Summary: When a girl wakes up in the destroyed streets of Russia, she is only left with a floating orb and a pair of dog tags wrapped around her neck. Now, she is determined to figure out who she is, what the Traveler is and why he's here, and what her place is in this broken world. The first chapter of my Destiny story! Keep in mind this story takes place from D1 to D2. Also, I'm relatively new to Destiny and some of my lore may be off, if it is I'll try to fix it! Thank you, and please enjoy!! [b]Chapter 1. Eyes Up, Guardian [/b] The sun was setting, the wind blowing, and the shrill squeaking of rusted metal echoed throughout the abandoned highway. Cars that were once bright and shiny were now brown and red due to the rust of centuries forgotten. Skeletons sat in some vehicles while others lay on the cracked pavement. Some bodies held children in their arms while others clutched onto destroyed items. Screams of creatures echoed in the distance, the wind carrying their shrill cries to the small triangular orb that flew above the rusted mechanisms and forgotten corpses. Its tiny orange body flew over to several of the skeletons, a blue light shining out of its eye to scan over the bodies. The being would constantly look behind itself as the screams seemed closer. It appeared to shiver before going back to its job of scanning the fallen beings. It turned its gaze to a pile of bones that sat next to a rock with a smaller skeleton curled up protectively in its arms. The orb's eye seemed to widen; its blue light showed brightly over the body. It watched as organs began to form within the skeleton, flesh soon appearing to cover the human's delicate innards and bones. The skin then began to develop as the human's eye sockets began to fill with fluid, and the human's chest began to grow larger with two circular objects made up entirely of body tissue. Blonde hair sprouted from the human's skull as nails started to form out of the fleshy digits; as the body became whole, it began to fill in the tattered clothes that hung loosely over it. "Guardian?" the orb murmured, "G-Guardian, can you hear me?" The human's eyes slowly opened, their crystal blue eyes looking around in confusion as they took in their surroundings. They began to sit up, immediately wincing as their bones creaked from the shock of the sudden use. "Easy guardian," the orb said softly, "You've been d-dead for quite some time." "W-What?" the human questioned, a feminine voice coming from their groggy and dust-filled throat, "W-Where am I?" The human looked down at themselves, their clothes tattered with a pair of rusted dog tags that hung loosely between their breasts. She looked down at the tiny skeleton beside her and then turned her gaze to the bodies and rusted vehicles. "What are you? What happened here? What do you mean dead?" "I-I am c-called a," it paused, "a, um... I-I don't remember." She narrowed her gaze at the orb; she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a scream in the distance. The orb turned back towards the scream and back to her, "W-We have to go; I-I will e-e-explain as much as I can w-when we are s-s-safe." She grunted as she tried to stand up, gripping the rock beside her to get assistance. She groaned as she took a step, immediately falling to the ground as her weak bones struggled to carry her weight. "Are you a-alright?" She nodded, "Yeah, I just need a second." "W-We may not have that l-long," the orb spoke, its body twitching with every stutter. It turned to see three tall creatures jump onto one of the rusted cars in the distance. She saw them, her eyes widening as fear shot through her. She was unsure why she was so afraid, but something about them sent an electric shock of terror coursing through her veins. "What the -blam!- is that?" She cried as she fell backward. "I-I don't know," the orb answered, "B-But you have to run!" "I don't know if I can!" she whimpered, her heart pounding. "You m-must!" She rolled over and crawled onto all fours, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she stumbled onto her feet. The orb flew ahead of her, showing her the path to a safe location. Her heart beat faster as the creatures known as the Fallen screamed, jumping off the car and running full speed towards her. She cried as she fell to the ground, barely missed by the Fallen's energy gun. She looked back to see the larger Fallen looking down the barrel of its gun, aiming right at her. "G-Guardian!" The orb cried, "G-Get up!" She immediately snapped back to reality and did as the orb told her. She gripped onto one of the car doors, hoisted herself up, and began running as fast as her weakened state would allow her. She ran for what felt like miles, ducking behind cars and taking turns that led her off the road and into a den of old, rusted gas trucks. "Here, i-into this building," the orb said as he stopped at the entrance of what seemed to be an old gas station. She flung open the door and ran behind the counter; she pressed her back against the counter as she tried to steady her breath. She looked up, frowning as she realized the orb wasn't there. "Hey," she whispered, "Where are you?" [i]"D-Don't worry, I'm here." [/i] "But where?" "[i]R-Right here,[/i]" She jumped as the orb materialized right in front of her, "T-Ta-da!" "Whoa, how did you do that?" She questioned as she gently touched one of his triangles. "I-I'm not sure, I-I just can," it answered. "I guess that's another question I'll add to my list." "R-Right, I suppose I-I have some explaining to do," the orb said sheepishly. "You think?" She frowned, "Where am I? What happened?" "I-I think we're on a p-planet called Earth; I-I don't know much else." "Ok..." she -blam!- her brow, "You called me 'guardian,' why?" "I-I'm not sure, i-it just c-came out w-when I saw you," it responded. "You don't know a lot." It laughed nervously, "No, I-I suppose I don't. T-Things have been quite fuzzy for a while now." She frowned, "And how long has that been?" "I'm not sure," it answered, "M-Maybe a couple of centuries?" "Centuries!?" She exclaimed, "Does that mean I've been dead for centuries!?" "P-Probably," it said sheepishly, "M-Maybe longer." Her face contorted into one of horror, her mouth agape as her heart beat faster. "Why, what happened here? Why is everyone dead?" She questioned as her voice cracked. "I-I-I'm not sure." She clenched her eyes shut as she tried to control her breathing; she needed to remain calm. Her hand moved on its own accord as it lowered itself down and grasped onto the dog tags that hung around her neck. Her eyes widened as she felt the rusted metal beneath her fingertips. She gripped the dog tags and gazed down at them; while a lot of the information was rusted away, she could figure out two of the words. "Jack D Anderson?" She questioned, "Who is that?" The orb looked down at the dog tags, "I-I'm not sure, m-maybe that's your name?" "You think?" She asked with genuine curiosity. "W-We don't h-have any other I-information to go on," it responded. She frowned, staring down at the dog tags before glancing back at the orb. "Do you have a name?" It twitched as it thought, "N-No, I-I don't think so." "Well, do you want one?" The orb seemed to perk up, its voice turning almost childlike, "S-Sure, that would be great!" She smiled, and as she opened her mouth to speak, the name Sheldon appeared in her mind, hitting her like a ton of bricks. "Sheldon," she murmured, "What do you think of the name Sheldon?" "S-Sheldon?" the orb questioned; it hummed before perking back up, "I like it, S-Sheldon it is!" She laughed softly, "Alright then, Sheldon, it is." "H-Hello, my name's S-Sheldon; it's a p-pleasure to meet you!" The orb beamed as it spun around, "And w-what about you, what's y-your name?" She looked down at the tags, "Jack, call me Jack."