#Hive!Echo || Ehkos the Traverser

[mantleoflight]

//.... Alright I honestly didn’t know there was human fanart of Savathun

//But now it’s making me think of a line Shrike/Whisper gave Immaru in one of my fanfic wips when he caught her grieving over Echo being changed as a Hive

____________________________________________

“Still sulking, spark plug?” Immaru asked as he passed by Whisper’s hiding place.

“Go away,” the other ghost croaked. “I’m grieving, not sulking.”

Immaru snorted. “Grieving? What’ve you got to be grieving over? You’ve got life an’ your guardian don’tcha? And you two did what ya wanted, didn’t ya?” He lowered his voice to a bear smug growl. “Ya ‘put things ta rights’. Whada you got to be grieving over?”

In a split second, whatever patience Shrike had snapped. With a feral shriek, she launched herself at the other ghost, grappling him in the teeth of her shell. The two danced a furious pace as Immaru struggled to get out of her grasp.

Shrike held on, the teeth of her shell gripping tightly to the round form of the First ghost. Her blue eye fixed on him like a vibrant laser light threatening to disintegrate him like the beam of a trace rifle.

“You have no idea what it’s like,” she snarled, her blue eye fixed on Immaru’s green. “You have no idea what it’s like to get your guardian and lose them all over again—” Her voice cracked and she glanced away, recovering before gazing at him again.

“I want you to remember her, Immaru,” she growled, the digital gravel of her voice almost matching his own. “I want you to remember every inch, every aspect of your risen. Every centimeter of bone and every trace of pride and cunning. And then I want you to watch as it’s all stripped away from her and what’s left is put into a tiny human body that has to figure out how to exist again. That’s what’s happened to my Guardian. That’s what I’m upset about, and you cannot tell me that if the same happened to Savathun, finding a way to turn her back into her proper form, her real form would not be the first thing on your priority list.”

With that, the armored ghost released him and drifted back, giving space between them. There was silence for a time as Immaru thought about Shrike’s words and gave a rough, guttural chuckle.

“I wouldn’t have to,” he said easily. “Savathun would already have it figured out. And if she didn’t, then it wouldn’t be long before she did.” He hovered higher, closer, looming over the other ghost. “But that’s the difference between you and me, spark-plug. See, I know my risen. I know when she gets knocked down, when she loses everything, she’ll get right back up and take it back over again. I know, ‘cause that’s how Savathun is. You can take everything away from her—mind, body, whatever, and she’ll get it back again. Maybe not through the same channels, but it’ll get done.”

His green eye fixed on Shrike, her blue one gazing up at him through the slats in her shell. “Shame you don’t have the same confidence in your guardian, huh? I would’a figured you neon lightbulbs would’ve had that down pat by now. Ah well, won’t need to worry about it soon anyway. Always need bodies to throw at the guardians and your risen’s as good as any.”

With that, the First Ghost turned and vanished back to his Risen, leaving the Shrike with the weight of the words he’d left for her.

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[mantleoflight]

Whisper hummed and looked over at the door. Somewhere nice and quiet. Well, that ruled the gardens out. Guardians poured in through the gardens and the canal all the time, fighting hive and scorn and whatever else was there. But the tooth-shelled ghost didn’t want to stay indoors either.

“How about the courtyard?” she suggested, looking back at Zazia as she floated back toward the door. “I know there’s several nice ones kept pretty safe from the battles outside.”

She paused and eyed Taûryx and her acolyte, Ehkos giving her a narrow-eyed scowl, raising Whisper’s hackles before the ghost slipped past the door.

“So,” Whisper said, trying not to think about the bad air between Ehkos and her. “What kind of stuff do you like? Flowers, rocks, letters, purple fruit that hangs on trees?” She gave a little chuckle and looked back at Zazia.

Whisper wasn't shy about wandering from her acolyte. In fact, she was probably more at ease away from them than she was with them—not something very ghost-like to do. Still, despite her fearsome demeanor towards passing Hive, Whisper was still curious about the ghost so often well hidden in their Bishop's folds.

Careful to keep her distance, she signaled the other hive ghost. "You look like you could use a walk," she communicated, keeping an eye on the Bishop. "Care to join me?" — @mantleoflight

A flicker of a green eye appears from the back of the Bishop’s shoulder pads, only to disappear again. There’s a long pause, before a response is made. “I..could do with a break..”

Taûryx doesn’t react as his Ghost parts with his cloak, but for a brief moment his eyes dart to follow the movement.

The Ghost’s shell was badly damaged. It was cracked down the middle, and several of the little appendages on the shell were cracked and broken off, but she seems happy as she approaches Whisper. “I’m called Zazia.”

[mantleoflight]

//OK //So today my brain has been fixated on the thought of Hive!Echo being found out as not having a worm like all the other Acolytes and it’s now becoming a thing that must be rectified to be a proper hive.

//Well, Echo’s not all to sure about it so she decides to research all she can about worms so that she’s prepared for the ceremony of becoming a worm host. Cue her finding tomes about Xol, Will of the Thousands ( whom she had a wormless-worshiper’s relationship with—via @aurea-fide—when she was a guardian), and seeing that it’s written as he was killed by guardians and she’s like “Hang on that doesn’t sound right.”

//And it just keeps bugging her and bugging her, this prompting to give a “prayer”, until finally she decides “ALRIGHT, if it will put this nagging feeling to rest, I’LL DO IT. but it won’t DO anything BECAUSE THAT WORM GOD IS DEAD”

//Guess who wasn’t dead? XD

//So NOW she not only has to explain herself to Xol, who’s been looking for her since her last death as a Guardian, but she has to explain herself to her hive-wizard/knight mentor, Taûryx ( @baronofhousespider ) and how she managed to summon a whole arse worm god to Savathun’s throne world with only a prayer.

//Meanwhile Echo’s just internally (and possibly externally) screaming bc none of this makes sense, how did this happen and why does it feel like Ithe decisions I made before I was risen all that led to this???

//Ehkos/Hive!echo has been a very busy risen and is 100% sure she’s not doing anything right and that she’s gonna be executed for treason for summoning Xol instead of just taking one of the Lucent Broods worms instead.

[mantleoflight]

This is the face of a woman who’s been had. Fooled. Completely Bamboozled. Not even her third eye could have seen this coming.

“I’ve been had and I deserve it. I can’t even be mad about it.”

[mantleoflight]

//Catch my brain running 2 trains at once: 1 running with my buddy on Ehkos and hive!Darrix dealing with the fallout that there might be a way to make Guardians into Hive and boy oh boy is the Vanguard NOT going to be happy about that! (Been thinking of it more on discord than here, so I’ll be posting those notes later!)

//But I’ve also thinking of Yyventriz finding herself in the canon timeline where she and all her house don’t exist, all bc she was trying to unravel the mysteries of Vex tech (with the bargained-for help of Clovis 1, the head bastard). The vex didn’t take kindly to it and not-so-kindly cut her off from her own timeline with the intention of erasing her pesky self so she can’t bother them EVER AGAIN. Unfortunately for them, she survived and managed to get a message out through a Vex Conduit (which possibly could be found in Riis Reborn or Nessus).

//However, depending on who finds her first (Mithrax or Eramis) might determine who she helps in post-SoP events, but I can see her trying to reach out to all the places and people who should know her and don’t.

//hhhhh Ikd maybe I’m in an angst mood? But Yyventriz being tossed into new situations is very intriguing for me~ :3c

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos has a box. It is a well made box. Inside it has a gift. A well made gift — At least she thinks so. It’s a ghost shell like any other hive ghots’, grown with the same material her kin used to grow hidden places. 

But how should she give it? As an offering? A token? A reward for defeating her in combat?

How should she give this gift when she was only just beginning to learn the way of things.

[mantleoflight]

“I am glad to know it is only a story, a prophesy never fulfilled. Still, I do not think i will be letting Shrike far from me today. I am still a bit... uneasy after reading that tale.”

Don’t mind Ehkos. She’s feeling very protective of her ghost today.

[mantleoflight]

Ngl I'm imagining Peixe up a tree (maybe she was having a swim and left her armor aside) with acolyte echo looking up at her in bewilderment because why is the guardian screaming

Ehkos looked up at the guardian and sighed, a clawed hand on the gurdy on her hip. “You know, I can’t even be angry at this. I come to a lake to get some music out and I find a guardian swimming. I really can’t be mad at her.”

With a sigh and some stifled laughter from her ghost, the Acolyte called up to the panicked guardian. “You can stop screaming, little frog, I’m not going to sting you! You and your ghost are in no danger! Trust me, if I wanted to sting you, I would’ve done it already!”

[mantleoflight]

Shrike & Ehkos: The Opulence of Love

Shrike glanced at Ehkos who had yet to allow her to leave the rough-woven cloth of her hood even as she studied the runes on the wall.

“You’re keeping me pretty close today,” she murmured, cerulean eye peeking through the slats of her pointed shell. “Something on your mind?”

The Acolyte paused, a clawed finger resting on one of the engraved runes. “Your remnants. The items in the cache you showed me. Did you know they had hidden tales encoded in them?”

Shrike looked up. “Oh, yeah. Guardians don’t usually have time to learn all the history of their people so the armorers and gunsmiths encode things they think important into their works. Some are sad, some are funny, some... are really confusing without the context the maker pulled them from. Why?”

Ehkos tucked her chin, a motion she did when she was troubled or thinking. Worry settled on Shrike as she shifted in the hood.

“I... discovered one...” she murmured, slowly shifting to a crouch. “I read a passage of the Shadow of Earth, a.. guardian belonging to one ‘Emperor Calus.’ But it seemed to be an end or near the end of the story.“

Shrike stilled and gazed up at Ehkos. “Go on.”

The acolyte struggled with her words for a moment before continuing. “They killed their ghost, and their ghost didn’t fight back. It simply floated into their hand, said ‘I love you’ and let them crush it.” Distress strained the young hive’s voice as she cranned her neck down to look at her ghost. “The Sword demands we take the strength of those we kill but...to give oneself over like that...”

The nose of Shrike’s shell dipped as she considered her thoughts. “It’s in our nature,” the ghost replied softly. “For us, love is self-sacrifice. We are made by the rules of the Light. It’s what we’re born from. In the Light, love isn’t proving yourself or taking from others. It’s giving of yourself to help others, and for a ghost, there is no one we would give more for than our risen...”

Ehkos listened, running an absent claw down the curves of the runes before her. “Did... did it happen?”

There’s a pause before Shrike lifts up her beak and looks up at her Acolyte. “The excerpt you read isn’t history but a prophesy made in the event of if one guardian, the Young Wolf, ever became Calus’ champion of Earth. It hasn’t come to pass but it gives an insight into us ghosts. Because we do love our partners and many of us are willing to die for our partners...”

“... even if the sentiment is not returned?” she asked huskily.

“Even if the sentiment is not returned.”

Ehkos swallowed and tucked her chin, pressing a hand to her hood as she pressed the shell of her ghost against her chitinous cheek. “... ... forgive me?”

Shrike shifted and pressed her nose to rest along her acolyte’s jaw. “Of course…. Always…”

[mantleoflight]

Both Ehkos and Whisper watched Zazia shiver and descend, the acolyte looking at her ghost questioningly before looking back at her teacher’s ghost. Why didn’t she resurrect him? Was she damaged? Had they inadvertently struck her in the fight? Once again the acolyte was compelled and moved a hand toward the ghost and her mentor, when a knight peeked in and the little ghost zipped in panic to raise the Bishop.

Ehos stared a moment as her mentor caught their breath. They couldn’t help but beam, pleased with Taûryx’s compliment, but it’s Shrike who speaks.

“Of course she does,” Shrike replied, almost rolling her eye. “She was made for fighting. Glaives especially.”

Ehkos turned and looked quizzically at her ghost. “How do you know this?”

Shrike gave her a look. “Because you’ve been fighting since before you drew your first breath and between bows and glaives, glaives were your favorite.”

Ehkos canted her head. “Huh,” she murmured and looked back to Taûryx and their ghost.

“I’m glad I excelled!” She said returning the grin. “You excelled too! Had I not had my glaive, my bones would have been dust! But still, I… don’t remember a time I was so excited after a fight. May we do this more often? Fight to first fall and hone what skills are still dull?”

The timidness was gone, swept away by after-battle exhilaration. But as she went, she paused and spotted Zazia and canted her head. “Sir, is your ghost well? She looked injured when she went to revive you.”

It had been several days since Taûryx had lashed out at Ehkos, and they had been keeping their distance from their student. But eventually, the approach.

“Come, I’d like to show you something.”

The risen acolyte looked up from her studies, resting a water slate on her lap that she’d been using to practice runes in her effort to memorize the language of her people.

She shrank a bit as her teacher came, now ever aware of the berth of space well earned from their last conflict. She still had a faint mark from where her luminous facial chitin had been cracked and not allowed to be healed by her ghost. She wore it as a reminder to herself not to trespass in the affairs of others—and just what would happen if you did.

Hearing Taûryx’s words, Ehkos set the slate aside and stood to follow, careful to stand apart from her teacher. She gazed up at them and gave a silent nod, not quite ready to speak.

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos glanced at the flaring Ghost and squinted at its markings. Now that she saw it clearly, it was clear to her this would make Dayak a target and in a bad way. “I will fashion him one,” the larger acolyte said firmly. “A shell like that will draw attention, make you a target. It will save him from guardian shots as they will see him as one of their own, but it is our own kind who would mistake him for a foe’s ghost and crush him without thought.”

She gave a huff and turned her gaze from the Ghost to its acolyte and canted her head.

Given her back her shredder? Someone who should not have given her her shredder...

Her eyes widened in recognition and then narrowed in deep suspicion. He was the right size, but one cannot turn one creature into another, could they? Especially not a guardian into a hive!

“That can’t be,” she stated flatly. “The one who took my shredder and unwisely returned it was a Titan, Darrix, beau to a Knight of our ranks, though not risen... How could you possibly be him?”

There is a small Acolyte staring at Ehkos, almost intently, like wondering where they’ve met before, until they put the pieces together.

Running forward, the Lightbearing Hive slows as they get close, hands out in a placating gesture.

“I think we’ve met before.”

@tiny-titan-exo

Ehkos had been etching a design into a piece of bone, one she felt like she'd seen before — a snake wrapping around the bone until its head was pointed at the thicker part of it. However, the sound of footsteps and the swish of fabric has her in peak alarm as she drops the bone and swings her Splinter out toward the threat. And what should she find but another fellow Acolyte running towards her?

With a huff, she lowered her crossbow and shook her head. "Hhhh, you shouldn't run up to others like that," she muttered, stowing her Splinter away before canting her head at the smaller acolyte. "If you were anything else, you would have been bone dust."

Crouching down, the acolyte shuffles through the grass, searching for her lost carved bone when she heard what the other said. Curious, Ehkos looked up and canted her head at the smaller acolyte. "Met before? Mm, if we have, I don't remember it."

She could ask Shrike though. Shrike would know if she'd met this acolyte before or not.

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos followed after Taûryx, listening as they walked. She glanced around the beautiful courtyard, admiring the contrast of its alabaster structures against the blossoming blood red leaves. Her gaze fell on the well and the lily pads, idly recalling a memory of a lucent moth that once drifted across on one of them. The young acolyte thought about taking a seat on the rim, but hearing her teacher’s words, glanced up at him with interest.

“You can do that?” she asked, perking up. “How?”

Ehkos continued watching him as he spoke and put a hand on her chest. Felt like being tethered... but good?

“Like... a ghost?” she asked, thinking about her currently absent ghost and the felling she had when she—it was present.

With an odd expression on her face, the young lightbearing acolyte looked at herself and frowned (as best as a hive could).

"Taûryx?" she asked, looking up at her teacher. "Forgive me if this is inappropriate to ask but does your worm.... speak to you?"

There’s a long moment of silence, and for the briefest second, the Bishop’s claws tense into the the side of the table they were leaning on.

“Yes, typically they speak often. No Hive is truly ever alone, because they have their Worm with them.” A hand brushes their chest absently. “Though..mine has not spoken to me since I was revived.” A low grumble leaves them, but shaking their head Taûryx refocuses. “Why? Are you also receiving silence?”

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos ducked and bobbed, advancing with her glaive. She was aware of things, but all thoughts beyond the battle was pushed to the side: all that mattered was living, the fight was all that existed. You died here or you lived to fight again. It was just like the day she first awoke—fight to breath, or lay down and die and she wasn’t going to lay down and die.

So she pressed on, stabbing at her teacher as their sword swiped inches from her head, deflecting and parrying her attacks. Taûryx was a great swordsman but even swords couldn’t make up for the reach of the glaive’s blade.

However, the acolyte’s advanced stopped when she saw the glow of purple shining around the Bishop. A super! She was too close—he’d kill her in a single melee!

With a jolt, she leaped back, her own light blazing inside as she summoned her own super. If she could hit him first—if she could hit him before he could hit her! Body shining with golden Solar energy, Ehkos flung her arms out, five spinning solar knives rising behind her. With the glaive held in one hand, Ehkos lifted her other hand and flung the knives towards her wounded teacher.

A split second after, she felt the powerful shield of Void Light connect, crushing her torso before and everything went dark in a flash of purple sparks.

It had been several days since Taûryx had lashed out at Ehkos, and they had been keeping their distance from their student. But eventually, the approach.

“Come, I’d like to show you something.”

The risen acolyte looked up from her studies, resting a water slate on her lap that she’d been using to practice runes in her effort to memorize the language of her people.

She shrank a bit as her teacher came, now ever aware of the berth of space well earned from their last conflict. She still had a faint mark from where her luminous facial chitin had been cracked and not allowed to be healed by her ghost. She wore it as a reminder to herself not to trespass in the affairs of others—and just what would happen if you did.

Hearing Taûryx’s words, Ehkos set the slate aside and stood to follow, careful to stand apart from her teacher. She gazed up at them and gave a silent nod, not quite ready to speak.

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos saw Taûryx charge and swore. If she’d had a Knight’s sword, she would have drawn it. Even better, if she’d had one of the Guardians’ glaives, she would have drawn that and met Taûryx mid charge. But she didn’t and a charge from a knight, let alone a shielded Bishop, would end her right there and her light-powered dodge hadn’t cooled down yet! Even if she tried, couldn’t move fast enough to escape the charge! She was going to—

“GLAIVE!”

“What?” Ehkos asked in stunned bewilderment. The shout of her ghost startled her, jerking her from her thought paralysis as a long, shining gold and black glaive was transmatted into her hands.

“Don’t ask!” Shrike shouted, barking at her like a swords master, “Just fight!”

Latching on to that order, Ehkos threw her Splinter aside and grasped the glaive with both hands. Yes, this felt good. This felt familiar. She knew what to do with this! With a howling war cry, the acolyte charged forward. She couldn’t escape the charge and being a mix of Knight and Wizard, Taûryx was certainly stronger than she was. But with a glaive in her hands, she had no fear. One of them was going to cut down the other and she wasn’t about let him cut her first.

It had been several days since Taûryx had lashed out at Ehkos, and they had been keeping their distance from their student. But eventually, the approach.

“Come, I’d like to show you something.”

The risen acolyte looked up from her studies, resting a water slate on her lap that she'd been using to practice runes in her effort to memorize the language of her people.

She shrank a bit as her teacher came, now ever aware of the berth of space well earned from their last conflict. She still had a faint mark from where her luminous facial chitin had been cracked and not allowed to be healed by her ghost. She wore it as a reminder to herself not to trespass in the affairs of others—and just what would happen if you did.

Hearing Taûryx's words, Ehkos set the slate aside and stood to follow, careful to stand apart from her teacher. She gazed up at them and gave a silent nod, not quite ready to speak.

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos gave a chuff at the other’s hiss an accepted the bone, brushing some of the dirt from its etchings. As the other spoke, she looked at them and then at their ghost, stopping as she saw it.

“A Tower ghost?” she said in disbelief, recalling the appearance of her own ghost before she changed her Shrike’s shell. She lifted a hand toward the ghost, eyes bright with curiosity and intrigue before drawing it back to rest on the bone in her hand. “Shrike was the same when I was first risen,” she murmured, eyes fixed on the ghost. “All smooth metal, elegant with teeth. Now her shell is more becoming of a hive ghost, less... likely to be shot by our own.”

The acolyte reluctantly tore her gaze away from the ghost and focused on the smaller Acolyte. “I am Ehkos. I would introduce Shrike but she is off wandering, visiting with my mentor’s Ghost. She will return though.” She then paused and looked the smaller up and down. Strangely undersized for one of her own kind. “You say we’ve met before... What do you remember about our meeting?”

There is a small Acolyte staring at Ehkos, almost intently, like wondering where they’ve met before, until they put the pieces together.

Running forward, the Lightbearing Hive slows as they get close, hands out in a placating gesture.

“I think we’ve met before.”

@tiny-titan-exo

Ehkos had been etching a design into a piece of bone, one she felt like she'd seen before — a snake wrapping around the bone until its head was pointed at the thicker part of it. However, the sound of footsteps and the swish of fabric has her in peak alarm as she drops the bone and swings her Splinter out toward the threat. And what should she find but another fellow Acolyte running towards her?

With a huff, she lowered her crossbow and shook her head. "Hhhh, you shouldn't run up to others like that," she muttered, stowing her Splinter away before canting her head at the smaller acolyte. "If you were anything else, you would have been bone dust."

Crouching down, the acolyte shuffles through the grass, searching for her lost carved bone when she heard what the other said. Curious, Ehkos looked up and canted her head at the smaller acolyte. "Met before? Mm, if we have, I don't remember it."

She could ask Shrike though. Shrike would know if she'd met this acolyte before or not.

[mantleoflight]

Ehkos tucked her chin, looking down at herself before giving a slow nod.

“I haven’t heard my worm since being risen,” she admitted, glancing at a corner as if this fact were a mark of shame. “If I ever heard it, it was before I can remember, so... I’m not sure.”

She then paused, folding her arms across her chest as she debated her next words. She had a fear—a deep, burning fear she wanted to address, but she didn’t want Taûryx to take part in that fear. It was connected to being a risen hive after all, as they both were.

“What did it sound like?” she asked finally, looking up at her teacher, “or feel like if that makes sense? Do you... remember?”

She’s beginning to hesitate now. Hesitation always preceded a question hard enough to bother her.

With an odd expression on her face, the young lightbearing acolyte looked at herself and frowned (as best as a hive could).

"Taûryx?" she asked, looking up at her teacher. "Forgive me if this is inappropriate to ask but does your worm.... speak to you?"

There’s a long moment of silence, and for the briefest second, the Bishop’s claws tense into the the side of the table they were leaning on.

“Yes, typically they speak often. No Hive is truly ever alone, because they have their Worm with them.” A hand brushes their chest absently. “Though..mine has not spoken to me since I was revived.” A low grumble leaves them, but shaking their head Taûryx refocuses. “Why? Are you also receiving silence?”