[b]Chapter 3. The House [/b] Cayde had been running for around 15 minutes, ducking branches and jumping over logs as he followed the trail. [i] "Cayde, wait!" [/i] He gasped as he suddenly stopped himself from falling off the edge of a sheer cliff. He steadied himself and looked to see a small town, well, what was left of it. Most of the buildings were nothing but rubble, and the ones still standing had walls and roofs caved in. "Scan for-" [i]"Already done,"[/i] Sundance interrupted, [i]"Over there, the house with the giant log in the roof." [/i] Cayde looked over to see a two-story house with gray bricks and a green roof where a large tree crashed into it. Most of the windows were broken, and the front door was barely hanging off its hinges; a large window sat in the middle of the second story where Cayde could scarcely make out movement. "Any Cabal?" [i]"If there were, I would've said so." [/i] Alright, alright, don't get smart," Cayde growled as he began to scale down the cliff. When he made it down, he began to make his way to the house, careful not to make his presence known in case this mysterious person was dangerous. When he got to the house, he eyed one of the shattered windows, careful not to make any noise as he climbed inside. He was in a kitchen that connected to a living room. The furniture was still barely intact. The couch was green and filthy with dirt and glass, and an old TV sat in front of it with an oval coffee table barely standing. Cayde pulled out his gun as he slowly made his way up the stairs, wincing every time the old wood creaked. When he reached the room where the large window would've been, he hesitantly reached out for the doorknob and turned it. He jumped as the door swung open and was greeted with a shotgun barrel. "You have five seconds to explain why you're here." Cayde stared in surprise. She was young; she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her bright blue eyes darted to him and then to his hand canon. "Well?" Cayde slowly held his hands up, "Whoaaa, easy there; I'm just looking for a missing Guardian." "Well, you came to the wrong place," she sneered, "No Guardians here, haven't been in a long time." The Exo looked down at her hands; her finger wasn't on the trigger. Cayde smirked when he noticed, "You sure you know how to use that thing, kid?" He jumped as the wall exploded behind him, his sensors ringing as dust and small amounts of debris fell from the ceiling and wall. He glanced behind his shoulder to see the giant hole she had shot into the wall, "You missed." "Cute," She muttered, "Now, why don't you-" Before she finished, he grabbed the barrel and aimed it above his head, the shot ringing out as the bullets impacted the ceiling. The woman tried to regain control of the gun, but Cayde managed to knee her stomach and rip the shotgun from her hands. She grunted as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach as she looked up at him with anger. Cayde aimed the gun down at her as a precaution. Before he could open his mouth to speak, an orange Ghost appeared and floated in front of the girl. "P-Please, d-d-don't h-hurt her!" Cayde stared down at the Ghost as it twitched and sparked with every stutter. The Ghost's voice sounded young, though that could've been due to fear. "I'm not going to hurt you," Cayde responded, "I just need to know that you're not going to try anything," he lowered the shotgun and looked around the room. Where the window was sat a window seat with pillows and blankets piled onto it; next to the chair was a sniper rifle. "Ah-ha," he grinned as he picked up the rifle, "Where'd you learn to shoot?" The girl glared at him, her hair greasy and knotted and her clothes torn and dirty. She appeared calm, but Cayde could see the deep fear in her eyes. Cayde sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to get much information from her, "Do you have any other weapons?" "I-In the d-dresser!" The Ghost exclaimed. "Sheldon!" the girl snapped under her breath. "H-He'll h-hurt you o-otherwise," the Ghost murmured back. Cayde turned to see an old dresser with a cracked mirror. He walked over and pulled open the top drawer to see a pistol, hand canon, and five knives inside. Cayde whistled, "Damn, you really are packing. You know how to use any of these?" "I wouldn't have them if I didn't," she hissed. The Exo scoffed and holstered the Ace of Spades, "The names Cayde-6 but you can just call me Cayde," he looked around the room as he spoke. Dirty clothes and bloodied bandages littered the floor as extinguished candles sat in the corners of the room, "So, you're the missing guardian?" "I'm not a guardian," she hissed as she stood up, "I'm not some fool who blindly follows a giant ball floating in the sky." "First of all, rude, and secondly, technically, you are. You have a Ghost." "He's not a Ghost," she responded, "He's not some little pest that flies around reviving me every ten seconds." Cayde sighed, "You are just a ray of sunshine, huh?" She grinned, "I try my best to stay positive." The Exo leaned against the dresser, "'Kay kid, I'll bite; what is it?" "He," she snarled, "Is my friend; his name is Sheldon." Cayde stared at her for a second, "I'm sorry, what's his name?" "Sheldon." "Sheldon!" Cayde laughed, "What kind of name is Sheldon!" "What kind of name is Cayde-6?!" She argued. "I'll have you know it is a great name and a whole lot better than 'Sheldon.'" She sighed as she shot him a glare, "Alright, Guardian, I'm getting sick of you. Get out before-" "Calm down, kid," Cayde raised his hands in defense, "I'm just messing with you," he straightened up, "We've been looking for you for a while. Like it or not, you are a guardian, and guardians have duties to attend to." "And what if I don't want to be a guardian?" He shrugged, "Don't really have a choice, the Traveler awoke you for a reason, and that reason is to help with the cause." “Maybe it awoke me to stay out here, away from the Guardians?” She grinned. “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure it’s to help with the cause.” She scoffed, "What cause?" "What cause? What cause?! The cause to fight bad guys, of course!" "And the bad guys would be...?" "Y'know, those big ugly dudes that have been crawling this area? And they're just the beginning! There's Fallen, Thrall, Taken, and tons more! All leading up to the big baddie, the darkness!" She crossed her arms, a brow raised as she eyed the Exo skeptically, "Darkness, huh? What 'big bad evil guy' already taken?" "Ooh, love the sass," he smirked, "But I'd tone it down a bit; the Vanguard doesn't really like it," he chuckled, "Unless it's from yours truly." "Vanguard?" "Yeah, the big bosses, the ones that oversee the last city." She winced in disgust, "Oh, that place." "What's wrong with the last city?" "I've seen the people who come from there; they're dicks," she spoke bluntly, "Always acting like they're better than us just because they're safe behind a wall." "Us?" "Yeah, the survivors, y'know, the ones who try to live on their own and not in the shadow of that giant ball that nobody understands!" "We understand it!" The Exo argued. "Really? Alright, why is it here? What is it? Why is it protecting us?” She walked towards him, closer with each question, “Why did it come to Earth? Why does the darkness avoid it? Why do you people praise it like a god? Why serve it?" The Exo remained silent for a moment as he stared at her, "You really like to ask questions, huh?" "So you don't know." "No, but I'm sure the Speaker does!" “The Speaker?” She scoffed, "You know, it sounds like you're trying to lead me into a cult." Cayde laughed, "We're not a cult, true, we do blindly follow the Traveler and do everything it says just so we remain safe, but it's not a cult!" She frowned and quirked her brow. Cayde sighed, "Look, do you really want to stay here where there's barely any food, and you're constantly fighting for your life? Or do you want to stay somewhere safe where you don't have to worry about your next meal or if you'll be killed in your sleep?" "Well, if I go against the Traveler, it sounds like it might try to kill me in my sleep." "You won't! Just-" He took a deep breath to calm himself; he started to become frustrated with her stubbornness; is this what Zavala had to deal with? "Just answer the question."