'Ladies and gentlemen it's with a powerful mixture of emotions that I announce that this is the very last chapter of Hunter Hunted. But don't feel down or despair Tik and Jack fans, I have no intention of letting their story die, I have grown to love these two like they were members of my own family and I have no intention of letting them fade into the darkness, there is still so much more to be said and I need to say it, but I feel that Hunter Hunted has hit its climax and this is the longest chapter I have ever written in one sitting as I wanted to try and tie up each of the mini stories as best I could, but don't worry I am already planning out the sequel in the future, this is only going to be part one of a much larger story as I am sure you'd all love to see how the Yaujta love revolution goes right?
In the meantime, I'm going to begin working on the other story I promised involving a human male and a Xenomorph queen in a zombie apocalypse, so I hope you'll all join me for that one as I'm sure it's gonna be a hell of a roller coaster, expect to see the first chapter up and active very soon.
It's been a long and wonderful road getting here and I would like to extend a very personal and deep thank you to each and every one of you, to all of those who messaged me with your ideas, who commented or reviewed, to those who just read and enjoyed this little fable of mine, to all of you I say a very heart felt thank you.
So let's go out with a bang people, for the last time in Hunter Hunted this is GhostNobody signing off and saying, on with the show….'
Chapter 45: Allegiance.
As she released her beloved Ack from her embrace Tik eleth turned her attentions to the vile female that had been the cause of all their pain, the one who had taken her beloved cubs from her and threatened their very lives, putting in motion this chain of events that had led them here to this, she started to walk towards the female as she laid on her back defeated, "I am going to finish this once and for all, you will never threaten my or anybody else's cubs ever again!" she said in a dark voice, but before she could raise her arm to strike the final blow she felt a vice like grip grab her arm and pull it back, as she looked to see who was crazy enough to stop her from ending this vile creature she was shocked to see it was her beloved Ack.
"Don't! It wasn't her fault" Ack said in a stern voice, Tik looked at him like he'd gone crazy, but before she could remind him about what they'd just been through a light surrounded the defeated bad blood queen, as they and everyone else gathered turned to look what appeared to be black smoke in the form of a screaming human figure was ripped from her very body, then the bad blood queen floated off the floor a foot before dangling lifeless,
"As promised my sweet sweet daughter, I restore to you that which was cruelly taken from you by the vile trickster god, your life and your vitality" a honey sweet voice floated through the air and heard by everyone present, suddenly the white light surrounded the bad blood queen and roared around her like billowing white fire, it reminded Tik eleth of the aura that surrounded her beloved Ack when she'd seen what he looked like through his eyes.
In a bright flash the female that was left floating momentarily before being laid back on the floor gently changed, gone were the scars and wounds, gone was the black and vile tint to her skin, now replaced with a light brown and black pattern, gone was the blood red of her eyes and now replaced with a pale green colour, in fact the now much younger female that was laid on the floor was vastly different from the one that had been there only seconds ago, but the looks were almost the same, just much prettier than she'd been a second ago.
As Tik watched in utter shock and surprise Ack walked over to the prone female and offered her a hand to get to her feet which she accepted, gently Ack pulled her to her feet and the now young female looked around herself at the watching observers, gone was the look of malice, now replaced with a look of fear and nervousness, "It's ok h'chak, you don't have to be afraid, no one here will hurt you and if they try they're going to have to go through me first" Ack said in a voice loud enough that everyone gathered heard his words.
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Now emboldened by having her powerful ooman protector by her side h'chak stood up straight to her full nine feet height and looked around the group again, there were very mixed emotions in the group around her, some of malice, but mostly confusion.
The female Yaujta who she recognised to be Ack's life mate approached them looking first at her, then at her beloved Ack then at her again, there was confusion painted all over her face, "What is happening Ack?" she asked slowly, the powerful ooman Dream Warrior turned to face her,
"It wasn't her my beloved, her body was possessed by the vile trickster god Loki, the woman we saw do all those vile things was not the one you see before you, he possessed her and used her powers to his own advantage while joy riding around in her body, leaving her a prisoner in her own mind, able to see hear and feel everything but unable to do a damn thing about any of it, what you just saw was Paya extracting the vile one from her soul and restoring h'chak back to the way she was before he got his claws on her" Ack said, Tik eleth's mandibles dropped open.
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"That's horrible, I can't imagine the pain you must have seen and felt" she said with genuine sympathy in her voice, h'chak looked at her humbly,
"I never want anyone to be hurt on my expense again, I have witnessed pain beyond measure and for what it is worth I am so very sorry for what he did to you and your beloved cubs while in my skin" h'chak said in a nervous voice as she faced the mighty huntress and clan Matriarch, Tik's expression softened as she saw the genuine remorse and pain in the female's eyes, slowly she reached up and placed a large hand on her shoulder, instantly she felt h'chak flinch at her touch and she saw the fear in her eyes, she also saw her eyes flick to Ack who was now designated as her protector and she knew that this gentle woman would have never done those horrid things, she glanced at Ack and she saw him nod and smile, she returned it and then turned to face the mixed group of oomans, Yaujta and kiande amedha,
"This female is not to be harmed, she is now a member of clan Mason and she is under our protection, if any should feel that they have the right to claim vengeance against her for the horrible crimes that she committed not of her own free will, then they will answer to us!" Tik roared in a mighty voice that boomed off the very walls of the cave, as she did she felt Ack move up to her side and stood proudly beside her, then she saw four figures heading from the crowd towards her, it was her beloved cub Ryan and his three kiande amedha queens, straight away he joined his parents and his father patted him lovingly on the shoulder drawing a smile between the two Dream Warriors, the small group was flanked protectively by the queens, one still wearing her fierce looking Boo crown, the small but very powerful group was collected around h'chak who stood in the middle as they turned to face the larger one and both groups stood ready, there was a lot of confusion amongst the much larger group.
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Finally, it was Jack's old friend Millar that stepped forwards from the ranks, "What's happening here Jack? One minute she's our sworn enemy and now she's your friend and you claim her as part of your clan?" he asked, his question resonated amongst the larger group and they all stood nodding their heads and looking at each other, rather than answer him he glanced at both Ryan and h'chak and smiled at both of them, having spent time in his head both knew that smile meant that he had a plan, so when he stepped forwards both of them followed and stood at his shoulders,
"I know this is confusing for all of you and hell I'd be confused as hell in your shoes, so rather than try and explain this royal cluster fuck to you I have something else in mind, with the aid of my two other Dream Warriors here I'm just going to show you" Jack said, with that his eyes switched from their usual brilliant blue to that amazing bright purple, instantly Ryan and h'chak knew what to do and they both grabbed an arm each as he raised them level with his chest, instantly both of their eyes glowed purple as well and bolts of energy shot from all three, they hit every single living being here causing their eyes to change and match those of the Dream Warriors to whom they were now connected to, "Brace yourselves everyone this ride is not going to be a fun one" Jack said, with that he pooled both his and h'chak's memories together and broadcast them to everyone here.
There was a stunned silence as each and every living being here including one little white warrior cat and the three queens were locked into Jack's and h'chak's memories, they relived every second of the living hell that Loki had put her through right up to where Jack had defeated him by unleashing the horde on him and allowing her to send the pain of the legion into his mind, after it was over the three Dream Warriors released their hold on the group and as they scanned the gathered faces there was not a dry eye in sight, even the queens and Boo seemed effected by the unrelenting trauma that had been inflicted on h'chak.
Suddenly there was not one expression of hate or of malice among them, only pity and sorrow for what the innocent Dream Warrior had been tricked into doing, all for the want of a friend, of someone to care about her, again it was Millar was the first to move, slowly he walked up to the large Yaujta female and he reached up and placed a hand on her arm, all the time under the cautious gaze of Jack, she flinched instantly, still not used to being touched, but his touch was not one of malice, but one of soft sympathy, "I am so so sorry for what I said, I had no idea of the hell he put you through, can you ever forgive me?" Millar asked in a soft voice, h'chak's face cracked into a large smile,
"If you can forgive me for what I did while at his hands" h'chak said deliberately avoiding using Loki's name, Millar smiled at the large female, who was a hell of a lot better looking since Paya had restored her,
"There's nothing to forgive" he said softly, then slowly others from the group walked up to her and each and every one of them one at a time placed a hand on her, even the three queens joined in, while Boo just jumped from the queen's head for the first time since he'd become her living crown, he landed on her shoulder and nuzzled her face affectionately, it was too much for h'chak, she was not used to such kindness and such sympathy, tears started to flow down her face, her teared eyes searched for Jack and she saw him with Tik eleth leaning on his shoulders with her arms draped around her beloved male from behind, both were smiling at her brightly, never in her life had h'chak ever dreamed that such love and such happiness was possible in this life, especially from a group of strangers half of them who weren't even her own species, she'd never been so happy in her life.
After the mini love-fest was over the whole group turned to face Jack again and again it was Millar who stepped forwards, it seemed that he seemed to have become the official spokesperson for the group as a whole, "So what now boss?" he asked looking Jack in the eyes, Jack grinned broadly,
"Damn you haven't called me that in years" he said with a smile, Millar grinned right back,
"Seemed appropriate since it was once again you that led the charge that pulled everyone's arse out of the fire, you might have become some kinda alien spirit warrior who talks to the dead and fallen in love with a seriously kick ass huntress who looks like she would tear the universe in half with her bare hands for her family, but once a bad ass always a bad ass boss" Millar said with a grin as his vision flicked from Jack to Tik and back again, Tik eleth clicked approvingly,
"This ooman has good eyes, he is wise and he knows a true huntress when he sees one, I think one of my kind will seek to claim him rather quickly" Tik said to Jack in Yaujta, Jack laughed and then glanced at his beloved life mate,
"Thinking of playing a Yaujta cupid eh my love?" he replied in Yaujta, Tik cocked her head curiously,
"What is a cupid?" she asked, Jack grinned,
"In my culture they are Angels of love, they strive to spread love and match make, though I don't think I've ever heard of one trying to pair off Yaujta and humans before" he said with a grin, Tik smiled broadly,
"I don't think I will need to be a cupid, there are already a few admiring eyes on him" she said nodding her head in Millar's direction but not directly at him, Jack followed her gaze and he saw three Yaujta females all staring at the back of Millar's brown haired head with doe like eyes, to Jack total surprise one of which was h'chak, he laughed out loud,
"Oh god he's in for a treat when he discovers the joys of Yaujta courtship" he said grinning, this made Tik click her mandibles in that sensual way that Jack loved, it was such a delightfully soft noise, he glanced at her,
"I think I've earned some ooman love of my own" she purred in a soft tone, while stroking his shoulder and his arm seductively, Jack smiled broadly,
"Definitely when we get some privacy my love, I think after all this we've definitely earned some alone time, just me, you and a broken bed" he said stroking her hand softly,
"A broken bed?" she asked confused, Jack smiled softly,
"Or at least it will be when we're done" Jack said smiling, this caused Tik to purr softly, she had desperately missed the touch and passionate embrace of her male, they had been apart for too long and her body was aching for him, it really didn't help that all the combat had really fired her up, it was taking all of her strength to restrain herself from grabbing her beloved ooman throwing him over her shoulder and making a bee line for their quarters aboard the ship, suddenly a voice snapped them out of the happy bubble they had gone into,
"Errr you guys know half the group speak Yaujta right?" Ryan's voice said suddenly from their left, both of them snapped to look at him as he stood there with Shena, both of them were blushing slightly, though while Ryan looked mortified Shena was smiling rather too broadly, then both of them looked at the group, the Yaujta's all looked like they were all about to have a collective aneurism at the obvious feelings and passion between these two, as they're eyes snapped to the group each and every Yaujta's eyes suddenly needed to be looking at something else, but this seemed to subconsciously draw their eyes to the ooman that had caught their attentions.
"Err you guys were talking about me weren't you? Or at least you were until you two went off into that happy bubble you both went to at the end there" Millar said drawing both of their attentions onto him again, Tik smiled sheepishly and Jack grinned,
"Oh it was nothing bad I promise you, I just coulda sworn I saw a Yaujta shaped cupid floating around your head" Jack said smiling, Millar looked confused and he actually looked up as if to look for the said Yaujta shaped cupid, this caused Tik to chuckle in that delightful way that always made Jack happy, but now while his confused friend was looking for invisible alien angels it was time for more serious matters to be attended to.
Just before Jack was able to address the whole group a familiar voice from behind him squealed in absolute glee, both him and Tik turned to look just as Grace and the other civilians emerged to join the warrior group, "Oooooh my god there are so many of them! This is awesome!" she said as she bounced into the middle of the group quickly observing each Yaujta closely before moving onto the next, then she froze solid as her eyes locked on to the three queens flanking Ryan, she shot straight towards them and started circling them, "Holy shit and I never in a billion years imagines I'd ever get to see one of these up close!" she yelled excitedly, behind her Sela eleth was supporting a limping but now patched up and on his feet Robert, with her was Amy who was holding up his other side, as soon as he saw his owner Boo the warrior cat detached himself from the queen's head that he'd clambered back up onto after he'd left h'chak's shoulder, he sprinted right to her jumping into her arms with a joy filled meow to see his beloved owner safe and sound, the queen who had become the surrogate caretaker of the little cat slowly approached the small child who looked up at her with a mixture of fear and awe on her face,
"Wow you're huge!" Amy said quietly, slowly the queen reached down and plucked Amy from the ground with Boo on her shoulder before placing them both protectively on her own shoulder.
Jack smiled broadly at this little spectacle, he would have never imagined that an alliance let alone a friendship would have been possible with their kind, but thanks to his amazing son, it was not only possible it was a reality, as he watched the mighty queen displaying the most amazing tenderness with the young child and her fearsome warrior cat it was an amazing spectacle to behold.
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As she stroked the human hatchling's soft skin her sisters slowly approached her, "You seem to have become rather attached to their kind sister" one of them said telepathically to her, she turned and smiled at her in their way,
"They are fascinating creatures, I feel such pity that so many of our kind has killed so many of theirs in our birthings, if only they knew what our hosts really meant to us, that connection that we felt before we were forced to take their lives for our own, sisters I swear to you now that if I ever have a hive of my own again, none of my offspring will be born of either of their species, we owe them too much to put them through such pain ever again" she said back telepathically, her other sister snickered softly, but it wasn't a laugh of malice or of jest, but one of merriment at the fact that she'd just reached that exact same conclusion herself, then her second sister who had spoken first turned to her again,
"Well if you are thinking of making one of those human's your king you are going to have to be quick, I think they are quickly being picked out by the female hunters from what I am seeing here" she said, the three of them observed the group and they could clearly see the amorous thoughts and looks from the Yaujta females being aimed at various human males in the large group, as she tickled the young hatchling on her shoulder the young one giggled in such a delightful voice,
"You know, I think I just might try that, a human king, so small and so fragile, but at the same time so powerful and fierce and packed with passion, now that would really be an interesting experience wouldn't it?" she asked looking at her sisters, they both smiled,
"I think he'd have to be pretty open minded to want to choose one of our kind for a mate" one of them said, the three of them smiled at each other,
"But it'd be a hell of a challenge wouldn't it? Think of the joy of managing to woo one of their kind away from females of their own kind and on to ours" the first queen said with a broad smile,
"And just think of the joy we could bring to their lives just as they have brought to ours" the second queen said softly before the three of them turned to observe the group again, but this time each of them had silently joined the Yaujta in selecting a prospective human mate for themselves.
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Jack decided that this was the perfect time to address the whole group as they were all gathered here, "Alright everyone listen up its decision time" he said in a loud voice, instantly everyone in the group turned to face him, "I don't know about you but I am seriously ready to get the fuck off this rock and head home, but each of you is going to have to make a serious decision here, I know the Yaujta gathered here have already made the decision to leave your clan and for standing with my beloved son and life mate you are already part of our clan" Jack said in both English and then repeating it in perfect Yaujta, this made all of the gathered Yaujta smile before they all looked at each other and gathered into a group salute to their new clan leaders, both Jack and Tik smiled at each other at this, then he turned to address both the humans and the queens,
"But for the rest of you this is the choice I offer you, we can take you back to Earth and we'll drop you off, you can go back to any family you might have and try and make the best of the rest of your lives, but I warn you, you'll never be able to tell a soul about any of this, not if you don't want to end up in an asylum or a pariah from your families, you'll have to keep these experiences locked up in that dark place in your mind never giving them a true voice" Jack said, the gathered humans talked this over amongst themselves in excited voices, Jack noticed that rather a few of the gathered Yaujta were looking nervous at this, then Millar turned to look at Jack,
"What's behind door number two then boss?" he asked, Jack grinned broadly,
"You open your minds and come with us and become part of our clan, we take you back to our home world and you get to start a new life with people who understand you and what you've been through, you'll be a part of a new family, one that understand you and will look out for you no matter what, the Mason clan protects its own no matter what the odds, we stand together, we fight together and we'll die together, so I offer you the choice, join us and stand with us and have a new life, I can't say it's be easy you'll have to start from scratch on an alien world, you'll have to build your life with your own two hands, there might be problems and you might be called on to defend your new family from any and all that would threaten our way of life, but know that you will have us all standing by your side to lift you when to fall and to prop you when you need support and who knows? You might just find the part of your life that you always felt was missing" Jack said as he reached up and stroked the side of his beloved life mate's face at that last part, at his words Tik leaned on his shoulders again as she looked over his head at the group as she purred softly at his welcome touch.
Both Ryan and Shena nodded at each other and went to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tik and Jack, this was followed suite by Sela and Robert on the other side, together they struck an impressive image for all those watching.
Instantly the Yaujta in the group all walked forwards to join their new clan leaders in a show of unity, Jack smiled and welcomed each one individually as they presented themselves to their new clan Patriarch, then after the last one joined and stood shoulder to shoulder with their new clan they turned to face the gathered oomans, next to move were the three queens, the one who was carrying Amy and Boo stopped in front of Jack and lowered herself till she was face to face with him, slowly she reached out a large hand and placed it on the side of Jack's face and he did the same, in his head he heard a rather feminine voice, "Is there a place for our kind in your clan God slayer?" she asked, Jack smiled and replied telepathically to her,
"You are very welcome among us, you fought for my son and you earned his trust and I trust him, so you have my trust as well as my thanks, we would be honoured to accept you into our family if that is what you wish" he replied, the queen hissed happily, then she looked almost embarrassed and she felt the other two prodding her to ask the next question,
"Would it be ok if myself and my sisters were to choose…." She began but her embarrassment got the better of her and she trailed off, she felt her sisters prodding her again,
"Choose what?" Jack probed,
"To choose a mate from among you ranks, preferably a human" she said so quickly the question was almost fired into Jack's mind, he looked surprised at first but then a large smile crossed his face,
"Looking for a human king are you?" he asked, she looked embarrassed again but then nodded silently, his smile broadened,
"We do not oppress love of any kind my good queen, I mean just look at myself for your example, I am a human with a Yaujta huntress for a life mate and two half Yaujta half human children, I'd be a spectacular hypocrite if I forbade your love based solely on the fact that you are a different species from your chosen one, so if you fall for a human and they return your feelings then you will be accepted as a couple as much as any here, I mean just take a look at the Yaujta here, half of them are ready to pounce on the humans and I don't think their looking for a fight, well not the bad kind any way if you know what I mean?" Jack said with a wink, the queen smiled broadly as she sensed nothing but open honesty from the powerful human,
"But that being said it is a two-way street remember" Jack continued and this caused to look at him with confusion,
"What do you mean God slayer?" she asked,
"The one you chose must also choose you, the human heart is a mysterious and deep place and I cannot nor will not force someone to become your mate against their will and I expect the same respect from you, no one must be forced into it, it must be a mutual choice for the both of you, understand?" Jack said with a serious tone, the queen nodded with a smile on her lips,
"Of course we understand God slayer, love is not love if it isn't consensual and we would never dream of stripping our chosen male's choice from him, we want him to choose to be with us of his own free will that we may experience the pleasure and joy of his love in its entirety, we are tired of being objects of fear and loathing, all we wish is to live peacefully within your ranks with all of you at our sides, and to find the one that we can share our entire selves with, the one that we can show a true and pure happiness" she replied with a little embarrassment at that last part, Jack smile instantly returned,
"Then I wish you luck on your endeavours and wish you a happy hunt, may they be fruitful and may you find the one that makes you happy every second of the day and night" Jack said, this caused the queen to smile broadly before briefly embarrassing Jack, then she turned to her sisters and told them that they were excepted and were free to seek love from among their ranks, the other two nearly did a little dance of joy, then all three joined the group and stood shoulder to shoulder with their new family, well so to speak given their size it was more like shoulder to hip.
Jack smiled at this, he felt that life was gonna get real interesting on his home world very soon with all these love hungry aliens running around, he found himself hoping that they were going to have enough open minded humans to go around, in the case of the three queens it was going to have to be very open minded.
Turning back to the gathered humans he saw them discussing their options, there were a few arguments but Jack could hear logic and reasoning being used a lot here, but finally Millar, Angel and Monty stepped forwards from the ranks, "While I'd love to go back to Earth I don't think it'd be much of a home anymore, I'd sit there every day thinking of what is out here and knowing that I'd never know and I hate what if's" Angel said in a soft voice as she said the last part she kinda glanced for the briefest second at the Yaujta male in crimson armour who was stood in the middle of Jack's group looking right at her,
"I agree, no-one there will understand what we've been through or what happened to us, there's not a lot back there for us anymore laddie" Monty said,
"What we're trying to say is that we choose door number two boss" Millar said, from high above them a voice called down,
"We choose door two too!" Amy yelled from high on the queen's shoulder, Boo meowed his agreement, Jack and a few of his group laughed at her enthusiasm, then he turned and walked down to Millar and extended him a hand, instantly taking it and shaking it vigorously Millar smiled, "Tell you what boss it feel damn good not to be hunted anymore" Millar said with a grin, Jack returned his smile,
"Oh be under no illusions Millar you are still being hunted" Jack said, Millar's face dropped into a frown,
"What?" he said sounding anxious, Jack's smile widened even more,
Just this time it's a very different type of hunting" he said flicking his head over his shoulder indicating something behind him, Millar's eyes flicked up to the gathered group behind Jack and instantly noticed at least three of the Yaujta females appeared to be looking at him with what appeared to be doe eyes, suddenly the whole Yaujta cupid thing clicked into place in his mind,
"Oh, OHHHH I get you now" he said with a nervous smile at his old friend, then he leaned in close and whispered in his ear,
"Any suggestions boss?" he asked, Jack smiled slyly,
"Yeah, brace yourself" he said.
The now united group was over a hundred strong, they Yaujta and the queens greeted their new human clan mates enthusiastically as they joined group, Jack smiled at this as he saw the joy of cultural exchanges already taking shape as the three species learned how to greet each other properly, "Alright everyone grab what you need from the huts and we'll head out" Jack yelled above the noise which seemed to be primarily made up of laughter and joy, the humans nodded and broke up to head to the huts to retrieve any belongings they wanted to take with them, Sela eleth helped her beloved Robert back to his hut to retrieve his drawings and his kit, while Amy and boo got a free ride there on the shoulder of their new kiande amedha protector, Jack spotted various Yaujta breaking off from the group in pursuit of various humans in order to offer their help to them, he even watched one of the kiande amedha queens following Cortez in the direction of his hut, he glanced at Tik who was also watching this little display, "And so it begins" he said with a grin at the side of her face, she glanced at him and then back at the group,
"And it's all thanks to you my love" she said, Jack glanced at her again with a confused look in his face,
"And how did you work that out my love? If anyone was to do with all the Yaujta being here t was our beloved Ryan" he said, Tik shook her head then she turned to him and gently took his face in her hands,
"True but also not my love, you started this all those years ago when you broke your chains and declared your love for me, if you had not taken that first step then I don't think I would have been strong enough to have broken my chains and to have declared my love for you, this beautiful love that we share for one another would have been nothing more than a fantasy for me, but it is my reality and I could not be happier, but it was your strength that gave rise to this, that first step you took all those years ago brought about all this now as others see our example and break free of their own chains and want to seek true love for themselves, without fear of oppression or worse, and it was you that gave them that chance to be truly happy" she said in a low but emotion filled voice, suddenly she felt Jack's hands on the sides of her face and he tenderly kissed her inner mouth,
"And if I had never met you then I wouldn't have wanted to break my chains, if I'd have never met you then I wouldn't have ever realised that someone from an entirely different race was the true holder of my heart, I'd have lived my life never realising why there always felt like there was a Yaujta shaped hole in my soul, so if anything we did it together, each on their own is strong, but together we're unstoppable" he said with a smile as they broke from their loving kiss, then they embraced each other tightly and looked once again at the human group scurrying around collecting their belongings with their various alien admirers in tow below them,
"And now we have given the chance to be unstoppable to so many others" Jack said,
"Not to mention happy and complete" Tik replied, then they shared another tender kiss and when they broke she leaned in close and whispered in his ear,
"Speaking of feeling complete I wish they'd hurry up, you have a promise to honour in our quarters my love" she said with in a soft purring whisper, he smiled softly,
"You should know by now that I always keep my promises, especially to you my heart" he replied and her smile widened as her purring intensified.
After everyone was done collecting everything the group made their way out of the cave and onto the surface, for many of the humans this was a feeling that they'd almost forgotten as many had been in that cave for a rather long time, the feeling of sunlight on their skins was amazing and Jack was overwhelmed by the massive collection of happiness and joy all around him as they walked out into the jungle, though he did have a little chuckle as he looked over the group and he saw many of the already budding pairings already emerging, he had to give it to the Yaujta they really didn't mess about with matters of the heart, Tik noticed him smiling at this and decided to explain, "They have been so oppressed for so long that these feelings have been like a bomb waiting to blow and now that they have been given this freedom, they have seized this opportunity with both hands and they are going to be damned if they ever let go" she said, Jack's smiled broadly,
"It's such a beautiful thing to see all this budding love staring to burn all around us and it's also so wonderful to see that the oomans are beginning to awaken to their potential here as well" he said as he noticed more than a few shy eyed glances being given in the direction of their alien suitors, as he observed their group he noticed two things one of which nearly caused him to laugh out loud barely managing to stem it at the last second, Tik noticed it and she turned to look and instantly had to trim a laugh of her own, on one side they saw their beloved Sela eleth carrying her beloved Robert along bridal style due to his injuries and they were sharing such loving glances that it melted both of her parents hearts, but it wasn't this that made them laugh, it was the fact that one of the queens had also noticed their daughter doing this and had decided to try it out for herself, so both of them were treated to the surreal sight of a rather confused Cortez being plucked off the ground and despite his protests being carried along bridal style by a rather amorous kiande amedha queen, a few of the group noticed this and unlike Jack and Tik were unable to trim their laughs, this only added to Cortez's embarrassment at being carried along by the rather amorous queen, but they were soon trimmed when the queen shot them an angry glare, instantly the laughter fell silent and their eyes were averted, suddenly it was his turn to smile, maybe it wasn't so bad having a protector like this around after all and suddenly he looked almost proud and happy to be carried along by the queen, who seemed rather joyed at her catch if the now rather large smile on her face was anything to go by, Jack turned to Tik, "Think he knows that she's trying to win his affection and claim him?" he asked,
"Well if he doesn't he gonna be in for a very big surprise" Tik replied with a soft giggle,
"I wonder if he'll be happy being a king? King Cortez actually has kinda a nice ring to it" Jack said with a soft smile.
"Yeah it kinda does doesn't it?" Tik said smiling herself as she watched the queen strolling along happily carrying her human catch who was now smiling all over his face.
It didn't take too long for the whole group to reach where the ship or now as it was ships were parked, Jack looked at Tik questioningly as he saw the three new shiny corvette class ships parked next to theirs, she just shrugged, "We figured than try and cram every one into one ship we should get some more and besides I think the clan owed us that much for what they put us all through" she said, Jack simply nodded and turned to the group, he began dividing them into groups to be added to each ship, he was being careful while making his selections, he was trying to spot any obvious connections between pairs so not to separate them and put them into different ships, he felt this would be especially important to helping the budding bonds along as he knew none of the humans would have experienced space travel before and it would be kinda scary for them, so placing them with their potential suitor would not only help stem their fears but it would help strengthen their budding bonds as the suitor would step in and attempt to help quell their fears, some were kinda obvious like the kiande amedha queen and Cortez who she'd finally put down on the ground again but he'd chosen to stay by her side instead of re-joining the humans, which spoke volumes to Jack.
Others were much subtler and hard to spot, like Millar and h'chak, but as he was observing the group he noticed them sharing shy glances at each other through the crowd and decided it was time to strap on those Yaujta cupid wings and pull out his bow.
It took a little while but finally they were all assigned to a ship and each ship had a pilot, the loading didn't take very long as everyone was eager to get underway and to get away from this place, aboard his own ship with his beloved family and the others assigned to their ship he walked the deck where all the stasis pods were assigned, he watched the Yaujta helping the humans to get into their assigned pods. Being too big to fit into a pod the queen that was assigned to his ship had decided to remain in the bay and to protect the pods, she was now curled up at the end of the deck watching as everyone was loaded into their pods, it had taken a little convincing but she'd allowed Ryan and Sela eleth to take Amy from her and to load her into a pod with her beloved warrior cat Boo at her side, out of respect for the queen's protective feelings they'd put her into the pod closest to her at the end of the bay, this had caused the queen to coil herself protectively around the pod while she watched over all the others.
Sela eleth had quelled Robert's fears as she'd helped him get into his pod, she really wished that the pods were made for two because she'd have joined him in there in a heartbeat.
Finally, it was done and everyone was loaded into their sleep pods and were soundly in hyper sleep, now the only two left awake were Jack and Tik eleth. Tik set the coordinates of their home world into the nav computer and then broadcast it to the other three ships before take-off, then she watched as in perfect unison all four ships launched themselves into the brilliant blue sky before it gave way to the empty black void of space, all four ships quickly formed up into a formation with Tik's ship at the lead and the others following behind in a wing shape, at that point she knew that the pilots would be finalising their autopilot commands before retiring to their own sleep pods, normally she'd have been doing the same, but with a sly glance at her beloved male who was in the gunner's seat, she had other plans and a promise to receive.
The two of them were barely through the door to their quarters before they were tearing each other's armour off, they were doing it blind as they were locked together in a passionate tongue war as Tik's mandibles held Jack's face to her mouth in a tight grip, there was no way she was letting him go, her whole body ached for the feel of her male that she'd been denied for too long, as soon as their armour was off she felt the wondrous sensations of his fingers gliding over her skin seeking her most sensitive spots, as she felt tone of his fingers slide in between her very swollen outer lips she let out a soft growl of passion, she needed no stimulation this night as she was more than ready for her beautiful male as he swiftly found out when she threw him on to the bed and pounced on him, but much to her delight her beloved Ack was not giving up without a fight this night, he span her over and pressed down on her stealing a kiss from her mouth as he did, she roared in joy and defiance and fought back spinning him over using his weight as a counter balance to throw him on to his back again, now it was her turn to straddle him and to steal a kiss, but as she parted from him he pulled something she'd never seen him do before, he literally pushed her backwards with amazing strength before following her into a roll, the force while it didn't hurt her it certainly surprised her, she'd almost forgotten just how strong her beloved was when he deployed his Dream Warrior strength, as she flipped out of the roll she found herself on her hands and knees searching for the now disappeared Jack, then suddenly she felt a pair hands smack her bare bum before travelling the entire length of her body and gripping her breasts and tweaking her proudly erect teats, she roared in both surprise and pleasure, she reared up backwards before feeling her male's chest and body against her back, he gently bit down on her neck and shoulder while sucking at the area's his teeth made contact with causing Tik to let out a gasp of pure pleasure, suddenly there was no more fight in her, her whole body begged her to surrender herself to him and she was not going to argue with it, "Take me my love, I beg of you" she said sounding rather breathless and very needy, Jack growled softly in her ear which sent a shiver of purest pleasure down her spine,
"Thought you'd never ask my love" he said with a soft growl, suddenly she felt him seize her hips with his hands and quickly she lowered herself down onto her forearms so that her rear was presented fully to him, then her mind was filled with a strange fuzzy feeling that it took her a second to recognise, in fact it was only when she saw her eyes in the mirror that she realised what he was doing, she had one bright purple eye and one brilliant blue one and as she saw his face she saw he had the same, then before her passion addled brain had time to realise what this meant she felt Jack's malehood begin to spread her burning, needy, dripping and very swollen lower lips and begin to slide inch by delicious inch towards her molten core, that she could also feel what it felt like to be inside her and without any reservations she let loose a mighty roar of ecstasy as she felt him within her and felt what it felt like to be within her at the same time.
Their moans and roars of pleasure and wet slaps of their flesh meeting over and over filled their quarters, Jack's hands gripped Tik's hips and firm buttocks as he drove himself over and over into the hot tightness of the woman he adored over and over again, he could feel every ridge and every bump of her beautifully tight womanhood as his manhood drove to its entirety inside her kissing the neck of her womb like a pair of very loving lips, he could also feel every one of her internal muscles trying their best to hold onto him and to draw him ever deeper into her with every stroke, but what neither of them knew is right at that every moment their pure loving passion was being observed by three very curious and now rather enthralled observers, the queen who had been in the sleeping bay had heard the noises traveling through ship and had gone to investigate, the corridors although large enough for Yaujta to wander freely were a bit of a squeeze for one as large as her, but soon she'd tracked down the source of the odd noises as she'd stumbled on an open door, now she stood hidden in the blackest shadows as she watched the God slayer mating with his beloved female, she was enthralled by the beautifully intimate act they were committing together, using her telepathic bond with her sisters she'd begun to share what she was seeing with them as well, now all three watched in total rapture as both the God slayer and his female huntress roared so loudly as what must have been a highly pleasurable and extremely intense mutual climax tore through their bodies before they collapsed onto of one another in a sweaty heap.
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Silently the queen made her way back to the sleeping deck and resumed her vigil over the pods, but now she felt something that she had never felt in her life before and she knew her sisters were feeling the exact same thing, she felt arousal for the first time, "So that's what this human love and passion looks like" one of her sisters said telepathically,
"No wonder that huntress chose him to be her mate, that looked like it felt wondrous for both of them" her other sister said,
"I agree and you could feel the intensity of the love they held for one another even without being linked to either of them and oh that passion looked completely overwhelming" our queen said, both the others agreed,
"We need to secure human males for ourselves before the hunters steal them all away" the second queen said,
"Speak for yourselves, I'm already working on mine, I found the most beautiful male I have ever seen in my life and he seems rather curious and receptive of my advances so far" the third queen said, this was the one that had been carrying Cortez bridal style through the jungle,
"Best move cautiously sister, you wouldn't want to frighten him off and I would hate to see you fail because he did seem like quite a nice specimen of their species by the looks of envy you were getting from a few of the huntresses" our queen said, the third queen gave a little laugh,
"You saw those as well? Well I have no intention of losing him to them, I'll make him mine if have to move a mountain to woo him then I'll do it, pebble by pebble if I have to, in fact I'll do anything I have to if it get him to show me the love and passion that the God slayer shows his huntress, I really need to feel like that" she said with a voice filled with obvious passion, both her other sisters instantly felt happy for her, it was good to see her getting off to such a quick start,
"Well I have my eye on one now all I have to do is get him to notice me over those huntresses" the second queen said suddenly, this surprised our queen as she hadn't noticed her sister paying attention to anyone in particular,
"I did not see you approach anyone my sister?" our queen said,
"That's because I did not want to approach him outright and possibly scare him off, he's rather nervous looking but I sensed a deep rooted intelligence in him and I have to admit that he looks rather fetching, I rather like the slightly yellow tint of his white skin and he looks like he's not the combat type, more of the thinker and builder type, I think he'd be a good one to build my hive with at my side" she said, this left our queen feeling both happy and sad at the same time, it appeared of her sisters she was the only one without her eye on any of the humans, both her sisters sensed her sadness,
"Do not fear my sister, I am sure that there will be a human to show you the love that we all crave among them" the third queen said, our queen just sighed, she hoped that she was right as having now witnessed the beautiful, wondrous joy of human love and passion she desperately wanted to taste of that forbidden fruit.
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The rest of the flight was uneventful, after their night of passion together Jack and Tik had placed themselves into hyper sleep for the rest of the journey, the three queens were able to place themselves into a form of self-induced hibernation but not before checking over their charges, or indeed their chosen ones.
The ship's computers woke everyone up before they made planet fall, Tik's ship took the lead for the decent with the other three ships following them down to the landing area near Jack and Tik's house, fortunately the clearing that Jack and Tik used to keep their ship was easily large enough for the four ships to land, as she powered down the ships engines and cores Tik glanced at her beloved male who was sat in the Captain's seat but now surrounded by the rest of their family as well, with Sela sat in the co-pilot's seat, Robert was next to her at the engineering console, on the other side was Ryan sat in the gunner's seat with Shena next to him in the second gunner's seat, "We're finally home" Jack said,
"Yes my beloved and what's more, we're all back together the way we belong" Tik said,
"More than that, we have new additions" Jack said glancing both to his left and right at his son and daughter and their respective chosen partners, Tik smiled broadly,
"A true time for rejoicing and joy, not to mention for true heart claims to be made" she said glancing at both of her cubs with a raised brow,
"And made they will be" both Ryan and Sela said in perfect unison causing both of their parents to smile broadly, it was truly a time for perfect joy.
As the large group of humans, Yaujta and kiande amedha strolled groggily down the exit ramps to their ships, they each took a look around at the huge forest they now found themselves in, "Welcome everyone to your new home, the home world of Clan Mason" Jack said as he swung his arms around to show off the place they now found themselves in, "Your new lives begin here and now, so it's time to pick yourselves out a plot and make something that's truly yours" he said, suddenly the realisations all set in at once among the group, they had done it, they had achieved true freedom now, freedom from oppression of love and choice, freedom from being hunted like prey and sport for sick amusement, freedom from being the object of fear and nightmares, it was theirs and no one was going to take it from them again, as they all looked around this free world the group as a whole broke down and tears were shed and hugs of joy and pure unity were shared between all species.
The next few days went like a blur, everyone picked out a plot of land that they'd like to build their own dream home on, once their staked their claim Jack and Tik would go out and mark the boundaries of the property for them, they made sure that each and every one was exactly the same size as their own to avoid any arguments, while they had nowhere to sleep at the moment, so everyone slept on the ships for the time being, but each of them shared huge joint meals together at Jack and Tik's house to promote a sense of security, unity and above all family, they were all one big clan now and Jack wanted to make sure they all felt it, so each and every one of them had a place at his table which he constructed himself outside.
Amy and Boo were officially adopted by Tik and Jack in front of everyone and both moved into their home, Jack loved watching Tik fussing over Amy in full on momma Tik mode, one of his favourites was when he came in one night and found Tik asleep with Amy on her chest and Boo in her Dreadlocks, it was such a beautiful sight to see the big huntress caring for the young human girl with such tenderness that you could easily see that it came to her so naturally.
It was at one of the large joint meals that both Ryan and Sela eleth made their heart claims to Shena Mason and to Robert and much to their joy had them reciprocated in front of their entire clan, both Jack and Tik as the clan's Patriarch and Matriarch blessed the unions and both couples shared their first public kisses in front of the entire clan, to say they were nervous was an understatement, but neither of them had ever been so determined either, to their shared delight Jack had promised to build them both houses on his property so that they would have somewhere to call their own and for them to have somewhere to have the privacy to indulge their love and to let it bloom and grow, the whole time Tik was praying for grand cubs to spoil and to teach the ways of the hunters.
Yoshi Namboku found his services to be in great demand suddenly as he was put in charge of planning out each and every one of the houses, but he relished the challenge and he felt that the task would be accomplished much easier now that he seemed to have a rather friendly queen following him around all the time, truth be told that while he'd been terrified of her at first, he was now rather beginning to enjoy if not relish her company, she was like no female he had ever met in his life, she was immensely powerful and fierce but with him she showed him nothing but soft care and attention and for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on he seemed to share quite a strong bond with her, to the point that when she wasn't around or was off hunting he began to feel like a part of him was missing, as it happened it didn't take him long to figure out what the strange feeling that was blooming in his heart was, love raw and pure, but while he got the shock of his life when he figured out what it was he got an even bigger shock when the queen decided to take a massive leap of faith and to touch him and show him her feelings telepathically, both were overjoyed to find out that they were perfectly in sync.
But they weren't they only blooming couple, as the days marched on and while the village started to grow around them so did the love, very quickly pretty much everyone had paired off, to be fair and much to Jack and Tik's amusement there wasn't a single same species couple among the entire group, as it turned out that if you took the human children out of the equation that there was exactly the right amount of humans to pair them off with either a Yaujta or a queen, to that end all three of the queens had got their deepest wishes and had found themselves a very open minded human male each, one was with Yoshi Namboku, another had claimed Cortez and also been claimed by him and the last one who had been aboard Jack's ship on the way here had found herself on the receiving end of some very welcome attention from a young Irish man from among the human soldiers.
All the others had managed to pair themselves off with Yaujta, even Angel had managed to get past her prejudices and her fear and had decided to get closer to the young warrior she'd seen in the crimson amour, as it turned out he had been looking at her that day in the cave.
Millar got his wish of finding a big beautiful Yaujta woman in the form of the gentlest one of the lot, h'chak. He found himself sat next to her at nearly every joint meal and the two found themselves talking at length about their lives, he found himself playing counselor to her as he got her to open up about the horrors that Loki had inflicted on her, although her already knew of them through her memories he still listened intently to her as she unloaded her feelings because he knew that it was helping her and he found himself becoming very fond of the gentle Yaujta, before long the inevitable happened and they both gave in to their growing bond.
As the village grew soon so did the love and much to Jack and Tik's delight, they found themselves having to bless a new heart claim nearly every night at the group meals, under Yoshi's leadership and with his new love at his side who he'd name Citrus after his favorite flavor, but we won't get into how he decided that was the perfect name for her but it was safe to say that both species found that they were so much more compatible than even they'd dared to dream. The village sprung up at an amazing rate, he formed the clan into teams based on their specialties and skills, whether that be resource procurement, construction or zone clearing which his love happened to specialize in what with her ability to slice down the huge trees with that tail of hers in but a few swings, he always found himself marveling at her immense power while always being on the receiving end of her utmost gentleness himself.
In but a few short weeks the place had really taken shape, with all of the dwellings complete Yoshi had turned his attention to planning other things like defenses and schools, which as it happened they were going to need the latter much sooner than they thought as Tik eleth had got her wish when she found out that her beloved Sela was carrying Roberts cubs.
Jack was never gonna forget the day that Sela broke the news to her mother, he'd been out in the garden working on his forge, but this time instead of weapons he was forging a set of railings for someone's vegetable garden, he'd heard what sounded like a death screech so loud that he'd been half way to grabbing his weapons and charging in when the back door burst open and a very exited Tik had picked him from the ground and swung him round like a child, all the time screaming "We're going to be grandparents my Ack!".
During this time Ryan also approached his father and the two discussed what they'd learned from Paya about the creeping black that Loki had unleashed on the universe, the whole family and clan discussed what they were going to do about it as none of them still truly knew what it was.
Jack's plan was a simple one, once their village was fully built and secured and they had the ability to defend themselves from any and all threats, he would then start sending members of the clan to approach the various other clans and see if they could try and convince other likeminded individuals to join their cause, according to both Tik and Shena they were sure that they'd be able to convince quite a few Yaujta females to join the cause and more than possibly a few males too.
Meanwhile he and a few of the other humans would take a few trips to Earth and see if they could find any other humans to help populate their ranks, if there was going to be a stream of love hungry Yaujta females clambering to join their ranks they were going to need an equal amount of love hungry human males and females willing to to open their minds and take a walk on the wild side to make those numbers up, especially as Ryan informed his father it would be the hybrids that were the ones who fought what was to come while being led by the Dream Warriors.
Jack's heart was heavy at all this as he knew that no matter how hard they'd already fought, there was still fighting and bloodshed to come, but as his beloved Tik eleth placed a knowing hand on his shoulder his nerves steeled, "Then if it's a fight the trickster god wanted then it's a fight we'll give him, if it falls on Clan Mason to pull the universe's collective arse out of the fire, so be it, we'll take this burden and we'll carry it with pride, I hear by announce the creation and training of the Guardian core, these will be warriors trained in both the very best of human and Yaujta hunting and combat techniques, they will be specialist in everything from sniping to extreme stealth, able to operate independently of the clan or with its full support, they will be tasked with hunting down and eliminating any source of this evil that they find while at the same time spreading the word to the other Yaujta and human clans that there is another way and if they're unhappy with the way their lives are that there's another one waiting for them if their brave enough to try and grab it, we'll prove to the universe and the pauking trickster god that we are stronger together" he announced to his entire clan, this was met with applause as everyone here now felt like their lives were complete, instantly pretty much every one of the human soldiers and Yaujta warriors among their ranks volunteered for the newly formed Guardian core, for the first time in their lives their hearts and souls were whole and no one and nothing was ever going to take this from them ever again, this time they were going to fight for everyone and everything they held dear and this was not a fight that they intended to lose.
Tik and Jack grinned at each other, with dedication like this they were going to have their work cut out for them, they were going to stand against the very universe itself, but they were going to do it willingly, for if not them then who?
But with the aid of their wonderful children and of everyone here, they were determined to make this work, they were going to hunt this creeping black down and they were going to win and they were going to do it together as one.
The End?