Destcember Day 3: Living Without The Light

Destcember Day 24: Praise the Sun, Arc, and Void

Praise the Sun. A gentle caress for friends. A warm, healing fire, cauterizing wounds, mending bones, and regrowing wounds. A searing flame to foes. Burning away the dark undergrowth, allowing new growth to flourish. Wielded by the benevolent protectors, the kindly healers, and those who want to burn away their foes.

Praise the Arc. The crackle of thunder is the only warning you will get before you dissolve into static and the smell of ozone. Bright and crackling, it stands at the eye of the storm, laughing as the wind whips and the rain lashes. With blades, bolts, and crackling fists it moves through the battlefield. Wielded by the restless, lovers of natural chaos, and those charged with emotions.

Praise the Void. The darkness between stars. The cold embrace of oblivion granted to those who dare to stand between it and its goal. The whispers that tell of forbidden secrets, the flicker of forgotten knowledge at the corners of your mind. With a cackle, it discovers that which it has searching for, be it the last scrap of information to solve a great mystery or a huddle foe, terrified of what they know is about to happen. Wielded by the dedicated scholars, the half mad holders of dangerous secrets, and those who stalk the night.

Praise the Light. The source of the each of the prismatic colors, Solar, Arc, and Void. The shining glimmer within the Dark. The last bastion of warmth against the cold night. It is the brilliant radiance that shines withing every guardians. But be wary, as the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and those who stare to long into the Light often look away to find themselves having become become fanatics or knights templar. And do not put down your guard, for wherever the Light goes, it is always followed by the Dark, as the Day is followed by the Night.

Destcember Day 13: Theism

I live close to the center of the City, mostly for practical reasons. Any attackers would work inwards and therefore I would have time to pack before and grab a few people before I head into the sewers that are also under my house. Plus, all the best shops are here. However, this also means that I'm almost directly under the Traveler and it attracts the crazies like moths to a flame. As such, there is a temple to it just a few blocks away.

I've never put much stock in worshiping the Traveler. It never asked us to pray to it nor responded to prayers, so why should we. Furthermore, if it was really a god, it wouldn't need our help or praise. Did it kill Crota? Oryx? Guall? Did it beat back the Darkness another dozen times to rebuild the City? No. We did.

Even if it did ask us to pray, should we? It certainly isn't working out for the Hive or the Vex. All they did was join a magic pyramid scheme. "You work hard and give us 99% of what you make and die for us. We will sit here and watch, maybe doing something when we are all about to die." Even their "gods" aren't really gods. I've personally killed two and have the bits to prove it. The Black Heart and Xol went down with enough bullets and I assume the Traveler would too.

Therefore, the only manner of Theism ascribe to Maltheism. Everything that claims to be or looks to be a god is either incompetent or evil. The only good one needed an army and it's own heroic sacrifice to save fraction of one of the numerous species it tried to help. The rest are omnicidal bastards. So, screw the gods, we are better off without them.

...

"Did you really have to tell off those missionaries quite so severely?"

"Yew, the only reason I did it was because you vetoed dropping water balloons on them from the roof."

"Because that would have been cruel and childish. Anyway, you could have just said no to a donation."

"That's what I told them last time and they came right back the next day."

"They were from a different temple!"

"Oh, well now I feel a bit guilty."

When you see someone else wearing the same armor set as you in Gambit Prime, there is always the mental fight between "Oh, I guess I better switch sets to another role" and "I do not trust this random person to play my role as well as me or myself to play a role I'm unused to".

Destcember Day #4: The Dark Side of the Moon

You know, it's funny. Before the Golden Age and the Collapse, we used to look up at the Moon with a sense of wonder and fascination. My past life even had the pattern of the dark side engraved into the metal of my back, along with a few stars. It was always a source of serenity, a nightlight to brighten the dark. It was our beacon in the dark that outshone any star out in the inky black. But now the dark has taken it from us.

Now, when I look the Moon, I feel a twinge of fear take hold. It feels like there is a gun leveled at my head that could be fired at any moment. The Hive crawl all over its surface and through its caverns, desecrating it with their filthy rituals and larvae. They swarm like bees, ready to sting at any moment, needing no provocation or reasoning other than the chance to spread their grasp and slaughter the innocent. At the center of it all, there is the queen. They are just one being, damaged and trapped, but still they have spread their Nightmares everywhere. They are just the first of many to come.

From my room in the City, I can't see any of them, but I know they are there. Every time I look at it, I remember how powerless I was against just one of those Pyramids and imagine how many more their are. I can still feel the brush against my mind and body as the Nightmares drew close and the ship possessed my ghost. My best friend was taken from me and all I could do to get her back was follow the instructions her puppeteer gave. It toyed with me and I couldn't do anything.

I used to love the dark side of the Moon because I could never see it. Now I love it because I don't have to.

Destcember Day 2: The Last City

I don't get to go home often recently, with all my time being split between helping Petra keep the Dreaming City from falling to the Taken or Scorn and trying to track down the Scourge Syndicate and their stolen weapons. When I do get a chance to take a break, I have an apartment deep in the Last City. A lot of guardians prefer to live in the Tower, but living up there has never appealed to me. Too much Vanguard supervision, asking hard questions and giving me sceptical looks when I come back with a new set of Hive tomes or Ahamkara bones to study or a few tanks of either for my Eliksni friends. The citizens though, they don't ask questions or give looks, just chalking it up to the eccentricities of a guardian. They never mention the whispers from the bones inside my silver plated cases, no matter how loud they seem to me. I find it reassuring to see so many people happily going about their lives, even when everything seems like it's all going to hell outside the walls. I don't agree with Zavala on many things, but at least we agree on this. This city is my home and its people are worth protecting.

Attention those of you invading in Gambit:

Please use Roaming Supers more often. I have played at least 50 matches without getting a single kill for Light vs Light progress. I still need 7 more and at this rate I will never be a Dredgen.

Sleep for now, brave friend. When you wake, we will be there right next to you to welcome you back. We're coming soon. Sleep well.

see you space cowboy

Destcember Day 30: New Vistas

Of all the places that I have been, perhaps the one that awed me the most my first time being there was Mara Sov's throne world, specifically the Queen's Court. It was such a beautiful sight, looking out past the edge of the universe and seeing. I stood there for as long as I could, until Mara started less than subtly suggesting that I should leave. It isn't just her Court that is beautiful. While I was Dûl Incaru, what I saw of the rest of her throne world looked like it would be almost as awe inspiring as her Court once the damage Oryx did is repaired. If we ever manage to end all of the wars we are fighting, maybe I will be able to find myself a place with such a view. Perhaps a little home on Pluto, without any light pollution to obscure my view. Or, if I can master enough kinds of magic, I could carve myself out a bit of the ascendant plane. Hell, even the Drifter managed to get himself a slice to store his Taken monsters in, as small and ramshackle as it may be. Yeah, I think I'll look into that. Surely all that killing that I have had to do recently must be good for something.

Destcember Day #5: A Day Off

A concerned guardian stands in the doorway of their friend's study. Inside, a frazzled looking warlock is scrawling notes with handwriting almost as indecipherable as the Hive language they are studying. The glow of the runes cast a green light on the face of the exo, forming shadowy bags under his eyes. He looks up from his work as his friend begins to speak.

"Ash, you look terrible. When was the last time you took a day off? No, forget that, when was the last time you even slept?"

"Does dying count as sleeping?"

"No."

"In that case, I don't know. I think it was Thursday."

"Today is Wednesday."

From beneath a pile of scrolls, a muffled voice joins the conversation.

"First of all, it wasn't even a Thursday this month. Secondly, could someone please help me out here."

Surprised by the voice of his ghost, the warlock quickly unearths his buried ghost. Now freed, the bemused companion floats up to hover above her guardian's shoulder.

"Sorry Yew. I was wondering where you had gone. How did you end up under there anyway?"

"I fell asleep. Honestly, it's a miracle you haven't collapse yet. The only rest you have gotten in the past week was the time one of your expirements killed you and even that was only for the few seconds until I could resurrect you."

"Technically, exos don't have to sleep. Nor do we have to take days off."

Finally shaken out of their shocked stupor by that statement, the titan calmly walks into the room and proceeds to throw the warlock over their shoulder. They protest weakly as they are carted off before they fall silent. Ignoring their protestations, the titan explains what is going to happen to happen, making it clear that their cargo has no choice in the matter.

"That does it, you are taking a day off. No! You are taking a week off. You may not physically have to sleep, but it is terrible for you mentally. Not to mention the effect that prolonged exposure to all this Hive stuff must be having on you. Don't bother trying to argue, I won't take no for an...

Aaaannd he fell asleep."

Destcember Day 4: Little Joys

As a guardian, you become very thankful for the little joys. Among them is the rare gift of a hot shower. When you're out in the field, you accumulate more grim than you'd think possible. Every enemy splatters you with something or other, from the simple blood splatter of a Fallen fighter to the splash of a dying Vex's radiolorium. Fighting the Cabal is the worst of all, as whenever you shoot one of them in just the right spot, their suits depressurize and spray everything around them with a thick coating of black oil. When there is finally a moment without an impending disaster to halt, I get to go home and wash all of the grime off. Just a little bit of Solar Light will keep the water hot for hours. Another rare joy is the privilege of a full night's sleep. Technically, guardians don't need to sleep, as whenever our ghost revives or heals us, they bring us back to maximum compacity, and that includes being fully rested. Of course, after a few weeks without sleep you start to feel a bit less human, or Awoken, or, as in my case, Exo. It is an amazing feeling to slip into the comforting ablivion of a dreamless sleep. The last small joy is that of good meal. Being both an exo and a guardian I could probably go forever without eating, but where is the fun in that. My favorite place in the City is a little ramen shop that Cayde introduced me to. They have the best ramen of every kind, possible the literal best in the world with all that's happened to humanity recently, and a fine assortment of alchohol to forget your troubles and deaths. All together, it's the little joys that add up to make an amazing day, even after weeks of disasters.