Learning the Ropes

The ship continued cruising through the skies. Below, the lush forests and snow-capped mountains of the Colorado region in the NADZ passed on by. Grey pushed forwards on the controls, and the ship descended.

Corrin looked out the windows to see n idyllic farmhouse situated on a hill and surrounded by a pine forest come into view, overlooking a large alpine lake. The afternoon sun glistened on the water surface. The house itself had several cables connected to a small vertical-axis wind turbine that was spinning in the wind.

Grey put his jumpship down on a landing pad of cleared grass and hardened dirt. He stood up and lowered the ramp, leading Corrin out. The princess stretched and took a breath, enjoying the fresh, pine-scented air which was accompanied by a cool, spring breeze, and birds were chirping in the distance. It was much more pleasant here than the City.

"Well, here we are," said Grey, leading his companion towards the house. "I found this place a couple years into my career. Then it was just some falling-apart ruins, just like everything else. Never really thought much of it. Wasn't until a few decades later when I restored this place up."

"This place is gorgeous!" Corrin exclaimed excitedly. "I've been to the mountains before they weren't this beautiful!"

She beamed at him. "So… why are we here? I assume not just to sightsee, right?"

"Well, I figured you deserved better than my crappy apartment back in the City," Grey shrugged, leading her to the house. "You'll be here a while, after all."

He pulled out a set of keys to unlock the oak door. "This is the only place I can consider a permanent home. You know, in the wilds, away from the City, just where I belong."

He pushed open the door. Inside was what one would expect from such a house, being fully furnished and with a rustic feel to it. Unlike Grey's apartment, his house actually looked lived-in, and kept (mostly) neat and tidy. It was infinitely better than the Hunter's apartment in the City, which was something Corrin was thankful for. She did, however, spot a few piles of bottles in a corner, but even that was arranged fairly neatly.

This was a real home, and not some place someone would go to after one too many drinks to pass out for the night.

"This is gonna be home until we can find you a way back, so get comfortable. I ain't stopping you," Grey told Corrin, shutting the door behind him and leaving her time to explore.

Corrin smiled. "Thank you! I promise not to make a mess of things!"

She wasted no time in taking up Grey's offer, excitedly exploring the Hunter's dwelling. A look of wonder and awe came to her face as she wandered around the house. There were many trinkets and trophies from past missions.

The house was filled with all sorts of tidbits and memoirs, with various battle trophies lining the shelves. A Cabal helmet here, a Vex eye there, and a Dreg pistol there. There was even the cloak of a Captain belonging to the near-extinct House of Kings, along with his Shock Blades, crossed above the cloak. Other than that, there were a few more mundane pieces, such as model jumpships and Sparrows, and a few Crucible trophies and Vanguard medals.

However, she found herself drawn to a wall with numerous framed pictures hanging on it. They were crystal-clear, each one depicting a different scene, such as Grey with his fireteam, and him standing in front of a restored pickup truck in a field, among many others.

"These… images. How did you capture them?" Corrin looked to the hunter questioningly, her fingers gently tracing the frame of a picture showing Grey holding his flaming Golden Gun. "We have portraits back home, and while they can be extremely life-like, they are a laborious affair."

She continued looking through the photos, until one caught her eye. She paused, studying it in detail.

It was prominent, right in the middle, making it all the more eye-catching. While it wasn't its size that made it such (it was one of the smaller ones), what was in it certainly was. It depicted Grey with his arms around a young-looking Awoken woman with white hair and gleaming, golden eyes, with their newly-restored home behind them.

Corrin realised that the cloak the woman was wearing was the exact same one Grey wore now, and the one he was wearing in the picture was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't fathom what had happened to the young woman, but Corrin quickly realised that she likely wasn't among the living any longer.

"You both look very happy," she looked to Grey as he came up to her. "Who is she?"

"She was..." the Hunter sighed and stared longingly at the photo, showing the two of them in happier times. "An old flame of mine. Her name was Elyse."

"I… see," Corrin nodded slowly. "Did you fix this place up together?"

"We did," nodded Grey. "Elyse and I spent a couple years fixing it up."

"You did a marvelous job fixing the place up."

Anger flashed in the Hunter's eyes. "Yeah, we fixed this place up just fine, thank you," he snapped. Corrin flinched at his harsh tone. Grey cleared his throat and sighed.. "Sorry, I just don't like getting reminded. Brings back too many bad memories."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Corrin said, rubbing her hand against her arm. She knew all too well the pain of losing a loved one. An awkward silence fell over the two. Corrin had to mentally remind herself now wasn't the time to mention that she had a sister named Elise.

Not now Corrin. Probably not ever.

The Hunter sighed and left to head upstairs. "Come on, let's get you suited up."

Corrin blinked. "Uh, right." Her words came out in a nervous stammer as Grey stalked upstairs.

Once he was out of view, Saratoga flew up to Corrin. "They were together for years, until, well, let's just say a mission went wrong and only Grey returned," the Ghost said, sympathetic. "Since then, he's never really been the same. Most of the time he just spends his nights drinking himself to death."

"Hey, kid, you coming?" Grey's voice came from upstairs.

Saratoga turned back to Corrin. "You should go."

"I didn't think..." Corrin sighed. "I'm sorry." She glanced at the photo one last time before nodding to Saratoga and heading upstairs.

Grey was waiting upstairs in the master bedroom, with the walk-in closet open. The closet was largely full of various articles of clothing, but mostly consisted of various gear and weapons.

Laid out on the large bed was a set of Hunter armour: the Frumious Set, minus the cloak. The Hunter turned to Corrin once she entered, tossing her the set. "Here, try this on," he told her. "One size fits all."

Corrin regarded it curiously, holding it up to her figure to see how it compared. It certainly looked tighter than her usual attire, and it covered more skin. She frowned at the notion, as she was unaccustomed to wearing proper pants.

Grey continued. "Hunter armour. It'll provide a hell lot more protection than what you're wearing right now."

For emphasis, he motioned to the princess' exposed thighs.

Corrin looked down at herself and frowned. "This armour got me through an entire war, thank you," she spoke rather curtly, feeling a tad bit more self-conscious however. Though she supposed there hadn't been any advanced weaponry in her world.

Her reply was a loose chuckle from the Hunter as he leaned back and crossed his arms. "Well, this armour can and will get you through multiple wars and even the end of the world," he said. "Saved many of us from dying our final deaths in a Darkness Zone, or during the Red War. I doubt that armour of yours can survive a shot from a weapon that can melt rocks without much of an issue. Besides, with all the built-in life support, you'll be able to survive the vacuum of space, the boiling rains of Venus, the methane oceans of Titan, and the solar flares of Mercury."

She had no idea what any of those things were, but she supposed it was better to be safe than sorry. The prospect of a place named Vanus having boiling rains was admittedly less than comforting. "I'll try it on."

Grey cocked his head towards the house's bathroom for Corrin to change. "Bathroom's right down the hall. "You can keep that cloak of yours, by the way. Hunters take pride in our cloaks, you know."

The princess nodded and slipped into the bathroom to change. Once again, she was pleasantly surprised to find it was fairly clean. It was larger, too, with a bathtub and shower. The room only had maybe a few stains here and there, and the mirror was polished and shiny. There were even a few folded cotton towels on the racks, and it was fully stocked with toiletries.

It actually looked clean, as one should feel in a bathroom. In fact, the entire house looked well-maintained. Grey had obviously taken the time and effort to clean the whole place fairly regularly.

It made a lot of sense, given he'd shared it with someone he'd cared for. Corrin frowned, thinking of what Saratoga had told her. She wasn't unfamiliar with loss, but Grey had had to carry that pain for far longer than she. It explained many of his self-destructive behaviors.

She was a problem solver by nature. She had to be in order to secure victories in the war. But as she changed out of her regular armor and into the Hunter set, she couldn't think of a way to fix this one.

After all, what comfort could she hope to provide? She was a stranger, displaced from time and space.

She emerged after putting the Hunter gear on, holding her old armor. The new set was much tighter than Corrin was used to, and she seemed somewhat anxious as she walked back into the bedroom. She had her old cloak fastened in place of the original set, and felt a bit better at keeping a piece of home with her.

Grey was leaning against the wall with his arms folded back in the bedroom. He looked up when Corrin returned.

"So, am I wearing it right?" Corrin asked, setting her old armour on a nearby table. "It's… uh, tighter than I'm used to."

The Hunter took a moment to study her new getup, and then let out a low chuckle. "Great, you're looking like a real Hunter now," he told her, pushing himself off the wall. "Fits you like a glove. Then again, all Guardian armour is supposed to."

Corrin rolled her eyes at Grey's comment. Perhaps guardian armor needed to loosen up a bit, Corrin wasn't sure she'd adjust to the tighter fit. She didn't complain, though. She recognised the need to protect herself against these new and dangerous foes.

Grey led her out of the room and downstairs, until he came to the basement door. This one was locked with a more advanced City-made lock. He keyed in a few codes, and it unlocked with an electronic beep. The Hunter pushed the door open and descended into the darkness below.

Once they were at the bottom, Grey reached for the wall and flipped a switch. Immediately, the lights flickered on, revealing the room's contents.

It was absolutely filled with guns, weapons, and equipment. Shelves and racks and walls containing nothing but guns were arranged around the room, consisting of just about every type of weapon. Sidearms, hand cannons, pulse rifles, and rocket launchers were all there, along with many others. Several mannequins standing by the wall were adorned with some more rare or premium sets of armour, such as the full Optimacy set. Along with the weapons were various other components like mods and parts. Ammo blocks sat in wall dispensers.

"Well, here we are," Grey said, motioning to the room with a hint of pride. "My own personal Vault. Contains all sorts of guns I've collected during my career."

"You're a bit of a hoarder aren't you?" Corrin chuckled as she moved about the room.

"Hoarder? No, I'm not," said Grey. "I'm a collector. Besides, this ain't even the largest collection 'round here. I've seen guys with their Vaults packed to the brim back in the City. I've got a couple more stashes around the system, too."

Corrin grinned at his denial. She saw very little difference between the two. She'd never gotten any joy in keeping mementos from battle, but could understand why it appealed to some.

Grey turned to her and pointed to her scavenged Fallen weapon. "That Shock Blade of yours is good, but you ain't gonna get far with an actual gun, trust me."

He seemed to look around the room, searching for a weapon that suited her. Eventually, he walked over to the section containing sidearms, and picked one out. "Here," he said, making his way back to Corrin and spinning the gun around on his finger and offering it to her. "This oughta be a gun good enough for a rookie like you."

It was an Athelflad-D, a kinetic sidearm of Häkke make. Sure, it wasn't exactly a good gun, but it wasn't a bad gun, either. It was simple, reliable, and easy to learn, perfect for a beginner like Corrin.

She took the gun from him and turned it over in her hands. It was small and compact, and unlike any other weapon she'd used before. She was curious as to how it worked, perhaps Grey or Saratoga could give her an explanation later. She looked to the Hunter questioningly. "So… what am I shooting at?"

Grey walked over to the sniper rifle section and pulled out a Sole Survivor. "You'll be learning low to shoot upstairs. I've got a range outside," he told her, checking the gun and loading in a magazine and then cocking it. After that he walked to the sidearm section. He glazed over it and then pulled out a Roderic-C. That gun was pretty much just a lower-quality version of the Athelflad-D he had given Corrin. Satisfied, he made his way back to Corrin, but paused at the central wall, which consisted entirely of Exotic weapons.

There were a few hanging there which he hadn't used in a while, like Plan C and Hereafter. However, it was the weapon at the very middle which he was looking at: The Huckleberry. The golden submachine gun reflected the light with its shiny exterior. Much like the framed picture of him and Elyse, the look in his eyes was one of nostalgia and longing. He pulled his gaze from it and sighed, before heading towards the stairs. "Let's go."

He headed back up the stairs and led Corrin outside to the grassy fields and towards a range set up under the cover of the surrounding trees. Once there, Grey turned to his Ghost. "Toga, transmat a few targets downrange, willya?"

"Will do!" Saratoga nodded. A second later, a basic round target appeared in a flash of light in the middle of the range.

The Hunter turned to Corrin. "Now, listen, kid," he began. "A gun is a tool; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the one using it. Remember that."

His Ghost gave him a skeptical look. "Did you seriously just quote Shane?"

"Sure did," Grey replied, grinning. "Now, Guardians instinctively know how to use a firearm the moment they're rezzed the first time. Since you ain't a Guardian or have even seen a gun until you met me in Chicago, we're gonna take this nice and slow."

He pulled out the Roderic-C. "Okay, follow my lead and do what I do. The first thing you'll want to do is load the gun itself, like so," he said, pulling out a magazine and tossing it over to Corrin. Then he pulled out another and slowly and deliberately slid the magazine into the sidearm. Then he pulled back on the slide and chambered a round.

The process was deceptively simple, and loading the gun took some practice, though Corrin did manage to get the magazine into the weapon with little issue. She found using the weapon rather intuitive, really, and she gripped it firmly with both hands.

Grey continued. "Once you've done that, grip the gun with both hands and put your finger on the trigger, and aim at the target. Make sure the sights are aligned. That means the target is right in the middle of the points at the top of the gun," he did as he said, gripping the gun and aiming it at the target. "Once you've got the target in your sights you pull the trigger. Be prepared for the kick."

He lowered the gun and turned to Corrin. "Now put a couple rounds downrange."

The princess took a deep breath and reminded herself to relax. She was more than used to using a wide variety of weapons. Swords, spears, daggers and bows. She'd dabbled in a bit of everything during the war, filling in gaps as necessary.

Grey was right, this weapon was a tool, and it was up to its wielder to use it effectively and responsibly.

She took careful aim, using the pop-up holographic sights to guide her as Grey had suggested. She'd intended to hit the target in its centre, but as the gun fired and the recoil hit her, her aim was diverted. Still, it collided with the target with a rather satisfying crack. If anything, the kick reminded her of casting high-powered magic, She lowered the weapon, reflexively removing her finger from the trigger as she looked to Grey.

"How was that? The kick was a bit stronger than I'd anticipated. I'll have to correct it moving forward."

She was grinning from ear to ear though, clearly proud of her first shot. Not bad for a girl completely out of her time and element.

The Hunter looked to the target and nodded. "Not bad, kid," he said. Truth be told, he was a little impressed. Despite coming from a world where guns didn't even exist, she handled the sidearm like a natural. "Your aim needs work, though."

Corrin rolled her eyes. "Well, we can't all be experts from the word go, can we?" She had always adapted seamlessly between weapons, and had little doubt that this gun would be no different. As it was, it already felt more natural in her hands.

But mastery could only come with practice, and while archery wasn't her best talent she was intent on making this work.

Grey stepped towards an oak table and placed several magazines on it. "I gotta feeling it's gonna be a long day," said Grey, arranging the magazines together. Corrin was a natural with a gun, and was skilled in combat, given what he'd seen back in Old Chicago.

However, she was still a long way from becoming a Hunter. He wanted to give her a little training and experience first before taking her on Guardian-level missions. If she wanted to go home, she'd have to fight for it, and the Vex were no joke.

He turned back to Corrin. His Ghost floated next to his head. "Music?"

Grey paused for a moment. "Something... classical."

Saratoga chriped, and then music began to emanate from his shell.

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Play

The Heavy - What Makes A Good Man?

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Grey stood next to Corrin, Roderic-C in hand. A target was several paces away in front of him, another next to him and in front of the princess. A timer beeped, and he snapped up the gun, rapidly tapping the trigger over and over again as he emptied the sidearm's entire magazine.

As he fired the last shot, he lowered the gun, spinning it a few times as smoke wafted from the barrel. On the target was a singular hole dead centre and nowhere else. The Hunter's every shot was a bullseye.

He turned to Corrin, silently tilting his head and motioning for her to do the same to her target.

Corrin fancied herself a fast learner, but even she knew that she wouldn't be able to match Grey's top notch marksmanship. She gave the Hunter a blank look as he dared her to duplicate his feat.

She chuckled lightly as she took aim with her own weapon.

Her aim wasn't going to be as good as Grey's, but she could strive to do better than she had last time. She took a few moments to steady herself before opening fire, each shot sent a rather uncomfortable jolt through her wrists and down her arm.

When her clip was empty, her target was far less neat than Grey's. But to her credit, the bullet holes strayed closer to the center, with one being dead set in the middle. Her face lit up at the sight, and she excitedly grabbed his arm, pointing as though he couldn't see it.

Grey rolled his eyes and pushed her away. but couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. He tossed her another magazine.

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This time, there was a single target. It was a dummy of a Fallen Vandal used to train the City Militia. Grey stood at the firing line, hand hovering inches away from the gun on his thigh. There was a beep, and at the sound, he pulled his gun out of its holster, snapped it at the target, and fired.

Corrin had a trained eye, but even she struggled to follow what had been a fairly simple motion. It seemed more like a blur of motion than anything else.

But it wasn't. It was Grey simply performing the signature quickdraw Gunslingers were famous for.

He stood there, gun right above its holster and by his hip, smoke coming out from the barrel. Opposite him, the dummy had a hole in its head which was leaking gas used to simulate Ether. It was a lethal shot. He had drawn his gun and fired in less time it took to blink. Grey's reputation as an impossibly fast quickdraw was well deserved, it seemed.

Grey spun his gun a few times and then holstered it, before turning to Corrin, once more motioning for her to do the same with her sidearm. She took a breath, before drawing her sidearm and firing.

The motion wasn't as smooth or quick as Grey's shot had been, and she didn't hit her target square in the head. Rather she hit her target lower, in what Corrin assumed would be the throat. Still, she seemed pretty pleased with the fact she'd hit it at all, and it was a lethal shot any other way.

Corrin was catching on fast, Grey had to admit.

The corners of his lips curled up ever so slightly as he stepped back to the firing line. Then he drew his gun and fired again.

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Grey and Corrin stood opposite each other just outside the house, both wielding Quickfangs. Of course, Grey had removed the Void power cells. He didn't want to accidentally disintegrate the princess, after all.

He held out his sword and pointed it at her, telling her to make the first move.

Corrin grinned. Swords were something she definitely understood. The blade was by far the most natural weapon Grey had asked her to use. She didn't think she needed much practice with swords.

She dashed forwards and slashed with her sword, but it was effortlessly parried away by Grey's own. Corrin recovered, twirling around and then proceeding with another attack, which was also countered by the Hunter.

The two dueled, and Grey could tell that Corrin very definitely had plenty of experience in swordplay. She was lightning-quick, too, and swift and graceful. The only problem was that Grey was much more experienced, and he was much more pragmatic, too. There were times she left her defence wide open, and she did seem to use one too many unnecessary flips in her technique.

Grey blocked a sword strike from her, and the two clashed with their blades locked against the other. Two pairs of green and red eyes met, staring each other down as they watched for any sign of weakness. Then Grey kicked her legs out from under her, sending her to the dirt below.

The wind was knocked out of her lungs as Corrin hit the ground hard. Grey loomed over her and put his sword to her neck, before shaking his head and turning away. He motioned for Corrin to get back up and try again.

The princess grit her teeth and got back to her feet, shifting into a combat stance, and so did Grey. The two went at it again.

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Grey rode up to Corrin on The Bronco and stopped next to her, before dismounting. Then he summoned another Sparrow, this one a standard-issue Wayfarer that had its default white colour scheme on, without any shaders. This Sparrow was typically the first rookie Guardians would use.

In the area surrounding the house Grey had set up a small course for her. Nothing much, mostly with a couple of glowing Arc pulses to mark each checkpoint. It was a simple track that took her in a loop around the area. The Hunter motioned for her to get on.

Corrin took a breath and mounted the vehicle. Unlike weapons, this was something she was completely unused to. Grey had already taught her the basics, but even that was a little hard to follow.

The first time she climbed on her Sparrow and tried to rev it forward, she wound up accelerating too fast. The damn thing nearly shot out from under her, causing the princess to cry out.

She imagined the sight had to be quite hilarious to Grey.

The princess closed her eyes and tried to tell herself that it was just like riding a horse… except one made of metal and floating above the ground. She wasn't exactly very good with horses, either.

After getting her bearings, she took a lap around the course, weaving past the markers Grey had placed as she got used to steering the Sparrow. Within a few laps she'd grown more comfortable, and started going faster and faster. She'd never felt such a rush before, except for when flying on the back of Camilla's wyvern. Soon enough she had that same wide-eyed look of excitement, she'd even wave to Grey as she passed him on the loop.

But where was the fun in just riding around in circles? Sparrows were all-terrain hoverbikes, which Guardians milked to their potential by constantly performing dangerous tricks.

Which was why Grey came up with the genius idea to get his Ghost to transmat a makeshift ramp directly into the path of Corrin's Sparrow. Corrin's eyes widened at the ramp's sudden appearance. She was already boosting forwards, so she'd have no time to steer out of the way.

Corrin sailed up and into the air. The sensation was not unlike taking off on a wyvern. But she wasn't on a wyvern, she was on a hoverbike.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Corrin flew up and into the air, the vehicle going out from beneath her, which left her falling back to the ground. Grey cursed under his breath and moved in to catch her if he needed to.

However, before he could react, a pair of large silver wings erupted from her back. He froze at the sight.

The princess let out a yelp, but the wings helped her to maneuver in the air, while the Sparrow crashed through the side of the property's barn. She completed her flip and then came crashing back down to the ground, narrowly avoiding biting the dirt altogether. She came to a skittering stop, chest heaving.

Her wings were still out, and she stared at them, transfixed. She'd never transformed part way before.

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Grey asked, rushing up to her.

Corrin coughed, her heart still beating rapidly. "I… I think so."

Grey turned his attention to her wings. "You never told me you could do... well, that."

"I've never done this before," Corrin looked back to her wings. She'd never thought to try such a feat before. Back home this might've been useful. But here it could be deadly.

"Hope you can change back," Saratoga said. "Dragon wings are gonna stick out even more."

With a bit of focus Corrin managed to retract her wings, folding down against her back and then disappearing into her body like they weren't even there in the first place.

The Hunter gave a slight frown at the sight. Then he stood up, glancing at the fading daylight. It was already evening by the time they were done, and the sun was slowly setting, casting an orange glow on the surrounding mountains and lake. He turned back to her. "I think that's enough for today. Come on, let's get back inside."

"Let's do that," Corrin laughed shakily as she followed him inside.