This idea was birthed after learning that the Librarian and Ur-Didact were married and I started to wonder, "What would happen if they had a child before they fired the Halo Arrays." Basically this story follows the last Forerunner who gets into rather interesting situations. This will also have multiple crossovers in one universe but certain events never happened to keep things realistic.

"Normal Speaking."

'Thoughts.'

"Huragok speaking."

Disclaimers: All rights goes to their original owners. I take no credit for any copyrighted characters/events/places that may appear in this story.

Chapter One: The Great Journey

It was a dark time for the race of the Forerunners as the Flood were growing ever larger and closer to bringing their end by the second. Warrior-Serverts rushed around, followed by Sentinels and robotic Prometheans, a recent yet valuable addition in their ranks to combat the Flood. It was a time of death and despair for the once great race as extinction came ever closer.

This was not the same for two hooded that avoided anyone that came close to them, one easily the size of a child while the other was most likely a woman.

They skillfully avoided any Warrior-Serverts along with any other Forerunners that came their way and made their way to a hidden place. Ducking into an alleyway, the woman step close to a particular section and trace an outline of the symbol of their race, making it glow and the wall disappeared revealing a hidden passageway.

The woman took ahold of the child's hand. "Come my son, we must hurry."

"But what about father?" The mother stopped for a second and uttered, "He is not the man I loved anymore, just a monster of his former self. Now let's go, we don't have much time until our disappearance is noticed."

The duo hurried down the passage and eventually came to hidden hangerbay where a small ship was docked... Well small to the Forerunners, to other species it was the size of a medium size island. It was armed with the most advance weaponry and defences of the Foreunners and would be a deadly foe to meet in combat if it had ever been sent to the battlefield. Unfortunately with the plan to fire the Halo Array already under way, the race was just buying time for them to activate.

When the duo got closer, the doors opened as several Prometheans Knights stepped out but unlike the others outside, they glowed a sky blue.

The woman looked at them as she held her child closer. "You have your orders, keep my son safe from any danger at all costs." The mechanical Prometheans nodded there heads to show that they understood her and the woman kneed down to her son, pulling back her hood to reveal herself as the Librarian.

"You will go with them, my son, and I want you to do what I have always taught you." She pulled back the hood of her son, showing him to be about the age of six with blue eyes and black sclera much like his mother, brown hair, and pale skin.

The boy held his mother's hand with own. "Your not leaving with me mother?" The Librarian shook her head. "I'm afraid not, I still have much work left unfinished if the Reclaimers are to inherit the Mantle but you will survive unlike the rest of us." Tears gather in the boy's eyes as he hugged his mother as she returned it.

"I know that in my heart, wherever you may go you shall leave a great legacy Ultimus." She whispered as she did the hardest thing in her life, letting her son go.

Pushing him toward the Prometheans, they took him aboard the ship and began to lift off. As it did, Ultimas appeared by a window and put a hand to the glass, getting one last look at his mother as he knew they would never meet again. The Librarian waved her son goodbye when the ship began to fade from sight, meaning that the cloaking was activating.

Soon it disappeared from view as it flew off into the night and the Librarian felt a single tear run down her cheek. Finally she steeled herself and turned around, ready to assume her duties once more.

'Humanity may inherit the Mantle but Ultimus will carry out the Forerunner's legacy, wherever he may go.'

Four Years Later In Slipspace

The ship, now named "The Wanderer" by Ultimus had been wandering in Slipspace for four years now if the calendar was correct. After reaching space and making the Slipspace jump four years ago, the ship had been simply wandering. The large ship housed many Prometheans loyal to solely Ultimus along with Huragoks and Sentinels that maintain the ship and help protect the ship. Food and water wasn't an issue as the Huragoks rarely ate or drank and when they did, it was in small amounts.

The Prometheans were onboard to further ensure the safety of Ultimus as they were reprogrammed during their transformation to protect him at all cost. Knights walked the halls as Crawlers remained hidden in the walls where they could easily ambush a threat.

Of course four years in Slipspace with no one to talk to but the and Huragoks gets boring quickly so Ultimus had to find ways to keep himself busy.

Training Room

Ultimus, wearing a level 16 combat skin, circle his current opponent , a level 17 combat skin with the ability to control itself if needed, and both were wielding a weaker version of a blade arm. Nowhere near strong enough to cut through anything but powerful enough to leave some nasty bruises if made contact with skin. At the side, a Knight Commander watch, keeping an eye on every move.

Suddenly the combat skin jumped toward Ultimus, slashing downwards but he avoided this rolling to the side and aimed a strike at its legs. However the combat skin managed to jump away in time and tried to hit his shoulder and Ultimus blocked it's attack. The two struggled in a lock for a bit before the Forerunner lifted a leg and kicked the combat skin in the chest, sending it onto it's back. Caught offguard, the combat skin didn't have enough time to block when Ultimus hit it's faceplate with enough force to dent it, leaving him the winner.

The Knight Commander stepped forward and spoke to him, voice deep and powerful. "Impressive job Ultimus, you have certainly improved since we began." The head fold away to show Ultimus' face and despite the four years of wandering, time had barely touched him mostly due to his extremely long lifespan. The only noticable change was him being slightly taller than before.

"Thank you Commander, however I'm nowhere near skill enough to face a Promethean." Ultimus spoke as the Sentinels took the downed combat skin away to be repaired.

"Maybe but you won't have to worry about fighting them as we are programmed to protect you, not to harm you." The boy sighed, turning off his arm blade. "Still these combat skins don't present much of a challenge anymore."

Four years of nothing but constant training and learning had made Ultimus a deadly fighter, not to mention the thousands of Prometheans and Sentinel that will defend him til they were destroyed. While he still had much to learn, the Forerunner wasn't a foe to underestimate.

An AI appeared from the ceiling showing a blue human female wearing a combat skin. "Well I have another opponent for you to face and it's called schoolwork. I believe its my turn to take over Eternal Guardian."

The Commander nodded its head. "Yes Endless Knowledge." Ultimus went to the study hall for his daily lessons as the Knight Commander went to the bridge.

Study Hall

"Now Ultimus how do we end our classes?" Endless Knowledge asked when he stood up. "Knowledge is endless so long as one is willing to learn." The AI smiled before disappearing as Ultimus went out.

Life on the Wanderer had become a dull routine with training and learning taking up most of his daily life. He already explored all parts of the ship and used all the weapons it had to offer so it was becoming more and more difficult to find something interesting to do.

'I wish that at least something different would happen.' A tremor shook the ship, knocking him to his butt. 'Huh? Ask and you shall receive... That was a good one. I need to write that down when I get the chance.' He ran to the bridge, knowing that he would get some answers there.

Bridge

"Eternal Guardian what was that tremor?" Ultimus asked as he approached the Knight Commander and then he noticed several blinking lights that he only saw in holograms until now. "Are those... stars? Are we-"

"Out of Slipspace? Yes we are and I'm awaiting an explanation from the Huragoks." As if on cue, one of the biological supercomputers floated toward them. "Well?"

The Huragok spoke, voice somehow both artificial and living. "It appears that tremor was us breaking down a wall in Slipspace and it was strong enough to damage our engine so we needed to exit it to make repairs."

Ultimus held up a hand, getting both of their attention. "Hang on. What do you mean a 'wall in Slipspace'?"

"I'm not too sure myself but if I had to guess, we travel so far into Slipspace that we brenched into another dimension. Probably completely different from ours."

The Forerunner stumbled back into a chair in surprise, eyes wide in disbelief. "Impossible." Endless Knowledge appeared in the bridge, gazing outside the window in interest. "No just highly unlikely. My records do indication that your people once tried to reach other dimensions but had to stop their progress when the Flood threat grew worse." The AI clapped her hands in joy, eager to learn new things. "This is amazing though, a whole another universe to see."

Eternal Guardian gazed outside with a dangerous look as if threatening this universe if should they attack. "Amazing to you but a security threat to Ultimus. Who knows what kind of dangers are in this universe." Eternal Guaridan looked back at the Huragok. "How soon can you repair the Slipspace engine?"

"Within the hour. The damage wasn't that great."

The Knight Commander nodded its head. "Good. Once it is repair, jump to Slipspace again so we can leave this dimension."

"Wait a minute," Ultimus got up and went up to Eternal Guardian. "Why do you want to jump again? This is a once in a lifetime chance for even a Forerunner!"

Eternal Guardian turned to the young Forerunner and looked down at him. "That may be but this dimension could hold threats to your safety and we must leave as soon as possible."

"Eternal, you know I trust your judgement above all else and you have done nothing but protect me for these past four years but tell me," He point to the black emptiness of space outside the window. "do you honestly think that anything out there can match the threat of the Flood. Or even stand up against all the Prometheans on this ship, not to mention the Sentinels and the weapons and defenses the ship has itself."

"...No" The Commander answered. "But that does not change the fact that you WILL be in danger by unknown threats." Ultimus sighed, putting a hand to his face. "That is true but we've traveled in Slipspace for so long that I have already learnt everything on this ship and Endless Knowledge's lessons are beginning to grow stale, no offense."

"None taken." The AI replied. "But he does have a point Eternal Guardian. Forerunners have a need to learn instead of a want and if we return to Slipspace, he could be hurt in the long run if he isn't expose to new experiences."

The Knight Commander pondered this for a minute then let out a robotic sigh. "Very well we will stay in this dimension." He got a shout of joy from the young Forerunner. "But I will be taking more steps to ensure your safety here." The Huragok then spoke up once more.

"I also have something to report. The long-range scanners have located a planet nearby perfect for life." Ultimus smiled and sat in the captain's chair. "Perfect! Now ahead full! We have a planet to see!"

Later

"Whoa, it's so... green." Ultimus stared at his surroundings in awe which was a large forest clearing perfect for a small ship to land in. Animals darted in and out of the trees as the bright blue sun shone down overhead. The young Forerunner was wearing simple clothes, a white shirt and pants and barefoot, but behind him was several Knight Lancers with Eternal Guardian in the lead. Several Sentinels flew into the forest to scan for anything of interest and could be used.

The Commander watched the shadows, searching for any possible threats to the last Forerunner's safety. "Perfect for a camouflage enemy to hide in." The Lancers behind him activated their Promethean Vision as a precaution.

Ultimus waved off his concerns, holding out a hand for a small four winged yellow avian to land on. "And perfect to live on. Do you think that there are sentient life here?" The forerunner ran his hand down the avian's wings, something that it seem to enjoy.

A Combat Skin then walked out of the small ship, female looking in design, and from it, Endless Knowledge's voice spoke. "Unfortunately no, I scanned the planet for any form of long or short communications and found nothing. I also sent some Sentinels to other places on the planet to search for civilization and so far they have only encounter wildlife."

Ultimus was disappointed at this, the chance of encountering other sentients from another universe was something that even a Forerunner hasn't done yet but he quickly perked up. This was simply just a single planet in one whole universe so they had to encounter sentient life somewhere.

And like any other young Forerunner, the need to learn was great and now there is a whole new universe to learn about.

And I guess I'll leave it at that. I will say this now, the Prometheans and Sentinels won't be overpowered in this universe and they will face enemies that will give them a run for their money. Also the group won't be going to Earth for quite a while but they will be meeting certain races before then.

Until next time, Ciao!