Destiny 2: A Lost Soul

Chapter 5: Drifting Apart

With Taiki on the warpath and dead set on bringing Uldren's head back to the tower, Suzuka and Spe-7 found themselves wandering for purpose.

"What do we do now?" Spe-7 asks. "He told us not to follow him..."

"But I still want to..." Suzuka mumbles. "I'm... I'm worried for him, and Ghost probably is too... Does Ghost even know what he and Taiki are getting themselves into?"

"I'm just surprised that Zavala hasn't stopped him..." Spe-7 says. "He looked so... Sad."

"...I wanted to... But it would only insult the both of us..." A deep voice says, and the two turn to see none other than Zavala. "I understand how much you worry about him, Suzuka. I wish I could stop him, but he would have struck out on his own anyway... I'm just afraid of the consequences that it will bring..."

"What do you mean?" Spe-7 asks.

"See... Humanity and the awoken have some... Shaky relations." Zavala replies.

"Aren't you one of the awoken yourself?" Suzuka asks.

"Indeed I am, but I'm not very in touch with the Sovs, who are the royalty amongst the awoken." Zavala explains. "One life lost is nothing compared to risking the lives of an entire race. I'm just afraid that with Taiki going after their prince he's going to put all of those lives at risk..."

"I see..." Spe-7 replies. "Is there anything we can do to... Mitigate the damage done?"

"I... I honestly don't know." Zavala says. "But the most you can do is keep an eye from a distance. I'm not giving you permission to interfere with Taiki's... Vendetta, but do make sure that others are not caught in the crossfire."

"Right." Suzuka says. "I'm going to go see Ikora."

"Then I shall take my leave... Be safe, and may the light be with you." Zavala replies as he slowly walks off and Suzuka and Spe-7 begin to head to the bazaar where Ikora would normally be. Before they can reach Ikora though, someone pops out of nowhere and surprises them. He looks like a normal human and he could have passed off as one had it not been for the strange looking ghost floating right beside him, and he dresses like he came from a dark age with mostly black and green clothing and a strange looking hand cannon at his side.

"Sorry about that, did I scare you?" The strange man asks. "I don't think I've seen your kind around here before... Have I?"

"Who are you?" Suzuka asks.

"Who am I? Like, you wanna know my name?" The strange man asks again. "You don't need to know my name, but you can just call me Drifter."

"So what do you do here?" Spe-7 asks.

"Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Drifter replies. Suzuka looks like she's going to bring out her sword when the strange man suddenly puts his hands up. "I didn't mean it! I swear! Can you guardians take a joke?" He chuckles sheepishly. "Anyways, I kinda do my own thing, not much a care about what the vanguard does."

"Oh, okay!" Spe-7 says before whispering to Suzuka. "When did this guy get here?" Drifter almost looks amused as he watches the two whisper to one another, but he pays no attention to what they may be whispering about.

"So... What's YOUR business around here? Don't see you around here that often." Drifter asks.

"I was going to see Ikora when we suddenly ran into you." Suzuka replies. "We were going to talk to her about Taiki and his whole... Path for vengeance."

"Is this because of Cayde?" Drifter asks. "Don't lie, I knew him very well."

"You did?" Spe-7 asks back.

"Well, we used to work together, keyword used to." Drifter replies. "And honestly... I can understand why your friend would go after his killers so vigorously. Only thing is, it's just a natural part of life. You as guardians are pretty familiar with death, me especially so, and things like that happen. One day there will be a bullet with your name on it, and if that bullet is aimed at your head, go out the way you want to go! Fighting tooth and nail! So hey, if you do run into him again, tell him to try and not take it so hard." And with that the drifter retreats to where he once came from, leaving Suzuka and Spe-7 to finally talk to Ikora.

"Ikora... Are you okay?" Suzuka asks. Ikora doesn't say anything but she does turn to face them.

"I'm... I'm worried about him." Ikora replies. "He's so bent on this that he may not realize just what he's getting himself into."

"Zavala said for us to keep an eye froma far... Where is he?" Spe-7 asks.

"He's in a part of the reef called the tangled shore." Ikora replies. "If you want to keep an eye on him, be careful... It's dangerous over there."

"But if it means we'll keep everyone safe... Then we will do what we must." Suzuka says. Ikora cracks a smile as she looks at Suzuka's determined face.

"You care about him, don't you?" Ikora asks.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Suzuka asks.

"I've only seen devotion like that through Shaxx's stories." Ikora replies. "He's one who avidly celebrates crimson day. I only wish you the best of luck out there."

"Thank you." Suzuka says as she and Spe-7 hop into their shared jumpship and head off for the tangled shore, hoping that they would reach the place and time and prevent too much damage from being done.