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Chapter 18

Kantra continued to stay with Ijane and Grey for another three days, during which time, he also took it upon himself to check up on Nanku's progress, which he found to be satisfactory; though he did encourage the younger male to spend more time working on clearing his mind and learning how to focus and strategize, rather than rely solely on his reflexes and brute strength to take down his opponents.

By the day the Arbitrator decided to leave, his training sessions were being watched by no less then ten of the village's other prospective future Hunters; not to mention the dozen or so younger pups-both male and female-who came to see such an esteemed member of their Clan practicing his skills. Every one of the other males of Nanku's age had, by this point, received their own short combat lesson; usually ending in the younger one being thrown across the room or slammed to the floor…but they were happy, as their mothers told them they should be, to have such a teacher, even if it was only for a short time.

Grey, however, wasn't really sharing in their joy as much as she might have done otherwise. She had learned, through use of Kwei's amazing device, which she'd decided at length to call a phone, because she really couldn't think of anything else to call the little thing, that her suspicions about what was going on back on Earth were right; and worse than she'd thought.

It was true that, as she'd suspected, the police had thought her either a victim or suspect in the murder of her sensei; but she was shocked to read that many people-both adults and those her own age-had their own suspicions about her involvement in the crime. Several interviews revealed that people suspected that her teacher had been carrying on some kind of inappropriate "relationship" with her, and people who believed this generally fell into three groups.

The first of these were mostly adults, who thought that Grey was a victim of some kind of weird grooming by an older man looking to take advantage of a young, impressionable girl. This theory said that Grey had snapped after a great deal of emotional-and possibly sexual-abuse, and killed her abuser, before running away. Grey clenched her teeth so much her jaws hurt as she'd read the comments associated with this story, and she'd had to go out to the kehrite early the next morning to work off some of her frustrations.

The second theory, held mostly by those of or close to her own age, was that the relationship was consensual, and that Grey had killed her older lover out of jealousy, or some kind of suicide pact gone wrong, or something along those lines. Really, though, this didn't surprise her, because she'd heard this kind of thing whispered about her before; but she'd managed to ignore it.

The third and most laughable rumor held that Grey was the pursuer, and that she was some kind of obsessed yandere stalker or something, and that's she'd killed her sensei, again, out of jealousy, or because she couldn't have him, and decided that no one else should, either.

In all of these cases, she'd apparently gone underground to hide from the police; perhaps even seeking some kind of asylum with her father, who was questioned heavily, but who they had to let go, because of course, he knew nothing of his daughter's life, and hadn't for nearly twelve years.

Others, however, thought that Grey had been the victim of human trafficking, or a gang kidnapping, or a cult, or any number of similar things, and that Sensei had just gotten in the way, and was therefore disposed of. Plenty of people expected that Grey would be found, dead, piece by piece, in dumpsters all across the city; or else be shipped off to work as a sex slave in some foreign country, or at least in another city.

"She's probably half a world away by now…" one article had quoted.

Oh, if they only knew…

No matter what people had been saying on the street and to the media, the police still wanted her to come in for questioning about the murder; but it seemed to Grey that they were being quite evasive about whether or not they thought she'd actually committed the crime. This was made especially evident when one of the reporters at the press conference she'd watched a video of had brought up the fact that the wounds on Grey's sensei were very similar to those found on the pervious victims of the unknown murderer or murderers who'd been stalking the streets of LA before the incident. They'd ended the press conference after that. There had also been a lot of government-looking types poking around lately, some other article had noted, and that since the federal government didn't usually gent involved in cases like this, the conspiracy theorists had come out in droves to postulate on the reasons for their presence.

She felt terrible when she read Emilia's heartbreaking interview, asking Grey to come back, if she was able, and for God to grant her peace, if she was dead; and since Grey knew her previous caretaker to be a devout Catholic, she knew that her prayers were indeed sincere, and not just a show for the reporters. Doubtless, she'd still say a prayer for her every time she went to church, and light candles at the little shrine in the living room, as she did for all the girls who, for reasons of their own, had run away before.

It was too bad Grey couldn't let her know she was alright; but Ijane and Kantra had made her swear that she wouldn't make any social media accounts or comments or anything else, once Kwei had explained the gist of those things to them, and she was fine with keeping up her end of the deal.

Still, she was agitated for awhile about all the speculation and rumors; almost to the point where she wished Kwei wouldn't have given her the phone at all. But, the fact that it could scan the environment and tell her what was and wasn't safe to eat was a huge win, and it almost made her forget about her previous irritation with the stupidity of her species.

Since she'd never really been an Internet addict back on Earth, Grey had no real trouble staying off her phone for extended periods now that she lived with the Yautja. She couldn't imagine what would happen if someone who had an addiction to texting, social media or games came here; it almost embarrassed her to think of them trying to text emojis to someone while a Yautja attempted to get their attention for training, and she made doubly sure that such a thing never happened between her and Ijane.

"What is this "Internet" actually for? What is its purpose?" Ijane asked, when Grey tried to explain it to her on the final day of Kantra's visit.

Grey thought for a minute, before answering.

"Pornography and cats, mostly."

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When the day finally arrived for Kantra to return to the Thwei-Luar-Ke Clan and his Arbitrator duties, Ijane and Grey set about preparing a huge dinner for him, including a kind of shellfish stew that was rarely made by the Yautja, as few of them had the time or inclination to collect the ingredients. Grey volunteered for this task, and spend several hours down on her hands and knees on the lake's sandy shores, meticulously digging out the tiny, scallop-like shellfish-called pori-and putting them in to a water-filled bucket, lest they die and start to stink in the hot sun.

Generally, she didn't like going down there, because she was likely to meet the teenaged female Yautja, who seemed to regard her almost like a pet or plaything; even though she was actually older than a few of them! They tended to talk to her like she was either a baby or pet or something else that couldn't grasp what they were saying, and kept going on about how unfortunate it was that she, as an ooman, would never be sought after by a fine, handsome Hunter to be the mother of his offspring (which, as Vi'ren had told her, was impossible, as Yautja and humans were incapable of breeding, even in the highly unlikely event that a male were interested in her, and the even unlikelier event that one would actually admit to it), and thus, would spent her life alone. They remarked on what a pitiable creature she was, and suggested brightly that she could be a kind of nanny for their own future pups.

"It's the closest you'll get to having any yourself." they said, clearly thinking they were sweetening the offer.

All Grey could do was force herself to smile and go about her business, since even the youngest among these females was taller than herself, and at least twice as strong.

She didn't meet any of them today, though, and when she returned with two buckets full of the little pori, Ijane's honey-colored eyes widened in shock at how many she'd brought back, and explained that because of the time-consuming gathering of the creatures, there usually weren't many of them in the stew; but with the amount that Grey had brought back, they could have a feast fit for the Adjudicators, and praised Grey for her diligence.

While Ijane began the stew, Grey cleaned the shells, making sure to be careful, so they could be used later for Ijane's hair ornaments. The underside of these shells had a sheen like abalone, and as such, were highly sought after by females for their prettiness and uncommonness. Kantra was off in the forest, hunting keru to stock his own ship's pantry, leaving the two females to their work, since he, as Ijane lamented, had no real aptitude for cooking, beyond boiling water.

When he returned, carrying two medium-sized keru, one over each shoulder, and began to butcher them in the backyard, the stew was bubbling away, and two large loaves of n'eza bread, seasoned with herbs, were baking in the oven, filling the entire house with a scintillating aroma that Grey would remember fondly for the rest of her life.

"Sweet gods, that smells good!" the Arbitrator exclaimed, opening his mandibles wide, when he came into the room.

Grey had wondered a great deal how Yautja could smell anything, since they lacked any kind of nose that she could see; but Vi'ren had explained, in terms that the human could somewhat understand, that the insides of Yautja mandibles contained what might be compared to olfactory membranes, along with the insides of their mouths, and in reality, they were actually far better at detecting odors than humans. This also extended to pheromones, which made up the different kinds of musk that their species exuded, depending on the situation. Humans, he'd said, couldn't smell a Yautja's scent; though some of Earth's animals apparently could detect it quite well.

"You can thank Luar-ke for that, Kantra; she's been out gathering the pori all morning." Ijane said, adding some red-colored spice to the stew and stirring it with a large wooden spoon.

"I have not had pori in years…" the Arbitrator said quietly, and went to wash up before the meal, clearly enthusiastic about this rare treat.

Mjadi, Nanku and Di'Sedi were invited to join the meal, as there was more than enough in the enormous pot to feed all of them, and soon they were all sitting around the table, talking and listening to more of Kantra's tales of his travels. Nanku was absolutely enthralled by these stories, and Grey could tell that he was thinking of the many adventures he would have, once he became a Blooded Hunter.

"Cousin, will you come to the plaiting ceremony, when it is my time?" the young male asked, when there was a pause in the conversation.

Grey had been told that all prospective Yautja Hunters must go through the long, ritualized, highly-painful process of having their hair plaited into a kind of braid that was only worn by Hunters. Any sign of pain or protest would see the braids undone, and the whole thing would have to start over. This was made doubly embarrassing by the fact that the plaiting was done in a public setting; friends, family and possibly even future Clan brothers and Leaders were invited to attend and watch the ceremony, and no young male wanted their future comrades and superiors to see them fail.

"Perhaps; but my duties must come first. I will promise, however, to attend at least one of your sessions, Nanku; though you may not see me. This will, I think, strengthen your resolve to endure the ceremony." Kantra replied, and a look of pride came over Nanku's pale green face.

"When will your ceremony start, Nanku?" Grey asked, cutting a piece of n'eza bread for herself and passing the plate to Mjadi.

"In about three months' time. The ritual can last for months, and the day after the last session, I'll go off to start my Hunter training with the others." Nanku said proudly.

Grey remembered that several of the Clan's older male pups, whom she'd seen mostly when they were coming home from or heading to their "secret" forest training ground, had recently been seen congregating in small groups, talking quietly and occasionally looking at their hair with frowns or scowls on their faces. Now she understood that they were eagerly anticipating the time when they would undergo the plaiting ritual and take one more in the final few steps to become real Hunters…real Yautja…

"I do wonder, though," Mjadi mused aloud, looking with her head cocked at Grey, who sat across the table from her, "if Grey will be required to undergo the plaiting ritual, as well."

All eyes turned to the human, who had only recently requested that Ijane cut her hair short again, as it had gotten to that maddening point where it was too short to put into a proper ponytail or braid, but too long for her to just run a comb through. Although she had expressed some small disappointment that she wouldn't get to decorate Grey's hair with pretty ornaments, Ijane had done as she'd asked, and Grey's pixie cut had been touched up; Ijane was more confident with the scissors now, and was even able to get everything more or less even.

"Well, I really don't think it would work for her; her hair is so much finer than ours." Ijane said, after a moment's thought.

It wasn't just that Grey's hair was finer than that of the Yautja; she also sweated, which they didn't, and her skin shed a little more often than theirs did, meaning that she had to wash her hair far more often and more thoroughly than they did, and this couldn't be accomplished if she wore the tightly-plaited locks.

"But I thought Hunters had to go through the plaiting ritual, or else they couldn't progress any further." Nanku pointed out.

"Normally, they do; but I think that some special exception will have to be made in this case. It should not be too difficult to convince the Elder of the situation." Kantra said, shrugging.

Though Grey wasn't exactly disappointed by this, it was, after all, one more thing that point out to the Yautja world how separate she still was, and always would be, from the rest of them.

Also, she couldn't help but think that she'd seen, just for a second, Ijane looking ever so slightly disappointed out of the corner of her eye…

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All of them went to see Kantra off, and Grey saw that, despite her obvious and understandable sadness at seeing her son go off again, she was, at least, happier than the last time Grey had seen her watch him leave. She'd realized long ago that Ijane's keeping her had not been entirely altruistic; she'd known full well that Kantra would be dropping in from time to time to check up on her, and it was apparent that this had been a big selling point in her deciding to take care of the human. Grey really didn't mind, though; she liked Ijane, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual.

It was weird though, she thought, as she lay on her back that night, staring into the darkness of her reclaimed room, how Kantra seemed to act around his mother. During his entire stay, she didn't think she'd once seen him look her fully in the face; and he always seemed to be so…uncomfortable and formal with her. What questions she asked him were met with short, simple answers, and he didn't seem to want to be alone with her for any length of time.

An outsider might have thought that this was simply the way all grown male Yautja acted toward their mothers once they were out of the house; but Grey had seen a couple of the other females' sons, who had come home for a brief visit, and noted that they were far more at ease with their Bearers than Kantra was with Ijane.

There was also the strange sort of tension that she'd sensed between Ijane and Mjadi. They didn't seem like rivals, or enemies; but there was just something…a coldness? No… It was just a kind of tension… They didn't fight or anything; but they lacked the kind of closeness that Grey had seen in other pairs of siblings, both human and Yautja, and there was just a weirdness in the air when they were in the same room together.

Maybe she was overthinking things.

"And it's none of my damn business, anyway…" she thought, turning over.

But one thing that was her business was the thing that Kantra had brought up with her the previous day, having called her to the kitchen, where both he and his mother were waiting for her at the table.

The Arbitrator had then explained to her that he was fully aware of her limited lifespan in comparison with that of the average Yautja, and told her that there was a way to extend it far beyond what might normally be expected for a human.

All it would take, as she understood it, were regular transfusions of their neon-green blood, and she'd live for ages beyond what any human could hope for.

It just seemed so strange to her to think that humans had searched so long for the Fountain of Youth, or some Elixir of Life, or some other kind of way of attaining immortality or eternal youth; and here the Yautja had it-or the next best thing-flowing through their very veins!

It was so ironic, then, that they could live for so long, but chose-willingly chose-to embrace a lifestyle that ended so many of their lives centuries before they'd even begin to experience the signs of old age?

Yeah, that had to be the very definition of irony right there.

And Kantra expected her to do the same.

"The choice is yours, Grey; I leave it up to you to decide." he'd said, but she knew he was thinking of her promise that she'd become a Huntress, and do whatever he recommended to help her along that path.

What should she do?

Most humans would have jumped at the chance to be practically immortal; but then, they wouldn't be expected to live the kind of life, to achieve the kind of goals, that Kantra had in mind for her.

If she refused, would they hold her down and make her go through with it?

No; Kantra had said it was up to her. Plus, he didn't seem like the type of person to do something like that.

She'd promised, though…

She wrestled with these thoughts, going back and forth, counting off pros and cons, until sleep finally came.