A short chapter because I'm tired and lazy.

Yeyinde pt. 9

"Let her go now Tarei'hasan or Paya help me I'll rip your guts out!"

Mahwa chuckled. "It would seem that we're being rudely interrupted in our mating ritual Yeyinde", he squeezed her throat a bit harder and smiled over at the hunter at the other end of the corridor. "You know that a challenge for a female's favor is something that has to take place before the Elders and are to the death, don't you Vraa'hn?"

"Let her go", snarled Vraa'hn and Yeyinde felt how tears of relief prickled in the corner of her eyes. "Or I'll kill you."

"You two really have a strange relationship. I didn't know that it was common for a Yau-th and his ward to mate with each other", said Mahwa with a drawl and licked Yeyinde's cheek provocatively. "Because of course you are familiar with the fact that you cannot challenge me without wanting to mate with her yourself?"

"It ought to be perfectly clear that she's not willing to mate with you Mahwa", said Vraa'hn and roared with fury.

"Well that's her business and not yours since she's a blooded hunter now; you're just a bothersome nobody who's interfering with things that doesn't concern you."

"It does concern me", growled Vraa'hn.

"No it doesn't, if you don't want her for yourself that is", the ridicule and challenge in Mahwa's voice was unmistakable. "Well, do you?"

Yeyinde looked at her Yau-th and saw how he battled with his fury. He had never been good at keeping it in check and she knew that he often did rash things without thinking. She swallowed a sob because she didn't know what to do; Mahwa was right. If anyone should challenge him over what he had done and was about to do, then it was her and somewhere deep inside she knew that that was exactly what Mahwa hoped for; an excuse to kill her without having to worry about the consequences. But she was frightened and weak, not worthy of the name Yeyinde.

"Vraa'hn", she croaked. "Vraa'hn… I'm-"

"Don't worry Yeyinde", he murmured. "I'm not going to let him harm you anymore."

"You still haven't answered my question, Lou-dte Kalei", said Mahwa. "Are you challenging me and taking the fight before the Elders? Or are you going to let me finish what I started?" he smiled wickedly and buried his tusks in Yeyinde's hair. "Mm, she smells deliciously, don't you agree?"

"I'm going to do neither", growled Vraa'hn and started to move forward.

Mahwa sneered and let go of her neck and she fell down on the floor, furiously trying to gasp for air. Mahwa went into battle position and stood facing Vraa'hn in nothing but his skin. Vraa'hn on the other hand had full ceremonial armor.

"You know that I'm well within my rights to kill you now Lou-dte Kalei", murmured Mahwa.

"If you can", snarled Vraa'hn.

Yeyinde tried to get up on her feet but she felt faint only by moving a little, with a strangled cry she managed to get up on her feet by supporting her back against the wall. Mahwa and Vraa'hn kept completely still while watching each other for gaps in the defenses. Then all hell broke loose. The two huge hunters both jumped and slammed into each other in mid air. They fell to the floor with a loud bang and to Yeyinde's horror it was Mahwa that ended up on top. Vraa'hn on the other hand had been protected from the collision with the floor thanks to his armor. Mahwa on the other hand was stark naked. Yeyinde didn't know what to do; it was against the hunter's code to interrupt a duel, but what if Mahwa hurt Vraa'hn. What if he killed him? She took a step forward and immediately knew that she had got a concussion when Mahwa had slammed her head on the floor. She leaned forward and threw up, her muscles gave in and she ended up on her hands and knees.

"Vraa'hn", she pleaded. "Please-"

Her Yau-th didn't respond, but he slammed his fist in Mahwa's face instead who roared and fell of Vraa'hn. Both of them got up on their feet and Mahwa was now bleeding abundantly from his mouth. They stood still for a while before they slammed into each other again. This time none of them succeeded to get the other one on his back. They wrestled around on the floor for a while, trying to get a grip or some kind of lock. Wrestling was not Yeyinde's forte; K'han had almost left it out of her training since she never could measure up to a grown hunter if they both were on the ground. In her case it was best to keep her distance and of the ground. Vraa'hn and Mahwa were evenly matched though and by the looks of it none of them seemed to get a good enough hold of the other.

Yeyinde tried to stand up again and succeeded halfway by supporting herself against the wall. She limped forward but had no idea how she could help Vraa'hn in her current state. Vraa'hn managed to get a hold of Mahwa's arm and by using the pressure point above the elbow he succeeded to throw Mahwa off balance and get on top. He pounded the other hunter's head against the floor and delivered a bone shattering blow to Mahwa's throat. It seemed like the fight was over, the light in Mahwa's eyes flickered and when Vraa'hn lifted his fist for the finishing strike Yeyinde was almost certain that he had won.

But the strike never came. Vraa'hn's fist remained in the air and Yeyinde heard a faint gurgling noise and then her Yau-th collapsed on the floor by Mahwa's side.

"Vraa'hn!"

She forced her body to move out of sheer horror. She kneeled by his side and turned him around. One of his own daggers was buried in his throat. Green blood flowed over his chest and Yeyinde could hear how his breathing got heavier and more strained.

"No!"

She tried to stop the blood flow with her hands and looked around desperately for something to use for bandage.

"Vraa'hn", she whispered. "Please don't die Vraa'hn, I'll find the medic, you'll be fine."

"Yeyinde", he mumbled. "Yeyinde…"

"I'm here Vraa'hn, stay with me."

"Yeyinde, I'm so-so-"

"Sch… don't speak, you'll be fine", she said and felt how hot, silent tears fell from her cheeks.

"Yeyinde, I never told you that I-"

"Sch, sch…"

"Yeyinde!"

She turned around and saw how K'han came around the corner. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the bloodbath before him.

"K'han!" she cried. "Vraa'hn is hurt. Mahwa stabbed him; we need to get him to the medic."

The huge, black hunter came over to her side and kneeled. He put one finger on Vraa'hn's neck and felt for a pulse.

"He's gone Yeyinde", said K'han and there were real pain in his voice.

"No!" she protested. "He can't be. Vraa'hn! Vraa'hn! Wake up, please don't do this, I need you. I love you Vraa'hn, please don't be dead."

K'han shook his head and closed Vraa'hn's eyes with his thumb and index finger. Yeyinde turned her head and looked at Mahwa where he lay only one meter away. He was still breathing. She screamed and got up on her feet, bringing one of Vraa'hn's knives with her as she did so.

"You're going to pay for this!" she screamed and brought the knife up.

"No Yeyinde", said K'han and stopped her onslaught halfway through the motion. "That would be murder of someone who's defenseless. Vraa'hn fought Mahwa and he lost. The Elders would throw you of the ship if you killed him now."

"I don't care!"

He looked at her with a grim expression on his face. "But I do."

The knife fell from her hand and landed on the floor with a metallic clatter. She dropped to her knees and screamed like she never had screamed before. Her whole body shook with raw sorrow.

K'han put a hand on her shoulder and then dragged her close to his chest. A sad trilling sound came from his mouth and his mandibles stroked her hair gently. When he lifted her into his arms she didn't protest. She just buried her head in his shoulder and wished that everything that had just happened were a bad dream.

XxX

She had finally fallen asleep. Her head looked ridiculously small on his huge pillow and buried under his pelts she looked like a small pup. But she wasn't and hadn't been for a long time. K'han sat down in one of his arm chairs and sighed deeply. It was all too much to take in on one occasion. Vraa'hn was dead and Yeyinde had somehow gone into heat in one second only to get out of it just as quickly. K'han did not understand it. He could smell the musk on her torn clothes but she didn't seem to be exuding it any longer. It was incomprehensible, female yautjas went into heat once every ten year or so, perhaps every five year in extreme cases. But to go into heat in one moment and then get out of it the next was unheard of.

Perhaps the stories were true.

K'han shook his head. There were rumors circling about the soft meats females and that they went in and out of heat as they pleased. The concept was so ridiculous that K'han never had paid it any mind earlier because how could a society work like that? The soft meat males must go crazy all the time.

But then it hit him. Soft meats didn't have a very refined sense of scent; he had noticed that with Yeyinde, and where yautjas could taste the air around them, soft meats seemed to be left with only that small nose of theirs.

'So this could happen again?' he thought and stole a glance at Yeyinde's sleeping form again. 'Paya help me!'

He shook his head. It was only speculations. He had other, more pressing matters to deal with. Mahwa had killed Vraa'hn in a duel over Yeyinde. That Mahwa would want to mate with a soft meat to start with was laughable but all evidence pointed in that direction. Could it be that the experienced hunter that had had his share of female yautja company went and lost his control when he scented Yeyinde? Somehow that was hard to believe. K'han had felt aroused when the scent of Yeyinde's musk had reached his sensors but he would never have lost control and tried to mate with her and somehow he suspected that the same thing went for Mahwa. So what was Mahwa's game exactly.

'Revenge!'

It hit K'han like a merciless blow to the head. Mahwa had tried to mate with Yeyinde and hurt her as much as possible in the process to get revenge on K'han.

"Pauk-de", snarled K'han and suddenly he felt a strong urge to hit something.

Mahwa had also killed Vraa'hn to take out his revenge on K'han. That ma'nih pauk-de*had lost to K'han and weren't hunter enough to take matters straight to him.

K'han was angry beyond words and then he started to worry. What exactly had Mahwa and Vraa'hn fought about? The only thing that came into mind was the right to mate with Yeyinde.

"Pauk", breathed K'han when realization hit home.

Mahwa won, Vraa'hn lost. The Elders would without doubt support Mahwa's claim over Yeyinde. He would have to hand her over to him knowing that he would break her so thoroughly that she might not survive.

'And then his revenge will be complete…'

He looked over at Yeyinde again. Her face was badly bruised and she had a concussion. A blooded hunter she might be but she were still too naïve for their world. He started to realize what Vraa'hn had seen every time he had looked upon her; something fragile and beautiful that must be protected at all costs. K'han felt that unfamiliar stab in his gut again. He had skewered the bonds between him and Yeyinde when he deemed her worthy to go on her first hunt. He had done that because he had been afraid of these kinds of feelings. Well, it seemed he couldn't avoid them and after what had transpired tonight he would never let her go. He would challenge Mahwa for her sake and beat him. Then she could stay with him if she choose to, as his mate if needed be, or go her own way.

Ma'nih pauk-de – Mother fucker