Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Okay so if you're reading this and you don't already know what everyone wears for pajamas turn back because there's nothing for you here. 

Shots of the pair in the Gardens of Esila because they make me feel things

Also we're both lesbians so if you came for lots of gay Crow content I (king_sappho) am so sorry that I'm giving you crumbs while I exist to simp for Elsie I swear I'm doing my best.

As an extension to the above note, if you're here for lots of sapphic Petra, I (asthmaticancom) have been doing my best to deliver the goods. 

To set out a basic premise for the two original guardians in this version of Destiny's universe, here are some basic things to know. Since this fic has covered so much ground since we started it at this point, it's probably worth updating some of this. It'll all be bolded to be easier, and I've crossed out some of what was originally written that has progressed and is no longer true.

Alison – Awoken Nightstalker – AsthmaticAncom
Appearance: (Gear) (Face) (Commission*) - (Ali's gear/fashion is extremely fixed and if I do ever change it I make a big deal of it in canon, like how she built Gyrfalcons during Solstice 2022)

• Puts too much on herself.
• Vibes photo taken in Beyond on Europa.
• Former Dragon’s Shadow main, current Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk main.
• Mean lesbian, but also soft lesbian.
• Wears glasses and has a prescription visor but that doesn't really come up lol
• In love with Petra Venj.
• Very afraid of her past life. Saw glimpses from the darkness and knows her name was Than and that, for some reason, she left Petra to become an earthborn awoken.
  • Now (Post-Final Shape), she's less afraid of her past and now simply isn't that interested in it. She wants to make her own fate, and doesn't need to be held back by the person who wore her face before.
• Does NOT trust the Traveler.
  • Currently having a crisis that Abhorrent Imperative wasn't activated during the collapse and what that means for the Traveler's intentions.
    • Bet you can guess how she took the end of season 19. 
      • At this point (Pre-Final Shape), she's got bigger issues and doesn't even know what to think of it.
  • Now, (Post-Final Shape), she's a little warmer to the idea of the Traveler having good intentions. At the very least, she knows it didn't try to abandon them, and that it wants them to prove its own "final shape" of the flower game, encouraging them to make their own fate. She's not sure where to go with it, but she's glad it's okay and she's happy to leave it there. She still feels like it's a being that has its own intent and agenda that might miss the mark for some though, as any time it gives her power directly all the way from when she was first risen, it's tried to connect her to Arc light. From being risen as an Arcstrider to her newly gifted Storm's Edge, Ali feels like she's always being misunderstood, and has always left those gifts behind to deepen her connection with the Void. She can still call on them, but it remains an uncomfortable experience that makes her feel alien to herself, and it will always make her a little suspicious of how much the Traveler really understands. At the very least, Micah's visions helped comfort her about its intentions and perspective at a broad scale.
• Absolute disaster conspiracy theorist and doomsday prepper.
  • Now, (Post-Final Shape), she still has the tendency to slip into this when times are bad, but she's worked through this and is generally in a better place. 
• Barely eats and sleeps out of fear of interrupting her connection to the void. (Eventually got over this block, but slipped back into the patterns anyways because of everything happening, she's working on it.)
  • Now, (Post-Final Shape), she's gotten past this and is confident in how strongly she can wield it without absolutely torturing herself.
• Would be a warlock if she didn't hate cops wasn't so defiant to authority
• Funnelweb stan (240k and counting)
  • Author's Note: Tried the Recluse reissue, 124 drops in currently and still haven't found one that feels right, doubt I will tbh so no fun lore on her making any changes 
  • Also uses a ton of bows. She's got one for every element except void (which shadowshot rounds off)
    • Oops no she uses and adores Leviathan's Breath too. 
• Crashes on Rusty’s couch too often. (He gets her an upstairs apartment Dawning 2022) (But she still sleeps on his couch sometimes)
  • Now, (Post-Final Shape), they still have sleepovers but it's not quite as sad and self-destructive lmfao.
• Made a version of Trust for Rusty between the end of Seraph and the beginning of Lightfall. She thought it'd mostly be a showpiece for him, but she still put a ton of effort into it. When he came back with it strapped to his thigh telling her how much he loved it, she just started sobbing lol

Rusty – Exo Gunslinger Classless solar lightbearer who mixes Dawn Blade and Gunslinger abilities. Leans more into a specific Prismatic build lately too (see below). – King_Sappho

Appearance: (Gear) (Gear w/Canon Poncho) (Face*) - (I'll probably forget to update this with how frequently his canon fashion evolves but the vibes are always the same. Also, he doesn't actually wear his helmet for the most part)

• Just a little guy.
• Vibes photos taken in Spire of the Watcher.
• Knows his past life, vibes with it (was probably definitely still is in love with Elsie Bray).
• Was once Percival Rigby, a man who wasn't much different than Rusty is now, and who somehow managed to pull together two PhDs; one in archaeology and one in astrobiology.
• Very gay for his boyfriend Crow.
• Takes 0 care of his gear. (Caliban’s Hand and Sunbracers main, uses one of each. Also carries a Celestial Nighthawk mask that he puts on when he casts Golden Gun.)
• Was Cayde’s favourite.
• Has an apartment overlooking the former hub of New Monarchy.
• Rusty/Crow/Elsie throuple is endgame CANON BABY WE WON - A.
• Adores anything that can trigger ignitions.
• Favorite and most used guns include Sunshot, Fixed Odds, and his babies are Wastelander Conditional Wasteland (a sort of homebrewed version of Wastelander's appearance and Conditional Finality's function) and Trust because he's a space cowboy committed to the bit.
• I have a weird hangup about the way cloaks look on Rusty so in your mind palaces please picture him wearing the hat and backpack parts of the TM-Earp custom cloak but imagine that instead of a cloak he wears a poncho like the one Cal Kestis wears. He wears the Prodigal Robes jacket, the TM Moss chaps and boots, sometimes a poncho instead of the jacket, and the TM Earp hat. He doesn't wear a helmet, but covers the bottom half of his face with a bandana.
• Small lore-based modifications to Rusty's use of Prismatic: bleak watcher turrets work like he's activating Sunbracers and then freezing his solar grenades with Stasis as he throws them; transcendent grenade is like a duskfield grenade with periodically flaring solar energy inside it, freezes targets in the duskfield area who are then ignited by the solar flare; I refuse to acknowledge knife trick so his primary melee are still explosive proximity knife, withering blade, and incinerator snap; I'm devasted that the Warlock's solar grenade wasn't an option on Prismatic so we're gonna ignore that and pretend it is one and that it's still his primary grenade. I use Osmiomancy Gloves in game for Prismatic but for headcanon lore purposes, imagine that its more like his Sunbracers freeze into the shape of the Endothermia ornament for the Osmiomamcy Gloves when he's throwing bleak watchers. Bungie you'll have to pry Rusty's Caliban's Hand/Sunbracer's vibes out of my cold dead hands

Rusty's Timeline:

- Prior to his death during the late Golden Age, Rusty was known as Percival Rigby. He went to university to study archaeology and astrobiology, where he met Elizabeth Bray. The two were close friends and lovers. After college, the two went to Mars together to do independent research, and Percival went with Elsie to Europa when she joined her father's exo project, where he also became an exo. After escaping Europa, the two returned to Mars. When Elsie disappeared, Percival spent months searching for her, but was eventually run down and forced to accept that she was gone. He briefly became a freelancer, taking work from high paying clients searching for rare and hard to reach artifacts. In the late Golden Age, Percival died in the Cosmodrome in search for a cache known only in legend at the time. 

- Rusty and Ali were risen by the Traveler shortly before cleansing the Black Heart. They met in the Cosmodrome, where they banded together to survive and escape. They spent several years working closely together and becoming each other's closest friend and ally. 

- At some point between the end of Shadowkeep and the months leading up to Beyond Light, Rusty was killed in the Cosmodrome when he was ambushed by Cabal forces testing a light suppression device, which inhibited Knack from reviving him. He went into the mission solo and had not told anyone what he was doing or where, so when he didn't come back, he was originally assumed MIA. This was later amended to KIA after Ali was able to find Knack and Rusty, burying them beneath the wall not far from where they had both been revived.

- After some time passed, Knack was reawakened by the Traveler? uncertain circumstances, and was able to bring Rusty back. Rusty woke with little to no memory of his past five years as a Guardian, and Knack was unsure how to approach this delicate situation. Immediately after escaping the Cosmodrome, Rusty felt pulled to Europa, which he would later learn was a result of the Ziggurat and the Darkness calling him. Knack was unable to convince him not to go, and Rusty made straight for the icy moon, where events of Beyond Light loosely unfolded as per canon. Alison was sent by Ikora to investigate the Ziggurat alongside the Drifter and Eris Morn, all of whom were surprised to see Rusty. Alison reacted emotionally, but was ultimately relieved to have her friend back despite his lack of memory. 

- With every interaction with the Ziggurat to unlock Stasis, Rusty saw more clear and intense flashes of his life over the past 5 years, and some from his life before even that. By the end of the Beyond Light campaign, Rusty's memory of the prior five years was restored almost in full, and Ali was there to help fill in the gaps. In the days spent learning more about Stasis with Elsie, Rusty came to realize something was off. He recognized her from the events surrounding cleansing the Black Heart, but he also had a feeling now more than ever that he knew her from before everything. Elsie resigned to taking him to Bray Exoscience against Zavala's permission. Rusty learned much of who Percival Bell was through files and archives, as well as through Elsie, who filled him in on some of the details about her and Percy's friendship. Rusty left Europa feeling equal parts relieved and saddened by this new knowledge of who he once was. 

- Rusty and Ali met Crow and everything unfolded relatively in line with canon between Beyond Light and the Witch Queen, though Rusty and Crow fell in love over the course of their first few months knowing one another, which was difficult for many, including Rusty, to accept. They had their first kiss in a small garden in the Tower outside Rusty's apartment. Shortly thereafter, Crow left when he learned about Uldren, slightly rocking his newly budding relationship with Rusty. Crow came back home the night of his second birthday, where he found Rusty, Ali, Petra, and Elsie waiting at Rusty's apartment to celebrate. 

- Everything from Witch Queen through to the present has unfolded relatively in line with canon, but Rusty did break into the Hidden's secret location where Savathun was being contained after Eris divulged the location to him. He was briefly relieved of his duties and had to take some time to mentally recover from the challenges brought on by Savathun and Calus, but with the onset of Season of Plunder, he and Ali have been back in action and never better.

- Look a lot has happened since I wrote that but it's still relatively par for the course. He's been mostly fine and good, had some Savathun angst again during Season of the Witch, was devastated over losing Amanda, but he's truckin' right along, yknow?

- He didn't really take well to Strand during Lightfall, but between Lightfall and The Final Shape, he branched out from his abilities as a Gunslinger into a handful of Dawn Blade-like abilities. With the help of Ikora and Shayura, he's been able to harness more of his Solar light than ever before. He took well to Prismatic, but in true Rusty fashion, uses more of a combination of Hunter and Warlock abilities and primarily sticks to Stasis and Solar.

Alison's Timeline

• Prior to her death, Alison was an ex-corsair named Than that had fled her responsibilities (and her relationship with a certain one-eyed future wrath) to become earthborn, dying in the Cosmodrome when she went to investigate the Exodus program.
• After her revival, she quickly found Rusty and the two agreed to stick together to survive. There were many chances to make a break for it, to flee like some hard-baked instinct was telling her to, but she always stayed. By the time the two had made it out of the Cosmodrome and back to the tower, she knew she'd be clinging to him for as long as they were both around.
• Having met Petra when she was emissary to the tower, the two began connecting during the Wolf's rebellion, though it would be years before Ali knew of Petra's history with a woman that shared her face.
• Ali was the one to put Uldren in the ground, though she'd never tell a soul that Rusty couldn't.
• Ali helped plan and execute the raid that would kill Riven and unleash the curse on the Dreaming City. This has and continues to haunt her, and she goes back there as often as she can to try and break it while giving what comfort and help she can offer to those who are trapped within in and continue to fight. In the Final Shape, one of the offers The Witness made to try and turn her to its vision was the city freed and its people at peace once more. 
• She basically imploded when Rusty died, and assaulted Zavala upon learning that he might have known of his return. They try not to talk about that time, given how bad it was and how awkward it can be to hear how raw of a wound your death left on someone you love. Ali tries to avoid it, but she feels a lot of shame about how she was at that time, treating everyone, down to Oleander, like shit.
• She is terrified of Stasis, though she recognizes why it needs to be used. She has a suite of monitoring systems and equipment that she keeps on hand for when she plans to make use of it, just to keep an eye on herself.
  • Now, (Post-Final Shape), she's confident in her control of herself and doesn't feel the same pull as she did before. She's decommissioned her monitoring gear and can, but rarely does make use of it. Not because she's afraid of it any more, but because the Void is such a natural part of her it's rare for her to step out of it. Also her stasis weapons take the form of climbing axes.
• Depending on how Lightfall goes, she will be the one to develop an understanding of Strand and share it with Rusty. Her attitude towards it is tbd.
  • Okay so we all know how Lightfall went lol. She developed the understanding and it was one of the things that helped her become more comfortable towards using stasis in retrospect. Her use of it is much more closely tied to the void because obviously. Her grapple is fired from a bow and her rope dart is one of her knives.
• Prismatic is kind of a reflection of how the two of us have already been writing the light and dark as sources of power, but, as you may expect, it's not something Ali taps into a lot due to her being stuck in her ways with the Void being who she is. That all being said, obviously for them the grenades are reversed and Rusty uses the hunter's solar/stasis tripmine and Ali uses the warlock's void/stasis vortex. 

*Rusty's face and Ali's full body is done by @splinterinlight on Instagram. Check him out, he's lovely!