Night had fallen upon the mountains beyond the City, and Logan's truck finally burned the last of its fuel. The warlock wiped the worry from his face, then looked out of the cabin’s back window. “How are you all?”
“We’re fine,” Merlin replied.
“Angel?” Logan asked, shocked that she didn't answer first.
“She's sleeping,” Alice replied.
“What?” Logan exclaimed.
“Don't worry, I'm monitoring her vitals; she is still conscious.”
“Oh. Good.” Logan jumped out of the truck, unfastening his coat in the process. He threw it over Angel as a blanket, leaving himself in with his ballistic vest. As a Voidwalker, the cold was nothing new to Logan, but the bitter wind and stinging snow brushing against his bare arms was a new experience entirely.
“Silajir,” Merlin called as he flew over. “Without the Light, I can't cast any spells.”
“I know, Merlin, I can't either,” the warlock replied, desperately trying to start a fire by rotating a stick with his bad wrist.
“So how are we supposed to fight? I'm powerless, and you are hurt,” the ghost stated matter-of-factly.
“Are we being hunted?” Logan asked as he looked around in the darkness.
“Not that I'm aware, but those warbeasts could easily if they pick up our trail.”
Logan pulled out a large knife and inspected its edge; it was still sharp, but it couldn't perform miracles; if they got swarmed by Cabal, there was nothing they could do. “I could… tie it to my staff, maybe, but it'll be completely ineffective against their armor,” he said.
“You just need the right knife,” a woman said from behind. Logan snapped around, then relaxed. “It's a wonder we keep meeting up,” Aurora said as she walked up. She unclipped a flint firestarter from her belt, then shaved sparks on the kindling creating a small fire that began to consume the surrounding pine needles and twigs.
“Uh huh,” Logan mumbled unconvinced.
“You have a gift for coming at the most convenient of times,” Merlin declared as he switched from looking at the roaring fire and the huntress.
“What can I say?” Aurora shrugged. “Look,everyone’s fled the City; in fact, there's a nearby camp. Someone claimed to hear a truck, so I took it upon myself to investigate. Now I'm here; after all, if us Guardians are to regroup, we might as well stick--”
“A camp?” Logan said abruptly. “Is there anyone there that could help Angel? She's pretty hurt.”
“Uh, I suppose,” Aurora said, at a loss for words. She glanced down at Logan's bloody arm, “You're wounded too, you know.”
“I can deal with that later. Right now I'd like to get Angel to that camp and see if they can help.”
“Or we could deal with it now. Oliver, do we have any spare cloth?” Aurora said to the air beside her.
“Of course, madam,” a ghost replied as he materialized a handkerchief as white as his bowtie.
“Thank you,” Aurora said. She wrapped the cloth around the warlock’s upper arm and tied it tightly to prevent any further bleeding. Logan cringed but only momentarily.
“Does this come naturally to you, or do you have experience with first aid?” Logan asked as he inspected the masterwork around his arm.
“Every self-respecting woman should know how to bandage a wound in case she ever comes across a man in distress,” Aurora replied. She sat down and sighed. “I wasn't always a Crucible champion. I was reborn in the barrens of the asteroid belt, so I had to rough it for a while of my life; I learned a thing or two from that experience.”
“Logan?” a weak voice called out.
The man immediately jumped to his feet and ran over to the truck. “Great, you're awake!” Logan said as he wrapped his fingers around Angel’s hand.
Angel sat up, holding her stomach and cringing. She looked around, then back to Logan. “What's going on?”
“The truck ran out of gas. But there's possibly a camp of refugees that could patch you up,” he replied.
“How do you plan to get us there if the truck is empty?” the titaness asked.
“We’ll drag you there,” Logan answered.
“‘We’ll?’” Angel repeated.
Aurora walked over to the couple and waved. “Good to see you're still breathing.” Angel scowled, but forced herself to smile.
After many minutes of struggle, despite some assistance from Alice, Angel was free of her burdensome plasteel armor; she still wore her under armor since Alice had no way of accessing her vault network however. Logan joined her on the side of the truck that wasn't illuminated by dying firelight. He kissed her forehead, then helped her gently lay back on the cot. He, Alice, and Merlin lowered her to the ground and they began the grueling trek to the camp while Aurora led the way.
[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/246261487/0/0]CONTINUE TO PART 2[/url]
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Bump!