We would play Guardians; running around on invisible floating speeders, exploring the ruins of the old church in the center of town, and always sneaking off from home to find places to hide. Of course, this was all inspired by the incredible stories of the real heroes, blessed by the Traveler's light. All the impossible odds that they thwarted, one after another, seemingly effortlessly! Syerren wanted to be a Guardian with all her heart. I wasn't entirely excited by the prospect of limitless danger, but I tagged along regardless—anything to spend more time with her, of course.

As we started to grow into our adolescent years, she studied the Light and Guardianship through all her waking hours. We were too old to play now, but we still would visit our favorite hiding places; we did so mostly to admire the scenery of the nature around us. Their quiet hidden locations were perfect to talk together, to catch up on studies, or even to just relax and drift off to a warm nap.

One afternoon, Syerren had called me excitedly and demanded I meet her in the Outskirts, past the city limits. I remember my shoes getting wet walking through the swampy area looking for her.

"Morexis! Down here!!"

Looking around, I finally noticed her, sunken down in a cavernous hole and grinning from ear to ear.

"How did you find this hole?"

"I was looking for a dead ghost so maybe I could fix it and have him make me a Guardian, and I almost slipped in here!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her attempt. "Still battling your looting addic--"

She cut me off, too hyperactive to remain interested; "Never mind that, come down here! It's incredible!"
Carefully climbing down into the cavern, Syerren escorted me into a dark corner. As we turned past the next wall, my jaw dropped.

Above us were hundreds of blue specks of some strange liquid, seemingly melded with the cave surfaces. The ceiling, the walls and even under my waterlogged boots. What was breathtaking was that all of the specks of liquid were aglow, casting a beautiful visage of millions of stars, illuminating the entire cave from the inside. We walked to a small elevated shelf above the water, and we both sat down, silently awestruck by the near-magical scene set in front of us. We both immediately agreed to nickname this place Night Sky, as the chill from the rest of the underground added even more ambience to this perfect hidden corner of the world. It remained a special place to us for months.

I was thirteen, and Syerren fifteen...when the tides of the war started changing.
The Fallen were hitting closer to home. News reports were everywhere; How a Fallen Archon and an entire army breached defenses at Bannerfall. The SIVA transformations, destroying an entire section of the Wall keeping darkness and evil out of Old Russia. Most of the adults I heard were clamoring about how it was only a matter of time before they came here. A few days later I received a shaky voiced message. From Syerren.

She told me to meet her under the Night Sky.

I don't think I ever rushed so urgently in my life. At that point, I thought I could actually outrun a Sparrow—A real one. When I got there, Syerren was sobbing uncontrollably.

When I asked her what was wrong, she shattered my world with just two words:

"We're leaving."

She stammered out how her mother was terrified that the war would come to them, and that she was taking the family somewhere far away, and that they wouldn't be coming back. I was wracked with heartbreak, and the sudden dragging feeling that this would be the last time we saw each other ever again. I hugged her, trying to stay strong, but my resolve faltered quickly.

When I pulled away, she wasn't shuddering anymore, but the tears still rolled freshly down her face.

"I don't want to go...", Syerren whispered to me.

"I don't want to lose you either!" I whimpered, loosing a few tears of my own. She took a deep wavering breath, and I stopped her. "Listen, listen--we can figure something out. Talk to your parents and I'll talk to mine. Maybe we can take you all in, change your minds, something! Something to..."

I trailed off and sniffed, the inevitability setting in. She must have known by the look in my eyes, as fresh tears emerged. I placed my hands on her shoulders and shushed, trying to calm her down. We pressed our foreheads together. I kissed the tears on each cheek away, noting the salty filmy taste. She looked up at me, and her eyes widened, a spark of realization painting her face. I knew it was that emotion, because I shared the same expression on my own.

There aren't anywhere near as many lights now as there were back then. They seemed to glow brighter, too. Or maybe it's just my tired eyes.

Syerren and her mother had packed everything up and left only a few days after. We stayed in contact with each other for weeks. I almost seemed to know before she did. I hoped and hoped that it wouldn't happened, but my wishes went unanswered. They were right; at least partially. SIVA and the Splicer cult were just a distraction. The Cabal attacked the entire planet soon after. Syerren's relocated town were hit at some point after the Tower fell, and the Traveler was drained uselessly. Thanks to a strange polka-dotted lady who fully knew the run of the land, Guardians—real Guardians flocked here, to train themselves and defend the city. She would've been thrilled. In a sense of irony, they could have stayed and would more than likely have survived.

It was her everlasting lifelong dream to become a Guardian. But things changed. And now, I have become a Guardian for her.

For you.

With all my love,

Morexis the Herald

Welcome to Week 4 of Apertureing Destiny! Last week’s topic was a big success, mainly in that New Monarchy again won the Faction Rally. :p This week, we’re gonna try a guest topic! Fail to participate this time and our guest topic suggestor, Dame117, will want to have a word with you.

This week’s topic is: Hideaway. Share a photo or video of the spot your Guardian goes to get away from it all in Destiny 2.

The car is on fire, and there's no driver at the wheel.
And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides,
And a dark wind blows.

The skyline was beautiful on fire.
All twisted metal stretching upwards,
Everything washed in a thin orange haze.

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine,
And the machine is bleeding to death.

We woke up one morning and fell a little further down
For sure it's the valley of Death.
I open up my wallet
And it's full of blood.

If you were to see my couple together in public, it would be in the shadows, but it will still be extremely rare.

A quiet in moment in breitzen's office.

My teenage rebel, the robotic adopted wild chid spies a moon.

She dreams of electric candy.

Just chilling in the past with my friend, the Traveler.

Such a nice area (when giant Vex or other enemies aren't trying to kill you)!

and to answer your question (Breitzen) regarding the critters I was wondering if anyone else has seen. It's not bunnies, and they are not on EDZ. (the mystery deepens) :)

I know I've seen some bunnies in the EDZ?

A ha! I wasn't just seeing things. I want to know how you got the kitty to show up, though. I hung out there for a while, but no kitty. :(

The one by the Speaker's window? I guess I just assumed he's always there. There is another kitty out in the Bazaar over in the apartments near Hawthorn.

Hmm, maybe I was at the wrong window? I'll look again.

I know I've seen some bunnies in the EDZ?

A ha! I wasn't just seeing things. I want to know how you got the kitty to show up, though. I hung out there for a while, but no kitty. :(

The one by the Speaker's window? I guess I just assumed he's always there. There is another kitty out in the Bazaar over in the apartments near Hawthorn.

I know I've seen some bunnies in the EDZ?

A ha! I wasn't just seeing things. I want to know how you got the kitty to show up, though. I hung out there for a while, but no kitty. :(

I ..uhh.. I mean my Guardian.. finds respite in sitting by the waters edge at night watching the ships fly in and out and admiring the way the moonlight reflects on the calm waters.

Another favorite hideway (or at least it was 'till Xur starting showing up in the area from time-to-time, attracting a crowd..), an area my Guardian has named "Sunset Grove" for the foliage on the trees here always holds the the fiery shades of orange and red reminiscent of the sun when it's low on the horizon.

Surrounded by trees, a beautiful view of the distant mountains and lake below, what could be more relaxing?. Small patrols of Fallen and Cabal still frequent the area, but with her Hunter's stealth she can easily get to this spot unseen if she wants to escape the fight for awhile.

The cathedral at Trostland ..a place that will always be deeply sentimental to my Hunter, for many reasons including that she came here in a dream the day her ghost found her and she became a Guardian.

Raga: I want to amend a prior suggestion I made for a theme idea, "Botanical", and update it to maybe "Flora and Fauna"? While there is a plethora of plant life on the planets to admire, I know there isn't a lot in the way of critters roaming most of the planets ..but.. there is a very skittish critter I am really curious if anyone else here has noticed.

I need to post my shots for this one still. One of them is an older one and is the same location as one of your Guardians spots. But it's the first space I fell "in love" with in D2 so I have to post it :)

I am also sorry I missed when you ran an event to create back stories for your Guardians. That's a nice idea. I started writing one the other week for my Primary. Even if I never share it, it felt good to write it. ..now if the chaos that has been hitting my life the past couple of weeks would slow down, maybe I can finish writing out the story of her beginnings as a Guardian

As one of the very few Guardians found after the Red War, its toll and impact don’t have the same hold on her as on some other Guardians. The distance this has placed between herself and other Guardians is seen by Tacy as something between helpful and relieving. Like her Ghost, Tacy would rather spend time with run down Golden Age machines than emotional Guardians most any day.

Real Talk: Awoken treat dating humans like dating a puppy.

Nah, the Light changes everything. Breeding, however, hasn't worked out.

I think there is a Mass Effect background character commentary somewhere where an Asari likens dating humans as a short time fling, since she knows they will die in a few decades (ME humans still only have a lifespan of 150 years).

Awoken must get the same thing, since they don't seem to age after reaching maturity.

Which brings me to the next observation, where someone was talking about how dogs see humans as Elves, who have all these wonderous powers and seem to live forever.

Real Talk: Awoken treat dating humans like dating a puppy.

There’s one woman in the new Tower who is obviously on her phone/chatter with her mother and says frustratedly something like: “I don’t care that he’s an Awoken, mother, I love him!”

Someone has a crush on Zavala.