He didn't know what he was doing here. They couldn't be… I mean they were his descendants, so surely they would have lasted longer. He had to see for himself. Bail'in'mar leapt from roof to roof as the starlight shone down upon his cloaked form. He was in the Ooman city of Huston looking for his son Benjamin. He could barely pronounce his son's name correctly even though he knew a lot of Ooman Speech. He ducked behind a ventilation structure protruding from the roof of a factory building to hide from an elderly Ooman walking his pet, a dog he believed or a bisor as his people called them.

He thought back to only a month ago when he was back on the continent of Jin-teir'inn on the home world Vasti'en having a wonderful dream that his son was a great warrior. But everything took a turn for the worst…when Cetanu showed up. Cetanu was the God of Death in his people's culture and when you saw him in a dream; it was never a good thing. Cetanu had told him that his son never made it to the Ooman home world of Earth. There had been a ship accident and he did not survive the crash. Bail'in'mar had thought that for once Cetanu, The God of Death, was wrong.

He had seen his son on Var, a designated hunting planet used for Blooding purposes, and had watched as he was Blooded after killing his first Kainde Amedha or Hard Meat. The Kainde Amedha are creatures that live in four stages. Egg to face-hugger to young drone to adult drone. A larger version of the adult drone was the queen or Kainde Amedha Lou'dte Kalei which literally means Hard Meat Child Maker. The processes of being Blooded was when a young Yautja, or Unblooded, would slay his first hard meat and have the acidic blood placed on his forehead in the mark of whoever taught him. This marked him as a man and able to take a mate. Of course Benjamin already had a wife and child and loved to brag about them to the other Unbloods, but in Bail's culture only those brave and strong enough to survive their first hunt and kill at least one Kainde Amedha could be allowed a mate. Those who were not fit to hunt either died in the hunt or if they were handicapped, had a genetic defect, or simply would not hunt were usually permanently sterilized so as not to weaken the great and powerful race that was the Yautja. The sterilized ones usually became slaves or Etas as they are called and served Blooded warriors. Not all Etas are sterilized but they are looked down upon and ridiculed. But enough of the history lesson, his son had to be alive.

As he came closer to Ben's dwelling he became more sure of the fact that his son was alive and well. His son was only half Yautja but he was a strong and proud warrior whom any father would be proud to call his son. During the hunt he even saved the life of one Unblooded whom had been knocked unconscious after a small rockslide. Normally having your life saved by someone else was considered weakness, but they all were impressed by his show of bravery and compassion. The Unblooded had killed his own Hard Meat and became Blooded and the two became fast friends. This had only been one month ago. He had even spoken to the spared Young Blood yesterday when he was asked if Ben would ever return.

A cold wind blew and sent a chill down his spine. It was about 50 to 60 degrees in Ooman temperature, but it was considered cold to his people. He was probably the only Yautja on of the planet at this time, since hunting season was in this planet's warmer months. He remembered the last time he was on this planet in its cold season.

On one hunt to this planet he encountered an Ooman that would change his life forever. It was a female and she was in trouble. Five Ooman males were cornering her in an alley way in the dead of night and were attempting to hurt her. He was disgusted by this sight and saved the female. Yautja females were larger and much stronger than males and so were in no danger of being hurt by a male. It is also considered extremely rude and stupid to even displease a female because, next to Arbitrators, females especially of high rank could have a foolish male castrated for the slightest fuck up.

She had been wounded by an Ooman stinger, or gun, in her leg so he took her to safety to tend to her. He didn't know how or why, but something about this Ooman seemed to catch his interest. After tending to her she passed out and he left her to rest. He stayed with her the night so as to protect her further. When she awoke she had been unaware of his presence and began to sing. It was beautiful. He knew that the Oomans possessed the ability of wonderful song but he had never heard it in person. It blew his mind. When she became aware of him she was a little frightened, but remembering how he had saved her, she calmed down.

After a while of talking through sign language, since he could not speak with her at the time, they became friends. And then closer. He had found out that her name was Ann Kingsmen and she was a famous singer known around all the Ooman worlds. He loved to hear her beautiful voice sing even if he couldn't understand her. One night they expressed their desires for each other. In his inexperience with Oomans, he thought she understood exactly who and what he was, but he was sadly mistaken. The next day he found her yelling at him for something he couldn't understand. But what he did understand he didn't want to hear. She told him to leave and never come back. He loved her and he wanted her to be happy, so he left. As time passed he learned more about the Oomans and their language and finally was able to understand everything she had told him. She had said that she was disgusted with the way he and his kind would hunt and kill her people for sport. Apparently, she had not known that it was his people exactly who were the 'murderers'. What he wished he could tell her was that he had sworn never to hunt another Ooman after being with her. But it was a little late for that now.

He still loved to hear her voice. Sometimes the radio and communications would pick up on Ooman transmissions. Some thought they were pester-some and annoying, but he loved to hear her lovely voice and when he could he would record songs and play through them in his private chambers. He was always put at peace as he heard her sing as his clan ship sailed through the stars into the galaxy. One day he just couldn't stand it anymore, to just be sitting there listening to her magnificent voice and not be able to see her or feel her or even smell her sweet fragrance that was like Naxa berries and cream. So he went back to Earth to find her, but he never did.

When he looked through her home in the Ooman land of Texas, he found her not to be there anymore. He was about to leave when someone else arrived. He stayed to see who it was. That's when he met Ben. Needless to say their getting-to-know-each-other involved a fist fight. They beat the shit out of each other until Bail realized that the blood covering his opponent's body wasn't his own. Ben had glowing green blood just like a Yautja. After the two wore down a little they began to talk and Bail realized that Benjamin was actually his son! Come to think of it, Bail realized, Ann had been in heat when they were together but the chances of her getting pregnant was next to impossible. He had thought that they were just too different, but apparently they weren't as different as they thought. Ben had a harder time believing that his father was some alien from outer space how hunts humans for sport.

Soon Ben came to understand and the two got to know each other. Bail was shocked when he realized that Ben already had a family, a wife and son. Oomans and Yautja age differently, while Oomans age quickly the Yautja age slower. About one long season to his people was a little over two years for Ben's. They also only live for about 120 years maximum while Bail's live to about 2000 maximum. He was proud to know that he already had a grandson through Benjamin and he was eager to see his family, but Ben urged him to wait. Bail'in'mar understood, to Ben's people he was quite a sight and that Ben's family would have a hard time…adjusting to him.

Bail finally reached the house Ben lived in. It was still late in the night so everyone would be home and sleeping. He crept toward the house and snuck around to the back. If he remembered correctly there was a large sturdy wooden ladder-like thing against the wall of the house that was vines grew on. He had used it to climb into Ann's bedroom window on occasion. He began his climb into the house. He pushed open the window and soundlessly hopped in. he glanced around, it was dark but Yautja eyesight was generally better than an Ooman's so he could see where he was going. This used to be Ann's bedroom but since her death Ben had converted it into a study. He walked out into the hallway and headed down towards Ben's room.

He noticed an open door just to the right of him. This must have been Ben's son's room. What was his name? Alex? Yeah, it was Alex. He had never seen Alex and a little seek peek couldn't hurt. He pushed the door open just enough to allow him in. he noticed the room was pink. Pink? That was a weird wall color for a male to have, but he shrugged it off. Oomans were strange enough without him trying to figure them out. He glanced around the room and a puzzled look came over his face. There were plushy animals, flowers, glittery things, a crib…wait. Crib? Alex should be entering his early adult stages, why would he need a crib. In fact why would Alex even be living here, don't Ooman children usually move out around 16 or something? This bore investigation.

He walked closer to the crib and peered inside. Lying in a pile of pink blankets and fluffy animals was a little baby. Female? Dumb! It was so obvious now, that's why everything's pink! He could kick himself for how stupid he had been for thinking that Alex was still living at home. Ben must have had another child, proof that he was alive. A smile came across his face.

He looked back down to the tiny figure. He almost let out a shout as he came face to face with the little female. She was awake and had pulled herself up against the bars of her crib. What really caught his attention though were her eyes. They were bright yellow, even brighter than his. They seemed to glow with a life all their own. He smiled at her; she was defiantly of his line since she was able to move so fast and so silently that even he hadn't noticed. The little female smiled back up at him and Bail's heart warmed at the sight.

Then he was shocked even further, she spoke.

"hi" she said weakly. She was a little shaky, like a suckling learning to speak for the first time.

"Hello little one" he replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jenehfurr." she answered

"What?"

"Jennefur"

"Jennifer?"

"yup, that mee." she said very proudly.

He grinned at her again. She was so tiny yet she had so much spirit. You could basically see it emanating from her eyes. Jennifer was a hard name to pronounce for him so he picked a name by which he would call his granddaughter by. Hu'tuja Knte which means BrightEyes.

"Well my little BrightEyes, it seems that you can talk pretty well. I'll bet you learned from your father."

"Who?" she said as she cocked her head to the side.

"Your father." she still didn't get it. He thought for a moment. "Your daddy?" it was strange to talk in this manner. He usually didn't talk with children, including his own. He had well over 90 children through his 12 wives and they took care of the younglings. Hell, he rarely saw his wives when it wasn't mating season.

"yup. my daddy awex taut mee."

"Awex? You mean Alex? Alex is your father!?" Bail stood there with his mouth agape looking at this young child.

"Isn't Ben your dad and Alex your brother?" he wanted to make sure that she was sure. She was smart but she was still a child.

"nop, my daddy daddy died wen he wa wittle."

Bail flinched at that slightly. It didn't seem like she should have talked about such a grim manner in such a sweet way. His heart sank. So it was true. But a thought hit him just then.

"But then you wouldn't be my granddaughter, you'd be my great-granddaughter!?"

The child just looked at him. Bail could go down to Ben's room and see if Alex really was there, but somehow he knew that little BrightEyes was right. There was no reason for him to be here. It still didn't seem completely real to him though, that his son was dead. His clan was famous for being one of the five strongest and most famous clans in his people's history. To think that his son died from a simple ship accident after coming home from a vicious battle. Maybe the fact that he wasn't completely Yautja was the reason. Maybe Ooman were just not fit to hunt like the Yautja. That would mean that Alex would probably not last the Hunt either, so why bother drawing him into a world where he would only die. The same could be said with BrightEyes too, she defiantly would not last since she was only 1/8 Yautja. He didn't think he could bear it if she died. He would leave, that's what he would do. To keep his family safe, even if it meant that he would never be able to see them again…so be it.

But he wanted to remain in her life somehow. Then it came to him. He reached for the leather necklace around his throat. Dangling from it was a thick fang from a recent honorable kill. He had had the base capped in precious metal and the fang had been engraved with the names of the greatest warrior ancestors of his line. He had just gotten it back from the engraver's and was eager to use it to attain more females, but he had a better idea for it now. He took the necklace off and put it around little BrightEyes's neck. He had to loop it around her head three or four times and it still hung down to her knees. Her little fingers twirled it around. He placed one of his large clawed hands on her tiny head of shaggy jet black hair. She looked up at him and grasped one of his long black claws. Bail grinned slightly; she had a pretty good grip for a suckling. Maybe he was becoming soft hearted. He gazed into her big yellow eyes and decided it was time to go. He let go of her head and walked over to the window of her room. He was on the second floor so it was no problem for him to jump. He turned to her once more, his heart filled with sorrow.

"Good-bye my Hu'tuja Knte, my BrightEyes." he said as he placed one foot on the window sill.

"buh-bye." she said in her small sweet voice. She lifted her little hand and wiggled her fingers in the Ooman form of fare-well.

"Stay safe." and with that he leapt. He trotted into the shadows and off towards his ship to return home.

Jennifer plopped down in her crib and fingered the long necklace the man gave her. She sniffed it, it smelled like him. Somehow it reminded her of her daddy and it comforted her. She took it off and slipped it under one of her fluffy pillows. She reached over and hugged her fluffy pink lion and fell asleep nibbling on its left eye.