Re: A Higher Plane: A Huar'raughq's Ascent to the Stars
Kidhido'on cut his speed as he brought the yawing transport down towards Acheon and the end of another run. His mind was filled with memories of boiling plasma and exploding metal shells over this same view, but it didn't affect his piloting. The memories were a part of him now; no doubt his suffering was only just.
He acknowledged the crew as he made his way off-ship, after landing. The physician in charge of the mission tried to speak with him, but the Etyri pretended not to notice and continued on his way. He had contributed to the rebuilding efforts in his own way, by piloting the missions, but he had no intention of listening to the humans babble on about it. This only stirred the demons.
Kidhido'on, war veteran, Charioteer Captain, also ignored the looks directed at him by those who recognized him. He was the Etyri, the alien, who had caused so much pain and suffering to this planet-nest. They cared nothing for his symbolic atonement; no doubt they would remain unsatisfied were he to be lynched. He knew his alien-ness only made his sins worse in their eyes. He had taken the gift their race had given him, and turned it against them.
His garb carried only his guild and rank insignia. There were no references to his military career visible. And yet, he knew he was soiled, and the humans could sense what they would call the darkening of his soul. His mind touched briefly upon his own cosmology, still in desperate flux from all he had been through. He needed meditation time, he needed to fly in atmosphere and breathe clean air again. He looked through glass at the murky sky beyond the spaceport, and made up his mind to leave the city for a time. Noting the damage still waiting to be repaired, he acknowledged that he had much to work through.