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Mei'hswei - brother

Mei-jadhi - sister

Paya - goddess of life/goddess in general

Cetanu - god of death/ representation of death

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Abba stood behind his human friend, watching in utter amusement as she placed the twin blade on a shelf underneath her newest skull. Her blade had never been removed, having been an obstacle in cleaning the skull but she couldn't remove it without ruining it completely.

The fur had been cut up and used to make a new piece of clothing for her, though Abba didn't understand the purpose of the clothing. She called it a shawl and used a few of the claws to make a unique button to hold it around her shoulders. She reminisced about the one she had on Earth and loved to keep it around on her travels. Unfortunately, it remained in her room on Earth.

"The sword is still useful. Why put it up?" He clicked, utterly amused by her seriousness as she placed it in its spot.

"Can't use it without its twin, Abba," she gently tsked at him and wiped a fake tear away.

Just another thing Abba mentally noted he would need to find whenever he traveled back to Earth. Notebooks and swords. An easy shopping list.

Later, Miana sat idly by Abba in the control room, murmuring sweet nothings to Beanie and scratching under his chin. Her fingers brushed over a few white strands of fur and her murmurs came to a sudden halt.

Abba noticed the quick change in her and peeked over to make sure she was okay. She looked fine. Healthy, but not happy.

"Is something wrong?" Abba reached over and patted Beanie's head, earning him a small lick to his hand.

"Beanie's getting older. See the white marks." They weren't in abundance quite yet, but visible around his black mouth.

"Sei-i, all things die."

"I know." Her throat restricted at the thought.

"We have a… treatment for species that have shorter life spans. I have not heard of it being used on pets, however." Miana's face fell at the news.

"Will Lex take it? The treatment?"

"I would assume. She is mated to Scar. But, the treatment is expensive." Abba returned his attention to the controls.

"They wanted to get a bigger house…" Another expensive endeavor but with both of them working for it, Miana doubted it would take long.

"Would you want the treatment?" When she didn't respond, Abba glance back at her. She kept her gaze firmly on Beanie who she continued to dote on in silence.

"I don't know." He barely heard her.

"You have no reason to do so unless you wish it. You can spend the rest of your normal life span with us." She nodded, but he watched as a tear rolled down her face and he frowned. "That's not the problem, is it?"

"I don't want him to leave…" Miana bit her lip, trying to force her tears back. "Out of everyone, he's always been there. I don't want to be alone."

"You are not alone," he said those words as if fact, but Miana shook her head.

"Lex left for a while… You won't be my guard for much longer." Her shoulders slumped and she bundled her dog in her arms.

"Sei-i, though in Lex's defense she had no intention of leaving Earth. The council will eventually claim you no longer need a guard, and you don't. You are as capable as any one of us." He reached over and gently scratched at her scalp, gaining her full attention. "I will always welcome family," he glanced at Beanie, "four-legged or two-legged."

That succeeded in making her smile.

"Thanks, Abba." He purred at her, retreating back to his seat, and lead them to a small, isolated planet.

Too far from the sun, it held no life. Only dusty rocks that colored the planet with different hues of red, yellow, and green.

Miana leaned forward at the sight of it. She wiped her stray tears and looked to Abba for answers.

"It's on one of the geologists to do's." She quickly verified that on her gauntlet. "They wanted a few minerals from the surface and some scans. We can't do the scans, but they might settle for some images."

He maneuvered his ship until he hovered a few meters from the surface.

At the rate she completed their lists, her wealth quickly accumulated. He had never considered doing such things, but with these side quests and all the hunting they had been doing, Miana would easily have enough to buy her own house and feed herself without a problem. She needed to sell the preserved meat, fur, organs, and bones the next time they met with the mothership.

Her ranking as both a hunter and scientist gave her a unique advantage that not many took advantage of. She would be an exceptionally worthy member of their clan and many would wish to mate with her. A hybrid wasn't always disadvantageous to their gene pool.

It worried him. She claimed she had no interest in mating with anyone at any time, but humans and Yautja often clashed with miscommunication. Their advances were not soft touches and sweet words. It was often rough like a sparring match.

One had already questioned her worth as a human female, he reminded himself. She had put him in her place like any other female would have. The thought eased his mind and made him feel better about their soon departing.

Miana would be fine. If not, he doubted there would be none to stand at her back.

"You guys have suits?" He laughed at her eager question and led her back to the pod where he could banish those thoughts.

In the corner sat a few strange suits.

"We prefer habitable planets, but they made sure we had a few of these so we can get samples." Abba grabbed the smaller suit, made for her size.

He helped her dress, making sure the netting was working and the suit sealed tight. Then, he pushed her to the pod.

"Let me know when you want to come back up. Beanie can stay with me in the control room." With that, he sent her off.

A few hours later, Miana returned with plenty of photos of craters and rock structures plus samples.

"Got everything?" He purred as the suit came off to expose her smiling face and flushed cheeks.

"Yep!" Their previous conversation far from her mind, she focused on the tasks in front of her.

Miana stored the samples and joined Abba in the kitchen for a quick meal before they'd head off.

Not even an hour later, Abba received a message from Elder K'ash. Another kiande amedha hunt had gone terribly wrong. The outbreak had been contained to the region, but the unblooded lost their lives. They would be mourned later.

Abba needed to deal with an ic'jit, but Miana would be useful. They needed every hunter on hand.

"Drop me off."

"What?" He cut the transmission with Elder K'ash only to turn and find Miana by the door.

"Drop. Me. Off." She crossed her arms and her tone suggested no room for argument. "You find the bad blood and I will hunt the hard meats with Lex."

"Are you sure?" It hadn't been uncommon for her to be restless after nightmares. He found her wondering the ship once or twice a week but what she sought, he had yet to understand.

"Of course. She needs me. I have to be there." Scar had, hesitantly, divulged the strangeness that came over Lex the past two times she faced the kiande amedha. "She… she dissociates when she fights them and I want to be there to help her. Scar can't ground her and fight."

As true as her words were, Abba knew that others would be there to help. Celtic, Molten, Jag, and Night. Miana could do the same and only add to the burden, but a fire burned in her eyes.

"And if you do the same?"

"I won't." She didn't hesitate in her answer. Licking her lips, she quickly spat out, "if it bleeds, it can be killed."

"Lar'dha…" He lightly scolded her. "I admire your courage, but I will not shame you if you do not go. In the least, I will come with you. I understand greatly that the Chiva was no test for you like it is to us. We are prepared and… educated where you were not."

"Do your job, Arbitrator. I will do mine." Her tone turned cold and she turned to leave as if to leave the discussion there.

"Mei-jadhi." His endearment reached her and she stopped but didn't look at him. "Do not let the past torment you any longer. You are no longer their prey, but their predator. Both kiande and pyode amedha will fear you when you step foot on the ground. Both tried to kill you and yet, you lived as Paya and Cetanu demanded."

Finally, she turned to look at him, tears in her eyes. She swallowed them, standing a bit taller, head tall, and chest out in pride.

"I know, mei'hswei, though I may easily forget." The words rolled off her tongue much as they did for Lex. "Setg'rath does not. I can see it. She's happier with I'sumu than she ever was. I don't want her to lose that. I can't lose her to them. Not after everything." She dropped Yautja in favor of English as her voice cracked.

"She knows more than you know, Miana. You both are not where you were before. You know this, accept it." Thoughts of Earth had plagued Lex and her, perhaps not constantly, but it crept up on them when they let down their shields.

Their birthplace twirled in the hands of the cosmos, in between all the stars. The blue and green planet was one among many and ignorant of their neighbors. A place suffering for those who've seen more, been a part of more. A bird granted freedom only to be caged again would rather die than spend another second with clipped wings.

Their real home never sat in one place. It bounced from planet to planet, species to species, only stopping to rest every once and a while. They flew through the cosmos and in between all the stars they could find. Never stuck in one rotation.

They had been cast from their society. Miana chased from her home and Lex stalked constantly. That fear never left. It subsided but never fled the two for very long.

Elder K'ash and Abba had spoken several nights when Miana was fast asleep in her bed. They had their concerns that, of course, the two never told the whole truth. Important bits of information swept under the rug and hidden deep within. Safeguarded against any who would dare prod for the full truth.

They knew full well those troubles were behind them and should they ever return to Earth, they would do so in good company. Yet, they lacked the full embrace of their new life. As if it would be stripped from them at any moment like ice crumbling away beneath their feet and leaving them to the abyss below.

"It's hard." Her voice snapped him back to reality and he looked to find her gnawing on her bottom lip. "I wake up some nights thinking I'm back in Antarctica or worse, in my room and it takes me a bit to realize that I'm here. Far from all of that."

He nodded. He too dreaded going home to his caregivers and wished never to return to their cutthroat insults.

"In time, I suppose, you will realize that this is your home and nothing but yourself is capable of taking it from you." Abba returned to the controls and began to steer the ship to meet with Elder K'ash. "I will drop you off and wait to hear news of your success."

"Thank you, Abba." Before she left, she asked for one thing, "can Beanie stay with you? He might be anxious but I'd rather him be here with someone he knows than on the ship filled with people he doesn't."

Of course, Miana would rather cut her throat than let one of those black bastards near her fur-child.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure." Abba welcomed the thought of the company.

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Trauma never leaves willingly mind you. And it never just disappears, even if you can't see it. I tried my best to leave you with tidbits without it taking my chapters up completely but not ignoring it either. So, in a kind of middle ground, I left it mainly to happen in the background with scenes like these to express it.