PROLOGUE: I never wrote a fanfic before, let alone liking them, but something about Destiny just made me want to write something about it. So my first attempt at writing one comes here. If anyone enjoys it, I might just continue the story. Give me constructive criticism regardless. “Who are you?! And why are you here guardian?!” “That’s two loaded questions.….mind telling me the answers?” A Guardian Rises I wearily looked at the time, 10:57. I exhaled, “Ugh, so close. I just have to wait for the others to finish their jobs.” But as the seconds ticked by, I became increasingly anxious and paranoid. Grasping my shoulder tightly, my heart began to pick up speed. I started pacing back in forth as the light above me flickered on and off. I decided I should check our main front. “More distressing things have happened this late in the game, can’t be too careful, right?” I quietly murmured. Hesitantly, I walked around the corner, terrified of what I would see next. Gazing out into the darkness, all I saw was the faded light of a weathered streetlight glowing upon a ghostly run-down parking lot. I sighed, “Oh Thank God.” Looks like I will be able to leave this stupid grocery store on time tonight." As I turn behind me the nameless cashiers were apathetically cleaning out their drawers. Mundane, though it may be, something about it seemed soothing. Maybe because it is so easy to do? All the plight and death out in the world and these people have their immediate goals clearly laid out for them. Do A, move to B, and get C. Nothing more and nothing less. The more I thought, the more infuriated I got about it. Whats with the duality? Arms crossed and fingers spastically tapping, I turn my back on the faceless and project my snowballing ponderance out into the shadowed parking lot. Why is this so simple? Why are all the other objectives out in the blue yonder so unobtainable? Why can’t one just reach out and take what you want?.....After a good 45 seconds or so, I return from the void, back to reality and return to my co-workers. Maybe I will never understand. As I look down the aisle I see my old friend Daniel Dunbar coming from the back of the store with his jersey in tow. A curious fellow, Dune, as his friends call him, speed walks through the store swinging his jersey like nun-chucks. Large and a college football player, Dune was built like a tank. 6’5’’ and 250 pounds of awesome came meandering his way through the endless lines of cans. The cans themselves were no less eccentric than Dune, branded with the most ridiculous catchphrases that could be constructed. I suppose one could hypothesize that people only buy them out of curiosity instead of good pricing. “What could possibly make these green beans taste so good that they are the Earth’s Final Frontier? I have to try it at least once!” My immediate surroundings lost color and I got about 2 degrees cooler..... “Are we golden?” Duns tentatively asked. “Yeah, not one night owl in the field.” I say, looking above my normal line of sight. After 6 months, never fully did get used to his height….. “Praise the sky wizard, for once things turned up our way. None of those coupon warriors coming in with 4 kids to take up an extra hour just to buy a ludicrous amount of Mountain Dew and Doritos. BUY SOME APPLES OR SOMETHING FOR CHIRST’S SAKE!” As Dune yells his battle cry for good health and while I burst out in laughter, the cashiers I so kindly referenced to give us funny looks and go to lounge to wait it out and talk amongst themselves. Dune notices my gaze and grimace, “What did I tell you man, you gotta stop paying attention to them. You are having a fun time right? That’s all that matters.” I smugly smile back, “Well, I don’t know if I would call it a fun time. After all, I’m talking to a Sasquatch in an air-conditioned prison. I would akin it more to nervously laughing for the concerns of my safety. But you believe what you want to believe.” “Oh shut your face you over glorified two by four, you know you love it!” “Hey speaking of over glorified, where is Sara? She should be done with the broas-“ “I heard that, tweaker.” Sara retorts as she comes around the corner. “I can’t help being talented. You should just be happy that I stick around you bozos to make you look useful. Who knows? If you are lucky, maybe some of my greatness will rub off on you if you stay around me long enough.” Dune chimes in, “You know, I wouldn’t mind tha- OOPH” Sara retracts her fist, “Just because you are a giant and fat, doesn't mean I can't cause you some broken ribs.” “Hey! I worked hard for this fat!” Dune coughed back. I interjected before things got even worse, “It seems that were all tired….and sore…." I smirk at Dune,” Some more than others. We should probably just punch out now and talk later.” Sara agreed, and Dune was just able to nod. We walk out to the employee section of the parking lot where the light from the single streetlight barely reaches, making me see funny shadows coming from the metal fence wiring marking the line of the ordinary to the exploratory. “Catch you guys later. Hope you got internal bleeding Dune!” “Thanks Sara….always a pleasure talking to you…” I hear as I enter my car. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Crap. I forgot my jacket inside. I better run in and get it before the last shift fully leaves. I hurriedly get out of the car and grab my jacket from the hanger in the back of the store; briskly walk back up to the front. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. I walk back out into the night and proceed back to my car. On my way, I gaze up at the stars. "Man screw beans in a can. I want to go there!" It was a beautiful starry night outside, the moon was new so it didn't steal the show. After reaching my car, I noticed I left the car door open and the lights didn't light the cabin, I reminded myself of how old and worn this car is. I need a new one of these…..maybe I will save up some money for a newer model for Christmas next year. A Ferrari for sure. Got to travel in style now that I am making the big bucks at $9.25 an hour. I hop back into my seat, close the door, and went to start the engine. Just I put the key into the slot, I heard some rustling in the shadowed back seat; my hairs stand on end. I try to turn and yell, but it was already too late. A sharp pain comes from my temple of my head throwing me into the window. Dazed and panicked, I try to rise again. If you’re down, you’re out. Grasping for something to pick me up; anything. I grabbed something cold to the touch. Only thing I remember after that was two sounds similar to ice cracking. Everything vanished, nothing remained. Not the pain in my temple, not the seat I was sitting in, not even the faint light from that stupid rundown streetlight. The darkness was everywhere. Below me, above me, encompassing me. It was so dark I might as well had my eyes sealed shut. I tried to see my hand, but it remained ever distant. My mind lurched. I tried running, but they were numb. I tried moving my neck, but no feeling came. Looking back, maybe I was able to move, it’s just that it didn’t matter where I moved to because it was all the same. Where did blackness end, and super-duper dark gray begin? How much time was I there? I can’t say really. It was like a dream, where time seems to compress and you just come to sort of accept it after a while. What was hundreds of years may have been just a couple fleeting minutes for me. Or a few thousand years. I honestly can’t discern time in that….”place.” Believe me, I tried. What I do know is right before I finally settled into my existence as everything and nothing, I saw a blinding light coupled with the only phrase I ever truly understood, “There you are.”