Destiny (Anime Style)

Chapter 15: Anonymous Message

The patrol mission was a failure, but both Ravi and Leah managed to survive nonetheless. And when they returned to the Tower, they immediately reported everything they had found during their adventure to Ikora: the presence of the Hive in the Cosmodrome, the discovery of the legendary warmind Rasputin and also the Array.

However, there was one last thing that Ravi had to mention to the Vanguard commander. Something that could've actually gotten him into serious trouble.

"You... YOU DID WHAT?!" Ikora asked the blue-haired boy as this last one displayed a childish expression.

"I... I activated the array by mistake... hehehe..." he bluntly replied.

"Leah, leave..." the commander added with a more serious and calm tone. "I wanna talk to your friend in private"

"Eh? B-but Ikora..." Leah muttered back with concern.

"Leave now, before I take you as an accomplice"

Leah didn't want to go, but then Ravi himself intervened and managed to convince her. "Just leave, Leah. It's going to be okay" bluenette calmly added as the young girl finally left between concern and doubt, leaving Ravi alone with Ikora.

"Okay then... Now explain to me... What on earth were you thinking?!" the bald woman asked the boy with anger. "Do you have any idea what you just did?!"

"I already told you it was an accident"

"Was it? What were you even trying to do in the first place?"

"I just wanted to... experiment a bit" Ravi muttered while scratching his head.

"You can't be serious"

"Ok, listen. It wasn't an accident. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the array. First, I looked after Leah and her injuries, and then I looked for the most efficient way to use such amazing technology"

"Amazing!?"

"That's right! I knew Rasputin was designed to be humanity's greatest defense, but I never expected it would be this good!" Ravi claimed with excitement. "This array on Earth is linked to an even greater network, interconnecting almost every major planet, satellite and planetoid in the system!"

"What... What are you getting at?"

"Don't you see it? What I mean is that wherever Rasputin is present, he can see. And whatever he sees, we should be able to see it too thanks to the arrays! So, it's almost like..."

"An extremely advanced interplanetary surveillance system!" Ikora intervened in shock before Ravi could even finish taking.

"That's right!"

"It's amazing! But, does it work?"

"It certainly does!" a male voice behind her suddenly claimed. It was Cayde. He had just entered the room and was carrying some sort of small device with him. "Look at all this" He then opened the device and lots of holograms appeared.

"These are..."

"All kinds of info... Area scans, scout reports, panoramic captures of certain zones, valuable materials' location coordinates... I could continue all day! What matters is that these will certainly be useful... AND... that now have a way more efficient way to stay up to date with what's going on around"

The woman in the purple coat was left without words. She never expected a mere guardian trainee to accomplish such an amazing feat as discovering AND using one of Rasputin's array's for humanity's advantage.

"So... Can I go now?" Ravi asked with an innocent grin.

"Let me think about it" Ikora bluntly replied. "Should I remind you that you didn't just activate the array, but also awakened the legendary warmind by doing so?"

"Well... Yeah, I did but..."

"However..." the woman continued. "Given that there hasn't been any kind bad repercussions yet... I suppose I can let you go, for now..."

The bluenette smiled at that moment. "Ok great! Thanks a lot, Ikora!" he then finally claimed while leaving for good, after which both Cayde and Ikora took some time to stare at the intriguing trainee.

"He's a good boy" Cayde muttered while crossing his arms

"Yeah, he surely is" Ikora added with a soft smile. "And a very interesting one as well. I just can't believe he got to learn this much about the warmind in just a few minutes!"

Both commanders remained silent for a moment.

"Should we tell Zavala about this?" Cayde finally asked in a slightly more serious tone.

"Well, he'll find out sooner or later" Ikora replied, calmly. "Besides, I'm sure he'll come to accept it once he sees how much this benefits all of humanity. But, just in case..."

"You want me to not put this on that boy, right?"

"Y-yeah... I'd really hate to see him getting punished over something like this"

"That won't be a problem, that boy is cool. We can just say that the array got activated due to the Hive or by mere accident"

"Mmmh... I think we are gonna need a better excuse than that one"

...

...

...

And so, after reporting what they had found to the Vanguard and excusing themselves for being absent from classes that day, both Ravi and Leah were granted a few days off to recover and heal. Of course their friends, like Kadiah and Liz, helped them put up to date with their studies and classes. And only a couple of days later, both trainees finally returned to the academy, ready to start their normal routine once again.

Or so Ravi thought...

Turns out after entering the academy and having their first morning classes, Leah proposed something different to do today... Something that she had been planning for some time now. And luckily for her, that day ended up being the perfect chance to deal with it since both she and Ravi shared a free training session, which basically meant they could do exercise in any way they wanted.

Therefore, after getting changed and gathering at one of the many training rooms the Tower possessed, Leah approached Ravi with quite the eager expression on her face. "Ok then, I think it's about time" the young girl said with a grin.

"Huh? Time? Time for what?" the bluenette asked all puzzled, only to startle slightly at what Leah added moments later.

"Time for you to learn how to properly fight"

Ravi found himself a bit bothered by that statement. "What? Oh, please... I don't need to learn that. You've seen me in action already! And using my fire however I want is way more fun!"

"That's not true at all! If you learn real fighting abilities, you'll have way more options at the time you face an enemy. And also... you may even find more interesting, creative and unique ways to use your fire in your advantage!"

"Well... If you say so..." Ravi replied a bit uninterested.

Leah noticed this and proceeded to step right in front of him in a well-guarded fighting stance.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the blue-haired boy asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious? I'll show just how wrong you are" Ravi widened his eyes in surprise. "Come on, Ravi" Leah added with a confident smile. "I'll show you my close combat skills"

Some of Leah's enthusiasm reached Ravi at that moment. And as such, he decided to test just how good he could hold against her. "Very well, let's do it!"

Both of them got ready and then stared at each other for a few seconds, waiting for someone to make the first move until it was Ravi who finally decided to charge towards her, ready to attack. However, such attack didn't work at all. Leah just easily held his arm instead and made him lose balance, causing the blue-haired boy to fell over the floor, after which the young girl kept him restrained against the ground and unable to move.

"Ok ok... I give up!" Ravi desperately yelled while a bit uncomfortable due to his position. After standing up and taking a seat, he finally talked with excitement. "How'd you do that?! That was insane and... AMAZING!"

Leah giggled a bit. "Hehehe... You see? I knew you'd like it! And that's only the most basic of basics" She extended his arm for Ravi to take. "What do you say? Would you like me to be your close combat teacher as well?"

"Of course I do!" Ravi replied, euphoric, after standing back up.

The next few hours could be resumed in Ravi hitting the ground countless times due to Leah not showing any mercy against him. And the truth was, she was actually enjoying her time quite a bit. Something that Ravi easily noticed after being knocked down by her for the 6th time.

"You seem to be having a lot of fun" the boy muttered, a bit salty, while still on the floor.

"Hihi... Well, can't say I'm not" Leah replied with a smile.

Even for as much as it hurt Ravi to be beaten up by Leah countless times, he was actually very... VERY happy... Happy because he was learning something brand new and exciting. But more than just that... happy because the cheerful huntress was smiling once more. He really was worried as hell for her after the whole hive and Rasputin incident. But at the same time, he was grateful... Grateful because he finally got to know more about her story and also because he managed to understand her a little better.

Leaving that aside, every training room in the tower had a time limit to be used. And Ravi and Leah didn't notice it, but they had already surpassed that limit by a lot. So in the end, another group of trainees had to come over in order to finally kick them out of there.

...

...

...

Afterwards, they decided to spend the rest of the day studying and doing homework, until the night finally arrived. They each went to their respective home, but just before Ravi could go to sleep, he noticed that something was bothering his loyal ghost pal.

"What's wrong, Wire?" he asked the male tiny droid

"Uh? Well... How do I put this?" Ravi stared at him a little eager to know what was happening. "I've been receiving this weird message over and over from an unknown user for some time now"

"An... anonymous message?"

"That's right. But the weird part is that it's not an actual message, it's just a bunch of coordinates"

"Coordinates?" Ravi's curiosity increased. "And where do these coordinates lead?"

"That's precisely the problem. Even if we decide to follow the coordinates, we are forbidden from doing so"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you are in your first year as a trainee, so you can't travel to other planets"

At that moment, the blue-haired boy finally understood what Wire was getting at. "Y-you mean that..."

"That'a right. These coordinates lead to a very specific region..."

...

...

...

"...on the Moon's surface"

...

...

...

The next day after classes, Ravi and Leah were walking together back home when suddenly...

"Eh? An anonymous message?" the young girl asked with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah..." Ravi bluntly replied. "Wire has received it more than 50 times yesterday... and 13 more times just this morning before I even left for the academy. Something's definitely not right. Whoever is sending those coordinates really wants me to go wherever they lead at all cost"

"Well, that's a shame... cause none of us is allowed to leave Earth" Leah smiled softly. "Really... whoever it is that's sending those coordinates will just have to deal with that fact, right Ravi?"

Leah turned to see Ravi's face, and this last one had a mischievous smirk on it. At first, Leah wondered why her friend was smiling like that, but then it finally clicked.

"Hey! You ARE going to ignore those coordinates, right?!"

"Eh? Well... they are certainly tempting me... hehehe..."

"You can't be serious?!" Leah's tone changed into a more angry one. "After all we did to turn you into a guardian... you are just gonna throw it all down the drain?!"

"Hey, calm down. I didn't say I was going to the moon... I was just considering it"

"Well, that's certainly the wrong choice! You should report this to the vanguard and let them handle this"

"Mmmh... Yeah... You may be right"

Ravi decided to not argue with Leah anymore. But deep inside him, he had in fact already made his choice. He was going to the moon, whether the young huntress liked it or not.

It's true that he may regret it later, but if that message was sent to him... and him alone, then it must've been because it was something that required his attention. What is more, his sense of adventure was stronger this time. And since he didn't want Leah to end up hurt again just because of him, he decided to leave the next day without her noticing it.

The blunette entered the Tower, he reached the hangar. But then, just as he opened the entrance to his ship in order to finally leave, he found none other than the very same person he was trying to avoid already waiting with her arms crossed and accompanied by her dear ghost.

"ACK!" Ravi startled after seeing Leah already inside his ship.

"Where do you think you are going?" she asked while frowning.

"Well... ehh... Wire... Lend me a hand, please"

"Don't look at me" Wire replied. "I was against this too, you know?"

Ravi sighed in defeat. "Ok, I'm busted. You can go ahead and report me to Ikora if you want... BUT... I'm still going to the moon whether you want it or not"

"Ravi..." Leah muttered with surprise, after which she finally sighed in defeat as well. "Jeez... You really can't help yourself, can you?"

"Ah? What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm going with you" the young girl claimed while taking a seat at the co-pilot's place.

"Wait, what?! No, you can't! It's too...!"

"Don't say anything. Just... let's go already before I change my mind"

Ravi stayed silent for a few seconds. "No... You are not coming with me" he then added with a very serious expression full of conviction.

"What?"

"I don't want to drag you into this mess, so just go"

After hearing this, Leah stood up and stepped in front of Ravi while frowning and staring at him with a piercing look. "I'm going with you whether you like it or not!"

"B-but..."

"No 'buts'!" Leah calmed down after this. "You said it yourself, remember? You said WE were the perfect team"

"Leah..."

"So... come on! Let's get this over with"

Ravi remained in complete shock. But then he finally chuckled slightly due to Leah's stubbornness and accepted her company after realizing he was actually a lot more stubborn than her.

"Very well... Let's go" They both nodded in agreement, took a seat, and then finally left... towards the Moon.

...

...

...

Meanwhile on the Moon, the mysterious person who sent the anonymous message was sitting on a rock while staring at the lively planet Earth.

"I'll give you a few more hours" this stranger suddenly muttered to no one in particular. "If you are not here by then, I'll know that you aren't that special after all"

There was no doubt now...

Whatever it was that was waiting for Ravi and Leah at the Earth's only satellite... was on a whole new level of danger...