We'll be washed and buried one day, my girl
And the time we were given will be left for the world
The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague
So let the memories be good for those who stay
Winter Winds - Mumford and Sons
-
You are warm, which is strange. You are warm and sprawled out on your stomach. The ground seems to envelop you. It's soft. The air is stale and stagnant. But you're warm. It's strange, but you feel oddly at peace. You're... relaxed?
This is different. You should be cold and cramped and tense. But the warmth is nice. You should really decide soon if the oddness is going to be enough to make you wake up for real.
Then, something filters down through the layers of consciousness: a bit of movement, the faintest whirr. The sound sets alarm bells jangling in your mind. It's high-pitched and mechanical. It's familiar.
Gorgon.
-
There are some lessons the Vault does not give you an opportunity to learn. Some rules you must follow completely, at all times, because one slip-up is the difference between existence and oblivion. The Gorgon's Labyrinth leaves little margin for error. If one spots you, the only actions you can take are immediate, desperate violence, or... nothing. Either you kill the Gorgon, or you don't do anything at all, ever.
-
The fear was hot, like liquid metal, like burning Radiolaria. Azra's body moved on its own accord, following lessons beat into it over long infinities.
She reached for the Light and it burst into existence in her hand. That wasn't how it should have been, but the presence of the Light was a good thing and she didn't have time to think. She was acting purely on instinct now, hitting the floor shoulder-first and throwing her weight to roll back up on her feet. A half-twist and she-
She was milliseconds from pulling the trigger when her eyes focused on what she was aiming at. Shiro was half-sitting on the bed, looking bewildered and still mostly asleep. His optics flickered. The Gun flared in her hands and in her heart, the fear telling her to burn everything down and run, don't stop running.
"Whoa hey, easy there!"
"Azra, calm down!"
She wasn't fully awake yet. Some dim recollection stayed her hand, but it was a dusty, ancient thing. Her instincts were all screaming. There was danger in this space, somewhere, but she couldn't find it. There was Light, reflecting confusion and panic around the room, but the barest traces of something more calm and solid remained. Something that shouldn't exist here. It had been lost.
Where was here, exactly?
The seconds ticked by and Azra's memory came trickling back. Slowly, painfully, she lowered her arms. Her heart still thudded loud in her hears. The Gun fell from her numb fingers and shattered into cinders.
The Light left and took the adrenaline with it. Azra slumped against the wall, her legs suddenly not up to the task of supporting her weight.
-
"And look, you've spooked the Newbie," Shiro pointed out. Azra stood poised on the balls of her feet, one hand tight on the grip of her knife and the other at the hilt of her shock pistol. Her eyes flicked between Tevis, Cayde, the gun, and the Guardians who had stopped to look. She tensed warily as attention was focused on her, then forced herself to relax.
-
"Hey, Azra, you with me?" That was Cayde. Azra drew in a deep breath and nodded.
"Thought Shiro was a Gorgon," she mumbled.
YOU ARE READING
You've Got Time ( a Destiny Story)
Fanfiction"No one can open the Vault alone. I opened the Vault. There was no one with me but I was not alone." A team of six entered the Vault of Glass. Kabr fought and died. Praedyth was captured. Pahanin ran. Two were cut away, and one hid. This story story...
