I DO NOT OWN HALO (I wish I did) BUT I DO OWN ALL OCs.

Nerass had never felt so much pain that wasn't her own.

Throwing her head back with a roar, she dropped to her knees, grabbing her chest. The battle was blurry as the back of her neck burned like fire, the Zelot unable to breath. Someone yelled, a human. The words were faint, as far away as her home planet. The world around her constantly spun as Nerass stumbled to her feet, grabbing a rock. Her mind began to whir and she pulled her hand away from her chest to see if she was actually bleeding.

But there was no blood. This puzzled the Sangheili warrior for a few moments until the hard slap of reality hit her in the face.

Literally.

"Hey, hey! Snap outta it, chik-a-dee!" Nerass shook her head and yanked her helmet off, throwing it down and pushing a hand away. The clay-colored Kig-Yar smirked at her, patting her shoulder. Nerass had been in a training simulator helmet which graciously attached to cords on the room in the large 18 by 18 meter .
"...did I pass?"
"Weeelllllllll-" the shield-bearer laughed at Nerass' antagonizing face before nodding. "Yes, you passed. You survived 3 days, 14 hours, and 15 minutes of non-stop battle. I'd give it a fair 90-ish percent pass grade~"

"yyyYYEESSSS!" she jumped into the air, pumping her fists. The Kig-Yar smirked and watched.

"I have to say though, after your third try it did give you lower points. But you learn fast and thank-the-oracle you didn't have to do this again."

"Yes, thank the ORACLE!" she cheered before smiling at the old man and bowing, "Thank you, Jui'nemar, for being my teacher these last ten years. It has been an honor."
"The honor is all mine, Nerass," the old Kig-Yar bowed, smiling before pulling out a tiny dumbbell-looking object. He extended it and it flashed out a long pale...

"...Energy sword? ...Is that from?"

"Yes, it's from the time of the Floods. You are my last apprentice, and what the flood will I need this for?" he laughed, recoiling it and holding out the handle, "Take it, it will serve you well in your journey for galactic peace."

Nerass blinked slowly, her four jaws twitching before she knelt and took it, "Thank you..." The older species dipped his head before waving his arms, "Now go, get going! You need sleep before you have to go in for a the physical tomorrow!"
"OH!" the Sangheili jumped to her feet, bowing again before racing for the door. Meanwhile, Jui'nemar only shook his head and chuckled.

"Kids these days..."

:::

Nerass' hand was cramping as she signed hopefully the last document she'd ever have to in her life and handed it to the recruiter. The other Sangheili studied it before waving her forward and she was directed down a cream-colored halway.
"Go to 24," the recruiter grunted, causing her to glance back but continue to down. The blue door numbered 24 was not too hard to find; upon opening it she stepped into a room like they would have during polling time. A Unggoy sat on the other side of a little wood table, holding a helmet and clipboard.
"G'day ma'am. Have a seat and we'll getcha started."
"...what is this?" she asked timidly, sitting.
"Oh, we're just running some tests so we know the best place to put you in PC," the species popped the helmet on her head and backed away. "You'll hear a few sounds but sit tight and don't talk."
"I-"
"Don't talk."
"But-"
"Ma'am."

Sighing, Naress looked straight forward and went through the hell of hearing noises from wind-chimes to a babies' cry. A whirring noise was heard across the room, causing a tiny hole in the cream-colored walls to become exposed and slowly begin to feed a long piece of paper from. The Unggoy didn't look surprised, grabbing the paper and yanking it from the wall, studying it as if it was ancient manuscripts.

"You may speak now."
"Thank you. May I ask what the in Halos just happened?"

"Well miss...Naress, what we do is we runs test to check your temperament, stress points, calm areas, limits, and reactions. Sound is the most influencing effect on all Peace Corers. We use it to help pair you with a partner."
"...Partner?"
"Did you not read the manual?"
"I did and I saw partners but I thought they were optional?"
The Unggoy smiled, shaking his head, "If you read any manual before XXI, they all say optional."

Naress blinked, sighing and slid down the seat. She didn't enjoy partners, being use to either singularity or interacting with very large groups. Shaking her head, she stood up.
"Where do I go from here, sir?"
"Take this-" the 'data man' handing her a piece of paper, "-and hand it to the Arms down the hall, opposite the way you came. You'll then stand in line to get a mini-physical, and if your accepted, be given your gear and sent to a dorm."
"...Wow, doesn't sound like it takes long..."
"Not at all. We've upgraded staff so we don't possibly loose any acceptance forms and shut down recruitment right at the door."
"How do I know if I'll be recruited and not be shut?"
"Well you did get past the door."
"Oh, you meant the FRONT door," Naress laughed, taking the paper as Unggoy nodded, smirking.
"There's a lot of doors here, don't lose your way."

:::

It was once believed Sangheili could not smile for the fact that they have four jaws or that they are just too ugly. But, if you looked down the beach-sand colored halls of the Peace Corps Dormitories, one silver-colored Sangheili would blow every piece of that evidence through the roof. That's right, Naress was almost smiling ear to ear as she carried her bag of belongings and new uniforms down the dorm hallways, holding her introduction forms in her free hand.

Glancing down to look at the room-number assigned to, she accidentally stepped right into someone... Someone awkwardly large. Glancing up, her bottoms jaws slightly dropped. A rusty-colored Mgalekgolo stood in front of her, it's snake-like pieces of body rippling in the place she bumped. It didn't look too amused but also not mad either. His uniform bore a 'Private'-grade badge, different from her silver "Recruit"-grade badge.

"Sorry Sir...Ma'am...um...," Nerass rubbed her neck awkwardly, forgetting how to decipher the species already. Surprisingly, the Mgalekgolo grinned.
"I go by sir but don't bother calling me it, the higher-ups get flustered here. Ya' new?"
"By a few minutes..." she laughed nervously, taking a few steps in place. The Mgalekgolo nodded before stepping out of the way, causing some unrest in three Unggoy walking by.

"Well then continue on and have a good day, squirt."

"Squirt?" Naress asked aloud but continued forward, throwing a confused glace backward, but it was not answered. She shook her head again, looking up to find her door across the way. Jogging forward, she lifted her key and swiped it over the reader. The tiny red light flipped to green and she grabbed the handle, shoving the door wide open.

The room was a light white-ish blue, opening right up living room with attached open kitchen. Two doors were next to each other to the left of her, and a small coat-rack to the right. The living room consisted of two large sofas, a rather beaten-looked coffee table, and a projector wall. The kitchen of at least a dozen cabinets and some human appliances she did not recognize, but at least there was a juice-maker. There was one window facing out upon the grounds.

Naress awkwardly stepped inside, shutting the door and setting down her bag. It smelt strange but she could tell two male Sangheili lived her before her, especially by the worn-down door-jam. Male Sangheili would almost always get the itches on their backs daily, and leaving it unattended could drive one crazy. Females were a bit more lucky, at least. She ambled slowly forward, opening both the doors. They were identical rooms but arranged so the wall was almost like a mirror. There was a doorway between the rooms covered with a curtain. Absentmindedly she ambled into the room on the right, but only took two steps in before someone was heard at the door.

Popping her head back out the the bedroom, she watched the door as the handle wiggled. A curse was heard along with fumbling, then scrapping noise. The door let out a disgruntled noise and "c'mon!" mufflely seeped through before the door dinged. In tumbled two bags, three uniforms, and a short disgruntled sentential being. Obsidian hair topped a dark caramel complexion, a strange black squeaky 'jacket' was covering it's upper body, loose maize-colored cloth covered the bottom. Slowly, the creature raised it's head to expose large creamy chocolate eyes, a short-pointy snout and a small mouth.

It was a human.

Thank you everyone for reading my first Chapter of Halo NG : Don't Loose Your Way. I hope you'll all tune in for the next chapter, please R&R!