Sorry for Chapter 3 and basically every chapter being not revised before posting..heh) It's been ten days since I burned my hands, and nine days since I begun training with Ikora. She works me relentlessly on the basic principles of the Void and Solar energies, but nothing on Arc. Salud works with me on handling a gun, the thing I'm most skittish with. He says things like, "aim, idiot!" or "nice shot, stupid!" Not exactly helping my self-esteem. Casper and I take friendly walks every now and then to catch up on our past lives. I guess he knows about Aiden, and he says things like, "you'll get back home." Or something along the lines of that. I don't know much about this world, but I did know something was building, almost setting itself into place. The atmosphere everywhere was relentless and impatient, no one knew what they were waiting for. The magical experience I played through on my couch, was become much more surreal. Much more dark, and scary, and I wasn't ashamed to say I was afraid of it. Dying was nothing in the game, we died on purpose even. Now, with only what seems 400 of us left, us players have to wonder, what exactly happened to everyone else? ———————————————— They woke up amongst the stars. They didn't know where they were, but some recognized the landscapes of Venus and the Cabal held Mars. But they were killed quickly if they encountered hostiles, if they encountered the Vex, the Hive, the Cabal...even other species. Some made it, luckily. These select few of 'players', they had made it past these enemies. They proved themselves as not among the fainthearted, they're Light was invigorating. Some wonder how some four hundred survived. Well, let me tell you of the some million that were transported. Most of them had been spawned in non-Guardian controlled areas. They are either non accounted for, or died. Some others were killed by the Darkness or other unknown hostile species. And some, some are still alive, alone. And some found a gun, pointed it at their hearts, their throats, or their head, and they pulled the trigger. Some spawned in the Tower, in the empty cells of those who died. Trying to kill Atheon, trying to kill Crota, trying to stop the Darkness. They died with their guns in their hands, that was the only existence they knew. We humans are a dwindling number, and most of us are dead, or dying. These 'players' are our salvation. They know more about the past, so that they might save our future, and they know well. The realize that this isn't a game, and this their reality. They are plagued with their past lives, their mates, their families, their regrets, and their hopes. They learn, like small infants, in the order of the Guardians, and they are so utterly eager. Some even go past what we know. They go past what we can do. They are our super humans. Our guardians. Our hope. Our reality. _________________________________ "Quinn, how did you generate Arc." "I smashed my hands together and remember being really angry." "Oh?" "Yes, and I felt like, like I could just rip the heads off everyone, you know?" "Your ghost said you made Arc energy by combining Void and Solar, correct?" "Yes." "That's not an equation that makes sense, it shouldn't work. Arc is an entirely different substance from Void and Solar." "I don't know how I did it, Ikora. I just got curious, I wanted to see how far I could show off." "Let's get back to work then." I got up with some fuss. Ikora stood opposite of me and she seemed to levitate the air of Voidwalker around her. Very cold and mysterious, keeping to herself, almost. Ikora threw a Nova Bomb at me, and this time I barely dodged the projectile. "That was close." I muttered to myself. I rather felt the tendrils of Void seeping through the ground then saw them. I vaulted over the cover I hid to avoid the Nova Bomb. "Mistake number one!" Ikora yelled, and I was blasted with a Void bullet (my terminology for Void energy shot out of a gun, to simulate the feeling of getting shot). I saw the landing in the ceiling and tried to do the awesome glide that was at the mercy of my thumb. But of course, I jumped and got blasted by another one of Ikora's infamous bullets. "You are looking for trouble today, aren't you?" I ducked behind cover, and I though shaking my hands and muttering incoherently. I heard the Nova Bomb being charged in her hand. I heard it being thrown. Screw it! I jumped out of cover and the Nova Bomb filled my vision, the energy draining projectile that brought down hundreds of enemies. I slammed myself into it. "Quinn!" My body was flailed backwards into the wall, I was focused on looking extremely injured. "Quinn!" Ikora ran over to me, she laid a hand on my head, and that's when I grabbed her wrist and slammed her body into the wall. Her gun was to the back of her head an instant later. "Compassion is an ally and an enemy, know the difference." "So, your not a fool. At least I won't go easy on you anymore." "Sounds like a plan." I let Ikora go, she flexed her wrist with an arthritic pop. "Sorry." "No, it's fine, actually good that you're think with some amount of basic tact like that." "Basic?" I asked, I followed Ikora through the training room where we had tea after every session. I didn't used to like tea, but it was helpful after the tense and vigirous workouts. "Ah, yes, there are much more complicated strategies than that. What about Atheon, or Crota?" "Go left, go right, go mid. Keep it open, keep it closed. Cover me, fall back, rush 'em. These are the only commands you need." "Those are horrible commands, there is no specifics, there-." "Is no order? Why yes, you're right. But what made this game, this reality, such a successful game and community, was the haphazard orders that were shouted through headsets. Keep your finger on the trigger and cover the area, it's easy. It was fun." "Quinn, what was it like? Sitting behind a screen of digital reality." "It was a video game, a source of entertainment, but for it was a lifestyle. We did raids, we did strikes, give us a gun and we could raise Hell. We carried the lower levels, the inexperienced and some taught us what we knew. We were like brothers when playing, now you can watch us do the same." "That was very inspiring, but do you think you could pull it off now?" "No, not at this level, I need to train." "At least you have some sense, anyways, I'll dismiss you now." "Thank you," I finished my tea and got up. Ikora glanced at her pupil's empty tea, she thought of many things. She thought of the players, the Guardians milling about the hallways of the Tower, talking amongst themselves. Some were bubbly and looked almost excited, others banged their fists against the walls and looked at pictures of people. Possibly significant others, possibly family and friends. Veteran Guardians, in their shining amour, wearing their firearms like they had gold among their backs. Ikora saw them scoff at these players, but she knew better. Ghosts weren't the only ones who could sense Light levels, and Ikora could easily feel the tension amongst them. The jealousy and the anger amongst the Veterans, but it was like getting mad at a child. The players didn't know better, they were citizens, in essence. Ikora felt that Quinn wouldn't be the only one whom could do such amazing feats, like reviving the Arc energy amongst the Warlocks. She sat back and placed her hands in her lap. Oh, yes, these shall be interesting fates, she thought. [spoiler]Okay so before anyone else realizes that there is some SERIOUS Warlock bias going on, I am making different characters. We're going to have the whole shebang soon. Also, thank you for supporting me and all, it feels great that you guys liked this so much. We should totally try to get into the "highest rating" tab in the #fanfiction tag. [/spoiler]