It starts as one whisper.
The first will that was taken by the Hivebane.
They never scream. They gave their will. They are still Taken but they are not scared.
The whispers will grow but, still, they will be faint.
One hundred does not mean anything in a throne world for trillions.
[ I am the killer of Oryx, usurper of his Throne ]
Sometimes, the whispers sing.
They sing to the new wills that join them and to the ones that leave them and to all the victories that are theirs.
But they never scream.
Sometimes, the whispers are angry but they never scream.
They violently whisper their scorn and their hate and their envy and their wrath.
They lash out and they claw and they bite and they scratch and they kill.
And take.
They never scream.
[ I am the Taker of Wills and I bow to no one ]
They've grown into trillions of trillions of wills.
Wills taken because of want.
Because of vengeance.
Because of weakness.
So many whispers, so many souls.
Yet the throne world had a ways to be full as no longer do the worm gods control from behind the Throne.
Only the wills and their monarch.
[ I have been saved by the Traveler and the Traveler has been saved by me ]
"Creator."
"Hivebane."
"Have we always followed Sword-Logic?"
"In its own theory. The Universe is always so violent."
"Will the next one be so then?"
"It will. Perhaps not as drastic as this one. We can only watch... Are your souls ready?"
"Ah, yes, they are. They are rather... eager."
"You have chosen which you wish to Ascend?"
"Yes, Creator. None are of Fundament save for the ones I will keep for my army."
"You seem hesitant. You have not been for a while."
"I've only a request that pauses me...before your people Ascend the Universe. If I so may indulge?"
"Of course."
"I know that I am unable to live alongside the Universe when it's Ascended but... perhaps a familiar of my home to watch over-"
"I only expand the Universe, it is never reborn but I will try to reassert what was lost."
"...will we see each other again?"
"If we were to seek each other out or happen upon, yes. The Universe is vast. Will be moreso than ever after its Ascension."
"Oh. Alright. Thank you, then, for everything."
"Thank you for saving me. Are you ready?"
"Ready, Traveler."
[ I remember the first words the Traveler spoke. And they are what guides me. ]
The most common of questions I am asked is, ' How old am I? '
Initially, I did not know what the question meant. I exist outside of time and many formations of its numbers. However, that is a later subject.
Now, I know I am older than the Universe but the numbers may vary.
Many have told me that what has been discovered through what is thought to be the most basic of particles and older than all civilizations - that the Universe is fourteen billion years old.
I am older than the Universe.
The formation of the Universe has been described through a theory called ' the Big Bang ' where the most basic of particles exploded into existence. No one can make something out of the nothing unless there was something there that the people cannot absolutely fathom.
Let me digress - many believe in something called ' God ', others believe in multiple Gods and Goddesses and believe that one of these greaters created the Universe. Apparently, some believe it is me or that I am the infinitesimal omnipotent being once only seen through elaborate signs and signals and old scriptures.
I remind the many of this: the Universe is always expanding, has always been since its birth. The center of the Universe is almost impossible to find as is the edges of the Universe. To be able to map the Universe is improbable, impossible, the current minds cannot even dream or comprehend the size of the Universe, simply know that it is infinitely huge and permanently expanding because of this.
Where does it get this room to expand, to grow? How did it have room to form in the first place? Look to the discovery of Matter, Dark Matter, and Antimatter.
Matter is that which is tangible and logical and malleable and what is.
Dark Matter is that which is both tangible and not, unseeable and seeable, unethical and illogical and what isn't and what won't. Many identify this as the Void.
Antimatter is that which was never to be, what can never be, and what will never be known nor truly seen. It is both Matter and Dark Matter, it is also neither and everything and nothing. It is the forgotten and the lost and malleable and nonmalleable. It is theory and fact.
Matter is greater than Dark Matter when left in their natural states and that is where we are. That is how the Universe exists and expands but that is not how it is made.
As I've mentioned before, many believe in ' God ' or many of them. Others believe that this omnipotent one has always been and will be there even in the end. But remember the size of the Universe;
Those who have ventured beyond, remember the beauties you have seen - the infinite stars of the galaxy and the planets that were discovered in the past and being discovered now. Remember the unnatural beauties of colors and seeing impossible formations and hearing the unknown and studying the complexities of the few elements discovered. The beauty of the Light which I have showed and to some, I have gifted. Remember the vastness of the Universe, how it is unmappable and unforseeable and it will never stop growing.
Despite the omnipotentness and the great power of a ' God ', to create something infinite and everything so unique from the person to the particle and to allow Matter and Dark Matter to swallow each other for the sake of development and growth and for such a thing as Antimatter to exist and allow perfections and imperfections in the vastness of a realm when considered wholly perfect and infinitely patient - how could that have been one being?
You are allowed to believe that the minds have infinite imaginations ( and they are to the comprehensible extent of the species ) but why would they so let themselves be limited that it takes one being to create an infinite realm and the Dark Matter and the elements and the Matter it would need to grow?
And to those who believe this ' Big Bang ' is the solution to the formation, I would not say that the Big Bang is wrong, it's just how one perceives it and interpreted its coming about - this has been discovered through old particles. The oldest found in the immediate area. You live on a small planet in the middle of a small system in a young galaxy of a young sector of a very new nd very small quadrant in the vastness of the very large and ever expanding Universe. Many have seen beyond the galaxy, seen into other galaxies, but are stuck on the firm belief in the age of the Universe.
Consider this smallness. Consider the found elements. Consider the size of the Universe. Consider the ' Big Bang '. Surely the elements found coud not have been the foundation of the entire universe but more of the galaxy? This small table of elements... it's not even a billionth of the elements residing in this vast space.
Also consider the fundamental laws of physics, ones so many cling to so very surely- are they consistent laws of the entire Universe? Perhaps ( and it is true ) the laws so cherished and highly spoken of, perhaps they are only relevant to the quadrant.
You say so many things so surely as though they were fact that it's often forgotten and belatedly fathomed the size of this realm. The Universe is never consistent, if one were to be consistent, they would be nothing.
There is no number high enough to describe the age of the Universe and so, it is not such low number as fourteen billion years old.
Ah, but I see that I have left you wondering about one last thing then.
' How was the Universe made? '
Antimatter is that which Matter will never be and could never be. They do not agree and the results are... explosive.
But now... I hear you asking, ' Where did the Matter come from? You can't create something out of nothing. '
Remember,
I am older than the Universe.
[ These words I live by as I wander the infinitesimal vastness of this newly expanded Universe ]
A steely gaze that looked over the inner workings of the galaxy. Just the galaxy. It used to be home but now it was their ward, something to protect from other galaxies with malicious intentions.
Though that wasn't necessary when the malicious intentions were inside the galaxy itself.
No matter how hard they tried, it always ended with violence.
It started off with the Ascended unpeople. Beautiful people with skin the color of melancholy and eyes made out of stars. They developed fast and they developed far, even going as far as exploring other galaxies for a length, seeding them with their own forms of life ( admittedly, there's a bout of fear when they begin picking at the fabrics of the Universe, they didn't go far ). When the unpeople returned, the Hivebane awaited them, a gift in hand:
' Here in my hands, I bear the souls of the ones who came before.
I had lived among them just as you have in a past life.
You see yourselves as wise and fair and just
and you are capable of giving life and of living the many kinds
so I present to you these souls, to start life anew in your native home. '
And the unpeople asked:
' Who are you to give us such gifts?
To possess the pure souls and to order us around as though we were new babes? '
And the Hivebane answered:
' I am the Hivebane, Ascender of the Universe, Light of the Traveler.
I am older than the Universe and I am more powerful than all you could hope to bear.
I do not order you as children but merely give you what belongs here, just as you do.
The souls that I possess were once my comrades and I pass them to you
so that the seeds you sow may one day be as fruitful as they were in the times long gone. '
And the Hivebane gave them their gifts and left, leaving behind many questions. The Hivebane watched as the unpeople separated the souls into two parts and buried one part into the familiar soil of the Hivebane's home and then another part deep in the galaxy of a planet explored a long time ago.
They watched as the half-soul deep into the galaxy grew and grew into strong warriors, worshiping the unpeople and doing their best to please them. But the Hivebane was unhappy with their development for deep in their soul-pieces, they saw the edges wither and begin to crumple.
The unpeople failed to see this and presented unto the soul-pieces the second gift the Hivebane had given. A Mantle of unbelievable power to which there were secrets greater than that of the unpeople. To be gifted and to control the Mantle was to control the galaxy and gain knowledge of the previous evolution of the Universe - a vast immeasurable amount of information.
The soul-pieces were violent, they fought amongst themselves, consulted false deities and looked down upon those that were lesser than themselves. Vain and corrupt, the Mantle was revoked from them before it was ever given to them. They had been hinted to the giving of the Mantle and upon learning that the Mantle would instead be given to the soul-halves, the other part of them, they grew angry and jealous and they retaliated with spear and bullet against the unpeople, who were driven to near extinction by turning into dust. By unrightfully inheriting the Mantle, the Hivebane's wrath had been invoked.
The soul-halves were slower in their development but they, nonetheless, developed and they developed into the direction that pleased the Hivebane. So the Hivebane's gazed turned from the dust of the unpeople and the tyranny of the soul-pieces and they subtly guided the soul-halves. Yet, from the corner of their eye, the Hivebane could see that they weren't developing fast enough and so they approached the soul-halves with a ship in hand and a weapon in the other and they said:
' Here in my hands, I bear the weapons and armaments of my old enemy-ally.
I used their own technology against them and I emerged victorious.
You are clever and resourceful and tactful
and you are capable of holding your own against the tidal wave and you bow before no one
so I present to you these weapons and armaments, to go after the usurpers of your Mantle
and take back what is yours. '
And the soul-halves asked:
' Who are you to give us such gifts?
To provide us with ships that sail through the stars? And weapons that kick back at our arms? '
And the Hivebane answered:
' I am the Hivebane, one of many godkings of the Universe, slayer of usurpers.
I am worthy of the leadership of ten trillion wars and over ten hundred times that.
I give you the starships and the kicking weapons to prevent yourselves from extinction
so that you may take up your throne as the Caretakers of the galaxy and upholders of the Mantle. '
And the Hivebane gave them their gifts and left them with their questions and disappeared back into the space between the stars. The Hivebane watched as the soul-halves took up their arms and activated their ships and soared off farther into the stars.
At first, the soul-halves seeded across other planets as they headed towards the soul-pieces and the Hivebane watched patiently but when the dust of the unpeople began to shift, so did the attention of the soul-halves. The Hivebane sent warnings, the dust of the unpeople were not them - their forms would not be whole but the Hivebane's warnings went without a second thought and it only fueled the perpetual anger of the godking.
They watched, now, with anger and with no remorse as the dust of the unpeople gathered themselves together at the approach of the soul-halves and turned into the proto-Hive. The spread was quick, it even managed to find the outer-Throne of the Hivebane though these particular ones were simply Taken, never to be seen again, a method that quickly mapped the Throne off of the proto-Hive's paths. The disease of the insane unpeople spread fast and far though the Hivebane angrily attributed that with the soul-pieces attempts at warring and subduing the soul-halves, wasting their efforts on violence rather than reason.
The soul-pieces almost break into the Mantle, almost break into the Domain entirely, and one of the soul-pieces ( the Didact, the Hivebane snappily recalls ) manages to invent some kind of primitive version of Taking. It called it composing. It was almost... mocking if the Hivebane were to be honest.
It isn't until that the proto-Hive become almost too overwhelming, when the last indoctrinated unperson is all that remains in the vast hivemind, that the Hivebane approached the soul-pieces in their event of constructing and activating their arrays. With their altered magic in one hand and the Dark-Drinker in the other, the Hivebane said:
' Here in my hand, I hold the final piece to your destructive construct.
With this in your arrays, life will be preserved and the worlds can be reseeded
but like all works, it will come with a price.
To the ones that you do not preserve, I will Take into my mighty army of unwillfulness. '
And the soul-pieces asked:
' Who are you to give us such a weapon?
To approach us as our salvation and speak of us like a warlord of a thousand wars? '
And the Hivebane answered:
' I am the Hivebane, seeder of the worlds before you, taker of wills!
I am the God-Slayer of many Kings and usurper of the Osmium Throne!
I am older than the Universe and Guardian of the Traveler's Light!
You are to give your Will to ME! '
And the Taken magic of the Hivebane was thrust into the arrays and the soul-pieces hastily obeyed. For every cycle that drew the proto-Hive closer, the Hivebane took two wills and the soul-pieces were urged to work faster. It took over ten thousand cycles for the arrays to be deemed completed, integrated with the Taken magics to which the soul-pieces were not allowed to study.
The Hivebane retreated back into their Throne and watched as the new god-wave fell upon the galaxy and the whispering of the unwillful wills joined the whispers of the Throne world. The army grew great for ten cycles and then the arrays ceased firing and for the first time in twenty billion years, the galaxy fell silent.
Then the first of the seeds that the soul-pieces preserved were sent out. To the homeworld of the soul-halves.
And from there, the Hivebane watched as the Humans grew once more.
For four million years, the Hivebane watched and listened to the whispers of the Throne world as the Humans grew and as other species farther out in the galaxy began regrowing as well. They saw how one seemed to be developing faster than the rest, already having achieved their first form of space travel, and they make a mental note to recede them.
Satisfied with the end of the destructive work, the Hivebane retreated into the safety of their Throne world, deep within the mighty ship that floated in the space between the stars. And they closed their eyes.
...it starts as one whisper...
' Guardian? Eyes up, Guardian... '
[ A: Hello, everyone, and welcome to my first fic on this site!
As you well noticed, it's a crossover between Destiny and Halo - this takes place immediately ( and several trillion years ) after the end of the King's Fall raid if the Guardian ( as in the main Guardian everyone plays as in the campaign ) were to take up the Sword-Logic laws and become the next Taken King/Queen. Hence the name Hivebane.
The Guardian will remain gender-, species-, and class-neutral. The sword is Dark-Drinker as the shard you get from Oryx's sword is Void-based.
The main story will start somewhere around the first Halo or perhaps the second, this was just to get things out there and set up the Destiny part of everything. A lot of the ideas ( ESPECIALLY the Traveler, the monologue about the Universe, and the Universe concept itself ) goes to a Tumblr roleplayer named Gat! Though some of you may know who they are, they don't want their blog linked but I still wanted to give them credit for the awesome ideas as it inspired me to make this fic!
Anyways, I haven't much else to say other than if you could take some time to leave a review, that'd be great! I'll see how soon I can update! Thanks! ]
unpeople - Precursors (derived from the Awoken)
soul-pieces - Forerunners (derived from a mixture of Exo and Human)
soul-halves - Humans (primarily Human)
proto-Hive - Precursor-Flood