[2] The First Dawn [Fanfiction]

[b]Previous Entry:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/251823855?sort=0&page=0 [i]The chest opens. Inside is a legendary helmet, a faded shader, and a few materials of no value. After the discovery of Biocatarus-2’s last message, you have scoured hundreds of caches in hopes of continuing the story. Your only rewards were expendable garbage and wasted time. As you turn to leave, your Ghost notices something within the chest that you did not. Hidden inside a small compartment is the next Data Cluster.[/i] [b]*********************************************************************[/b] [b][Entry 2: How it all started.][/b] My story first began just like every other Guardian, with the forming of a bond between corpse and Ghost. As daylight faded in the midst of a vicious winter snowstorm, within a place stained with only ancient ruin, the machine that would become my other half found the wreckage of an unmarked van. The vehicle was a rusted and worthless thing, devoid of any enlightening identification thanks to its unfathomable age. The only value it possessed was within, a pile of numerous metal scraps that together built the vaguest shape of a man, a junkheap that was the basis of me. My Ghost performed an act which all lucky ones accomplished, he pulled forth his Light and infused it into what all other creatures would have simply ignored. It was through this process that those Exo remnants were gifted something more than just life. I awoke in shambles, for by no means had there been enough material to build a complete person. The most intrusive of my defects were of a left hand that held only three fingers, of a right leg with a broken knee, and of a face that lacked the means to produce a voice. Yet I did not have to suffer though the frustrating disabilities alone, for my other half was there to ease the pain. Ghosts, in truth, have little say over who they choose to resurrect, for each one of them was born with a strong pre-established intuition that decided which corpse was destined to be theirs. My Ghost, well aware that there was not enough to establish a whole body for his Guardian, still trusted his Traveler-given instinct. I respected him for that, and in time I would give him the name Aydin, a title both of us found fitting. It means enlightened, a trait that proved definitive as he guided me through the dangers of that day. It should be no surprise when I say that I was reborn in a perilous location, for corpses are usually good indicators of such places. My mechanical skin was resistant to the fierce cold of the blizzard that assaulted the meager shelter of the van, but I still had to leave soon, as indicated by four glittering eyes that lurked from beyond the drifts. Later I would come to know those inhuman creatures as the Fallen, a disgraced society of cutthroat pirates and thieves. They do not choose that life, for their fates are determined at birth just like our own. However, that does not mean we share a side, for to them we are ravenously envied, and for us they are [i][b]at best[/b][/i] pitied. I only ever met one of them I could respect, and our meetings were delightfully brief. Perhaps I am just biased, for my first encounter with their kind consisted solely of a bloody chase within the uncaring midnight snow. My right leg squealed as I struggled to run against the winds, the stride it provided being not nearly enough to outpace my foes. It was only because of Aydin that I spotted the means of my survival, a tangled warehouse of derelict bronze walls and ceilings, a place where I could make my stand. Whenever I think back about that moment, I always become bothered by how strangely I recall it. For a reason that I never figured out, the perspective from which I visualize myself entering that nearly pitchblack labyrinth is always similar to that of a camera. Like an outsider I view the ragged form of my body intrude wordlessly through an opening. I see him fumble as he tried to hide, I see him aghast with fear upon his face as he cowered in a corner, entirely unprotected from a four-armed giant that crawled mercilessly in pursuit. I remember dreadfully anticipating how I was about to experience an unwanted end, one where I would so soon go back to tasting the infinite night. And sure enough I see myself die, torn limb from limb as the creature just cackled. Its glittering blades moved back and forth, and in a moment it was over. The camera doesn’t turn away from my corpse, and the Fallen left minutes later, undoubtedly pleased with itself at having killed a lone machine of no importance. The monster probably would have stayed longer had it known what I had become, for Aydin was indeed wise, having used the storm to cloak his existence until the coast was clear. In a flash of vibrancy he brought me back for a second time, a solution to a fate I had thought was still worth fearing. I was now a Guardian, an immortal warrior with an eternal sentence. I recall trying to scream at him for not telling me I would’ve been fine, that death was no longer an end, but I still did not have the voice to make the words. Yet he looked into my eyes and managed to understand. My other half politely apologized for his neglect, and then vowed to answer every question I would think to give him once I could. In the future there would be times when we couldn’t rely upon each other, when for one reason or another separation arrived to make us vulnerable, but as he spoke that promise I knew our immortal bond would be a real one. The oppressive weather cleared up shortly after, so carefully I left the borders of the warehouse, meaning my memories once again followed the perspective of my own eyes. Perhaps there was something within that place responsible for the bizarre abnormality, but the chance to find the answer never came. Years later I would return to the lands of my second birthplace, only to find the mysterious building reduced to rubble, and something much more horrid in its stead. Continuing the eve before my first dawn in the new world, Aydin silently guided me through the night without further fatal incident. In hours we would come upon a Sparrow, which in turn would lead us to a ship, and that allowed him and I to find a home. I never forgot the sight of the original Tower, of the aged stone courtyards that spread out to give the perfect view of an endless city and her protective Traveler. It was the renowned home of everyone immortal like me, and if you ask around today, some will say it still is. [i][I heard the Cosmodrome was a nice place this time of year, might be worth giving it a visit.][/i] [b]Next Fragment:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/251944797?sort=0&page=0 [b]Book:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/251789024?sort=0&page=0