Chapter 10: With flying colors
The predator jumped down from a tree on the far side of the clearing. He shook his head as he slowly walked towards the Tak'kah. The beast jerked suddenly and screeched. It fell to the ground and lay there in spasms. Its dark purple blood gushed from the knife embedded deep within its neck. Vaughn slowly stood to his feet, still bleeding heavily. He held his chest and coughed up blood, but he still managed to smile at the confused predator. "Ooman?" The predator said stunned. "Like I said, not quite... so am I done now or what?" Vaughn laughed to himself, and pain shot through him. "Ah dammit!" He dropped down to one knee. The predator spoke to Vaughn; his stone solid voice now seemed rather pleased. "Good ooman, good! You have passed the final test, and proven yourself worthy! Are you ok to walk?" Vaughn sat down on the damp clay ground.
"You sure seem concerned about me now, what happened to the whole not telling me a damn thing plan?" "Ooman, you have passed our trials, you have earned our respect." Vaughn sat there for a moment and thought about the strange situation he was in, and the aliens that seemed to have very odd customs. "So how about you tell me why exactly I'm here?" Was what he finally said. "All will be explained to you when we return to the grand arbiter, he will be quite pleased." "You said something about walking? How far?" Said Vaughn while examining his wounds. "Not far at all, just down that path a ways, then to my drop ship." "Your ship? Are we leaving this place so soon? I was hoping to maybe make a nice little cottage, find a girl, settle down and have a few kids you know, all that good stuff" the predator didn't understand Vaughn's attempt at humor. "You wish to have children? What are you talking about?" "Never mind..." Vaughn sat up and winced in pain as he stood to his feet. "Let us go then ooman."
The predator set off out of the clearing and down a narrow path, the only one Vaughn had seen in this place. "I have a name you know its Vaughn. Since were on this whole earned respect ship, how about you tell me yours?" The predator continued down the path, not looking back. "I am Ka-jell...Vaughn. And I will be your keeper until your blooding." Vaughn followed after the predator. "Keeper? And what do your mean by blooding?" "As I said ooman, the grand arbiter will explain all when we get back." "Its Vaughn, remember? And who is this grand arbiter guy you keep talking about?" The predator stopped and turned towards Vaughn. "Oom... Vaughn, you have already met the grand arbiter, he was the one who you spoke with earlier. And it is of the utmost importance that you treat him with respect!" Vaughn got the impression that the grand arbiter was the old scarred predator in the impressive armor that he had seen. "Ok I get it, big cheese, kiss the ass, gotcha" the predator turned and walked on without a word.
They soon came to another clearing, this one housed a large ship of predator design. They approached it and Ka-jeal spoke in his own tongue and a door opened. Vaughn could feel that his wounds had started to heal, but it was still going to take some time. They stepped onto the small ramp that slid out of the open door and onto the ship. The room Vaughn was in had a thin layer of fog covering the ground, and was dimly lit with low amber light. Four pillars stood in the middle, each reaching from the floor to the ceiling. There was a hallway in front of him that turned shortly after it began so he could not see down it and an open room to his left. The predator walked into the hall, and as he did so he said "follow me" Vaughn started after the predator, but the room to his left caught his eye. He stepped into the room, decent size. Many racks and bolts and shelves filled the room. Vaughn was stunned to see what was on them, skulls.