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Lar'dha - Dark Water(s) - Miana
Ki'cti-pa - combistick
Chakt-ra - throwing disks - so I just realized that on the wiki this is different from a Yautja shuriken that they have though similar in nature. I'm referring to the shuriken when I use the term rather than the smart disc.
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Miana woke to a common sting behind her eyes that let her know she needed more sleep and like she shoved cotton balls in her mouth. Her dog lay just by the door, always keeping constant watch despite being dead asleep. She laid in her bed, only remembering the slight feeling of flying. She knew Abba had returned to find her sitting in the co-chair; slumbering within a childish, quiet tantrum, fit for someone way below her age, but she didn't care.
Abba had been as kind as she suspected they could be. In the two visits to the elders in the Citadel, she felt like they were mentally poking at her. Especially during and after Celtic's trial.
She forced herself to stay respectful, especially when coming across something she found rather primitive, unnecessary, and childish. Yet, they did no such thing for her with their jokes on Earth's plentiful cultures and issues. If she had the time, before her departure, she would have made sure to make such a comment to them as well.
We aren't so different after all, huh? Still held back by such trivial manners? We've overcome that lifetimes ago.
Then again, humans really haven't. Slavery still existed on Earth and prejudice filled in its absence.
Miana shook her thoughts away; Earth was too far to care about. First, she needed something to eat and drink. Second, she needed a nice shower. Lastly, she'd would head out and face Abba in the cockpit.
Heading for the kitchen, she sliced some bread and cooked just a few small strips of meat for breakfast. It filled her easily but in a few hours, she'd be returning for another small loaf of bread.
Now thinking about it, no one could ever call it a loaf of bread. The crustiness on the outside made it look disgustingly overcooked but the richness and softness it held inside could not be mistaken for anything other than Earthly bread.
Molten had explained it to her when they headed to the market on the day of the ceremony. The hard texture and unappealing look came from the need to preserve it. When eating, many choose to ignore its shell but it too held many health benefits and medicinal uses. In comparison, it was a lot like getting a multivitamin from the store.
Miana ate her makeshift meal as she headed back to her room to shower. She made sure to close and lock the door, though Abba probably had some master key of sorts to get into any room in the ship, including the one she currently stood naked in. Still, the lock made herself feel better.
After her quick shower and a change of clothes, Miana headed to where she hoped Abba was. Beanie followed right along, picking up speed as they got closer to the room. Abba greeted Beanie warmly, patting his head and scratching just behind his ears.
Miana stood by the doorway, arms crossed.
"Take a seat, Miana. No need to stand all day." He held out his hand, beckoning her forward until she complied with his request.
"What's going on?" Beanie laid between the chairs, content for the moment. "Why have we stopped?" The stars twinkled around them and the planets swirled with colorful storms.
"I thought you'd like to stretch your legs. Choose a planet to explore." Abba stood, tapping a few buttons for a catalog of sorts to appear on the screen. He left her there to scroll through a short summary of each place.
Miana did as he asked, not really wanting to blow her chances at getting off the ship. Beanie remained laying lazily around her chair. The planets all looked interesting with something extremely unique about them.
Feeling a small, random amount of guilt pile in her stomach, she left the room in order to find Abba. Her overly large guardian trained in the miniature dojo arena. He looked in complete focus but, if Miana didn't know better, he also looked angry.
His computer-generated opponents were slashed to pieces, fizzing out before he could do more damage. Instead, the floor received bits of his anger as his blades dug deep into the wood. It looked like bamboo mats had been tied together to use as the floor. Interesting design for their kehrite.
Miana remained by the door, unsure whether or not she should interrupt. She knew better than to walk in a room with an angry person. Especially if that person could easily overpower her.
"Miana?" Snapped from her thoughts, she saw Abba looking at her, head cocked to the side. "You've picked a planet already?"
"Oh… yeah."
"Is something wrong?" Abba set aside his weapons. He could sense her anxiety and he forced his own down.
"Sorry." He tilted his head and believing he hadn't heard her, Miana repeated, "I'm sorry."
"For…?" He didn't recall anything out of place and she stayed on the ship as he commanded.
"You look angry." Abba wanted to growl in frustration. He knew English well, tried a few other languages from her planet as well, but he never quite understood apologizing if they had done nothing wrong.
"Sei-i… I am uh, a bit upset." He quickly added, "but, that has nothing to do with you, Miana."
They took a seat by the door, backs to the wall. She drew her knees into her chest and looked out onto the floor.
"You kind of wrecked the flooring…"
Abba snorted, "I saw you did the same to your room."
An embarrassed blush rushed to her cheeks and she looked away.
"I looked through your messages when you left…" Miana avoided eye contact. "And I'm sorry I acted childish earlier."
His trilling laugh had her head snapping up to look at him, a bit of relief filling her.
"About the bad blood? That's not really a big deal. Though the elders may send me sensitive information, I will encode those. It's not like you can see anything you aren't supposed to." He patted her head, his shoulders still shaking from laughter. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. You had the right to be upset at me and I saw no pup in your actions. You have no reason to apologize."
Abba left her to sit there while he headed to one of the closed compartments. With a press of a button, the wood panels opened with a swish and revealed a set of armor, weapons, and even a gauntlet like Abba's. The exception is how small they were.
"These are yours. A gift from Elders Va'rak and K'ash for safekeeping our technology and secrets at the expense of your well-being." Miana walked over, inspecting the metalwork.
While not as decorative as Abba's and cleaner than Lex's, the metalwork was rigidly cut and simple. The breastplate covered her chest and most of her stomach, leaving only a sliver of skin open right above where her belt would go.
Abba insisted she dress, especially in her new netting, something Lex rarely took off. It would help keep her body temperature regulated and Lex had already warned Abba that Miana hated the cold. She got cold often, so Abba could feel free to keep the temperature a bit higher on the ship but leave some cool vents around for Beanie.
"Did I put these on right?" Beanie sat beside Abba as Miana reappeared, armed to the teeth.
"Sei-i." The armor fitted her perfectly.
It had been customed to a degree, moving her cannon to position her swords neatly on her back and another to attach at her right hip. She still had the ki'cti-pa on her lower back and chakt-ra along her left hip.
"I like it." Miana smiled, stretching to get a feel for it.
"Which planet did you chose?" Abba led her back to the control room and she showed him the planet she wanted.
Oceans covered most of the planet with very little land, but extensive underground tunnels. As far as hunting went, the fauna was not plentiful to pick from, but a few showed some interesting challenges.
They headed down, landing in one of the few clearings big enough for the ship. Abba and Miana left Beanie on the ship, afraid of the trouble he might get into.
Abba kept a little ways away, cloaked. He watched with amusement as Miana constantly stopped to check out different plants she came across. She used her new gauntlet to gain information and gain recordings of the specimen.
Scientists often sent out bulletin boards for hunters to check out and gain money should they find certain plants or animals. Many often sent in samples of fur, bones, and organs, keeping the meat and skull for themselves while earning some money.
"You studied geology?" Abba finally joined her as she recorded the sounds of a few nearby animals.
"I majored in Geology and Biology focused in the secondary area with a minor in Russian." It sounded a bit rehearsed to him. Abba had heard from Lex that Miana knew several Earth languages and focused a lot of her time on nature. She finished her recordings and sat back. "You probably want to hunt now."
"It would be better for you if you have your own skulls, but if you wish to change careers…"
"I don't think I'd mind hunting. I just get distracted easily." It didn't really answer the question at hand.
"Do you want to hunt now?" Miana nodded and followed him off. "There are these vicious creatures not too far off. About to your knee." Abba showed her a picture of them. They reminded her of little dragons, but more bird-like.
"Why would you hunt them, even if they are small? I thought you guys liked the challenge?"
"We do. However, these are like… I don't recall the creature but they hunt in packs and attacking one will send the swarm after you." Abba then brought up a message on his gauntlet. "Since you are going to be the scientists' favorite hunter, they are looking for corpses of these as well as some live ones."
Miana's eyes lit up, grabbing his beefy arm in her tiny hands and tugging it down so she could see the details. Most didn't care why they needed it, but they were required to put their reasoning next to their request. She read it carefully, nodding along and receiving a bit of help from Abba for translating.
"Okay! Where are they?" Miana excitedly followed him to where a cliff dropped down into the freezing waters below.
They would nest here because predators couldn't get to them, but around noon, in one swarming mass, they would leave to hunt. Their prey was anything they could sink their teeth into.
"Be careful, Lar'dha." Abba cloaked himself and approached the cliff's edge. He set up a few traps so they'd have live ones to take back when they met with the mothership a few months from now.
"Abba?"
"Sei-i?"
"What about the no orphaning rule?" She didn't want to suddenly be responsible for another baby.
"Right now, mothers will remain in the nests to keep the babies warm and safe. The fathers will hunt and return with food for her. No worries." Abba's chest puffed out and a short purr erupted from him at her thoughtfulness.
They hung back, waiting for the swarm to leave and head out to hunt at the high rise of the sun.
Night had practiced with Miana a lot on their way back to see the elders and taught her how to properly use their weapons.
When the horde appeared, rising up with hissed filling the air, Miana waited for them to pass overhead. A few got mangled in the traps, but after a few minutes, the others left them, seeing as they couldn't cut through the netting.
Miana drew her shortswords and used the tree as a sort of ramp to ram her blade through the back of one of the creatures. Abba sat back, recording her with keen interest.
She kept mostly to her Earthly swords. She used them to slice wings and underbellies as some stopped to deal with her. The rest continued on, beginning to split up in search of food. At this point, the one large swarm grouped themselves into about 20 per group.
It helped that Miana hadn't taken all hundred of them at once. Rather, she dealt with a more manageable ten or so. Nonetheless, they bit and scratched until her skin turned purple and her blood splashed on the ground.
Abba refrained from joining until he saw her faltering. Her shoulders kind of slumped and more of her swings began to miss as blood got into her eyes. He let fly a chakt-ra to get the last two and allow her a break.
They wouldn't have time to collect trophies here. The swarm always returned within fifteen minutes. They had about two to grab their stuff and leave or else they'd be overrun.
"Miana?" Abba crouched by her side, already having several corpses in a traveling bag. He scanned over her injuries, not finding anything too serious by itself.
"Sei-i?" She stood, grunting as she jostled a few wounds.
Seeing as she could walk, he grabbed the rest and helped her back to the ship.
"You did very well. Plenty of trophies and specimens." Abba purred in praise, guiding her to their mini-clinic and bandaging her wounds.
Miana didn't say much to that. She changed her clothes to some of her loose, Earth attire and joined him at her workbench.
Night explained a lot of what one should do, but Abba took her step by step, also recording the session from his mask to report to the elders.
She preserved the meat, some of which they could eat themselves and the rest they could sell if need be. Her - Abba's - live catches were caged away elsewhere so as not to disturb them and the specimens stored away. Her kills gave her a good set of teeth to make into bracelets, hairpieces, and necklaces. Abba helped to set the skulls in her trophy room after they gave them a thorough cleaning and polish.
Miana appeared a lot happier afterward, especially when Abba agreed to help her use the skins to make accessories to her clothing. She sewed them into her belt, covering her thighs much like a skirt would and added trimming to the breastplate for looks. The dark burgundy complimented the dark metal and leather of her outfit well.
She also had plenty left over to use in the future or sell.
Abba praised her work, saving the recordings to send back to the elders at a later time. When she rested, he headed for the control room, Beanie following him, and called Lex.
They had left a week before the mothership had, but by now, they should have been in space. Hunting ships would already be preparing to break off to nearby planets.
She answered, looking sleepy. Scar laid behind her, purring lightly.
"Abba, right?" He nodded. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, in particular, Setg'rath. I apologize I woke you." Lex waved off his concern and he continued, "just curious about a few things. Did you see the videos I sent you?"
"Sei-i. Miana always was good in a fight. She looked to do well…" Lex frowned at him, looking at the videos again.
"Sei-i. She was excellent and did well. She did seem very out of it on the way back. I hadn't meant to throw her into a fight if she was not ready." Abba had learned English, but not how to decipher human body language. He could understand the most basic and forward signs such as smiling.
"H'ko. I doubt that. She looked tired and probably hungry. She doesn't talk much when she doesn't have the energy to. She looked to be more energetic after getting fixed up and focusing on the skulls. I wouldn't worry about it." Lex stretched her arms and yawned. Scar wrapped an arm around her waist, trying to tug her back to bed, but she pushed him away.
"I do have one more thing to ask. Is there anything else I should know? Things to avoid?"
"Oh! Well, Miana usually doesn't like loud noises…" Lex began to think aloud, switching to English as did so. She mentioned things like no loud noises or yelling. Emphasis on no yelling.
While it had been briefly mentioned that Miana and Lex's time on Earth had been unpleasant, Lex specifically brought up Miana's aunt. She used to yell at Miana all the time, critiquing everything she did especially majoring in the sciences, learning sword fighting, and hanging with Lex. She easily sold out her niece to the Weyland company for pocket change.
Abba rumbled in dissatisfaction with the news. He remembered something similar in his childhood.
"If she apologizes a lot, don't worry about it. Just kind of reassure her she's fine." Lex tapped her chin, wondering if she missed anything. "Just talk to her. She'll tell you whatever she needs."
With that, they parted. Lex returned to snuggle next to Scar.
"Lar'dha will be fine. Elder K'ash reassured you that he would find a suitable guardian for her. Someone patient and who would focus on helping her with the elders. I think he did well." Scar purred, running his claws through her hair.
"I know, I know."
"We'll meet with them a month from now. Let her find her own space." He growled as he received a pinch from Lex.
"Miana will be fine. I just hate to leave her alone. Again."
"But this time, you are a call away and they can get to us at any time." His reassurance finally settled her mind.
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Finally got to this chapter only to realize at the end of the first page that I haven't finished it. 8 long-ass pages which is pretty damn good considering I haven't full-on written for this series in ages.
*Biology focused in the secondary area just means she studies biology not dealing with pre-medicine. I used this specifically as she went to the Missouri University of Science & Technology and this is how they worded it on their sight.
Information you might be interested in knowing that prob won't be brought up really:
**Miana is fluent in English and Japanese and conversational in Russian (and now Yautja) while knowledgeable in very basic terminology with Arabic.
***Lex used to be fluent in Spanish and could still hold a conversation, but its been a while since she spoke it. She was conversational in Portuguese. She's currently pretty fluent in Yautja.