AN: Alright, this is the last ficlet I have done for now. But there are several other things in the works, so stay tuned!
CW: Tarsus IV
Prompt: Your story starts with a character standing on a windswept, desolate plain. How did they get there? What do they want? And what is that on the horizon, and why is it getting closer?
He is hollowed cheeks and brittle bones held together by spit and grit. He crouches in the middle of what was once a rice paddy, lush and ankle-deep with water, now parched and desolate. He has forgotten what hunger feels like, intimately familiar with the jut of bones against skin and the slosh of warm water in an empty belly.
He remembers a time before—
When the planet didn't stink of rot and black smoke and food was everywhere. When it was so plentiful that he could eat as much as he wanted- three times a day, even. Eat so much that his stomach bulged and still there was more.
When Kodos was just another government official, someone to be trusted and obeyed.
When family was an aunt and uncle that loved him and cousins that smiled bright. Now it is graves and empty eyes and guilt and eight lives in his hands.
He bares his teeth, eyes gleaming in the setting sun. It is enough that he is here and his kids are safe. It is enough that the rest of the world will burn and him with it before he betrays them to anyone. It is enough to know that he is strong, strong enough to carry them through this hell- but not strong enough to let them die.
It is enough to know that one day, he will find Kodos and gut him. But now—
Now there is an unfamiliar ship on the horizon and he has a responsibility. He spits on the ground as he fingers the knife thrust through his tattered waistband. His eyes are cold and his mouth set hard as he sprints across scarred plains beneath a poisoned sky.
He remembers a time before.
Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.