I feel everything.

The earth on my skin, the air in my lungs, the sun on my face; I am alive, but how is it I abruptly came to be? What begot my resurrection, and with it all this knowledge of the world and its physics, methods and ways?

By no means am I unhappy with this sudden stimulation, but all I feel now is confusion and wonder as to how. All my senses are overwhelmed yet reminiscent of my surroundings; I have been here before, in a past life or simulation or whatever form of being I am experiencing.

I am in a place of life and lush, surrounded by green? Yes, I believe that's what it is named. Named? Am I named? I must be, for everything that 'is' has a name, whether it is proper or simple. All this green is simplified to just that: green. But someone or something also took its time to properly name every single distinct piece of green I see. By this logic, something must have properly named me at one point..

I am slowly remembering what it means to be; I have felt this sensation before, a state of being; as to when and how I think I will never understand completely, but what is important is that I am out of my state of un-being. What I must come to understand now, however, is what brought me into being.

And why is this little light floating above me? What is its purpose here and why is it studying me so? Is it a robot of some sort? Does it think and speak like I do? Well, I can think, but can I speak?

"..an you hear me? Gu…dian? Are you feel…..ight?" I just realized it has been muttering noises to me while I daze to consciousness.

"Can you feel anything, Guardian?" it said to me, this time more definite and clear to my ears.

I opened my eyes to see the little light obscuring my vision. I looked at it in amazement as to how and what it was. Realizing it was waiting for my response, I mustered a remembered strength and moved air from my lungs, formed my mouth and twisted my tongue and spoke back to the little light:

"I feel everything."

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"Da, over here! I think I found where the Ghost went!"

"I'm coming boy. My body is not as nimble as yours, so climbing to you is still quite a challenge," spoke the old man.

"Aye, yer old arse won't be able to take much more of this fieldwork, eh?"

"It's not a matter of my being old, Rorrn, but rather my body's age. I can't change that until those damn engineers improve the quality of the material used. This Exo shell they put me in was old and rusted and when I asked for a better one, they said their engineers would look into it. Ha! S'been years since then and still no improvements!"

"Complainin' about it won't do nothin' unless ya tell someone other than me. I can't do anythin' about that, Da, and you know that. Now will ya hurry yer rusty arse and get up 'ere?" retorted Rorrn.

"This 'rusty arse' will kick yours any day! Ever want to back that talk up with a battle, I'll accept!" challenged the elder.

Rorrn laughed. "The only one talkin' right now is you! By the time ya shut it and get up 'ere, I'll be as old as ye rusty arse!"

The old man smirked at Rorrn and shrugged. In one strong jump and lift, he joined the younger man upon the ridge he was standing. Rorrn gave him a strong clap on the back and they both turned to the small valley below them. Laid out before them was a small forest to one side, canopies full of the noises and colors of its inhabitants, and the other side, a waterfall slowly rushed, the light of the sun reflecting off the gleaming stream it birthed, going where it pleased, yet with a purpose, like that of a venture exploring new lands. At the far end sat an abandoned shack, though its appearance gave away no signs of aging, suggesting that the oasis housed something recently or that the sanctuary provided a sort of living magic that preserved it among the green of the valley. This small canyon conferred a lively and old-earth feeling to the pair, something lost to the barren world the two had come to know so well.

"Wow," gasped Rorrn, stunned at beauty of the microcosm, "this place is amazin'."

"Aye. I should tell the Speaker that we've retired and won't be coming back anytime soon," joked the old man.

Rorrn grinned, half at the man's joking and half still at the scene the duo had found themselves gazing at. After a second more, Rorrn examined more closely where the forest met the flowing stream and saw a glint of light from a floating object. Beneath the hovering object lay what looked to be a pile of rags, and whatever those rags held clearly had the interest of that little light.

Rorrn lightly jabbed the other man and pointed, "Da, look. The Ghost found something. Ya think he found a Guardian?"

"The only way to find out is to see for ourselves. Let's get down there and see what he's found."

The two men jumped down from the ridge into the soft valley below. As they began to approach more closely to the Ghost and the rags, the body of a man became more visible. His eyes were shut but the rags on his body steadily rose and lowered with the patterns of his breathing.

"Found a new Guardian, Ghost? Well, he's alive, but is he conscious?" the older man asked the Ghost.

The Ghost regarded the two men and answered in his light tone, "Yes, and I was quite lucky to find him, too. I've been trying to wake him for a while now to no avail. If he does not wake, we may have to take him back to the city with us."

The elder looked to the waning sun over the top of the ridge and told the floating light, "That won't be an issue, Ghost. We're done with our search for the day and the Speaker expects us back soon. If this Guardian doesn't rise soon, we'll take him to our infirmary to rest until he wakes."

Unexpectedly, a mumble escaped from the unconscious man. A jump of surprise came from Rorrn, watching in speculation as the unknown Guardian rose from his comatose. In contrast to Rorrn, the old man was accustomed to the sudden revitalization of new Guardians and prodded the Ghost to help waken his new partner. "Hello? Guardian? Can you hear me? Guardian? Are you feeling alright?"

The heap of the man shifted slightly at the Ghost's voice, as if he were struggling to hear and respond to what was being said to him. The Ghost continued his efforts, "Can you feel anything, Guardian?"

Suddenly, the Guardian's eyes flew open, and he went rigid as if understanding where he was and what he was asked. For a second, he looked to struggle with finding the strength to speak back to the Ghost; though not a second more, with a renowned vigor, he said, "I feel everything."

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"How are you feeling Guardian?" my Ghost asked me for a certain time that I have lost track of.

"Yes, Ghost, I am fine." A little overwhelmed, but fine, "The more you ask me, though, the less I may be if you continue to ask."

"Oh. I am terribly sorry, it's just.. well you're my first Guardian and I want to make sure that everything goes well. I know of too many ghosts that have lately lost their guardians to the Darkness before they were able to bring them to safe haven."

"Well, we're here, aren't we?" I playfully pat the little Ghost, "Although, without Rorrn and Dovak, we may have succumbed to the Darkness."

Suddenly, I hear a hearty laugh and feel a firm clap on my back, and I lurch forward a little from the sheer force of it. I turn my head to see a big, red beard grinning at me. I recognize the face of Rorrn, one of the two guardians to have found and escorted me. I learned that they were called Titans, the first class of guardians and some of the fiercest warriors of the Light. On our way back, Rorrn told me everything about the Last City and of the guardians' fight with the Darkness; he told me about the Traveler and about its wandering purpose and why it currently slumbers above our heads; he told me of all the strikes and missions he and Dovak have been on to try and turn the tide of this war, but to no avail. As we neared the Tower, he left me with the advice that I would meet the Speaker first, as the vanguard I was to see was currently away on some long expedition to find guardians out in far reaching places. I couldn't say I was happy at the news, but I was eager to meet this Speaker and learn what I was.

"How ya findin' ev'rythin'?" the big man asked me, "Overwhelmin' for ya yet?"

"No, I'm fine." On the contrary, I was not fine, "I'm comprehending things rather quickly here. I've met mostly everyone, too. Although I'm very eager to meet the warlock vanguard when he returns; until then, I've been left under the supervision of a man named Toland."

"Thas good to 'ear, and especially in regards to Toland. 'e's a great warlock and a very intelligent scholar; ya ought learn a lot from 'im."

I smiled up at the titan, as his words reassured me that I would actually be okay. I was excited to have something to do as well and eagerly wished to meet my new teacher. "Do you know where Toland is right now?"

The titan's grin disappeared from his face and was replaced with a look of confoundment, "ya know, that would be a question for Dovak, 'cause last I 'eard, Toland was readyin' to leave for somewhere."

My eyes grew wide as a sense of anxiety rushed over me, "Well where's Dovak then? I need to meet with Toland before he goes anywhere!"

"Oi, calm down, boy-o! Toland isn't leavin' for another day. But Da is meetin' with Saladin right now, so you can at least catch 'IM there."

Relief washed over me and I relaxed a little more. "Oh thanks Rorrn. I may have been covering up the fact that everything is not fine and saying that kind of just pushed me over the edge."

Rorrn let out a bellowing laugh and said to me, "it's alright, boy-o, you've done a better job handlin' everythin' more than some others that 'ave come through 'ere."

I smiled again at the titan, "thanks Rorrn."

"Everythin' is gonna be fine. Now go."

I hurriedly rushed to find Dovak. I couldn't wait to meet Toland.

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"Toland, I would like you to meet one of our newest guardians. We just found him a few days ago, and he is very eager to learn and fight."

"Ah, always finding the eager ones, Saint," his rasping voice soothing, yet chilling, "do you have a name, boy?

I looked at him timidly, "of course I have a name, I just can't remember it quite yet."

"That's quite alright, it will come to you in due time. Saint, I will take charge of the young warlock for now. Tell Saladin that I will be leaving sooner than expected, hopefully before the sun sets."

"Aye, I will let him know. Take care of him, Toland."

"You need not worry, my friend. He will be a fine student." The titan smiled and bowed his head to me and turned to leave. Toland then turned to me and said, "now, we must get going. My predictions were a little off and the storm is occurring sooner than I expected."

I looked at my Ghost puzzled. I mouthed 'storm?' to the little orb and it just shrugged, in the best way a single, floating orb could shrug. "Where are we going that would have a storm of any significance? Aren't they pretty mild here?"

"Ah yes, you are correct, boy. They are mild here on Earth. But where we are going, they are much more extreme. If the vanguard weren't on their damn expedition, most of the warlocks would be coming along, too."

Still quite confused, I asked him, "where are we going then?"

He stopped bustling about and looked up at me with a glint in his eyes. His look was frightening but also excited me. He smiled at me as if this would be the trip of a lifetime, "Why, were going to Mars, my dear boy."

For those of you that have been following the update of this story, I apologize that it has taken me so long to upload the second chapter. In between being at school, writer's block, and me being super anal amount the progression of my ideas, I haven't been able to get a good chapter out until now. Luckily, the school year is almost done, and everything I have in plan for the story will be easier to write and point down onto paper (or text doc, I guess).

Anyway, thank you again for all that have taken the time to read this little story of mine. I know this chapter is quite a bit longer than the first, but it's to set up the story. I'm hoping that the chapter length will be pretty consistent from now on.

Again, thank you for reading and don't forget to review!

-Renegader73095