Disclaimer: I don't own anything, especially not Predator or Aliens. If I did, I'd buy a life size Predator model to keep me happy. Now that I've stated I own nothing, let's carry on with the story!
CHAPTER 1:
Return To The Backwater Planet
Throughout the cold and vast emptiness of space, a large and sleek ship named the Ade'k'ra flew by over the planets and other astronomical objects occupying the area. The large dark gray ship held a pointed round front while its middle remained in a round shape and ended with a square shape to support a rear thruster. Each side of the ship held a horizontal wing that raised up vertically halfway to support two square-like thrusters on each wing, which in turn left strings of lilac particles dangling in the quiet solitude of space. Green jade lights adorned the entire ship from the top to its bottom levels, which gave the ship a layered look on the bottom seeing as the docking bay contained a separate enclosed area onboard the ship. Within the middle portion of the ship inside, the Hunters levels contained a stream of males going to and from their quarters to others areas around the ship. Each level was divided into the seniority ranking of Young Blood, Blooded, Warrior, and etcetera. On the Young Blood level, a 6'6 tall sepia colored male wearing only a loincloth stood in front of a large mirror staring at his reflection as he flexed his muscled arms.
"Who's the best hunter on board?" he grinned smugly as he stretched, the rippling muscles bulging over his body. Pointing to the reflection, he gloated, "You are, you handsome bastard! That's why the females come to you!"
"Keep doing that and you'll break the mirror with your reflection" a light green toned male with forest green stripes, barked at him in reprimand and shoved him away from it. He'd grown irritated of the egocentric praises for the last minutes and his patience had run thin. "And put some clothes on for Paya's sake, you're in my home!"
"Thank you" a sapphire toned male commented dryly as he cut a piece off a pink round fruit with his knife at a nearby table. His ruby-eyed gaze glared at the jovial male, "I hope you don't do this in public. It will land you somewhere where you can do that permanently."
"We have ranks like that here?" the sepia male asked, clueless to the joke.
"No, you fool" he responded bluntly and snorted. "You'll land yourself in a bar somewhere in the outskirts of space where you can please females by dangling nude off a pole for their amusement."
"You can show them your graceful hunter skills as you slide down a pole and perform a flip naked" his other friend laughed while the puzzled male finally understood the joke. "You'll finally put your talents to use and shame the family."
"You two can kiss my ass!" he yelled, flaring his mandibles in a hiss to his friends, and stomped off to change in a room nearby. "At least I have the body!"
"You better not leave any messes in there!" his green friend yelled back and relaxed against a window overlooking the black void of space. "He'll ruin my room but if I touch his, I have to clean anything I do."
"He's Aru'Dre, what do you expect?" his blue companion pointed out simply and kept eating. Lazily, he added, "I'm surprised you don't put a sign saying 'No Aru'Dre's allowed'".
"He'll probably go whine to my mother" Kahet snickered and glanced out the window, his green eyes shining like jewels compared to the void outside. "I wish Bakuub would hurry and prepare the ship for takeoff. We better not run behind schedule."
"Maybe you should've gone to help" Sau'Nak suggested and finished his fruit. Throwing the remainders into a waste can next to the table, he pointed out, "You are the second in command of the group after all, Kahet."
"Leitjin's helping, he'll be fine" he said, waving it off. His friend gave him a blank stare either way which Kahet recognized as the patronizing 'whatever you say' look. He groaned quickly, "Don't look at me like that! If you want to help, go ahead, Sau'Nak."
The two males stayed quiet while they heard fumbling from within the rooms beyond the hallway. Kahet glared in that direction despite no one stood there to receive it. The thirty-year old male was always happy for company when he was on board the ship and not on a hunt, but sometimes. . .
"I swear I'm throwing him into a lake in our next hunt" he grumbled as he closed his deep set emerald colored eyes and rubbed his temples. "Unless it's acidic, of course."
His sepia toned cousin drove everyone insane on board the ship with his pranks but he was still fawned over by the young females. At times, Kahet thought about changing his casual approach to them and basically grope them like his cousin did. As a Young Blood, not many females looked at him due to his status yet but the young and naïve ones usually did. Being an Arbitrator's son and an Elder's great-great-grandson didn't help either. He wasn't attracted to the mindless breeders only eager to please a male, he wanted a challenge but females like that usually went to the stronger Blooded warriors.
But most reasons are because of me being a hybrid, he thought darkly. That and they probably think I'm sterile because of it.
"Earth rarely holds acidic lakes from my personal research. . .unless it's become heavily polluted by now" Sau'Nak said, scrunching his mandibles inward in repulsion. "If so, we picked a bad hunting ground."
Sau'Nak had become an stoic Young Blood over the years and usually kept the peace between his arguing comrades on board or out during hunts. Despite he didn't hunt as much as his cousins, he traveled with them to gain the experience he needed to survive while studying to become an Arbitrator. Aru'Dre still nagged him about said profession and was usually ignored. Now, they were preparing to head towards Earth for a hunt which had excited Aru'Dre. And an excited Aru'Dre meant unhappy members on board their small hunting ship.
"I don't care about the planet, it's the prey we must look over" Kahet informed as he stood up to stretch and yawn. He knew his upcoming hunt was a milestone among his family but he didn't see it as such a big deal. His father had been warning him about it due to his experiences but it was just another hunt to him. Sure, the humans were part of his heritage but he didn't owe them anything. "Oomans are greedy, selfish beings who only worry over themselves so we must kill our prey in isolated areas unless we seek retaliation from their government."
"You make them sound like fiends" Sau'Nak said, looking at him cautiously. "They are your people as well due to your mother."
"I don't care, they're still prey" he snorted and crossed his arms. "Besides, they treated my parents wrongly before I was born and I don't expect them to have improved over the years. The planet is primitive so I'm sure they won't entice me with anything they have. The planet itself, however, is a different story."
"Aunt Iliana said most cities would have pollution and the oceans probably aren't doing any better" his cousin added in with his own knowledge. Unlike his cousins, he thrived on knowledge from all fields, similar to Leitjin. His mandibles curled inwards in distaste as he stated, "I'd rather just watch it from within the ship than go out and watch my hand melt in their water."
"Don't be dramatic" Kahet laughed at his joke and slapped his cousin's back jovially. "Just go prepare your things and we'll worry about it when we get there."
"I suppose" Sau'Nak stated blandly and stood up, his 6'11 height making his older cousin look smaller. "Will you be attending the get-together dinner your mother's arranged?"
Kahet gave him a flabbergasted look and blurted, "Of course! She'd kill me if I didn't attend! She's been jabbing at me about it since I told her I was heading to Earth. I never should've said anything, it's like a milestone for her."
"Now who's being dramatic?" his cousin trilled and pointed with his thumb to Kahet's room in the back. "You'll be fine with our half-naked cousin back there?"
"I've faced prey double my size, I can handle him" Kahet assured and bid his cousin farewell. Sau'Nak nodded and left silently through the motion activated entrance.
Kahet looked over his living quarters for the past ten years and sighed. He was happy when he was back on the Ade'k'ra with his family but he also loved to explore new worlds and take in the sights. His current living space wasn't big since he was at the bottom of his rank but as he aged and gained more trophies, his home would move up over the levels until he'd gain one like his family had. At times, he envied the humongous area his parents lived in while he had a tiny main room and one bedroom in the back with a small trophy room by the side. He cherished the room he had when he'd been an Unblooded in his parent's home but he was independent now and he loved it.
My parents have a bedroom so huge they could put a pool in it!, he thought as he remembered the new area his parents had attained once his father had become an Arbitrator. He had been living in style back then and now he was stuck in a room that could pass for one of his parents closets. Meanwhile, I can't even walk in the dark without tripping over something. I can't wait to be 35 and become a Blooded hunter so I can get a better quarter.
"What happened? Our unhappy Sau left?" Aru'Dre's voice interrupted and Kahet glared. His cousin had finally dressed in something decent instead of wearing his barely there loincloth. "Stop being angry, you'll turn into Bakuub."
"Don't you have anything to do today?" Kahet demanded as his cousin simply cleaned his sharp claws in boredom. Sarcastically, he implied, "Like, I don't know, pack?"
"Everything I need is on the ship anyway" Aru'Dre said, shrugging carelessly. He wasn't a organized male and usually let the eta's handle the work or have his family remind him. "If I need anything, mother will be sure to remind me. The ship is fully stocked so far."
"Well, as long as you're ready" he said, nodding approvingly. "Remember, we have a get-together today."
"I love those, we always have a bunch of food" his cousin purred, already salivating at the thought. Usually, he competed with his uncle Badru and Kantra for the biggest plate but never won. "I can't wait. All right then, I'm off to the Science level to go annoy Shadow."
"Just because we have a kainde amedha with a neutral peace treaty up there doesn't give you the right to bother him" Kahet stated as Aru'Dre snorted, annoyed by having him point it out. "I don't need you bothering him since he's a rare nonviolent being that's not trying to kill us. I don't want you grinding his last nerve, make him berserk, and kill you for stress relief. Besides, he's smarter than you and will probably lock your brain from over thinking."
"No kainde amedha's smarter than me!" he objected instantly, feeling insulted at the mere notion. "That's like saying prey's better than us. He's an ally. . .kind of. . .that's all!"
"Now you're being arrogant" Kahet said firmly and glared. "Our mothers are ooman and they're part of our society. Does that imply they're prey now as well? Or that no other passive species is ever welcome among us?"
"No! That's different. It's just. . .stop making my brain hurt!" Aru'Dre growled and crossed his arms arrogantly. "Just for that, I'll bug both Shadow and Eshin'Ga."
"She'll beat you into oblivion" Kahet laughed and watched his cousin hiss, securing his point. "Go tell Shadow he can join us if he wants. He likes new planets."
"But. . .but he's. . .what if he eats us?" Aru'Dre whined as he complained childishly again. Kahet sighed and felt like smacking him. He cherished the younger days when he could rough house with him, make him cry, and blame it on training.
"He's been on hunts with us before and nothing's happened!" Kahet pointed out, running out of patience. A trait he'd inherited from both his parents unlike Leitjin. "How do you think we found him? He didn't just fall into our laps! Actually, he fell on you but that's not the point. The point is he's been sentient as well as peaceful with us which has rarely occurred within hunted prey, excluding oomans. This is a chance to learn more about his kind like Eshin'Ga is doing up there. It's hard enough that he was ostracized by his own kind, I'm not going to make him miserable when you and I both know we've suffered the same. I may hunt but I will not criticize a being as inferior when it's intelligent enough to hold a conversation with me and not try to kill me." Giving Aru'Dre a glare, he finished, "Our mothers are proof of that so I'm telling you to open your mind for the last time."
"Fine, but he better not nest in my room!" Aru'Dre agreed in reluctance and tried to think of something positive. With a hand on his chin, he murmured, "Well, he's stealthy, maybe he'll help me do pranks."
"Oh no" Kahet sighed and sunk into a chair.
XXXXXX
Kahet walked into his family's home which resided many levels over his. He had worn a blue tunic with small mesh decorations over the chest area and a navy loincloth that reached his knees. He left his hair loose and had changed his grey clasps to silver ones. His green eyes scanned the main room as he entered and noticed his copper colored brother lying lazily on the couch. His 6'5 tall body draped over most of the couch, leaving little space for anyone else.
"Somehow I'm not surprised you're here already" he scoffed as Leitjin hissed and shook a fist at him without moving.
He spends more time here than in his own quarter, he thought amusingly.
"I'm tired since you let me help load the ship" Leitjin grumbled and glared at his brother, "Why did I let you talk me into it? Bakuub almost drove me insane with orders on where things went! Apparently, everything needs to be alphabetized in the store room."
Leitjin was currently an assistant medic and was gaining experience both onboard the Ade'k'ra and by traveling with Kahet's group to heal them as necessary. Since he was twenty six, he was mainly under a medic's supervision when performing any procedures despite he was flawless in the field. His mother was proud of it and boasted it to his father all the time while Leitjin tried to hide his embarrassment; he was still modest as a man as he'd been as a pup. Today, he wore his beige colored medic robes while keeping his hair tied up so Kahet guessed he'd also been working in the med bay after helping load the ship.
"He's like that when it's time to leave" Kahet chuckled and sat down on a chair next to his younger sibling. He remembered one time when his friend had yelled for a mismatch for a product he'd ordered and made him lug the crate back until he got the right one. He blinked and muttered, "You get used to it."
"It was horrible!" he exclaimed and sat up. Pointing to him, he blurted, "I'm a medic and I'm meant to be kind to everyone but. . .he almost made me curse at him!"
"You don't say" he said in fake shock, trying to keep a straight face as Leitjin ranted on.
Leitjin's too nice to ever say anything bad, Kahet thought warmly. He's still the kindest yautja I've ever met.
"Since I helped with the ship, you owe me" Leitjin grinned and pulled out a piece of parchment he'd written on. With a sneaky grin, he said, "Here's a list of stuff I need."
Kahet snatched it and read it over silently. What the-
"This is all medic lingo, I don't understand any of this!" he exclaimed and gave it back with a frown on his face, "Forget it!"
"I polished your armor, you owe me!" Leitjin whined and gave it back. The two brothers fought with the paper until Leitjin ended up pinned down on his stomach by his brother, who held his arms crossed behind his back to prevent freedom. He grumbled, "Big whoop, so you're strong. I'm still not giving up!"
"What can you do? Inject me and knock me unconscious?" Kahet retorted and trilled at his struggling brother.
"No, my best weapon" he answered slyly with a smirk and called out, "Mother! Kahet's beating on me again!"
"That's low, even for you" Kahet hissed and quickly released his brother in order to sit back on the couch and look innocent. In a quiet hiss, he added, "No one uses the mother defense."
Frantic footsteps entered the room and their human mother had her lips thinned while placing her hands on her hips in frustration. Her brown locks were tied into a bun while she wore a maroon colored sleeved dress that ended in a slant down her left leg. Despite her firm glance, her sons stared at the pregnant bulge on her stomach. They forgot they were angering an expectant hormonal mother.
"You're leaving and you're fighting already?" Iliana demanded, glancing from a nervous Leitjin to a nonchalant Kahet. "I expect both of you to look after each other on Earth, not beat each other up."
"Yes, mother" Kahet agreed, clicking his throat irritably. Pointing to his brother, he said, "In my defense, he started it."
"I'm the innocent one, I'd never!" Leitjin said, looking to the side indignantly. Their mother still looked unconvinced at their argument and tapped her foot on the metal floor.
"We'll be fine on Earth" Kahet assured firmly as he cleared his throat to make her feel better. He never liked angering his mother anyway. "I won't let anyone get hurt on my watch. I'll make sure Sau'Nak's with Leitjin when they explore around."
"Good, humans will do anything to capture and study anything that looks remotely different to them at any cost" she said, looking at them in a worried glance now. The memory of her past making her cautious for her children's safety once they reached her home planet. "I don't want anything to happen to you two boys. I remember how they hurt your father years ago and I don't want it to occur to you too. So be careful and look everywhere with the different vision modes inside your mask, okay?"
"Yes, mother" her sons answered in unison as she left to fix a tablecloth on one of the tables for their dinner event in the next room.
"Mother, we're just going to Earth, it's not like we hunted down a clan of Bad Bloods" Kahet said, looking at his peppy mother as she hummed happily and kept fixing things in the next room. She stopped and gave him a death glare that instantly silenced him. Gulping, he stammered, "Of-of course, we're grateful for your token of motherly appreciation nonetheless."
Iliana smiled happily again and kept fixing the room. Leitjin sighed to himself, "Females are odd beings. I still don't understand them."
"You're the medic, you should know how to fix stuff like that" his brother muttered back.
"I'm a medic, not a miracle worker!" he pointed out quickly and gave him the list again with an innocent by sneaky smile.
"Arrgh! Fine, I'll do it!" Kahet mumbled and tucked it into his tunic's pocket. Leitjin grinned victoriously and wagged a mandible towards his brother mockingly. He waved him away and batted his shoulder, "Leitjin!"
The entrance opened again to show their father, Arbitrator Kantra, step inside while his twenty year old daughter, Aloun'Da, took size measurements from behind and typed them into her silver slate. Her father sighed but allowed it since he let her do what she wanted anyway despite her age. She was his only little girl after all. The 5'8 tall female skipped inside and sat down between her two grumbling brothers and hugged them.
"What're you so grumpy about? You're about to leave on an adventure again" she said, poking each of her older brother's temples with her fingers. Brightening up, she said, "How about I make you some nice dress robes? I received a new inventory with beautiful fabrics today."
Their happy sister had become a seamstress on board the Ade'k'ra and her creations were popular with the female gender, especially the adolescents. She'd been used to creating things at a small age so she chose to work with textile goods and had succeeded. She had her own business quarter in the recreational levels of the Ade'k'ra where she took and worked on orders of all kinds. However, she still lived with her parents since she had not found a mate. That's not to say she couldn't. The problem was her overprotective father who would frighten away any potential suitors with the end of his spear or break any amorous faces that turned her way. In his mind, no male was good enough for his only daughter until they brought down a kainde amedha queen with their bare hands before him.
"Aloun'Da, clothing won't solve sulking" Kahet told his sister who then sulked similarly to her brothers by crossing her arms and placing a gloomy pout on her face.
"It helps father" she mumbled with a pout and typed into her online slate again. "I'm making him a new cape. His old one is wearing out at the bottom and we all must look our best, especially an Arbitrator like him. I'll be sure to make that happen."
"Stop making your sister upset" their father growled and went over to pat her head protectively to change her mood. She chuckled and smiled up at her father as he grunted to her older siblings, "She's the happy one in the family. Don't ruin that."
"What about me?" Leitjin asked defensively, raising a brow. "I've been nice since the day I was born. Mother said so."
Kantra sighed and ordered, "You all are! Now stop putting each other down."
These children of mine, he thought exasperatedly but warmly. They never change.
"Fine but fix mother's mood" Kahet negotiated and pointed to where Iliana banged an uneven eating utensil over the table furiously and loudly to straighten it out. Kahet stared with quick blinks and complained, "She's scaring us lately with it."
"You? You've barely been here for three months, I've lived with it the whole seven months so far and even more when you three were born!" Kantra blurted and smacked his son's arm to make him move off the couch, "Go help your mother."
"No, I'm tired" he whined and hid behind Aloun'Da, who happily shielded her oldest brother. He grinned impishly as he easily slid out of that unwanted chore.
Lazy sons, Kantra thought as he glared at his oldest who only smiled cheekily in return. I spoil them too much. Kahet's becoming too much like me and Iliana will nag at me about it.
Grumbling, Kantra walked into the adjoining room as his mate fixed the dinnerware in deep thought. He leaned down and purred into her neck as he wrapped his arms over her enlarged belly to place his hands over it. He was happy to have new offspring after many years while Iliana hated how big she got.
"My boys are leaving again" she said sadly and leaned back in return as she placed a plate down onto the table. Touching the cold object, she sighed, "I miss spending time with them and knowing about their explorations. They're all grown up and don't need me anymore."
"They'll be fine" her mate responded to ease her worry and squeezed her shoulders fondly. Unlike yautja females, Iliana kept close continuous tabs on all her grown children and always worried after them. Kantra found the trait fascinating and prided himself for having such a concerned mate. "They always come back safe and they always seek you out first, of course they need you. No mother like you could be replaceable, Iliana, all our children need you no matter what their age is. I only want you to worry about the sucklings inside you."
But I like mothering my boys, she thought as she picked up a fork-like utensil and set it on the table.
"Their kicking sessions make it hard to ignore them" she said with an amused smile and placed her hands over his. "I hope you're happy, you're getting two sucklings in one pregnancy. And you're not leaving me with all of the work once they're here. They're twins, meaning it'll be twice the work, sweetie."
"As if I've ever left you alone" he snorted as she gave him a sly sidelong look. He groaned and confessed, "All right, I don't like it when I lose sleep. I'm a male and we don't coddle. Period. But it doesn't mean I don't love my pups any less because I give them to you."
"Uh-huh" she said and kissed his cheek. Her mate's complaints never ceased to amuse her as she asked, "Will you be here today?"
"Of course, I don't want to risk a tongue lashing from you" he trilled jokingly as they laughed together. Leaning down, he snuck in a small kiss from his mate and assured, "They'll be back before we know it. Maybe they can bring you some Earth food."
"Oh, that would be nice" she smiled and then gently smacked his hands away from her belly. Whenever he caught her alone, he would grab her into his arms to stroke her stomach until she fell asleep against him. He hissed as she chuckled, "No more petting the babies for now, I have work to do so call Aloun'Da to help."
"I could call some etas-" he started but stopped as his mate gave him another glare. He stopped and corrected himself, "Right, you're a 'do it yourself' female." She nodded and he hollered, "Lounda, come help your mother!"
"Yes, Daddy!" she yelled back making her mother wince as her shoulders tensed.
"Thank you, darling" she grumbled sourly and felt her twins kick once again from inside her stomach. Glaring at her mate from an angry mood swing, she snapped, "Oh! They're riled up again! I hope you're happy, Kantra."
"Yes, I am" he purred and chuckled as he bit her cheek softly. "I love it when you're feisty. It reminds me of the day we met."
"Do you remember what I did when you pissed me off?" she smirked but kissed him on the mouth softly. Kissing his chin, she smiled, "Purr to the babies for me, my love. I'd really like to finish setting the table with Aloun'Da and they love their purring father."
"Of course, my dear" he said as she sat down in a chair to rest her feet while her mate kneeled down and purred to her stomach. He never missed a chance to purr to each of his offspring before birth, starting with Kahet and now the unborn twins. "I can't wait to see our little ones."
XXXXXX
"Here's your stuff" Kahet said, throwing a gray knapsack into his brother's lap. Leitjin looked at the bag in complete puzzlement. Growling, he grilled, "Your items on the list, remember?! A list with jargon that almost drove me insane! Ring any alarms in your brain?!"
"Oh! Thanks" he replied and checked the bag eagerly. "You'll thank me when I heal you on Earth. How'd you find them? Honestly, I expected you to get lost within a second and not return for hours."
"Why you-" Kahet started but calmed himself before he strangled his only brother. He smirked and informed, "I pinned the list off on Uncle Ani-De. He was heading down to restock on some items so I asked him and he just gave them to me at my quarters."
"Lucky you" Leitjin said sarcastically and put the small sack to the side. Looking up at his brother, he asked, "So where on Earth are we going? You and Bakuub usually pick everything."
"Because Aru'Dre likes to pick chaotic places" Kahet pointed out instantly, annoyed. "You remember that weird volcanic planet! My sandals melted before I could even catch anything! There wasn't even life on it. It was just a ball of lava that melted a good pair of shoes. That is why he doesn't get to choose anymore."
"And then there was that ice planet!" he continued ranting as Leitjin laughed. "My feet got frostbite while Bakuub's mandibles became icicles the instant he took his mask off. And poor Shadow, he almost lost his tail. You tell me a kainde amedha can't cry figuratively! He didn't come out of the science lab for a week. Good prey though."
"I could only imagine if he was captain of the group" Leitjin said with a grin as he wiped his eyes from laughing so much. "We'd have lost limbs by now and half of us would be goners."
"See? This is the bonding I want to see" their mother's voice popped in cheerfully from the finished room. She'd worked on it nonstop and it was now ready for later on. She walked over to them and gave each a warm hug. "I love you boys. So, do you want me to pack any food so you can take it?"
"No, we already stocked the ship" Kahet said as he wrapped an arm around his mother's shoulders. She was so small compared to him now, his 6'8 frame dwarfed her 5'5 stature easily. He always laughed when his mother complained about his father's 7'9 height. He remembered the days when she was still tall to him as a child and now she was the small one. Ah, he loved being an adult. "I'll hunt something down on Earth to eat."
"You're not going to eat a human, are you?!" she questioned and her face paled slightly. "You're still-"
"I won't eat part of my kind, I'm not a cannibal!" he exclaimed quickly and shook his head, trying not to laugh. "I'll hunt something else that's edible."
"But I could still fix you something" she said and pinched his green cheek with her hand. He winced but smiled anyway. "Don't be stubborn like your father."
"I'll take some" Leitjin piped up with a smile. "I'm sure someone will get hungry eventually."
"Great, I don't want anything happening to my babies" Iliana said in a motherly tone and squeezed them both again.
"We're not babies. . .we're men!" Kahet said proudly and thumped his speckled chest with his fist. Iliana rolled her eyes at her son's similar attitude to his father.
"I don't care, no matter how huge you get. . .which you already are, you're still my babies!" she pointed out firmly and patted her belly fondly, "I still remember when each of you were still growing inside me-"
"No, not the suckling stories!" Kahet cried out and ran out towards the nearest exit. Leitjin moved to follow but his mother placed an iron grip on his wrist. Unlike Kahet, Leitjin's reflexes and agility weren't as sharp as his.
Oh no!, he thought desperately. I'm stuck now! There's no escape!
"Mother, the med bay needs-" he tried to reason but she yanked him towards the next room.
"I miss talking to you boys, you're always off doing things on other levels of the ship" she said and made him sit in a chair as she sat in another next to him. Somberly, she sighed, "The months you spend here go fast, sometimes I wonder if I'm out of tune with you two."
"We never forget you, mother" Leitjin sighed and felt a little guilty. He did spend a lot of time in the med bay, he couldn't help it, he loved medicine. As for Kahet, he was either training or planning his next hunt. "We just lead our own lives now, but it doesn't mean you're left out. But you have my new siblings coming in, they'll love to be coddled like I did when I was a pup."
"You hung onto my skirt everywhere you went" she chuckled softly in remembrance. Her little Leitjin was a grown medic now, still shy but honorable. She squeezed his larger hand, a hand that had been tiny years ago, and smiled, "You never let me get out of your sight for a second or you'd cry. Kahet and Aloun'Da, however, were always wanting to explore or attach themselves to your father."
"And now my new siblings will partake in the path of life the three of us have taken" he said brightly and assured, "We'll be fine, mother. Your care is for these new sucklings, Kahet and I are adults now and we're capable of handling ourselves. We could never ask you to cater and care for us more than you already have."
"But I like doing that to all of my babies, I don't want to lose that" she said, biting her bottom lip. Smiling, she chuckled, "It's a human thing, I guess. No matter how much I fit in here, some human actions and behaviors don't leave."
"Don't worry, I won't complain" he said, smiling back innocently. He poked her shoulder and asked, "How about a dessert? You've always liked cooking stuff for us."
"Now you're getting cocky, but all right" she laughed and ruffled his dreads while her lips kissed his forehead. "I love you kids."
"We love you too, mother" he said with an honest smile and purred. "Always."
XXXXXX
"About time you all came" Bakuub growled at four of his members.
"We had a mandatory family obligation" Sau'Nak said simply as he went into the ship with his things. He would fix his belongings in his room quickly since he was the main pilot of the ship. His mother had taught him in his late adolescent years and he'd passed his test for certification so he flew the crew on Bakuub's ship all the time.
"If you would've attended then maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy" Aru'Dre teased him and quickly ran up the boarding ramp before his leader could take a swipe at his head. Leitjin sighed depressingly and followed his cousin without a word.
"Here, my mother sent you a meal" Kahet said with a smile and gave him a warm rectangle container.
"Thanks" he said, holding the box closely.
Bakuub had grown into a more serious and direct persona despite he was only thirty-two years old. His mahogany coating gave him a red toning on the upper part of his 6'10 body which was toned in rippling muscle after all the years of training. He commandeered the small crew of his privately owned ship and he sailed wherever his crew agreed to. Kahet and he remained best friends as always, even close to almost calling each other brothers. Since Bakuub's mother had died when he was born, Iliana had looked over the child after he met Kahet despite his father had found a new mate. Iliana always made him a meal even if he wasn't hungry and made sure he got home safely ever since the two boys became friends years ago. Since he had decided to remain on the Ade'k'ra with his sister, she invited them to partake in their family so they wouldn't feel alone. In return, both siblings looked to her as a second mother on board.
"You can eat it while Sau'Nak flies out of here" Kahet told him as both of them walked up the ramp, the ship humming lightly from outside as it warmed up. He patted his friend's shoulder in consolation, "It was a nice dinner. I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help."
"It's all right, the others helped" Bakuub shrugged and headed to the control room. Loudly, he called out into the first floor hallway, "We can leave now unless someone forgot to do something!"
"No, I made sure my females got their lovin' before I came!" Aru'Dre shouted back, making both males gag.
"I didn't need to know that!" Bakuub yelled back irritated. Arriving in the control room on the second floor, Sau'Nak was already before the main piloting console, awaiting his orders, "Everything's fine, you can begin."
"All right, just have to wait for clearance" he responded as he typed onto the silver console to secure the hatch of the ship. He informed to the older male, "Every member is on board and accounted for. The trip should take about a month to reach and we'll schedule the rest on site."
"Good, I'll be in the dining hall" Bakuub informed and left to eat his warm meal. He hadn't eaten since he began fixing the ship today and was starving, despite his commanding outlook.
The ship itself was fairly small, it fit no more than ten people, so each member had a small quarter to themselves on the first floor. They had a public bathroom, med station, and a small common room to share on their trips, excluding the control room. The silver ship was sleek with curved horizontal wings and thrusters at the end of the ship. It contained two levels to fit all of the rooms and was a cozy home to its inhabitants on their trips.
"Shadow, get out of my clothes unit and find another place to nest in!" Aru'Dre's voice yelled from Kahet's right direction. "You don't need a tight area when there's an empty room next door! No, you cannot take my clothes unit, I need it! Shadow, give it back! No! Augh! I've got slobber on my arm, gross! It better not be acidic!"
"Do they ever not fight?" Kahet muttered to himself and hoped he wouldn't get an early headache. His cousin looked up from his pilot chair and offered a small smile.
"Get ready for a month of it" he said as his claws tapped the sides of his chair. "If it was a choice on who to kick out, I'd choose Aru'Dre. The hard meat is more reserved than he and he's the outsider on the Ade'k'ra. You'd think he'd be more rebellious than him with the way our species is! Hard meats and yautja have been mortal enemies for centuries yet the one grinding our nerves is our ever loudmouthed cousin."
"Shadow, go find a box to sleep in! I'm not giving this up!" Aru'Dre continued his angry loud rant, his voice echoing down the hallway. "You're with us now so get used to sleeping in the open like the rest of us! Hey, don't call me whatever you just hissed! How about I swing you around by the tail like a stupid lizard? Ow! He's hitting me with his tail! Stop it! All right, you can keep it!"
"Better go command those two before we have chaos" Sau'Nak suggested without looking at Kahet as he kept his mind on task.
Kahet left the room and headed in the direction of the nuisance and spotted a navy colored kainde amedha hauling a storage unit with his two skeletal arms while gently batting away Aru'Dre with his long tail. There was obviously no real fighting but Kahet couldn't help but pity his whining cousin. Intervening, he grabbed the bluish tail of the hard meat to stop him and pinned Aru'Dre under his foot in one move.
"We have one month of travel and I do not expect to see this every day" he ordered sternly and released them both. Crossing his arms, he demanded, "Now, what's the problem?"
"He's taking my stuff!" Aru'Dre snapped loudly and quickly stood up. He pointed to a tall white storage unit and hissed, "It's my property and he's stealing! According to my laws, I can throw him out an airlock."
"Aru'Dre!" Kahet groaned in reprimand and glared at him, "Your made up laws don't mean anything compared to the real ones. Stop being crazy."
'I need a new bed to nest in and this is small and comfortable', Shadow conversed in a telepathic voice. Most people would've freaked out from it but they were used to it since they met the strange alien anomaly.
"But it's mine!" Aru'Dre hissed back with a whine. Lifting his chin, he scoffed, "And I'm not crazy."
"Shadow, give him his unit" Kahet sighed and rubbed his temples from the noise. He needed to finish this quarrel before it gave him a migraine. "I'm sure there's another in one of the spare rooms so I'll help you find one. I don't want you fighting with this crazy one, however."
'I apologize, my room didn't have a unit so I searched for one that would fit and this was the only one', Shadow said, squatting down on his legs in a crouch as he let go of the unit. 'I will try not to fight but. . .sometimes it's unfeasible with this one'.
"I have a name, don't ignore me!" Aru'Dre snapped at both males and began to haul his unit back to his quarter. Kahet and Shadow winced from the loud scrapes of the metal unit against the floor as he dragged it.
"Come on, let's go before Bakuub yells at all of us" Kahet sighed and the quiet being followed from behind diligently.
This is going to be a long trip, he thought. I should've asked Bakuub to bring stasis pods to avoid conflicts. Then, I could chuck Aru'Dre into one and have some peace.
'You're thinking about hauling Aru'Dre somewhere, aren't you?', Shadow voiced into his mind.
"Don't tell me you read minds now?" Kahet wondered in a joke and looked behind him. "If so, the yautja are very off-track in their knowledge about you."
'No, it's all in the expression', he responded as he laughed in a series of clicks. 'I wish I could read minds, that would be extraordinary'.
"I think it's extraordinary enough that you can talk" Kahet laughed as the two walked down the hall together. The pair would've looked strange to any passerby's due to their peoples animosity but Kahet had grown up to give people a second chance and accept them. The others had done the same as well and now they were all bunched up in a small group after many years. The hunter humorously pointed out, "Most of your kind would try to devour me in seconds."
'And some yautja on board look at me like I'm a meal', he answered back and tilted his head to the left side. 'I'm not sure whether to be repulsed or delighted that they find me delectable'.
"Let's go with the first" Kahet said warily and raised a brow ridge. "You're too calm sometimes, Shadow. I wish I had that kind of composure. Both our races are naturally aggressive, even among their own."
'I was used to being ignored for years by my kind due to my unusual behavior and cognition that enraged the Queen herself', he spoke softly. 'I tune out the useless angry emotions that will get me nowhere though. I'd rather put my intellect to good use, like exploration'.
"Tell me about it" the hunter replied as he remembered the days when kids taunted him for being different. "It will pass once a person proves themselves."
'How do you feel about meeting the other half of your kind?', he asked cautiously, not wanting to intrude on the personal issue.
"I don't look anything like them so it doesn't matter" Kahet admitted quietly. "I'm just there to hunt, nothing else. I'm tired of fitting in so I'll indulge myself in what I do best."
'I'm sure all humans aren't awful', Shadow tried to reason without overstepping his bounds. 'There may be a good percentage worth studying. Your mother is an honorable woman despite being human so who's to say there's no others like her there?'
"If there are, good, but it's not my concern" Kahet said and decided to change the subject, "What do you plan to do on Earth?"
'Not much, study the inhabitants and help Eshin'Ga gather information as well', he said simply. 'She wants to get as much information as she can about all the planets we've visited'.
The ship rocked gently as Kahet felt it move upwards and begin their course towards Earth. The rumbling became silent within seconds as the ship sailed out of the dock and flawlessly into space at a faster speed than the Ade'k'ra. Kahet lamented quietly at leaving his family again, knowing how his mother fussed over his well-being.
I'll see her soon, he thought. Maybe the sucklings will be born by then.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the shower!" Aru'Dre announced, his footsteps thundering down the hallway.
"No one cares!" the only female's voice, Eshin'Ga, rang out from her quarters where she was studying a plant organism from a nearby planet under a microscopic scanner. "You better not hog all the water either!"
"Shut up, all of you!" Bakuub spoke over the loudspeaker of their ship and Kahet winced from the sudden noise, "Can't a man eat in peace?! This ship is on silent mode for at least an hour. Unless you're dying, don't make a peep! And if you are, go see Leitjin!"
"Wait! We're supposed to share the meal!" she blurted from her quarters and quickly stepped out to track down her younger brother. Kahet and Shadow watched the tall orange toned female jog down the hallway. "Bakuub!"
"Next time we choose a closer location" Kahet sighed and began walking again with Shadow.
XXXXXX
End of Chapter 1. Okay, so here's the first chapter of the sequel and the new group heads off to a new adventure on the little planet Earth. As you can see, they're an odd group and aren't the popular club of yautja among their own. Armed with a Xenomorph, it makes the groups even more peculiar. Thanks for reading and I'll be readying the next chapter which includes more new characters as the group becomes more diverse.