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Nrak'ytara - guardian
Ic'jit - bad blood
Cjit syra'yte - shit head
Mei-jadhi - sister
S'yuit-de - pathetic
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Abba found the crashed ship of the ic'jit with ease. What the council failed to inform him of was the prospect of a second one. Judging by the looks of things, they both grabbed what they could and headed to the far east where regions were more plentiful.
And where Miana currently hunted.
He had thought to send her to the opposite side of the planet. Very far from any trouble. If she needed him, he would take several hours to reach her. Picking a closer region meant he could be there in half an hour tops.
Abba trusted Miana to take care of herself. Especially if Beanie remained close by, Miana wouldn't take any chances. Never with her fur baby.
Returning to his ship, he quickly searched for any major disturbances. A camp left behind at the very edge of the desert. Another further into the jungle. Much closer to Miana.
He scanned the large area, finding big prey that attracted his kind, but no humanoid creatures. He continued on, from top to bottom, from left to right.
Abba came across Miana's pod in his search. Thinking it best, he headed for her to warn her of the danger. Only… she wasn't home.
A particular visitor thought to make themselves at home and ruffle through her belongings.
"Ic'jit." The male spun around, dropping the meat he had in hand and launched home-made weapons at him.
Abba extended his wrist blades and cut the wooden weapons in half.
"He is dead." Abba snorted at the smugness.
"I doubt she would have died to your hands." He sprinted forward and the bad blood barely had time to block the attack. "She would have killed you."
His gauntlets must be broken as he dodged the attack and pulled a short sword to parry. Using wrist blades would have been the best way to counter Abba's attack.
Good to know.
Abba continued to attack, not letting him breathe for a second. He'd cave. They always caved. Their inferior stamina shadowed by his.
The male stood a foot under him. He looked starved. He must be. Perhaps dehydrated as well.
His strength wavered greatly under the heavy assault.
"And she would have done so as quickly as I." The ic'jit sneered but didn't keep the expression for long as Abba whipped out his own short sword and cut his throat.
The male fell to his knees and tried to stop the bleeding. Green splattered everywhere. On the ground. On Abba.
Abba thrust his sword through the male's face. A sign of disrespect. Generally, one would cut the head cleanly or strike a fatal blow elsewhere. It left the skull almost untouched and whole.
He knew many other Arbitrators that purposefully would rip the lower jaw from the skull. A show that they were not a worthy opponent.
Severing the head, he hanged the body in a tree a few meters away. He needed to find the second ic'jit.
Abba called for Miana, but she never answered. He quickly secured the pod. The meat had spoiled from how quickly the small critters of the jungle came to feast on it. However, the other items inside were untouched. A bit roughed up from the search, but not damaged.
Her tracks were clear. Not per se fresh, but visible to his trained eye.
Beanie's tracks sometimes overlapped her own. However, Abba found that he stuck just behind her and mostly off to the side. Always loyal and the thought made him purr. She wouldn't be alone.
Someways down, they stopped, tracks going over to the side of their path. Beanie had sat down and he only guessed Miana crouched beside him. He didn't pick up any traces of blood. Miana would have turned around had he been hurt. Instead, their tracks continued forward.
Abba cloaked at the sight of the second ic'jit. Switching his vision around, he took to higher ground to observe. Neither parties noticed him.
Miana and Beanie sat against the trunk of a tree. Neither looked injured but Miana's hair stuck to her. Sweat? Or had she gone for a swim?
A large creature sat in one of her nets with one of her swords through its jaw. She must have stopped because of the ic'jit or had stopped for a break.
The female remained a few feet away, obviously tense. Her hand rested on a few discs ready to throw.
Comparing the two, Miana appeared rather calm. One hand held her canteen of water and the other unseen by her side. Most likely, it rested on the hilt of a sword.
Beanie's hairs were raised. Each time the female moved in the slightest, he bared his teeth, a growl coming from him and didn't stop until she held still for a few minutes.
"You crashed?" Miana jumped at the female's words. Either the first time they spoke, or they had been silent for quite some time.
"H'ko. Camping." The female nodded to that and motioned to Miana's gauntlet.
"The others? Calling you for something?"
"Probably to check up on me. Nothing too special." She waved it off as nothing, but Abba watched as her heart sped up.
The female might have noticed that too.
Abba wondered why the ic'jit had yet to attack. Miana had a major disadvantage in size and must have been out of stamina from dragging the beast back to camp. The female could win the fight.
He tried to look for any obvious signs of injury on the ic'jit but came up with nothing. He tried switching his vision again, hoping to find something. Nothing.
Then, he noted the particular way the female stood. Leaning to her right a bit. She kept it well hidden with her occasional shifts like her legs were tired. No, her injury must have been infected. He could see the hot spot on her leg.
Abba didn't want her to draw her weapons and attack Miana and Beanie. No, he needed to draw her attention away. Sooner rather than later.
He hopped down, disturbing the feathered creatures in the trees. Both females snapped their heads in his direction, only seeing him as he came closer and decloaked.
Miana jumped to a crouch, making the female ic'jit highly uneasy.
At the sight of Abba, Miana relaxed a bit. The female, however, did not. Especially when she saw the head that hung from his belt. Green blood dripping onto his thigh and the obvious splatter marks across the rest of him that resulted from a battle.
The female attacked first, her weapons only aiming for Abba. Her battle cry echoed around them and disturbed more of the jungle.
Beanie barked and went to lunge, but Miana held him back. Abba had warned her not to hunt down an ic'jit, but the female had found her. As a Blooded Yautja, she was honor-bound to kill her. Did that still apply in the presence of an Arbitrator?
Miana didn't know but thought it best not to interfere.
Unlike the male, the female was in much better shape and matched him in height. Her wound hindered her for sure. However, she didn't appear as starved or dehydrated as the male. Her strength matched Abba's. Her stamina… not so much.
She managed to dodge or counter his blows, but he pushed her further and further back. His attacks were consistent hard-hitters and came in swiftly.
Her blows never landed, but his did. Soon enough, green covered her from head to toe at each knick and slash and gash. He did a number on her.
Miana watched, partially worried, partially amazed. Until the female began backing too close to her.
The ic'jit threw several discs and Abba had to move back to avoid being hit. It gave her the opportunity to turn her attention to Miana and extend her wrist blades to attack.
Only, Miana was more prepared than the female expected. Sword drawn, Miana stopped her blow and gave Beanie a chance to leap up and latch onto the female's arm.
She roared in pain and spun around to detach Beanie. She threw her last disc at the dog, but Miana blocked that attack as well. The disc landed in a nearby tree.
Miana on one side and Abba on the other, the female had been officially surrounded.
The ic'jit took her stance and made sure to keep both in her sights. Miana crouched low, keeping Beanie behind her as Abba let a disc fly. It missed the female, but Miana caught it and threw it right back. The female dodged again and Abba caught his disc.
She growled low at the play.
"It doesn't suit you, Arbitrator. Pairing yourself with an ooman." Miana frowned at those words, a bit unsure of their meaning.
It was enough to distract her and the female whipped around to attack. She landed a solid blow to Miana's arm and kicked back Beanie. With the human staggered, she grabbed the hunter by the hair and lifted her from the ground, feet kicking.
Abba growled low in warning, taking a step forward.
"S'yuit-de," she sneered at Miana. She had been friendlier before Abba showed up and it irritated her he couldn't have waited for the female to leave.
If she ever would.
"Put her down, ic'jit." If Abba attacked and missed, he could hurt Miana. If he waited too long, the female could kill her.
"Why? You killed mine, I kill yours."
"Not his mate, cjit syra'yte." The female cocked her head at that. "He's my nrak'ytara."
Miana extended her own wrist blades and dug the metal deep into the female's arm. At her cry, Beanie jumped into the fray and latched onto her exposed shoulder, not dropping until Miana called to him.
If he hadn't had moved back to her side, he could have been hurt as Abba tackled the female to the ground, ripped her mask off and ended her with a quick blow to the skull.
Miana sat a few feet away, having landed straight on her ass. She stood, biting her lip at the throbbing sensation.
Abba wasted no time getting to her and inspecting for injury. The wound on her arm most likely wouldn't leave a noticeable scar, but the deep scrap on her mask didn't come from the ic'jit.
He glanced to where her prey laid, wrapped up in a net.
"A bit of a… tussle?" He traced the mark, amused.
"Oh hush!" She swatted his hand away and removed her mask to see for her self. "That could have hurt."
He nodded in agreement, moving to check on Beanie who had somewhat calmed down. His ears laid flat against his head, tail tucked between the legs at Abba's approach. But, he let the alien scratch his back for a moment.
"Go on ahead. I must tend to her." Miana nodded, calling Beanie over to help her move the dead creature. "It will make for a good story, I'm sure." He nodded to her kill in reference.
She scrunched up her nose. It absolutely would not, but she didn't voice that opinion out loud. It might egg him on.
Miana and Beanie left, hauling their prize away.
Abba focused his attention on the ic'jit. He saw the cut on her forehead. A self-declaration of being an ic'jit. A bad blood. A criminal.
He took her head, removing her gear for parts and left her body for the wild. Near the pod, he did the same with the male, only he moved it further from Miana's campsite in case of predators.
Abba watched as she hauled the beast the rest of the way. Sweat poured from her head, however, unlike before, she didn't stop. Not until she could lean against the pod, her tired limbs shaking.
"Come." He gestured to where his ship landed nearby. "Stick the creature inside."
Miana did as told and locked the pod up. Much to her relief, Abba offered her a ride and even carried Beanie the rest of the way.
His ship would summon the pod back and with auto-pilot engaged, it lifted from the ground and returned to his ship.
"Shall we hunt elsewhere?"
"Hell no!" At her outrage, he trilled. "I need to go to bed." She waved him off and starting stepping out the door.
"You can sleep, but only after you finish with your kill."
Miana opened her mouth, first out of shock and then to protest. In the end, it closed. Not a single sound escaping. She trudged to the back and to his amusement, struggled to get the beast out of the pod.
"I will help you, no worries." Abba dragged it out and to her room where he threw it onto the workbench.
He sat with her as she worked, pestering her to keep her awake and going.
Despite his best attempts, Miana slumped against his shoulder. Fast asleep.
Abba personally never liked to leave his kills on the workbench and wake up to the smell of it. The air currents had a way of spreading the smell all around. Believing Miana would appreciate it, he stored it in a container where it wouldn't bug her and put her to bed.
The next morning, he was quite surprised when she came running down the hallway to interrupt his breakfast. She couldn't find the thing anywhere and panic rose up in that he had thrown it away since she didn't finish removing the skull and fur.
"Miana…"
"I swear I didn't mean to fall asleep." She looked pitiful he did say so himself.
"I only stored it so the stench wouldn't bother you."
"Really?"
"Sei-i." Miana sunk to the floor at his words.
He could tell she had yet to recover all her strength and ushered her back to bed.
Just like a pup… A baby mei-jadhi.
Abba never had a sibling before. Not one that he knew anyway.