Hello all. This is the full version of my submission for the DFP writing contest. The theme is "A world without Light". Enjoy! [b]Nothing Left[/b] Part One My breath came quickly as I crept through the damp tunnels, hand over mouth to reduce the sound as much as possible. Each cautious step I took made a soft scrape that caused me to pause for a moment and listen for the stirring of other life. If they could even be called life. If they found me I would be torn apart and and eaten, probably while still alive. I wished I was back in the days when you only had to worry about the Hive if you were on the Moon. After our Collapse the vile creatures had held only our Moon, festering and growing like an infection taking over the body. But in their quest to kill the Light and all other life, they clearly hadn't been satisfied with such a small prize. We found out the hard way that they had been mustering their strength, and by the time Guardians discovered Hive hidden underneath the Earth, it was already too late. They came like a storm, preceded by violent waves as they surged towards our shores. First came the endless swarms that bubbled out of our own world, then the endless nightmares sent down from the Moon in Seeders and Tombships, and finally, their leaders. The abominations raised inside the Moon had been hard enough to deal with, pushing through portions of our wall and killing swaths of Guardians, but even they were nothing compared to Crota. He came with a thousand of his swords- Knights of ancient and great power -and marched upon the City as if it was already his. His blade was death and he was shadow, confronting one Guardian after another and killing them all in single combat. At one point some of us managed to rally, but even against all of our Light the butcher moved through as if wading through shallow water. In those days of war, the sky danced with green fire and the streets ran with blood. By the time he reached the Traveler, hardly any Guardians were left. I was amongst them. No one knows how he did it, but Crota brought down our mighty protector, sending its broken husk crashing down to the earth. The Hive ate its remains, and the Light of the Guardians was snuffed out with that of the Traveler. Humanity was broken and the system fell to greater powers. It's a miracle that any humans remain. The Fallen lost whatever footholds they had in the inner system as Earth was claimed by the Hive and Venus was consumed by the Vex. To the surprise of many, the Fallen and Awoken came to an uneasy truce, but even together they have been caught in a vice and only hold control of the Reef. Mars was a mystery, but it seemed that the Cabal were still holding off the Vex there. There was war between the Vex and Hive on several fronts of our worlds as the two fought over domination of the entire system. I had heard that Mercury was under Hive siege and Osiris flushed out in the wake of war; he was allied with the Awoken as well, although I'm not sure where he is now. Why the Hive attacked Mercury so veraciously I did not know. There was nothing to take. Perhaps they wished to gain the knowledge of the Vex as Osiris had. Dead Orbit, those foolish cowards, had left with their fleet, but I knew that if they even made it out of the system as planned they wouldn't last out there. But this was all old news now. Any human that hadn't made it to the Reef was stranded on Earth, scavenging for the means to survive while surrounded by enemies. At first I had still called myself a Guardian, guiding and protecting others through a world that I could no longer defend until I could find them a ship to leave on…or until they were killed. I had given up several chances to leave in the hopes that those who I sent away instead would find refuge in the Reef and send help. Now there were no more ships to be found and no more Reef patrols to rescue the stranded. So I was left to die on a lost world. Eventually I realized that there was no such thing as a Guardian anymore. I had once led a group of men through Hive territory, but had woken up one morning to find all of my supplies missing, along with the men. They had left me to die, not attempting to kill me themselves because they thought the Hive or starvation would do it for them. But I was better than them, and a few days later I found their remains, with all the supplies taken or destroyed. Early on there had been other Guardians roaming the world like I was, although some no longer liked to be called by that name. One of them had held me at gunpoint and tried robbing me, but some Fallen ambushed us and he ended up dying in the fight. Another had traveled with me for several weeks and together we had found a few people, but when we found a ship that only seated one and I suggested we used it to patrol for others to build up our group until we could locate more ships, he knocked me out and I woke up to find the ship gone and all the innocents either dead or unconscious. But even that hadn't been what made me snap. I knew that these former Guardians and citizens of the City were sad, broken, and scared, and that living on like that after everything they had been through could lead to selfishness and Darkness. But that didn't crush my hope for the future. What had convinced me that there was nothing left for me to be the Guardian of was a little girl who had taken my gun out of my holster and pointed it at me while her dad snuck up behind me with a knife. The attempt had ended with the father dead and with the lightly battered girl and mother whimpering as they watched me leave. This girl had been raised with Darkness in her by parents who cared more for their survival than the rightness of their daughter, and it convinced me that humanity had let itself give up all ideals of the Light. Everything that was left for me to be Guardian of was out in the Reef, and I wasn't even sure if there was anything good left there. So now I wandered by myself, avoiding anything that stirred in this dark world. On the occasion that I spotted other humans, I would avoid them or only assist if they truly needed it. I did not rob anyone and I did not stay long enough to be robbed. Movement was life now. ____________________________ Link to part 2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229946707/0/0 Link to my Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0