Destiny
Chapter 1
Cosmodrome
Old Russia, Earth
The wind blew harshly against the old rusted cars, pushing the snow in every direction. A little white machine, a Ghost, whizzed on by, fighting against the wind and the snow. Creatures prowled behind him, watching his every move as he scanned every skeleton he could find. He froze for a moment after absentmindedly scanning another body.
“Is it possible?” He whispered to himself as he detached his shell from his core. He had been looking for his Guardian for so long, he could hardly believe that he may have finally found them. “There you are,” he said excitedly as he waited anxiously.
The woman groaned as she began to slowly open her eyes. She had a massive headache and she felt like she had been sleeping for years. What happened to me? She questioned to herself as she tried to remember what happened before she passed out, but nothing was there.
“Guardian? Eyes up Guardian!” She heard someone say excitedly and she groaned again as she cracked her eyes open. She glanced around a bit at her desolate surroundings and furrowed her brow when there was no one to be found. “It worked, you’re alive!” She heard and jumped slightly as her head flew up. A little white machine floated in front of her and she was not sure what to make of the talking machinery. “You don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you.” He said shyly.
“What?” she breathed out as she lifted up her hand and flexed it, slowly moving her other body parts as well. Alive? What does he mean by that?
“I’m a Ghost, actually now I’m your Ghost, my name is Ares, and you…well you’ve been dead a long time.” Her head shot up again as she looked at him, bright blue eyes wide with shock. Dead? She’s been dead? How long had she been dead? Why did he…resurrect her? “Now, there will be a lot of things you won’t understand.” As he said this there was a roar out in the distance and they both turned their heads.
“Yeah, no shit.” She mumbled as they continued to stare in that direction.
“This is Fallen territory, we aren’t safe here, I have to get you to safety.” Ghost said hurriedly as he turned and began to whiz away.
The woman began to slowly stand as her muscles protested and she began to blindly follow the Ghost…machine. She didn’t know why, but she felt trust and a certain comfort with the little fellow. She only hoped that her instincts were right, the last time she trusted them it didn’t go so well. She stopped short as that thought passed through her mind. What? She thought to herself as she tried to remember what happened before she…
“Hold still.” She heard and shook her head clear of her thoughts. She glanced around in slight panic when she could no longer see her Ghost. “Don’t worry, I’m still here, but we need to move, fast.” She let out a sigh of relief and looked around again to see where she should go next.
“Let’s get inside the wall, we shouldn’t be out here.” Her ghost advised and she sighed as she began moving forward.
“Whatever you say, bud.” She mumbled as she picked up the helmet and cloaked that laid by her feet, putting them on quickly. She felt much better and started to move more quickly toward the wall now that the wind wasn’t constantly whipping her in the face.
“Alright, I’ll find you a weapon, you need to be able to defend yourself once the Fallen come.” The little machine said as she walked through a door in the wall, she felt her nerves spread through her body as he said that and she kept walking as she looked at her surroundings.
The Breach
Old Russia, Earth
“Shh, they’re right above us.” Her Ghost whispered and she slowly looked up as she her the sound of feet and creatures crying out, their cries echoing throughout the abandoned wall. “Hold on, I’ll see if I can find more light in this place.” He murmured and she stood there quietly as she watched him zoom away.
She placed her hand on her head as she thought through everything so far. Was I really dead? She wondered and sighed as she tried to remember anything about herself, she couldn’t even remember her name. Who was I when I died? She bit her lip and looked at the ground. She jumped slightly as there was a loud bang when the lights turned on. Her eyes widened as she saw these ‘Fallen’ creatures begin to fall out of ceiling and run toward them.
“They’re after us, hurry!” Her Ghost cried out and she rushed after him. “There! I found you a rifle, grab it! I hope you know how to use that thing.” She glanced nervously at her Ghost before picking up the weapon.
“I hope so too.” Was all she said before continuing forward down the dark hallway. She jumped slightly when two of the creatures jumped down in front of her. Without a second thought, she quickly brought up the gun and began firing, killing both creatures instantly.
“Looks like you do know how to use it after all.” Ares said cheerfully and she glanced down at the weapon in her hands. Do I? She thought to herself.
“Ana!” She suddenly heard someone cry out in her head and she gasped, bringing her hand up to head as she felt a sharp pain.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?!” Her Ghost asked nervously and hovered in front of her. She stood still for a moment before nodding slowly.
“I think I just remembered my name.” She said as he continued to stare her.
“Well?” He encouraged and she shrugged it off.
“Ana, or at least that’s what I heard.” She mumbled, glanced at her Ghost, then pushed forward, not waiting for his response. Ares sighed and floated after her, hoping they could find some way to get to the tower and soon.
…
Ana had made it outside again after crawling under trip mines, fighting more Fallen, and nearly blowing herself up more than a few times. Well, at least I got more weapons out of it. She thought to herself grudgingly. She managed to find a sniper rifle and a knife while running through the hallways of the wall. She only wished she could lay down and go back to sleep now, her body was exhausted already.
“C’mon, we can do this.” Ares encouraged as they stepped out of the wall and she held her hand up against the wall.
“I’m sorry Ares, my body is just so exhausted.” She said tiredly and the Ghost sighed.
“I know, Guardian, but as soon as we get to the tower you can be looked at and get some rest.” He said and she looked at him with a smile even though he couldn’t see it.
“Please, call me Ana.” She said slowly and he simply nodded once. Ana chuckled when his whole body moved with the motion and he merely stared at her for a moment in confusion before turning back ahead of them.
“Let’s get a move on…Ana.” He said and she nodded, the grin still on her face.
The Divide
Old Russia, Earth
“This was an old Cosmodrome, there has to be something we can fly out here.” Ares said while in thought.
“Well then, let’s find it.” She said shortly and began moving forward.
“Incoming! Fallen ships close to the surface?” He had a tone of confusion and Ana glanced at him. “We have to move!” That was all her Ghost had to say and Ana was running. She let out a shout when one of the ships let out two shots in her direction, quickly knifing a Fallen that jumped out of another one.
“Ugh, fuck!” She cried out when a bullet grazed her arm and she had to quickly duck to avoid a Dreg that tried to attack her with a knife. She quickly shot it, knifed one more, and ran through a doorway as more shots from the ships slammed against the wall. She leaned her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, glancing at her bleeding arm. She saw a light scanning over it and looked over at her Ghost.
“It will be fine until we reach the Tower, but for now I located a jump ship, let’s find it fast.” He said and she nodded slowly, standing up and walking down the empty hallways.
Soon they entered a huge room with a ship sitting in the center. Ana quickly took out the Dregs and the Fallen Captain before they slowly walked up to the old, rusted ship.
“Okay, let me get a look at this thing and see if we can get out of here.” Ana felt uneasy as she watched her Ghost fly up to the ship and begin scanning it. “It’s been here a while, we’re lucky the Fallen haven’t picked it clean.”
“Will it fly?” She asked as she glanced around the room.
“I can make it work.” He said after a moment of silence and she raised an eyebrow.
“You can make it work? I don’t know if I should be worried or relieved.” She said and heard Ares chuckle. The ship began lighting up and she almost wanted to cover her ears when the engines began working.
“Okay it won’t break orbit, but it may be able to take us to the city. Now, about that transmat…” Ares trailed off as they both turned towards the loud bang. Ana cried out when a bullet hit her thigh and she fell to her knees as she watched a giant Fallen crawl out of the sewer, her eyes widening in fear.
“Bringing you in!” Her Ghost cried out and she gasped when she was suddenly inside the ship. She let out heavy breaths as she squeezed her eyes shut, her hand covering the gunshot wound in her thigh. The skin around the wound burned and she bit her lip as she applied more pressure to the wound, tears welling up in her eyes. “We’ll be there soon, Ana, just hang on tight.”
“Fucking hell,” she hissed and removed her hands from the wound so she could remove her helmet. She quickly put her hands back on the wound as her dark brown hair fell down her back. Her pale skin was covered with a thin layer of sweat as she grimaced once more. “Helluva welcome party, wouldn’t you say, Ares?” She looked up at her Ghost with a pain filled grin and he chuckled nervously.
“Just hold on, we’ll be there in minutes.” He said and Ana nodded, going back to staring at her bleeding thigh as silence filled the ship.
“Say, is it okay to call you Ares?” She asked, her eyes remaining glued to her thigh. She had the strangest feeling of discomfort pass through her and, like a whisper of suggestion, her brain seemed to know that, in her previous life, she was never too great with socializing, a trait that seemed to follow her to her new life.
“Yes, it is actually fairly common for a Guardian to be the one to name their Ghost, but may I ask how you came up with the name? I’ve always been curious to know.” He ask and Ana shrugged.
“I’m not sure, honestly, the name just kinda slipped through my lips and it just…I don’t know, it just felt right.” Ana explained and, after a small pause, Ares moved his little body up and down in the air. His way of nodding, she assumed.
When she did look up she could see that they were surrounded by clouds and mountains. Soon, all she saw was a massive white orb that almost looked like the moon. She didn’t know what it was but she didn’t care to question it now, she was in too much pain.
“Now, be careful, they’re going to drop us in.” Ares said and before she could even look at him she materialized out of the ship just as she had materialized in. She gasped as pain radiated through her leg, glaring at the ship as it flew away.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” She heard someone say cheekily and groaned slightly. Great, now I’m gonna have to ask some asshole for help.
“Cayde!” Her Ghost called out abruptly and Ana quickly looked up at the Ghost. “I mean, you are Cayde-6, are you not?” He asked and she turned to see what appeared to be a robot chuckling. She raised an eyebrow at the strange sight, but it quickly turned into a wince as pain shot through her leg again.
“The one and only.” The robot said cheerfully before looking over at the woman once more. His face took on a more serious expression when he saw the state of her arm and leg. “Whoa, we need to get that leg looked at.” He said with concern and rushed over to Ana, putting her arm around his shoulders.
“Meet your new hunter, Cayde-6.” Ares said proudly as they made their way to the infirmary where Ana could get treated.
“Oh? So what’s your name then, Guardian?” Cayde asked and she glared at him, wincing every time she had to put pressure on her leg.
“Ana.” She said shortly before turning her head forward again as Cayde glanced at her Ghost.
“Not much of a talker, is she?” He asked and winked at Ana when she glared at him again.