The little ghost flew through the ruins of Old Las Angeles, scanning for any signs of even a shred of Light. It finally stumbled across the remains of what appeared to be an old exotic dance club, judging by the faded and scratched sign that read "TO_LES_ DANCER_".
'Quite an odd place to find a Guardian,' the ghost thought to itself as it began to scan for signs of Light. The search led it to the middle of the building, where a large metal pole jutted from the middle of a catwalk-like stage. The pole was rusted and bent down the middle, and underneath that pole lay a body that seemed almost perfectly preserved.
'Could it be?' The ghost began to inspect the body. It was a human female, clad in nothing more than a studded bra and thong.
"Here goes..." the ghost said, pouring its Light into the woman. It was silent for a moment, then the woman stirred slightly, as though being roused from sleep. She opened her eyes with a sudden gasp and pushed the pole off herself with seemingly inhuman strength. Brushing purple tresses from her blue eyes, she looked around wildly until she spotted the ghost floating nearby.
"What the fuck?" she exclaimed, inching back from the little machine.
"Calm down, please! I'm here to help, so don't panic!" the ghost said, trying to calm her down.
"What the hell happened? What's going on? What are you?" the woman asked in a panicked voice.
"Well, you've been dead for a long time, and I revived you," the ghost explained. "As for me, I'm a ghost, sent by the Traveler to find Guardians to protect the City..." It trailed off, realizing the woman was still scantily clad.
"Woops, I should probably make some armor for you. You can't fight dressed like that!" it said. The woman flinched nervously as it floated near, but in a flash of light found herself suddenly covered head to toe in armor. "There, that should do for now."
"I'm a... Guardian?" the woman asked in disbelief, "What does that even mean?"
"Exactly how it sounds. You have the power to protect humanity from the Darkness," the ghost explained.
"But how do you know? How do you know I'm some special Guardian with powers or whatever?" she asked.
"You wouldn't be alive right now if you weren't," the ghost said, a smile in its voice. The woman stood up, testing her legs. They were a bit stiff, but she could still walk. She wandered the decimated building, her ghost following closely behind her, scanning things here and there. The woman kicked something with her boot, then bent to pick it up. It was a nametag. The letters were extremely faded, but she could just make out "Seren".
"Is that a name?" she asked, partially to herself and partially to the ghost.
"I suppose it could be. Do you remember yours at all?" the ghost responded.
"No," the woman said, shaking her head.
"Well then, perhaps you could go by Seren?" the ghost suggested.
"I think so," she said, "I like it." They left the building, wandering out into the city.
"We should definitely try to find you a jumpship. We'll never get you to the City without one," the ghost said.
"You keep saying the City. What do you mean?" Seren asked.
"The last safe city on Earth, where all the refugees gathered after the Collapse. It's the only place the Traveler can still protect."
"Mmm," Seren hummed thoughtfully, "Let's find me a jumpship then." Howling and snarling suddenly filled the air a little ways into the distance, causing both the woman and the ghost to jump.
"Ohhh no... " the ghost said worriedly.
"What? What's wrong?" Seren asked, feeling the panic begin to rise again.
"We should hurry! This place might turn into a battle ground pretty soon!" the ghost exclaimed, looking around for cover. It darted away, Seren close behind. The sound of shooting could be heard all around, echoing violently off the surrounding buildings. They dove into a broken down building for shelter just in time for several dozen creatures to begin pouring from the buildings.
"Great, we're caught between a turf war," the ghost said caustically.
"What the hell are they?!" Seren exclaimed.
"The four-armed ones are Fallen, the undead-looking ones are Hive, both are enemies of the Light," the ghost explained quickly as it looked around. "We need to get you a weapon if we want to get out of here alive."
Suddenly more gunshots could be heard, these ones different from those of the monsters outside. They looked to see two armor-clad figures flying through on their Sparrows, shooting the creatures down as they drove through the horde.
"More Guardians!" the ghost said with relief.
They both stopped near the building Seren and her ghost hid in and went off in different directions. One entered the building, rooting around the shelves for loot. Seren shifted her weight, causing a crate to tip over. The figure stopped and approached the sound, gun at the ready. He leaned over the counter Seren hid behind and spotted her.
"Shit, you had me ready to piss myself," the man said with a laugh.
"Sorry 'bout that," Seren said as she stood up.
"'S all good," the man said, looking her over. "You don't even have a weapon! How the hell have you survived this long?"
"I'm a little new," Seren said.
"Hang on, my buddy's probably got something you can use," he said, walking back to the entrance of the building, shouting "Hey! I found something you might wanna see!" The other Guardian poked his head out from a hole and climbed out, rushing over to see what the other had found.
"What's up," he asked, then spotted Seren. "Oh!"
"Found her hiding behind a counter. She scared me half to death," the first man said. The other laughed, then turned to Seren.
"Another Titan, huh? Same as us!" he said.
"Uhh huh..." Seren said uncertainly, not sure she knew what he was talking about.
"Ah don't worry, you'll learn in time," the first one said, "Stick with us, and you'll be just fine."
"Think you boys could help me get a jumpship?" Seren asked coyly.
The other one summoned his Ghost, which materialized a scout rifle for him. Handing it to Seren, he said, "Here, you're gonna need this. There's a hangar on the other side of the city, but if we wanna get to it, we're gonna have to go through them." He nodded toward the creatures fighting violently outside. Seren took the rifle, testing the weight before standing up and loading it.
"You ready?" the first man asked?
"Let's do this," Seren said with a confident nod.
The three charged out together, opening fire on every hostile entity visible as they moved forward. Immediately the two men took formation around Seren, the first in front with his auto rifle, the second behind her to back her up with his scout rifle. The one in front threw a flashbang grenade, blinding the Fallen and Hive it landed near. The monsters were quickly dispatched by the more experienced Titans, while Seren made an attempt to shoot one and missed terribly, thrown off by the unexpected recoil. She quickly got the hang of it, shooting a dreg in the knee and shoulder before blowing its head off.
Screaming filled the air as several thrall charged their way out of a hole in a wall. Seren nearly stopped moving, terrified by the horrible creatures. The Titan behind her placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, urging her forward. The one in front through up a hand signal before rushing the screaming mob and slamming his fists to the ground, sending a shock wave that threw the creatures and several other beings into the air before landing around him with sickening thuds and crunches.
The enemies were beginning to thin now, but there were still some emerging from hiding. When they had a clear shot to the deserted road past the buildings, they took it, the two men summoning their Sparrows. The one in back pulled Seren onto his as they sped away. A dreg jumped into their path, a knife in hand as it attempted to stab the driver, but was clipped by the edge of the vehicle and dragged a few feet. Seren noticed when it attempted to tear at her leg and punched it squarely in the face.
"Back off, bitch!" she yelled as the dreg fell off the Sparrow with a squeal. After that, they were in the clear and heading for the outskirts of the city. When they arrived at the hangar, Seren was disappointed to see that most of the ships weren't all in one piece. Her ghost went out to have a look, flitting between ships and scanning bits and pieces here and there. Finally it floated back over to Seren and led her to a ship that looked a bit rundown but otherwise intact.
"It won't get us into orbit, but it should be able to get us to the City," it said.
"You should be able to get it fixed up once you get there," the first Titan chimed in. "Just look for Holliday, she'll fix you up."
"Okay, thanks," Seren said, "And thank you both for getting me here."
"Hey, it was no problem," the second Titan said. "We'll meet you back at the Tower."
"Wait, don't you want your gun back?" Seren asked, offering it back to the man.
"Nah, keep it. I was just gonna dismantle it anyway. Better for you to have it and put it to some good use till you find a better one," the man said. The two saluted Seren before stepping outside and calling in their ships and flying away. Seren followed suit shortly after, guided by her ghost.
o0o0o
Several months passed, the three Titans becoming close friends and forming their own fireteam together. They taught Seren all the ins and outs of her newfound powers, and she quickly took a liking to her Striker abilities. Things were going fine until one day, when the two men decided they wanted to invade the Black Garden and strike the Vex at their heart. Seren felt as though they weren't ready, as she had never even been past the moon yet. The other two disagreed and finally decided to go off without her. Seren didn't hear from them again until several weeks later while returning to her room, in the form of a garbled distress call that quickly cut off.
Hopefully people are enjoying this! I originally posted it in the Bungie forums but I really wanted a place where it could be viewed as a whole. I've got more coming about my other Guardians, so sit tight!