Chapter 42: Honour Bound.
Sparks flew in every direction as Ryan and Shena's father's blades clashed, in terms of strength the elder Yaujta had a definite edge but Ryan had the edge on speed, well he would have if he hadn't been literally running on pure hope, using his Dream Warrior abilities so extensively had left him totally washed out, but he had to keep going or it would mean his life here as he fully knew that the elder Yaujta meant what he'd said when he said that he would take his head, he also knew that if he fell Paya's plan would fall with him as if he dies his Matriarch would retaliate and undoubtedly kill the Black Crest patriarch without mercy for taking her son's life, this would lead to retaliation by other members of the Black Crest clan and this would lead to a full scale battle in the arena as the place descended into anarchy born of vengeance and hate.
Ryan also foresaw the exact same result if he killed the Black Crest patriarch, even with his Dream Warrior abilities near enough depleted he could feel the eyes of every member of the family on him, he was under no illusion here that if he struck the patriarch down it would spark and instant revenge attack by the family and the result would be the same despite either kill being in the honour of the eldest Yaujta traditions.
The elder swung his massive sword in punishing downward arc aimed directly at the centre of Ryan's head, but with a deft motion Ryan was able to use one of his swords to turn the strike to one side and with his other blade lunged a stab forwards at the centre of the elder Yaujta's chest, but his blade glanced straight of his thick chest plate and he had to dodge under the elder Yaujta's arm and twist at the last second to avoid a powerful kick, the Black Crest family patriarch was certainly a skilled fighter, nothing like wither the criminals or the bad blood pauks he had faced up till now, confidence and power ebbed from him like waves in a lake, then as he dodged a series of fast swings an idea occurred to Ryan, he could see his opponent becoming more and more frustrated by his inability to land a blow on the young hybrid, maybe if he used the trick he'd used before of simply stalemating him that would frustrate him to the point where he started making mistakes and this would give him an opening.
So when the elder Yaujta struck at him he simply blocked or dodged and simply kept circling him never striking at him but blocking every move the elder made by using his superior speed to his advantage, as sparks flew yet again from another failed lunge Ryan could see the hate and anger in the elder's eyes building to a crescendo, but there was something that Ryan had not counted on, the elder Yaujta liked the anger as it gave him access to a rather rare and hidden talent that so few Yaujta these days had, as his anger and rage hit a peak he stood perfectly still and let loose a massive roar that felt like it shook the whole arena before sprinting straight at the young hybrid with astounding speed, from the side-lines Tik's mandibles dropped open before she regained her mind and she roared out to Ryan, "Watch out son he's a pauking berserker!" she roared.
Now it was Ryan that was totally on the back foot as he had to use everything he had to dodge the extreme speed swings and lunges which came at him in a flurry that even at full Dream Warrior capacity he would have been hard pressed to keep up with, more than a few made it through and Ryan roared in pain a series of cuts opened on his limbs and chest from the incredibly volley of slices the elder Yaujta threw at him, Ryan found himself with his back to the wall leaning on his swords bleeding heavily and panting, the elder Yaujta simply stood there looking at him and tot his total shock Ryan saw his aura now, it was red like both the kiande amedha but at the same time flecks of white permeated it, this gave Ryan hope, there was still good in him despite the rage, as the elder Yaujta advanced on him slowly he knew he was beat, he had no strength left here, he could barely life his arms up, so he did the only thing that he could do, he prayed.
"Paya please I beg you, I know that you're listening and I'm begging you for the strength to let me finish this, if I must end here then so be it, but please don't let what you've started here end, if I must die I am willing to do so but I need the strength for one last push" he said out loud, then just as the elder Yaujta raised his sword to finish the young hybrid he felt a massive surge of energy flow through him, "I have heard you young one, finish this" a feminine voice said in his head, with a final massive push Ryan focused all of the energy that Paya granted him into one last rush, he flew off the wall so fast that not a single eye in the room could track him, he left a purple glow in his wake as he dodged deftly under the now slow moving sword of the elder Yaujta the screeching to a halt behind him he kicked off backwards into the air and dodged the sweeping under cut that was aimed at him, with pin point precision he landed squarely on the elder Yaujta's shoulders with a heavy thud, as he did he threw bot of his swords away and grabbed the side of the Black Crest patriarch's head, "LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT YOU WOULD DESTROY!" Ryan roared at the top of his lungs and with the last of the energy Paya had given him he forced his mind into the elder's mind and joined them together as one.
The whole arena fell completely silent as the two of them stood frozen in place as if they'd become some kind of statue, both of their eyes were glowing bright purple now, Ryan forced his memories into the elder's mind and he could feel the feelings of pure rage and hate aimed at him from the elders mind, they were so intense that it rocked him to his very core to know that a being despised him on such a level that he would cut his only daughter off from her family for merely falling in love with him, then as he was delving through the elders mind as he tried in vain to shake Ryan's link to him he had an idea, trawling through the elders memories at the speed of thought he found was he was looking for and instantly he was able to pull the elder's consciousness into those memories with him, the first flash they watched together was of Shena being born, he watched as if through the elder's eyes as she yawned and stretched her mandibles in her Matriarch's arms for the first time, he felt the pride that the elder felt, then they fast forwarded to her learning to walk and he watched as a young Shena toddled around the family living quarters before both he and her Matriarch had to make a mad dash to stop her pulling a table full of skinning blades down on her little head.
Next up was Shena's first official day of training and the pride he had felt when even at such a young age she'd given her tutor as run for his money with her blunted training wrist blades nearly taking out a few arteries in the process, this was followed by the secret pride he felt the day she returned from her first successful hunt with her uncle and he had placed her little trophy skull on the wall next to one of his, next they both found themselves standing facing each other in a completely black void, "Why do you insist on tormenting me with these images Dream Warrior!?" he yelled at Ryan,
"I'm not tormenting you with anything, these are your memories elder, if anyone is tormenting you it's you, I feel that you are tormenting yourself with your guilt" Ryan replied calmly,
"Guilt? What guilt?" the elder spat,
"The guilt you feel at throwing your only daughter away like she was trash, like her life was meaningless" Ryan said,
"I did not throw her away! You stole her from me and corrupted her!" the elder roared,
"Really? Did I?" Ryan asked, then suddenly the world around them wasn't black any more, suddenly they were on the planet where Ryan met Shena, they were watching Ryan from a tree that he proceeded to run face first into, they both felt the humor as they heard the laugh, then fast forwards they watched the fight with fire tiger and they felt the fear and hopelessness as they were pinned down by the creature to the shock and relief at it being struck down by Ryan, next up they were surprised by the claim of a shared victory rather than the claiming of the honor of defeating such a large opponent, then came the part that Ryan had been waiting for, the part where he released his mask from his face and Shena saw his face for the first time, the instant feelings of attraction and curiosity were so obvious that they shone like beacons in the darkness, "You…..You…..You saved her from a fire tiger" the elder said finally as he watched the next exchange where Shena found out that Ryan was a hybrid and called him a volley of vile names before charging off into the forest,
"No we fought it together as equals, I maintain what I said then, if she had not managed to pull its attention there's no way that I could have pulled off such a hit without it countering me" Ryan said, now they were watching Shena get caught by the bad blood, as the elder heard the things he said to his daughter his blood boiled again,
"Vile pauk! How dare he threaten such vileness upon MY daughter!" he roared at the memory, then to the elder's utter amazement he watched as Ryan took out the bad blood and removed Shena from the trap, "You saved her" he said quietly,
"I protected her honor from someone who threatened it, as any Yaujta would have, she is a powerful and proud huntress in her own right and I firmly believe that in a fair fight she'd have either won or died fighting, either way she'd have done it with honor" Ryan said, the elder Yaujta looked at the young hybrid with curiosity, then he returned his attention to the memory in front of him, it was the point that Shena could no longer fight or hide her feelings for Ryan and when they both gave into them, the elder visibly winced at their kiss but at the same time he felt his daughter's emotions as clear as the morning sun, "Her…..Her…..Her feelings are pure" he stammered visibly shocked and shaken at this, Ryan smiled at him,
"Now let me show you the same thing from another perspective" he said and before the elder could react he was shown the exact same set of memories again, but this time from Ryan's perspective, he felt what Ryan felt when he first saw his daughter right up to their first kiss again and he stood there silently the entire time, then he slowly turned to look at the young hybrid,
"Your feelings for her are as pure as hers are for you" he said slowly in a low voice, Ryan nodded slowly,
"So now tell me that I either corrupted or stole her, she is a living breathing sentient being, a proud and strong Yaujta huntress who is fully in charge of her own mind and is as victim to her own heart as we all are" Ryan said, the elder nodded slowly, "I would say that you couldn't possibly know the happiness and honor that I felt that I was the lucky male that she chose to be hers, but you know it perfectly as you felt it the same as I did" Ryan said, the elder didn't say anything but simply watched, "Now the main thing you questioned was my birth and the fact that I am not fully Yaujta but half ooman" Ryan said, the elder eyed him suspiciously,
"Oomans are a weak prey species worthy of only hunting or as using as slaves" he said,
"Oh really? Then let me show you the man you call weak" Ryan said, then the memories flicked from his own to the ones that he'd gotten from his father when they'd joined from the time when he'd discovered he was a Dream Warrior.
The elder watched with his mandibles open wide as he watched Jack fighting the kiande amedha hive single handed as Tik lay unconscious, followed by him dragging and carrying her back to her cave and the sheer determination that was fueled by the purest and strongest love that either of them had ever felt, fast forward to him fighting his way off the ship with Tik at his side, to their marriage and life on the planet that Ryan's family now called home, then it was the birth of his hybrid children and the love and happiness that he felt as he cradled them both in his arms.
"I've seen enough" the elder said sounding defeated, Ryan could feel the hate and the rage draining away from him like water down a drain, he smiled and he slowly walked up to the elder and placed a hand on his massive shoulder which caused him to flinch slightly,
"Not such a weak species after all huh?" Ryan said, the elder looked at him,
"Never in a million life times would I have believed a word you had said, but having seen these amazing things and having lived them as if I was actually there I can say truthfully that I was wrong, in so many ways"
"Then let's end this shall we?" he said, the elder nodded and with that there was another flash as the connection was severed.
To everyone watching the pair of them looked like they were frozen in place, until Ryan released his grip and fell from the elder's shoulders, he landed with a hard thud on his back which knocked the wind out of him, his strength was now completely gone and he was verging on the edge of unconsciousness, but he fought to stay conscious till he saw the elder turn and face him, it was at the point he saw his eyes that he gave up his fight, there were tears in the large male's eyes.
Tik eleth's heart started hammering in her chest as she saw her son lose consciousness in the arena, he was a completely defenceless target now and would be an easy kill, she tightened her grip on her weapons, she knew it would be a massive breach of the Yaujta laws and codes but there was no way she was going to let them kill her beloved son, not without taking her down too, but something in the elder's body language told her to stay her hand, his shoulders were slumped and his posture screamed of a defeated man, slowly he bent down to her unconscious son and with weapon free hands he slowly picked him up in his arms, then right in front of a stunned crowd he turned to face Tik and her companions and began to make his way towards them.
Every set of eyes in the arena stands tracked his every step across the arena floor, there was an eerie silence so profound you could hear his every step, finally he was stood right in front of Tik eleth, slowly he extended his arms out towards her and offered her unconscious son to her, without a seconds hesitation Tik took her beloved son from him and cradled him in her arms, then without saying a word to her he glanced at his young daughter who was stood to Tik's right, Shena's breath caught in her chest the second she saw her father's eyes, there were tears in them, this was a sight she'd never in a million life times imagined that she'd see, then he turned and walked silently back to the centre of the arena, before turning to face the clan leader, "I Fenris Pal Black Crest patriarch of the Black Crest family am defeated, Ryan full blooded hunter and Dream Warrior of the proud Mason clan has won" he said in a loud voice, a massive flurry of shocked voices murmured around the arena until the clan leader got to his feet and they immediately silenced,
"That cannot be Fenris, you are still standing, the boy is not, the victory is yours surely?" he said, Fenris shook his head and pointed with his hand towards Ryan who was still being cradled protectively in his mother's arms,
"He might have fallen but before he did he showed me things, things that have shown me just how very wrong I was, things that have not only changed my mind but have broken my will to fight him, so I concede defeat to him and I do it with pride, no other Yaujta here could ever to hope to accomplish what he did here today, he fought with honour and distinction against every opponent that we set him against and make no mistake he was set up to fail, but fail he did not, he fought with every ounce of strength he had and given I am his last opponent here I can tell you that he is victorious, we judged him for being something we thought was an abomination because his blood is not pure Yaujta, but he showed me and all of us here that his heart most definitely is, he upheld the most sacred of our traditions and he beat us, so what does that say about us here? We thought he was something lesser than all of us, something wrong and abhorrent yet he still beat us, so maybe just maybe we've been looking at this all wrong all this time, I was enraged because I thought he'd corrupted and stole my beloved daughter from me and from her clan, but he showed me how wrong I was, he let me see how they met what she felt for him and how he truly felt for her and I cannot deny their love for one another, that male right there defended her and protected her honour from a bad blood pauk who would have defiled my beautiful daughter, he acted like any true honourable Yaujta should have" Fenris bellowed at the intently listening crowd, he heard the clan leader snarl from his place in the stands,
"But he's a filthy half breed, half his blood is ooman, weak and pathetic just like their entire race" the clan leader yelled, now it was Fenris's turn to snarl, he turned to face him directly,
"There's nothing weak about his blood line trust me I know, I saw what his father did to protect the woman he loves, that woman right there" he said pointing at Tik eleth, "That weak pathetic ooman fought off an entire hive of kiande amedha single handedly to protect her while she was fallen, then he carried her through a jungle to a place of safety to treat her injuries despite being severely injured himself, that weak ooman fought his way through an entire clan ship of bad blood pauks just to fight his way back to the woman he loved and with that woman at his side they blew up that clan ship and removed an entire scourge from our galaxy a job that we ourselves had failed to do on many occasions, so if we can stand here and call a male like that weak and pathetic then what does that make us? Because the last time I checked he managed to do all the things that we couldn't, fuelled only by his love for a member of our species and let's be fair how many of us can stand up and say that we'd go as far as a tenth for our beloved mate's as he did for his? So if we are going to dismiss this male's accomplishments fuelled simply by his love for a Yaujta female just because he's another species then we dishonour ourselves" Fenris yelled back at the clan leader, the clan leader balked at this but before he could respond another voice joined in,
"That male you would dismiss so easily and call weak and pathetic is the male I love and would gladly lay down my life to defend his, I do not care that he is an ooman in fact it's one of the very things I love about him, because to me it means that love is truly blind and universal as when he looks at me I see nothing but the purest and brightest love being shone at me like light from his amazing eyes, he took one look at me and saw through the shell that my life here had forced me to wear and saw me for who I really am, something that my own kind had ignored for my entire life, I lived being dismissed because I was too short or was unworthy in the eyes of my peers, in the eyes of my family and those that were supposed to love me unconditionally, all my accomplishments either ignored or given to those who stood above me for my clan's honour, but that male that beautiful and wonderful male that I love with my entire being showed me that there was a different way, he showed me my true worth and he made me believe it, he raised me up and showed me that I didn't need the approval of others to be who I am, he treated me with nothing but love and respect and honour that no Yaujta can ever hope to match, every day I strive to show him the very same, to show him just exactly how much he means to me, so how dare you insinuate that just because he's ooman that he's not worthy of me, I decide who's worthy of me not you and if anything it's me that's not worthy of him, he is the kindest, gentlest, strongest and most powerful male I have ever met and every day I count the blessings of Paya that she brought that beautiful and wondrous ooman being to me just when I was at my darkest and in the deepest pit of my despair and allowed him to fall in love with me and me with him, he pulled me from that place and now I couldn't be happier to stand by his side and it is my distinct honour to call myself his life mate, if it was not for him I would not be alive let alone standing here cradling one of my little miracles here in my arms" Tik thundered in a loud voice, the crowd listened and watched her in awe, but she wasn't done yet, "So you take a good look at my beautiful son, the very one who you tried to kill simply for being alive, for daring to try and live a life that he had no choice in having and for having the gall to look at one of our kind with the same eyes that his father looked at me with all those years ago, but who is it that's still alive? Who is it that despite your very obvious attempts to dishonourably stack his trial by combat, which I remind you is one of our oldest and most sacred traditions in your favour continues to live? You call him an abomination because he his half ooman but that's not something he now or ever will be ashamed of, he is proud of his half ooman side and so he should be, because here today he showed you exactly what someone with ooman and Yaujta blood can do, he's stronger than any of us and he just proved that while we are strong alone together we are far stronger" Tik roared in such a proud and mighty voice that it brought tears to the eyes of a great majority of the crowd, the clan leader began to snarl but before he could say a single word a clap sprung up from the crowd and it soon grew in volume till it nearly shook the entire arena like thunder as Yaujta of all shapes and sizes and surprisingly sexes sounded their approval for her words.
The clan leader looked absolutely astounded at this reaction and he and his loyal bodyguards looked around the crowd in amazement, before the clapping was done yet another of his little group stepped forwards, it was Shena Black Crest or Shena Mason as she'd rather publicly renounced her family name in front of everyone here, in front of everyone she placed her hand to the side of Ryan's unconscious face and placed her forehead to his before turning to face her father, "My beloved daughter I cannot tell you or ever hope to express to you how sorry I am, I was so angry and incensed that young hybrid male had taken you from me that I was blinded by my rage and I just seized onto the first thing that I could think of, I was just so convinced that he would pollute you and spoil you in some way, but I never realised how deeply he felt for you or how pure his love for you is or even just how far he'd go to protect you, but I am happy to say that I was wrong, just because he isn't fully Yaujta is not a reason to believe him to be any less of a life form than an of us standing here, in many ways he is more so because even with all we did to him he still had enough compassion and empathy to still try and change my mind, when he could have just have used that strength of his to either drive me mad or kill me, but he didn't, so I know that this probably doesn't mean much to you now and for that I am sorry but I'd just like you to know that I recognise your heart claim to him as well and I bless it, there is no finer male out there and no more honourable one who could win your heart, and I want you to know how proud I am of you for standing here and being willing to do what you would have done to save him, any true Yaujta should be as willing to go as far for one they love" he said, without saying a word Shena's face crumpled and she began to sob at her father's words, then she flew at him at top speed and threw herself into his arms and the pair clung together.
Tik eleth smiled proudly at her daughter in law as she made her peace with her father, suddenly she became aware of others now in the arena, to her surprise other Yaujta from the crowd seemed to be jumping from the stands and into the arena and making their way over to the group, she counted thirty females of varying ages but pretty much all on the young end of the scale, there were also ten males making a total of forty, they simply formed up into a group walked up to her and stood with her group, the oldest female who was younger than Tik herself but a fair bit taller walked up to the clan Matriarch, "We wish to join you, we saw the truth in your words and we're sick of being treated the way we are, we're sick of not being able to speak out or being shouted down when we do or threatened with being classed as different or deviant just because we want something more, so if this ooman love if everything you say it is then we'd like to give it a try, when you go back to the world you live on we'd like to come with you and if he doesn't want to let you leave then we'll fight with you" she said, Tik's face was one of surprise but she welcomed the newcomers with a smile,
"You are welcome to join us but other than my mate there are no other oomans where we live" she replied, suddenly Ryan stirred in her arms and he opened his eyes, looking up at his Matriarch whose happy and relieved face was looking down at him,
"I think father can do something about that" he said in a groggy voice, Tik looked at him with confused eyes, but before she could say anything he continued, "I just saw him in my dreams, he's in a place where there are many oomans back on that hunting world and I think more than a few of them would want to come with us but first they need our help" he said,
"What do you mean?" Tik asked her voice filling with concern instantly for her beloved mate,
"They're under attack by the bad bloods and father will need our help to protect them" Ryan said in a very groggy voice that showed he was still half in half out of the dream and given he was a Dream Warrior Tik knew to take his visions seriously, instantly her demeanour darkened and she lowered her beloved son to his feet, when he wavered two of the other females from the group rushed forwards and aided him to stand while at the same time giving Tik a nod that said 'Do what you need to sister' as soon as she saw this Shena rushed from her father to her beloved's side and took over from the other two in supporting him, they knowingly relinquished their hold on him to her.
Tik eleth turned to face the clan leader and took a couple of strides towards him and as she did she was instantly flanked on both sides and behind by the queens who had decided to support her as they had supported her son, stood there flanked by such powerful allies and cutting such a fearsome figure herself Tik eleth commanded the respect of everyone in the arena, "Now that we have my son all of us gathered here are going to leave and I open an invitation to anyone else gathered here that if you ever felt like your life was worth more than you receive here join us and see what it can truly be, now whether we leave in peace is up to you but I warn you now, try to stop us and you will be facing far more of a battle than you can handle" she said loudly, at her words all three of the queens closed up on her and hissed in unison at the clan leader who was now wearing a distinctly worried expression, he glanced around and saw the remainder of the crowd all eyeing him curiously, it was a major decision here, if he chose to try and detain them he'd have a war on his hands and he could see that every member of that little group including the defectors from his own clan were willing to fight to the death here, on the other hand letting them go could be shown as a sign of his weakness and might cause dissention in his clan, but given the fight that they'd put up simply to reach them he had to respect their determination and the sort of losses that a fight with this group would create would just not be worth it, he sighed heavily and stepped up to the rail, "Very well, as your son has passed his trials he is here by set free, you may all leave in peace and may you never darken our door again" he said, Tik smiled darkly at him,
"It's not me you should be worried about, now that others have seen what freedom is and what their lives could be, something tells me you're going to have bigger problems than having to deal with me again" she said softly gesturing to the crowd around her, then she simply turned and with her escort of queens and now quite sizable group fellow Yaujta walked out of the arena and headed directly for the launch bay, all the time her thoughts were on one thing and one thing only, reaching her beloved Ack before it was too late, Ryan's words had really troubled her.