Deep Stone Cradle [Fanfiction One Off]

[Spoiler]Been a while since I made story for Destiny, so here we are. This one is a bit darker than my wont due to the nature of the subject. Enjoy[/spoiler] [u]Do you see the land before you, little warrior? This is your birthplace, this is where you belong. Little, steel child, do not be afraid, you don't have to leave home. No, you can come back here every night for festivities. Won't that be fun, little numbered infant?[/u] The road rose to meet the heavy steps of an exo, their iron feet leaving dents in the ash colored dirt. The exo was a titan and he stared listlessly at the horizon. On that horizon was a beautiful tower, welcoming the figure like a mother to her babe. It had a wide open door, like a toothless mouth. Beyond the tower was a large mountain range, black and looming over the vast fields ahead. A shaft of sunlight peered through a crack in the mountainside and it fell on what seemed to be a gathering of people. The titan looked carefully at the group of people, and they found they could make out the faces. [u]What is a homecoming without friends, my creation?[/u] The face of one of the people looked at the Titan and charged bodily at them. Vienna, yes, that was the person's name who ran to meet him. As "Vienna" arrived, however, the exo simply grabbed the figure by the neck and a moment later tossed it aside broken. Multiple groups of the people started to charge him now, but he wasn't worried. This was his purpose , why should one fear their purpose? A woman with a sweet and familiar face ran on the heels of a strong faced man that reminded the exo of himself. Within seconds, the people were a mangled pile of broken things on the ground. The exo didn't bother to notice though, for what use are such things when home is so close? Soon after the waves got larger and larger. Among the crowd were such familiar faces as Griffin, he was a good warlock, he seemed to recall, but he was more flimsy than he remembered. As he fought one, three others jumped his back and started to grasp at his plating, bending it painfully. He reached behind his back and grabbed them by the faces, smashing them down into the ground in front of him soon after. He started running as a hundred guardians from the day of the Red Legion's attack attempted to throttle him. He somehow outdistanced them, only to be caught unawares as seemingly from nowhere a mass of people appeared, all from the Great Disaster. On that black field covered in flowers and in ash, a second Great Disaster occurred, but this time it was a guardian who did the deed. And in this great disaster were more names than last time: Giant, Shadow, Rooks, Variks, Lauren, Erin, Erica, Zeno, Apollo, the list went on and on, and many on the list were forgotten to the depths of an exo's forgetful mind. [u]I have a gift for you, my weapon. A weapon for a weapon. Wield it in the name of your existence.[/u] The exo titan didn't even question as a sword appeared in his hand. Bare hand or blade, what difference did it make when killing what's meant to be killed? The one named Erin charged fists first at the Titan, funny, she didn't have hands for long, or a head. Rooks came up from behind, but the body of the late Erin was thrown on top of him and was used to hold him down as he was dispatched. Throwing the sword in a reckless move, the titan impaled the next three all on long blow. A moment later, Variks Kell of Judgement lay docked once more and on the floor, and the titan known as Giant was similarly destroyed. [u]Your meaning is beyond the fleeting lives of twigs and bags of meat, and far more lasting.[/u] An hour or a thousand passed, and the titan wearily fought onwards to the tower. That beautiful, beautiful tower. It seemed motherly to him, it's gaping mouth an embrace of maternal warmth. He wanted to meet her. Up ahead he saw three titans like him, also like him, two of them were exos. The first came towards him from the right, dashing at the speed of a charging rhino, the second tried to flank the titan, while the third one, an human, charged straight for the titan. The first one jumped at the titan, red flurries, perhaps of SIVA, coming off of him. The Exo's sword flashed brightly as he swung at the figure's neck, decapitating them in a swift stroke. The one trying to flank him succeeded in jumping and pushing the exo to the ground and the two began to scramble on the ground, tearing each other to pieces with their hands and even mouths. At last the exo managed to put the other to rest and he stood to face the third opponent, the human, who was now before him about to crash his skull into the exo's. Instead, the exo pulled his sword straight up, forcing the momentum of the enemy to impale themselves. [u]You always survive, but do you know why? Because [i]I[/i] made you, little toy soldier.[/u] That beautiful stone tower loomed large and lovely overhead, its arms welcoming the Exo home. A feeling of belonging is what lies behind that door for the exo, for any exo, and to enter in would be the equivalence of reaching heaven, or perhaps just leaving hell. The exo took a moment to look back at the field where he had come from. The field, once black and covered in grass, was now inky and red, covered in the remnants and entrails of thousand of friends. But the exo did not feel anything towards those failed bodies and broken faces, for what were their fleeting friendship to him when their deaths would open the door to his future? Right in this tower. [u]No, my weapon, my toy, my creation, my little numbered infant, you are not old enough to see my secrets. The game must continue, but do come again.[/u] As the exo tried to move his foot into the doorway, he felt a hand take his heel in a vice like grip. He turned to see one of the slain familiars dragging him back away from the door. He tried to break free, but more people kept grabbing him and taking him back. Dozens more died, but the exo never made it the doorway... [i]When he woke up, he wasn't surprised that he hadn't made it; he had been trying for years to get through that door, but he never would. The Exo titan heard a knock on his door and opened it to admit a good friend. He did his best to put on a smile and his friend never knew that the exo couldn't help but picture him as he was in the dream: another dead face.[/i]