uldren & cayde ;; @ataash
STARTER FOR @grimoireweavers | CAYDE & ULDREN
< I would like to remind you before we continue that I told you this was a bad idea. >
Ah good old Sundance, always worrying, always doin’ it anyway. Cayde can almost see her little puffed up light show alongside the lecture but if she really wanted to stop him she’d just say it. Instead the Ghost is all pouts and show tucked in the back of his head like a hidden card.
She kinda is, in a way. She’s his lucky charm, keeps him alive, keeps him goin’ which is definitely appreciated since the crate he’s lugging about is starting to kill his back. It was worth it, it would all be so worth it and she’d see it too when they got there.
They were almost there right? Damn it, quick scan of the area, yeah - yeah they’re almost there. Just have to get past the gate and three roots without attracting Vex or Guardian eyes and he’s scott free. Hah! And Ikora said he’d die first day. He’s Cayde-7 now, maybe Cayde-6 would have but if he knows himself, he’s better than that. Look at him now, it’s day six and he’s still kickin’.
< That would be thanks to me. You’re welcome. >
Cayde can feel his mouth light up in a snickers when she huffs again. Shifting against the pillar he’s tucked around before makin’ his move. It wasn’t the easiest place to get too, definitely more out of the way than where they first met but he approved. Hunter’s hide, hunters track, hunters shouldn’t have to be sleepin’ in container crates on fuckin’ Nessus afraid of other guardians.
< About that. Remind me again how you met? >
Right, story time! The crate rattles a little as he drops from the ledge and hefts it over his shoulder, blue flickering to follow a small patrol before he takes off, sprinting the open area, cloak keepin’ him covered from the harsh lights hiding way too many creeps in the tree.
“So there I was, Guardians on one side, Fallen on the other. Ghostless, gun cocked, a lone ranger in the wind, beautifully lit by the full moon.”
< Less theatrics more points. >
Sundance loved his theatrics and when he makes a shh sound she whirrs and settles, letting him carry on, scootin’ his ass a little to close to a Vex mind for comfort before slipping into the crack in the wall.
< So you made a daring escape and won right? Tell me you didn’t get shot. >
“Yep. Bam, bam, bam I took down ten - no - fifteen of them, escaped one really handsy titan Zav sent to drag me back to hell and in a daring leap of faith threw myself from the top of Spiders hideout, past his guards. I had to hide, lay low, play it cool. Before I could uh, continue my victory spree I mean.”
Where was the jump again? Right. He’s got his gun, got his crate, almost there. Nessus is still as creepy as he remembers. Or, past Cayde remembers. Though nothing mentioned how far the Vex had spread, they’re even at the beaches, fighting rebelling Cabal… did Ikora know that?
< Cayde! So then what happened? Did he save you? Oh my Light did you shoot him? You would totally shoot someone by accident! I should’ve never let you out. >
“Yee of little faith! Kinda. Damn this is a steep hill, fuck - okay so I duck into his crate right? Just as a captain spots me. He’s got me in sights, all those adorable fluffy little paws pointed at me. I’m thinkin’ this is it, Sundance was totally right, no one tell Ikora.”
“And then! BOOM, pow! Out of nowhere, two gun shots across my shoulder, hands on my hips. I was dragged right in, snatched from the jaws of a very epic and beautifully tragic defeat. Ah ‘dance, you shoulda been there, it was perfect. He was… wow.”
< You’re going to drop the box. >
He didn’t drop the box. But! Cayde pauses for a moment to look around, gathering bearings as he let’s sundance swallow the true theatric pause in his story. Let her simmer, she takes it better. He’s almost at the right part, looking for where the sun hits metal, the faintest glint…
This container is a little bigger than the last, some old shipment of Vex parts converted into a hideout, covered in moss and whatever nasty Nessus business was crawlin’ all up on there. From the outside it’s just trash, nothing notable. Little does the outside world know his best treasure is tucked away inside.
< So some random guardian who doesn’t live in the tower saved you from a fallen because you were dumb enough to leave base without me, annoying both Ikora and Zavala and instead of realising you should stay and heal you’re taking me to meet him? >
< Good! I need someone with hands to hit you for me. >
Well that’s rude. But she doesn’t mean it, his girls all talk and all lovin’. His chest warm when she sighs but burrows deeper. He’s right there now, Uldren so close he can touch that pretty face the only snag is how to get the loot up there without knocking the entire crate down.
< He’s going to shoot you and I’m going to let him. >
“Uldren? Pork? Hello ~ You know you’re really workin’ the stereotypes being high up there open up!”
< I’m starting to think you imagined this majestic purple man with the sparkle ghost who saved your dumbass from death. >
He really does have a snarky come back that would obliterate such a clearly false claim but just as Cayde opens his mouth the container makes a subtle shift, a faint grind that sounds like Pork encouraging the door open. He can’t hear too well out here, it turns out thse containers are weirdly sound proof! But he reaches up anyway to check the connector behind his ear, nothing out of place this time. This time they looked good!
< Speak for yourself I’m still half shot. >
“You always look good baby girl, oi! I brought snaaaacks!”
That does it. Cayde can only flicker a delighted orange light before snagging the sides of the box and throwing it up onto the small door opening, a heady wince leaving him when the container thuds loudly and sways. Crap, no one noticed? His fingers skirt the ace at his hip, going still as he waits for the bush to answer but no one comes and it’s a blessed thing that he makes the best out of by following before the food can be accepted and not him. Hopping the ledge with a small peace sign just to assuage any idea’s on following Sundance’s trigger finger.
Settling on one knee by the box Cayde peers into the dim lit room, head tilted as he tries to figure out where that crafty beautiful son’va bitch even hides himself. He’s small, maybe there’s a secret shelf. That would be… awesome, he won’t lie.
✷—- Becoming a Guardian seemed like it was the worst possible thing for Uldren. When he first woke up in the Dreaming City, laying atop a cold slab with little more than a decorative sheet over his body, he woke in a fit of confusion, fear, and anger, though the anger seemed to fizzle quickly in favor of the actual horror that gripped at his heart. In truth, he didn’t really understand why he felt so uncomfortable, so unable to breathe, so...
So desperate to get up, run, and get as far away from the Dreaming City as he possibly could.
If it weren’t for his sweet little Ghost, a sparkling purple-shelled ball of light that was so absolutely ecstatic to finally have his own Guardian, Uldren probably wouldn’t have had any sort of grounding in order to relax and clear his mind long enough to actually get himself up and moving. Pulled Pork—a name Uldren questioned as soon as he was calm enough to do so, because what kind of name was Pulled Pork?
Most Guardians got to name their own Ghosts, but Uldren didn’t get that chance because another Guardian stumbled into Pulled Pork’s life while he was searching for his Guardian and offered him the name. Apparently, Pork was widely known by many Guardians and their Ghosts. Pork was one of the last Ghosts to find their Guardian. He’d been looking longer than most with mediocre results until Uldren came along.
Uldren still took to calling his Ghost Porkchop or just Pork, something that the little Ghost seemed to adore. His Guardian giving him a nickname, giving him any sort of love at all...
It made Uldren’s heart hurt. While he could not remember much about his life before being revived. Well, in truth, he couldn’t remember anything aside from the intense emotions he experienced in his lifetime. Those sorts of things didn’t seem to go away, but what caused them? He didn’t know.
The months to come were difficult, though. Pork told him all about the Guardians and the Tower that watched over the Last City on Earth, but Uldren’s one and only attempt to make it to the city had been met with hostile Guardians who took one look at him and attacked on sight. It was as if they knew him, recognized him, and always held a vendetta against them for something he didn’t do or couldn’t remember. Punished for the sins of another and the worst part was? He could never even get close enough to a civil conversation to attempt to reason with the angered Guardians.
The only time he wasn’t attacked on spot was when he had his helmet on and securely kept it on. Even then, he didn’t linger around long enough to try to mingle or make friends. After all, a few of the more volatile Guardians actually had succeeded in killing him on more than one occasion. It was usually quick and violent and in a vibrant display of arc lightening, void light, or burning, blistering flames. He rarely even got the decency of a gun, probably because shooting Uldren directly proved to be a difficult feat in and of itself, but when he felt the rage of Guardian wrath, it felt personal.
They hated him, and he didn’t know why.
It led to a lot of cold nights holed up in crooks, crannies, and caves. He took to high perches whenever he could, staying out of sight from enemies that might be patrolling nearby, Guardian or otherwise.
Pulled Pork attempted to sway him towards the city a few times, but with each new Guardian they faced, Uldren only grew more and more resistant to the idea of trying to fit in with them. They would never accept him, and if he slipped up, even once, they might do something drastic enough to attack Pulled Pork before finishing Uldren off so he couldn’t come back. Guardians seemed to love Pork on his own, but did their love for the sweet little Ghost mean enough in the face of their hatred for Uldren?
He didn’t know and he couldn’t risk it. Pulled Pork was all he had now.
At least until he met one Guardian who didn’t approach him with animosity in their eyes and a gun cocked and aimed at him. Cayde-7, an Exo, and a very flashy one at that. He certainly wasn’t the kind of Hunter to take any backseats or sit on the sidelines. He wanted all eyes on him and as Uldren noted upon their first meeting, that sort of got him into a lot of trouble. He’d taken on a hoard of Fallen alone and had nearly been gunned down by their Captain in the process.
“We’re not just going to leave him there, are we?” Pork asked, and even the little light in his shell dimmed a bit because if anyone had reason to ignore the pain and suffering of other Guardians, it was Uldren. If Uldren said no, Pork wouldn’t have blamed him in the slightest, but he would be disappointed if all the ill will that had been passed onto him tainted his heart. Whenever someone would show sympathy for Pork’s position of still not having a Guardian, he’s just spin around in a fluttering motion and say it was all right that his Guardian was taking his time, because when he finally got them, they were going to be the best Guardian to ever die and live again.
He believed Uldren would be, if given half a chance, but no one wanted to offer him that...
But Pork’s question fell on deaf ears because Uldren had already moved out of his hiding spot in the overhead tree, a perch from which he observed but was rarely seen by wayward Guardians or passing patrols of Fallen alike.
Landing behind the cornered Exo, it took a little bit of fancy footwork to leap up long enough to get two good shots right over the Exo’s shoulder, both hitting their mark right between the Captain’s eyes. The first shot took down the shield that every Captain has, the second put a swift end to him. The rest of his gear might had been shoddy at best, but at least he managed to scrap together some decent weaponry. That, at the very least, helped keep him alive.
He wasted little time grabbing Cayde by the hips and tugging him backwards, down into a little bunker that appeared to be vacant so they could at least get some cover.
Uldren hadn’t been wearing his helmet, didn’t have time to divert to grab it either, so he fully expected the stranger to round on him and open fire the moment he worked out who it was that saved him. That would have just been adding insult to injury, wouldn’t it? Being saved by the one Guardian that the rest seemed to collectively agree didn’t deserve to be one.
Cayde... hadn’t had that response. Cayde’s response was so violently opposite of what Uldren expected, the new Hunter was a little baffled. Pork joked that he thought Cayde might have fallen in love with Uldren right then and there, a claim that Uldren quickly denounced and insisted was absolutely foolish. He must have been stunned from the near-death experience.
“Uldren, Guardians don’t experience those sorts of things. Death is only temporary for them,” Pork insisted during their later discussions once Cayde had finally left to go home—to go to the Tower.
“I’m afraid every time I die.”
“You’re still new.” Pork hovered over to press himself against Uldren’s chest. It was the closest thing to a hug the little Ghost could manage. Uldren sighed and wrapped his arms around the tiny ball of light. Really, he wrapped his whole body around Pork, as if he could shield his beautiful little Ghost from the harsh realities of the world. “There will come a time when death does not scare you and a time when other Guardians are not the cause of it. I promise you that.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Uldren murmured, swallowing down the anger and the despair that bubbled up. Cayde’s reaction to him had given him hope and he was... surprisingly angry about that. He didn’t want to believe things could get better if and when they couldn’t. One Guardian didn’t change anything. “They all hate me. Cayde doesn’t change that.”
Even saying his name felt off. Something about Cayde’s presence brought up a lot of inner turmoil for Uldren. For some reason he wouldn’t explain, he wanted to be around Cayde, because it brought him a great deal of comfort, as if he could ground himself by holding onto the Exo, but there was also an underlying feeling of horror and... what was that, exactly? Guilt? That clung to his chest when looking at the man.
Whatever it was, he felt some sort of connection to Cayde.
But Cayde did leave, in the end, and it was probably for the best. At least he hadn’t shot Uldren on his way out. He even promised he’d be back to see him again, though that seemed like a far stretch.
“I like him,” Pork murmured.
“No, you don’t,” Uldren warned. “We can’t trust him. He might be going back to bring even more Guardians with him right now.”
The offended turn-and-look that Pulled Pork fixed Uldren with spoke volumes. “Then we should be moving again, yeah? He knows where we’re hiding out. We shouldn’t be here when we get back.”
He was right, of course, if they actually believed Cayde to be a threat, but even in voicing such, Uldren hesitated. “No. No... we just got settled. I don’t want to uproot again so quickly.”
A small twinge of hope that they would run into one another again and it would actually be a happy encounter. A silly whim, Uldren knew, and a dangerous one at that, but a decision that he surprisingly didn’t lose much sleep over. Deep down, he believed Cayde wouldn’t hurt him or betray his trust. Why? He wasn’t quite sure, but he believed it anyway.
Days passed. Maybe weeks? Truthfully, it was difficult to keep track of time these days. Uldren found himself losing track of days so easily when he was all alone with Pork and basically lived the life of fighting to survive. Cayde hadn’t returned. Uldren found himself looking down into the overgrowth of Nessus from his precariously placed containment unit.
Something Pork loved to tease him about. “Waiting for you boyfriend?” he’d say, only to be quickly swatted away by a particularly annoyed Guardian.
“Uldren!” Pork whizzed over towards the sleeping Guardian. Deep within the makeshift home, Uldren created a little canopy that he could climb up into, burrow beneath a few blankets he managed to fashion in addition to the sheet he’d woken up in and disappear completely. It was the only way to safely rest, knowing if someone did come poking in the container, they’d likely never find him. “Uldren, hey, wake up.”
A low grumble came from the pile of shoddy blankets. “Has something found us?”
“Yes!” Pork didn’t sound particularly frightened, though, more excited, but in his half-conscious state, Uldren sat bolt upright, already reaching for the handcanon beside his pillow. “I mean... no! No, we’re not in danger, but that handsome cowboy came back.”
“Huh?” Uldren was not awake enough to even begin to understand what Pork was talking about. “Porkchop, if we’re not in danger, then let me sleep. I need to be at least somewhat coherent to keep us safe, which means some semblance of proper rest.”
“No, no, no! Cayde-7! Come look!” Pork bumped Uldren lightly on the shoulder as he floated back towards the door.
“I told you not to go out without me! What if someone saw you?” Pork was very used to Guardians taking kindly to him. He didn’t believe anyone would actually hurt him, and maybe they wouldn’t, but their hatred for Uldren might outway their love for Pork. If killing Pork was the only way to ensure Uldren’s newfound immortality was lost forever, then what was he meant to do? All he could do was protect his little Ghost because Pork was the only thing keeping him alive at this point.
“No one saw me! We’re way too far up, you worry wart, now come on! I hope you’re wearing pants!”
Uldren stumbled rather graceless out of his perch. “Why wouldn’t I be wearing pants?”
“Some people don’t like sleeping with their pants on.” If Pork could shrug, he absolutely would.
Uldren made his way to the entrance of the shipping container, which was still cracked open thanks to Pork’s meddling. Fingers pushed through inky lock to smooth down his mild bedhead as he roamed over to eye over the edge of the little ledge that extended from the entrance to the makeshift nest.
And indeed, there was Cayde-7, bouncing around from cliffside to tree, to rickety platform that Uldren strategically placed to look like fallen debris but would help him actually get up to his little shipping container with no more than three jumps per leap. Cayde had a massive crate over his shoulder, though, and Uldren watched as he attempted to leap from place to place as gracefully as possible without the weight of the crate tipping him over the ledge or dropping the poor box entirely.
“Wow... he’s... he’s an idiot,” Pork murmured, trying his best not to sound as harsh and that claim sounded. He did snicker a little, though. “An idiot who really wants to impress you.”
“Why would he want to impress me?”
“Because you’re pretty, Uldren, and you saved his life the last time you met? It’s cute. Look at him go. Oh no! I think he’s going to fall.”
Uldren snickered, watching as Cayde teetered forward and nearly lost control of the massive crate, but there was something soft in his intensely glowing eyes as he watched Cayde so desperately try to get up to the container. A warmth blossomed into his chest, that even moved up to his cheeks, deepening them to a lovely violet shade as the warmth developed into a little flush. “What do you think he’s lugging around in that crate anyway?” Uldren asked.
Pork paused when he caught sight of Uldren blushing. Blushing! Of all things! “Something for you, I’d bet.” That made the blush go just a little darker, but Uldren didn’t get to say anything because the massive package Cayde was hauling suddenly landed on the platform in front of the makeshift home, rattling the entire container as it thudded down with all its might. For a second, Uldren thought the entire thing might fall out of its perch, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.
“He’s coming! Quick, quick, don’t let him know we were watching!” Pork whispered, but in a hushed and hurried tone. Uldren slipped back into the nest and scrambled up to his little perch so he could pretend to be asleep. He barely settled beneath the white sheet he’d kept with him since his revival when he heard his name roll off the Exo’s lips—tongue? They didn’t have lips, did they? Which was strange considering they had mouths. He hadn’t heard Cayde’s earlier calls, in truth. He’d been so far down and the containers were oddly soundproofed enough that he couldn’t make heads or tails of what Cayde might have been saying.
“Cayde?” Pork asked, peaking over the edge of the little sleeping canopy. “You actually came back?”
< ‘You’re laying it on a little thick, Pork,’ > Uldren thought. His Ghost could hear his thoughts... right? Truthfully, he’s still a little unclear about that.
“Uldren!” Pork nudged his shoulder, forcing his entire shell into the back of his shoulder. “Uldren, wake up! We have company!”
< ‘Real thick there, Porkchop...’ > he thought. Apparently, his ghost was not a master of subtly, and embarrassing him in front of this absolutely ridiculous Mess of a Guardian was on the agenda for today.
“Cayde?” Uldren repeated, doing his best impersonation of retained grogginess as if he’d just woken up. Well, he had just woken up, but he wanted to make it look like Cayde was the reason he woke up, not Cayde gaining Pork’s attention on his advantageous climb. “What in Nine are you doing here?” he asked.