Author's Notes:
Sorry this took a little longer than expected. I had several ways I wanted to go with this chapter and just needed a little time to work it out in my head. Thanks for the views/reviews, as always. I thoroughly look forward to the encouragement.
I do not own Aliens/Predator and make no profit in writing this story. I do own my characters, though.
When V came back to get me he stood wide eyed at the door. I ran my fingers through my hair and smiled.
"You like?"
"Exia…"
I finished slipping my arms into my bodysuit and zipping up the front before meeting V at the door. Yeah, he was totally shocked I had cut my hair. I had given him a fair amount of warning before doing so. I begged him to snag me some of that oil the Yautja use on their rubbery dreadlocks, but a girl can only beg so long before taking matters into her own hands.
"You are not going to the feast?"
Do I look like I am?
I shook my head, moved passed him, and left the room. He followed me, by now aware that his question no longer needed an answer as I was heading toward the kehrite instead of the hall which was in the opposite direction.
I pushed open the door and met Gikvaris on the mat, leaving V to make his own decision as to whether or not he was going to stay and watch. I was sure V would give me one of those monotonous verbal lashings for not attending the feast (which in all honesty was a big deal since it celebrated a successful hive cleansing), but he didn't. He must have understood that I had finally found my purpose. That I wasn't going to stand around helpless while others plotted against me. I also wasn't going to wait around for a bunch of elders to deem me worthy. Don't get me wrong, that was important, but I needed to prove my worth to myself before I could convince anyone else of it. And if I failed at least I would fail knowing I had made a hell of a try. And I think V understood that, choosing to take a seat on the sideline instead of trying to convince me with a hundred reasons why I should be at Kal'ar's side instead.
"Ooman." Gikvaris greeted me with a nod. Then he cocked his head and clicked his mandibles. A curious stare before, "Better," and touching his own 'hair'.
"Sei-i."
I had pretty much taken my hair from the middle of my back to just above my shoulders. And it looked anything but professionally done. But no matter how uneven and choppy, I certainly wasn't going to continue battling with my hair or allow it to interfere with my training. There was only so many times I could swipe sweaty hair out of my face before Gikvaris saw that as a weakness and promptly exposed it.
"I have a wager for you," I said as he tossed me a combistick. I extended it and took 'hiju' - position.
"Sei-i?"
"I want you to come at me full force. If I can withstand you for three minutes, I want you to take me to one of your preserves."
Gikvaris trilled. "Why does tiny ooman want to go to preserve?"
I held up my combistick. "Tiny ooman is tired of hurling this at the wall."
Gikvaris trilled again and took position. Slightly hunched, he lifted his arm and kept the combistick above his shoulder. "This will hurt."
"Sei-i. Very much."
In my first attempt I lasted thirty seconds before Gikvaris brought his combistick down against my left leg. I couldn't stop the guttural cry that escaped my throat or the labored breathing slipping through clenched teeth when I hit the ground, no matter how desperately my pride wanted to mask the pain. But I stood up, sucked it up, and took position again.
He waited to see if giving me more time to feel the incredible sting would sway my decision to go again. It didn't.
"Sei-i?"
I nodded.
He advanced again. I used my combistick to block him, but he was too quick for me to get my foot against him. He turned and spun around, extending the combistick and bringing it hard against my arm like a windmill. Pain shot through my arm but I was quick to jump back and return to a defensive stance. He was relentless and the best I could do while trying to cope with the pain that radiated down my arm and into my hand was to circle him; dodging the thrusts of his combistick and twirling away when he lunged.
When he was close again I brought my combistick down on him, but his arm shot up and he caught it. To my horror he literally tore it out of my hands and tossed it out of the ring. He used the blunt side of his combistick and thrust it against my stomach, knocking me off my feet.
As I lay on the ground, holding my stomach in a fetal position, he stood over me.
"Again?"
I groaned and promply told him no.
He retracted his combistick and extended his hand. It took me a minute to gather the strength to get onto my feet and I just knew I was in for a world of pain in the morning.
"N'got."
"N'got?" I shot him a horrified glare. "I feel like I've been run over by a truck."
"Better this way. Will make you work harder to avoid the pain."
He had a point. I sure as hell was going to work overtime to avoid getting clocked like that again.
V approached and allowed me to shoulder my weight on him.
"You had better run along now, tiny ooman. Stay too long and Kal'ar will put an end to this."
He knew if I had the physical stamina I would spend every waking hour in training, but he was the first to remind me of my duties as 'clan leader pet'. But despite his subtle teasing, I knew he was very serious. Arrive late? There'd be some ruffled feathers. Not show up at all? Wasn't even going to think about it.
But I was already weaving a plan to get myself out of the feast early enough to come back and train again. Gikvaris was always sparring even when others began nestling into their beds. I liked to sit and watch him and he didn't seem to mind my doing so. And on the rare occassion when Gikvaris was not in the kehrite, I worked on moves I had seen him doing.
I followed V out of the kehrite but despite his gentle protests I refused to change out of my bodysuit. It was a bitch just putting it on let alone having to peel it off of me with a bum leg and a bum arm.
Thankfully when V opened the doors none of the elders took notice of my late entrance. I thought I would make it over to the girls scot-free but then that would just be the total antithesis of every experience I had had since arriving. Mistakenly I looked over at Kal'ar who had obviously been watching me ever since I entered the room. And now that our eyes had locked, there was no way I could feign ignorance. So I took a deep breath and pivoted my direction toward him.
Before I could utter a word of apology or offer a meek excuse, he took my arm and planted me on his lap. V stood beside his chair just in case Kal'ar decided to speak to me. For the moment, he hadn't decided. His silence was a double-edged sword. Without the back arched or mandibles flared, I couldn't tell if he was angry. Without trilling or clicking, I couldn't tell if he was amused or pleased. Reading Kal'ar during these bouts of silence was like trying to decipher the mood of a stone.
When he finally spoke, to my relief it wasn't directed toward me. I was just hoping the longer I sat here, showing him I was content just to be near him, the more he would forget that I basically thought training with Gikvaris was more important than the success of his recent hive cleansing. Technically, his presumption would have been correct because I believed training would bring me closer to defeating Dalani, but I wasn't about to try and explain that to him.
V knelt down on one knee to translate for me without disturbing Kal'ar.
"He has asked if Dalani has completed her training."
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I was hoping her answer would be no, but as soon as her trill voice clapped out over the deafening silence, I just knew I was in a world of trouble. If she had finished, why hadn't I? Would it prove that I was weak and only delaying the inevitable?
But then she kept talking and I couldn't believe what my ears were actually hearing. Only I got to hear her words first instead of waiting for them to be relayed by a translator. I felt the shock of her revelation before I felt Kal'ar begin to bristle. I even moved my hand off of his arm and braced myself for being dumped off his lap in his budding rage.
Her tone was as smooth as honey, but it was her words that clearly conveyed the high opinion she held of herself. "It was very generous of you to allow Exia to train after she was threatened by Elder His'tgar – "
Yeah. That's all it was. Just words that left a big ass bruise on my face.
- "but I have clearly demonstrated my fighting skills and felt that my time would be better utilized learning and understanding your traditions to gain better understanding of what is and will be expected of me."
As much as I wanted to stew on how many jabs she had just taken at me in a single breath, there was an even deeper undertone in her message. And Kal'ar hadn't missed it.
Certain that I did not want to wind up on the floor in the wake of the storm building in his rumbling chest, I slowly moved off of him. But just as my foot hit the floor he slid his arm around my back and cupped my hip, firmly pulling me back against him.
Okay. Just gonna have to ride this one out.
Kal'ar spoke and both V and Dalani's translator worked in unison to translate.
"I am pleased that you have measured your skill in combat against that of my greatest warriors. You will have the advantage over Exia who was trained by Gikvaris, one of these warriors."
Dalani 's expression revealed that she was aware she was in hot water and moved quickly to abate his anger.
"The scales would be woefully uneven if I were to train as Exia has trained. Perhaps now with her training she will be a worthy opponent."
I was starting to feel like any time I was in the room with Kal'ar and Dalani I was sure to be insulted and humiliated. And there was somewhere I would rather be than on his lap in the midst of a powerplay. I knew I couldn't say shit about what was happening. V would just tell me to keep my nose out of it or one of the elders would again accuse me of being a defiant, dishonorable ooman and further rally behind Dalani.
When Kal'ar began a heated exchange with the elders I dislodged his hand from my hip and slid off of his lap. To my surprise he did not try to recall me. I think his anger had at this point turned into borderline aggression and there was no way in hell I was going to sneak in for a goodnight kiss. Without bothering to go through the anxiety of slinking away gracefully I just simply walked right out of the room. No one tried to stop me and no one called my name out in a hideous roar. I was glad Kal'ar had returned from a successful hunt, but politics just wasn't my thing. Neither was being perched on Kal'ar's lap while my enemy delivered veiled insults under the guise of gratitude.
Already dressed and not having been gone for more than ten minutes, when I walked into the kehrite Gikvaris let out a high, light trill.
"How much hair did you pull this time?"
I rolled my eyes at his cheapshot and joined him on the mat. He was no longer using a combistick but a wrist blade firmly attached to his forearm.
"Try?"
I looked up from my lingering gaze. "It only works if you are three heads taller than your opponent. And if you've got tree trunks for arms."
Gikvaris removed the wrist blade and stepped down off of the mat. I was disappointed to see him retire so early, but I had a lot of frustration to let out with or without him here.
"Come."
"Where?"
He said no more before walking out of the kehrite and I put a little pep in my step, despite the throbbing that now radiated down my entire leg, to catch up with him. I followed him down a maze of halls before he finally stopped at a door. My mouth went dry as I realized that this was the door leading into his private quarters.
Was I even supposed to be with him outside of the kehrite?
He opened the door and left it open, allowing me to decide whether or not I would follow him the rest of the way. I looked to my left and then to my right.
Eh, what the hell?
Closing the door behind me I walked slowly through the dimly lit room. Gikvaris called out to me and I followed the direction of his voice into another room. I waited until the lights flickered on and my jaw dropped when I realized we were standing in his personal armory. Not the one in the kehrite with irritatingly limited options, but Gikvaris' personal stash. Wide-eyed and in utter amazement I inched closer to the weapons displayed on the walls. He trilled in amusement at my admiration, but to me this was like the holy grail of shoe closets.
"Choose."
I pivoted my head.
No. He can't be talking to me. Me? Tiny ooman? No way.
"Tiny ooman has exhausted combistick. Choose another."
Shit. He really was talking to me.
I let my eyes wander over the rows of weapons, some whose function was immediately clear while others were left to my imagination. I knew energy weapons were out of the question, but god they were appealing. I'd just about do anything to strap a shoulder cannon on and blast a hole right through Dalani's wicked, little heart.
When I lifted my choice of weapon off of the wall Gikvaris cocked his head, his mandibles clicking rapidly.
"Will need to be in close proximity with opponent," he intoned gravely.
I nodded. "Sei-i."
"Will need armor."
I thought about that for a moment and shook my head. "H'ko. Will need to be ready without."
He trilled again. "Temporary. When you are ready you can take off armor."
But I was adamant that he teach me without armor. "H'ko."
Gikvaris nodded his consent. "N'got. What is a warrior without scars?"
I regarded his question as rather poetic before I realized what he meant.
This was going to hurt a lot more than getting the wind knocked out of me by a combistick. No more throbbing, radiating pain that faded after a few hours with a cold compress. Dalani was coming for blood and so it was just as well that Gikvaris did the same.
I peeled off my suit and with mechanical, stiff movement stepped down in the water. The moment I immersed my body into the hot water it lapped at my open wounds, feeling as if salt was being rubbed into the scattered slashes on my arms, shoulders, and legs. No gaping wounds that required surgical intervention, but ones that were sure to heal painfully slow. I braced for the impending burn and used my hand to gently wipe away small, black fibers from my suit that had dried in the creases of several wounds.
I heard my door open and I turned my body to keep V from seeing me. Not the wounds, but my nakedness. I knew underneath all of that hauntingly realistic latex skin that he was a droid and would feel no sexual arousal in seeing me in the flesh, but modesty was embedded into the fibers of my being. Maybe the Yautja were comfortable walking around in nothing more than a loincloth when not in armor, but being naked made me feel vulnerable. I bet there wasn't much that could make a Yautja feel vulnerable.
"Ex-ee-a."
The hair on the back of my neck stood stood up. I guess Kal'ar had finally noticed I wasn't sitting on his lap anymore.
I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my head, trying my damnest to keep my body from view. I didn't have the words to explain why the hell I was covered in sizeable knicks. Hell, I just didn't have words at all. And I certainly didn't have words to explain why I had been late to the feast and then left before saying a single word to him. So I just smiled at him and hoped he would go easy on me.
But I guess he had a pretty good idea of where I had been as he bent over and picked up my suit, regarding the tatters of the d'lex infused mesh. Though d'lex repelled the acidic reaction of kainde amedha blood and made any weapon made of it indestructible, this suit was for non-lethal sparring. Considering what Givkaris and I had been doing, I'd have to find a better alternative.
"Kehrite?"
Ugh. The look on his face.
"Sei-i." I nonchalantly lowered myself in the water.
He looked again at the suit and then put his hand palm up, curling in his fingers.
Yep. He was going to have a real good look at me.
Hoping to satisy his curiosity I lifted myself so that the water was just above my breasts, but then he curled his fingers again. Again I gave him more of a view, but again he curled his fingers until it was obvious by a sudden swell of rumbling that my antics were not quelling his curiosity, but stroking his irritation.
I threw up my hands (mentally, of course) and stepped out of the tub. His mandibles instantly flared and when I looked down I easily understood why. The warm water had dissolved the seal of dried blood and allowed my wounds to bleed freely again. It looked rather ghastly, I admit, but they didn't feel as bad as they looked. Honestly.
"H'ko kehrite," he intoned angrily.
"H'ko!" I cried, flashing him an angry glare of disapproval.
I instantly regretted it. Not telling him 'no', but the way in which I just shouted it out like his decisions didn't matter. As his eyes narrowed I half suspected he was going to use those tusks of his to fillet me where I stood.
"H'ko?" He let the suit fall to the floor and came around toward me.
I stepped back but he flashed his tusks as a warning. When he was right in front of me he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, eyeing the wounds on my shoulders first before moving his eyes down the length of my body to regard the rest of them. He used his finger to trace the largest cut on my forearm, the one I had earned when I tried to take a swipe at Gikvaris' inner thigh. But instead of flying into a verbal rage of words I didn't understand, he started to purr instead.
A Yautja purred in response to pleasure or to comfort a female (Yautja or human) who was in pain or in fear. Totally confused, though leaning more toward the pleasure theory as his n'dui'se began to fill my nostrils, I decided to just roll with it.
"Dtai'k-dte ooman Dalani."
"Fight?"
"Sei-i. Bpi-de kv'var."
I was pretty sure he was telling me that I was ready to move on from training, but again, V was no where in sight when I really needed him.
"Dtai'k-dte? H'ko jehdin-jehdin?" His choice of word also confused me, as V had on numerous occassions explained to me that as I, and unfortunately Dalani, was Kal'ar's property we could not consensually enter into challenges that could result in deadly harm to Kal'ar's property. Jehdin-jehdin was hand-on-hand combat to showcase combat skills. Dtai'k-dte permitted the use of weapons which could result in serious harm. Well, it actually would result in serious, if not deadly, harm because this wasn't just some spat to inflate a wounded pride. This was much, much more than that.
"Sei-i." He traced another wound and purred again. Ah, the Yautja and their love of scars. "Ex-ee-a...Nain-desintje-da," he put his hand on my chest, "n'ithya."
God, V, where the fuck are you?
I shook my head, helpless. "I don't understand."
He bristled, but I was confident that it was not my lack of understanding that annoyed him. I didn't think Kal'ar expected me to be fluent in Yautja after only a couple of months. There was something else behind his frustration.
"Kal'ar...take...Ex-ee-a...n'ithya..." He shook his head, annoyed. "N'ithya...Land...reward for...pure win."
I hadn't realized that my jaw was ajar until he slipped his finger under my chin and closed my mouth, letting out a light trill. I blushed briefly before jumping on him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He planted his hands on the sides of my thighs to support me as I bounced up and down like a giddy little school girl.
"Ex-ee-aa...pleased...to see...land?"
I stopped fussing over him and looked at him plainly. "Land? Exia more pleased Kal'ar speak ooman."
He clicked his mandibles rapidy. "Will give Ex-ee-a...reason to win."
I shook my head. "H'ko. Kal'ar is only reason to win." I slipped my hand onto the side of his face and daring the impossible, brought my lips against his inner mouth.
When I pulled away he tilted his head, unsure of my gesture.
"Ooman chi'ytei. Kiss."
He put his hand behind my head and pulled my mouth against his again before quickly leaning back. "Kiss?"
I laughed lightly and nodded. "Sort of."
He looked taken aback by my laughter. "Sort...of?"
I wasn't even going to try to explain.
"Like this." I brought my mouth against his again but this time I parted my lips and pushed my tongue out. No surprise that he did not open his mouth to greet me. Without moving away from him I slipped my finger up to his mouth and gently nudged at his lower teeth. Opening his mouth slightly I pushed my tongue inside, tasting something sweet and earthy.
Careful not to alarm him by withdrawing my tongue too quickly, I slowly pulled away and when my eyes met his, I nodded. "Sei-i. Kiss."
Again, as if he was a toddler being introduced to a new, shiny toy, he brought my mouth against his and this time was already waiting with a narrowly parted mouth. I laughed lightly before pushing out my tongue, but this time he met me with his own. Narrow and forked, he gently slid his tongue against mine before forcefully pushing it into my own mouth. I shivered, to my own surprise, in delight and allowed him to use his tongue to explore the inside of my mouth.
He began to purr but suddenly withdrew and set me down.
"H'ko n'got?"
"Sei-i." He lifted my face to his. "N'got. Sei-i, n'got." He paused before speaking again, lowering his eyes and tracing my wounds again. "Must...heal. Give Ex-ee-a...better wounds."
Oh. Oh.
My cheeks filled with color.
Suddenly I couldn't wait for Kal'ar to leave. The sooner he left, the sooner I could get to sleep and wake up even more determined to kick Gikvaris' ass. And I'd get my hands on more of that ointment they had given me for my cheek. Yeah, had to heal these wounds fast so I could get to making ones I would actually enjoy making...and having.
Yautja translation:
bpi-de - end
n'dui'se - Yautja musk
kv'var - training/exercises
Nain-desintje-da - the Pure Win/absolute victory
n'ithya — ground/dirt/earth/land
