Hey, everybody!

I'm sorry this latest chapter has been so late; but I've been dealing with some personal family health issues lately, which has taken up any time I might have spent writing. Thankfully, everyone's okay now, so I can get back to this story.

Please forgive me if my writing seems a little lazy; but I've been out of the game, so to speak, for over two months now, and I have to re-read my story to remember everything that's going on.

And for everyone who's been waiting patiently for me to resume writing: thank you.

Chapter 19

It was around two months later when the announcement of Nanku's braiding ritual reached Grey and Ijane, who had been training in the large, empty meeting hall of Di'Sedi's house, when the young Yautja had come in, an excited look on his face, and nearly out of breath from having run there at full speed from his house.

"One week! I'll begin the ritual in one week!" he said, his pride palpable as he beamed at his aunt and her human charge.

"That's very good, Nanku; your last step before you can begin your Hunter's training." Ijane said, nodding approvingly at her nephew.

Nanku had been getting a little antsy these past few weeks, hoping every day that the announcement would come that he, along with the five or six other males of the Lakeshore Clan who were finally old enough, would be called to the nearest temple to have their hair braided in the drawn-out, painful and public ritual that would mark the end of his life as a hot-headed, stubborn pup, and the beginning of his life as a dignified, respected Hunter. Already, he and the others had begun to go about the village as though their ceremony had already begun; or as though they were already Hunters. They no longer associated with the younger pups, male or female, seeing them as loud, hyperactive, insipid creatures far beneath the notice of aspiring young Hunters such as themselves.

Nor did they stick around their homes longer than they had to, finding the interaction with their mothers to be almost unbearable, as, according to their sons, they still treated them as though they were still on the breast.

They had, unsurprisingly, come to pester Ijane for stories of her time as a Huntress, her trophies, her adventures, her fights; absolutely everything, as there were, of course, no older males around who could tell them such tales, since the mating season had ended just before Grey had arrived, meaning that there was generally no reason for any adult male to come to the village.

They had sat, spellbound, at Ijane's feet as she'd recounted her braiding ritual, her training, her chiva and when she was marked as a member of her all-female Hunting Clan (a real rarity among the Yautja), and several tales of the adventures she'd had on a myriad of strange and dangerous planets, including Earth.

The older female had looked a little uncomfortable when she'd held up the five human skulls for the young males, her honey-colored eyes occasionally flicking over to carefully study the look on her young charge's face.

It wasn't that she felt guilty, or ashamed of her kills, far from it; but though she admittedly didn't have the experience and wisdom of some of the older Hunters, she did have enough to know that it might be a little difficult for the ooman to see her trophies and hear about how she'd obtained them.

Grey, meanwhile, had found it a little unsettling, the way the young males occasionally looked at her after that. Not like they wanted to harm her or anything; but like they were trying to equate the bleached skulls of long-dead alien creatures to this female who had become a welcome addition to their group.

Once Ijane had started telling her Hunting stories, the males had gathered around Grey one afternoon, and pushed Nanku forward to ask if she had any interesting tales from Earth for them. They had seemed a bit disappointed to learn that Grey had, essentially, been doing the same things as they had all their lives: going to school (the Yautja mothers each taught their own children), karate class, living with her foster sisters, and generally just living in the city.

They'd listened with interest as she'd told them about the wars in human history, the samurai of ancient Japan, the knights of Europe, the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and many other events, Grey being a great lover of history and literature.

And when it came to literature, it at first seemed like they wouldn't be very interested. Grey knew that the Yautja did have their own literature (much of it about Hunting and fighting, of course); but it was mostly written and read by old, wise Philosophers, and didn't much interest younger Yautja, such as the ones with whom she kept company.

She'd managed to get them interested, however, when she began to tell them the story of Beowulf, and by the time she was done, they all left talking amongst themselves about the story, and came back the next day for more.

Over the next couple of months, she'd told them about King Arthur and his knights, the Journey to the West, Sundiata, Mwindo, The Hound of Ulster, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Ivanhoe, Gilgamesh, Tam Lin, Moby Dick, dozens of stories from Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Native American, African, Norse, Middle Eastern, European and Native American mythology. Of course, the Vikings, samurai and knights were their favorites, since they, according to the young males, seemed so similar to the Yautja warriors.

"How do you know of all these things?" Nanku had asked her one day, as the others had filtered away back to their homes, talking excitedly about that day's story.

"I didn't have any friends, so I read books…a lot of books." Grey admitted, shrugging, and Nanku let the subject drop.

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Two days before the ritual found Grey and the group of males standing on a small cliff at the edge of the lake, looking down into the water below.

Since they'd found out that their worry that they'd end up having to wait another season to begin their plaiting ritual, they'd all been in good spirits; and so, on a warm, cloudless day, one of them had suggested going for a swim.

One thing Grey had discovered about living with the Yautja was that they-or at least, the teenage males-seemed to take every opportunity life offered them to do some spectacularly stupid shit.

It was this thought that crossed Grey's mind as she and the rest of them stared down into the water below.

Ijane had made her a kind of swimsuit a couple of months ago, of dark green material that felt like silk, but was extremely durable, and often used to make rain-resistant cloaks for those who wished or had to travel on foot through rainy weather. Normally, the males, since they'd only be around each other, would be completely naked when they took a swim; but seeing as Grey was among their number today, had decided to keep their loincloths on, and Grey was grateful for this.

"I'm sure it's fine." one of the males said, picking up a small rock and tossing it into the water below. It made an oddly-satisfying plunk sound when it hit the water, sending several tiny fish swimming away.

"I don't think it's deep enough." Grey observed.

"It's plenty deep." another male said.

"I can see the damn rocks at the bottom!" Grey retorted, a little irritated, as she watched the little fish regrouping.

"That's just because the water is so clear." the first male said.

"I'm not jumping in there." Grey said, after a minute, and a couple of the others, including Nanku, muttered in agreement.

"S'yuit-de. And you claim you wish to be a Huntress? Disgraceful!" the male said, shaking his head in disappointment and disgust.

At that point, Grey had had enough.

"Fuck you, call me a coward! You can all jump off there if you want to; but I'm out! Call me a coward? I'll be the coward not paralyzed from the neck down! Screw you guys, I'm going home!" she yelled, and took off in a huff, a few of the other males, clearly thinking better of diving off the cliff, waited a moment, then began following her.

The next day, Grey was out in the market, getting some fresh greens for a dish Ijane planned to make that night, when she saw the male again. His arm was in a sling, and he had a decidedly grouchy look on his face as he followed behind an equally-grouchy looking female who must have been his mother.

"Not a pauk-de word, ooman!" he growled, as she passed him, basket in hand.

"Watch your mouth, and don't take out your anger on her. From what I heard, she and a couple of the others were the only ones who demonstrated any common sense yesterday." his mother said, turning around from her shopping and glaring at her son.

Grey bowed her head, eyes down, in a gesture of respect to the female, whom she'd seen around, but hadn't really talked to, aside from the occasional polite greeting, since she'd come here.

"Don't scold him, Mother; he's hurt!" a young female, probably one of his sisters, piped up from where she stood at her mother's side, clinging to her dress.

"Hush, child! He's hurt because he jumped off a cliff into water that even a pup could have seen was too shallow; and the others followed him, the young fools!" she said.

"They jumped, too?" Grey asked, trying not to laugh, but also feeling a mix of pity and irritation at their stupidity.

"Oh, yes! Granted, this one-" she gestured to her son, "has the worst injuries among the lot; but the other three had to go to the physician to get sorted out as well. Their mothers likewise took it upon themselves to keep a closer eye on them for awhile; they are in the market today, too." the female said, gesturing over Grey's head, to where two of the other males, sporting bandages of varying sizes, and one with a clearly broken mandible, walked miserably behind a pair of females carrying shopping baskets.

"Of course, it was a female who had enough sense not to jump off there with them; that cliff is only good for diving for about three months out of the year in the wet season, and it's been so since before my grandmother came here."

"Mother, can't we just finish the shopping and go home? You still have to finish making my robe for the plaiting ceremony…" the male said impatiently, a hint of a plaintive whine in his voice. The look on his face as he looked at Grey both dared her to say anything about his condition, and pleaded with her not to, and she couldn't help but feel a little bad for him.

"You're just lucky you broke your arm, and not your neck; otherwise, there would be no ceremony for you! Really, every time there's a new batch of young males nearing their plaiting ceremony, they get to thinking they're already Blooded Hunters and start showing off, acting like idiots, and doing everything they can to kill themselves before they even begin training! I swear…"

And with this, the female, with her son behind, went on about business, grumbling to herself all the while.

0000000000

The day of the plaiting ritual dawned hot, as was usual for this time of year, and as she busied herself with getting ready, Ijane kept asking Grey if she was certain that she felt all right in the heat.

Grey assured her that she was okay, and helped her caretaker adorn her long hair with several beautiful ornaments that tinkled pleasantly in the light breeze that played through the trees as they walked outside and to the village gate, where they found Nanku and Mjadi, Di'Sedi, and the other young males and their mothers. Several of these males, Grey saw, still sported some small injuries from their ill-advised dive off the cliff; and the one of them who had called her a coward-his name was V'kha-was still wearing a sling on his injured arm.

"Is it wise, do you think, to let her come with us?" V'kha asked, motioning to Grey, a look of concern, and slight apprehension, on his face. He seemed to have gained a bit of respect for the human when she, unlike several of the others, had refrained from taking every opportunity to say that he'd end up killing himself in some stupid stunt before the kiande amedha had the chance.

"Why should she not? There is nothing that says an ooman isn't allowed to attend the ceremony." Ijane said, always quick to defend her young charge.

"I only mean that there's going to be a large crowd at the temple; and aside from us and Arbitrator Kantra, no one has seen Grey yet." the male said, shifting uncomfortably as the former Huntress glared at him.

"He's right, Aunt Ijane; some of the other initiates might do something foolish." Nanku pointed out.

"Not while I breathe, they won't…" Ijane growled, and Grey nearly shivered with the threat in her voice.

"Grey will stay close to us, and there will be no need for any of that." Di'Sedi said, with a tone of finality, which seemed to satisfy everyone.

Soon, the silvery, sleek transport ship descended gracefully from the sky and landed before them, extending the ramp for them to ascend.

Kantra had offered, several times, to have a special ship sent for his mother and family; but Ijane had said that such a thing would be silly, and declined. As she ascended the ramp and took a look around, though, Grey kind of wished that she'd agreed to his offer.

As they'd been boarding, there had been an excited buzzing in the air, made up of the young males and their mothers and siblings talking amongst themselves; but when they saw Grey among the newcomers, every single one of them became instantly silent, and more than two dozen pairs of eyes, in various shades of yellow, brown and green, turned in her direction. Heads cocked, mandibles clicked and twitched, and the rest of the passengers looked from Grey, to her companions, and back to each other, as if trying to see if they were indeed seeing an ooman in their midst.

"Stay near me, Luar-ke." Ijane said, unnecessarily, as the party made their way through the gawking crowd to find some seats together.

Unsurprisingly, it was the males of Nanku's age who stared at her the most intently, obviously trying to make sense of her presence among them, and likely thinking of all the stories they'd probably heard from their fathers, uncles and older brothers aboud the clever, dangerous beings that inhabited the far-away planet on which these odd creatures lived.

Nanku and the other Lakeshore Clan males filed away to join their counterparts, probably to ask about their families and future plans as Hunters, while the females, including Ijane, went over to sit together with some others from another village, leaving Grey feeling like a fool for standing out in the open like this.

She was distracted, however, when a few of the new males, keeping a wary eye on the females with whom she'd arrived, came over and began peering intently at her, giving her an uncomfortable flashback to when she'd been a half-starved, half-feral, naked "guest" on the Blood Moon Clan's ship, and the Young Bloods had sneaked into the medical bay to have a look at her, despite Kantra's warnings.

She only hoped this encounter would go better than that one; she wasn't in any hurry to be smacked up against the underside of another medical machine…

"They say you can understand our tongue?" the largest male said, though he spoke slowly, as though Grey were either deaf or slow.

"They didn't lie." she replied.

"You're an ooman." he said, crossing his arms and continuing to stare at her.

"I know."

"Why are you here?"

"On this ship, or with the Yautja?"

"With our kind. The males from your village say you have been living there for several months. Why?"

"Arbitrator Kantra brought me."

This set several of them to whispering. Obviously, Kantra's reputation was as widespread as she'd heard. That was good; they were less likely to start trouble if they knew she was under his protection.

Hopefully.

"Did he bring you as a trophy? A servant? A pet?" another one of them asked.

"None of the above. I was taken by some of the Exiled Bad Bloods and let loose on one of their illicit Hunting planets. The Arbitrator was there Hunting the Bad Bloods, and decided to take me with him."

"And make you a Huntress?" the first male inquired, cocking his head curiously.

"That's his plan, yeah." Grey said, shrugging.

"You are training under the Lady Ijane, are you not? The mother of Arbitrator Kantra?" another male asked, and all eyes turned to Grey with great interest.

"I live with her, and she's training me, yes." Grey said, and they began whispering among themselves.

"I heard she was a great Huntress, many years ago; before-" the first male began, but Ijane interrupted his sentence by walking up to Grey and putting an enormous hand on her shoulder.

"Come and sit with us, Luar-ke; I do not wish to become seperated when we get to the temple." she said, gently steering Grey over to where the other females sat and, Grey thought, giving the young males a kind of…look…as she passed, and they went back to their seats, as well.