We entered the camp when another elite approached Kulu and growled.
"What is it?" Kulu replied in human.
"Umm Kaman wants to see you." He said in really bad English.
H'el cursed, well I think he cursed because he was angry, he cursed through his teeth… mandibles, You get the picture.
"H'el what is it?" Kulu demanded.
"Cantal Sangheili…" H'el said
WTF? What is can-tn-el? More importantly WTF is a sangheili? I thought. I looked at Kulu and tugged on his cape and asked, "Gammameed, what is a can-tn-le?
"H'el will tell you," Kulu said very quickly.
Kulu grabbed H'el's arm and led him over a bit, "H'el make sure Aeia isn't hurt."
"Kulu please give her a translator," H'el began speaking what sounded like gibberish.
Kulu walked over to me and put a red collar-like ring around my neck and he handed me an earpiece. I put the earpiece in my ear and Kulu began to talk.
"Can you understand me?" He asked.
"Um of course I can understand you." I replied.
"How far can I translate with this?" It was a really awkward question.
"As far as you can hear, now I have to go." Kulu then left me.
H'el knelt besides me, "Aeia want to show me the stuff you found?"
"Sure." I replied and watched Kulu walk away. My eyes fell upon the sky and it was a gorgeous mix of purples', oranges', yellows', and reds'.
H'el turned around and that is when I slunk away towards the direction Kulu went. My training kicked in as I avoided detection and being seen, when I got close to the tent Kulu was heading toward. The tent was surrounded by elites in black armor.
I over heard bits and pieces of Kulu's conversation, "So Tamn' Korbanee is here… is that so… may the Forerunners help…" He entered the tent and I lost the rest of the conversation.
Although they were suppose to be good I knew I was always better. I easily slunk around them and found a place in-between the tents and got a front row seat to what was about to go down. I looked inside and playfully thought, 'let the eavesdropping begin.'
I saw 3 people… aliens… men… you get the picture. One was Kulu, who was looking good and also angry. A skinny elite who if he was human he'd be the skinny evil guy, I just got a really bad vibe from him. The last person at this pow wow, was a really big guy in sandy color armor, arms crossed over his chest, glaring.
"Well Kulu," the skinny elite said, "some of your men and superiors are thinking that you might be going soft and doubting the ways."
"Tamn! How dare you question-" The big guy was cut off by Kulu.
"Kaman I can speak for myself."
So evil skinny guy is Tamn…and the big guy is Kaman.
"Tamn do you know why others think of this or are these your own accusations?"
I was confused on what was going on but it sounded like things were heating up.
"Well," Tamn smirked, "I been hearing that you're keeping a human as a pet," he said very slyly "so I'm letting H'el's friends look for it and well…" Tamn gave a sly laugh "dispose of it."
My jaw dropped, Pet! I'm no ones pet!…how rude! I thought. 5 seconds past … wait did he say dispose of it?
Kulu became angry very quickly and snarled at Tamn, "How dare you, she hasn't done anything wrong!"
"Ah so you do have a pet." Tamn got his answer.
I was fully absorbed in this and didn't check over my shoulder as often as I should have.
"Kulu calm down." Kaman growled.
"Tamn whose team is the one going on this hunt." Kaman asked Tamn.
His sly smirk came back, "Who else's team… Rtas' Vadumee's team of course."
"Rtas' Vadumee…" Kulu repeated.
I listened to the conversation intently and did not hear or see that someone was sneaking up behind me before it was to late. Something grabbed me and I struggled to get free. I made the mistake of opening my mouth and talking, "Hey put me down! Let me go! Let me go!" I demanded as I squirmed. We moved and entered through the other entrance which I was right next to.
"Hey Tamn, you snake in the grass, is this the 'dangerous human'?" The elite said with a chuckle. His voice reminded me of those soldiers who have gone to hell and back 5 times.
"Put me down you big oaf, or…or you'll be sorry." I said, squirming.
"Aeia!" Kulu said loudly, "What are you doing?" He asked in an annoyed tone.
"Uhh…I was listening to you discussion." I said with the utmost truth.
H'el came in, "Kulu… Aeia is gone!"
"Yah I know… your 5 minutes too late." Kulu said, I looked at Tamn and he looked like he was about to die of laughter.
"Uh hey buddy could you let me go please?" I asked the elite, whom I couldn't see.
"Rtas don't put that vile creature down." Tamn said.
"Why I'll show you vile…wait you can understand me?"
Kulu did a face palm, "Yes Aeia we can understand you, the translator transfers your language into ours and vice versa." Kulu explained.
I felt like he wasn't going to put me down so I twisted and turned to try and get me free.
The elite holding me chuckled, "H'el this one's a feisty one."
I growled, "Ok seriously tired of being manhandled!"
Kulu sighed and said, "Rtas give her to me."
He dropped me and I landed on all fours, and jumped up into Kulu's arms. And Kulu slapped the back of my head.
"I told you to stay with H'el," Kulu growled as he scolded me.
"I'm sorry I got curious, and I missed you."
"Well this time stay with H'el!" Kulu scolded me one last time and tossed me to H'el. I felt really bad, and I was already feeling bad because of Toma's death.
"Come on Aeia lets go get some food for you and me, ok?" H'el said.
"Ok." I replied
H'el was like the awesome older brother I never had, and Kulu was like my dad. If I was going to survive these two were going to be my starting blocks. Just like The Chief and my Spartan siblings.
He finally put me down and I looked around and saw campfires that were surrounded by other elites, great now only 500 other guys who want to kill me.
"Wait right here." H'el said before running off and bringing back two pieces of meat.
"Um H'el what does Can-tn-le mean?" I asked.
"Well I'm part of a group of special forces or special operations, but most call us SpecOps for short." He explained as he handed me some meat.
"Thanks H'el. So that means your really good?" I bit into the meat, it was really tough on the outside but inside perfectly cooked.
"Well you could say that…no yah we are some of the best. We go on dangerous missions and do dangerous stuff."
Cocky… "Cool, do you jump out of ships?"
"Some of us." He bit into his meat and I could not really look away. How and elite eats meat was the most disgusting, weirdest, and possibly coolest thing I'd ever seen. The mandibles chewed, and shredded the meat.
I began eating my meat before he noticed I was watching him. We finished in no time, and that was the best well a decent mean I had in the longest time. Believe it or not I was still hungry.
"Want some more?" H'el asked.
"Yes please!" I said, I looked at the sky above my head and the light was nearly gone, most of the light now was from the fires and artificial lights.
H'el trotted back with different meat. As I bit into it the texture was softer and possibly covered by a type of membrane or sauce. If I had to guess this meat was innards, but who's complaining. I glanced at H'el and he swallowed the meat whole ok not whole but didn't really chew.
"That was delicious H'el, thank you," I said.
"Yah it was," H'el said but he didn't sound like he was paying attention to me. He turned his head around and looked at the others.
I had one of my vibe moments and this vibe was tension. It's like everyone had something planed or something was suppose to happen, but whatever it was it was stressful.
I looked at the others and noticed they all looked or occasionally glanced at the tent I just came out of. I looked also and saw, in order, Kulu; who trotted over to us, Rtas; who followed Kulu, Tamn and then Kaman; they seemed to still be talking to each other.
Kulu approached us, "Gammameed!" I said, as he immediately picked me up. I was confused and surprised.
"Hello Aeia," He said nuzzling my head. I was getting use to my new name and I love it so.
Kulu, as he nuzzled my head, reminded me of a pet or a horse, still debating, He began nuzzling roughly but I kept my mouth shut. Through his nuzzling I looked at Kaman and Tamn. Kaman then walked behind Tamn and placed his hand on Tamn's shoulder. My eyes looked around and I saw all the elites in the camp or whoever was around looking at Tamn and Kaman.
H'el picked up my backpack that was by his foot… his hoof.
"Aeia I'm sorry I got angry, I just did not want you to be harmed." Kulu began to gently nuzzle my face, but I could see his eyes were still fixed on Tamn and Kaman.
"It is ok." I watched the two with interest. What is going to happen? Well whatever it is its not going to be good.
I could barely make out Tamn's features due to the heat from the fire. Kaman was right behind Tamn and his hand still rested on Tamn's shoulder. His other hand was hidden behind his back. Kulu began to nuzzle the top of my head. I saw Kaman grip Tamn's shoulder tight. Tamn's face from what I could tell became grim, with the quickest speed to rival my own, Kaman stabbed Tamn with an energy sword. I covered my mouth in shock and horror, I gave quiet, broken screams. I was truly mortified but what shocked me the most was that Kulu kept nuzzling my head, smiled, and gave a small chuckle.
Kaman kicked Tamn off his sword, "Now is anyone going to say anything?" He looked around at the elites, no one moved and no one said anything. "Good." Kaman said with a smile.
I could barely believe or understand what had just happened. Was that a political assassination?
"Alright Aeia I need you to go with H'el." Kulu said so calmly and sweetly, like he was completely oblivious to what had just happened.
"But…but…but…" I stammered.
"No but's," Kulu said as he carried me in his arms, for some weird reason I felt safe in his arms I trusted him. He carried me to his tent and there was a small bodysuit and armor. "put these on and then call me when your done." Kulu left me, and I then felt alone.
I looked at the bodysuit it was ripped in the middle, it was barely connected in the back but it would have to do. I ripped my tattered shirt off and ripped my caprices off, man these were my favorite clothes, I thought. I felt a cool breeze brush over my body, I quickly got the bodysuit on. The black cloth-like bodysuit had a hole in the middle revealing my belly and stopped right under my chest, the sleeves were uneven and so were the legs. The legs had holes in them so it felt more like shorts and knee high socks. I noticed straps on the suit, and I snapped them on. The straps tightened the suit and it felt like the bodysuit for the Spartan armor.
I called Kulu and he came in, "Do those fit?" He asked.
"Bit short on the top but no one will see anything if I get into a fight." I said, I did a handstand and everything stayed in place.
"Alright here is some temporary armor until I get you special, permanent armor. Use this for now."
"Wait why do I need armor Gammaeed?"
"Rtas' team is going on a mission to a occupied human base and well you're going."
Kulu began working on putting the armor on, some pieces he didn't even put on. He worked on the leg armor. Next he placed on the chest armor or chest plate and a piece of armor on the back, it felt like a power source but I couldn't tell. Lastly was the shoulder and arm armor. And he handed me a helmet, I just put my hair up and it was a perfect fit. I look silly…oh well. The armor was a dark forest green I wanted to say. It was heavy but compared to the prototype MJOLNIR-like armor they gave us it was really light.
"Gammameed," I said.
"Yes Aeia?" Kulu replied.
"Where are you going to be?"
"On a ship called Fearless Triumph to get your armor ready."
"Oh ok." I didn't want Kulu to leave me with elites I didn't know.
"Don't worry I'll be back by the time you get back." He said sincerely. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand and led me outside. I grabbed my backpack and looked you and saw the eerie glow of a covenant cruiser.
"Wow."
H'el walked up to me and asked, "Ready to go?"
"Yep!" I replied. As I waved goodbye to Kulu.
"Now Aeia," H'el said with a smile, "I want you to meet my brothers." H'el said and pointed at 9 elites in black armor.
"Wait wasn't Toma your brother?" I asked.
"Yes but Toma was my actual brother these are my battle brothers. We sangheili use the term brother to mean friend or teammate, but only after a close bond." H'el explained.
"Oh… umm what's a sangheili?" I asked.
"Uh well the human term for us is 'elite' right?"
"Yep."
"Well we are sangheili, that's the name of our species."
"So elites are sangheili."
"Yes. So can you not us the word elite and use sangheili instead."
"Ok H'el"
"Thank you. Ok this is Tat, Cla, Sert, Jilt, Rako and Serp the Latnoee twins, Meta, Seta, and Leta the Kermnee Triplets." He said pointing out each one, but it was still gonna be friggen hard to tell them apart.
"Everyone this is Aeia."
"Hello." I said quietly.
"Hello." They replied.
They came closer and I stayed close to H'el's leg, I was nervous. They began making comments about me but what I noticed was that each had a different accent.
"Look at it," Leta said, "its so puny." After that comment the other comments became negative.
"Look at its arms. It probably has the strength of an Unggoy." Sert said, and the group began to laugh.
"What did you say!" I demanded, I scanned the big lug and guessed that he weighed between 250 to 300 pounds maybe 350.
"Oh no…" H'el covered his face.
He smiled, arrogant bastard, "I said your as weak as an Unggoy!" He stated loud and clear.
I punched him square in his face.
"Why you little bitch!" Sert cursed. He threw a punch at me but I quickly moved and smiled at the expression on Sert's face. "What the-"
I grabbed his arm, twisted and threw him over my shoulder. It was as easy as bench pressing 200 pounds. "Who is a unggoy weakling now?" I said like a smart-aleck as I had my foot pressing against his chest.
"Aeia!" H'el said and he picked me up by the back of my armor. I felt like an animal being picked up by the back of the neck.
"What?" I said looking at H'el. "He said I was as weak as an unggoy and I wanted to show him that I wasn't."
H'el sighed, "Sert I'm sorry."
"No need brother," Sert said standing up. "so your Aeia." Sert said in a nice, calm tone.
"Yep!" I piped up cheerfully, "nice to meetcha Sert." H'el then put me down, but I fell on my bum.
"Attention!" I familiar gruff voice barked.
The SpecOps then lined up and stood like statues. I looked up at H'el stood up when I heard, "At ease." I looked forward and right in front of me was a face. The Sangheili was 8 something in silver armor with blue-gray skin, it reminded me of acid washed jeans. The thing that struck me most were his eyes, a beautiful emerald green that simply shone in the dark. I could feel my face flush. I saw the left side of his face, two of his mandibles were missing all that was left were two very fresh pinkish stumps.
"Hello little one." He said smiling.
I then realized that this was the guy manhandling me back in Kaman's tent.
Kulu walked along the halls of the Fearless Triumph, he was looking for someone. To be more specifically he was looking for an unggoy by the name of Tarpar. And by his luck he ran into one, well almost over an unggoy.
"You." Kulu said gruffly. He always preferred humans over unggoy for some weird reason.
"Uh ye-yes sir?" The unggoy said.
"Have you seen Tarpar?"
"I am he." Tarpar answered.
"You're the one with the Huragok am I correct?"
"Ye-yes sir."
Kulu was growing annoyed with the stammering and gave a glare followed by a short growl. "I need your huragok to build me something."
"Build? Sir."
"Well more like modify."
"What needs to be modified?"
"Armor." Kulu said and pulled out a disk-shaped object.
Tarpar turned it on and looked at the designs and plans with wide eyes, "Are you sure, sir?"
"Can it be done?' Kulu said with a slight growl and a glare.
"Uh yes, yes of course sir." Tarpar said quickly.
"How long will it take?"
"Not long."
"Good." Kulu said with a slight purr, he turned around and walked away with a smile. Leaving Tarpar very confused.
Phew! Another chapter done. It is number 7 people! And again I'm cutting in-between some chapter because well I want to start the next chapter with action!
Ok if no one has noticed if I mention anyone from the game or books they will be out of character that only goes slightly for MC but not really. and yes other halo nerds I know Rtas lost his mandibles while MC was still on halo get over it I never said it would be parallel to the books and games.
Also I like humor and cant write anything with out a little comic relief. So people (and by people I mean humans and sangheili) will be random and act weird.
Oh yah also I'm nearly done with the first notebook woohoo! I write before I type. By the time I get done with this one and a bit of the 2nd notebook I'll be on my 3rd.
Anyway I love my readers, tell your friends, and you all know that Bungie owns Halo if I owned Bungie I'd be friggin rich. I own Aeia and Kulu well Kulu's name. (And pretty much all the names that aren't in any of the games.)