Destiny (Anime Style)

Chapter 20: Gunslinger

The next day, Kadiah, Liz and Nathan were in the classroom waiting for the instructor to arrive. Meanwhile, they were also talking about the sudden fight between Leah and Ravi, though they had no idea it was already over.

"So, what now?" Liz asked with concern.

"I don't know" Kadiah replied a bit unmotivated. "I just hope those 2 get over with their fight soon"

"Yeah, me too"

"I'm sure they'll figure it out" Nathan added with conviction as both girls stared at him. "I mean... they are always together. I don't think their friendship will ruin over something silly"

"But, we don't even know why they were arguing in the first place"

No one said a word for a few seconds. "Argh!!" Kadiah grunted with saltiness, finally breaking the silence. "This is so unfair! Those 2 can't fight this seriously! They must..."

Kadiah stopped mid-sentence and got surprised after she noticed something at the entrance of the classroom that formed a big smile on her face. Liz and Nathan turned to look at what made Kadiah that happy... and then theyvgasped while smiling as well.

It was Ravi and Leah. They had just arrived, and they seemed to be chatting enjoyably while laughing from time to time.

"Well, it seems like the problem is solved" Liz said with a grin, as the duo took a seat right next to each other.

"You see?" Nathan added. "I knew it was only a matter of time"

And so, the group of friends were finally relieved since their favorite duo managed to get over whatever it was that made them fight in the first place. However, none of them knew the kind of mission in which both trainees were now involved.

Right after classes, Ravi and Leah wasted no time and headed to the library. They had planned to do some research about the awoken and find out whatever the stranger meant with her words regarding the awoken.

"Had any luck?" Ravi asked Leah as both of them were reading some books.

"Nothing" Leah replied and then took a long sigh of annoyance. "I don't get it. If the stranger wants us to take down the Black Garden... Why is she not cooperating a bit more?"

"Maybe this is another of her tests"

"I really don't trust her"

"Yeah, I can tell"

They kept on researching until Leah finally found something that may just be related to what the stranger said. "Hey Ravi, listen to this..." Ravi paid close attention as Leah read out loud.

...

...

...

Many centuries ago, before the Collapse, and also before the Traveller shared its light with humanity... a group of explorers ventured themselves to the farthest corners of the system. A place in which the Traveller's light barely reaches. The unusual environmental conditions of such a place got mixed with their physiology, mutating their bodies and expanding their minds. That is how a brand new and unique race was born.

As time passed, the now called 'Awoken' were slowly accepted among humanity. Almost all of them lived and even keep on living happily inside the Last City, protected by the Traveller. Nonetheless, there was a small group that decided to branch off on their own path. A group that decided to call themselves... the REAL Awoken.

This group of individuals shared something in common: they all lacked the Traveller's light... AND... they all had the desire to live independently without having to rely on the Last City and/or the Traveller. That's why, after a very long journey and many hardships, they founded their very own kingdom located at the very edge of the system, inside the vestian asteroid belt. Such kingdom was named... The Reef.

...

...

...

Ravi found fimself surprised after hearing all of this. He had no idea that there were awoken out there living on their own territory. Much less did he know that these awoken had no light within them... just like the stranger.

"That must be it" the bluenette claimed. "That must be what the stranger meant. We must talk with the awoken that live in the Reef"

"Hold on a sec" Leah bluntly replied. "We can't just go there and ask whatever we want"

"Why not?"

"Think about it. The Reef is the kingdom of the Awoken, isn't it? They may not be very happy to see a pair of humans suddenly barging into their territory"

Leah had a point. A bit more research was needed before heading towards the Reef, which meant they had to find out how the non-awoken people were seen and are still seen at the Reef's eyes. "Is there anyone we can ask more about it?"

"Ask what?" Someone behind Ravi suddenly asked, startling him and Leah.

"What the...?" Ravi said as he turned around.

"Kadiah? What are you doing here?" Leah asked while in surprise.

"Oh, come on. This is the library" Kadiah claimed with a grin. "I am free to be here just as you are" Leah remained silent and sweat-dropped. "Anyway... What are you reading?" the awoken girl asked while taking away the book Leah was reading.

"Hey! W-wait!"

It was too late. "The Awoken? Why are you reading about the Awoken?"

Neither Ravi or Leah knew what to say. Leah specially was afraid of saying something that could harm her friendship with Kadiah. After all, she was an awoken. "Eh... well... uhmm..."

"It's... it's for our homework... hehehe..." Ravi replied with a fake grin. "W-we have to do an essay about the awoken and its origins, right Leah?"

"Th-that's right... haha..." Leah added nervously. "We were just h-helping each other out"

Kadiah stared at both friends with kind of a confused look while, on the other hand, they just grinned nervously, hoping for the awoken girl to not ask anything else. After quite a long time, Kadiah's suspicions finally vanished.

"I see!" she yelled with her usual cheerful and playful tone as she put down the book and took a seat. "In that case, what is it that you wanna know? Maybe I can help"

"N-no! We... We are fine by ourselves!" Leah yelled while trying to get rid of the topic.

Ravi however, noticed Kadiah was just too innocent to even realize the matter at hand. And as such, he saw this as an opportunity. "Actually..." he began with a smirk. "We would like to know a bit more about the Awoken's kingdom"

Leah startled and immediately approached Ravi. "Wh-what the hell are you doing?!" she whispered so that only the blue-haired i***t could hear.

"Don't worry" he whispered back. It'll be fine, she won't find out"

"The Awoken kingdom, huh? You must be talking about the Reef" Kadiah added while scratching her head. "My parents used to tell me stories, but I don't really know much about it. I may be an awoken, but I've actually lived my entire life here at the Last City"

Leah and Ravi remained silent. It seemed as if they were out of options. However...

"I do know someone who might know about it though"

Both Ravi and Leah startled. "Really? Who?" the human boy asked with curiosity.

Then, Kadiah turned to face Leah with a smile. "You still remember I'm in love with someone, don't you?"

"Y-yeah..." Leah calmly replied.

"Well, I guess it's time you 2 go and meet that person... hehehe..." the awoken girl finally claimed with a grin.

The person Kadiah was in love with... Whoever it was, it seemed to be the only hope of learning a bit more about the Reef without raising any suspicions among the Vanguards high-rank officers. Still, it wouldn't be easy at all. Kadiah's loved one was also a guardian trainee, but he was a year older. Which meant that his schedule for classes, as well as the patrol missions he's allowed to take were both different than the guardian duo's

Nonetheless, Kadiah remained happy and excited. Basically because she knew from none other than Cayde himself that the person she loved would soon visit her during classes.

"What's his name?" Ravi then asked.

"And when can we meet him?" Leah added.

"Don't worry" Kadiah replied with a smile. "You'll meet him tomorrow... trust me"

...

...

...

And so, the next day, the duo went to the academy as usual. But when Cayde arrived to the classroom, he didn't come alone by any means... An awoken boy, slightly taller than Ravi, with short white hair and light-blue small eyes was accompanying him while displayinh a totally serious and bored expression. What is more, he was also wearing a casual outfit, just like everyone else.

"OKAY EVERYONE!" Cayde yelled, catching everyone's attention. "Today we have a guest. He's a guardian trainee just like all of you, but with 1 more year of experience" he then turned to face the awoken boy. "Go ahead. Introduce yourself"

"Very well" the guest said with seriousness as he stepped to the front. "My name is Idus Kod and I'm a second-year guardian trainee... a hunter to be precise"

Everyone stared at Idus, and a tense mood immediately took form all around the auditorium... until a certain happy awoken girl intervened. "HEY! IDUS!" Kadiah yelled with a huge smile while waving her hand at him.

"HUH?! WHAT THE...?!" Idus replied with panic. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! NO ONE TOLD ME THIS WAS Y-YOUR CLASSROOM!"

The tension crumpled at that moment. The very serious and apparently disciplined Idus was now sweating after noticing Kadiah was there. "Well... It seems like you already know each other" Cayde added with a smirk.

"Of course not!" Idus replied in a cold way.

"Hahahaha... Anyway, why don't you tell us a bit about your experience as a second-year trainee"

He then took a long sigh. "Okay"

And so, as Idus kept on talking and talking, Kadiah remained the whole time watching him with a huge smile on her face. Something that Ravi and Leah easily noticed.

"Hey... You think he is..." Ravi whispered to Leah.

"Yeah... There's no doubt" she whispered back, cutting Ravi mid-sentence. "Idus is who Kadiah likes"

After some time, Cayde was starting to get bored of Idus's explanation. And because of that, he decided to offer a fun and quite interesting idea. "You know what? That's enough talk" the exo commander bluntly claimed. "Why don't you show us a bit of what you can do?"

"Huh? What are you...?" Idus asked, only to be interrupted some moments later.

"Show us your skills! There's no one at the training field right now. So let's go!"

Everyone felt excited about this, especially the ones who were hunters. After all, they would get to see a more experienced hunter trainee in action. "Very well" Idus finally replied with seriousness again.

And then, they all headed outside...

Once at the training grounds, Cayde prepared 20 different metal targets with humanoid forms. Like the ones that are used to practice gun shooting. Then, he took out his signature weapon: a hand cannon with an ace symbol printed at one side. "Here, use this" Cayde told Idus while tossing him the hand cannon. "You gotta return it though... she's my little girl after all" he finally said referring to his gun as everyone around sweat-dropped.

After that, Idus moved back and stepped quite far away from the targets.

"He... He can't be serious!" one student yelled.

"Is he... really planning to hit all those targets?!" another one added.

"And from that distance?!" a third one said.

Everyone paid close attention to Idus, who was aiming Cayde's little girl with only one sole hand. "Listen closely!" the awoken boy said out loud so that everyone could hear. "I don't know how many of you are gunslingers! But if you are... or are planning to be one... THIS is how you shoot!"

At that moment, Idus pulled the trigger, but the bullet that came out of the gun wasn't normal at all. It was more like a piercing, tiny and potent fire pellet which hit directly at the target's center with great force. Amazement could be felt in everyone around after that given that Idus's shot didn't just hit the target, but it also went several meters past it while blowing quite a lot of dust. However, the second-year trainee didn't stop there. He then kept on shooting every single target at the very middle, proving that his accuracy was more than just simply perfect.

"This is insane!" Leah claimed in disbelief. "Cayde's hand cannon is certainly something!"

"I wonder..." Ravi replied as Leah looked at him, confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just..." he paused for a moment and then continued. "I know that's Cayde's weapon and all, but... it's not just that"

"Huh?"

Ravi kept on watching Idus while analyzing with rigor his perfect streak of precision shots. "I'm sure it's Idus who's really something" he finally claimed with a grin.

At last, it was time for the final target. However, it was also at that moment that a certain awoken trainee finally lost control of herself... and rushed towards Idus without caring about anything else.

"IDUS! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!" Kadiah shouted as she jumped over Idus causing him to miss the last shot.

"H-H-HEY! LET ME GO!!" Idus yelled as everyone sweat-dropped at Kadiah's crazy display of love. She was clinging tightly onto Idus's arm with a smile, and she didn't seem to have any intention of letting him go... At least not for quite some time.

When things finally calmed down, and Kadiah let go of him at last, he was asked about his skill with the gun by almost every other trainee present.

In any case, just like he implied before, he's a 'gunslinger'. And that means that his fighting style does not limit itself with close combat techniques, or throwing his powers at enemies all around like Ravi and Leah. He of course knows hot fight properly, but more than just that, he can also canalize his light and combine it with the weapon he wields, just like Leah does with her daggers, except that Idus uses guns instead. That's the reason why the bullet that came out of Cayde's hand cannon was different. It was actually made of fire... Fire that, when concentrated, can form a piercing and very powerful attack.

After explaining this, Idus kept on talking about many other things while answering the many questions the others had, like...how hard the jobs outside of planet Earth are? And... how exploring other planets helped him understand the history of humanity a bit better?

Then, he even tried, ONLY TRIED, to encourage the first-year trainees to give their all independently of the situation. However, with that serious expression and tone of his, he wasn't very convincing to be honest.

When classes were finally over, everyone began leaving, including Idus. However, Ravi and Leah still had some business to attend with him. And as such, they immediately rushes towards him at one of the Tower's hallways. "Hey, Idus!" Ravi yelled in complete confidence as he and Leah finally caught up with the awoken boy.

"You..." Idus replied, emotionless. "You were on the classroom just now"

"Actually, we both were" Ravi said, referring to Leah and himself.

"I don't have time, so leave me alone" Idus turned around and walked away once more with his hands inside his pockets.

"H-hey!" Leah yelled back, but the awoken boy didn't reply.

"We have something important to ask you!" Ravi added.

"I don't care" Idus then stated whole still leaving.

Nothing seemed to be of interest to him. However, when a certain awoken girl suddenly stepped into the conversation, he finally lost his composure once again.

"IDUS!" Kadiah yelled with a huge smile while jumping over the awoken boy and hugging him from behind.

"WH-WH-WHAT?! YOU AGAIN?!" Idus replied while having his calm and serenity being crumbled. "J-JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!"

"Aww... Don't say that" she replied with a grin. "I have a favor to ask you"

"A... favor?"

"Yeah! I need you to help my friends here. They have something they need to ask you, so..."

"I already told them I don't have time" Idus replied while escaping Kadiah's grip over him.

"What are you talking about?!" she asked in a more annoyed tone as she put her hands on her waist. "You are not busy at all... you are just scared! Like you always are!"

Idus remained silent.

"Remember what we discussed? This is the perfect chance! Now come on!" Kadiah finally claimed with a big smile as Ravi and Leah stared at both of them without a clue of what was going on.

And so, finally ended up taking a long sigh of defeat, and accepting. "Very well... Tell me what is it that you need my help with" he then added with tiredness, though when he listened to what was the conversation gonna be about, he widened his eyes in surprise.

"It's about the Reef" Ravi bluntly stated, startling the awoken boy and catching his full attention.

"I see... In that case, let's talk somewhere else"