Trostland, European Dead Zone. 3rd Person POV
Devrim: Well that's quite a story you have Qrow.
Devrim Kays and Qrow sat together in what's left of the old church, telling stories of each other's past and the events of their respected worlds. Qrow had just finished telling his story, taking the flask out from underneath his jacket and drinking as he spoke.
Qrow: Yeah, though it doesn't sound any better here.
Devrim: To be honest, not really....but we've got to keep our hopes up here. We've survived without Guardians before, we can sure do it again.
Devrim took a sip of his tea.
Qrow: Yeah but it's always the unfortunate ones that die cause of it.
Devrim: That is true, but the unfortunate ones know the risks they face. They die in honor.
Qrow: If only my semblance wasn't misfortune.
Devrim: Your what?
Qrow: Semblance. Like a superpower... something unique to every Huntsman and Huntress.
Devrim: Ah. So you're like a Guardian on your planet.
Qrow: Eh....Something like that.
He continues to drink from the flask as Devrim looked at a watch on his left arm.
Devrim: Well it seems to be time for your medicine.
Qrow seemed a bit irritated by the comment.
Qrow: I know. I'm not an old man.
Devrim: Never said you were young chap.
Qrow: Not exactly young either.
Devrim: Well I don't see any gray hair on you.
Qrow: Aren't you a blast from the past.
Devrim: The original old geezer, at your service.
The two chuckled as Qrow swallowed the antivenom with a bit of bourbon. The two of them continued to chatter on through the day, killing all Fallen and Cabal that even dared to approach the old church.
Nessus. Austin's POV
Weiss: Is that the teleporter?
Austin: I....I guess?
We were all staring at a strange device in the center of the room as it emitted something from it.
Austin: Ghost.
Ghost: It is.
Austin: So how do we grab it?
Failsafe: The Cayde 6 will want that. Just rip it right off there.
Ren: You sure about that?
Failsafe: ...Yes. It won't hurt a bit.
Austin: Back up, just in case.
Everyone took a few steps back as I grabbed the teleporter with both hands and pulled. A small explosion resulted, knocking me on my back with an aching liver.
Ruby: You alright!?
Austin: Ow! Son of a bitch!
Yang: Oh he's fine. He doesn't drink anyways.
Cayde: You got me out! Take that you heap of scrap! I'm out! Free! Whoo! I'm....I'm.....wh-where am I?
Failsafe: Cayde unit. You are near the remains of my reactor core. Welcome to the Exodus Black. Where all your dreams comes true.
Weiss: You sure have high hopes.
Failsafe: Watch it sister.
Cayde: I see you brought some new friends Titan, let me introduce you and your new friends to Failsafe and her evil twin, Failsafe.
Weiss: Which one's the evil one?
Cayde: Ouch.
Failsafe: If I had feelings, they would be hurt.
We exited the Vex temple, taking a few steps away as Cayde spoke through Ghost.
Cayde: Uh oh. The Fallen got the Vex in a bit of a tizzy.
Ruby: That's not too bad, right?
Cayde: And by 'tizzy' Red, I mean murderous rampage.
Ruby: Oh. So where are you?
Cayde: I'm gonna hunker down in the Exodus Black.
Failsafe: Here!? I am in 108 pieces. Pieces 1-20 are buried in the dirt and-.
I am a mess.
Austin: Oh we know Failsafe. We know.
After reaching the crashed ship, we ran into a minor war between the Vex and the Fallen. We decided to split into two groups: Myself and everyone else. I ran towards the Vex, clearing out the Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Minotaurs in the region as Ruby, Yang, and team JNPR took care of the Fallen, as the two of them were somewhat familiar to them. They cleared out the Dregs, Vandals, and Captains in the area.
We all met back up at the entrance to the Exodus Black and entered, seeing only a Ghost look at all of us.
Cayde: Hey!
He grabbed the Ghost.
Cayde: Get down!
Austin: Coast is clear Cayde.
He stood up to see the group and began to slowly walk towards me.
Cayde: So it's true. The light found it's way back to you.
Austin: Well....
Cayde: Not that I'm jealous or anything. Just take it easy out there, will ya Titan. You're making me look bad.
Austin: The thing is....the three of us that were there, we got our light back.
Cayde seemed a bit surprised by the statement. At least as surprised as an Exo could.
Cayde: Well dang.
He looked at Ruby and patted her hair.
Cayde: You better make me look good out there Red.
She gave him an innocent smile.
Ruby: I sure will Cayde.
Cayde looked at the rest of the group.
Cayde: So who are they? Titan's little helpers?
Austin: Nah. They're friends of mine from Remnant.
Cayde: Ah. A pleasure to meet you all, kinda wish it wasn't like this though. Call me whatever sound epic with Cayde-6.
Austin: So just Cayde-6.
Cayde: Sure....I guess.
I handed him the teleporter.
Ghost: What exactly are you planning to do with a Vex teleporter?
Cayde: Get up close and personal with Gary-Ghaul. Ghaul. Put a bullet in his head. And......maybe eat a sandwich.
Ghost and I looked at each other, as he saw the worry through my helmet.
Cayde: Gotta work out a few kinks though. Fun fact: Vex tech isn't as intuitive as you think.
Cayde began to work on the teleporter as Weiss spoke.
Weiss: That's why you were trapped by it?
Cayde: Who is she?
Austin: Someone not to be fucked with.
She smiled as Cayde had a thought.
Cayde: Well, she's no Ikora.
I choked on air a bit as I heard that, nearly about to laugh.
Ghost: You can't kill him alone.
Cayde: Like hell I can't.
Ghost: Even if you manage to kill him, The Red Legion will leave nothing behind; Win or lose.
Cayde: The Cabal are bad guys and they do bad things. Yeah, I get it.
Austin: He's saying they leave literally nothing behind. They have a weapon that can destroy a star, and it is aimed at our sun!
Cayde: Hey watch it! You're gonna blow out a bulb.
Ghost: Zavala has a plan and he needs you Cayde.
Cayde: Yeah, well Zavala always says he has a plan, but sometimes he's just-.
Then he realized.
Cayde: Wait a second. Zavala said he needs me? Like- you heard him say those exact words coming out of his mouth?
Austin: Yes. We did.
Cayde: Please tell me you recorded it!
He pointed around us all, not one person said a word. I felt someone else enter my mind, though Ghost was already out.
Summer: Ruby did on her scroll.
What!? When was this?
Summer: She recorded the meeting with Commander Zavala Sloane, and yourself.
That's just creepy.
Summer: So should we tell him?
No! He'll never shut up about it.
Summer: Okay. Just curious.
She exited my mind and entered Ruby's.
Cayde: Did Ikora at least hear it?
Ghost: Actually. Zavala lost her after the invasion. We don't know where she is.
Cayde looked away from us, passing by me as he spoke in a much more serious tone.
Cayde: Io. It's.... it's where she would be looking for answers. Hey umm.....Thanks. I owe ya one.
I nodded as he walked away from us all. A mix of emotions was shown from the group.
Nora: He's a cool guy.
Weiss: No wonder Ruby hasn't changed a bit.
???
Ren: He did had a moment there at the end.
Austin: Yeah. Let's go.
I walked out of the Exodus Black as the ship spawned from the sky.
Blake: To Io then?
Austin: Yeah. To Io.
Failsafe: Take care Guardians. It's not like you'll come back.
Guardian Ship. A Few Hours Later. Orbiting Earth.
I sat in the cockpit alone, my armor off and only in sweats as I watched the ship orbit Earth. I gave the group some time to sleep and myself time to think.
...
...
Ghost: Guardian.
What?
Ghost: She's changed.
I know she's having nightmares.
Ghost: Do you know what they're about?
The Fall of Beacon.
Ghost: No.
?
Ghost: There's more to it.
Adam?
Ghost: Yeah. She sees him like you see Ghaul.
......................
I sighed.
Ghost: You need to talk to her about it. It's getting worse.
How bad?
Ghost: She keeps muttering 'useless' and 'alone' over and over.
How do you know all this?
Ghost:.......really?
Okay. Dumb question. I getting up.
I got up as Ghost left my head, heading towards the barracks. I opened the door to notice she wasn't asleep at all. She looked up at me, her eyes red as she barely spoke.
Yang: Hey.
Austin: Hey love. Come with me.
Barely awake, she responded with a weary tone as she stood up.
Yang: Where....where are we going?
Austin: Outside.
Yang: Okay?
I teleported out of the ship, looking around for any Fallen, luckily to no avail. I waited for Yang as she followed, her armor on without the helmet.
Austin: You don't need the armor on.
She took it off, keeping her casual clothing on as we walked towards an abandoned road. Raven appeared as well as Ghost as Raven spoke.
Raven: Where are we?
Ghost: A familiar place.
Yang: How is this familiar?
I climbed on top of an old car and sat down on the roof. Yang eventually followed.
Yang: What is this place?
Austin: Home.
Yang: I know that.
Austin: This was the location of my first resurrection. This was where it all begin.
Her eyes widened as I crossed my legs.
Raven: Explain please.
Ghost: This exact spot was where I found him. Unlike you and Summer, other Ghosts, myself included, had to find our guardians.
Yang: How long did that take?
Ghost: Oh.....Let's see......a few centuries, give or take.
Yang: A few hundred years?
Austin: That's not why we're here.
Everyone was silent at that point. I closed my eyes in peace.
Austin: Before I came to Remnant, I would sit here and relax. To escape the horrors and nightmares of my past.
She noticed an open plain filled with burnt grass and Fallen corpses.
Austin: A place to let out my anger; My rage; My excitement; My sadness;... My worries. When my arm was tak en, this was the place I went to let out the tears; To mourn the dead; To fight off the inner demons that plagued my dreams.
She quickly realized where it was going. I opened my eyes to look at her.
Austin: I know about Adam; How he haunts your dreams.
She cupped her hands to her face and looked down, trying to avoid eye contact.
Austin: You feel useless because you couldn't defend Blake. Weakened by how easily it was to sever your arm.
She began to cry a bit.
Austin: You feel alone in this fight, but you're not. I have my own demons to fight too. We all do Yang.
She leaned against me and continued to cry. My shirt now wet.
Austin: Let it all out Yang. We all have our weaknesses.
She screamed in agony as she backed up a step. Her lavender eyes now a crimson red. She was pissed off.
Yang: What!?
Austin: Umm..I......
Ghost, what the hell!?
Ghost: No idea.
Yang: You think I'm weak!?
Austin: Wait, what!? No.
In a flash of light, she donned her suit of armor and ran towards me. I noticed her fist and backed up before she could give me a devastating uppercut.
Austin: Hey!
Raven appeared.
Raven: You did say 'Let it all out'.
Austin: I didn't mean-!
*crack!*
I felt my jaw break under the force of her fist as I hit the ground on my back. I've heard first hand accounts of her punches from the other students; How her fists could shake the ground around her; How dumb I was to try to tame the blonde firebomb. It was at that moment that I understood their fear of her anger.
I fucked up.
I rolled aside as she landed where I once was, a small crater formed as I stood up, panicking a bit.
Ghost!
Ghost: Loading suit.
In a blink of an eye, my suit of armor was back on. A fist landed on my chest. Though it hurt a lot, it was a hell of a lot better than the alternative. I grabbed her arm as she went for another punch to the chest.
Yang: Let go of me!
Austin: Why are you doing this!?
Yang: I'm not a coward!
Austin: What the fuck Ya-AHH!
I felt my knee buckle as she kicked my leg, causong me to let go and opening me up for another blow. She screamed as she punched my chest again and fired Ember Celica, sending me rolling across the open plains. I barely got the chance to stand up before she came rushing at me for another attack. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding her knee as so drew my sword.
Yang: I'm not letting them down!
Austin: Raven! What the hell's going on!?
Raven: She's hallucinating.
Austin: Hallucinating what!?
She came running towards me again.
I'm sorry for what I'm about to do.
I turned the sword to the side, waiting for her to go for a punch. As she predictably went for a punch to the face, I pushed her arm up with the sword. Open, I punched her stomach, a grunt heard from her as a knee returned the favor. I grabbed her leg and spun around with it, throwing her away from me.
She screamed as her body lit up in flames, the ringing of a bell as the Hammer of Sol was summoned at her side. My body electrified as I felt the Earthshaker with me surge through my veins. We both ran towards one another, charging like bitter rivals.
Yang: I'll kill you for Blake!
Austin: Snap out of it Yang!
We both lunged at each other, my fist making contact with her face as her hammer simultaneously made contact with my face. I felt my body heat up in the worst kind of way, my body and soul burning to a crisp as I was lead to darkness.
I waited for my Ghost as I looked around the pitch black void of eternal nothingness.
5.
.
.
4.
.
.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
1.
.
.
I lost control of my body as I was dragged towards the light. I opened my eyes in shock as I woke back up in the Cosmodrome, a mix of electricity and fire everywhere.
Ruby: Austin! What happened!?
I sat up to see Ruby and the others staring at me.
Wait...
Austin: Ah....fuck.....Where's.....Where's Yang?
Blake: She's on the ship asleep.
Weiss: Why were you two trying to kill each other!?
Austin: I.....I don't know.
Weiss: What do you mean you don't know?
Austin: It's a long story Weiss.
Weiss: You better have a good explanation.
Sun: I heard an explosion, what happened?
Austin: Sun?
Sun: What?
I stood up, looking at the monkey faunus.
Austin: Where the hell were you the whole time?
Sun: Oh yeah, while you guy's were away, I managed to get some sleep.
Austin: For over a day?
Sun: Well you guy's did leave me alone in the ship!
Weiss: And it was the most peace I had.
Sun: I was lonely.
Austin: Alright, everyone back on the ship.
Ruby: Yes, 'commander'.
Austin: What's that supposed to mean Rubes?
Ruby just giggled.
Ruby: Nothing.
As we all entered the ship, Ghost came back out of my head as I entered the cockpit.
Austin: The hell was up with Yang?
Ghost: Well Raven did say hallucinations.
Austin: About Adam?
Ghost: I can only guess.
Austin: I look nothing like him.
Ghost: I.....don't know.
I sighed.
Austin: Let's just get to Io. Ghost. Watch her, make sure she doesn't have a nightmare again.
Ghost: Got it commander Zavala.
Austin: Fuck you little light.
Ghost: You would do that?
Austin: Ghost....
Ghost: Fine.
The ship began to take off back to Io to continue our little adventure. I just hope the ordeal is solved, even temporarily.