#oc:aegis

[hejanic]

been playing catch up

[etheiryan]

Gift

Nessa-7 tilted her head back, letting her hood flop away from her face. The breeze was chilly this high up, but it was a pleasant break after a week of intense fieldwork in the caverns below the Cosmodrome, where nothing was truly fresh. Her helmet was quickly transmatted away.

There was no need for it, after all.

It was a few years after Twilight Gap. The scars were still borne by those who fought in it, but the City was safe.

The next three weeks were dedicated to the Dawning, under the careful eye of one Eva Levante. The lanterns had been set, and Ikora had set the luminous crystal of Light into the air, high above the City. Faint music could be heard, drifting from the Hangar.

“When do you think Tevis will be back?” Nessa wondered to her Ghost, who materialized next to her.

“Shouldn't be long,” Aegis replied, “I got a message from his ghost saying that Tevis promised to be here for the Dawning.”

Nessa sighed. “Hopefully he's not lying,” she muttered.

Aegis pretended not to hear.

“Well, no need to dwell. I'll hunt him down if I have to,” the huntress started towards the Vanguard Hall, passing a few wide-eyed greenhorns who had the luck to be resurrected during the Dawning. “For now, I need to get this sword off me.”

Nessa found Shaxx right where he usually stood. Hands on his hips, an imposing figure to any who was coming down the stairs.

Except a few.

Including Nessa, as she easily strode up to him, yanking a Hive sword off her back as she approached.

Shaxx lifted his gaze from his console, where a Crucible match was displayed. One side was...heavily losing. His eyebrows raised beneath his helmet when he saw the huntress carrying a sword easily more than half her own height (and possibly weight). “Hello, Nessa,” he greeted slowly, mildly perplexed.

“Hey, Shaxx,” Nessa grinned, offering the Hive sword to him.

“...thank you?” Shaxx took the sword easily. It even had a little orange bow wrapped around the hilt.

“I was underneath the Cosmodrome for a bit, found a Hive ritual and thought “hey, this would make a great gift to a certain swordsmaster”.” Nessa explained, brushing her hands off. Chitin residue was not very pleasant.

“It’s a good gift,” Shaxx placed it gently onto the table behind him, “and a resourceful one at that.”

Nessa barked a laugh, “...and I’m nothing if not resourceful, right?”

“Correct.”

“Happy Dawning, Shaxx.”

“Happy Dawning, Nessa.”

“Andal!” Nessa called.

“Hm?” the Hunter Vanguard turned from his map to see Nessa with a basket in hand, wrapped with a red bow. “What’s this?”

“Your Dawning gift, you idiot,” Nessa teased affectionately.

“Ooh?” Andal accepted the offered basket, which was warm to the touch, and smelled faintly of bread beneath the cliche checkered blanket covering it. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you take a look?” Nessa casually lifted herself to sit on the Vanguard table, not giving a shit about the frowns that Osiris shot her way.

Lifting the blanket revealed several loaves of bread of various shapes and sizes. Some, Andal recognized, others, not so much. Andal side-eyed Nessa with a grin, “Is this in return for the garlic bread?”

“Maybe.” Nessa laughed. Definitely.

“Happy Dawning, Nessa.”

“And a happy Dawning to you to, Gibbers.”

Nessa left the hall, snickering at Andal’s indignant spluttering behind her.

Aegis materialized next to her head, bouncing brightly. “Guess what news I have from a certain Nightstalker?” He spun his plates excitedly, not even waiting for Nessa to respond, “He’s in the courtyard right now!”

“Is he?” Nessa broke into a sprint, rushing past Shaxx and his new Hive sword. “Hopefully he takes some time to check his vault, else he’ll disappear and we won’t be able to find him.”

Aegis obediently materialized away, disappearing into a shower of light. He wouldn’t be able to keep up with his guardian.

Nessa burst into the open light, her keen eyes narrowing on Tevis’s purple cloak. She let out a war cry as she picked up the speed, almost blinking, and barreling into Tevis, who let out a squawk of surprise.

“Tevis, you asshole, the shadow of my life, you’ve finally come home!” Nessa lamented, barely able to resist bursting into giggles.

“Get off,” Tevis grumbled, shoving Nessa bodily off of him and standing, “Nice to see you too.”

“It really is,” Nessa’s excitement dimmed, though she was no less happy. She stood up as well and went to the vaults to her left, quickly pulling something from it.

“Welcome back, Tevis.” She offered the item to him, “I hope you stay a while this time.”

His eyebrows knitted together as he accepted the item. It was small, and radiated warmth to his palm. In his hand was a little arrow, fashioned out of Nessa’s potent solar light. The chain attached to it was almost pure arc energy, seemingly contained within a very delicate field.

“Do you like it?” Nessa awaited his response eagerly, “I had Aegis help with the chain, since even I am not that precise…”

“I fucking love it.” Tevis declared, closing his fist around it. The solar light was comforting, after so long with the void as his only companion.

“Happy Dawning, Tevis.” Nessa patted his fist gently, “Don’t let the void bite too much.”

“Happy Dawning, Nessa.”

Nessa sighed, fidgeting with her gauntlet. “Well, one more gift. Let’s see what Cayde’s up to today, shall we?”

She found the Exo chatting with some younger guardians in the little dance club in the Hangar. Surprisingly, but perhaps not, Andal was with him, spinning a wild tale that was likely only half true.

Nessa opened her mouth to greet them with a snarky remark.

“Having fun without us?”

Tevis’s voice interrupted her from where he had appeared at her right, hood drawn back to show his conventionally attractive ginger head off. A smirk danced perpetually at his lips, and Nessa noticed that at least three guardians swooned a bit at his appearance.

Without missing a beat, Andal flashed a sweet smile that looked horribly out of place on his face, “Never. We were just waiting for you to show up.”

“A likely story,” Tevis snarked under his breath.

Ignoring the two for now, Nessa crossed the short distance to plop down on a couch next to Cayde.

“I should warn you, Nessa,” Andal took a break from snipping at Tevis, “I already gave the kid some spurs.”

Nessa promptly burst out laughing, doubling over on the couch to contain her mirth. “This is fucking perfect for you, then,” she managed to wheeze out between giggles. From behind her cloak she produced…

...a cowboy hat.

Cayde’s eyes became moons as he gazed at the proffered hat. It was slightly modified, with some metal armor and thicker leather for both aesthetic and protection. “Now I can be a true space cowboy,” he breathed, taking the hat reverently and placing it on his head, over his hood.

“You look ridiculous.”

“Thank you!”

“Happy Dawning, all of you.”

A chorus of “Happy Dawning”s filled the air. Outside, the snow began to fall, covering the Tower in a light dusting of white as laughter and warmth emanated from the lounge.

A perfect Dawning, Nessa thought, watching her friends laugh and tease with a smile on her face.

Happy Dawning and Happy Holidays everyone! This is a little longer homage to some of my favorite characters, along with a few references to some jokes and headcanons we’ve had through the year in @nutshaxx ‘s discord! 

Including; Garlic Bread Brask (GBB=Gibbers) and Tevis as a handsome ginger asshole who may or may not have slept with the whole Tower at some point. I was, unfortunately, unable to fit Andal’s Spanish musician tendencies.

A thank you to @lady-efriyeet for some of the gift ideas! And ya know what I’m tagging @guardiankisses as well. And you @abionbroadway . Thank you for making 2018 so wonderful and here’s to another year of ridiculous ideas! 

[etheiryan]

Sweet Dreams

It was a trap. She should’ve known it was a trap.

Nebula’s signal going off in the middle of one Savathun’s war-moons was too good to be true. It shouldn’t be true.

Nebula had been lost to the Hive countless years past, on a mission she undertook with Leilani and another hunter, not Nessa.

Maybe if she had gone with them…or trained them harder, better. If she had gone with them, then maybe, just maybe, she would not die alone in these chitin caverns.

Alone…right.

All alone.

Shaxx. Andal. Tevis. Cayde. Shiro. Nebula. Leilani. Even Amanda had passed, her mortal life dripping away as certainly as the sun would rise.

Everyone she ever bothered to care about.

She must be the oldest guardian alive by now.

So many years, centuries, even, passed by and she forgot to cherish them in the moment. All she had left were these broken memories even as the City expanded and grew strong.

Until guardians started to dwindle away. The Traveler sensed that it was safe. Ghosts stopped going out. The old guardians became distant.

Until Savathun and her war-moons descended like a swarm of locusts.

Guardian after guardian fell. Shaxx, lost when Savathun struck down the Tower directly. Shiro, lost in action.

Nessa tried. Again and again she threw herself against the darkness. Anger and grief clawed at her heart, compelling her to do reckless things she would never have done so many years ago. The days seemed to be everlasting dark, the war-moons surrounding Earth and blocking the sunlight.

Aegis… Her ghost watched his guardian become isolated in the dark, when she needed someone the most. He tried and tried to reach her, and was sometimes awarded with a strained smile.

“It’s okay.”

It was not okay.

Against Aegis’s better judgement, he agreed to this mission.

A vain attempt to recover Nebula, even if they could only find her mark or some other trace of her.

This mission, that led to Nessa wishing she had listened to Eris more. That led Nessa to shadestep from shadow to shadow to avoid an onslaught of Hive and failed. That led to Nessa running for dear life through the caverns, ammo empty and light suppressed.

The depths of the war-moons were too deep for the Traveler’s light to reach, it seemed. But there was enough of her own light to maintain an Arcstaff, at least.

The shrieks of Hive and Taken thrall alike forced her feet to run faster, skidding on the rough chitin as she scrambled to turn away from an Ogre that appeared in an opening to another tunnel.

She felt as if she was running in circles. She had been forced to take the left turn one too many times now-

Oh.

Nessa burst through the thin chitin stalagmites that covered the tunnel opening and found herself in a cave with Hive-crafted pillars stretching into the ceiling. It fleetingly reminded her of the hollows beneath the Moon, before humanity reclaimed it.

Two wizards, helpfully labeled by Aegis with names, though she did not pay attention to them, turned and shrieked their songs of death.

Nessa spotted an exit to the cavern on the other side, past the Deathsingers. If she could reach it…

Suddenly, a blinding pain seared down her back. Nessa’s eyes widened in shock as she felt her feet go slack, sending her to the ground.

Dimly, she heard the shrieks of the thrall grow louder, but everything was muted as if she was floating underwater. Her vision went fuzzy, static and darkness creeping in on the edges.

A light, soothing blue, glowed on her face.

Panic.

But her voice would not work.

“...gis,” her voice was glitched and blotted with static. “A.g..is n...O!”

Purple and blue flashed above her. Blinding panic followed and forced her to push herself up in an attempt to block the sniper shot of an acolyte far off.

Yet…

A soft blue light, hazy in her malfunctioning eyes, seemed to explode from where her hands had wrapped around her ghost.

Too late.

“No…”

Nevermind the fact that she had been rendered mortal, Aegis...her ghost...her companion from the very beginning, had been lost.

Again she had failed to cherish him in the moments past. Again she was left with only the shattered and burning memories of her ghost.

His shell was left, her mind registered. Vaguely, but there, even as the thrall and knights were practically upon her.

Her.

No longer “them”.

Her eyes burned with tears, rage, even pain. Her mind flashed to countless times when fire had been her comfort, even as arc coursed easiest through her veins. It remembered and it used the memory to conjure eight final knives, almost burning her own fingers in their fire, and sent them sailing against the tide of thrall.

Their shrieks crescendoed as they burned. But the knight was merely scorched and turned its hateful eyes against her.

From where Nessa had failed to land on her feet, the knight and its sword seemed more imposing than ever.

Static corrupted her vision.

The frenzied swipes of the thralls finally bore down on her, yet her eyes could only stare at the sword blade…

Thoughts drifted to all the people she had held close even as the blade seemed to fall in slow motion.

Her limbs failed and she flopped gracelessly on her side.

At last…

Sweet dreams...

What a fluffy prompt amirite. This is...hm..probably not the way my oc will hit the fan, but it was fun to stab her with a sword a few times. Is it angsty enough? Idk. A thank you to @nutshaxx for help with this idea! Also! Two days late because of certain situations that won’t let me write at my normal time (coughmidnightcough)

[etheiryan]

Little Joys

The following is a correspondence between Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 and Aegis, ghost of hunter Nessa-7.

YOU HAVE ONE (1) NEW MESSAGE

//To: [USER: Dash1ngV4ngu4rd]//

//From: [User: Icighoul]//

//This is Aegis, Nessa’s ghost. It’s your rez-day, according to Sundance, so I have attached a quick list of things that have been proven to give Nessa joy, as per your ghost’s request:

..

-You, for one

-Walks in the open air

-Crucible matches

-hugging Shaxx

-Tower decorations

-GOOD tower decorations

-Pigeons

-Candy apples

-New guns

-GOOD new guns

-new knives

-pretty knives

-sparrow racing

-puzzles

-exploration

..

She also has a habit of people watching. Not sure if that’s at all helpful.

..

Why do you need this list again?

//END MESSAGE//

[Chatroom: Opened]

//Start Log: 23:55//

[User: Dash1ngV4ngu4rd] has entered the chatroom

[Sub-user: Icighouls] has entered the chatroom

[Dash1ngV4ngu4rd]: Heyyyyy Ae...hm, that doesn’t translate as well in text, does it?

[Icighouls]: No, it really doesn’t.

[Icighouls]: Seriously, I meant my last question in that message. Why did you need that list?

[Dash1ngV4ngu4rd]: For...things. Possibly betting. Maybe gift making.

[Icighouls]: …

[Icighouls]: As long as it’s not too dangerous. You know she would...not like it...if you got yourself killed.

[Dash1ngV4ngu4rd]: Not! To! Worry! Perfectly within regulation, even big blue wouldn’t be able to tell me off for this one.

[Icighouls]: I hope you’re right…

[Chatroom: Closed]

//End Log: 0:04//

The following is a message found by Amethyst, ghost of titan Nebula Karthien.

//To: [User:Dash1ngV4ngu4rd]//

//From: [User:Speed0fLight]//

//Hey, Cayde. Uh...thanks. For everything.

..

Don’t die.

..

You’re too important to die, and I’d hate to take your cape.

//END MESSAGE//

I was busy today, so here is...basically, a fan lore tab involving OCs. Don’t have the energy for much else today, and tbh this used to be a worse idea. I’m kinda late. Again.

[etheiryan]

Chosen Undead

“Hey, Aegis?”

Her ghost materialized next to her shoulder, looking out across the brightly lit city at night, “Yes?”

“...why me?” Nessa fiddled with a knife from her shoulder, deep in thought. “Why was I...chosen?”

“I...I can't answer that for sure. The Traveler chooses who it will.”

“There's nothing really...special about me. From the records in that Clovis Bray facility, I was just another security exo,” she started to throw the knife up by the blade and catching it again, fearless of cuts and scratches. “Hell, there were better guards than me. Better fighters. Better people.”

Aegis gazed at his guardian's forlorn figure, slumped and leaning against the wall, her feet dangling downwards to a fatal fall. Not that she had any worry. He had heard stories of guardians who questioned their status as chosen, who became angry at a silent god. He hoped his would not be the same.

“We're all just walking, talking corpses aren't we?” Nessa nearly spat the words out. “What makes us different from people like Takanome? Amanda?” She twirled the knife and jammed it into the concrete violently, sinking it deep enough for it to stay there. “Takanome was braver than most of us, and Amanda has lost more than many of us!”

Aegis watched his guardian’s violent outburst, saddened. “...where is this going?”

“Possibly to the Speaker, maybe to Andal. He was always good at this stuff.” Nessa shrugged half-heartedly, a stark difference to her demeanor a few seconds ago.

Aegis was silent for a moment, observing Nessa’s still fidgety figure as she plucked the knife up, leaving a groove in the floor. “...if...if you'd like, I can attempt to come up with some parameters based on the database of guardians we have, past or present.”

“No. Don't bother.” Nessa shook her head and stood, her back straight. Back to her strong and noble demeanor, then. All squared shoulders and purposeful steps.

Aegis’ response was to disappear again, with a final “you know where to find me” as he did.

Little did the huntress know, the future held one truly baffling choice of guardian.

[hejanic]

As promised