Hey, everybody!

Sorry it's been so long; but I'm back, and I'm going to try and get back in the hang of updating regularly again!

Chapter 21

The flight back to the Lakeshore Village from the Great Temple seemed to take so much longer than the one going to there; probably because of the near-complete silence that had fallen on the group within the vessel.

Nanku and Mjadi sat beside one of the large windows, looking out at the passing scenery below and thinking their own private thoughts, while Di'Sedi watched Ijane, who was watching Kantra with an unreadable expression on her face. The Arbitrator, meanwhile, was intentionally keeping himself occupied with flying the ship manually, even though the autopilot was in perfect working order.

"He probably doesn't want any excuse to have to talk to anyone." Grey thought, looking at him from where she sat in the far corner, purposely away from the Yautja.

Well, that did make sense, considering that he'd basically been humiliated in front of a rather large crowd, along with his mother and several members of his family.

"And it's all my fault." Grey thought miserably, looking at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

She couldn't believe how today had turned out. Not only had her presence brought embarrassment to Kantra, who was an Arbitrator, a title which had to command an enormous deal of respect; but she'd also brought shame to Ijane, who had been good to her since the first day she'd arrived here. What would she think of her human charge now, since she'd been publically humiliated for bringing her outside the village? Would she decide that training Grey, or allowing her to live with her at all, was far too much trouble? Would she tell Kantra to take Grey with him when he left?

And Di'Sedi, Grey thought, was the Matriarch of the Lakeshore Clan. Surely something like this might call her judgement or authority into question? Would the other females begin to question if she were still the best choice for a leader?

Mjadi, too, was probably not Grey's biggest fan right now, either. Not only had the human embarrassed Ijane, Di'Sedi and Kantra, but herself and her son as well. It was too bad, too; Mjadi had only just started really getting used to Grey's presence…

But the one she really felt bad for was Nanku. What must the young males from the other clans think of him, being associated with someone who had drawn the ire of the temple's priestesses, simply by being there? Today was supposed to be his day; and Grey had, though completely unintentionally, ruined it. She hoped that, when he went back for his next session, the other males wouldn't seize upon the opportunity to make fun of him for this.

There were also, she'd been told, Elders from some of the Hunting clans among the males who'd come to watch their sons and younger brothers' ceremonies; what would they think, when they heard about this? Would it take Nanku and the others out of the running to be trained by a good teacher, and accepted into one of the high-ranking clans they all had their hearts set upon?

Had Grey ruined their futures?

A sudden, gentle shake of her shoulder drew Grey's attention, and she looked up to see Ijane, whose face held an expression of mixed puzzlement and worry as she looked down at the human.

"Hm?" Grey said.

"We're here, Luar-ke; we've arrived back at the village. Come along, now." the Yautja said quietly, and led her down the ramp.

As it was every night, the torches at and near the village's gates had been lit, so their way into the village proper was illuminated by flickering yellow-orange light.

They walked through the village, seeing that some of the females were outside cooking on fire pits, taking in the day's laundry, and trying to get their offspring to come into their homes for dinner. Here and there, Grey could see a few of the teenage females coming home from their long day of hanging out and gossiping at the lake, and a few of the males who'd been too young for their own plaiting ritual, were coming back from their "secret" kehrite, covered in dirt and perhaps a bit of blood from that day's sparring sessions, only to be chased out by their irate mothers, who demanded they wash up in the backyard before setting one clawed foot in their nice, clean houses.

Grey couldn't help but smirk a bit as she saw one of these yelping and growling in protest as his mother, clearly not satisfied with his own handiwork in cleaning himself, chased him out into the backyard with a bucket of water, grabbed him, and began, unceremoniously, to scrub him herself, grumbling loudly that she'd told him time and time again to wash up before coming back home and, with a loud smack! to his naked bottom, sent him, scurrying and yelping, back inside the house.

"Come along, Luar-ke." Ijane said again, and they all got moving toward Ijane's house, remaining mercifully unseen by the others in the village. Grey was glad of this; she didn't want to see the faces of the other females and their offspring when they found out that their group had essentially been kicked out of the temple, because of the human Ijane had so generously allowed to stay with her.

Once they got inside, closing the door firmly behind them, there was a collective sigh from the entire group. Whether it was from relief to be back from their ordeal, Grey didn't know; but followed along with them when they all sank onto the cushions in the sunken pit in the middle of the living room.

The silence continued for a few more minutes, until Grey couldn't take it anymore. Someone had to say something; and since this whole fiasco was pretty much her fault, it seemed only right that it should be her.

"I'm so, so sorry everyone…" she said quietly, and immediately felt every other pair of eyes in the room turn in her direction.

"I never meant to embarrass any of you… I… I can't even begin to say how much I wish I'd just stayed home this morning. You were right, Mjadi; I should probably just stick to the village from now on… Nanku, I… I never wanted to embarrass you like that, or any of the others; I just wanted to see your special day… I was as proud of you and the others as everyone else… Ijane, you took me in to train me, and now… I knew there would be a lot of Yautja who didn't want me here, and I could handle that; and to be honest, I even sort of understood where they were coming from… But I didn't want anyone to come down on you like that because of me…you or Di'Sedi… You're the Matriarch; you can't have crap like that happening…dishonoring your Clan like that…in public…"

As she continued with the apology, Grey realized that she'd begun to cry, the big, fat tears falling freely into her lap as she desperately tried to apologize to the few people on this planet that really seemed to want her around. She hadn't cried like this since she'd learned of the death of her beloved sensei…

But no; she'd cried in front of Ijane, pretty soon after coming here. She'd spilled her guts to her new guardian about her past, her sensei…and Ijane had embraced her as she would have done one of her own offspring. It had felt…nice…and she secretly wished that the former Huntress would repeat the action; though she was pretty sure at this point that any kind of affection was out of the question from now on.

Almost as though she could read her mind, Grey felt herself being embraced by a pair of powerful arms, yet very gentle, arms, and looked up to see Ijane, her golden eyes as soft as they had been the night she'd first done this for the little human in her care. By instinct, she began the deep, continuous rumbling-almost like a big cat's purr-that all Yautja did automatically when they were trying to establish a sense of calm, for themselves or someone they cared for, and began to lightly stroke the human's dark hair as she did so.

Slowly, Grey found that she was, indeed, becoming calmer. She hadn't really cried like that at the group home… Crying was considered a sign of weakness, and there was an unwritten rule that the weakest one among the group was the scapegoat, the alibi, the one upon whom unwanted chores could be freely thrust, and, of course, the occasional punching bag.

"Hush, pup… Hush, now…" Ijane said quietly, intensifying the rumbling a bit, and feeling the little ooman begin to relax a bit in her arms. Suddenly, a damp cloth was offered to her, and she looked up to see her sister. Mjadi had apparently been as moved by Luar-ke's pleas for forgiveness as Ijane had, and was beginning to add her own rumbling to her sister's.

Gently, Ijane began to clean her charge's face, wiping away the tears, which had ceased to flow so freely now, and were replaced instead with the occasional hiccup. She could seen fresh shame on the child's face now, and decided to set things straight with her, once and for all.

"You," she said, gently lifting the pup's head so she could look into her face, "have done nothing wrong, Luar-ke. You conducted yourself well inside the temple and during the ceremony; and you were even silent and respectful when you had been singled out and insulted. You bore yourself with pride, this day…like a Yautja."

That did make Grey feel a little better; though in truth, she had only remained so quiet because she was so surprised at being called out in front of all the others there that she couldn't say anything… Still, at this point, she was willing to accept any kind words, and nodded to her caretaker.

"My sister is right." Mjadi said quietly, her fierce green eyes shining as she looked at her younger sibling.

"You did nothing wrong today, Grey; you even came to give your support to my son… I will not forget that…any more than I will forget how the priestesses attempted to bring us shame for bringing you… They, not you, brought humiliation upon my son and the other males in attendance today; in this, you are blameless." the reddish-brown Yautja continued, giving the human an approving look.

"It seems I've taught my daughters well." Di'Sedi said, the pride evident in her face as she looked at her children.

"But Kantra… He can't have people questioning his authority because of me!" Grey protested quietly, looking at the large Arbitrator, who had moved a bit closer to the three females during their little motivational speech.

"That… I will deal with on my own… As I said back at the temple: there are no laws forbidding your attendance, and as such, the priestesses have brought shame only to themselves." he growled, clearly still angered by the earlier words of the old females at the temple.

"We made an exception with you, Arbitrator…"

Vaguely, Grey wondered what they'd meant, but pushed it out of her mind for now.

Which was just as well, since a loud knocking at the door made all of them turn their heads quickly, Ijane's tendrils smacking Grey in the face as she did so.

Upon opening the door, Ijane was almost bowled over by Nuini, who came rushing inside the dwelling, a look of incredulity on her face, and a fussing Dami in his sling on her back.

"The other young males have returned…! Is what they're saying true?" she asked, seeming to be slightly out of breath. Grey knew by now that it took a lot to get a Yautja winded; so for Nuini to be in such a state, she would have had to have been running all over the village before coming here.

"What are they saying, exactly?" Di'Sedi inquired, in her usual calm voice, though Grey knew that she was likely taking stock of the whole situation.

"The others are saying," Nuini began, sitting down beside Grey on the cushion and adjusting her sling so that Dami was in the front, "that the temple priestesses came out after the ceremony and told all of you to leave, because you'd brought Grey with you, and they said she didn't belong and that they didn't want her there."

Clearly, the looks on everyone's faces told her everything she needed to know.

"So, it's true then?" she said, handing her son, who had been reaching out for Grey, opening and closing his little clawed hands for her to pick him up.

"Yes. It is true." Kantra confirmed quietly.

"They're also saying that they even insulted you, Arbitrator Kantra; about how they made an exception for you because-"

"That part is true, as well, so there is no need to speak further on it." Ijane said, her voice ever so slightly raised as she looked at her friend, who seemed to get the message, and changed the subject.

"All of the young males are going around the village saying they're going to find a different temple; one that will allow Grey to come see their ceremonies. Apparently, they're quite angry at how you were treated, Grey." Nuini said to the human, who was at that moment trying to keep Dami from putting her hand in his mouth.

"They're doing what?" Grey asked, looking up from the pup in surprise. The others all seemed to be just as interested in this newest bit of news as she was, and came closer to hear her better.

"Oh, yes… They're all upset about this whole thing, as are their mothers. The males are all wondering why the Arbitrator didn't simply assert his authority and tell them they had to allow Grey to watch; and their mothers feel that, if the priestesses felt they had to ask Grey to leave, they should have at least done so in private, as there was no need to make a public spectacle of the whole thing. Granted, though, a few are of the opinion that Ijane and Matriarch Di'Sedi should have asked ahead of time if it would be permissible to bring Grey along…"

Grey listened to all of this, surprised and heartened by the show of support from the young males of the Clan.

"Maybe we should have called ahead…" the human admitted, as Dami began to settle down in her lap for a snooze, beginning to rumble slightly in his contentment.

"You had as much right to be there as anyone else, Grey." Nanku said firmly, speaking for the first time since they'd left the temple.

"Arbitrator Kantra brought you here to train you and educate you as a Yautja. You're going to be dedicating your life to the Hunt, the same as any of us who went to the temple today." he finished, with a little chuff of irritation.

"Well said, my nephew." Ijane said, with an approving nod in the younger male's direction.

"But what am I going to do now?" Grey asked, gently stroking Dami's little head as he continued to sleep, his tiny mandibles occasionally twitching.

"What you will do," Kantra growled, glaring fiercely at her, "is continue your training. You will take your chiva when the time comes, become part of Thwei-Luar-ke, and you will Hunt and bring honor and glory to all those who have come before and will come after. You will become a fine Huntress, and conduct yourself with so much dignity and pride that your worth, your existence, your presence…will never again be questioned by ANYONE!"

He roared the last word, his mandibles flared, back slightly arched, and fists balled up so tightly that Grey could see a small trickle of florescent green blood where his claws were digging into the palms of his massive hands. Clearly, what happened today had stirred up his ire enough for him to momentarily lose his composure; an incredibly rare occurrence for him, as she now knew.

"Yes, Arbitrator…" she whispered, looking at him in awe and actually feeling the waves of fury and determination coming off of him…

Though her words were quiet, her own determination had flared up in her, going from an already-blazing fire to an inferno.