Within a desolate area of the US a lone man was driving along the desert road one night in his Toyota pick-up truck, all beat up as it's colours were faded with time. He was barely paying attention to the road as his mind was muddled over the unsolved murder cases.
This man was a Private Investigator, who took the job of solving these murders without being asked to. He didn't pay all too much attention to case at first; he thought the police would catch the killer soon enough, nothing but small town problem, but the murders continued, and only gotten worse, meanwhile the cops were no closer to solving this spree of homicides.
It started off simple enough; a local man, bit of a biker really, was found murdered hanging off a tree. Small town stuff, the cops thought it was just a rival biker who did this, or someone the man ticked off the wrong way, since he had a few minor charges on his record, though nothing major. The only thing the local police couldn't understand was that his corpse was completely skinned; all his skin was pulled off in some way.
While the locals had wished it was only a one off incident the murders only continued after that, women were found the same way, even high-school students. The FBI themselves got involved when a whole family of mom, dad and kids are all killed in their home, but even they got zero leads.
The P.I. investigated on his own, hoping he might be able to find something, anything, that the cops had overlooked. So now he was keeping an ear out, driving around a small area of buildings where more than one of the murders took place.
Stopping his car and getting out he looked around the area at night, only a few lights from the buildings highlighted his presence as he turned on his torch and scouted the area, looking along the ground, the walls, anything that could hide something the police might have not seen or noticed.
Nothing, no trace of anything. It was almost like the killer was a ghost or something.
Even after an hour of searching he found nothing, not anything the police haven't already discovered by themselves. He already had turned his flashlight off as he walked lamentably back to his truck. Well, maybe he would have better luck somewhere else…
Before he was able to put his torch in the car, he heard something out the corner of his ear. He stopped, frozen solid as he listened intently, even holding his breath to quiet any noise he made. He heard it again, louder, like metal hitting metal, but noticeable. Slamming the door shut he quickly ran to the direction of the noise, running behind some buildings his stopped as heard an inhuman roar, like a feral lion, scream across the area. The man lacked any actual gun with him, only having a taser for protection as he brought it out his pocket and armed it.
And as he turned the corner he was just in time to see something slam onto the closed dumpster by the wall before dropping unceremoniously onto the floor, his torch shining his light on it. He nearly jumped out of his skin out of fright when he realized it was a body, blood splattered all over it!
Wait...this blood wasn't red, it is green, and glowing…
The sounds of banging brought his attention to the roof, only to see a shadow run across the rooftops and out of sight. Thinking his best action was to help the body he immediately rushed to the body's side, lying limp on the floor.
But as he got down and looked he realized it wasn't as human as he first fought: the body was on it's back, so he couldn't see the face, but what he could see that it was at least eight feet tall. It wasn't just simply tall, it was truly larger than life. It's body seemed very muscular and toned, and it's skin colour was more grey than it should be for a human, the orange and brown spots made it look reptilian even. Grabbing it's side he turned it over, with quite some effort due to it's weight he lay it and it's back as he glanced over the figure.
The first thing he noticed, a little quickly perhaps, was the two mounds sticking from it's chest. "This thing has breasts." He thought as looked at the identifiable female figure, with what parts of the body that had been covered up was not normal cloth and fabric but metal plating, covering up her back, sides, her crotch area, her arms and legs, save for her elbows and knees which were instead bare, excluding the fishnet style fiber going over many of the parts that had no plating over. It looked almost like armor of some kind.
He couldn't see he head, instead she was completely enveloped in a headpiece that seemed foreign in design, especially considering the head seemed to big for any human, and the off-beat dreadlocks-looking hair on her head only furthered this thought.
The P.I. had no idea what he was looking at, but looking over he could see that the same green substance from before was pouring out from wounds on the body. Whatever it was it was hurt, and needing patching up.
He wondered if this was the person responsible for the murders, they certainly seemed quite inhuman cases to him, but a part of his mind drifted to why she was in such a state to begin with, and he certainly saw something else moving up along the roofs, even if for just a split second. A part of his tactical mind told him this wasn't as simple as it looks.
Figuring it was best to ask her questions later, if she could even talk to him, mind you, and the man started to lift her up off the ground, her weight making it hard for him to lift her completely off the ground, so going behind her back and holding her by her torso he began to drag her away, grateful with how late it was and how isolated an area he was so nobody would see, he dragged her to his truck, uttering out "I'm getting too old for this shit." as he placed her securely on it's back.
"I don't get paid enough for this." He muttered to himself. "It's raining monsters. What next?"
It then started to rain.
With tired eyes, she awoke to pitch-black darkness, her body tired and laying prone on something, as she regained her conscious, and memories.
The last thing she remembered was being knocked out cold and falling to the ground after being stabbed and thrown. Tapping on her Wrist Gauntlet as she laid still she turned on the clear-vision mode on her Bio-Mask, where she was greeted with the sight of a ceiling staring at her from above. Strange, she was outside last time she was awake, why was she now inside a building?
With a crack of her neck and back she arose with her supine position and raised her upper half up, now in a sitting position as she observed her surroundings. She was in some foreign room, all sorts of strange miscellaneous objects littered the area, and she was not on the floor but rather was atop a wooden table.
Confused as to where she was she focused her attention on her own body and looked to her wounds. She was no longer bleeding out, as her wounds were now closed, but seem to show no signs of infection, but moreso, there was no blood on her, as if it was cleaned off somehow. No signs of bleeding on either her skin or armor, and to add her right upper arm was covered up in bandage. She didn't do that.
Turning over her body she dropped to her legs, standing up off the table and onto the ceramic floor. Wherever she is she couldn't stay any longer, she had a job to do and…
She stopped her train of thought when she felt eyes staring at her, and slowly turning her head she noticed a human male staring at her by a doorway, neither speaking nor moving, just watching with wide eyes.
Within an instant she spun around and quickly lunged over and grabbed this human by his throat before he could even draw a weapon and pulled him straight off the ground as he struggled to breath, this female looking him over as he thrashed his arms and legs, grabbing her arm as if to try and pry her fingers off him.
"Hold on, please." He tried to choke out through ragged breaths. "I'm not going to hurt you I-" He could barely splutter the words out. "I was the one who brought you here, he-healed your wounds." She listened to his words. "I'm-I'm just trying to find the one who's murdering all those people, I promise-" The human felt his body rushed to the ground as he was unceremoniously dropped by her, coughing loudly as fresh air was rushed to his lungs as he laid on the floor for a few seconds before slowly looking up, the intimidating figure of the larger, stronger and definitely not-human staring down to him, expressionless as her face was completely covered by her helmet.
And as the female stared down she noticed something shining off from his clothing. Observing it she could see it was some sort of badge, she couldn't read it's insignia or what the symbols meant by from it's design she seemed to understand it's meaning.
The female looked down to him for a few seconds before walking backwards, leaning herself on the table as she looked over her wounds. "You..." The voice resounded from the helmet, deeper than a human's, husky and even had a growl to it's tone. "Were the one who healed me, correct?" He noticed the way she rolls her r's a bit as she talked.
The human stood up as he answered firmly. "Yes, I found you unconscious behind a back alley covered in blood. I brought you to my home and patched you up and...well treated your wounds."
She seemed to stay silent for a few seconds, as if judging his words, and then began to bring up her hands she slowly pulled off her helmet and lowered it to the table as the human got a good look at her face: It was certainly not human, her forehead, while smooth, was far bigger than a human's, her face seemed sunken in, but oddest of all was the four mandibles covering her mouth, sharp teeth hidden behind her fangs. Despite this, the human got a sense she was seemingly young for her kind, her dreadlocks, if that's what they could be called, were quite dark, her face bore no wrinkles, and her eyes were shining like emeralds. The more he looked the more felt...more at ease with her presence.
Perhaps helping was how relaxed she was even with him being there. Even with how intimidating she was, and how unthreatened she is with this human nearby, he still needed answers. "Do you...do you know anything involving all the murders happening lately?" He asked firmly. Even it she seemed capable of killing him quite easily he still had a job to do.
She looked his way for a few seconds before pointing to him, or more precisely, his badge. "What you're wearing..." Her voice trailed. "Does it signify you are part of this planet's law enforcement?" He looked down to his badge, pinned to his suit, recognisable to those who worked in law services as a Private Eye.
"Eh...yes. I'm a Private Investigator. I'm trying to find out who's been responsible for killing innocent people." The female stared at him, believing his words as she pointed to herself.
"My name is L'Ditha, Ooman." She began. "I'm an Arbiter of my species, and one of noble blood; the Yautja. It is my responsibility to uphold the honor code of my people, and to find and take down any who oppose those rules. The one I am after is a Bad Blood; he has killed others of our kind, gets off to killing of any kind, and now I've tracked him down to this planet, where he has been busy with the males of your population."
"Not just males." He explained, his voice low. "Woman, even children have been-"
"WHAT!" The female roared, the intensity of it forced the human to take a step backwards. "THAT U'DARAHJE OF A SAIN'JA HAS BEEN HUNTING CHILDREN! WHEN I FIND HIM I'M TURNING HIM INTO AMEDHA! I'LL STICK HIS TH'SYRA ON MY WALL!" Her rant finished as she slammed her hand straight into the wall, leaving a noticeable dent in the concrete. Her breathing was ragged, panting hard for a few seconds before calming down, slowing bringing her hand off the wall as she stared at the crack. Despite this, the human was neither scared nor angry at what she had done, if anything, he genuinely felt touched at her anger.
"I will help you." The words confused the alien. "I will help you find the monster."
"Ooman, I do not require-"
"I'm not having it." He interrupted her, quite forcibly. "I'm refuse to just simply wait around and do nothing while the bastard massacres again. I'm not doubting your own abilities or anything L...Dith, but I am going to help you any way I can."
The Yautja looked at with judging eyes for a moment, before stating. "You are a most honourable Ooman indeed. I've never met any of your kind before, but I can you see you hold your honor to your heart. You must be quite an example for your species."
He was taken back by that random compliment, feeling a little embarrassed. "Er thanks. I...wouldn't say I go that far. Though, I think I'm the only resident in this town to ever go outside the US." The last part he whispered more to himself than her, not noticing the female rubbing her belly.
"Ooman, I am hungry. Do you have food here I could eat?" She asked suddenly the question coming right out of left field..
"Uh...sure." He turned to his fridge and opened it up, looking through the assortment of ready meals in his fridge before finding one that he thought would suit her.
Beef Lasagna, I suppose she eats a lot of meat. This should do, I hope.
Piercing the lid with holes he placed in in his microwave and turned the timer to the right length of minutes before letting it cook, the Yautja stood there in interest as she watched him.
"It should take 5 minutes to cook, so just sit down for now." He called, not looking behind him as he said this, so he didn't see the female doing as she asked without complaint.
Neither truly said a word to each other as the food cooked in the microwave, neither really knew what to say to each other as the minutes passed, letting themselves think deeply. By the time the clock tinged it was finished the human already had a plate and cutlery ready, and after placing it on the dish he turned and looked in the direction of the alien, seeing her silently waiting patiently on a chair. And as he placed the food on the table he couldn't help but notice how her legs were tucked in under the chair next to each other.
The human didn't believe the Yautja would need the knife and fork, as at first glance, with her loincloth, skulls and size, he assumed she would just tear into the food almost animal-like, but to his, rather delightful, surprise, she began holding the fork in her left hand and the knife in her right as she ate in peace.
He smiled at this, glad the his preconceived notions about her were thrown out the window. He almost couldn't believe how different she is like compared to how the other one is acting.
Speaking of the other of her kind.
"L...di, tell me something." He began as he sat down next to her. While she didn't stop eating she did perk her eyes up his way.
"What do I need to know about this, 'bad blood'? I mean, how do we take him down, what do I need to know?"
She swallowed quickly as she replied. "He hunts at night, prefers to kill in the dark. I do not know where he rests for now, his ship is hiding somewhere, so if we mean to find him, we have to wait until dusk sets."
"He should not be taken lightly, he has killed others of my kind, so he knows how to fight well, but more to, he prefers to fight dirty. Our biggest problem is not knowing where he will strike next, as he could attack anyone in any place of this area. However, this should only mean we need to focus harder on finding. I only found him by chance from before." She resumed eating, having nothing more to say on this matter. The P.I. mulled over his thoughts, thinking about what she said.
"If that's the case then, our best deal is to rest and take it until sundown." He hated this idea, having to do nothing but wait hours until it was dark, but there was no other option at this point.
"Say, Lady-" She took note of what he called her, but thought it best not to ask. "-For now I think we should use my house for our base of operations, seeing as we're already here. If you need to sleep you can do so on my bed, I don't mind using the coach if need be." She stopped eating for a split second, before continuing on.
"Actually..." He murmured as he thought something over. "Is it OK if I leave for a while?" She looked at him skeptically, but he continued before she could ask. "There's something I should get if I want to be of real help..."
Hmmm He thought as he inspected the rifle he held in his hands. Since Private Investigators don't usually carry around weapon's nowadays, he needed something to take a beast like the male Yautja down, since he doesn't think a taser would do all that much. Obviously.
He studied the modified AR15 model rifle in his hands: He needs something with heavy firepower if he wants to take something as big as L'Ditha out. He needed something big but not too heavy, as if he's weighed down too much he wouldn't be able to chase after the alien, and he doubts the Yautja would just simply stand around long enough for him to shoot.
That's where the cartridge comes in: a .50 Beowulf. If the killer has armor anything like the female he needs something that could not just do major damage but pierce through the armor with ease. This should do a lot of damage to the alien even if only get's one shot in. Though, with how expensive it is he would not be able to carry a lot, so every shot needs to count.
And to finish, an EOTech holographic sight would be best as it will allow him to bring it up and fire quickly, plus be able to work in the dark as well.
"Are you going to hunt a elephant with that thing." The gunstore owner chuckled as the P.I. brought his rifle to the counter.
He could only grumble in response, about if only he was hunting something that safe as he paid for the weapon.
It will still be hours before nightfall, but he needed to make every minute count. So it was best he talked with L'Ditha about a plan.
So as he opened his door he called out to the Yautja, asking where she was, and getting an 'Up here' in response. As he walked up he called out to to her. "I brought a weapon I could use to take help him down."
"Smart plan." She shouted back. It sounded as if she was down the hallway.
"Maybe, but we need to do more than for me to just simply get a rifle." He explained as he continued his pace. As he walked he noticed the bathroom door wide open. "I was thinking we need to come up with a real plan, if this Yautja is as dangerous as you say then-" This was the final words he got as turned his head to look into the bathroom, only to get a full glance of the female Yautja completely naked right in front of him, save for a towel conventionally placed over her crotch. He turned away immediately, flailing his arms out as if to block the view he couldn't see.
"I used your shower, is that alright with you Ooman?" She spoke, completely unfazed in the slightest the male had seen her naked body.
"Yes yes, that's perfectly fine, nothing wrong with that." He replied quickly, the female taking note of how he refused to look her way.
"What is the problem Ooman? Why won't you turn to face me?" She was confused with his actions.
"You-you are naked!" He said loudly, straightening his body back up but still facing the wall. "It's-it's not right for a man like me to see you in the buff!" She tilted her head
"Because you are intimidated by me, or because I am of noble blood?" Was her reply to him, sounding as if hurt she had to say those things.
"N...no." His tone was much lower now. "I mean because you are a female, and it's not right for me or anyone to see you naked without your permission. I don't even know if you are taken or not. I have to respect your privacy."
"I...don't have a mate." She mumbled out those words, though loud enough for him to be able to hear. "If that's what you're asking." A moment passed before she said to him. "I will be fully clothed soon, Ooman, I will talk to you shortly." He nodded and walked away, letting the alien think of his previous actions. He is certainly a noble and honest man. More that can be said for most males of my kind. She mulled over as she began to dress herself.
After, the two had talked out a plan: his rifle may certainly leave a large mark if he hit his target, the female Yautja had an assortment of her own; an Arbiter knife, though in his mind it's more like a shortsword than anything, a spear, standard for any Yautja warrior, although hers has springloaded barbs on it so when penetrated they can't be pulled out, an creation reserved for Arbiters as she's not hunting, a wrist blade on her right arm, smooth with dual blades, and a plasma caster on her shoulder, albeit with a difference; exploding bolts. However, they are far too dangerous to be used in a rural area with civilian's around. Besides that, she had a net-gun for less lethal encounters, though she believes it won't capture him for long, as he could easily cut through within seconds.
She believes the Bad Blood is counting on this, since she won't risk hurting innocent people. To her knowledge the only weapons this Yautja has is a standard plasma caster, a triple bladed wrist blade. Both she and the other Yautja have invisible camouflage cloaking devices, though they won't work against other Yautja if they're wearing their helmets.
There is something the human had picked on when looking through the murder files of the killer's victims, most to all happened on the area's outside of town, never right in the middle. He seems to prefer picking them off when alone rather than risking having others seeing him kill, almost as if he's afraid of being ganged up on.
"If that's the case then we should probably search around the outskirts of town to find him. Hopefully we will catch him before he strikes again." He concluded
"Good plan." L'Ditha agreed. "But for now, you should get some rest. We could be up all night trying to catch him, and you look like you need some sleep."
"Well, I suppose I didn't get a full night's rest last night." He laughed, scratching the back of his head, it was kinda true, as he was up for an hour just to make sure L'Ditha was healed up and not in any critical condition, even if didn't know how her species needed healing in any specific way. He got only 3 or 4 hours of rest at best.
"I'll wake you up before sundown. For now, lie down and sleep." She urged him to rest. "I'll keep guard." He let to the living room, leaving the Yautja alone.
There was something that caught her eye when she noticed it; as on top of the messy table, covered with papers and newspaper article, were the case files for all the murders. And without wasting a thought she began to look through, curiosity in her mind.
Night had fallen upon the town, and so the two began the hunt.
The two, Private Investigator and Arbiter, walked alongside each other as they kept an eye and ear out for anything suspicious, his rifle kept holstered around his back while his torch he kept turned on and pointing forward as they walked and looked around.
"So..." The human began, trying to rid the empty awkward silence with idle conversation. "You told me you were a noble. That must be interesting." The Yautja looked his way for a few seconds before looking forward again, as if wondering what this human was asking her.
"Suppose." Was her simply reply, though she figured he wouldn't be satisfied with such a simple answer. "It can take it's tole on one, though. I have too spend too muhc time on matters I don't feel I need to be responsible for, and not many males would seem to dare to talk one as a high a class as me, let alone want to try anything physical."
"So very few males of your species want to be near you simply because they are scared of you or something?" He said in confusion.
"That's a simple way to put it, yes."
"That's kinda dumb." Those words stunned the alien. "I'm not even a male of your species and I'm not scared of you. If anything I think you're quite lovely to talk to." If a Yautja could blush, she would right now. Of all the males that have been nice to me this, Ooman stands above most. "Your mate must be proud to have a male such as you."
"I...don't have a mate." He responded unsurely.
"Oh, how strange. Surely I thought a human such as you would have a mate already. Why not?"
"Let's just focus on the task at hand." She could tell he was just trying to brush off her question, though she had little idea why?
"Why Ooman." Her voice more tense this time. She watched the human sigh to himself, shaking his head as he just looked forward. "I've just...always felt a disconnect with other people on that level. Never really...'clicked' with anyone, you know?" L'Ditha nodded her head at him, she could understand for that reason. In some ways, she was the same as him that way.
Suddenly the Yautja stopped and stared to the field's to their left, as if scanning the area.
The human noticed this after a few seconds, turning round to see the Yautja's attention completely on the fields. "What is it?" He asked as he holstered his rifle from his back and held it in both arms.
"Over there." She spoke as she walked to the fence of the plain and started to cross over it. "Follow me Ooman." Said 'Ooman' did as she commanded, climbing over the fence to meet up alongside the running Yautja. The sight of her running like that only reminded him of her figure, in his mind, here body was almost Amazon like in proportion, tall and strong, with a lot of muscles and little fat. Not helped by the fact her armor saved little to the imagination. By now he was trying his best to focus on the task at hand, and not the image of the alien's naked body in his head.
He finally managed to catch up with her as she seemed to stare down onto something on the grassy floor. Bringing the light of the flashlight down he looked to see the body of a horse lying on the floor, a large gaping hole in it's side looking as if something explosive hit it's side.
"More." She spoke pointing around the darkened area seeing more bodies of horses...no...Mustang's actually lying dead in the plain, some having large chunks out of their bodies while others have been either decapitated or simply slashed dead. She could tell from the style of the gaping wounds this was done from a shot of a plasma caster, so no guessing what happened to the other creatures.
"Dammit!" The sudden shout caught her attention. "Did the bastard have to kill all the Mustangs in the area?" She could see the anger written on his face, though she did not know why.
"What is wrong, Ooman? Aren't these food for your species as well?"
"No, these are Mustangs; free-roaming horses. They aren't kept for meat they meant to roam free." He huffed a little as he remembered. "I once tracked and caught a guy who was killing Mustang's for fun; they're a protected species for God's sake. Makes my blood boil at the thought." And while the Yautja standing next to him didn't share the same memories or ideas of protecting a species like this she didn't feel for the way his emotions were expressed. It seemed this human cared a lot for these creatures, and calmly she rested her hand on his shoulder, giving him comfort as he collected his thoughts.
Unbeknownst to either of these they were being watched, far off into the tree beyond the field a figure, invisible to the naked eye, sat rather casually on a large branch of the tall tree, looking to the two with binocular vision, silently chuckling to itself and thinking of it's next move as it ripped off another piece of meat from the whole leg of horse. So, the female hasn't giving up its hunt for me then? Ah, and how wonderful, the female has a Ooman pet with her. What an adorable sight to see. It even has a little weapon with him. How cute, he thinks he can take me down. The invisible figure stopped his thoughts as he listened intently, hearing the rustling of leaves from above him, and in an instant did it's arm shoot and brought down the alive body of a squirrel, trying desperately to escape from the invisible grip. Placing his thumb and forefinger of it's head the squirrel could do nothing but squeak out in fear as it's head was being crushed in by the strong grip, lasting only a second by it's head was crushed in with a gruesome 'pop', the body became limp within seconds. Wasting no time the figure brought the dead body close to it's mouth and tilted the rodents body upside-down, as blood gushed out from the wound and was being poured down the figure's throat, satisfying his thirst.
Oh this will be fun indeed. Fun indeed.
The two had now moved on from the mustang's and continued the search around the area, swerving in and out some buildings near the edge.
The alien had noticed how quiet the human had gotten, whether it was dislike of speaking now or from wanting to pay all attention to finding the Bad Blood she did not know, and she believed it was best not to ask, as she too wanted to find the criminal as soon as possible, the thought of lounging around while he could be off murdering more innocents would weigh heavily in her mind.
She thought is best to move onto a different subject. Something to change the atmosphere so the tension could be waned.
"Ooman." The Yautja suddenly asked without looking his way. "I never learnt: what is your name?"
"...Duncan." He said after a few seconds. "Duncan Pine."
"...Tis a fine name." L'Ditha spoke out. "A proud name to wear on your badge."
He didn't speak back to her, leaving the Yautja in a awkward silence. "So do you..." She tried to think of a question
"Yeah..." He trailed off. The female had not missed his lack of interest in her question.
"What is wrong, Dun-can? You do not seem to be focused on our task. Is there something bothering you?"
"It's just...hold on." Duncan began reaching into the underside of his jacket as the Yautja watched on in silent interest. Pulling it out he opened it like a parchment and pointing his flashlight on it a map was shown on the paper.
"See this is a map of the local terrain." He explained. Without missing a beat the female started typing something on her Wrist Gauntlet, and within a few second a hologram popped up, one he instantly recognised as a 3D projection of the local terrain, being as he grew and stayed most of his life around here he was familiar with the area.
"Eh, yes that." He began his conversation anew. "See I was thinking about where the killer would be staying when he's not out...hunting."
"He rests in his ship." L'Ditha piped in. "It has a cloaking device same as our armor. It would not be found so easily."
The human thought more on this information. "Well, even then he has to have it parked somewhere, but if he's in hiding, he would have it parked far out the way. So I was thinking where he could be hiding his base of operation: Puma falls would be a good hiding spot. There's a cave behind the waterfall, I don't know how big his ship, so I'm doubting it could hide his ship, but he still could use it for resting and such. There's also Dead Man's Gulley, here." He pointed to the spot on the map. "It's a canyon. Nobody really goes there, so it seems like a viable hiding spot."
"Possibly." Was her reply as she began giving it some thought. Where else could he be hiding.
"I thought, if we aren't able to find him tonight, maybe we could go looking during the day to find his hiding spot. Get him when he's resting or has his guard down."
"Not too bad an idea. Even if it's unhonourable to catch him when he's sleeping."
"It's unhonourable to murder an innocent just for fun." She couldn't argue with that. Life comes before honour with this human. She found it respectable, even.
"The forest." He said out loud. "Could he have his ship there?"
"It may be too dense." She replied. "It needs space to land. The edge?"
"Could be." But as the two were talking neither had noticed the shadowy figure from behind them standing atop a roof, peering down at the two on the street with a sneer. His presence completely unknown as their back were to him. Slowly did a trail of three dots circle around the back of the Arbiter's head, laser sights coming from the eyepiece of the figure's helmet.
No…that would be too easy. His fight with the bigger and stronger Yautja would have to wait. He wanted her to suffer, so why not take away her human, the laser sights began to trail of the Arbiter's head and onto the Private Investigator's, slowly focusing right not his brain as it's movement's ciesed.
"Duncan," She looked his way. "I-" But she didn't continue as she instantly saw the three dots on the head of the human, the symbol she recognised without thought. And reacting as quickly as possible L'Ditha grabbed the human by his collar and pulled him away from the sight of the laser, jumping away with him in her grasp as she ducked behind a wall, the human having no time react as he was pulled right of his feet, the Plasma Caster having been fired just before he was pulled away, in the nick of time as all it hit was the edges of his hair, singing the filament and hitting the ground, as both human and Arbiter landed safely behind the cover of a wall on their fronts.
"God, I'm getting too old to be doing this." Duncan spoke as he tried to get himself up off the ground, propping himself up on his hands. Though, he wondered why the ground of his right hand felt softer than his left, and looking over, his eyes widened when he realized he was pressing his hand down what on the round shape of the Yautja's backside! He instantly pulled it away as the Yautja rose to her feet, his mind reflecting on how soft her behind was, despite how firm it felt in his hand. Dammit Duncan, concentrate you fucking idiot. His mind reprimanded him.
He was thankful it seemed the female didn't notice his accident, as she turned around and helped him to his feet.
The sound of deep and rapid mandible clicking could be heard from his position, I sound L'Ditha knew all too well as mocking amusement coming from the Bad Blood. "What's wrong Arbiter, is fighting just one Yautja so hard you need help from a puny Ooman. Just go back to being a Lou-dte kale like you females should." The sound of him calling her that was enough to have her mandibles spread as far open as they could if it weren't for the mask covering her mouth.
"Says the tarie hsan who's too much of a coward to face me head on." She shouted back in her native tongue, quickly she turned to her human, who already has his back to the wall and his rifle ready in his arms. "Duncan, do you think you could get a clear shot?"
"I don't know how far away he is, but it should be close enough for me to hit him." He replied, keeping close to the wall.
"Good. I'm going to jump out and let him aim at me. When I do, I need you to immediately shoot him dead." The human's eyes widened at what she said. She was willingly to let herself get exposed so easily just to let him get a hit in.
"No I can't, I-"
"I have faith in you Ooman. I know you won't let me down." She spoke clearly as she waved a finger at him. "Will you have faith in me to not get killed?"
"Absolutely." Duncan replied without hesitation. He had complete trust in her, and if she believes he will be fast enough to shoot the Bad Blood before he could kill her, then he will make sure he will strike him down. He readied up his weapon. Nodding to her.
"What's wrong." The Bad Blood taunted. "Too afraid to show your own face. Typical, I thought you were supposed to be stronger than me. Shouldn't be too surprised, after all, they shouldn't have sent a female to take me down."
That was the last straw. Without a second thought the Arbiter leaped her forward, beyond the cover the wall and into the open, the Bad Blood aimed his Plasma Caster on the flying figure and locked-onto the Arbiter within second. But out his focus was the P.I. who in one solid turn spring his body around the cover of the wall and managed to fire off three shots, just in time for the Plasmacaster to fire off a single shot.
However, a heavy roar cascaded across the street as the cannon fired, the bolt missing the Arbiter and soared right above her, though too close for the humans comfort as he was forced to return behind cover when he noticed how close it got.
The shot exploded behind them as the human wasted no time aiming back out behind cover only to see the shadow of the Bad Blood disappear out his sight.
"Nice shot." L'Ditha spoke as she rose to her feet. "You managed to hit him." Duncan let a smile appear on his lips at the praise, nodding his head firmly. "But now's not the time for praise. Quickly, we must give chase."
A thought sprung to the humans mind. "You go after him that way." He pointed to the direction the Bad Blood had run away to. "I'll go round this way and try to flank him. We might be able to catch him off guard and surround him."
"Might work. Go quickly, before he escapes from us." Both human and Yautja turned to their respective direction and ran, heading off alone as they sped through the alleyways and roads, being the dead of night he was glad there would be very little people out in the streets, though he did worry how many were forced awake by the sounds of gunshot and plasma fire. He just hoped nobody saw the out their window the clash of Arbiter and human against Bad Blood.
"Dun-can." The robotized of said Arbiter shouted from somewhere in the distance. "I'm cornering off the Bad Blood, keep going forward."
"Right." He yelled out, continuing on forward as he swirled past some dumpsters, his rifle still held in his arms, as his breathing became deeper and his heart face.
"Quickly. He's getting away from me." Her voice shouted again, the male having no time to figure out where the Arbiter could be he could here her voice loud and clear and followed them without question.
And making his way out of the final alley he looked around himself to the open street, the streetlights only lighting the road as the way beyond led to an open grassy lawn.
"I found him! He's in the tree! Quickly Ooman, shoot him dead!" The voice yelled at him, hurriedly, and darting his eyes he could spot the shadow of a figure hanging on a branch.
"Do it now!" Having no time to question Duncan aimed up his rifle and fired, shooting off four shots at the figure in the trees, the body wavering a bit but finally collapsing to the floor, landing with a thud to the ground.
Was...was that it? Was it done, had he finally killed the murderer? He let an open smile cross his face as he started to walk across the street towards the fallen corpse.
"I did it Lady." He called out. "I think we've got him." His smile began to vanish as he got no reply. It was dead silent. "L...Are you there?" No reply. He looked to the fallen body, it was too dark to make out it's figure, but something came across his mind: didn't her species have glowing blood? The female did, at least, so why can't he see any leaking out.
Too busy focused on the body he didn't notice the car driving across the street, stopping only as the tyre's screeched loud enough for him to notice as the car lights blinded him.
Looking behind him he saw two sheriffs, quickly pop out the car, raising their pistols straight at the man, as they yelled "Drop the weapon!"
Before he could explain to them, to tell them what had happened, he looked back down to the body near him, and in the light of the car's headlights he could see, in full view, the body of not a Yautja, but an adult female, laying dead on the ground, blood gushing out of open wounds, eyes wide open in fear, mouth covered over with cloth, as if to be silenced.
His hands trembled as his rifle dropped to the floor with a clatter, his whole body stricken with horror when he realized what he had done. He could not move nor talk to explain himself, only stood their shaking in terror.
"Oh son." The middle-aged spoke as the other sheriff began to walk behind him and cuff his arms. "What have you done?"
And as the two officers began to take him away, out hiding between two buildings an invisible figure chuckled deeply to himself as he watched.
What had he done?
This was the only thing going through his mind.
How could he...he didn't mean to...but he did...he did do it.
And now he was, stuck in a jail cell in the local sheriff's office, ready to be handed over to a court. What could he say, that he was thought the woman was actually an alien, who was also the one responsible for all the murders? What would that do, if anything that just makes he's gone crazy, maybe even crazy enough to be the one murdering all those people. That's a horrible thought for him to have. At best he would be shipped off to an insane asylum, at worst...the community would never have to worry about him again.
Duncan sighed to himself as he leaned back onto the cell wall, as he sat on the bench. It was dead silent, being it was the middle of night that meant he at least got some to think quietly.
"Oh L'Dtiha." He lamented. "I can only hope you can catch the killer by yourself."
"So you do remember my name." The sudden, robotized but identifiable voice of the Arbiter caught his attention, and turning to the cell door he watched as right outside the gate did the form of the female Yautja materialize as her invisibility cloak disabled, leaving her looking at him with a bemused smirk. Not that he could see, being as her helmet stayed on.
"L'Ditha!" He exclaimed with glee, rushing to the bars as he smiled at her sight, almost wishing he could hug her right now.
"Though I have no animosity if you want to keep calling me 'Lady'". She continued if unfazed by his exclamation.
"You came." He could almost shed a tear.
"You didn't think I'd let you be imprisoned before I repay my honor-debt?" She explained jokingly. "Now stand back, I need to get you out of there." He did just as he stood a few feet away from the door as he watched whatever she was gonna do, it seemed with the way she gripped two of the vertical old style bars right next to each other, like she was going to pry them open with her bare hands.
She seriously isn't going to try that, is she. Surely the sheriff had placed the cell key somewhere around- His thoughts were caught short as he watched the Arbiter rip open the cell bars with phenomenal strength, her arms were shaking with exhaustion but in only a matter of a few seconds did the female pry open the doors with a hole big enough for him to pass through.
"...Damn."
"So Duncan, you coming out or do I have to drag you along with me." She joked as she waved for him to come out. With a smile he pried himself through the newly-opened spot as both he and L'Ditha began to march out. He could only hope no one sees them both as they fled the facility. Though it would help in his case of blaming an alien if it did happen.
"So where to now?" Duncan asked, ready and willing to continue the hunt.
"You were right." She replied. "About where the Bad Blood could be hiding his ship. I had located it easily behind the waterfall like you said. As it seems, this male isn't that good about being able to hide his ship. I've set it to explode before too long, so he can't escape even if he wanted to."
"That's good, now all we need to do is find and him-" He stopped once he realized something. "My gun. Shit they must have confiscated it somewhere."
"We don't have time to find it. He will strike again, and quite soon if he knows I'm not looking for him right now. Here." She pulled her spear out and handed it to him. "Take my ki'cti-pa." With a twist the combi stick shot out to full length. "Use it well."
He held it firmly in his grasp as pushed the doors out the way leading to the reception. Turning to the desk he was surprised to see the prone form of one of the deputy lying on the floor. Though, he could see he was still breathing, just unconsciousness. What he didn't know right now was that L'Ditha had one hell of a right hook.
"But where do we go now?" He questioned as both made their way outside and into the night air, not a car or any vehicle could be heard in the dead of night.
"I may have something." She said, tapping the bottom of her helmet, as if in thought. "I remember looking through those files, of all the murders from the Bad Blood. The first one, it was of a healthy male adult, one who seemed to be quite a danger when compared to other people."
"I..suppose why?" Duncan said, not entirely sure where this is going.
"Well, the killings after, it was as if going down. First dangerous Ooman males, then more normal males, then weaker seeming women, then...younglings."
"Teenagers." He added, as if was piecing the parts together himself. "It's as if he's going down in order of how more dangerous they are in a fight. As if he wants them to be weaker as part of a game."
"And what's left for him to kill next?"
"...Children." Neither of the two smiled once they found the revelation. "We need to find him quickly."
"But where?" This was the question that haunted her mind. "Where would he strike next? Many homes around here may harbor children. Which one would the mar'cte raid into specifically? If we're wrong, we could be too late."
A thought suddenly occurred to him. "The Children's Home!" He shouted out loud. "There's a lot of children living there. If there's any place the monster would strike wouldn't it make sense to go to a place where's there's lots of innocent kids."
"Do you know the way Duncan?"
"Yes, it's not far from here. Quickly follow me." And just like that both Private Investigator and Arbiter ran off through the night.
They managed to arrive quickly at the home, the sign on top reading it out clear as day.
It was quiet. Too quiet? It was the middle of the night, so that was to be suspected. But even still...
"Are we sure this is where he'll strike next." He said said between pants, doubting himself as he felt like his lungs were on fire. God, I'm getting too old to run that fast. He thought. The Arbiter said little as she spied around the area, quickly pointing up when she spotted something. "Up there." She shouted. "I can see a window has been smashed open." Looking up with only the barest of light he saw that indeed a window had been opened, though from his deduction it looked as if the alien had pried the whole window itself out.
Without wasting a thought the human ran to the front door and kneeled down by it, shuffling around his pocket. "What are you doing?" She asked with as her head cocked to one side.
"Hold on, I'm trying to open the door. Just let me get out my lockpick and-" Suddenly with a WHAM the Yautja kicked down the door with ease, not wasting a second as she strode into the home.
"...that works too." Duncan spoke as stood up and readied the spear. How toned are her thighs?! Entered his mind as he walked in, the Yautja looked around herself, having little idea where he would be.
"The kids must sleep upstairs." He explained as he already began his ascent up the stairs, coming to a hallway lined with many closed doors parallel to each other.
But he could see there was only one open, a small light source illuminated out onto the hallway, and quickly darting to he turned the corner of the open door and saw what he hoped both was and wasn't true, as standing right in the middle of the room was the sight of the Bad Blood in full view, it's body could be seen only thanks to the small lamp turned on atop the bed-side dresser, and being held in his outstretched arm was the body of a young boy, the Yautja's whole hand covering it's mouth so as not to scream, as all the child could do was try with all his might to pull himself away, to no avail.
All the P.I. could do was stand there in fear, the imposing figure of the Bad Blood was made all the more dangerous as his other arm held the unsheathed wrist blades, dangling up and down when he realized the human was right at the door, as if to taunt the human, signaling if he gets any closer he will murder this child.
The Bad Blood, whose helmet was discarded to the floor, had its face set in a disturbing grin, and while L'Ditha's face might not have been seen as beautiful too some, her features could be called that of an angel compared to this Yautja, his face wrinkled, strands of hair shot out from any place they wanted to and a multitude of ugly scars littered his forehead, and the number of scratches and marks on his armor, along with the varied skulls stick on them, didn't help to make the human feel unthreatened.
And all Duncan could do was stand there, unable to move, as even one single step could mean the death of this innocent child.
"Duncan." The almost whispered voice of his own Yautja he heard through his left ear, the body of the Arbiter silently clung to behind the door, out of the Yautja's vision of view. "I'll give you a split-second to attack him and save the child. Ready?" A slow nod in return was all she got.
"Clever Ooman. Able to free himself from the law, it seems. How futile it would be, even with a combi stick of ours. What happened, did the female feel pity for you and let you borrow hers. How laughable."
With a click of mandibles the Bad Blood retracted his free arm backwards, as if to shove forward with all his might into the boy, but whether he was going to kill the child or simply to taunt the man wasn't able to be proven as the Arbiter standing behind the door quickly darted her body around the door and threw her sword cleanly through the air, right towards the Yautja's face.
Having only an instant to react the Bad Blood pulled up his arm and blocked the blade with ease from his gauntlet, but before he could react any further the human had already made his move as soon as found his chance, rushing forward the human charged with the spear, and wasting no time he impaled the spear right into his arm, the one carrying the child, and instantly the blades on the spearhead snapped out, severing tendons and muscles as his arm went limp, dropping the boy to the floor.
With a scream the Bad Blood swatted the human away with a powerful smacking, sending him to the floor as he roared in pain.
The Yautja has had enough, and as his only working arm begin to clenched it's knuckles in anger, and with a yell the Yautja roared. "I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY HUNT!", his blades pointing downwards, towards the disoriented child.
As the P.I. saw this he didn't let shock take him over as he rushed himself forward and landed right on top of the child, acting as a human shield a single moment before the Bad Blood could impale his blades on the child, stabbing the man in his chest right under his ribs as all he could do was choke in pain, as the Bad Blood hadn't noticed the Arbiter running up behind him, and in one full slash she sever his spine right by his neck, his whole body going stiff, as the female wasted no time in digging her hands into the wound and ripping out his whole skull and spine in one piece!
And like that, the Bad Blood was no more as his body fell to the ground.
L'Ditha used no time to celebrate her victory as she rushed to the fallen humans side, lifting his body over so she could see his face, her face frozen in terror as she could see the life draining from him, his eyes half-lidded and his mind barely consciousness.
"We...did it." He gurgled out, trying to give a reassuring smile to the Arbiter as all he could feel his pain shooting through his body, the feeling of death vast approaching him. "We...got him..." The last thing he heard was the sound of sirens approaching in the distance as he blacked out.
With tired eyes he awoke, mind becoming clearer as he wiped at his eyes.
Where was he? What happened. Slowly the human began to sit up as he looked around himself.
This wasn't his home. From where he sat he looked around the room; no windows, only one entrance out of the room but with no door, no other miscellaneous objects around himself save for what appeared to be a small table on the side with a few unknown items on top, the only thing he could guess what it was was an incense stick burning in a vase of some kind, the smell of which made him feel dizzy. Not to mention the walls surrounding him looked...off. All of them were completely covered with engravings and markings of indecipherable origin.
He looked down to himself, feeling a weight over his body. He appeared to be sitting on a bed of some kind, situated right in the middle of the small room, facing the doorway on the other side, but both the bedding and the cover were laid with what appeared to be animal furs of some kind; big enough to completely cover him easily, though the design, a base of deep orange with splotches of brown and red. He could not guess what kind of animal this belonged to. Even the pillow he was resting on was made of fur, yet despite how thick it all was, it felt quite incredibly...soft on his bare skin.
Wait where was his clothes? He looked and felt around himself and noticed he was wearing only underwear, the only real exception to this was a bandage covering a part of his chest.
The sudden flashback of being stabbed by the Bad Blood rushed straight through his mind, the pain was immense as he felt his insides were gonna be carved out, the last thing he remembered was the seeing the helmet-covered head of the Arbiter, staring down to him as he lost consciousness.
I thought I was gonna die. He thought, rubbing his head in disbelief. Am I dead? So what is this then? Limbo?"Duncan, you are finally awake." The call got his attention, the tone he recognised immediately as the last person he saw before he black out, standing right into the doorway, was the figure of L'Ditha, tall and proud as ever.
Though, she definitely looked different now, her helmet was off, and so was most of her other equipment, weapons and armor, save for the bare few, really just her loincloth and what he could call a bra of jungle design covering up her, though, he could only guess most of this as covering all around her was a blue cloak of some kind, with grandiose symbols and patterns all around.
"L'Ditha, what happened? Where-" But as he he tried to get up the Yautja quickly stepped forward and pressed him down back on the bed, though with only the barest of force. "You need to stay down, Duncan. Your body is still healing."
The human then realized what she had done. "You...saved me. You brought me here to heal, didn't you? This place I'm in, this is your own ship, isn't it.? To his surprise she flashed him a warm smile. "You saved my life. It is only far I should save you in return." He smiled back, grateful for what she had done.
"Thank you, L'Ditha. I would probably had died if you hadn't brought me here." He said in kind as the female grabbed a box from the small table.
"Call it my honor-debt being repaid. But I shouldn't waste time with talking, I need to lift off your bandage so I could check your wound." He gave her no reprisal as she lifted up his bandages and checked his wound, so far it seemed to be healing nicely, though he had no idea how long he was out. The Yautja gently run the fingers over the wound to inspect for an infection or such, the human's mind focused on her her skin feels on his, rather scaly, but warm and soft to the touch.
She began to rub some salve of some kind on his wound, the cool jelly soothed his torso, as he remembered something. "I hope the child was alright. The boy, I mean, the one we stopped him from killing."
"He is a brave child." She replied. "Even from being seconds away from being murdered he didn't seem to scared of the Arbiter that killed his own would-be-killer. In fact he seemed very grateful, as he did ask if you were going to die. It seems even a youngling like him has a strong him."
"Is that so."
"Very. Actually the boy hugged me leg in thanks. I've never been hugged by a human before. Certainly an interesting experience." She was finished was the salve now, placing it back on the desk as she put back on the bandages.
"It would still be a few Earth days before you're fully healed, or at least enough to no longer need a bandage on, so keep it on for a while." He nodded his head in understanding. "THough talking of Earth, there's still a pressing matter we need to discuss." Her tone taking a more serious tone.
"I know that the Bad Blood has set you up, so those deaths are considered your fault in the eyes of your planets law enforcement. As it is, that you cannot return to your normal home, and I'm not so sure of me returning with if that can happen to explain the real case, as I fear doing so would want your planet's political system to capture me for my species technology, and use you as a scapegoat. I will not allow you to be captured again. If you need, I can drop you somewhere else on earth, in a new country even. Perhaps to start a new life there."
The human thought deeply about this. He could no longer be a Private Investigator, but this was all he knew. He could get a basic job for money, but he wouldn't be satisfied with that. He needs a new I.D. then, but that could cause more trouble than it should. Does he even want to start a new life? Who would miss him really?
With a smile the human shook his head, getting a head tilt from the alien. "Actually, if that is what my choices are, then in all honesty, I'd much rather come with you, if I can? In fact, I would like to become your partner for work, if that's even possible." She did not expect that decision from the human. Not that she was against it entirely, though. "You're easily the most interesting person I've ever know, and I would like above all else to accompany you, maybe even be your partner, if that's possible?" She couldn't meet his eyes, for fear of the human seeing her rare embarrassment.
"A-are you sure that's what you want human? I mean, what about your family? Wouldn't they be sad to miss you, I can't take you away from them?" But as she said that the human smile sadly as he shook his head slowly.
"No. The only family I had was my mother. She died just as I was graduating high school, from cancer, and even before then I had to take care of her." A single tear was shred from the man's face, and before he could continue the Yauta swooped over and brought the human in a fair hug, wiping away his tear, as she sat down next to him, right beside the human, towering over him but no less comforting him.
"I had to learn to live on my own very quick, and be very self-reliant. The only other family I have are distant relatives I've never even met."
"What about your sire, where is he in your life?"
"The less said about him, the better." His response was sharp, she noted, and she knew to leave it at that. She felt sympathy for this human, knowing how he could feel like this.
"I can understand how you feel, Duncan. One of the only few people I can honestly say I was close to was my Grandsire. He was a weaponsmith, one of the few professions left that are still celebrated, besides hunting. I can feel your sadness, losing a loved one, I remember being sad to when he passed away, I still felt so young back then. I know the pain never goes away, rather, it simply dulls over time."
L'Ditha let out a short chuckle, shaking her head as she smiled. "I can remember watching my Grandsire turn rock and sand into incredible blades hours on end when I was a youngling. I could sit there in silence all day just watching him make the most amazing weapons and armor I've ever seen. These blades..." She pulled out her arm and unsheathed the twin blades for him to see. "They were made by my Grandsire, by him, just for me for my woman-making ceremony. He cut it all by hand with his own bare tools, filing them down for hours. He was a master of his craft, he would even throw out some weapons that, to the untrained eye, looked perfect, but he could knew when the metal was cracked. He never treated me like a hunter, or an heir, but only as his Granddaughter, picking me up when I saw sad and cuddling with me. It's time like that that make me wish I was a child once again." Hearing her talk about her family with honest delight brought up memories of his own.
"I can see what you mean." The human piped in. "My mother did things like that to me, teaching me how to pan for gold, some basic survival techniques, all the outdoorsy stuff. She taught me everything I know about being in the wilderness. Sometimes I too would wish to go back in time when we were young, just to see those we loved years before they passed away. The smiles on our faces...when nothing felt wrong with the world and everything was perfect, where something going wrong felt impossible." He reflected in wonder.
She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I can no doubt say your mother would be proud of what you have become. I could see a woman like her being grafted in the Halls Of Honour if she was of my kind." Duncan gently dropped a hand on L'Ditha's own.
"And I can say with certainty that if your grandfather was a human he'd be loved by everyone in my town, me included." As the two made eye contact moments seemed to pass for the two, too long until the Yautja realized she's been staring for far too long.
"Uhh..." The female quickly pulled her hand off his shoulder and looked away, her mind racing on how to get out of this disconcerting situation. "Food!" Was the first word that come to her mind.
"What?"
"Food! I should...bring you some food, you must be starving for being out for so long. And you need nutrients. To keep your strength up. I will bring you some food right now." The alien quickly brisk-walked out of the room, nearly out of the confused human's sight before he called to her.
"Hey Lady?" She stopped as he began to ask her. "Would you mind making some for yourself as well. I'd like to hear some more stories about your grandfather if you wouldn't mind telling me them."
L'Ditha let a small smile approach her face. "And I would like to hear more stories about the mother of yours as well, Duncan."
It's been a bit longer since the human was recovering, and now he could walk properly on his own, but even still L'Ditha always made sure to stand at arm's length with the human when he is up, just to make sure he won't fall or open up his wound.
So to this she showed him various parts around her ship, from the deck, kitchen area and, especially, her favourite part; her skull room, as lining the walls of the room were a vast and diverse set of alien skulls handing quite nicely all over the walls.
"So what's that one?" The human asked, interested in practically wanting to know the origin of every skull aboard this ship, his interest in these skulls reminded her of many a sucklings innocent curiosity.
"That is a creature we Yautja call a Serpent." L'Ditha answered in earnest, feeling a sense of pride of talking about her kills to this inquisitive human. The skull the two were encroached in was that of a strangely long and oblong skull, curved all the were around yet it's face was only at the front, showing a sharp set of admirable teeth. "We Yautja are tasked in hunting them down to prove our worth as a warrior. If we are unsuccessful, then our souls are doomed to forever walk in the shadow Black Warrior, never to see the form of Paya: The Conquering Warrior."
"Sounds rough." Was the only thing the human could say about that. "What about the large one over there?" He pointed to a much bigger skull easily the largest in the room, the size of it reminded him of the head of a truck.
"That was of Raggej Diorf, a gang leader. I cannot say how many innocent Yautja warriors have fallen prey to his gang. Trying to find him took years of research and back tracking just to find his ship, and I can only guess how many other Arbiters died in ensuing fight aboard his ship. But I was the one to strike the killing blow, meaning the skull belongs with me. Though, I never like saying he was my kill alone, I could never have done it without the work of my fellow warriors. May Paya give good rest to them."
Taking it in, one skull caught his notice, hanging almost concealed in the corner, one skull he knew he recognised.
"That one over there. What's that story?" He was almost unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
"From a jungle on your world. Tracked this guy down. I guess you would call him a warlord of some kind. I don't think I've ever come across a human as despicable as him. I'll show you." The Yautja tapped some buttons onto her Wrist Computer and out popped a slightly distorted audio clip of, what he could only think, was the sound of children crying. "Kill em all." A man's voice ordered from the device, and though he was not sure, he guessed it sounded South African.
"But lord I-" A different voice tried to talk but was quickly stopped but the other man's more forward "I did not say for you to question me; when I say kill em all, I mean kill. Em. All." The way the man's voice was so calm when he gave such an unsettling order sent a shiver up the man's spine.
"Did you get to the children in time?" Was his only question.
"I'll simply say the only one's left alive after I left were the slaves and younglings." She didn't meet his gaze, instead opting to stare out into the distance for far too long. Shaking her head in silence she turned towards the exit.
"I think we spent enough time in here. Come let's get out of here and get some food in our belly's."
He didn't give any objections, casually stating: "Hey can you show me how the cook that meat you made me? It was really delicious, definitely a better chef than I'll ever be." He laughed as the two made their way across the ship.
A final day has passed, or at least to the human it felt that way, and now he could finally take his bandages off for good, a scar still remained, and though it's fully healed, it would stay looking like that. L'Ditha didn't mind, instead she said he should opt in seeing that scar as an accomplishment for what he has done. Not many Yautja in her society see scars of anything to show, but to her, they show the strength and hardship for being in a hard fight.
He was thankful she kept his clothes, though he figured he may need to get some new ones soon, if that was possible on her planet, he still had a bloodstain on the shirt as well.
He was finally finished removing the last of his bandages as he stared down at his scar, not aware of the tall humanoid standing by the door.
"May I..speak to you about something, Duncan?" There was some apprehension in her tone as she strode into the room, her cloak and even her Gauntlet was not on her, the only left she had was the barest of clothing, though enough of it was there so she could still be seen as modest.
"Sure, Lady, what is it?" He asked as sat by the edge of the bed, L'Ditha sitting down next to him as she looked his way.
"For all my years I've lived I have never met a male quite like you." She began. "Not just because you are a human, but because you are among the few males I've met that has a heart as strong as you." Duncan was not quite sure where this was going, but he listened in silence. "No male has truly made me feel that way about them as you have done, and with you wanting to come with me, to fight alongside me as my partner, I think there should be something I want to ask of you."
"Will you, Duncan Pines, be my mate for life?"
No answer came from the human as he took it all in, each second only made the Yautja dig deeper in worry.
"Are you sure you'd want me?" Came his reply. "I mean, I'm not one of your kind, I'm not as big or strong as what you're males are like."
A smile appeared on her face, glee in her mind as the human didn't outright reject her advances. "Any male on my planet can get muscles, most do. You, on the other hand, have strength of heart, what most of my kind are lacking now. That's a trait I find more desirable than any muscled up set of arms."
"But I...I can't even give you children though, would you want to be with someone who can't give you any babies." He looked away from her, but a firm palm of her hand pulled his cheek back up to look at her.
"I already have a few sucklings of my own. But what I want more is a mate and a companion than a sire of pups. You should not have to feel guilt at not being give my any more children."
He was quite shocked to hear L'Ditha was already a mother, and she could see what question he was going to ask.
"I am of noble blood, so that means it is my duty to give birth to children whose father's are of other noble family, whether I agree with this notion of not. What I'd want instead is a Life-Mate, which is sad of me to say are now rare among my kind." L'Ditha gently grabbed both the human's hands and held them in her own.
"You do not need to be afraid of me. I'd never hurt you or mistreat you. I can promise you I'll always take your hands in mine, if you take my hands in your own."
He wanted to laugh, not of ridicule the Yautja, but of how ridiculous this situation is as a whole. However, this didn't deter him from knowing what his answer is to the female. So with a firm grasp of his hands on her own he replied in complete honesty.
"L'Ditha, I would love to become your mate."
Joy. Happiness. Elation. Either of these could be used to describe how she felt right now.
"Then, Duncan, may I ask of you take part in a tradition of my species. It's where we exchange a Breath Of Life, where we pledge on oath to take each other as mate for life, something that is now rare for my kind."
"If it will make you happy, I'd certainly do it with you." Wasting not time L'Ditha cupped her hands over the human's cheeks, and in turn he placed his on her own, and moving her forehead down she touched foreheads and let a long breath right over him, the human understanding and did the same, both breathed out for a moment before she moved her forehead, both still holding their partner's cheeks as neither wanted to let go.
Duncan chuckled as he said with a smile. "You know you never asked what tradition we humans do for our mates."
"Oh." She go curious. "What do Oomans do for their mates?" Just as she finished that last word the human leaned forward and planted a firm kiss on her left cheek, leaning away as she watched the Yautja touch her face, right over where he laid a kiss on her.
"So, is the only tradition you Oomans do to their mate?" She asked him, and making sure he never lost eye contact with her he shuffled his body backwards on the bed, keeping his back on top of the covers.
"I'm not entirely sure, why don't you come over here and find out?" He could already tell where this was most likely going, and although there was still some apprehension on his part, he did indeed trust her.
"I see." She crawled herself forward, grinning as she could guess where this could lead, and there was no times she ever wanted this than any time in her life. She slithered right next to him as he looked deep into her emerald eyes, and sliding over both human and Yautja embraced each other without saying a word, the female firmly holding him to her, though she made sure she was gentle and careful.
Duncan wrapped his arms around her body as he pulled his head up and began to lay soft kisses over the Yautja's face, touching her all over. She reveled in his touch, enjoying how soft his lips are, on how they tickle a bit on her mandibles and cheeks.
The human in turn marveled on how firm her muscles are as he caressed all around her body, the feminine softness of her skin complementing her rigid body, feeling all around her, lowering his hand to cup her butt cheek, her rear, despite looking rock hard, felt toned and firm in his hands, pleasant to his touch.
"I like it when you touch me there." She whispered out hungrily, using her mandible to caress his hair and face as she swung her leg over him. She brushed along his neck with her finger, making sure her claws just barely touch his skin
It seems, her mind thought, this human isn't above being frisky, as she could feel him fumble around with the back of her brassiere as he kissed along the sides of her neck. She held back a chuckle as she could feel him having difficulty with the knot.
Though even still he managed to undo the cloth wrapped around her breasts, setting it free as he carefully threw it to the side.
"Umm." He stopped his caresses as he looked up to meet her eyes. "May I..." She knew exactly where he was pointing, even as close as the two are now he still was making sure she felt comfortable and didn't overstep any boundaries.
Grabbing him firmly she pulled the human on top of him, keeping him held up above as she teased "Only if you take off yours. It's only fair." He grinned down to her, quickly taking off his shirt before trailing his hands down his chest and to her breasts, cupping her boobs with a strong yet gentle grip, the touch made the female let out a moan she couldn't suppress, the pleasure shooting up her spine as he fondled her mammaries, never once before the thought of her breasts being used for pleasure occurred in her life. His fingers brushed over her petite nipples, flicking back and forth with his thumb as he wrapped his fingers all around her domes.
She couldn't take it any more, too much pleasure and not any release, she needed him to take her right now and here.
"Duncan; I need you, give yourself to me, so I may give myself to you, my love." Her voice was almost strained. He give her a firm nod as he moved away and sat up, quickly pulling his underwear and pants off, now being completely nude as his erection sprang free.
The Yautja bent forwards to pull off her loincloth, but the human stopped her short, instead opting for him to remove them. And grabbing with both hands he pulled them up and ff the female, over her legs as they were pointed towards the ceiling, the human deftly grabbing both before they could land.
He stared down to the female before him, her hands to her sides as she gave little resistance to the male, signaling for him to start, and keeping a strong grip on her he slowly pushed into her entrance, the female sighing in relief as he began pumping into her. She let out a small growl from the back of her throat as he continued thrusting through her walls as he held onto her legs.
"Are you feeling OK?" He panted out warmly, making sure she felt comfortable in this position.
"Mmm." She mumbled out in bliss, enjoying the pacing, not minding how slow it went, in truth, she thought it felt better this way, knowing this wasn't solely about having seed being pulsed into her.
"Come hither." She cooed out signalling with both her arms to come closer. "I want to feel you on me." Momentarily stopping he let the female's legs drop to the side calmly as he leaned his body forward, hovering over her as he propped himself up with his hands to her sides as he continued pumping into her.
She could see what he was doing, not moving on her, to keep his own weight off her, and while joyful to see this male care so much even about something like this, she'd far more have it with him as close to her as possible.
She gently caressed his hair with her hand, the other propping itself over his back before she calmly pulled him down to her, only getting a whispered out "Lady?" from her actions as she laid his body over her own, with their size difference, his head was sandwiched right between her bosom, making sure he was comfortable as he thrusted, her lower body almost jolting each time his cock went balls deep into her.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him as she purred to him, massaging his back, shoulders and arms, even going far down enough to reach his rear as she caressed his hair with her mandibles, taking in the smell. By the same token, the human was close enough to her to be enveloped in her scent; a heady, musky scent, not overbearing to the male, but pleasant and calm.
With how close his head was Duncan began kissing over the Yautja's pair of breasts, going over both and making sure to pay most attention to her perky nipples, even going so far as to leave little licks over the areola's, and hearing the Yautja's give out a murr of delight from this, he started to suck on her tits, not hardly, but slowly not wanting to have her receive any discomfort, even accidentally.
It didn't take long for him to feel an impending release, quickly telling the female he was going to cum soon. She held him against telling him to not stop for her, only to release in his own time, her own release not too far behind.
Gripping her body the male pounding herself in her at a faster pace, the pressure building and building until he finally came, painting her walls white as the feeling of her pussy being covered in his semen was the final feeling for her, her whole body tensed up as she came, unable to stop herself howling in ecstasy, roaring to the heavens from the overwhelming sensation, calming down only seconds later.
The human had straightened his body over her as he pulled out from her vagina, now resting himself by her collarbone, moving around his arms before he felt a hand brush over the Yautja's own, intertwining his fingers around hers as he noted how small his were when compared to his own. Her hands are easily a third larger than his, and with her strength she could snap him in half like a twig if she so wanted, but her touches were always so gentle, tender and loving. Even now in the afterglow he could feel her lightly stroking his arm, caressing at his hairs almost fussy like, holding his fingers tightly.
He nuzzled her with his cheek as he felt warm and safe in her arms, with L'Ditha thinking about how something so simple could be so sweet and wonderful; before the only mating she got was with males she never cared about only using her for her womb, but now, this male, this human of all things, made the idea of mating not only pleasurable to her but desirable.
Arching her back L'Ditha pulled out the blankets of fur from under her and pulled them over them both, up to the top of her mammaries, wanting no reason to get and away from the cuddling she was doing with the human. Her human.
"I know I refuse to get too old for this." He uttered with a smile, the Yautja thinking about the length of the journey back home.
It will still take several weeks for them to return to her homeworld, but that just means several weeks for her to only get closer with the human. As the future seemed bright for them both, as she knew she would do everything in her power to get him recognized as her partner.
Together they will fight in the evil in this universe as partners, team-mates, friends, and above all else, lovers.
Hope you enjoyed.