I see your true colours shining through
Flight was a gift he was eager to use, to expand his horizons, to explore. But today, it wasn't just the itch of exploration urging him onwards - it was actual itching. His skin peeled and pulled uncomfortably at all folds and creases, red and raw and burnt to a crisp.He knew how to treat burns. Especially sunburns - he'd grown up with them, under the Australian Sun, where the weather was 90% sunny and 10% patchy cloud cover. And he was a vet. He'd studied medicine. He should know how to treat goddamned sunburn.
It was goddamned alright. Something had deigned to grant him a taste of their power, scorching him where he knelt before the shrine, burning his skin through layers of clothes, leaving him pink and maroon, blistered and peeling.
Being in Halo helped. The constant cool air, even lying in the snow every now and then, helped to soothe, to provide some semblance of relief, albeit brief.
Today he couldn't seem to find any relief, no matter how many snowdrifts he stuck his head in. So he flew, feeling the burn as if it was on his skin still beneath his feathers, feeling the stinging heat with every movement, pushing onwards anyway.
There, was what he was looking for, a melted pool, an icy bath - water so cold perhaps it would numb the burn once and for all, though somehow he doubted this would be end of it. Landing and shifting to his human form nearby, he shed his outer layers quickly, leaving on only shorts, the heat from his burn and the spring sun enough to keep him from shivering even as he ventured into the pool without hesitation.
so don't be afraid, to let them show
CHULANE
