So, I've been working a disgusting amount and have finally been able to enjoy some time off. Last week I worked over twenty-six hours in two days. Gah… We were so loopy. I have also been getting my Halloween costume together. I got my lightsaber today. It's gorgeous and I squealed like a little girl when I first switched it on. It's bloody amazing. I chose Darth Vader's, because I'm going as a Dark Jedi this year. I'm such a dork. Anyways, please read and review!
Lil'ka- The goddess of life, the mother.
Awu'asa- Suit of armor.
Dah'nagara- Short sword.
Sivk'va-tai- Plasma caster.
Chakt-ra- Smart disc.
Paya- Term of respect.
Yeyinde- Conquering Warrior.
Ell-osde'pauk- Fuck you.
S'yuit-de- Shit.
Bhu'ja- Ghost.
Kv'var-de- Hunter.
Chapter 10
Inge and Leif watched nervously as Ulf paced. He was furious and when he got furious, sometimes people got hurt. He was partially changed in his anger; his hair long, shaggy and mane-like, his face distorted by the beginnings of a muzzle, filled with pointy teeth, his eyes gold and hard, his nails claws. The shadow of a pelt showed on his skin.
He snarled and muttered to himself, "She got away! Left us! Hrrrr… No one leaves the pack! How dare she reject us…"
This had been going on for some time. While they would have rather left him alone to vent, he had not told them to go and they did not disobey the Alpha.
As Ulf turned to stomp back along the floor, a runner burst in.
She panted, took one look at the Alpha and the Betas and prostrated herself on the ground.
"Alpha, we have found her!"
"What?!" he said loudly, stepping towards her. As he moved, the change faded from him smoothly, with no sign of pain. As always, they were impressed. Only pure-bred werewolves had to power to change so easily and fluidly and even fewer when they were so angry. Another reason why Ulf was Alpha male.
"We found her at the old house of the City Master! She is hiding there!"
"I want that house watched constantly. I want to know why she is there and who she turned to. I want to know when she leaves. I want her back! Go!"
"Yes, Alpha." the runner said, ducking out of the room backwards.
"What should we do now?" asked Leif. "Should we send a team in to take care of whoever she is staying with?"
"No." replied Ulf.
"But… She could lose control. She has never changed of her own will yet, or even felt the pull of the moon."
"I will use that to my advantage. If we have her watched constantly, when she does lose it, someone will be there for her to go to. She will be frightened, perhaps grieving for someone she has accidentally slain and will come back to us so that we will protect her and teach her control. My grandfather used that tactic several times."
"Alpha," Inge said, "that was in the wilds of Norway! Humans were few and far between. There was much superstition in the small villages; werewolves were known. We were left alone there. What if she loses control in a public place? That could easily be the death of this entire pack. The pack is the minority here."
"True, that could happen. But that is why we will have pack members watching her all the time. If she starts to change somewhere public, they can guide her somewhere dark and secluded. I do not think there is much chance of that happening though. She has a strong personality, one of the reasons I chose her. She will be able to dominate her wild side and keep in control, especially once she is trained." Ulf said silkily.
"What if her strong personality keeps her from coming back to us?"
"You know the answer. I do not tolerate lone wolves." He smiled broadly, showing teeth that grew pointy. "Deborah will be ours."
…..
Kemiri buckled on his awu'asa, putting the entire thing on. This was the first time he had done so in weeks. He felt a mixture of dread and excitement. He had been sent a message; they had come and brought his new equipment. Would the Yautja responsible treat him well because of his important mission, or would they be angry because he was technically a Bad Blood? He did not know. Leaving Deborah asleep on the couch, he activated his cloaking device against prying eyes and thermal regulator against the growing chill of night and left. He did not worry that she would awaken with him gone; she had been spending a lot of time sleeping lately, her own way of dealing with the changes that had come in her life. She had been doing better than a couple of days ago, however. She spent less of her waking hours weeping, her fear and anguish changing into stubbornness and anger.
…..
Small puffs of vapour exuded from Kemiri's mask. The cloaking device was not the most effective in cold environments, especially with his equipment. Other Yautja, who hunted often and could afford the work needed sometimes had heat exchangers built in the mask that would warm the air coming in and cool the air coming out, hiding them much more effectively in cold climes.
Kemiri had not planned on being somewhere that got cold, though. The hunts he had been on were always in the hot summer. He felt the chill of winter even through his thermal netting, especially on his hands and feet. He only wore sandals and thin, fingerless gloves.
With a grunt, the warrior hauled himself over the edge of the roof and dropped, landing fairly quietly, though the impact jarred his cold feet. He sprang forwards, away from the tall buildings of the city and into the open yards, broad streets and low houses of the suburbs.
He felt exposed here, though it was sufficiently late that he should be safe from oomans. His breath burned in his lungs a few minutes later. Yautja were not good marathon runners. They were good at sprinting, excellent over rough terrain, but their own adaptions to the heights rendered them poor runners. Especially Kemiri. He was not in as good a shape as he should be.
…..
By the time Kemiri finally left the city, he was wheezing, sweaty and a little unsteady. He slowed before reaching the meeting zone. He did not want to appear too out of breath and tired! He still had his pride. As he began breathing normally, he began shivering, chilled by the breeze on his damp body. So it was cold and sweaty that he greeted the four new warriors.
They stood beside two small shuttles, of the type used for traveling planet side from larger ships, or for moving to different hunting zones on a planet. His heart pounded, but he tried to move slowly and smoothly, confident and nonchalant.
One warrior stepped forward. The leader.
Kemiri walked over and tried to apply the traditional greeting between warriors; a gently shaken shoulder.
The other Yautja flinched away, one hand coming up as if to strike, though the blow did not land.
"Do not touch me, Bad Blood! It is bad enough that we have been sent here without you soiling our honour with your touch." he snarled.
Kemiri backed away. "I meant no insult."
"Ell-osde'pauk! Get your things and go! You will find them in the second shuttle, though Lil-ka knows why Paya D'jin-ta has bothered." As an afterthought, the warrior said, "The shuttle is yours too. The life support systems will not sustain you in space for more than a few hours. There are also no sleep pods. D'jin-ta just put you in a larger prison."
Kemiri grit his teeth and walked past the warriors, into the shuttle. On his way past the last warrior, he tripped and nearly had his head smashed into the side of the small ship. Catching himself, he turned and glared into the blank mask of the warrior, who trilled with nasty laughter.
"Watch where you are going, Bad Blood."
Inside the shuttle it was slightly warmer. He sighed and walked past the pilot's seat and the two long, padded benches that were set against the walls behind the pilot's seat. Set into the walls at the back were weapons racks and crates. They were not empty. On the racks was more plate armor, to supplement his own fairly light armor. There were a few new weapons too. He saw a pair of dah'nagara, short swords usually used in pairs. There was also a larger sivk'va-tai and a chakt-ra. The smart disc was much higher in quality than the one he owned, sleek and new.
Opening up one of the trunks, Kemiri saw a pair of shin-high, armoured boots that looked deliciously warm. Beside them was a new pair of sandals, as well as a light pair of boots for warmer weather. In the other trunks he found more cold weather gear, including a beautiful new netting suit. The wires were spaced much closer together and were of higher quality. Now he would be able to withstand even the coldest of Earth's weather. Besides the gear, there was also plenty of supplies with which to repair his new gear and old alike.
Kemiri was pleasantly surprised. He didn't think that D'jin-ta cared enough about the job he gave Kemiri to give him anything good. But this gear was incredible! It must have cost the Elder a huge amount.
With his pleasure came mingled sorrow. With such good gear, Paya D'jin-ta obviously didn't expect Kemiri back on the Homeworld for a very long time. Kemiri carefully folded the gear back into the crates. While he would have loved to put on the warmer gear, he did not want to appear weak or desperate in front of the other warriors.
They were still waiting outside, having barely moved. Kemiri held his head high, keeping a dominant posture in front of them.
"So everything is to your satisfaction, oh mighty Yeyinde?" sneered the leader, his rough voice dripping with sarcasm.
"There is no need for such talk." Kemiri replied. "Paya D'jin-ta gave me this mission himself."
"D'jin-ta simply did not want to kill you. He is weaker for it. You are still a Bad Blood, even if you have been given a 'mission' to keep you occupied until you die."
Kemiri almost shrank back again, but mentally kicked himself. It wasn't his fault the other warrior was so miserable being here!
"Like it or not, I am doing an important job here. I am gathering knowledge so that you may find more interesting prey to hunt!"
He saw stars as the bigger warrior backhanded him, sending him flying. Lifting himself up on his hands, he stared in horror as the other Yautja closed in around him, drawing weapons.
"He attacked us, didn't he?" one said.
The others nodded agreement.
"Tried to steal our ship and get to the main ship. Just what you would expect from s'yuit-de like him."
The leader hissed, "We were forbidden from killing you, Bad Blood. But only if you did nothing. We are allowed to protect ourselves. You tarnish the honour of our entire species just by living. I think that it is time to polish our honour."
"What?! No!"
"Oh yes. Prepare to meet the Destroyer, Bad Blood."
Kemiri was at their mercy, lying prostrate on the ground, not a single weapon drawn, his plasma caster lying still on his shoulder. So he did something they would never expect.
The Yautja were taken by surprise when their leader suddenly grunted, staggering backwards as if shot. He went down like a stone for a moment before rising again to attack. But not the collapsed Bad Blood. He stayed as still as the dead.
One yelped in surprise as their leader swung his sword, missing his neck by a hair's breadth, instead lopping off most of the dreadlocks on that side. Then, the attacking leader collapsed again.
Kemiri rose, glaring at the terrified warriors.
"What… What did you do?!"
"Something I learned here. Leave me alone."
"Get him!"
Kemiri sighed and left his body again. It was becoming easier with time. He found he was able to keep track of himself better now. He could fight the upward pull better.
He spun himself into a tight ball and barrelled for another hunter!
His soul was knocked out easily, though this time, he didn't take over his body. It felt strange and dirty to steal the shells of others, even for a moment.
Kemiri returned to his body, feeling that moment where he was entirely aware of gravity, of every molecule of air, of the passage of food through his body and hating it. It passed quickly.
He stood yet again with a growl. He would be feeling the bruises from this later.
The Yautja stared in horror.
"Bhu'ja Kv'var-de…" murmured one.
Kemiri did not leave them time to re-group and slaughter him this time! He bolted for his shuttle, shutting and locking the door, switching on the controls as quickly as possible. He took off, leaving them on the ground. Kemiri did not stay near them, or bother to gain too much height. This shuttle had no shields and would go down easily with only a single shot from a plasma caster. It hummed as he accelerated away.
Now, all he had to do was find a safe spot to store the ship. Outside of the city was a problem. It took far too long to get to. Perhaps in the river? It moved swiftly enough that he shouldn't have a problem with it freezing in the winter.
Kemiri shuddered. It would be so cold when he had to get things or use the ship… Oh well. He decided to consider it a test of his new gear. He scanned the river, searching for the deepest point, then angled it downwards and dove. He yelped as he was jolted from the impact with the water. Kemiri then let it sink and engaged the claw, anchoring it firmly to the silty river bottom. Now he changed out his light gear, putting on the nice new netting suit. He also stripped himself of non-waterproof electronics, locking them in a small sealed trunk, along with the boots, a thick, hooded cloak, gloves and a few weapons. The rest he stowed on the racks. Then Kemiri shut himself in the airlock, and flooded it.
…..
The water hit him like an avalanche, chilling Kemiri to his core. His mask's scuba mode activated. Lugging the trunk behind him, he walked through the squishy mud, fighting the slow but powerful current. With the trunk, he could not swim, instead trudging to shore, surrounded by dirty water and drifting garbage.
Perhaps the St. Lawrence was not such a good place to keep his ship, for Kemiri would most definitely need a shower after this…
Once his head breached the surface, he scanned for any ooman out on a late-night stroll.
Deciding he was safe, Kemiri slogged his way out and immediately began to shiver all over again. He crouched and fumbled at the lock with fingers that shook. He activated the thermal regulator and flung the cloak around himself, noting that it also had a fine pattern of wires in it. He would be able to attach it to his cloaking device. Most useful.
Once he was slightly warmer and a lot dryer, Kemiri tugged on the new boots and gloves, picked up his trunk and began trudging back home.
…..
He tiptoed in, hearing Deborah's even, slow breaths.
She was still asleep. Stowing his new gear in the basement, Kemiri headed for the bathroom to wash off the accumulated grime of the river.
His head was filled with troubling thoughts.
Were the warriors he had thought going to convince another Elder to send a team of Arbitrators to destroy him? Why had D'jin-ta spent so much getting him outfitted? Did he want him to succeed or was he just expecting Kemiri to live the rest of his life out Earth?
Adding this to his other worries, Kemiri sighed. His life was so complicated now.