Lijia toweled herself dry, as she strolled out of the bathing area. Mar'cte was sitting at the ship's controls, checking their flight path and doing other maintenance when he heard her sit in the co-pilot seat next to him. He turned and let off a light trill at the sight of her naked body. She was made like the males of her kind, muscular and sculpted. Only she had large high breasts, a smallish waist, and a nice curvy bottom. Purple mottling covered her sides and jaw, a lovely feature. Lijia waved off his interest. She wasn't in the mood for mating.
"You seem deep in thought mate, what's wrong?" Mar'cte asked, ready for a good conversation.
"You haven't seen the pups yet have you?" She asked, turning to him. He simply shook his head, looking back at his controls.
"One of them is albino," Lijia said casually, and faced forward. Mar'cte's head snapped up, his mandibles spread wide in disbelief.
"What was Kujhade's reaction? What is Jasmine going to do?" He asked a little too loudly. Lijia shushed him. He hunched his head down like a scolded pup.
"I don't know what Jasmine will do. For that matter I didn't stick around for Kujhade's reaction either. Jasmine seems not to be bothered by it, which makes sense considering her life mate," Lijia said, tapping her tusks together in deep thought.
"She isn't from our culture, she's an alien, she doesn't know any better," Mar'cte mused.
"You know him the best of all of us, what do you think he will do?" Lijia asked, turning towards Mar'cte again. He sat back in the seat and thought for a moment, his thorny brow knitted.
"It is difficult to say. On the one hand, he was very adamant that he did not want any pups of his going through what he went through. He's been despised the whole time, pretty much cut off from any aspect of our culture besides hunting. On the other hand, he cherishes Jasmine very much, and may bend to her will if she decides against killing the pup," Mar'cte said, all of a sudden feeling the weight of all of it.
"Jasmine being an ooman complicates things. They do not like to abandon their young, even if that is what is best. I have studied this due to this very possibility. Ooman mothers who kill or harm their young are some of the worst bad bloods according to their culture," she said thoughtfully. Mar'cte's eyes went wide.
"A bad blood?" Mar'cte asked her quietly. His brow knitted further. Could they ask that of her? Could they demand she become a bad blood in her own right, when they all strived so hard to avoid that very title? Suddenly, Mar'cte didn't want to think about it anymore. He shook his head as if to shake the thoughts out.
They both sat in contemplative silence, as the beauty of the stars rolled over and around them.
On Kujhade's side of the ship, the arbitrator couldn't sleep. Jasmine was in the pit, sleeping near its edge. Even in her sleep, she kept her hands on at least one of the twins. He watched her and his pups. Despite the albino, he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride, but it was dampened by the thought of his suckling. He too sat in deep thought at the controls of the ship. He sat back in the pilot's seat, not doing anything in particular except think.
His bearer had waited too late. She dragged him through the underbrush in a hurried pace, as if she couldn't wait to be rid of him. All he remembered was being smacked in the face by branches and sharp leaves. They were going deeper and deeper into the dense, hot forest. Kujhade thought they would get lost. In fact he was already lost, but his bearer's steps were sure.
They had begun this little trek at the first light of dawn. She had roused him from a deep sleep, a traveling pack already prepared. She said little to him, but Kujhade was accustomed to it. It wasn't that his bearer didn't like to speak. He knew because she spoke often and happily to his older brother. It was just Kujhade that she never spoke to much. Always she gave him a look, as if he were the biggest source of shame and dishonor for her. They resided in a small home which had a large backyard of sorts. Kujhade was allowed to play there, but she never took him beyond the confines of their home. Often he would sneak out of the semi-secluded yard, and try to catch a look. The yard itself was bordered by the home on one side, and a dense thicket on the other two so that only one side of it was free. It was there that a young Kujhade would go when he wanted to see the outside world.
Not far from the yard, was a training ground where a small yautja pup could squeeze in through the tall grass and peer over the high wall without being seen. Inside the walls were many strong, big males training. It was magical. They were all fierce warriors in Kujhade's mind, and he wanted to be just like them. The snarls, the growls, the scent of fighting musk, and the clang of weapons were all a symphony to his little ears. One day he would be a great warrior as well. He would many times mock the fighting movements and stances he saw, creating wrist blades of his own out of sharp twigs and small branches, and then tying them to his arm with the many vines that wound themselves around the tall trees. Kujhade would imagine hunting in some distant place he had never heard of, or battling some worthy foe. He would jump and kick, his movements off but enthusiastic nonetheless. It was in the midst of one of these fantasies that his bearer had caught him.
She had grabbed him by his tendrils, a painful thing to do to one so young, and pulled him all the way back to the house. She beat him. He howled in pain, and in growing fury, but it was to no avail. Droplets of green blood followed him to his thin padding on the floor, and he drifted off into a sleep until he was awakened in the morning. Now he was being carted off, deeper and deeper into the woods. Kujhade tried to ask what was going on. In his excitement to be leaving their home for the first time he could remember, he had forgotten she was angry with him. He received a smack on the large crest of his head as the only reply, and he had remained quiet. That was hours ago. They had started before the sun was truly up, and now it burned bright and high in the sky. The canopy of treetops blocked direct light, but the heat had accumulated anyway. His little legs pumped in an effort to keep up with her long strides until he began to falter. It was then that she had roughly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along behind her.
Eventually they must have reached their destination because they stopped. He was breathing hard, and his arm hurt where she had grabbed, but Kujhade's leafy green eyes stared up in wonder. They had come to a clearing, a sort of glade and it was beautiful. Dapples of sunlight shone through the thick canopy of treetops overhead. They were like little tunnels of light, just enough to make it seem like a different world altogether in the mind of a pup. He opened his little mandibles, breathing in the dank forest smells. All around he could hear the presence of small animals and insects. He was glad that much of the sunlight had been filtered through the trees, because his eyes and skin were sensitive to it. His bearer had called it a weakness, and maybe it was but at that moment he didn't care. He was consumed by all the brand new sights and sounds of the forest.
His bearer handed him the pack, and silently pointed out each item within. He was only four cycles old, but Kujhade was very astute and it never took him long to pick up on anything. She had packed some dried meats, a canteen of water, a small hunting knife, and a small visor for his eyes. After she was sure he had understood the items, she repacked them and stood to leave. At first Kujhade thought it might have been some sort of game. He would play along, but his bearer had never played any game with him before so this was strange behavior. He watched as she strode off in the direction they had just come. Kujhade was tired but he began to trail after her anyway. When she heard his footsteps she growled a warning. He knew that growl. It meant to keep away from her, it meant she was angry with him.
"I'm sorry bearer, I will not sneak away again," he tried but she never stopped growling over her shoulder at him.
Carefully he took another few steps in her direction. This time she whirled around and roared loudly at him. She was more than nine feet of sinew and muscle, and it was intimidating to face her down when she was like this. Kujhade did the only thing he could. He cowered down before her in submission. Kujhade got down on his hands and knees, sharp twigs digging into them, and lowered his head all the way to the forest floor.
"Get up weakling!" She demanded, and quickly Kujhade did as he was told. She seemed only halfway mollified at the instant obedience.
"I should have done this cycles ago, but your sire begged me not to. Now you are old enough to know why this is happening," she said standing to her full height and looking down upon him like an angry deity just before it doles out everlasting punishment.
"Do you know that you are different?" She asked, her voice calmer than a moment ago.
Kujhade thought about that question. Was he different? He didn't know. He tried to think about it, but the answer eluded him. Fearing that she would be angry at his delayed answer, he told her what he thought she wanted to hear.
"Sei-i" he answered, not at all sure about it. She sighed, seeing that he didn't actually understand it.
"Pup, what is the difference between you and I?" She tried. She had to do this, but it would be dishonorable to banish him without first telling him the exact reason.
"You are big and I am small," he said, proud of his answer. He was sure that was true.
"What else?" She asked, folding her arms across her ample breasts and waiting on him to figure it out.
"I am male, you are female," he answered again. These were easy things.
"What else?" She asked again. He knitted a smooth brow in concentration. He tried to think. There was only one other answer that he could be sure about.
"I am weak and you are strong," he said, knowing that it was true but not at all liking to say it out loud.
"What has made you weak?" She queried him again. He was proud to have maybe gotten it correct, but now all the excitement drained from his mind. This was not a fun little excursion; this was a punishment of some kind. He perked up a bit. She hadn't hit him so maybe it was just a test. Maybe if he proved intelligent he would not be weak anymore.
"I….I..I don't…" he said, hunching his little shoulders in exasperation.
His bearer said nothing. He thought some more. Then it formed in his mind. It was hazy and shapeless, but it was coming to him. His bearer, his older brother, the males training in the big yard. He looked different than all of them. He was sensitive to light in his eyes and sometimes his skin. Kujhade's shoulders sagged in resignation. This was no test. It was as he assumed before; a punishment. He was being punished for being weak, for being different.
"I look different," he said, his voice small and defeated.
"You are different. Your color is wrong, you cannot hunt. Your skin and eyes are too sensitive to light, and you are a small male. Nothing like your sire. So here you will remain until the black hunter takes you. Paya has not seen fit to be kind to you, and neither have I," she said. She hesitated a moment, given pause by the stern look in her pup's eyes. He had set his little jaw in that way he did when he refused to whine or show any emotion.
Without saying anything further, his bearer strode off. He watched her disappear into the forest. He stood there a long time, holding his pack in his hand and staring at the space where she had been. He tried to keep it in, but he was making the noise before he knew it was happening. A low, mournful sound akin to a howl that resonated in his little chest. Kujhade made his way to where his bearer had been a few moments before. He searched for her, but she was gone. He kept looking back to keep the clearing in his line of sight. It was his only point of reference, and he didn't want to lose his way from it. Trying to stifle the sound he was making, with very little success, he sulked his way back to the clearing. He took a seat with his back against a tall tree. He looked at the pack in his hands. His stomach growled at him, and he suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten since the day before. He reached in and took a very small piece of the dried meats she had given him.
"Jhade?" Jasmine's voice brought him steadily out of his memory.
"Jhade, you okay baby?" Jazzy said quietly, making her way to him. He felt her small warm hand on his shoulder.
"I am fine Jasmine," he replied as softly as he could.
Jasmine only stood just behind him with a hand on his scaly shoulder. He said he was okay, but he hadn't sounded like it a minute ago. She didn't think he realized he was making a strange noise; one she had not heard before. It was little more than a deep rumble, barely audible. She was sleeping lightly now that she had the twins. They were waking every two hours to feed, so it didn't take much to wake her now. He seemed to be lost in a memory that didn't seem all that pleasurable. She understood that all too well. She wanted to ask, but decided not to pry. He had been opening up more and more with her, but there were some things he still held close to the vest. Jasmine leaned down to kiss the crest of his head and his lower jaw. She caressed his shoulder once more and turned towards the pit again.
Kujhade grabbed her hand suddenly, and gently pulled her around to embrace her. Jasmine straddled him and nuzzled into his warmth. Once she had her arms securely around him, he dropped his but sat gazing out at the shooting stars and distant worlds. Sensing his need for affection, Jasmine held on tighter to him, the beat of his mighty heart lulling her into peaceful sleep. It would only be the cries of their children that would eventually wake her and pull her from his arms.