It was a silent night aboard the Rayya, an old, popular quarian vessel that is part of the Migrant Fleet. A young female quarian, Leni'Orm nar Rayya, was preparing to go on her Pilgrimage. Her six-month training - a program that is basically a prerequisite for every quarian who is about to go on their Pilgrimage - had come to an end. Despite her being nervous, she knew going on the Pilgrimage was about the best she - and any other young quarian - could do to ensure her people's survival. The night before she left for her Pilgrimage, Leni was sitting with her parents in their own tiny living quarter. Both her parents were asleep, but the fact that in a matter of hours she would be leaving the Migrant Fleet kept her from sleeping. Leni was unsure what to do; she kept wondering if she would ever even return to the Migrant Fleet after her departure tomorrow. After all, the quarian Pilgrimage can be risky. Quarians on their Pilgrimage travel around the galaxy completely on their own, which naturally involves visiting new worlds, meeting new people of wholly different species, and even doing business with them - all in hopes of finding something that might be of interest to their people.
Leni understood this, yet it was only natural for her to be so nervous. After spending several hours of thinking about her Pilgrimage and not trying to sleep, she took a quick look at her parents, who were peacefully sleeping to her side. She remembered that she might never see them again when she steps out of their living quarter the next day, forcing her to shed a few tears before she finally lay down and closed her eyes.
After about seven hours of restless sleep, Leni woke up and looked to her side to see her mother cooking breakfast. Leni asked, in a tried voice, "Mom, is that you?" to which her mother replied,
"Yes, Leni. I was about to wake you up. Your food is ready. You only have one hour before you meet with the Admirals for the final briefing prior to leaving the Migrant Fleet."
Leni jumped from her bed and hugged her mother. "I love you, Mom," Leni said, her voice sad and tuneful, "I will never forget you. Ever."
"Oh, it's okay, Leni," the mother said, trying to comfort her daughter. "We all went on the Pilgrimage. Me. Your father. Even the Admirals you're going to meet shortly."
"Thank you, Mom," Leni said, her voice more comfortable, "I will always remember what you said to me." Leni didn't know what her mother was feeling at this point, but she thought she'd say that so she could at least reduce the worries.
A few minutes of silence had passed, until the breakfast was ready. Understandably, Leni didn't feel like eating. But she knew it was the least she could do to satisfy her mother - especially in a moment like this. Leni started eating. She had a number of brief conversations with her mother during the meal, most of which were about her mother's past experience with the Pilgrimage.
After breakfast, Leni asked her mother, "Where is dad? I want to see him before I leave."
"He went down to the trading deck shortly before you woke up," the mother answered. "Let's go meet him together. We don't have much time left until you're supposed to be with the Admirals."
The two made their way through the crowded corridors of the Rayya's living quarters. They took the stairs down to the trading deck of the Rayya, where the residents of the ship could buy, sell and borrow items of all kinds. Despite the crowd, Leni was able to notice her father thanks to his reddish enviro-suit, which was a rarity among the residents of the Rayya.
"There he is," Leni shouted, "Come on. Let's go to him," Her father was buying some groceries for their living quarter. "Dad…" Leni shouted again, when her father immediately recognized the voice and turned around to see her.
"Oh, Leni!" he exclaimed, "I was afraid I wouldn't have the chance to go back to our room early enough and talk to you before you leave."
"Are you kidding me, dad? I would never leave before I see you." Leni argued, her voice again very tuneful and honest, "Look, dad, I just wanted to thank you. You and mom have done more good to me than I will ever do to you." Then she turned her face to her mother, who was standing right behind her, and said "It's that time… I'm going on my Pilgrimage. Just like you both have before." Now she turned her face back to her father, "Dad, please take care of our room. Take care of mom. Take care of everything that belongs to us and all of the Rayya. And…"
Before she could continue, her father interrupted by saying,"Leni, please, you don't have to tell me that. You know I've always considered what's best for us to be my number-one priority. And I know you will do even better with your Pilgrimage," he continued, "Who knows? You could be the reason for us to reclaim our homeworld from the geth. You could do the impossible. Just try to be confident and believe in yourself. After all, this is what the Pilgrimage is about."
By the time the father finished his words, Leni was crying, though he couldn't tell as her face was blocked out by her mask. Without saying a word, she pushed herself onto him and hugged him. It wasn't until she felt his body touching hers that he realized she was crying, but trying her best to not to cry out loud.
"It's fine, Leni," he said, his deep voice making Leni feel all safe and relaxed.
"It's time for me to go," Leni said, "It's time for me to leave you, to leave mom, to leave the Rayya, to leave the whole of the Migrant Fleet," by which she followed, "It's time for me to leave my life," causing both of her parents to realize just how serious the pain she felt deep inside her was. In any case, there wasn't much they could do. They had gone through this exact same moment before. It had more or less become the norm for quarians prior to leaving for their Pilgrimage.
Leni's final conversation with her parents was cut short when the announcement of the meeting with the Admirals began. The three of them were still in the middle of the crowded trading deck. Before she left for the meeting, Leni didn't hesitate to share a final hug with both of her parents and tell them she loved them, at which point all three were already crying. Leni could confidently tell her parents were crying with her - despite whatever psychological privacy their enviro-suits provided them with. Now she turned around and began to walk back to the stairs, the pain in her heart increasing with every step she took further from where her parents were standing. Both her parents held each other as Leni disappeared in the crowd, when her mother asked, "Leni will be fine, right?" to which the father replied,
"I know she will… I know."
Leni didn't immediately make her way up to the hall where she was supposed to meet with the Admirals. Instead, she went back to their living quarter to leave a small note for her parents, where she wrote,
To the two most important people to me, I am sorry for anything I did that you didn't appreciate. I truly apologize if I have done something inappropriate to either of you before. I will always love you. Young or old. Alive or dead. Your love will never perish, even when I do.
Keelah se'lai,
Leni,
She left the note on her parents' bed, then left to the meeting hall.
Leni already knew what was going to be said during the meeting, but she had to go anyway. There were close to fifty other quarians who happened to be going on their Pilgrimage that day as well. The entire meeting didn't last for more than fifteen minutes, after which the young quarians were asked to prepare themselves for a march down to the shuttle port of the Rayya, where small shuttles were kept should a resident of the mothership wish to depart. These shuttles are designed by quarian engineers specifically for long-distance travel. The shuttles vary in size, but the average shuttle is capable of holding two to six passengers at any one time. But quarians departing on their Pilgrimage almost never leave in groups. Instead, each quarian to leave the flotilla is given a shuttle for them and for them alone. There are many reasons for this, but the major reason would be due to the fact that quarians going on their Pilgrimage are assumed to be completely on their own. As a quarian gains control of their own shuttle, they can start their adventure as they please, go anywhere they want. Typically, each shuttle had some basic supplies for a single quarian passenger in order to help them on their first journey out of the flotilla. These include ready-made food, a small life-support system, a bed, an omni-tool, and an extra supply of credits. In addition, every shuttle had a terminal with the names and locations of some major public locations in the galaxy, such as the Citadel, Ilium, etc.
Leni was waiting in line for her turn to take a shuttle and leave. As she was waiting, she couldn't help but think what to do, where to start, or what her parents are going to be like without her. Within ten minutes, her turn had come. Now Leni was in front of the quarian guard responsible for the shuttles, who bowed for Leni as she was walking past him onto her shuttle, and wished her luck. She turned back to him, but didn't say anything, then she proceeded to enter the shuttle. There wasn't much Leni could do onboard. She already knew what was waiting for her inside - a number of supplies plus the pilot bay. She sat down and started to carefully look around the place, trying to make herself as familiar and comfortable as possible - knowing that she would spend a while onboard this shuttle. Of course, during the six-month program prior to the Pilgrimage, quarians were taught how to fly ships. So, flying the shuttle wasn't a problem for Leni. For her, the problem was where to take the shuttle.
Ready to take off, Leni began initiating the engines, selecting an initial direction for her to follow until she was completely out of the Migrant Fleet. The shuttle began to gently lift itself off the ground, leaving the port of the Rayya. Leni was now in full control of the shuttle's navigation systems. She kept a constant speed of about a hundred thousand miles per minute as she was flying past the countless vessels of the Migrant Fleet. Because the Migrant Fleet is very large, it took her hours until she noticed that the ships all around her began to look smaller and closer to each other as she flew further and further out, until she was finally out of the Migrant Fleet.
