1.1 I'm serious-

1.2 There's nothing serious about it.

1.1 Well, then why won't you explain it?

1.2 Because there's nothing TO explain. It's just a myth, some story that other Keepers have been telling for years. As far back as I can remember, actually.

1.1 …

1.2 … You're really not gonna drop this, are you?

1.1 I will if you just tell me. Everybody else seems to know about it, and I don't like not being in the loop-

1.2 Alright, alright. I'll tell you. You're young, so I'll humor you, but … keep in mind, this is a touchy subject.

1.1 …

1.2 (sigh) A long time ago, there were warriors of the Light.

1.1 Like us.

1.2 No, not like us. They fought across the solar system, against the Darkness and its armies. They were pathfinders, adventurers, soldiers, and more.

1.1 That sounds like a pretty nice myth.

1.2 That's not the made-up part. They were called Guardians.

1.1 Wait, really?

1.2 Yes, really. Pay attention. Now, these Guardians were the only force protecting humanity from certain destruction.

1.1 What kind of destruction?

1.2 We don't really know anymore. As you know, stories grow more and more exaggerated the older they are. I think there's even one that we came face to face with gods, you know. It's just stuff that people say.

1.1 Alright.

1.2 Well, this is where the legends start. They say that at some point, they weren't needed anymore. They must have won, or something.

1.1 The Star says that-

1.2 (scoff) Well, don't tell the Star this, but I'm pretty sure most of what they say is nonsense. Just propaganda, fanatic preaching, and cover ups. Only reason we tolerate them is because there'd be war otherwise. And no one wants that.

1.1 Right.

1.2 In any matter, the Guardians were disbanded. It's fuzzy why, and I'm pretty sure that the Star's to blame for that lack of information. But the fact is that they broke up, and things changed.

1.1 Changed … how?

1.2 Well, two of them were kept around. 'Warlocks' and 'Titans'. Scholars and guards. They needed them, to keep peace. But something happened, some kind of event, and eventually they just kind of disappeared. People are still able to manipulate light, but not to the degree that they could.

1.1 Is that us?

1.2 Yeah, that's us. The Keepers. Tales say that Guardians could crack mountains apart with their fists, and use weapons of immeasurable power that nobody has seen since.

1.1 Hold on, you said two.

1.2 Yeah. There was a third class, Hunters. They were the ones that ventured into the wilds, who forged new trails and reclaimed lost land. But the people didn't need adventure, they needed safety. And so Hunters were kind of just … banished. Maybe they chose to leave, maybe they were forced. But they were gone.

1.1 This is a lot of lead-up for one question-

1.2 I'm getting to that. At least you know the context. Now, the legend you're asking about; the Last Hunter.

1.1 Yeah.

1.2 Well, it's been said that there still exists a Hunter somewhere; one who follows the old path, a true Guardian. Someone who lives out in the wild, hiding from something. People 'claim' to have seen them, but …

1.1 (whistle)

1.2 They say that they come to the peak every generation or so, with decades in between. No one knows why, just that they sit at the top and watch the world as it turns.

1.1 That's some story.

1.2 Exactly, it's just that; a story. The Guardians are all dead. Nothing more, nothing less.

1.1 So what's with the legend then?

1.2 Because people need stability, some sort of sense that everything is going to be alright. Can you imagine if a Guardian was still around, silently watching over everything? It lets people think that perhaps some remnant of a better time still exists, and that maybe things won't always be so bad.

1.1 … Well, if they were real, I'd feel pretty sorry for them.

1.2 Why's that?

1.1 I can't imagine a more lonely existence than one where all of my family and friends were gone. Can you?

1.2 (grunt) Yeah, I guess you're right. I wouldn't wish that kind of hell on anyone.

MANY YEARS LATER

She was alive.

Clara didn't know why she was alive, or even how for that matters. As she tried to recall her lost memories, she became more acutely aware of her surroundings.

Blistering cold wind blew across the white powder of snow that covered her body. She could hear the ghoulish howling of the wind as it swept through the trees, shaking their foliage and adding to the cacophony of her present setting.

She could feel the snow between her fingertips as she gently pushed them through the snow, feeling their biting nip against every inch of her phalanges. She dug her hands in deep, testing them, and then pulled them out of the frost once more as bits and pieces of the past began to return to her.

The whirr of her internal mechanisms was all too noticeable as she began to pull herself out of the snow, and onto the ground. She held her arms out in front of her, examining them.

White and silver as ever, protected from grime and other degradation by the ice that had frozen her. But that begged the question; why was she no longer frozen at all?

She knew very little, but she mentally listed them anyway.

She had wiped her mind of all memories except for a set of instructions and her name.

Her instructions had been to venture into the cold of the wilderness, and let herself freeze to death.

And she was Clara. Besides her name, she didn't really have any other-

"Are you alright?"

A rather synthetic voice was heard behind her, and she spun around to face the source. Some kind of device floated in the air, shaped like a polyhedron with a single blue eye in its center. It bobbed in the air, awaiting her response.

She performed an quick analysis of her vocal processors, and found that they were working at full capacity. She nodded graciously. "Yes, I'm fine."

The entity performed a small sort of 'nod' by dipping its front portion low. "Glad to hear it. The snow must have preserved your systems fairly well, I just had to thaw you out."

She looked around, still at a loss for how to continue from this point. It didn't seem to take notice, and continued speaking. "You're lucky that you're an Exo, I wouldn't have taken the chance if you were organic. But everyone knows that Exos aren't part of the Star, so-"

She looked back at it. "The 'Star'?"

It narrowed its eye a bit. "You don't know? How long were you buried under there?"

She couldn't' recall. "A long time," she admitted.

The thing emitted a blue grid of light that scanned her, leading her to believe it was analyzing her. "Your memory banks don't appear to be damaged. You must have wiped them yourself. I wonder how much …" The machine trailed off before focusing back on her and tilting to one side out of curiosity. "Do you know what I am? What you are?"

Forming her features into one of a thoughtful expression, the Exo pondered that query. "I know that I'm an Exo, that I wiped my mind and … I traveled here to die."

The object seemed taken aback. "Well, that's … nice …?"

She shook her head. "I can't remember why I would have, nor can I remember any previous knowledge about … well, anything." She looked at the floating polyhedron. "Mind enlightening me a bit?"

It seemed unsure, but relented. "Well, I'm a Ghost."

She expected to hear more, but it seemed to be done. "That's all?"

It sounded nonchalant. "That's all that there really is to me, I guess. I've heard that a long time ago, we had some greater purpose but I'm pretty young. I wouldn't know about any of that. Nowadays, I just spend my time surviving."

That intrigued her. "Surviving? Is something after us?"

It shook its body. "Us? No. Me? Yes. Mostly the Star, but we're not exactly welcome anywhere else either. We've just got a bad name in general."

"Why's that?"

It tipped its sides upward in a shrug. "Don't ask me. Like I said, I don't really know."

Well, that was a bit more information that she could work with. She decided to pry for more. "Do you have a name?"

It shook itself from side to side. "No, just Ghost is fine."

Ghost. Simple enough. Its voice was easily discernible as a young male, leading her to think of it as more of a 'he'; but the real behavior she noticed was the caution he exercised. He sounded like he was willing to help, but definitely on guard in case events turned sour. Evidently, he wasn't completely inexperienced to the danger he seemed to fear.

He floated closer. "What about you? What's your name?"

Her mind went back to what she'd remembered earlier, and she was grateful for a sense of identity. "Clara-1."

Ghost widened his eye. "Only one wipe? Man, the lowest I've ever seen was three."

It did strike her as peculiar. She knew not what she had wiped for, just that this was the only time she had. What would have pushed her to do that?

Looking around, another problem began to present itself. Since she had no real idea of what was going on, let alone where she was, she had no direction. No sense of purpose to guide her.

Ghost noticed. "You alright?"

She furrowed her metallic brow in frustration. "It's just- I don't know what to do, where to go."

He nodded. "Yeah, disorientation is pretty normal from what I've heard of Exos." He looked around, pinpointing a direction of some kind. "Well, there isn't any real civilization out here; but I know a place that might be able to help you." He moved forward a few feet, and then looked back towards Clara. "Just keep going this way, and you should find it. Be warned, you might have to do a bit of climbing."

Unexpectedly, he began to float away. She called out to him, "Ghost? Where are you going?"

He looked confusedly at her. "No place in particular, I just thought you would want to get going."

She wasn't thrilled about the idea of trekking by herself towards some place she knew the vague direction of. "If it's not too much to ask, could you help me? I don't think I can find this place on my own."

He seemed hesitant. "Look, I'm sorry about your situation … but like I said, we Ghosts aren't really a welcome sight anywhere. They might not care, but they just might. That's why we tend to avoid humanity in general, we can't risk running into someone who has a particular dislike of us."

"Please," she pleaded, "you're the only person I know. Just guide me there, and you can leave. I just don't want to get lost and freeze again."

It was true; maybe her previous iteration had wanted to die, but that didn't mean that she did, especially without knowing more about why.

He paused, and looked at her for a few moments. After a few seconds of silence, he gave a reluctant sigh. "Alright, I'll take you there. But that's it. After that, I'm gone."

She nodded her head gratefully. "Of course, that's all I'm asking."

Another moment passed, and then Ghost began to hover down the path he'd marked. "Well, let's get going then."

She followed after him, intent on getting some answers while they travelled.

A/N: To any readers who aren't on the main GND book, this story is a sequel in a series of Destiny stories I've written. You can access them on my stories page, under "Guardians Never Die". Characters and events will be referenced that you will not know unless you've read the previous books.

To the rest of the readers, here we are. Yes, I'm kicking off my swan song of sorts for this series. I'll try to keep updates consistent, but I have a very busy life, so you'll have to excuse me if chapters take a while to write.

In other news, I've created a community for this series! For both my Titanfall series and this one, I've decided to create archives of stories where characters and events from the main series can be shared in your stories. TL;DR You guys are welcome to write fan stories of GND and have them added to the archive (what would you call that? Fan-Fan-Fiction? I dunno)

If you'd like to do such a thing, simply access it under the 'Communities' section of my author page, and you'll be able to find the archive. To add a story to it, simply PM me about your idea/story, and I'll look into getting it added to the archive as a non-canon entry.

Until the next time,

- Matteoarts