Risen

Chapter 3

   Ten minutes and two sets of stairs later, Eris and Narvuk sat in Ikora's office. More accurately, Eris sat and Narvuk simply knelt, having already broken a chair. Ikora sat across from them, occasionally typing something on her tablet. "And you say you woke up in the Hellmouth, even though you died in" - she glanced at her notes - "Crota's throne world?" Narvuk nodded slowly, a question forming slowly in the back of his mind. "You remember your previous life?" Narvuk though for a moment, then replied slowly. "Rememmber...piecesss. Lit-ul thinggs escape mme."

"Intriguing. You certainly are unique, in more than just your physiology. Perhaps one day, we could--"

"Whhat happen to Crota? Wherre iss my master?"

Eris and Ikora exchanged glances before Ikora sighed and laid her tablet down on her desk. "Crota is dead, Narvuk. The same fireteam that killed you finished him off." The Knight's three glowing eyes widened slightly, then narrowed to slits. "Whho." Eris shook her head almost imperceptibly at Ikora. "I'm... not sure now is a good time to talk about that. We don't even know what you are yet."

"I amm Knight. Thhat isss all I am, all will everr be." Eris spoke for the first time. "But whether you are a Hunter, Warlock, or Titan is still to be determined. And that discovery is imperative, as it also determines which Vanguard is responsible for you."

"Donn't care aboutt silly Vanguarrd! Where are oness who killed mme?" Zivath, his Ghost, made her entrance as if on cue. "Found em! Well, two of them. I was digging through old records of Vanguard operations on the Moon, and voila." She stopped as she realized that all eyes were now on her. "Is... now a bad time?"

   

After a few minutes of yelling on all sides (and a talk with Shaxx), Ikora and Eris reluctantly agreed to let Narvuk confront the Guardians Zivath had found. He marched off behind his Ghost, who led him into the Annex. As the Knight made his way through the hallway past the Drifter's room, Zivath pointed out the Warlock and hunter sitting side by side near the landing pad. "There they are. So what's the plan, big guy?" Narvuk didn't reply, merely treading down the hall. The Hunter, ever the perceptive one, heard him first. Her head whipped around and she started when she saw him. "Poppy, Knight!", she shouted as she drew the Hand Cannon on her side and fired. Poppy (what an odd name), sprung up and pulled her Jade Rabbit from her back. Before she could fire, however, Narvuk raised his Wall of Darkness, which filled the hall in front of him. "Stopp! Nnot here to hhurt yyou!", he roared. The two Guardians, perplexed, held their fire. Poppy was the one to break the silence. "Drop the shield and fight, Hive! Unless your kind's standards for warriors have dropped!" He snarled behind the wall before letting it drop, conjuring a portal under him in the same instant.

   When the shield dissipated, Poppy and the Hunter nearly dropped their guns. The Knight was gone! Poppy whirled to her friend. "Where'd he go, Sienna? He can't have just vanished!" The Hunter threw her hands in the air. "How am I supposed to know that? I can't see through walls, Poppy! He's like eight feet tall, he can't be that hard to find!" The pair gathered themselves and hustled up to the Courtyard. Immediately, Sienna pointed. "Found him."

The Knight appeared to be talking with Lord Shaxx, a crowd forming a safe distance behind him. As Poppy started forward, Shaxx noticed her through the Knight's arm. She pushed through the crowd and stormed up to the Crucible Handler. "Shaxx, what the hell is this? Why is he still alive?" Shaxx gestured for the Warlock to relax, and when she showed no sign of compliance, he sighed. "Narvuk here" - he nodded at the Knight (nodded!) - "is a Lightbearer now." The girls' jaws dropped. "Y-you're joking. You have to be, There's no way a Ghost would ever choose a Hive, let alone one of Crota's--" Sienna cut herself off, realizing the implications of her outburst.

Shaxx's helmet snapped to her. "So you recognize our guest?" She hastily tried to backtrack. "I wouldn't say 'recognize', these Hive all look the sa--"

"It's a yes or a no, Sienna."

She sighed and nodded. "Yes, I remember. You were a Swordbearer, the first of maybe a dozen we killed." Narvuk slowly nodded as the details returned to him. Shaxx cleared his throat. "Poppy, Sienna, you should know that Narvuk has requested to face the both of you in the Crucible." Raising his hand to stall the inevitable stream of questions, he continued. "The match will be Clash, and it's to be held as soon as possible. Luckily, the Cauldron doesn't have another match scheduled for two hours." The girls looked at each other, then nodded.

"Hope you're ready to boost that death count, Hive!", Poppy called over her shoulder as they turned and walked away.