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Th'syra - skull

Tyioe-ti - escape pod

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"You will let me know if anything happens, right?" Lex stood in front of Abba, stopping him from boarding his ship.

"Sei-i. You know I will." Their discussion last week had left her uneasy to let Miana out of her sight, especially since neither of them knew what was happening.

"I don't know everything going on in that head of hers, but whether she shows it or not, she's hurting." Abba nodded to that. Lex had warned him the first time they met. "If anything gets worse, come back here, okay?"

"Of course." He bowed his head to her, shaking her shoulder and boarded.

Elder K'ash stood by, seeing them off alongside Lex and her friends. Celtic had even come to wish Miana well, something that had put the young woman at ease. She didn't feel like he was mad at her anymore.

Abba needed to leave to hunt more ic'jit and Miana wanted to explore more. She already had a list from several biologists and geologists. A few chemists caught her in the hallway, begging her to take their list in hopes she could get them more data.

"Come on, Beanie!" Her Shepherd followed, tail wagging widely as he ran up the ramp. His leg had healed from the sprain and he could freely run around like he used to.

Abba had several bad bloods he needed to target, their last location given to him. The council always delegated where most Arbitrators went, keeping them from overlapping and allowing them to stay informed. Face-to-face communication, even over a screen, protected the delicate information a lot better than allowing messages and files to be sent and possibly intercepted. Sometimes, messages were necessary and Arbitrators were expected to keep their data and ship secure from cyber attacks.

Miana waved her goodbye as the ramp ascended and closed. Then, she ran to the front to watch as Abba guided the ship from the harbor to space.

"Where are we going first?!" She clapped her hands, leaning forward to scroll across the star map in a blur.

Abba trilled, reaching over and resetting the map to their location. His first hunt would have to be on a small planet. Not very habitable except in a few regions where the air remained chilled all year long.

The exiled Yautja he sought had been sighted heading towards the planet after a hunting ship had shot him down. He could be dead, but the council called in the nearest Arbitrator to check and finish the job should he survive the crash.

Another thing Miana recently learned. If not an Arbitrator, a hunter couldn't pursue an ic'jit without consequence. A hunter could always kill an ic'jit should they cross paths or be attacked as they were honor-bound to do so and could expect a reward for their service. However, they could not keep any trophies and had to turn them into the council. Only an Arbitrator reserved the right to keep and display said trophies.

"Can I see one?"

"A th'syra?" At her nod, he set the ship to auto-pilot and gestured for her to follow. "I would feel flattered, but I know you just want to look at the anatomy."

She merely grinned at him, happily following him to his trophy room.

Abba pulled a skull off one of his many shelves, purring as Miana hastily reached for it. Before she could grab for it, he held it out of her reach and a frown replaced her excited grin.

"It is not a toy," he gently warned her, finally placing it in her small hands.

"I know!" She turned it around in her hand, looking at their jaw structure. "I'll be careful, promise."

Abba knew that. It's why he handed it to her. But, he also noticed the way several others caught her attention and pulled two more from their shelves and lead her to his workbench.

Miana set the Yautja skull down, listening as Abba began to explain what the other skulls were. She traced her finger along the jaws and the base of the skull. All the while, she intently listened to his stories.

"We'll get you some interesting ones soon, I'm sure." That caught her attention.

"Like this one?" She pointed to the skull with inner rows of sharp teeth and what looked like three eyes. The socket in the middle actually contained an exposed organ that glowed a bit, entrancing prey in the night to come closer into striking range.

"Sei-i. Like that one, if you want." He ruffled her hair affectionately, leaving her to check on the ship and make sure Beanie had plenty of water in the kitchen.

Occasionally, Abba peeked in on her, purring contently as she studied the skulls with care. She remained there for several hours until she pulled him from the pilot chair to help her put them away. She had a notebook with her, filled with different rough sketches of creatures from Earth. In the very back pages, she added drawings, plus a few side notes, of the skulls.

Yautja left everything on tablets, not using paper as humans did. He did notice that the last time he visited, he had seen tablet-like objects but not widely used. He may have been mistaken.

The mothership's intended course headed in the opposite direction of Earth. Abba had no reason to venture that way, but he figured he could quickly stop by to get a few of those notebooks for her.

News of the war reached him, their clan remaining neutral in the battle over slaves. Several clans supported the movement, outnumbering those that wished to keep slavery in their clans. It was dangerous for companions and citizens that were non-Yautja to travel to certain regions or even think about trading with certain ships. They could easily be captured and auctioned. It had happened before, usually resulting in their release and heavy fines to the clan that allowed such actions.

Someone must have stepped over the line. Abba knew it was bound to happen.

Elder K'ash had ordered - not that Abba wouldn't have listened to him - Abba to take Miana far from the planet. He knew the elder must have hovered a bit over Lex to leave, not that it would be pulling teeth to get her to.

Yautja still outnumbered other species on the ship, but Abba had noted the spike in numbers. Usually, they kept down low during mating season, which is why Miana didn't get to interact with them too much. Lex had done the same last year, but since being mated, she wouldn't have as hard of a time.

What worried him now that they left the mothership were the other Yautja ships out there. No doubt several remained, heading back for the war.

One passed by them, hailing them, but Abba ignored them. He gave them a recorded, standard message that essentially told them he had no business with them and under orders of the council, had assignments to attend to.

They moved on. Miffed most likely.

"Not nice?"

"No." He never divulged the situation fully to her. Only letting her know the most basic information.

"Can I meet other species?" He chuckled a bit at her question.

"Of course. We're still heavily in Yautja territory, so not many species come and go unless for trade. With the war, many have fallen back. They knew it was coming for quite some time." Another thing that had concerned the council. More distance meant more fuel and more expenses.

"Oh, okay." Beanie joined them, curling up at Miana's feet. "Are we almost there yet?"

"Sei-i. Here." He pulled up a map of the planet, highlighting green regions safe for her. "You and Beanie can camp out somewhere for a night."

"Really?" She didn't seem as excited as he thought she'd be.

"Explore. Hunt if you'd like." She nodded, scrolling through the images of each place. "I have to head into a more inhabitable region and I think Beanie would like to be outside some." Her dog perked up at the sound of his name, wagging his tail.

"Okay…"

"Would you rather be on the ship?"

"I'm kind of… adverse to camping at the moment." A strange noise came from him and Miana pulled her attention from the map.

"Not camping like a human. Camping like a Yautja." She only raised a brow, confused at why he thought those words would mean something to her. "Yautja are prepared to camp in a number of situations, such as in trees or on the ground, but there is another option."

Abba didn't continue, but stood and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to the back of the ship where a pod sat.

"A… tyioe-ti?"

"Yes and no. It serves multiple purposes. Such as an escape pod, but I often use it when I want to camp in an area difficult to land the entire ship." He opened it up and let her look inside. "Not very big, but plenty of room for you and Beanie to camp out in. It's hardy and will keep you safe."

The interior was vertical, opening up to show the control panel and seat first. Two steps from the panel, a small ladder led up to decent sized bed for a Yautja and storage just underneath. One drawer opened up into a small fridge with another being the freezer. It wouldn't hold much, but it would be enough.

"I'll get it set up for you if you want." To his relief, she smiled and nodded eagerly.

"Thanks!"

Abba got her pelts for the bed, set the temperature to be comfortable for her, got dog food, water, and bowels plenty. He packed her favorite foods and made sure she had extra weapons just in case.

"I think I got everything." Miana checked around, dressed in her gear and armed to the teeth. "Remember, the ships is set to automatically land. You don't need to do anything unless something happens."

"Got it."

"I'll detach you and head down. There's a storm in the area. Should be cleared by the time you get down there." Abba ushered her in, checking the settings for the fifth time.

"I know. I got this." She waved to him before taking her seat and giving him a thumbs up.

Abba sent her off.

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I reread some of my chapters again and… why are there so many periods? Do I keep hitting the wrong key or something?

A bit short this one but hope that's okay! Happy Holidays, guys!