I waved at the quickly approaching Titans, but realized too late that they weren’t slowing down. They tackled me to the ground with a double hug that knocked the air out of my lungs. Drew and Trixie laughed and laughed and started asking a mixed blur of questions like what I was doing there and how I was doing, but eventually I managed to gather enough breath to speak and asked them to get off. After we had all gotten back on our feet I quickly explained that we had stayed in the Crucible ever since yesterday. “Wow, that’s awesome!” Drew exclaimed, “Trixie and I have been in the Doubles a lot but we’ve had some breaks to hit bars and watch some parades!” “They were all fantasmagical!” Trixie made up a word to describe the experience. “We bumped into Crag and Veronica earlier,” I added, “But they’re off doing something else now.” “Ya know, that’s funny ‘cause we ran into that crazy Warlock who’s always making cool competitions in the Tower,” Drew recalled. “We ran into Fehri, too!” I responded, “We talked with him and that other Warlock he was with yesterday.” “Warlock?” Drew scratched his head, “We bumped into him this morning, he was with a Huntress.” “Son of a…he’s worse than Veronica!” Sierra shook her fist in front of her as if imagining she was strangling Fehri. “Alpha team!” Shaxx himself suddenly boomed on the comms. “Whoa, is that Shaxx?” Trixie questioned. Apparently he was speaking for all to hear even though he had only addressed Alpha team, because that was us and the Titans were Beta team. “Indeed,” Shaxx seemed a little miffed, “Arcite told me about the two of you, Alpha team. Although you have been performing phenomenally in the Crucible for…my my, over twenty six hours, well done! Although you’ve been doing well for so long, you continue to stop to chat!” “Sorry sir, we just wa-“ I began to apologize. “No excuses, Guardian,” Shaxx interrupted, “The Crucible is for fighting! Improving! Preparing! Not for chatting the day away!” “Got that right!” Drew cheered, but was ignored. “Yes it is, sir,” I responded. “This will be Alpha team’s last match of the day,” Shaxx stated, “It is a well earned rest, but I hope you come back tomorrow to participate properly!” “I believe we will, Lord Shaxx,” I agreed. “That’s the spirit!” Shaxx declared, “Fight forever, Guardians!” With that, the Crucible Handler left the channel. “Finally!” Sierra grunted, “I can’t believe how formal you were, you might as well have had your nose up his-“ “I get the picture,” I stopped her, “That’s just how I talk, okay?” “Guess we’re heading to the City after this,” she noted, “Let’s get this over with.” We turned to find Drew and Trixie still ogling over what had happened. “I can’t believe Shaxx and Will were talking!” Trixie shouted. “I know! And he was all ‘this is the Crucible’! He’s so cool!” Drew replied. Without a word, Sierra shot Trixie in the head. Drew watched her fall to the ground, limp, then looked at us. “Are we starting?” “Yep,” Sierra answered, then shot him, too. • • • The streets were alive with music and laughter and bustling crowds. Rose petals floated through the air and coated the streets just like up in the Tower. Banners and clothes of red and white lined every street and there was even the occasional Guardian milling about. It wasn’t often that Guardians went down into the City, especially not in large numbers. There were parades and dances and games, some of which were even led by Guardians. Naturally, I had to see everything. “What’s that?!” I pointed at a strange object a woman was carrying, composed of a few cylinders stacked on top of each other in decreasing size and coated in a layer of white with swirls and waved of red. “That’s a cake,” Sierra sighed, getting annoyed with all my questions. I gave her a blank stare, not knowing what a cake was. “It’s a desert food,” she explained. My eyes widened in interest and I took her by the elbow, “We’re trying some, there’s probably more in that bakery she came out of.” “But I don’t wa-“ I dragged her after me before she could finish her refusal. Several minutes later, after a sweet young lady inside the shop had explained to me how buying from a bakery worked, Sierra and I were walking the streets again, each with a slice of cake held on a little plate. After a single bite I had been unable to stop myself from wolfing down the rest, loving the sugary sweet flavor. “This is amazing!” I declared after I had swallowed the last bite, then looked at Sierra’s half-finished slice. “Didn’t want any, huh?” I teased. “Shut up, its good cake,” Sierra pointed her fork at me threateningly, “I never really care to eat much though. I mean, when you don’t need to eat you don’t think about how it tastes as much.” “The taste is all I can think about!” I scoffed, “Without a need to fill my stomach I think about pleasing my tongue! What’s next? Can we get closer to a parade? What other stuff do they have to try?” “Slow down!” Sierra laughed, “You’re such a child! Why don’t you come down here more if you want to try everything so bad?” “There’s always so much else to do, it makes you forget that one of the most curious places is just next door,” I explained. “Alright alright,” Sierra put her hands up in surrender, “I hardly know my way around better than you, but I’ll show you what I can.” This time she took me by the arm and led us through the streets more calmly. After a couple minutes we walked straight out into a cleared stretch of street and found ourselves right in front of a parade. Before we could try getting out of the way a Titan up front in full red armor decorated with paintings of white roses grabbed us and steered us into the group of Guardians lines up at the front of the gathering. “Fresh meat!” the Titan shouted to the others, then turned and continued guiding the column. We were accepted, or maybe dragged in, by the other Guardians, most of which were Titans. Sierra stuck out like a sore thumb in her brown armor so got prodded around until she changed her shader to the pure white one she had worn earlier. A Huntress and a female Awoken that appeared to be a citizen sandwiched me between them and started placing red and white roses in my hair and the gaps in my armor. I didn’t argue and quite enjoyed the festive look they were giving me, but I felt my face redden when I realized they were both leaning into me a bit more than necessary and grinning flirtatiously. A Titan and a Hunter tried putting flowers in Sierra’s hair, but she chased them away. Citizens and a few other Guardians lined the streets, tossing petals and flowers out to us while we walked. Following the lead of the others, I started waving back at the crowd and smiled broadly for them. After a moment I realized Sierra was still trying to slink back out of sight, so I plucked up a single white rose and shifted my way over to her. “Don’t worry, they’re too busy looking at all of us to be focused only on you,” I tried reassuring her. “I don’t care about their attention, I just don’t feel right flaunting myself about,” Sierra grumbled quietly, “And…” I waited for her to finish her thought, but she just gave me a quick glance and then looked away again. Woman were so odd sometimes. “You’re definitely not showing yourself off,” I chuckled, putting the rose I had grabbed behind her ear, “We’re just enjoying walk as a group, and we all dressed up prettier than normal.” “Fine, fine,” Sierra straightened herself up. “You’re trying really hard not to enjoy this holiday,” I nudged her with my elbow, “Why’s that?” “Never had anyone to care about for this holiday before,” Sierra finally admitted after a moment, “Makes me worried, I guess.” “About what?” I pressed. “Not having someone to spend it with next time,” she looked down at her feet. I looked at her for a moment, thinking about what she had said. “You’ll always have people to spend it with,” I insisted, “I’ll always be here to make sure.” “Traveler above, emotions suck,” without warning Sierra took my hand in hers. “Sierra, you…” I was lost for words. She was never one to outwardly show attachment, and this action was pretty high on the intimacy scale. “Shut up and enjoy it,” she quieted me, and together we walked through the streets of the City, hand in hand. [i]End[/i] ❤️ Pt5: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/243103210/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0