[i]Chapter Twenty: The Master[/i] Part Two “ME?!” Drew pointed at himself and leaned his head in close to mine, “You want ME to teach YOU?!” “Yeeees?” I answered unsurely. “This is the greatest day of my life,” Drew mumbled, looking off into the middle distance as he marveled. “So, that’s a yes?” I checked. “Wait…just let me bask for a moment,” Drew held out his hand to quiet me, but kept staring at nothing. “You know what bask means?” Rush inquired. “Alright Will, let’s do this!” Drew didn’t notice Rush’s question, “Ground rules!” “What? Rules?!” I was shocked that he would create restrictions when he himself never obeyed any rule or order. “Rule number one!” Drew continued, “You will call me Master Drew!” “Master Drew? Why-?” I began to question him. “Good!” Drew congratulated me, “Rule number two! You will do everything Master Drew says!” “Quit while you’re still alive,” Sierra whispered to me. “Rule number three!” Drew announced, “Master Drew is always right!” “Oh you’re gonna have so many problems with that one,” Rush told me. “And rule number four!” Drew paused for dramatic effect, “Don’t make Master Drew look bad.” “I don’t see how he could possibly make you look worse!” Sierra guffawed. “Yeah, Will is usually pretty cool,” Drew misunderstood her meaning, then started running off down the trail, “Come on, let’s go!” Startled, I jogged after him and called, “Where are we going?!” “Wherever the action is!” Drew answered. “Oh joy,” I heard Sierra mutter, and looked over my shoulder to find her jogging right behind me. “You’re coming?” I disbelieved. “Are you kidding?” Sierra laughed, “I wouldn’t miss this if the Fallen were knocking on the City’s walls!” “HERE!” Drew declared, slamming to a halt so that I almost ran into his back. The rocky walls had come down a bit so we could see more around us, but it was still just sand and stone. “What?” I was confused. “Where’s the action?” Rush droned sarcastically. “Everywhere in Sand Land can have action,” Drew said smugly. “So what action is here?” I questioned. “Punch that rock and don’t stop until you can zap it!” Drew commanded, pointing at a large chunk of stone jutting out of the sand. “You can’t electrocute a rock, Drew,” I tried explaining. “You just broke every single rule in one sentence!” Drew roared. I paused for a moment and counted on my fingers, “Wow, I did…” “I wanna see some electrified punches! Hit the rock now!” Drew shoved me at the boulder. “I did not expect this…” I grumbled. Sizing up my opponent. “Expect the unexpected! Be unpredictable!” Drew lectured. “Look, Drew, this-“ I started. “Up-ba-ba,” Drew interrupted, “[i]MASTER[/i] Drew.” “Ugh…Master Drew,” I gave in, “I don’t see how this will help.” “Well if you haven’t noticed you big kinder-Guardian, there aren’t any killable things around,” Drew gestured at the empty expanse of desert around us, “And if you can’t hit a rock like a Striker than you can’t hit a bad guy like a Striker.” “Okay, okay, I get it,” I turned to the stone slab, upset that Drew was actually right. “That was the most hilarious conversation I have ever heard,” Sierra was sitting on a rock several feet back, trying very hard not to laugh. Sighing with embarrassment, I punched the rock lightly. Nothing. So I tried Drew’s all-out method and hit it as hard as I could. Not a single spark came up, but I didn’t even think of that when considering how badly my knuckles hurt. Shaking out my hand and trying not to show that I had hurt myself, I looked to the others for help. They both had their helmets off and looked like they were hiding smiles. “I guess I should focus more on my Light than on how hard I punch,” I whispered so only Rush could hear. “You should also focus on not looking embarrassing while doing something as simple as fighting a rock,” Rush snickered. “I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be embarrassing themselves by doing this,” I retorted. “Drew,” Rush pointed out. “Aside from him,” I grunted as I punched the rock again. This time a wisp of Void energy curled around my hand, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I continued, funneling Light into each punch but coming out with either nothing or a soft violet glow. “Sissy punches,” Drew whispered in my ear, startling me into another swing. “Hey!” I protested, looking at him. “Saw a spark that time,” Drew pointed at the rock. “Really?” I stared at my hand. Concentrating for a moment, I tried generating energy with my Light again, avoiding the familiar feel of the Void. Once again I swung, and this time a couple blue sparks shot up around my fingers. “Wow, that worked,” Drew said in awe. “What do you mean?” I questioned. “I didn’t actually see a spark,” the Titan shrugged. “Oh,” I felt upset that I had fallen for such a trick but also surprised that Drew had done something clever. The next punch brought forth electricity before I even hit the stone, and the next created a splash of blue that scorched the surface of the stone. Now the Arc was coming to me more easily, and at last I managed to swing a punch with a sustained field of electricity around my fist that splintered off a small chunk of the boulder. “I did it!” I cheered. “Are you kidding?! You hardly put a chip in it! You don’t stop until you can turn it to powder or split it clean in half!” Drew ordered. “Drew, even you can’t do that,” I complained. Drew slowly crossed his arms and tilted his head down at me as if waiting for me to realize something. “Okay, I take that back,” I sighed, and looked to Sierra for help. She was watching intently, seemingly interested in my progress but also amused by my submission to Drew. “You will do everything Master Drew says,” she repeated slyly, the corners of her mouth twitching up into a grin. Having no way to get out of Drew’s assignment, I went back to hitting the dummy. Now I was swinging with both arms, managing to keep up the flow of Arc on almost every hit. My inanimate target stood no chance and was broken down a little more with each blow. After a few minutes I grew tired of the slow, meaningless task and amped up the flow into my arms. Pulling my fist far back and bringing it down hard, I created a small explosion of Arc and shrapnel that was enough to make Drew flinch from where he stood a few feet behind me. Needing only a couple more of those to reduce the rock to a pile of pebbles, I turned to Drew with a satisfied smile under my helmet. “Not bad, for a little nerd,” Drew nodded in approval, “NEXT CHALLENGE!” Without warning he began jogging off through the sand again. “Oh brother,” I groaned, starting up after him. “What’s next?” Rush asked excitedly. “Workin’ on it!” Drew replied. “You don’t know yet, Drew?!” I cried in exasperation. “Master Drew!” he corrected. “Why are we running then?” I inquired. “I think good while on the move,” Drew answered. “He don’t grammar gooder than normal while on the move,” Sierra snickered. “I’ve got it!” Drew declared, “Keep running!” “What a great lesson,” Rush faked amazement. Pt1: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/246287436/0/0 Pt3: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/246287648/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0