Beyond the walls of the last city, wrapped in the mists of mountains ageless and yet a testament to change itself held a quiet beauty. Even in the spaces where hints of the carcass of lost civilizations and the scavengers that sought to reclaim the rust there was comfort in silence that Lydia was always drawn to. There were times when she would volunteer to scout the forests here just to be embraced by that same silence, even with the very real dangers that lurked in the illusion of peace that the forest created it offered solace that the occasionally suffocating atmosphere of the city created. It was on one of those very same scouting missions that she had come across a stone structure, an ancient temple that had been converted into a survivor’s camp probably for those braves few making the bloody pilgrimage into the waiting arms of the city. There were remnants of the attempt at settlement but there were also remnants of older habitation from the golden age, which was undoubtedly an attempt to connect with ancient history. Lydia had felt a connection to the crumbling stone and well-hidden rusted infrastructure and it soon became her home away from city.
While her apartment in nestled in the shadow of the Vanguard’s tower collected dust, the items here were cherished for their tarnished quality. Although this temple did still hold it’s share of secrets, one of which Lydia was working on. The bit of twisted metal could be identified as a sparrow, and it was every inch the ruin as was the stone building that housed it. Her Ghost, Laufey, hovered around her, offering tools when prompted, but mostly was just keeping Lydia company. This occasional pause to work on the wrecked sparrow was more symbolic than anything and they both knew it, and Laufey wasn’t going to stop Lydia’s therapy sessions until it was necessary.
]]We haven’t been home in a while. Don’t you think it would be good to check up on the city? Measure the levels of the dust to compare to the last time?
Lydia smiled, a thin smirk that pulled up one corner of her mouth and was gone as soon as it appeared, “You’ve given more obvious hints before.” She had a twisted piece of metal in her hands, uncoiling it with patient precision, “But I bet this is when you say that I’ve ignored the subtle ones.”
Laufey zoomed down in front of Lydia, blinking with a weird mix of excitement and agitation, ]]Well, you did.
Another small smile spread on her face, setting the piece of metal back onto the outrigger where she had found it, “Well I got the hint now, and for once I’m not going to ignore it. You’re right. Let’s go home, maybe pick up a few bounties…or a few more races…Get the Macro ready.”
The ghost’s excitement was palpable, Laufey did have a hummingbird sort of quality that even though sometimes she might talk too much it didn’t change the fact that her erratic behavior was more endearing than annoying. In a way the contrast between guardian and ghost was a perfect contrast, and in another way Laufey was just a reflection of a side of Lydia that very few have seen. Once the sparrow was summoned, she wasted no time hopping on it and taking the long way back to the city. As the comfort and peace of the enclosing forest and the ancient and wordless mountains she couldn’t help but feel a strange excitement. It came to her every time she came back to the city from being out in the wilds. It only made her miss the city in an out of body experience kind of way. She wouldn’t be able to stay here for too long before getting annoyed by it, needed to seek out solace like her retreat in the mountains…but it would always be hard to shake the feeling that the city really was home. With a puff of dust, she brought the sparrow to a stop and as she hopped off it, Laufey stowed the sparrow in one smooth motion. There weren’t many people milling around the gate she came in, undoubtedly because of the threat of the brewing storm, but the few that did gave a nod or small wave in greeting, it was hard to say if any one of them recognized her as the sparrow racer that was almost the champion. Almost.
She had gotten to the city just in time, dark clouds that had only been threatening at her retreat in the mountains were here a little more foreboding. Lighting cracked above them, and thunder rumbled with its promise for rain somewhere in the distance. When Laufey stowed her helmet, she shook the top of her cloak back against her shoulders with a quick shake of her head, picking the street that would take her to one of her favorite taverns in the whole city. It was quiet, most times, and it had one hell of a stew that made Lydia’s stomach growl just thinking about it.
]]Let me guess. Home can wait?
“Don’t sound so disappointed, you want me to socialize more. I’m socializing.”
]]Hah. Socializing. Who lost the bet this time?
Another smile stretched onto her face thanks to her ghost, she turned to glance to her, “The bartender. Remember that little slolam we did back in the forest, you know the one down the mountain?’’
]]Why would I want to forget it?
“He drew it up, told me I couldn’t do it without crashing…”
]]And I’m the proof. How dramatic you want the retelling? I can make it seem like we had a couple of close calls, maybe we did it on a Pike instead of our sparrow?
Lydia stopped just as she put her hand on the door, “Just the vanilla truth for now. It wasn’t that big of a bet..” Another smile flashed to her ghost before she pushed her way through into the quiet interior. She had hold back the smile that wanted to spread when she saw the bartender’s face, “I owe ya a meal on the house don’t I?” She held up her hand as Laufey zoomed past her to circle the bartender, “It was a meal and a drink, don’t cheat me on that little comfort…” With a roll of his eyes he turned away, he couldn’t argue considering Laufey was explaining the details while the man gathered Lydia her drink. In the time it took for Laufey to finish the story Lydia surveyed the patrons in the tavern, warlocks whispering their lofty words probably conjured the storm just to try and find answers in the lightning and thunder and one titan lost in his own little word at the counter…it was another face nestled as far back as someone could be without leaving the tavern that caught her eye. “I’ll be with them…” She pointed before grabbing her drink and holding her hand out for Laufey it was their silent signal to refocus and regroup, she was getting a little too elaborate in the retelling anyway…
Laufey stayed to Lydia for a few steps before a strike of lightning illuminated the guardian and the battered ghost at the table, “Ezra.” Her ghost didn’t waste any time, moving to hover just above the other guardian’s ghost tilting and turning and studying as Lydia finally closed the distance. She couldn’t believe her eyes, she had heard rumors and whispers about what had happened, of where The Ram had placed herself all this time since she fell off the veritable map for those still in the Vanguard’s good graces, “I hope you don’t mind some company…I’d sit in the next seat over but Laufey would be over here even if I said no…It’s been awhile, and to be honest I didn’t expect to run into any familiar faces in this of all places. It’s kind of my quiet spot.”
]]Her quiet spot to collect on and make bets, she means..
Laufey glanced up to the guardian before focusing once more on the ghost, “Well, that’s just fun. So,” she pulled up another seat, studying the way this blast from the past looked more like a ghost than her ghost did, that gleam in her eye spoke to all the rumors she had heard of where The Ram was these days, fleeting reports of scouts running across a ‘feral guardian’ in the woods hunting down whatever got in her way. Lydia wasn’t going to fall into those rumors, and she’d hear it from Ezra how Ezra would tell it because all those rumors were far from the guardian she had known, “what brings you to this hole in the wall establishment?”
@spacexmagicxandxsheepxbleats