Here's a short little story I wrote for Halloween, sry its late. ________________________________ Matthew hadn't come back yet. We had gone out patrolling together and ended up moving through Hive territory. After fighting through a few small groups the Hive had seemingly run away, and we no longer encountered anymore. Matthew said he wanted to look around for some more Hive to kill or some loot, and I told him I'd rather just wander around a bit and wait for him to come find me. I immediately regretted that decision. Amazingly, being alone in Hive territory was scarier than actually fighting those horrible things, at least in the instance that you couldn't see any but you knew they could jump you any second. When would Matthew get back? Crusty decaying matter that announced the presence of Hive living in the area coated the walls of the rundown and crumbling buildings of the Golden Age town we had wandered into. Tendrils of darkness seeped out of it, even under the illumination of the Hive's eerie green lanterns and fluorescent crystals. The Hive had infiltrated and grown in this area for a decent amount of time, as far as we could tell, and they infested the old mining caves that ran underneath this land. The sound of something rustling caught my attention and I whipped around, my hand cannon raised. A flicker of movement behind some overgrown bushes made the presence of something else evident, and I began to creep towards the bushes slowly. I came within reach of the thick foliage and stuck my free hand in, carefully and quietly moving some branches down to try and peer through. Then the skeletal, pasty white, sharp fanged, and domed head of a Thrall shot out into my face with a loud hiss. I reacted, swinging my fist into the side of its hideous face and sending it flying out of the bush. That's when I saw it had a human body and a Hunter's cloak and armor. The person moaned in pain on the ground for a moment, then began laughing and pushed himself up as his Light healed his injuries. His Thrall mask was now crumpled and sagged down on his head, making me wonder how I had even mistaken it for an actual Thrall in the first place. "Ghost," he asked his robotic companion through hysteric chuckles, "Can u fix my mask and put my helmet back on?" Rumples and tears in the mask seemingly fixed themselves automatically as the Guardian's Ghost went to work. Once restored, the mask disappeared for a moment, revealing the Hunter's short blonde hair, twinkling green eyes, and devilish grin before a helmet appeared over his face. I stormed up to him and hit his shoulder roughly. "Matthew! You know the Hive creep me out!" I complained. "But it was totally worth it," Matthew laughed, "No matter how hard you Titans punch." "You're such a jerk," I huffed, not really serious. "How else are you supposed to celebrate the Festival of the Lost?" Matthew inquired, "You wear a bunch of masks and scare people!" We laughed together for a little bit before I leaned in against his shoulder. "You can also have some fun with the people you like. Take them out dancing at the parties in the City and share the sweets that all the vendors pass out," I told him suggestively. "And that's what we'll do tonight, Marissa; when the sun sets and the streets glow with lights of many colors, when every square is alive with music and laughter and the smells of wonderful foods drift out of every house, we will dance together and sing and drink and feed each other chocolates!" He exclaimed in delight, twirling me around and stopping me with his arms wrapped around me. I giggled at the twirl and the thought of the romantic night ahead of us. "You're the smoothest Hunter I know, Matthew," I told him, a little flustered and blushing under my helmet, "But why can't we just go start all that now?" "Because you're the most wonderful Titan I know, and out here we can be completely alone with each other," he said flirtatiously. "You always know what to say," I sighed in false exasperation, completely forgetting about the chance of running into more Hive. "But before we enjoy ourselves, you need to catch me," Matthew whispered slyly next to my ear, then let go of me and ran off. I stood there for a moment without turning around, smiling and letting him have a moment to hide. I did so love whenever he played his games. After a few seconds I spun around and looked at my options. Wandering through the few remains of buildings that he could've hidden, I found no sign that he had been in any or discovered him in any nooks or crannies. I decided to check the mine entrance behind one of the buildings, walking down into the dark tunnel-way. It reeked of decay and and the jagged rocks of the anterior stuck out like wicked teeth, but I paid them no mind as I searched for Matthew. Before long I heard a clatter from a dark corner in one of the more spacious areas on my path; typical of one of Matthew's little hints to draw my attention. I wandered over quietly, hoping that maybe he had made the noise on accident and I could get the drop on him. Peeking around a large rock near a corner in the cavernous mine, I saw a hunched over figure in the shadows. "Found you," I smiled. The figure turned towards me suddenly in surprise, and in the dim light I saw the reflective bone of the dome covering a Thrall's head and the many protruding teeth, making me jump a bit. Matthew had to stop using that mask to scare me. But then the teeth parted as the mouth opened up to release a vicious screech, and I realized that I was looking in the face of an actual Thrall. It rose up, its bone-white skin and skeletal frame becoming visible as it prepared to lunge at me with its long, clawed hands. My fist swung across my body and bashed it down before it's claws could touch me. The foul creature crumpled to the ground and lay there for a moment before trying to push itself up, but I had already pulled out my hand cannon and stuck a piece of lead in its skull. Matthew had to be somewhere. I began jogging through the caverns and tunnels, searching for any sign of him but trying not to go too deep into the Hive infested territory. The creepiness of my environment began to sink in and I jumped at the sound of every rockfall, breathing heavily in the dark and disgusting mine. But after a minute I spotted something laying in the middle of a small passageway that I ran past. I backtracked and peered in. A small amount of light filtered through a crack going through the ground above and filters down onto the ground and across a body laying there. The body's cloak and armor were all to familiar to me as I gaped in shock. It was Matthew. My feet carried me forward and I crouched over Matthew's body, taking his head in my arms and holding it against me gently. A Ghost lay next to him, smashed to pieces. And then the sound of shifting bodies came to my ears, and I noticed that the light coming down into the space made most of this cave nearly pitch black with shadows. I raised my head to see a set of three glowing eyes staring at me from only a few feet away. My hand went to the hand cannon on my hip, but before I could draw it I saw another set of eyes appear several feet to the side, then another, and another. Looking around, I saw the eyes of dozens of Hive staring at me through the dark. As they surged forward in a wave of teeth, claws, and shrieks, the last sound that would ever leave my mouth was a scream. ___________________________________ Sry if u didn't like it very much, if u want to read a couple of MUCH better stories, go to my master post:https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0