Talkative. No, what was the word she was looking for…motor mouth! There it was. She smiled at the small revelation, but Jadis nearly groaned out loud as the man sitting across from her took it as an invitation to talk even more. The two Guardians were taking shelter in an abandoned sewer complex. There hadn’t been much time for introductions on the surface, not after three Skiffs appeared bristling with energy weapons and ravenous Fallen. The other Guardian had introduced himself as David. She decided he looked nice enough. Brown eyes, rumpled brown hair, slightly crooked teeth and lightly tanned skin. He was a recently reborn Warlock, and was looking for the same thing as her: a way out of this urban death trap. Then again, it was hard to come up with any plan when the man seemed incapable of shutting up “[i]Are all Warlocks born with books for brains…?[/i]” “I didn’t quite catch your name milady.” “Milady?” “Well, yes. You are a woman. It would be inappropriate to call you anything but milady.” Jadis gave the human a somewhat harsh stare. “Okay, we’ll talk about honorifics later. But what about your-“ “Jadis.” “Quite the name.” “It’s the only thing I managed to remember”. “Lucky you. David just sounds so boring and droll and…what are you doing?” Jadis had pulled out the rifle from her back and had begun to angrily try and pull back the bolt, but to no avail. It had jammed again. Without a word, David gently pulled the rifle from her grasp, and took it in his hands. He disassembled the entire gun, cleaning it with a soft, white handkerchief and greasing the innards with a healthy coating of the Vaseline that he had hidden in a small pouch at his waist. After reassembling the weapon, he pulled back the bolt five times, making sure it was in working order. Jadis took back the rifle, and pulled back the bolt herself just to make sure. It felt smooth and creamy like spreading melted butter on a plate of toasted bread. “How did you fix it?” asked Jadis. “Every time I took this thing apart it would just stall again.” David ruffled his hair and chuckled a bit. “How do you think I got this piece of crap to keep running?” indicating the stocky frame of his pulse rifle. “It’s like I cobbled together Frankenstein over here.” “Franken-what?” “You’ve NEVER heard of Frankenstein!? It’s a dark, alluring story of-“ The ceiling above them rattled and rumbled, pieces of debris crashing into the floor around them. Above the two Guardians, they could hear the muffled voice of Fallen, and one voice thundered above the rest, like a malevolent god. “Sha drass dress! Hoor ma! HOOR MA!” Jadis’s expression reverted to a state of calm, serious poise. Without a word, she placed her helmet around her head and readied her rifle. “I think we may have overstayed our welcome.” *** Jadis and David crept through the sewers, as quiet and as fearful as the rats that skittered around their boots. Wherever they turned, the Fallen seemed to be somewhere above them, crowing their bloodthirsty battle cries to the skies. They traveled miles underneath the city, moving from the sewers, through underground storage facilities, munitions depots, and finally into an underground transit system. Jadis could hear David breath a small sigh of relief as they found a staircase leading up to the surface. As they entered into the ruins of the city, all was quiet. Wherever the Fallen were, their search had led them elsewhere. She motioned David to stay put near the top of the stairs as she moved over to a corner with a feline grace. She peered around the corner and was suddenly face to face with…nothing. The coast was clear. Jadis released a long, pent up breath as she stood up straight and lowered her rifle. Then she was stabbed through the stomach. [b]Link to my Chapter Index[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/116093772/0/0 [b]Continue on to Chapter Eleven[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/159846161