Donia

Ireland - 1712

The shining bright glimmers of stars greeted me as I flew past planets and asteroids. I could no longer control the speed or direction my craft was flying, yet it did not alarm me. The old piece of junk was never very reliable but from past experiences I was always able to to find my way with or without it working. I looked down at the tattered war worn uniform that had lasted me through the years. The colour was faded in spots that encountered more movement but it was in poor shape to begin with. My body was racked with pain with every jolt and shudder of the metal that encased my pilots seat.
I was running from a war. A war that destroyed my people and everything we had built. I wanted out. I didn't want to try and be some big hero and fight, I just wanted some peace. I would have been able to run forever if I hadn't been spotted on my way out. I felt betrayed that my own people would shoot at me simply in fear. I was a loyal citizen as long as I could remember.
I was no longer a child looking up in eagerness to the great towering cities and monuments to our heroes. I had fought my time in a war that only tore apart everything I had ever known. I was done.
A rapid beeping began growing in volume as I approached too closely to an empty planet with beautiful large rings circling in silence. The nose of my ship was headed right through a ring filled with dust and large chunks of ice. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes, gritting my sharp teeth together. This would hurt.
The ship rocked with giant painful scratches raking down the side, leaving a gaping hole in the once perfect rings behind me. What was left of my screaming computer system projected me to an inhabited low intelligence level planet. It was a breathtaking blue with swirling white clouds dancing over its few pieces of land. The people were very quiet and had not yet began space travel.
I looked down at the spanning mass of blue and green below me. It was spectacular, it's beauty not yet diluted by the pollution of technology. I closed my eyes, sinking into my seat for the last breath of my planetary air I would receive for a long time.

The crash was an instant shock, my body flinging up to the glass window above me, spasming at impact and teeth grinding together with a painful scratching sound. I quickly reached down to pull the emergency lever to open up the nearest hatch. My body was swept upwards by the waves, and towards what looked to be a shoreline decorated with houses and people crowding around to see what just fell from the sky.
I drug myself out of the water, my hair laying in tangled masses covering the tattoos that drew down from the side of my face to my neck.
Their stares followed me as I walked silently through their town,my spacesuit shredded and baggy, heavy with the extra weight of water. I heard screams and gasps and looked around to find a few people running into homes and market stalls. I was too different from anything their society had ever seen.
A small youngling came up to me hesitantly, curly red hair pulled back away from her spotted face.
"Are you a witch?" She asked.
I stared down at her in silence, shaking my head in disapproval. " I do not know what that is. I am not here to harm you."
"What're you going to do then?"
I contemplated for a moment, remembering what the war on my home system had done to my people. The innocent children just like this that were killed before they could live their lives.
"I will do nothing to hurt you."
She grinned, a large toothy smile spreading across her face. She turned around immediately, running back to a woman who grabbed her and swept her away, her face scarred and beautiful from years of hard labour and motherhood. The little girl clapped happily, telling her information of what I assumed was about me.
The woman looked to me in caution before walking towards me with trepidation. "So what are you? A witch, druid, what?"
"I know of neither."
I nodded my head, starting to take a few steps further before the woman grabbed my arm and began pulling me towards a house.
"Well you aren't fooling anyone around here looking like that. You're a mess. I have an old dress that I haven't been able to fit in since Betha was born. I have no use for it now, you can have it."
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"Well I don't know what you are but you stand out. And those British bastards don't like anything that strays from their norms. Strange or not, no one deserves to deal with them."
I nodded. "It is appreciated."
"What's your name girl?"
I stayed silent, refusing to utter a word. I betrayed my home, my people. I didn't deserve the name they gave me.
"Well alright then girl, guess we'll call you Donia. Come in, let's get you looking normal."