Hey Guardians! This is Dreams of the Traveler Part 3: The Darkness Rising. If you missed Part 2: Fireteam Indigo, click this link to catch up: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/206572638?sort=0&page=0 As always, if you like it, give it a bump and share it with the literate Guardians. I'll be working on Part 4 to get it to the three of you that read this! Happy hunting! -Gio --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The towering dilapidated building my Ghost was attempting to guide us toward was less than a mile away through the field of rusted vehicles. All three of us were moving carefully as to not cause any undue noise that could get us noticed by our hunters. We weren’t armed and I wasn’t too sure that Sully would be much help in case one of those green eyed things showed back up. As we approached the structure, a loud crash made my heart begin racing; I was ready to satiate the bloodlust that filled me. I turned my head to see Perry looking both frightened and ashamed. His Ghost left his helmet and rematerialized in the air in front of him hovering at first, and then zipping around him shooting beams of light at each of his body parts. “Honestly, Guardian Perry, we MUST get your navigational guidance systems properly calibrated! How will you be able to shoot straight if you can’t walk straight?” Somehow it seemed like once again, the imminent threat to our lives was completely forgotten for a moment while Mrs. Potts grew more and more flustered over Chip. “Can he at least get to the door? I mean, we are being hunted. I’d rather not die ten minutes after being resurrected.” My tone was harsh and she immediately turned from Perry to set her eye on me and began flashing me with the light; with each beam, she mockingly gave me a medical diagnosis. "Oh well then let me assess how YOU’RE doing Guardian Zoë! Circulatory system: Operational! Nervous system: Operational! It seems, Guardian Zoë that YOU are in perfect health! However, MY sweet little Perry can’t put one foot in front of the other! Do YOU know anything about the inner workings of an Exo? Do YOU know how to reconfigure a pre-Collapse guidance matrix? No? THEN LET ME FIX MY PERRY!” “Well if you’re going to fix him, now would be the time. The Darkness grows closer,” said our somber, Awoken friend. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you were a little scared,” I teased. His tone unchanging, he simply stated, “My fear is justified. Your bravado is not. You know nothing of these beasts of the Darkness. You know nothing of the Fallen.” He then turned to face me and said, “You’re right Zoë, you shouldn’t die before you actually get to see what may kill all of us very soon.” My Ghost chimed in like the shepherd I’ve noticed him to be with that same urgent tone saying, “Guardians, we need to get inside that wall. NOW!” As if on cue, another echoing roar from much closer made all of us look over our shoulders and forget our squabbles. “Ghost, it’s ok. You can leave me. I don’t want…” Perry was cut off mid-sentence by his Ghost. “We will do NO such thing. I just need a little more time.” “Guys…” “I’m almost finished here, Guardian Zoë. Do not split my focus.” “Guys…” “How do you expect us to fight with a broken metal man?” Sully asked. “GUYS!” I exclaimed in the loudest possible whisper I could manage. “We gotta go NOW! Look!” In the distance standing on top of a broken and rusted SUV, there was yet something else standing that I did not understand. It was tall. Alien. And from the way it stood there silently scanning and sniffing the air around it, I could tell it was after us. It had to be at least a mile away from our current position but if it was in my line of sight -- “Mrs. P., I think you should hurry a little,” I half-whispered, still uncertain if the hunter or his cronies could hear like a bat. There were still so many things I didn’t understand. “WELL I NEVER—“ The only thing that seemed to calm the frantic Ghost amidst her constant whirring and spinning was a rather large, mechanical palm that was gently placed a few inches from her to indicate the necessity of silence. “Zoë is right to hurry you” Perry began. “You have fixed my tracker and my targeting systems. Anything else can wait until we are safely inside the Wall.” I heard an audible grunt of disbelief from Sul’leth but he said nothing. Before the Exo’s chaperone could protest, Perry pointed in the direction of our hunters and said, “Look.” And in that moment, the sniffing stopped. The scanning stopped. It saw us just as clearly as we saw it. Another roar produced several smaller aliens that hopped on top of the old vehicles surrounding the leader; they hissed and clicked with a violent tone that actually scared me. One last roar. Commanding. Then all but the leader were running toward us as we fled to the Wall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Part 4: Hunter [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/206828756?sort=0&page=0] here[/url]!