This is a project that I started a long time ago, and never really finished. I plan on finishing this, and Priority: Haestrom over this summer (hopefully)
I hope you all enjoy!
Keelah se'lai
Prologue:
The collage of reds, oranges, and yellows eventually subsided as Kaeli'Steiz began its arduous descent below the horizon in a beautiful, brilliant sunset. Zaal'Koris's eyes followed the light-bringer to Rannoch until the sky was painted purple and Kaeli'Steiz was no longer in sight. He had a tradition of watching the sunset since that faithful day when the Quarian race set aside their differences with their children, the Geth, "His greatest victory," he called it. He smiled at the memory of it, knowing those days were gone and dead. That had been approximately sixteen years ago. Times had changed. Some for good, others for bad. That's why he liked the sunset, it always stayed the same, never changing. It was a daily reminder that they'd finally gotten what they had fought to retake for three hundred years: Rannoch.
He shivered as he felt the temperature begin its rapid drop, as was common in the desert. The desert winds felt wonderful against Zaal's exposed white-gray skin as he relished in the fact that quarians could finally live without the suit for short periods of time. Deciding that he had been out far longer than what was necessary, he reentered his living complex to be greeted by his wife, Gola'Koris. She was without her suit as well, but she could remain out of her suit for much longer periods due to technological augmentation. They met in a brief, yet passionate, kiss.
After their lips parted he said, "So, did you put Unna to bed?" Asking about their fifteen year old daughter.
Gola rolled her eyes, "No, she's refusing to. She says she wants to see you." Unna was increasingly becoming more and more like her father, headstrong and stubborn, a free spirit. Although, these were not bad qualities, Zaal actually prided himself for his tenacity; it had served him well as an Admiral.
"I wonder why..." he murmured.
Gola shrugged, "She didn't say why. Just that she wanted to see you." She smiled, placing a hand on her forehead, and shaking her head, "Teens."
"Don't worry, I will take care of it," Zaal said as he leaned over and kissed Gola on the forehead. He quickly put his suit back on, feeling less exposed than he had been previously.
He climbed the stairs, feeling some pain in his legs as he did so. His bones, at times, gave him trouble; they were growing weaker as he grew older. Zaal was past prime for Quarians; he was at an age of fifty-three.
He finally reached Unna's room and slowly cracked open the door. "Unna, can I come in?"
Unna was lying on her bed, reading one of her beloved books. She too was without her suit. She set her book aside and sat up, propping herself up on her elbows. "Of course, Dad." She said with a wave of her uncovered hand towards him. Zaal praised the Ancestors again for the fact that his daughter would not require any sort of environmental suit anymore, at least not on Rannoch. Their generation's immune systems were in much better condition than previous generations that had been born on the Fleet. Because, it had been suggested by the new government that, for the first twelve years of life, every Quarian child remain outside their suit or bubble for a good two to three hours a day, and were also subject to multiple vaccinations every few months, oftentimes getting constantly sick. But, it was worth it, the procedures worked.
Zaal entered her room, approached the bed, and took a seat, "I heard you were giving your mother some trouble. Something about refusing to go to bed?"
She shifted uncomfortably, "Yes... But I wanted to see you; you tell the best stories."
Zaal raised one of his eyebrows in a bemused expression, "Oh, so it is a story you want? Aren't you a little old for that?"
She giggled, "I'll never be too old."
Zaal grinned; he loved it when she laughed. He quickly checked the time, "Alright, I have a story for you, but it will take multiple nights in order to tell it. It is a long story, one which I never told you. It was passed down by my father, by his father, and by-"
"I get the picture, Dad. It's a really old story." She interrupted with a grin.
"-It goes back 5,000 years, to when the Quarian race was still a shattered state, and how one man changed that forever."
Unna's eyes were wide, already entrapped in the story. Zaal continued, "It is a story of love, loss, betrayal, unity, and most importantly, The Ancestors. It starts with a young boy..."
Beta-read by fallenangel8794/Druzhnik