Disclaimer: See the Prologue
Sorry I'm late…getting over writer's block, changes at work, paying bills, dodging the blue screen of death and figuring out how to work with FF Dot Net enforcing the Rating System is tiring work, heh.
To SeanHicks4: It won't take that long, I assure you. I'm going by the manga's order of events…until the massive break from canon I'm planning…
21 Chapters, 187 Reviews, 146 Favourites and 145 Follows. Thanks for keeping this story going…
And yes, this is another Flashback chapter. I think I've hit upon a good thing with changing Shinji into the anti-hero he is in this fic and how he came to be that way deserves a thorough explanation. There are two more Flashback chapters in the story after this one (the last one explaining his unease with becoming close to someone), and after that it's present day bloodletting all the way…
"GAUN-THWEI! GAUN-THWEIIIIIIIIIII!"
In the distance the Young Blood Nam saw two figures, one of whom was kneeling on the ground, his back turned. Nam was running through the desert rain towards the two figures, heart threatening to give out in his chest, having sprinted from the settlement towards the outskirts. As if the sky had decided to match the turmoil that was in the air it was raining in torrents, one of only three times it rained on this side of the planet.
"ELDER! GAUN-THWEI!"
He reached them in time just as Gaun-Thwei, the tall dark skinned Young Blood and survivor of a hundred violations at the hands of the Bad Bloods, plunged the human Japanese dirk into the gut. Nam's mouth opened, and a first nothing came out except for a shocked gasped.
He then screamed…
"NOOOOO!"
…and before he could come to his aid, the elderly nine-foot tall, pale, lime-coloured black speckled Elder stepped forward and held him back with his left hand. His right arm cradled a newborn Yautja pup, despite Nam's scream, her father's grunts of pain and the sound of heavy rain pattering on the rocky ground, she was sleeping peacefully.
"Elder!" Nam exclaimed. "STOP HIM! HELP ME SAVE HIM!"
"No," the Elder said. "I permit him to decide his fate."
Before Nam could protest or even rush to his friend and clan-brother's aid, the Elder produced a katana still in it's scabbard and thrust it towards Nam.
"Help him keep his honour the way he wants to."
Nam eyes quivered as he remembered how the Samurai, the ooman warriors Gaun-Thwei's family admired so much, ended their lives when faced with dishonour. Now realising that his fellow Young Blood was beyond all aid, and not wanting of it, as he slowly disembowelled himself as he drew his dirk across his gut. Nam drew the katana from the Elder and approached Gaun-Thwei.
Enraged and distressed behind measure, Nam thought, 'All because a female overpowered him!'
He briefly glanced over at the infant pup in the Elder's eyes, the result of the trauma Gaun-Thwei suffered. Nam heard Gaun-Thwei stifled a cry of agony as he dipped his head for what was to follow, and with tears pooling in the corners of his eyes Nam roared and brought the katana down and severed Gaun-Thwei's head from his neck, green blood spurting out; but not like a geyser as Nam always imagined what would happen if one was to lose his head.
Nam bowed his head in respect for the one he called his brother. He then glared the pup's way, and then swore vengeance against it's bearer.
And towards the High Elder for letting this happen. He now knew the reason why he was called the Mad Elder.
(SSJNYH)
Chapter 20 – Ooman of Steel (Year 4, Age 10)
(SSJNYH)
For once I'm glad I've lost conscious. It felt like the LCL was burning me alive.
They say before you die your life flashes before your eyes…and I thank whatever nice god exists that it didn't happen to me as I lie floating unconscious in that blood-smelling muck in the entry plug. I don't think I ever want to relive my life after leaving Earth…
…despite finding myself amongst Yautja I have come to love – Mother, Merl'we, Nam, Mana…
Mana…the first ooman I saw in four years, and someone I can my best friend. I was ten when I first met her…just when I was starting to see how such beauty can exist in a universe as ugly as this…
Ugliness…when it comes to the Arcturians, and them hanging around a place ripped from darkness itself…
(SSJNYH)
En-route towards a grey planetoid with atmosphere the colour of ooman blood the sharp-looking Yautja Huntship slowly cruised across the blackness, without any sense of urgency. Those on board prepped themselves for their upcoming hunt; amongst them a dozen Unbloods, their first time off the homeworld and towards a designated hunting world.
Ten year old Shinji Curved Blade was amongst those Unbloods. He had changed a lot since last year when he had earned his name and his current status his Unblood, at the cost of at least one other Yautja pup's life. His muscles had begun to develop once again to coincide with his latest growth spurt, his abominable and pec almost clearly seen. His strength was equal to a grown ooman male's and at the moment he can physically match a Yautja pup his own age.
He was clad in a black loincloth, light steel shoulder and knee plating. Right now he was sitting cross legged on his bottom bunk bed in the room he shared with his 'mother' Gaun, the Huntress in question getting dressed into her light body armour while her 'pup' was busy fiddling with his wrist comp, eyes and attention focused on the 3D display being broadcasted , giving Gaun a semblance of privacy.
Pulling up her steel-lined loincloth, Gaun glimpsed over at Shinji and the way he played with his still new wrist-computer technology. She blinked suddenly, when the sight reminded her of…
"Mother?"
"Yes, Straight Blade?"
"Will you always remember me?"
"Why do you ask?"
"In case I ever…disappear…for some reason or something, will you remember me if I'm gone?"
"It would be difficult for me to ever forget you, pup.
Her eyelids dimmed in sadness, remembering she had asked her that question shortly after she embraced Straight Blade as her daughter. She reflected on how last year she accepted that Shinji, real name Curved Blade, was the son she would never have. And she felt guilty, believing that he was a replacement for the first Huntress she trained before Merl'we, the first person she opened her heart to, and whom was cruelly taken from her almost right away after she asked Gaun if she would always remember her.
I do.
"Mother?"
She looked at Shinji, the ooman Unblood looking back with concern.
"Are you alright, yau-th?"
Gaun nodded, "I am."
She inwardly sighed. Curved Blade wasn't a replacement. She had a daughter, she still has a son.
At least I think I will be alright.
(SSJNYH)
The Unbloods all sat cross-legged on the steel floor, looking attentively at the hologram-projector built into the centre of the conference chamber. The Blooded stood behind them along the wall, their attention divided between the slightly fidgety pups and the Hunter Nam, who stepped up to the front and stood before the holo-projector. With a scowl he snorted as his eyes went over the thirty or so Unbloods sitting before him, noting that Shinji was sitting at the back right at Gaun's feet.
"Tell me," Nam crossed his arms and barked. "It has been a years since you all became Unbloods. Tell me what each of you has accomplished."
He pointed at one of the pups sitting in the middle, indicating for him to stand up. The Unblood's mandibles clicked before he stated proudly, "My sire has taught me how to wield the spear…"
Nam snorted, "EVERY pup learns how to use the spear before they earn their names! Did your sire hold out on you, thinking you wouldn't survive your Unblood Chiva and end up being a waste of time?"
The pup practically had the wind knocked out of sail, causing him to whimper and sit back down. Name rolled his eyes.
"I'll save us all some time and say that each of your greatest accomplishment as an Unblood is to be invited to partake in this hunting excursion," Nam said. "Each of you little c'jits will experience first-hand what it's like to see, and maybe even, taste the death of the prey up close!"
He then turned to the project and waved an arm over it. It clicked and activated, generating an image that reached the ceiling, once again pulled from the nightmares of a most corrupted mind.
Shinji felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw a thin, dark green, rubbery-lookking, biomechanical, naked female humanoid with sharp looking elbow and knees. It's head and face were the stuff of definite nightmares, appearance resembling a human but instead of where it's eye sockets should be it was spherical glands; it's eyes instead at the far edges of it's face, three on each side and each the colour of the black. Tendrils appearing out ot it's head that reached it's waist. Shinji swallowed gently.
Ugly…
(SSJNYH)
"The place we are going is a derelict city, currently under the management of the Arcturians," Nam continued. "And this…image…is what the tetch'na really do look like. And you've all heard the rumours about the supposedly dreaded Arcturians, but allow me to say…they are ALL true."
Nam couldn't help but enjoy the looks on each of the Unbloods faces. What was said of the Arcturians was that they were slavers and flesh-dealers, perverts and killers, more animal then sentient being and not deserving of quarter, to be killed on sight.
Shinji watched attentively, and would have written it all down if he could.
"Each of you will accompany an experienced Blooded. You will observe how they stalk and kill their prey and how they will make a trophy out of the corpse," Nam explained. "If you're interested in returning home alive you will do everything your Blooded tells you to do. If you should be separated and a captured by one of these…beasts…"
He then shuddered, unsettling the Unbloods.
"Well, you may want to take your own life."
He looked over towards Gaun and Shinji. He frowned…
But not in the same way Gaun-Thwei killed himself.
"Take heed of the debaucheries the Arcturian Paya Amedha inflict upon themselves and those unfortunate to be ensnared by them," Nam stated. "It'll motivate you even more to know that even if you do manage to take your own life before they can have their way with you, they won't hesitate to make do with what's left of your corpses!"
Some of the Unbloods clenched their mandibles together in a cringe. Shinji, however, looked all the more determined. Name noted that.
He will definitely survive this. I know it. I didn't let myself get abused by two attractive Huntresses while training the little tetch'na to see him get killed now!
(SSJNYH)
Afterwards the Unblood were given last-minute preparation without the Blooded hunters present. Shinji sat on bench far from the other Unbloods, checking his wrist-comp. He then extended his wrist blade…
SHIIINNGGG!
…eyes widened at how sudden they popped out in the blink of an eye and how sharp they looked.
"Careful not to cut yourself on that, ooman."
Little Curved Blade looked up to see Kur approach him, another two Unblood flanking him. He was smirking down at him, knowing Shinji wouldn't dare tackle him and pummel him in the face again like before he earned his name; not unless he wanted to get beaten up instead by his lackeys.
"Kur," Shinji acknowledged him, before looking away from and concentrating on his wrist.
The taller Unblood growled, thrusting his hand forward and grabbing him by the throat and pushing him against the wall, "DON'T LOOK AWAY ME FROM LIKE THAT!"
The other Unbloods dropped what they were doing and saw the conflict brewing between the ooman and oldest pup amongst them.
"Or what?"
WHINNGGGGG!
Kur then felt the wrist blade pressed against his wrist, threatening to nick the artery underneath it. He felt himself freeze when the ooman spoke again.
"Why can't you leave me alone?" Shinji frowned, right hand gripping the hand around his neck.
"Because he died because of you!" Kur growled.
"Who?"
"He doesn't have a name!" Kur exclaimed. "You denied him that."
Shinji's eyes widened, Kur let go of him and he slid down against the wall, depression overtaking as he remembered fishing that mutilated pup's body out of the creek; the one killed by his bearer for his failure during the Unblood Chiva. Kur smirked again, believing he had won over the supposedly weak willed ooman, but he faded when Shinji suddenly glared up at him.
"Do you want to join him then if you miss him so much?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah, do you?"
All eyes turned to see Merl'we at the door into the prep chamber, arms crossed and glaring down at the Unblooded pups. Kur glanced between Shinji and Merl'we, then snorted and backed off, his lackeys following close behind. Shinji shook his head and got back up, blade still extended.
"I didn't ask for your help," Shinji grunted, massaging his neck with his right hand.
Merl'we frowned, "I didn't come here for that. I came to make sure your little asses are ready for a taste of Arcturian blood."
(SSJNYH)
They say it's unfair to judge an entire species based on the actions of a few. In the Arcturians' case, however, I think those few demonstrate what the entire species really are capable of. I don't know if the…things they did…were hardwired into their minds and they couldn't control themselves, or if they just didn't give a damn...
The universe is an ugly place…
(SSJNYH)
The planetoid designated RVA-214, was a cold, desolate, depressing rock despite it's blood red atmosphere. The abandoned, ancient city the Huntship landed outside was nothing but the colour black, suiting it's biomechanical décor. It's buildings were a combination of spirals, curves and waves, each looking like bones were used as building material; as if a certain ooman artist who specialised in recreating his worst nightmares was the architect.
Right now Shinji and Gaun, the two of them cloaked, were climbing up the side of one of these tall buildings, before leaping off the side and landing on a crumbling balcony. Shinji opened his eyes and gazed over the city from this vantage point, glad he had gotten over heights years ago.
"Are we going to be hunting, Mother?" Shinji asked.
Gaun grunted, "Not this time, Curved Blade."
"Huh?"
"We shall be observing the Arcturians," Gaun replied. "And you can tell me what you think of them."
Gaun then pointed downward at what appeared to be column marching down the elevated road below them. Shinji followed her finger, his bio-mask zooming in what appeared to be twenty Arcturians armed with spikey-looking black rifles wearing armour that composed of triangles stuck together. They were marching in a rectangle and between them…
Shinji suppressed a gasp…
Wha…?
…when he saw twice the Arcturians number in unarmed alien civilians, children among them. Each of them were battered, clad in rags and wearing steel collars around their necks. He saw one mother carrying child fall over, then promptly receiving a rifle butt to the face and her child thrown over the side of the road into the pit below. Shinji gritted his teeth and deactivated the zoom feature of his mask; promptly feeling Gaun's hand on his shoulder, and not in a gently manner.
"W-why?" Shinji croaked, blinking the tears in his eyes.
Gaun growled, not at him though, "Because they can."
"We're just going to let them?" Shinji demanded, getting angry now.
"Look again and tell me."
Shinji complied, and gritted his teeth when he saw a reddish-brown haired ooman girl his age amongst the small sea of oomans. He zoomed back out and tore his mask off, allowing Gaun to see the look of pure, unadulterated anger on his face.
"Yes!"
(SSJNYH)
Save me…
The collar still chaffing her neck hours after it had been put on her, the little red-haired girl in rags were marched down the street, the only ooman amongst the slaves claimed by these Arcturian pirates. She didn't know where these beasts has brought her here to this dead planet and, for the moment, she didn't care; wanting to be far away from here if possible, but even then she would not know what to do with herself.
Please…
Her, Mana Kirishima…a designated slave-breeder of the Zaibutsu, their kanji on her thigh and her masters no doubt thousands of light years away. Her, originally destined to give birth to a high-ranking warrior's child once she came of age, now through a twist of fate was abducted by a passing Arcturian pirate starship and ferried here to the dead planet RVA-214 to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Someone…
The highest bidder no doubt being another Arcturian – the absolutely WORSE scum in the universe if the rumours were anything to go by. She closed her eyes tightly, and shed a tear.
Save me…
She didn't want her life to end like this. After today her body would still be alive, but her soul would be dead.
Please…
"EYES FORWARD, BREEDER!"
She felt a stinging backhand to her face, causing her to open her eyes, her visage filled with a snarling Arcturian slaver. She stopped herself from falling over, not wanting to incur any more of her master's wrath.
"G-gomen nasai…"
"What was that?"
The Arcturian grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look into his ugly face.
"What did you say, ooman?" the Arcturian demanded.
Mana changed her dialect, "I said: 'forgive me.'"
"Why you…!"
Suddenly all the Arcturians were on alert, as if they had detected someone. And somewhere far off, Shinji, cloaked, gritted his teeth behind his mask as he and Gaun, also cloaked, scaled down the side of the building towards the same level as the elevated road.
"They didn't hear us, Curved Blade," Gaun pointed out. "Something else has spooked them."
Shinji leapt off the side of the building and landed on a balcony below, Gaun followed suit. Shinji growled when he saw the Arcturian beside the girl grab her by the arm. He reached into his satchel, fondling a pair of steel balls.
He then pressed his fingers into each of them, eliciting a beep from each of them. He snarled when the Arcturian squeezed the girl arms painfully, causing her to cry out. His mask HUD then triangular-targeted the Arcuturian, then pulled the metallic balls out and hurled them towards the road, the balls mechanically whirring and homing in on the Arcuturian.
The Arcuturian thought her heard a whirring sound, then looked up briefly to see the two small metallic balls that would rob him partially of his sight as they embedded themselves into both of his upper eyes…
"RAARGHHHHHARGLLLE!"
…the balls then released smoke that engulfed the prisoners, the Arcturian slavers, and the entire road. Mana covered her mouth and closed her eyes as the smoke surrounded her. She then gritted her teeth when she felt the Arcturian's pained hold on her arm grip tighter.
Until…
SLIT!
"ARGGHHH!"
Mana felt the slaver let go of her to reach for his left torn Achilles Heel, sliced by Shinji who had leapt onto the road, made his way through the smoke past the slavers and the other prisoners. Now the boy Predator grabbed Mana by the wrist…
"Come…"
…speaking in awkward sounding Japanese, catching Mana by surprise by whom complied. She allowed herself to be led, her eyes closed and left arm covering her mouth as she coughed into it, surprised she wasn't bumping into any one of the other prisoners or slavers. The voice then told her…
"JUMP!"
…and they did so off the elevated road, out of the smoke cloud and down a couple of metres before landing on another road below them, rolling forward across the steel. They both grunted with exertion.
"Open eyes!"
Mana did so just as she felt get pushed against the barrier edge of the road they were now on, presumably to hide from the Arcturians as the smoke screen above them begun to dissipate. She rubbed her eyes, before they were blessed to see her rescuer. A slightly taller human boy her age but wearing Yautja gear, including the mask.
Oh, my…
Her eyes widened, "You're…?"
"Shinji," the boy told her, his Japanese almost heard to understand. "Name Shinji."
Much to his surprised she switched to speaking Yautja when she replied, "Shinji-san…"
Besides being surprised that she can speak Yautja, he was relieved he didn't have to speak the ooman language he had slowly forgotten.
"My name's Mana Kirishima," she introduced herself. She then smiled warmly, "And that was a brave thing you did."
Shinji blushed, then hesitantly grinned, closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head in an awkward, embarrassed manner.
"Well…I…"
"Curved Blade."
Both head turned sideways to see a squatting Gaun materialise beside them.
"I'm…mildly impressed."
Shinji looked fearful when he stammered, "I-I couldn't have let them…"
"You didn't," Gaun replied. "Something, or someone, else alerted the Arcuturians. Now…"
The three of them looked up to hear the Arcturians scrambling and cursing above them, the rest of the slaves crying out in obvious terror.
"They will be combing the entire city looking for all us Predators now," Gaun growled. "In a situation such as this, the expedition is called off and we regroup at the designated meeting place."
"I know," Shinji replied.
Gaun sighed, "We will have to split up…"
"Huh?" Mana gasped.
"What?" Shinji was also alarmed.
Gaun tapped the side of her mask, "The Arcturians will spot us easily if we travel as a group… "
"I know," Shinji hissed, the Arcturians angry screaming above them becoming more violent by the second, warranting caution from the young rookie Hunter. "But…"
Mana grabbed Shinji's hand and squeezed it, silencing him.
"I'll go with Shinji-san, Yautja-sama," Mana announced. "Where do we have to meet?"
(SSJNYH)
Gaun smiled behind her mask…
She displays bravery, and resolve.
"The building where all the pipes in this city lead to," Gaun explained. "Do you remember, Curved Blade?"
"Yes," Shinji nodded, then tapped his wrist-comp. "I got it marked down here."
"Let's depart, then," Gaun said. "Follow the pipes."
Holding Mana's hand tightly, Shinji led her and himself away from Gaun, hopping down towards another road, Gaun watching them go, cursing herself for not following them but knowing it would be safer for all of them, seeing that the Arcturian scum would spread themselves out and with the weapons and equipment they were packing they would easily cut down anyone their crosshair pointed at – even Yautja, even more than one together.
Gaun watched them run down the road and disappear behind the building, before cloaking and following a different route towards the clan meeting place, and making sure to keep them in eyeshot. All the while she thought of the little red haired girl Shinji had risked his life to rescue.
Shinji may have found his future mate in this female.
(SSJNYH)
Me and Mana, two ten-year-old oomans who have never set foot on Earth for…four years for me, quite possibly NEVER in Mana's case, legging it through Nightmare City, it's twisted architecture reminding me of a civilisation lost, long before ooman or Yautja flew towards the stars. And Mother wasn't too far away, watching over both us…
I never bothered to ask her why she didn't stick with me and Mana as we tried to escape. I thought it was because she was testing me, and she wasn't too far away if I screwed up and the Arcturians were onto us. But looking back…
…
I…I think she was trying to make me and Mana bond.
We did. Just as I was about to fuck up…
Yeah, I just swore in JAPANESE, for all to understand. It was THAT bad of a fuck up: I drew the Arcturians attention…!
(SSJNYH)
Shinji adjusted the vision mode of his mask to thermal, seeing through the wall he and Mana were currently hiding behind two heat signatures in the shape of Arcturians. He turned to Mana and pointed his thumb in their direction, then raised two fingers, indicating there were two of them. He then saw them begin to work away from where they had been standing guard, and Shinji indicated to Mana for them to run across the road, towards another pipeline and then follow it towards the clan meeting place.
Here goes…
Grabbing Mana's hand they darted across the street, their footsteps surprisingly soft against the metal street, and would have quietly reached the pipes if Shinji had accidently across a piece of steel sticking out of said pipe and tearing a gash across his arm. Totally unprepared for that he…
"AH!"
NO!
…let out a cry of pain, causing him to cover his mouth with his hand. However his thermal vision displaying the two Arcuturians suddenly turning around, gripping their weapons and rushing towards their position.
"C'mon…"
"Shinji-san…ahh!"
Still hand in hand, they followed the pipes which led them towards alleyway a minute later, then they took a right and reached an empty courtyard…
"HERE!"
…then Shinji yanked Mana to the left and they took cover inside an abandoned two story structure. The interior hinted that it may be have a residence of some sort. They took cover in a corner near one of the windows, keeping out of sight as the two Arcturians passed by.
"Shinji-san…" Mana whispered.
"Shhh…" Shinji put a hand over her mouth, hushing her. Quiet…they'll hear us…"
"I think the breeders are in here!"
Crap.
The Arcturians then about faced and walked towards the house they were hiding in. Shinji inwardly cursed…
"C'jit!" he cursed out loud, but not loud enough to completely draw attention. "Stay here…"
Shinji gently pushed Mana into the corner next to the window.
SHIINNGGGG!
He then drew his tanto and disappeared into the back room. Mana could hear footstep going upward, indicating he was climbing up to the roof. Sure enough Shinji was standing on top of the house, looking downward at the two Arcturians about to breach the door leading into their hiding place.
"Check in here!"
Determination swept over him, culminating in leaping off the roof of the house and landing on the back of the Arcturian standing behind his friend and driving his tanto into his shoulder.
"AWWKKK!"
"What?" the other Arcturian cried. "OH SHIT…!"
"GET IT OFF ME!"
Shinji gritted his teeth and plunged the blade even deeper, before pulling it out, splattering blood which landed in the eyes of the other Arcuturian, causing him to blindly reach for his blade. Shinji snarled and leapt off the Arcturian he had just ran through and towards the other one, slashing him across the throat and splattering blood all over the house wall.
Both Arcturians collapsed onto the steel ground, their still twitching corpses already producing two small puddles of blood. Shinji landed on one knee, blade arm stretched outwards behind him and he was panting slightly, sweat trickling down both sides of his head. Mana peaked out the door and gasped, seeing him covered in the blood of the Arcturians that now laid dead outside the doorway.
'In-incredible!' she thought. 'He fought like the Elite of the Zaibutsu.'
The boy didn't share her sentiments…
I…I killed someone…
…as he stood there trembling, the knowledge that he had just killed two living beings for the first time coming down on him like a weight, causing him to breathe hard and stare blankly at the dead corpses, as if coming close to blacking out. Mana's eyes lit when she realised what was happening to him, immediately leaving the house and shook his right arm gently.
"Shinji-san?"
"Huh?"
He turned to her immediately, eyes widened. He then blinked, remembering where he and the ooman female was. He then shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose, then growled, his upper lip raising itself in a determined wolf-like snarl. Mana stepped away from him, eyes widened in awe.
"C'mon!" Shinji exclaimed, reaching for Mana's hand once she stepped out of the door. "We have to find Mother!"
They ran, leaving the house and corpses for the beasts.
(SSJNYH)
I thought I would feel empty forever after taking my first set of lives. It only lasted a few seconds, Mana's touch sparing me possibly a lifetime of hating myself…and the Arcturians didn't deserve going wide-eyed over.
So we ran! For fifteen minutes we hid and dodged those freaks; following the pipes that stretched the length of the entire city, almost an army's worth of monsters looking for us, trying to reclaim their lost property: The little red-haired girl I had risked out expedition to save.
And just when I thought we were home free, fate decided that I pushed my luck…
(SSJNYH)
Shinji laughed…
"HA! Hee…"
"Shinji-san?"
"We're here!"
He then breathed a loud sigh of relief when he saw the designated meeting place for all Hunters and their tagalongs: A bombed out high-rise structure were all the large, mile-spanning pipes ended up and out; giving the impression that one time it was an important building, a water treatment facility or something like that. Shinji didn't care, they were here, they were going home…
Then suddenly he thought something tie itself around his legs, binding them together, and he fell over forward onto the ground. Mana exclaimed, a pair of bolas having brought Shinji down, forcing him to drop his tanto. The Arcturian slaver responsible appeared out of the shadow from beneath one of the large pipes leading towards the structure, smirking.
"Well well…" the Arcturian hissed. "I founds playthings…"
Maya frantically turned left and right, trying to figure out…
What do I do?
She then saw Shinji's tanto on the ground and dove for it as the Arcturian growled and lunged for her. Mana grabbed it and slashed the Arcturian across the shoulder and rolled out of his way as he landed on the ground. The Arcturian snarled angrily as it got up, Mana already working on cutting Shinji free from the bolas. After feeling the bounds around his legs cut, Shinji extended his wrist blades and both children faced the taller Arcturian.
"Twos little oomans against one bigs me," the Arcturian mocked, drawing his sword, the hilt looking it had been carved from bone. "Cuts you in fours then I eats you!"
The Arcuturian roared and charged the two youngsters, swinging his side intending to slice through them running.
"RAAAARRGGGGGGGHHH!"
CLANG!
The Arcturian's blade was stopped by the combined strength of Mana and Shinji swinging blocking it with the tanto and wrist blade.
"YAAAAAH!"
The Arcturian gripped the hilt tighter as he tried to continue moving the sword towards the two oomans, becoming increasingly disturbed by the two of them glaring up at him menacingly. Shinji then snarled…
"SCCCCRRRYYYYY!"
…then threw the Arcturian off with a high-pitched war cry, then charging forward and head-butting him in the chest, knocking the monster back and giving himself a concussion, in turn knocking him down on his ass. Mana gripped the tanto and slashed the Arcturian across the stomach, disembowelling him and spilling blood and entrails all over.
"RAARGH!"
With one last cry of might Mana swung the tanto upward slashed the Arcturian across the throat, and the slaver toppled over backward to die drowning in it's own blood. She felt blood not her own splashed over her face as she wiped it off, tasting a bit in her mouth.
She pursed her lips…
So that's what it tastes like. What my future children were expected to taste…
She then heard Shinji groan and quickly ran to him.
"Shinji-san," she cried as she helped him up. "Are you…?"
Shinji wobbled his feet and cut her off, "I-I'll be fine. J-just need to…"
Mana caught him just as he was about to fall down. Then Gaun materialised from behind them, startling Mana.
"Yautja-sama!" Mana cried.
Gaun bent over and scooped up young Shinji and stood there before Mana.
"Y-you were just watching us?" Mana cried. "Why didn't you help us?"
Gaun slanted her head as an expression, to make up for the fact she was still wearing her mask, and stated, "The two of you had it…"
She indicated the dead Arcturian.
"…under control. If I thought you were unable to kill it then I would have killed it off myself."
"Mother…" Shinji croaked in her arms as he slowly lost consciousness.
Mana then cried in frustration, "What about when we were hiding out in that house…?"
The two of them then heard horns blow some distance away.
"You handled it!" Gaun exclaimed. "Let's go!"
(SSJNYH)
Soon the Yautja Huntship was departing RVA-214, leaving the black city and the dead planet behind, it's Arcturian masters still searching for the Hunters. There were still conflict, however, only that it was on the Huntship itself as it sat a course for the Homeworld.
In the conference chamber…
"What. In. Pauk. Happened?" Nam snarled, emphasising each word venomously.
This was the first hunt he had led that ended in failure, them nearly comprised and discovered because of the actions of one Unblood and possibly his overseer. He directed his gaze toward the other Yautja there were lined up and standing to attention, particularly at Gaun, who looked back almost venomously.
Nam mentally flinched…
Is she glaring at me because of Curved Blade…or just because she doesn't like me period?
"Curved Blade would not suffer the death of a fellow ooman child," Gaun stated, drawing outraged looks from the other Hunters. "And neither would I."
A repeat of what happened four years ago Gaun had brought yet another ooman back onto the ship, and every Yautja was on edge. There was the Huntress with her son Curved Blade curried over her shoulder, the reddish-brown haired ooman girl by her side as they stepped on board the ship. No one argued with her as they had to get away as fast as they can and away from the Arcturians. Now that they had reached minimal safe distance tempers were flaring, once again a repeat of four years ago.
"Save it!" Nam exclaimed. "I checked the expedition time. This fuck-up occurred at least a minute before Curved Blade decided to grab someone his own species to poke…"
'Charming,' Merl'we thought, amused.
"…so it's someone's else little Unblood c'jit that nearly cost us our hunt for the first ever time!"
One of the other Yautja, an atypical looking Hunter, sighed loudly and stepped forward…
"It was Kur," the Hunter groaned. "He tried to claim his first kill and was spotted, setting off the alarms."
All eyes turned to him. Nam crossed his arms.
"Bal'mata?" the largest Yautja snarled.
Bal'mata growled, "But I blame the ooman for his failure! Good reason as well!"
"Do tell."
"Kur felt threatened by it!" Bal'mata snarled. "All the Unbloods feel threatened by it and it's training by Gaun…"
Gaun was unfazed. Nam however found this funny.
"Blaming someone else for your failure?" Nam drawled. "Wow…you actually went there! How did you become Blooded in the first place?"
"And why was it brought on this expedition with us in the first place?" Bal'mata argued. "It's a distraction, it's not of our species…"
"Yet he is an Unblood!" another Hunter exclaimed, drawing surprise from everyone else for standing up for Curved Blade. "You cannot blame the presence of another Unblood for your own student's failure!"
"Which will mean MY life!" Bal'mata cried. "Kur's father will not suffer my failure in training his spawn!"
Nam shook his head, "That's your problem. You should just tell him that his sire should beat some sense into the arrogant little tetch'na…"
Ah…we're just drawing this out!
"Pauk! ENOUGH of this!" Nam exclaimed. "We'll just see what the Elder has to say about all this. We're done here."
(SSJNYH)
Sometime later as Gaun was walking toward her, Shinji and now Mana's shared quarters…
"Gaun!"
The older Huntress turned around to see Merl'we walking up to her.
"You're bringing another ooman back with us?" the younger Huntress grinned. "That has to be a record."
Gaun sighed and leaned against the wall, "The female is Curved Blade's responsibility. Once he regains consciousness of course."
Merl'we was surprised, "So you won't be adoptin…"
"No."
Gaun cut her off with a glare, silencing her.
"I had a daughter."
Merl'we looked apologetic and bowed her head, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up S..."
"Don't say her name."
The younger Huntress closed her mouth and retracted her mandibles slightly, "Sorry."
"I only have a son now," Gaun said. "My other pup is dead. No other female will replace her."
Gaun then walked off, leaving Merl'we standing there, alone. Merl'we then looked sad, obviously remembering Gaun's first apprentice her first 'pup', her daughter if she could be called that.
Straight Blade…
Merl'we sighed. The Elder naming Shinji Curved Blade was an obvious call back to Gaun's first apprentice…and 'daughter', one who wielded a straight tsurugi type Japanese sword.
She can't REALLY be dead, right?
(SSJNYH)
In the medical suite lying in his bunk and out his armour and with his equipment unstrapped save for his wrist-comps, Shinji looked so peaceful. Mana was kneeling beside him and mesmerized by his now unmasked face, fascinated by the little scars on his cheeks. She traced each scar with his hand, eliciting movement from his eyelids as she did so. Mana smiled.
"Shinji-san…"
"Curved Blade."
Mana spun around to see Gaun standing in the doorway.
"Yautja-sa…"
"My name is Gaun," the Huntress corrected her as she walked in. "And I thought I told you to stay in our quarters."
The ship's healer M'kanosa appeared from behind a screen and answered, "I invited her in here, Gaun. It would do him good to have another one of his kind waiting for him for when he awakes."
Mana smiled appreciatively of M'kanosa. Gaun grabbed a chair, sat it up next to Shinji and sat facing Mana. She spent some time staring at Mana, who slowly became apprehensive of her.
"Gaun-sama?"
"Zaibutsu, right?"
She indicated the kanji tattoo on her body – the Mark of a Slave, property owned by the Zaibutsu.
"Yes," Mana replied.
"What you doing out here?"
Mana nervously ran a hand though her long hair as she sat there, facing the ground, "I was abducted from my planet by the Arcturians. They told me I was going to become a breeder for them – I would have to birth more slaves for them."
Gaun shuddered.
Typical Arcturian. Everything else is like cattle to them!
"And what was your designation before the Arcturians came for you?"
"Slave-Breeder."
The Zaibutsu? They waste nothing with their slaves. If you can hold a weapon: They'll make you fight and if you fought well enough, they'll make you breed. If you can't hold a weapon: Males work until they drop dead, while females would just be made to breed.
"By your own people?"
Mana looked ashamed, looking away from her.
"Look at me, Mana."
She did so, seeing that Gaun somehow looked stern, and somehow sympathetic at the same time. She relaxed a little.
"I…I was born into it," Mana said quietly. "The boys in my family were always made to be slave-warriors, the girls instead had to bear the children of the Zaibutsu's strongest free warriors – the Elite."
For the first time in a long while, Gaun was…taken back.
"H-how many brothers and sister do you have?"
Mana took up a thinking pose, before answering, "I...I don't know. A dozen, maybe more…"
Gaun nodded, no longer feeling shocked by instead unimpressed. "Well, in a way the Arcturians did come and save you from such a foul destiny, even if they planned to inflict the same on you. It is luck that Curved Blade wanted to spare you further suffering by their hands."
"Curved Blade?" Mana was genuinely confused.
Gaun indicated Shinji, "He introduced himself to you by his ooman name – Shinji."
Mana looked at Shinji, and couldn't help but blush once again, "I…I don't know what to say, really I don't."
She then felt down and sighed.
"I…I can't return to the Zaibutsu. They'll execute me as an escaped slave…"
"Yes, that does leave you in a peculiar situation, does it not?" Gaun said.
Mana nodded, "Unless…"
She smiled.
"…I serve HIM now."
"Eh?" Gaun clicked her mandibles confusingly.
"I know my place in the universe, Gaun-sama," Mana stated. "There's nothing else for me now."
"We don't believe in such things," Gaun stated, looking down dangerously at Mana. "One's circumstance of birth does not dictate one's chosen path."
"Being saved by Shin…Blade-san," Mana corrected herself from referring to Shinji by his 'ooman' name. "Being saved from my fate has opened up another path for me, and I choose to serve him."
With that Shinji begun to stir and he slowly woke up. Gaun darted between Shinji and Mana, then nodded in understanding at Mana.
"Very well."
"Uhhh…what's 'very well'?" Shinji groaned, then felt his head. "Awww…crap."
"That Mana here has pledged servitude to you, Curved Blade," Gaun explained.
Shinji's eyes widened at his mother's response, then at Mana, the girl smiling at her.
"Wha…?"
"She is to be your aseigan," Gaun explained. "Her new place in our society: Your servant."
"I…?"
"Otherwise, her previous masters will kill her as a runaway," Gaun explained matter-of-factly. "Her fate is in your hands."
Shinji felt a headache brewing and he groaned…
(SSJNYH)
Guess what I decided?
Things were less of a clusterfu…mess…then I thought it would be when we returned home. Gaun claimed Mana as a spoil of the hunt and given to me 'as a present'; that's what she said to the Elder. Kur got beaten by his sire for messing up the expedition, and apparently he tried to blame me for throwing him…that got his ass kicked but good.
Things only got awkward when we returned to our cave…
(SSJNYH)
As they walked alongside that familiar lake towards the cave that served as their home, Mana continued to take in as many of the sights of this exciting, new world as possible…
"I've…never been to a planet like this before," Mana smiled. "So much rock and heat. Then again…"
She paused, appearing thoughtful.
"I've never been to a nightmare place like that red-skyed planet either," she continued. "What about you, Blade-dono?"
"No," Shinji shook his head, trying not to make eye contact with her."
This is a big mistake…
"Is something the matter, Blade-dono?" Mana asked, concerned.
"Don't call me that," Shinji said, heated. "I don't like being called 'lord' or 'master', I…I'm not comfortable with that…"
Gaun snorted, "You'll have to get used to it…Shinji-dono…"
They stepped into the cave just as the sun started to go down. Gaun paused and spun around to face the two of them.
"Tonight, you will sleep in Curved Blade's corner," Gaun declared. "You're familiarise yourself with your master's place of residence.
She mentally smirked when she saw that Shinji blushed. Mana smiled lightly.
"Any…objections?" Gaun sounded like she was briefly channelling Merl'we and being a tease.
She shook her head, once again speaking in perfect Yautja, "None, Gaun-sama."
Gaun nodded and said her goodnights before walking off towards her corner of the cave, now openly smirking when he saw the look of embarrassment on Shinji's face, though the two youngster didn't see it. Shinji turned his head to her, still blushing, and Mana looked back at him, smiling lightly. Shinji sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"So…?"
"Yes, Blade-dono?"
"Shall we go to…bed?"
He led her to his corner of the cave down another passage and directed her to the singular moss padding on the ground.
"You can sleep there, tonight," Shinji pointed at it.
"There's only one padding, though," Mana pointed out, eyebrows crossed in confusion.
"I know," Shinji replied. "And you can have it."
"Mmm?" Mana turned to him, surprised.
"You can sleep on it," Shinji reiterated.
"What about you, Shinji-dono?"
"I…uh…" Shini fought back the annoyance of being called 'lord'. "I'll be fine with just a blanket."
"We can share…"
"I'll be fine."
I like my space.
Mana looked at him, unsure. Shinji narrowed his eyes and waved his hand around the floor padding. She laid down on the pad hesitantly, looking up at Shinji. He then smiled, reassuringly.
She smiled back, then felt fatigue finally overwhelm her.
"Goodnight, Blade-dono…"
Mana drifted off saying her goodnights to her new master. Shinji sighed and shook her head, admitting defeat that he wouldn't be able to stop her from calling him 'master.' Whoever Zaibutsu was, they messed her up far worse than Shinji would care to admit the Clan to done to him.
Nevertheless he smiled and pulled the blanket over her, leaving her to sleep on his moss padding, opting to grab another blanket and wrap himself on it on the ground at the far end of his section of the cave.
He then said, in perfect Japanese…
"Goodnight, Mana…san. My mei'hswei."
(SSJNYH)
PRESENT DAY
"SHINJI!"
Misato ran out into the EVA Cage just as he saw men in hazard suits lower Shinji onto a stretcher, a trail of LCL leading from the entry plug, having had to be cut out of it.
"GET HIM INTO SURGERY, STAT!" one of the men ordered after he attached an oxygen mask to his face.
Misato ran beside him, keeping him in eyeshot.
"HANG IN THERE, SHINJI!" Misato exclaimed. Just as he disappeared behind the doors leading into medical and she was barred from entering, she called out desperately. "YOU SURVIVED WORSE, DO YOU HEAR ME…? "
She then hung her head, gripping her pendant tightly.
"…please…don't die…" she whispered quietly, feeling moisture in the corner of her eyes. "Please."
She looked like she was about to break down into tears, but she managed to restrict herself to a brief sob.
Don't leave me all alone again.
And she was unaware that Rei was watching her through the security camera from the control room, with a newfound curiosity towards Shinji Kasumi and those he allowed to be close to him…
Mei'hswei – Friend/Ally
Next chapter – Battle with the Fifth Angel and the Bad Bloods….stay tuned…