The screaming.\u00a0 The hellish screaming.\u00a0 When would it end?\u00a0 It was everywhere, and yet they never saw the beasts until they were right upon them.\u00a0 Those monsters.\u00a0 The four-armed ones; the ones that spit the burning acid; the ones that leapt at you, flailing their spiked arms like a whirlwind.\u00a0 Leon could barely make them out until they were already getting ready to kill him – such was the speed at which they came.\u00a0 He was trained, though; an expert at the light machine gun.\u00a0 In less than a second he could separate friend from foe.\u00a0 A few milliseconds longer, and he could pick out what class of enemy he was up against.\u00a0 He could then make a decision based on this.<\/p>\n
At the moment, the decision-making was slightly simpler:\u00a0 friend or foe, if foe, how close, if closer than the rest, shoot it.\u00a0 Most of the time, the thing he shot was in the process of hurtling towards him at high speed.\u00a0 Leon could dodge the corpse as it fell, but he couldn’t usually avoid what came with it.\u00a0 The thick green ichor dripped down his armor, sometimes squirming unnaturally.\u00a0 All the while, Leon held the trigger of his light machine gun down heavily, feeling the rhythmic banging emanating from the barrel.\u00a0 Around him, there were dozens of the monsters, all streaming from the depths of the jungle.\u00a0 Fighting alongside Leon, there were two more humans.\u00a0 To his left, the crack of a shotgun from the hands of a Warlock.\u00a0 To his right, the steady drumming of a pulse rifle from the hands of a Hunter.<\/p>\n
It went this way for a little over a minute, until at last the shotgun stopped, and Leon heard the wielder cry “I’m out!\u00a0 Cover me!”\u00a0 Leon immediately started shifting left to fill the empty spot while the Warlock ducked behind a part of the downed drop-ship.\u00a0 “Okay, I’m–\u00a0 behind us!\u00a0 They’re right behind us!”\u00a0 Leon turned around to find a dozen Hive Knights descending upon his friend.\u00a0 Before Leon could open fire, one of the Knights dove at the Warlock.\u00a0 A crack; the shot missed.\u00a0 As the Knight got within a meter of the hapless Guardian, it drove its arm down heavily.<\/p>\n
Attached to the arm was an energy blade.<\/p>\n
The Guardian let out a piercing shriek as flesh and bone were torn asunder in a whirlwind of slashing and cutting.\u00a0 As quickly as the scream had started, it ended.\u00a0 Leon yanked down the trigger; the Knight erupted into a million pieces, shredded by the rain of bullets.\u00a0 More ichor drenched Leon’s armor.\u00a0 He stepped to what was now his left, towards the Hunter with the pulse rifle, hoping that he might be able to keep the Hive on one side of him.\u00a0 He stepped a little too slow.\u00a0 It could’ve been a railway car slamming into his side; it certainly felt like it to Leon.\u00a0 He slid to the ground as the monster that had knocked him down let out a growl – though it sounded more like rocks grinding together than anything animal-like.<\/p>\n
As Leon lay still, the other Guardian screamed as a fountain of acid hit her from behind, the force knocking her down as the yellow liquid burned through her thin uniform and into her skin.\u00a0 A long shriek; she was burning.\u00a0 But the Hive did not stop.\u00a0 They continued to attack her, tearing her apart just as they had done to her comrade.\u00a0 The shrieking stopped; at last the Hive stood still.\u00a0 Leon just lay there, slowly regaining his wits.\u00a0 He stirred.\u00a0 Another of those growls.\u00a0 A Knight walked into his vision.\u00a0 It stared down at him, pitiless, soaking up his pain and enjoying it.\u00a0 After a moment, which seemed to stretch into eternity for Leon, it raised and dropped its arm.<\/p>\n
The light of the blade blinded him.<\/p>\n
——————————————–<\/p>\n
The nightmare ended.\u00a0 Leon screamed, but no sound came.\u00a0 It took a moment for what had happened to sink in, and then he was breathing normally.\u00a0 He looked around the room.\u00a0 It was a cozy little place, with a relatively soft carpeted floor, three beds, a table, and some closets.\u00a0 He was in one of the beds, while the other two were occupied by sleeping figures.\u00a0 A cool breeze drifted in from the window.\u00a0 A minute of silence passed as Leon adjusted himself to his circumstance.\u00a0 He pulled the wrinkled covers off himself, and stood up.\u00a0 A quick stretch of his back, and then a glance at the clock.\u00a0 6:52 AM.<\/p>\n
Leon walked into the bathroom and stared in the mirror.\u00a0 He looked physically normal, except for one glaring feature:\u00a0 a long scar running diagonally along his neck.\u00a0 Scars were a normal feature of being a Guardian; spend a few years fighting the Fallen, and you’re bound to get at least one, if not a couple.\u00a0 But this one was unique, because it signified the most critical feature of Leon’s existence.<\/p>\n
He could not speak.<\/p>\n
His eyes fixed on that scar for several seconds.\u00a0 That cursed scar.\u00a0 His life was hell, simply because of that one scar.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, he wished it had gone deeper.<\/p>\n
Just an inch, that was all that had allowed him to live.\u00a0 But what is life when you can’t make even a sound?\u00a0 When you can’t reciprocate kindness?\u00a0 When you can’t even tell someone the most basic fact?\u00a0 Those most simple words, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – he couldn’t even say those.\u00a0 That one binary, around which most of human existence is built – black and white, yes and no, good and bad, right and wrong – he couldn’t get that across, no matter how hard he tried.\u00a0 What is life then?<\/p>\n
Just an inch deeper, that was all he had needed.<\/p>\n
——————————————–<\/p>\n
Leon walked out of the bathroom, his face still wet from washing it.\u00a0 It was 6:58 now.\u00a0 He looked out the window, and saw the City below.\u00a0 The sky was clear and blue, and the white metallic buildings of the City glittered in the sun.\u00a0 Leon was used to seeing the City, as most people were.\u00a0 Awe was rarely felt about it.\u00a0 Far from it, many Guardians could feel just how fragile it was.\u00a0 Had it not been for that dead thing in the sky, that mysterious Traveler, humanity would’ve been extinguished long ago.<\/p>\n
Leon heard something stir to his left.\u00a0 Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw one of the sleeping figures turning in the bed next to him.\u00a0 The covers were wrapped around the person’s body tightly, and little more than a head poked out.\u00a0 Her dark brown hair was very short, a military-style cut.\u00a0 A tiny scar, barely noticeable, ran along her left cheek.\u00a0 Her lips were thin, as were her eyebrows.\u00a0 Her eyes, currently hidden in sleep, were a shiny amber.\u00a0 Leon stared for the longest time at her, barely moving except to breathe.\u00a0 God, if only he could just tell her\u2026<\/p>\n
The clock began beeping.\u00a0 7:00 o’clock.\u00a0 Both of the sleeping figures began to stir as they woke up.\u00a0 Leon walked back over to his bed and sat down.\u00a0 The woman was the first one of the two to get up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and face before standing up and tapping a button on the clock.\u00a0 The beeping stopped, and silence returned.\u00a0 The woman rubbed her neck, and tried to shake the shoulder of the other person, who was still somewhere in-between being conscious and asleep.<\/p>\n
“Hey, Dan, wake up,” she said.\u00a0 The only response was a bit of uncomfortable grumbling.\u00a0 “Come on, it’s time.”\u00a0 This time the response was intelligible, if only barely:\u00a0 “Alright, alright, I’m getting up.”\u00a0 The woman turned away from Dan, and back to Leon.\u00a0 “I see you’re already up.”\u00a0 He nodded.<\/p>\n
Dan – his full name was Danuta Novak, but everyone shortened it to just Dan – slowly pulled off the covers and got up.\u00a0 His face was twisted in a sickly frown, his skin pale and green and his arm clutched around his stomach.\u00a0 The woman looked at him and said “I assume it’s the, uh, usual?”\u00a0 A nod.\u00a0 Dan was serious; she was being sarcastic.\u00a0 Dan had always been a bit superstitious, and any illness of his he attributed to an alien curse put on his head seven years back.\u00a0 As he sat there, his cheeks suddenly filled up, and he ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.\u00a0 Leon could hear him vomiting.<\/p>\n
The woman – her name was Angela – sat back down on the bed and rubbed her forehead before staring out the window.\u00a0 Leon watched her for a while.\u00a0 After a minute, she caught his gaze, though he turned away, slightly embarrassed.\u00a0 She stared at him for a moment, sympathetically and with a hint of sorrow.\u00a0 He looked back, and their eyes met.\u00a0 “Hi,” she said.\u00a0 It wasn’t a simple greeting – it was an acknowledgement of his soul.<\/p>\n
It just hurt more.\u00a0 She could acknowledge him, but he couldn’t acknowledge her.<\/p>\n
He turned away painfully, and she recognized what it meant, likewise drawing away, feeling a little guilty.\u00a0 Dan returned from the bathroom, his face a little more flush and not quite so sweaty.\u00a0 “Better?” Angela asked.\u00a0 Dan nodded weakly.<\/p>\n
To Be Continued…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The screaming.\u00a0 The hellish screaming.\u00a0 When would it end?\u00a0 It was everywhere, and yet they never saw the beasts until they were right upon them.\u00a0 Those monsters.\u00a0 The four-armed ones; the ones that spit the burning acid; the ones that leapt at you, flailing their spiked arms like a whirlwind.\u00a0 Leon could barely make them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33,79],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}