Embolium iv - Honores mutant mores
She was getting tired, but her brain refused to slow down. She'd been blooded! Temporarily at least, until the hunt was done and the kainde amedha threat had been neutralized, but still ... she'd always been told that no Yautja would blood her, that the whole idea would shame the Elder and its line and cause it to be ridiculed, yet here was an Elder that had given her a place amongst the hunting party.
She'd been stunned by the roaring of the Yautja as they celebrated her blooding, and stood bemusedly as all of them came to her, clasping her shoulder in one hand briefly and nodding to her before they engaged their cloaks and faded into the night. Even the Yautja she had tagged as "the asshole" in her mind came up to her, but the force of its clasp slammed the breath out of her, and the grip it took of her shoulder reminded her of the kainde amedha's talons when they had embedded in her calf. The Elder was the last in the line, and as it came closer she bowed her head low with respect. It purred, appreciating her demonstration of respect, and as it clasped her shoulder with one claw, it gently lifted her head with the other until she was looking up into the eyes of its mask.
"You have done well so far, young blood. Do not embarrass me."
"I won't, Elder, but I have to ask ... Why? There was no need to ..." It interrupted her.
"You earned the mark, you earned the place, just as stringently as I would require any Yautja to do before being blooded. Perhaps I even required more of you than I do of them, because you are pyode amedha, and prey." It growled behind the mask in amusement. "Regardless that you are prey, We both learned under the same Elder. Sending you on better than before you came in a way is also my gift to it, my way of showing gratitude for all that I learned." She nodded as best she could with the Elder's hand still under her chin.
It removed its hands then tapped her shoulder, looking an unspoken question to the Second.
"It was destroyed in the fight with the kainde amedha whose head she took, Elder." She couldn't tell if the Elder's answering growl was one of pleasure or annoyance.
"I will send one of the hunters back with a replacement, as well as ------- to repair the damage done to the armor." She blinked behind the mask, another unknown word. So much for technology overcoming the language barrier. The Elder turned its cloak on and she watched it leave, the Second growling assent to it's final decision. With the Elder's departure, that left her alone on the rooftop with the Second, and the hunter that had accompanied them.
And it.
She looked at it, lying there where the Second had placed it after taking it from her, where the Elder had left it after ripping out its inner mouth to use to mark her, or at least her armor. It looked incongruous on the pebbles that lined the rooftop, almost harmless without the six feet of deadly body it had been once attached to. She looked across at the two Yautja, waiting patiently for her. She paused for a minute, trying to collect her thoughts, wondering how she should approach this, but then realized with a start that she was blooded now, and remembered what she had learned that meant within Yautja society.
She crouched down and cocked her head towards the two hunters. In a moment they joined her, forming a circle once more, and she looked to the hunter she had only met tonight.
"Why?", she asked, simply.
"Why not?", it shot back. She grinned inside her mask, she had half expected that reply, and knew the trap that was built into it. She'd made that mistake before.
"I am not going to list reasons why you shouldn't do what you want to do, hunter." Both Yautja purred amusement at her response. The hunter cocked its head for a second in thought, before speaking again.
"You fight well, in a style that would be difficult for Yautja to emulate. I am always interested in learning more ways to hunt." The Second snorted.
"As if he doesn't know more ways to hunt than the rest of the group combined. Except," it added, "perhaps the Elder. He is the weaponsmaster of the ship, as well as possibly the best at unarmed hunting." She nodded, then looked up sharply.
"Wait a minute, you said 'he'?" The Second laughed loudly, almost falling backwards in the process, the hunter looking at them both. It took the Second a minute to collect itself, before it played a loop for the hunter in explanation.
"I don't even know if it's male or female, let alone if the two species can mate", her voice from the other night as Marisa was being Marisa. The Second broke into laughter again, joined this time by the hunter. She crouched there annoyed, waiting for them to get over whatever huge joke had them so amused.
"Yes, we have males, and females, young blood", the Second answered her between gasps as he tried to collect himself. "But no, Yautja and pyode amedha cannot mate." She cocked her head in question. "We are both males, as are all of the Yautja on this hunt." She nodded, growling understanding at the same time. She didn't notice how she answered, but both of the Yautja did.
"Do females hunt?" The Second was about to answer when the hunter, the weaponsmaster, put his claw against the Second's arm to stop him. Looking to her, the hunter growled.
"Remove your mask." She blinked, but after waiting for an explanation and getting none, she reached up and disconnected the mask from her face, before pulling it away to break the seal. As it came loose the world plunged into darkness, and she almost bolted upright before she remembered that it was night. She'd become so used to seeing the world through the vision of her mask that it took her eyes a second to adjust to "normal". The hunter reached across for her mask and took it, looked at the inside briefly then passed it to the Second, growling something she didn't understand. The Second looked inside the mask then at her.
"Yes." She looked at the Second in confusion.
"Yes, what? Is there something wrong with the mask? Did it get damaged in the fight?" The Second simply handed her the mask back and motioned her to put it back on. Once the connections were made to her armor again, she repeated the question anxiously.
"No, the mask is undamaged."
"Then what were you looking at, and what did 'yes' mean?" The weaponsmaster answered her.
"I pointed out to him that you are using the mask in its default state, heat sensitive. I would have expected you to be using the amplification mode that is designed for human eyes, not one designed for Yautja vision." She hadn't really thought about it, she just used the mode as it came up. She was about to say so when the hunter continued.
"And you understood him when he answered you, without the mask on." She almost fell over as she realized it ... no, he, was right.
"But I already know some words of the Yautja language, that's how I knew when asshole was slagging humans off." Both Yautja cocked their heads and she mentally kicked herself. "I mean, the Yautja who objected to my being blooded." The Second laughed.
"An apt term, but I suggest you keep it to yourself. I do not think that one will survive this hunt, though." The hunter growled strong agreement.
"You know the sounds of words, but the sounds do not make the words themselves. You are beginning to learn the body language that is part of the Yautja language, and are beginning to translate, instead of just trying to match sounds. This is good progress." She thought about it, then inclined her head in acknowledgment of the compliment.
"Yes, Yautja females hunt, but rarely. They usually only hunt when it is necessary, or for protection. They are content to be in charge of everything while we males are off risking getting killed." She nodded.
"Do you have names?", she asked, almost timidly. The Yautja looked at each other, then spoke in turn, but all her translator gave her was -------'s. She cursed whoever made it. "The translator can't handle the words."
"You called the unblooded Yautja 'asshole', what do you call us when you think of us?" asked the Second, curiously.
"You I think of as 'Second', because that's what you do. Him", gesturing to the hunter, "I just thought of as 'hunter'. The Elder and the healer I think of as those words." She thought for a second, then turned slightly to the hunter. "If you are the weaponsmaster, a better name for you would be something like 'Blade'. Something like 'best at unarmed hunting' would be way too long." She grinned under her mask, but the amusement carried in her words, and both Yautja growled laughter.
"When the group hunts together, it would be best if you have thought of names to call each of us. Calling out 'hunter' would be confusing. 'Blade' is sufficient, if it helps you.", the hunter stated. She inclined her head in gratitude, as the Second stood.
"We still have a trophy for you to clean, young blood. Since the night is still far from over, I think after that it is time for you to learn." She looked up at him. "You fight well, but you are still raw and undisciplined. There is the matter of ducking to avoid the star we have yet to address." She winced, she wasn't going to live that one down it seemed.
"And I wish to see how you use those wrist blades in combat.", Blade added. She looked to both of them in confusion, and Blade stood, then reached down one hand and lifted her to her feet.
"You are blooded now. It is time for you to train.", he said in a tone that discouraged disagreement.
She sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Embolium v - Condemnant quod non intellegunt
"I'm through with your monster stories! If I wanted fantasy, I'd steal a newsfeed from Inside Edition! Get back out there and give me real reporting, or I'll get a real reporter. Got it?" The cellphone buzzed in her ear as her produced hung up, and she threw it onto the dashboard of the van furiously. He looked across at her sadly, shaking his head.
"I keep telling you, Kyl ..." She cut him off angrily, opening the door and stepping out of the van.
"And I keep telling you to mind your own damned business!" She slammed the door, leaving him sitting there alone. He sighed deeply and reached down beside him to grab his new camera before opening his own door. She was already there, placing one hand on the door frame and the other on the side of the van, blocking him. "You know what we saw as well as I do, and denying it won't make it go away."
"No, but trying to tell everyone about it when we don't have any proof will make something go away. Our jobs, for instance." She made a sound of disgust and spun on one heel, but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm before she could step away. "I'm serious, Kylie. They'll fire the pair of us on this. Let's just drop it." She turned back to him, her voice dripping venom.
"I am not going to drop it! We can get the proof, all we have to do is find the bitch in black! Once we have her, those monsters will do what we tell them to, and we'll get all the footage we need." He shook his head again.
"She'll kill us, or they will, or those black things will, girl. That or your mob friends will." She flinched and looked at him with her mouth open. "What, you think I'm dumb or something? I was coming to pick you up and I saw who was dropping you back home." She gave him a furious glare.
"Hey, who said the bitch could be the conscience of the world? They might be mobsters, but they ain't running around with freaking aliens murdering people!", she near screamed at him.
"No, they seem to do that pretty well all on their own without needing any help, or had you forgotten?", he retorted hotly.
"I'll tell you one more time, mind your own business", she warned ominously. He shrugged.
"It's on your head, girl. Just don't think about dragging me into this mess. You want to go monster hunting, be my guest." He looked at her, both of them trying to stare the other down, but she broke first, turning and stalking off through the small crowd that had gathered at the scene towards the police cordon. He pulled the camera up onto his shoulder as he followed. He found her cornering a frazzled looking cop, the shift supervisor he guessed from the uniform's rank tabs, and he turned the camera on as he caught the tail end of the conversation.
"... fifteen, maybe sixteen. I don't know yet for sure, they're still clearing the building." She nodded, her professional face back in place as she tried to get more information out of the cop than he wanted to tell her.
"And you say they were all mutilated the same way the other murder victims have been?" He hadn't said anything of the sort, but he fell for the ploy anyway and nodded. "Do you have any idea who's behind this yet? Is this a turf war?" He looked at her as if she was insane.
"Lady, I don't know shit about who's doing it, but whoever it is is one sick mother ..." He tried to get his emotions under control before he continued. "Look, All I know is a couple of kids got themselves carved up, along with a handful of junkie whores and their johns, as well as the guys running this place, OK? You want to give me a chance to find out myself before you start asking me questions?" She turned on her reporter's smile, and the cop grumbled as he made his way back under the yellow police tape. She turned back to the cameraman.
"If I did that he'd have prepared statements and cover-ups and bullshit trying to hide everything. You get that last bit on tape?" He nodded, as she shook herself and reached for the microphone he carried clipped to the side of the camera. "Fine, let's give the wonderful viewing audience tonight's dose of reality TV."
Embolium vi - Lupus in fabula
He watched from an adjacent rooftop as the two Yautja put her through her paces. Time and again she was knocked down, or sent flying through the air, but each time she got back up and threw herself into the practice. He watched with interest the techniques both of them used in their training, they both were proficient and she was learning quickly. He laughed to himself as the Second tried in vain to break her of the habit of ducking as her thrown weapons came back to her – he'd given up trying to teach her to catch them after a fruitless week of trying, even after he had created a blunted version for her to practice with.He had watched as the weaponsmaster had shown her how to clean the trophy she had taken, using tools attached to her armor she had once sworn to him she wouldn't need. Although her mask covered her features, he could tell that she was proud when she held up the cleaned kainde amedha skull, running her hand down the length of bone. He had heard her scream of victory from the underground structure, although he had not been able to enter it to witness the fight for fear that his presence would have been noticed. She was progressing nicely.
He was proud when she managed to score glancing hits on the weaponsmaster with her wrist blades, but was unsurprised when she was able to score more of the minor cuts on him when using the two long bladed knives she carried. She would always be more comfortable using those than the Yautja blades mounted to the armored vambraces on her forearms, and when he had trained with her, she had managed to use them to good effect. He noted that neither of the two Yautja was content to let her stick with her favorite weapons, but instead had her try all of the ones she carried at various stages.
"I thought I would find you here." He turned at the voice, then turned back to resume his watching as the Elder came up beside him and crouched down. They watched together for a few minutes, before the Elder spoke again.
"You have done well training her so far." He bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"And your hunters are making a good start to improving on it further." It was the Elder's turn to bow his head.
"They are the best I have with me. I thought I would have difficulty persuading them all to accept her in this hunt, but after seeing her return with a kainde amedha trophy, and hearing the weaponsmaster say he would hunt with her again, the others seem to be willing to accept their judgment, for now."
"One does not", he pointed out. The Elder snorted.
"That one is a fool, he has learned nothing of the hunt beyond the kill. She knows more of the hunt, and honor, than he ever will." The Elder looked at him and cocked his head. "Did she really promise to kill you when she was still a child?" He laughed.
"She did, several times. It was many cycles before she realized she was not yet ready and stopped trying to."
They paused, watching as the weaponsmaster sent her flying again with a sweep of its feet, before leaping over her and punching downwards, the tip of his wristblades stopping just short of slicing into her throat. He stepped backwards and lifted her to her feet, and they resumed their positions before starting to fight again.
"You should mark her properly", he surprised the Elder with the idea.
"I had thought of that. I was not sure how you would view it, however."
"She has earned the mark many times over. She looks like pyode amedha, but mentally she is more Yautja than human. The longer she stays in proximity to Yautja, the more pronounced the difference will become."
"Then you should mark her, as her teacher." He growled a negative.
"She would not accept it from me, I do not think." The Elder nodded in understanding, but after a moment offered his opinion.
"I think you may be incorrect, I think she would consider it a great honor and sign of her progress." He thought about that for several minutes.
"We shall see. She has yet to survive this hunt. As good as she has become, she will be facing a kainde amedha queen." The Elder nodded again, and the two of them watched until they saw her raise her hands in exhaustion, and the Second called a halt to the training for the moment. He rose to leave, and the Elder rose with him before clasping a hand to his shoulder. As he returned the gesture, genuine warmth and friendship between the two, the Elder spoke.
"She will be worthy prey when the time comes."
"Yes. But that time is not yet."
Embolium vii - De minimis non curat praetor
The quiet was a welcome respite from the noise of the restaurant outside, Ito came here often to reflect and meditate. The soundproofing wasn't exactly designed for that purpose, but he was never one to pass up the side benefit his precautions against eavesdropping brought. He was sitting cross legged on the floor, his hands clasped comfortably in his lap, eyes closed lightly, but his mind was as focused as ever. Even when trying to relax, he never stopped planning and scheming.
He heard the door to the room open, then close again, but he didn't bother to look. Outside were half a dozen of his best men, hand picked for their ability to protect him, they would give their lives without hesitation for him if the situation demanded it. Anyone who could get past them was either supposed to be here, or was so good he wouldn't stand a chance anyway, so he remained relaxed. He noted that whoever it was stopped a respectful distance away before sitting on the ground, but he continued working through the problem he had been thinking about in his head for a few minutes more.
Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked across at the man who had entered, who didn't seem to have moved once while his boss made him wait.
"It went well?", he asked. He already knew the answer, if anything had gone wrong the man wouldn't be here in the first place, but he hadn't reached the level he was at by making assumptions, even sure things.
"Yes. We were in and out before anyone noticed. We left the bodies as you instructed." Ito nodded thoughtfully.
"Good, it will simply look like another attack by our mysterious enemy." He looked up as the man shook his head. "You disagree?"
"It will look like another attack because of how it was carried out, yes. But there is a complication. Ours was the only attack tonight, nowhere else was hit. And as far as I can tell, nowhere was hit last night either."
"That is a complication, yes. The only way to avoid suspicion is if the attacks continue to seem random. If Issoti starts seeing only those establishments that are controlled by the Mafia are being attacked, we may lose the deniability." He thought for several long minutes, the man waiting patiently once more as Ito worked his way through the problem.
"Continue as planned. If there are further quiet periods without our own establishments being attacked, I expect you to make sure that there is sufficient evidence created to deflect suspicion from us." The man nodded.
"That will mean killing many more of our own people."
"Casualties are unfortunate, but to be expected. Do you forsee any difficulties with the members of your team with such a task?" The man shook his head.
"I hand-picked them all, they won't be a problem. They know where their loyalties lie."
"I'm sure they do, but I wonder if they lie where I want them to?" Ito thought to himself, but instead replied in an offhand tone, "Good. We do not need any further complications. I leave the details to you."
"And Wen's establishments?" Ito smiled thinly.
"Those can be left alone. If Issoti transfers his suspicions onto Wen, I can exploit that in the future just as easily", Ito mused half to himself. He looked up at the man.
"Go, you and your team get rest. You will be working again tomorrow night."
