Chapter 36

.

.

Scythe rubbed his palms together, waiting for everyone to regroup. The surrounding xenos had packed themselves into crevices to stay out of the King's sight, so they would not bother them unless they got too close. The paths Raptor and Sky had picked out prevented the worst chances of being overrun by an ambush, but they would still have to be careful. Now, he just needed to sort out teams.

Raptor, Hunter and Sky would have to carry Ciara, Amber, Fang and possibly Joel along the ceiling to avoid combat. It was still possible the King might see them, but they'd be too far up to be much of a concern to him, unless the King was incredibly bored and in a mood for a hunt. That statistic was a high probability, but so long as they went nice and slow and avoided making sound, they'd make the distance with very little trouble. Raptor and Sky were incredible climbers and would probably be on the other side before anyone else, but they would have to play it safer. One misstep and they might just land themselves inside the belly of the beast.

The team taking the longer route with less ambush points would be Scar, Lex, Shadow, Dmitri, Silver, Dagger, Raoul, Ethan, Andre and Blade.

Shadow was physically exhausted, more so then the rest of them. She was suited to short bursts of energy over long periods of time rather than relentless, continuous combat. Silver was still wounded and despite her attempts to hide it, Scythe knew she could do more damage to herself. She had a high pain tolerance, but that didn't mean her body liked to be put through what she forced it to do. Dagger would ensure she didn't overexert herself. As for Raoul, he was understandably sick with worry about his twin. He looked more lost that Scythe had ever seen him and that was why Andre was there; he knew he'd keep an eye on him. He put Scar and Lex with them, because… he did want to at least get to know his parents. Call him sentimental, go ahead. It changed nothing! Shadow and Dmitri worked well together, despite their constant competitiveness. He decided to put Ethan with them because, well to be honest… Scythe might just let a xeno take a chunk out of his brain… and not feel any remorse.

(He still had not forgotten that first impression!)

That meant he would lead the shorter route with the higher chance for an ambush. There was a deep fissure that branched around the carved out path that could hide a small army of xenos. That would be why he was taking Tiger, who was not even phased by the combat. In fact, the short moment to sit down and relax and munch on something had revitalised her. Taisto seemed to be the same, looking itching and raring to go. Ash'tas looked a little nervous, jittery or perhaps he was eagerly anticipating the oncoming fight. It was a little hard to tell. There was also the fact that Star had taken a definite shine to him, and if Scythe was a betting man (which, sometimes was a rather fruitful endeavour) he could assume the yautja would have her back; not that Myra wouldn't watch out for her either. He had tossed up and down on whether to bring both Lily and Damien, but they were the least injured out of the lot of them. They fought smarter than the rest of them that was for sure. They had a knack for figuring out their opponents weak points… after a bit of trial and error, of course. As for Claw, he was mad and needed the outlet.

"So, we ready to go?" Damien prompted, shaking the eldest male out of his thoughts. "What's the plan for the humans who can't listen to our thoughts?"

Scythe almost slapped himself. Sometimes he forgot humans couldn't communicate telepathically. It was just so natural for him. "Plan's simple," he said and gestured to Raptor, Hunter and Sky. "You three are taking Ciara, Amber, Fang and Joel across the ceiling. You'll have to be careful not to draw the King's attention to you… or Joy's," he added as an afterthought. "I reckon she'll hatch out of her cocoon within an hour. We won't know what she'll do until then, so… try to avoid unnecessary conflict, mm?"

The three of them nodded and immediately broke the circle, knowing they had been dismissed. The quicker they started, the quicker they left before this place exploded. Blade had been a continuing ticking clock, calling out the time for demolition every five minutes on the countdown. As Scythe suspected, Raptor strapped Joel to his back after a moment adjusting, they managed to fit the human on his back. Fang was strapped to Hunter's back and he stretched a bit to ensure he had manoeuvrability. Sky strapped Amber to her back, mimicking Hunter's movements. To carry Ciara, Raptor wrapped his tail around her, curling under her armpits and across her middle to ensure he had a good grip.

"Scar, Lex, Shadow, Dmitri, Silver, Dagger, Raoul, Ethan, Andre and Blade," he called off and paused for just a breath between each name to look at them directly in the eye, just to make sure they were paying attention and listening. "You will be taking the path on our left. It curves around the cavern and stays relatively the same size the entire way. Do not deviate from the path."

Andre nodded and stood to his feet. "Come on, bitches. Let's grab anything useful as a weapon and start heading off."

Scythe watched as they followed and then looked around the remaining faces in the circle. "Tiger, Taisto, Ash, Star, Myra, Lily, Damien, Claw… we're taking the fastest and most likely to be ambushed route."

Tiger grinned widely; just a tad mad with the anticipation of a fight. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"My birthday is tomorrow," he said dryly as he marched towards the right side of the cavern. "I want an actual birthday cake this time. With chocolate and strawberries."

"We'll be sure to get right on that," Myra responded just as dryly, taking place beside him with a toothy smirk. "But do you actually want those 87 candles? We'd need sunglasses just to see the damn thing!"

"Yes, Myra," he nodded seriously as gave the mental 'ok, ready: go' to his siblings and leapt down the small incline. "I want it all. Right down to the balloons and big, giant lettering and glitter confetti."

Her brow quirked upwards, picturing her big brother adorned in pink sparkles and had to guffaw. "Whatever you say…"

Whether he was aware of her line of thought, he did not comment. He was, after all, in battle mode.

.

.

Bringing up the rear, Taisto rubbed at his throat, still surprised by the strength of these hybrids. Scythe did not seem the type that was easily angered, or often. He reminded him of Wolf, an old friend of his. The Arbiter had been infallible, his experiences in combat making him cool under pressure in any situation. He had been behind the most missions involving r'ka(another term for kainde amedha, or xenomorph as the human scientists often called them) breakouts and the unfortunate occasion when one of their own fell to contamination, resulting in an abomination. In some ways, these hybrids reminded Taisto of an u'darahje: the result of a yautja impregnated by an r'ka.

In their culture, many arbiters were tasked with their elimination and often they did not return. Those that did were often thrown a celebration and given honours, not limited to: their own hunting ship.

Joy had more r'ka in her than any other, from what he could tell. What's to say that she would still be 'on their side' once she had grown into what she truly was? An u'darahje was always—always—loyal to its alien side. Never in the entire history of hunting them, had Taisto ever heard a tale of an r'ka rebelling against its Queen. Aside from the King, of course, but that was entirely different matter. Their purpose was to propagate with Queens as required; otherwise they remained elusive and solitary. The other hybrids had shown behaviours that were a mixed cocktail of human, yautja and more than enough r'ka for him to be concerned about what Haimon intended to do with them.

Humans were slowly being accepted, as were the resulting offspring between the two species but it was a slow process. Many Clans thought humans as weak, inferior and just prey in certain occasions, not creatures in which to form attachments, bonds or have children with. More often than not, Taisto had been at the head of the Clan alongside Scar and Haimon to protect the half-breeds. For starters, Vayuh'ta and Ni'-ithya were his blood-brothers, the bonds formed during the Elite trials that most males went through to prove their worth as hunters to the rest of the Clan. Becoming Bloodied was only the first step towards adulthood. A rite of passage, but not a clear marker of their skills – becoming Elite was a prize many valued to win.

Scythe reminded him of a veteran, which was a rank above Elite. They were solitary in nature, even more so than most and they did not draw attention to themselves. They were willing to watch and wait rather than rush in like newly Bloodied. Some often mistook that for an unwillingness to fight, but Taisto had seen many a veteran swat them away like enthusiastic pups just learning to walk. Unlike most of their kind, they were willing to give someone two chances to back down before unleashing their fury and proving just how they had managed to survive for so long. A veteran did not demand respect, they had earned it.

After having been put so firmly into place, Taisto had felt like he was the newly Bloodied, which had not occurred since he had been manhandled by his younger sister (and she had sat on his head, too, surrounded by their peers!) He had never lived it down, but it was only when he managed to anger her, did he ever find himself back on the ground. In a 'calm' fight, they were evenly matched but in terms of aggression, an angry female was dangerous – even if the male was armed and she was naked…

In the absence of Ciara, Scythe was the natural second in command among the Aeglaeca. His fierce protectiveness and loyalty to his siblings was admirable. In saying that, he had been concerned when the hybrid had collapsed once the eldest female had fallen unconscious and remained unresponsive. For a few moments, he had thought Scar or himself would have to step up and take command. He had half a mind to do so, but Scar had gestured for him to step back and allow the hybrids to handle the situation. Then, there had been a subtle but evident change in Scythe. His eyes were of steel and had moved with purpose and direction.

Now, as they were separated into threes, he had to hand it to the hybrids. They sure knew how to form groups. The wounded unable to fight were taken up out of the way of combat. The wounded that could still fight had taken the long route towards the exit and the ones raring for battle were given the task of 'distraction'. If the King lifted his head, he would see them before anyone else, giving the others time to get behind him. Scythe had changed from shaking in nervous fright and loss, to determined and capable.

"I can see him teaching the un-blooded," Taisto murmured in their language as he came alongside Ash.

"I can see that" Ash mused as he leapt atop a large boulder that gave him a decent view of the path. It made an 's' motion in the ground, the edge near the end taking them unnervingly close to the King's snout. They would have to be silent as death if they did not want to alert him to their presence. What was it with r'ka and putting themselves so frustratingly close to an exit, Ash had to think to himself. More often than not, they allowed their prey to feel an inkling of hope that they might make it, only to snatch it right out from under them by either jumping on their backs and dragging them back to the Hive to be impregnated, or just skewered and given enough time to go 'Oh, I'm dying' before delivering an instantaneous death bite to their skull.

So, because they loved to hide, Ash'tas began to configure with his gauntlet. His mother, Gwen'de had been known for her advancements in their weapons technology. Yautja had not possessed an economy that relied upon money until oomans had begun integrating into their culture. Most days, yautja traded favours, boons or other weapons, food and even kill trophies but Gwen'de had taken to money like the proverbial fish in water. She had fashioned most of the oomans armour and weapons, hiring out her services for those with either the money or something of value that she desired.

One of things she had made, that he himself had learned to calibrate his own: was a motion tracker that mixed with a heat signature of an r'ka, and a better cloak that did not short circuit as soon as you landed in water. It was one of the few things he and his mother had in common, which was probably why his brother Thwei did not like him. This brother valued their father's company more. Not that Ash ever saw the appeal in a stupid male who had taken liberty with their mother's weakened state to procure a child from him. Not that he had expected twins, or that one would be weaker than the other.

Needless to say, Ash'tas had a need to prove himself as a male, in many ways. He was shorter than the average yautja and had more of a tendency towards wanting to learn and play with machines than hunt. It had made him the prime target for the others, his brother's friends had been especially cruel, but Ash had to admit that all those times hiding from them had given him vital lessons in stealth.

For the moment, there was nothing but he was going to keep an eye on that.

Playing again with his gauntlet, he activated his wrist-blades and chuffed as they were still fully operational. In that last fight, he had been forced to block with his wrist and ended up with his arm being crushed between an r'ka and the floor. He had almost been certain it had damaged it, but he was glad to see nothing was broken. Flicking the wrists in and out to test their movements, he nodded. Operational and ready to battle… Now if only he had a plasma cannon, then his dreams would be complete. The firepower of those appealed to his demolitionist heart.

"You are your mother's son," Taisto rumbled in amusement, clapping the youngblood on the shoulder and shaking it comradely.

Ash'tas mandibles fluttered in an embarrassed grin. Sometimes he forgot Taisto knew his mother and owed her a life debt. He was also one of the few males she actually liked. Then again, Ash rarely saw him. The elder male was often travelling around, responding to alerts from various worlds regarding, but not limited to the r'ka and badbloods. Shrugging it off, because it was uncomfortable to think about Taisto and his mother in the same sentence, because he knew his mother found him to be an appealing male (and that was even a more unappealing thought!)

He jogged towards the front where Scythe was climbing a small incline, hunkering down so as not to catch the King's attention. Ash could just see that Tiger was going to have to crawl if she didn't want to be seen. He would not put it past the female to forgo stealth and just blaze right through the latrine and launching herself at the King. Granted, while it would be brave it would also be incredibly stupid. Even an Ancient who had survived countless battles with r'ka approached King's with caution. Although, looking back as he himself hunkered down to stay hidden, he found that Tiger did indeed crawl, sticking as close to the ground as possible. And, because he was looking… he also saw Taisto give the hybrid an appreciative glance.

Taisto had forgone his mask and it remained latched to his hip, which confused Ash a little. He had been taught to never task the mask off on a world that did not have the same air as home. Sure, they could adapt to the ooman's atmosphere, but it was only for a week and never recommended. Aside from suffocation, the pains leading up to the inability to breathe was not Ash's idea of a good time.

Apparently Taisto liked to test his endurance, or perhaps he was showing off his good looks to the hybrid female?

He was not sure how he felt about the latter, but if it took his attention off his mother, who was Ash to deny the elder male a chance to catch Tiger's attention?

"Hey, Ash, how you doing?" Star's musical voice brought Ash out of his thoughts, and he turned towards the hybrid.

He was not sure what had prompted her interest in him, but he was glad he had not managed to annoy or piss her off. He had seen what she had done to the r'ka during her battle high. It had been… thrilling to watch. She was efficient as she was deadly in dispatching her opponents. And took great glee in the thrill of the fight, which was not unlike the yautja. There were enough similarities that he knew he had found a friend, but if she wanted anything more than that… he was unsure. He had enough of his mother in him to always respect a female and would never push any affection on one. It was not in his nature to demand or expect anything.

At the moment, she found him a curious subject in which to learn his language and for him to learn hers.

He would take that.

"Fine," he said one of the words he knew. He had heard Haimon mutter it quite a lot in many different dialects. It seemed to be a universal sentiment.

Star snorted in a combination of disbelief and amusement. "Fine, as they say, stand for Freaked out Insecure Neurotic and Emotional."

Ash blinked behind his mask. Oomans had far too many words and idioms for his poor mind to handle.

"Somehow, Star, I don't think Ash is all of those." Myra commented in dry amusement, watching them over her shoulder. "If he's any, he's freaked out by you."

"I'm not listening to you. You're just jealous I have a new friend," she declared as she wrapped her arms around his, latching onto him and pressing into his side. "And one who is hot!"

Ash stiffened and almost tripped in his shock, but managed to find his footing and act natural. 'Hot' was a ooman term for attractive….

Oh, if he were ooman, he'd be blushing. These hybrids sure were blatant with their thoughts… or, at least these lot were.

"Oh, sure, he's hot. Whatever you say… I always knew you were weird," Myra smirked as she teased.

Ash almost purred, focusing on how warm and soft Star was. He could feel the underlining strength there, too and he wanted to lean down a little to sniff at her hair.

Oh, now this was going to put him in a bit of a pickle. He barely knew Star, and already he was charmed by her….

Pauk.

.

.

.

.

Blade matched pace with Lex, who had grown steadily more and more tired as they progressed. It was not exactly smooth sailing across the rocky path that had them climbing boulder over boulder, and tiptoeing through cracks and crevices that, should they land wrong and fall would twist or break their ankles. Silver already had a bite wound on her thigh, and having come down from her adrenalin and battle-fuelled high: she was unable to move as fluidly or as quickly as before. Dagger and Raoul were helping her hobble along, her face twisted in annoyed agony.

Lex had been awoken from her coma-induced sleep only a mere few hours before all this had happened. She had shown incredible endurance, but it was running out. Scar was giving her an impromptu piggy-back ride. His adoptive brother/father figure was a strong, capable hunter who had survived not only many battles, but birthing an abomination. Haimon had not been on the ship when it had fallen to Earth after the u'darahje had fully moulted, as he had been called away to handle a Clan dispute. Scar had awoken once the ship had crash-landed, dazed and confused.

He had completely missed Wolf, who had received the distress call sent by one of the hunters. Thenik. Blade remembered him. He had been one of the few that had been kind to him. Scar had spent a week in the woods, trying to find a decent vantage point in which to send a call to any yautja ship, and eventually managed. Haimon had dropped everything to get to him. Scar had then spent many months recuperating and even went on to try and find the ooman female that had helped him with his hunt. When he had found out, he had been angry that he had not been able to do anything, but had vowed to return to her once he had become stronger.

Blade looked to Lex once more. She had survived the hunt, earning her rite of passage into the world of the yautja, even though at the time she had no idea what that had meant. Possibly, still didn't. It was odd that Scar had been enraptured by her, but bonds formed in battle were often the strongest, in Blade's experience. He had met Scar during a battle of his own, against his entire Clan that had become badbloods who relished the kill more than the hunt. They even attacked women and children unable to defend themselves, the sick and the elderly. Dishonourable. Blade had never fit in with them and when Scar had come seeking their heads, he had joined up with him. All before his own hunt, to be blooded and become a fully-fledged member of a clan. Even so, Scar had never been a 'typical' yautja. He fought smart and showed a curiosity in other cultures that most did not. Most could not fathom other species cultures, particularly those that they considered inferior.

Scar respected oomans as a whole and had gone so far as to learn their language. He had never been able to forget her, no matter how much time had passed. It had changed from curiosity to something like endearment. Blade recognised the signs of a male interested in a female, no matter what species. Scar had even gone so far as to track down Lex's home and learn everything about her. He had collected everything she owned and placed it within his quarters. Everything from the books, to the ornaments, to the clothes and anything else that seemed important or a point of interest.

There had even been two small animals, a 'cat' and a 'dog' that Scar had taken the time to learn how to take care of… right up to their deaths.

Scar still had their skeletons.

He was very unlike his own kind; more sentimental, and had a broader range of emotion, even more so than his father, Haimon who was an odd yautja himself.

Their outlook on life had slowly changed their Clan, all of whom were becoming a little more opened up to the ooman way of doing things. Like, finding more out of life than just hunting, but whether for good or bad, a yautja's need to hunt far outweighed any sense of sentimentality. They were an aggressive species. Just looking at another in the eyes for too long, meant a challenge that demanded lethal response. Many oomans had almost been killed because of a cultural non-verbal communicate misunderstanding. It had been cleared up, but sometimes there were issues.

Blade had found that the hybrids were ooman like in the regard that they held someone's stare, but were yautja in the way they felt agitated when stared at for too long.

"What is it, Blade?" Scar asked in the human tongue, knowing him well enough to not even have to turn around.

"Nothing of concern, merely thinking about everything recent events," he replied as he took note of Shadow grabbing hold of Ethan as the ooman almost took a wrong step, and practically threw him like a rucksack into the arms of Dmitri, who grinned down at him and began to tease Ethan upon the fact the ooman was so light, he could carry him one handed and not tire.

The hybrids were very ooman in their mannerisms, too.

"And what is it you think?"

Blade focused on Scar, past the mask to where his eyes lay. "I think that, should we survive this, life in the Clan will be infinitely interesting."

He did not need to see his face, to know that Scar's mandibles had flickered into their version of a smirk.

"Humans are interesting creatures," he articulated the word with ease, which possibly had to do with centuries of practise. "They are strong in ways we are unaware of as a species. They are very diverse."

"And it all started with her?" Blade had to ask, gesturing towards Lex who appeared more than a little asleep. "And your attentions have remained solely on her. Many females have shown interest, but you always turn them away." In fact, each and every female that had shown an interest in Scar, he walked away from them. Always respectfully, of course, but not many females were used to being rejected, no matter what the form. There had been more than a few times Scar borne wounds from such occasions. "You cannot be sure that she feels the same."

"It does not matter if she does or does not," Scar replied, and his tone was deep and serious; more so than Blade had ever heard before. "I owe her my honour, my life."

That, Blade could understand, but there was something else there, but, it did not matter right now. They had to focus on being quiet.

"I hope that she accepts," he offered.

Scar only purred with a few rumbling clicks in reply, but otherwise, they remained silent.

.

.