the Ghost replies.  "Shall I swap them?"

"Please." 

"Sorry about your Sparrow," I apologize.  

Shaking her head, she replies, "Don't be!  Amanda will fix it right up.  We went so fast down that hill with the extra weight, it was worth it."