She awakens from darkness to a voice, a strange mixture of mechanical and human…
"Guardian? Eyes up, Guardian!"
He is her Ghost, her guide.
We're in Fallen territory; we need to get you inside.
The terrain is unfamiliar but the feel of the rifle is not. She examines it and shots the first thing that moves from the rusted innards of the building. Her Ghost is in her ear, giving directions and guidance in this new, strange life.
Hunter. She is a Hunter. She likes the word, rolling it over her tongue; she has forgotten her name but this one will do for now.
"Will it fly?" she asks, staring up at the star craft. It looks old, ancient. It doesn't even look like it will make it off the ground. She is shocked at her voice, so light and airy. Like starlight, she thinks wistfully.
She is pulled into the craft by her Ghost's strange power and they soar into the boundless blue.
The last City on Earth, the only place the Traveler can still protect. The being called the Traveler hovers in the distance, a large sphere in the dimming sky.
This is the Tower, where the Guardians live. Where you can live. Ghost adds this in a softer tone.
She is grateful, hopefully here she can find herself again. Learn who she is, what she is. The Vanguards seem stern but they welcome her all the same, another defender of the City.
She is placed in a small room on one of the lower floors, one of the many apartments open to the Guardians. Sleep well. Her Ghost says cheerfully, appearing in its grey shell to rest beside her as she draws the blanket over her.
She nods and falls asleep.
The days wear on and she becomes attuned to this new way of life. She protects the City, she kills the Fallen, she talks to the Speaker to understand how the world changed so much.
It is one night, as she sits and watches the glow of the City from the plaza that her Ghost asks her if she has thought of a new name.
She shakes her head. "I am Hunter, I have no other name."
Hmmm. Her Ghost sounds pensive. How about…Artemis?"
"Artemis?" The word…name is light, somehow weightless. "What does it mean?" She is still not used to the sound of her own voice, even after months of conversation with other Guardians and her Ghost and is always startled by how it sounds.
It's an old name, one of a goddess of hunting in the Old World. Legends say she glowed with the light of the moon.
She muses over the name, turning it over in her mouth before letting it escape over her lips, soft and airy as starlight. "Artemis."
You like it? Her Ghost seems happy.
She nods, somewhat hesitantly. Ghost hovers over her palm, his light lending a glow to her skin. She thinks it odd, this grey pale color of her flesh.
Awoken. That's what Ghost had called it. A people who had been changed by the cosmos themselves during the Collapse.
She is quiet, tugging absent-mindedly at her scarf. The white fabric is warm against her fingers. Ghost moves to nudge at her shoulder.
Come on, we should get inside before you catch cold.
She shrugs, standing and walks back inside. The halls are a comforting green and she finds her room with ease. The walls are hung with the banners of the Vanguards: Hunter, Warlock, and Titan.
She gets along most easily with the Hunters, like-minded as they are. Warlocks are next, their powers fascinating and new to her. Titans though, she fears them, for some odd reason they trigger a powerful paranoia and tension when she is near them. She cannot explain it.
She curls up on her bed again, Ghost beside her.
"Play me a lullaby please," she requests quietly.
As you wish. The song threads through the air to fill the room. She dreams of stars and planets far beyond and a world free of the taint of the Darkness.
It is several days later, as she rests behind a barricade in the Cosmodrome on Earth that a Walock slides in beside her, hurriedly ramming another ammo pack into their rifle.
"Sorry to drop in!" she, because the voice is clearly female, says, her voice giving away how stressed she is.
"Do you need assistance?" Artemis asks. The Warlock's Ghost materializes running a scan over their owner.
"A bit," the Warlock says, frowning as her Ghost beeps at her. "Damnit, got hit in the leg. I didn't even feel it…"
"You are injured?" Artemis says.
"Yeah, got overwhelmed by Fallen vandals near the Skywatch. Dropship just came out of nowhere…," The Warlock props up her wounded leg, examining it carefully. "Ah, doesn't look too bad." There is a patch of darkening cloth on her slim leg.
Artemis disagrees, "Looks painful."
The Warlock shrugs. "How about you help me get rid of those Fallen and I'll buy you a new scarf, yours is looking a little worse for wear."
"Make it a scarf and a pack of heavy ammo and you've got yourself a deal," Artemis drawls, she thinks she might like this Warlock.
"Deal," the woman chirps, "My name is Phi. Nice to meetcha!"
"Likewise. I'm Artemis."
"Cool, let's show these Fallen that Guardians aren't to be messed with!"
The Fallen are quickly dealt with and Artemis provides an escort back to the Tower. Phi needs medical attention and she wants to get away from the battlefield for a while.
The Tower is bustling, as usual when they arrive. Artemis unhooks her helmet, her Ghost storing the armor. Phi does the same, and Artemis is surprised that she has no hair, her greyish skin gleaming slightly in the light.
Phi is watching her with dark orange eyes. "Huh, cool hair color."
Artemis fingers a strand of the purple-red hair that covers her head, shrugging. "It's okay."
Phi chuckles, then winces, "Maybe I should get my leg checked out now, yeah?"
Artemis hooks one of the Warlock's arms around her shoulders, supporting her. The other woman is light, not very heavy at all. They manage to get to the medical rooms without much trouble and Phi's wound is quickly patched.
"So," Phi asks as they walk slowly to the Tower North, where the Outfitter has her shop, "What's your favorite color?"
"I don't really know," Artemis says, looking away. She likes all colors she supposes. She hasn't really thought about it much.
"Hmm," Phi muses, her Ghost floating lazily around her head.
"What about green?" Artemis's Ghost pipes up, materializing on the Hunter's shoulder. He chirps something mechanical at the other Ghost who squeaks twirling energetically around Phi.
The Warlock's Ghost settles on their owner's head, giving a low cuff of whirring circuits. "See, she agrees with me," Artemis's Ghost says cheerily.
Artemis smiles, Ghost moving to sit in her hands. "But what shade of green?" she asks.
Ghost thinks it over for a moment, a sly tone somehow creeping into his voice when he next speaks. "The shade of your eyes."
Phi laughs, "Your Ghost is such a charmer!"
Artemis pats the metal of her Ghost carefully. "It's…nice having someone care."
Phi nods, catching the suddenly somber tone in her new companion's voice.
"A bright green then?" Phi suggests.
"That sounds good,' Artemis chuckles. Her Ghost laughs as well, his voice sounding more human than mechanical.
"I always have good suggestions," he preens.
"I wouldn't say always," Artemis says, grinning as her guide's blue lights flicker in confusion.
"Wait…what do you mean by that?" he asks, jumping in her palms, moving to circle around her.
"Oh look, there's a sale," she says, running to the shop, Phi in her wake.
"I'm never going to get an answer am I?" Ghost muses, floating after his Hunter.
Artemis meets Nes, nearly a week later, a broad-shouldered man with yellow eyes. He is a Titan and she strangely is not paranoid or afraid of him That may have more to do with gratitude.
She is bunkered down in a corner of the Cosmodrome, the Fallen have her penned in, taking potshots whenever she tries to get up to shoot them.
"Get down!" A shout has her ducking again.
One loud boom shakes the ground and a few rifle shots later, there is silence. "Are you alright?" the voice asks and she peers around her makeshift blockade. A man stands there, and a word rumbles through her mind. Titan.
She nods.
"You okay?" he asks again, tilting his head to look at her.
Her Ghost materializes with a whir, running diagnostics. "All good here," he chirps.
"…T-thank you," she manages, turning her attention to the Titan.
"No problem," he says cheerily, "I always hate it when the buggers corner me."
"They've gotten you too?" She wouldn't think that anyone would be able to corner this man, a Titan.
"Yep," he says, checking over his rifle. He swings it up, glancing across the valley through the scope. "Hmm, looks like another dropship is coming in." The rumble through the air a few seconds later is confirmation of his words.
"By the Stars," he swears, an amazed tone creeping into his voice. "That's a ridiculous amount of Fallen."
"How many?" she asks, pushing back her fear. She starts checking her equipment. She has nearly an entire bag of ammo but she need to know numbers.
The Titan hmm's, still looking through the scope. "'bout fifty or so."
"Types?" she asks, snapping a new clip into her sniper rifle, and prepping her cannon.
"Mostly Vandals, some Dregs, is that an Archon?!" he ducks as a cannon blast shatters the stone above him, dropping down beside her. His back is warm against her arm.
"Mind if I help you take them down?" he says, and she can see yellow eyes through his visor. They are friendly eyes, warm and gleeful.
"I'd appreciate that," she says, offering her hand. He clasps it.
"Cool, I'm Nes by the way."
"Artemis."
Nes peers over the top of the barricade and fires. A shriek of Fallen echoes after. "Twenty points on a headshot!"
Artemis grins, he may be a Titan but he does have a way of making the battlefield less frightening and more fun.
She jumps up and finds the Archon's glowing head with a headshot. The being shudders but doesn't stop. She grits her teeth and keeps shooting.
"He just keeps moving, doesn't he?" Nes remarks as he drops his rifle and grabs a grenade. He tosses it over the barricade and Artemis can feel the ground shudder. "Two hundred point if you can get him to drop."
She laughs. She pops out of cover long enough to take out a few of the Dregs before diving back into cover. "They have much better armor than the others, they're a pain in the ass,' she grumbles.
"So true," Nes agrees. They both jump up and manage to take down a squadron of Vandals when a grenade thunks into the barricade. On their side.
Nes swears vehemently and throws it back just in time. It goes off with a bang and the barricade shivers.
"That was close," she says shakily.
"Aye," Nes says, firing over their cover. "Hate it when they start thinking."
"Yeah," she grabs another grenade, tossing at a mass of Vandals who scream as it goes off. "Stars, I love inferno grenades."
"I prefer flash-bang grenades myself," Nes remarks. "How many are left?"
Artemis risks a glance over, and ducks as laser fire soars over her head.
"About twenty now," she tells him, reaching for her ammo bag. There are about five clips left and she swears.
"What?"
"Almost out of ammo."
"Damnit."
"How much do you have left?" she asks.
"Four clips for my rifle and three for my hand cannon."
"I think we can manage them with what we have left," she tries to be optimistic.
"We'll have to," Nes says grimly. "Is the Archon down?"
"Yeah."
A bestial roar splits the air then, the Fallen suddenly becoming quiet.
"The hell was that?" Nes whispers.
The two Guardians cautiously peer over their barricade. A tall, yellowed beast is charging over the ground to swat at the Fallen.
"A Knight of Crota," Nes murmurs, and through his visor he is ashen. "They're very difficult to kill."
"Do you think that we can take him down?" Artemis asks quietly.
"Maybe,' the Titan muses. "Headshots would be our best bet."
"Together then?"
"Sounds like a plan, just aim and don't die,' he says, checking his rifle. Yellow eyes meet hers, resolute and determined.
"You too," she says, and aims over the barricade. Her first shot hits the Knight in the head, as does the next and the next. The beast stumbles but continues to swipe at the Fallen that turn their fire upon it.
"At least the Fallen are doing some of the job for us," Nes remarks.
"Aye," Artemis grits her teeth and aims again. The Knight is moving slower now and Artemis breathes a soft prayer to any deity that is listening that they will be able to take it down.
It takes another half hour of terse fighting and the last of their ammo but the Fallen are gone and so is the Knight.
"Is it over?" Nes asks, leaning against the rusted wall of their hideout.
"Yeah," Artemis says.
"Fantastic," he mutters. Another moment later, "Ghost, summon the ship." He stands slowly, stowing his empty ammo pouch. "Give me your hand."
Artemis allows herself to be hauled upright, giving the same order for pickup to her Ghost.
They receive confirmation in minutes. "Let's get out of here," they say in unison and are swept away into their ships as a dropship enters the area, depositing more Fallen soldiers.
"That was close," Nes sighs over the comm channel on their way back to the Tower.
"Too close for my liking," Artemis replies.
"Yeah. You fought really well."
"Thanks, you too," she says, smiling despite her weariness. Their Ghosts drop them at the Tower apartments and Artemis staggers to her room. She waves to Nes who has further to walk and he smiles.
"We should do that again," he jokes.
"Not too soon I should hope," she says, a wry smile on her lips.
"Agreed. Well, goodnight, my friend," he says, turning and meandering down the hall.
"Goodnight," she calls after him and steps into her own room. She collapses onto the bed with a groan. She falls asleep within minutes.