INTSTM 6

R'ka-thwei caught the strange creature that had miraculously freed her, before it could fall to the ground. She gently eased the strange being onto its back in hope of not aggravating whatever injury had incapacitated the tiny thing. She had seen how that one arm was dangling uselessly as the creature had approached her, and from that alone, she knew that the creature had been injured when that male Great Yautja had tossed the little being like a Chakt-ra. A swift glance around let her spot a dah'Nagara that had been discarded by one of the males who'd been boasting of how they'd force her. She snatched it up and turned to the small Yautja male who was still tied.

"Good! You are free. I didn't think the ooman would be able to do anything after being thrown like that. If there is any honor within you, then free me; please! She will need medical treatment soon or she will most likely die." Kwei-kv'var-de ground out through swollen mandibles in relief, even though he was still in a lot of pain from the tremendous beating he'd received.

"You… you know what this creature is?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I told you she is an ooman! Pyode Amedha. They are small and weak, but they are very smart and cunning. Many Yautja used to hunt them, before their world was declared off limits, because their governments are now aware of us and trying to capture us to gain our technology." He answered honestly.

"I will free you, but if you try anything against me, I will not hesitate to kill you." R'ka-thwei warned in a growl.

"The only thing I have tried is to keep those pauk-de zabin from forcing you. That ooman has restored our freedom, and possibly even our lives. I would not have her die before I can repay the honor she has shown." Kwei-kv'var-de replied quickly.

R'ka-thwei took a deep breath and stepped forward to sever the cable that bound the small male's feet. Then she did the same for his hands. She was slightly surprised that he fell for a brief moment, before he caught himself in a stagger.

As soon as he recovered his balance, he went over to the crate that contained his awu'asa. Grabbing nothing but his mask, he quickly turned to examine the ooman female in each of the visual modes available to him.

"She has internal injuries. Her upper left arm is broken in three places, and five of her ribs are also broken on that side. Her neck has been badly wrenched, and she's lucky that the throw alone didn't kill her. I don't think she should be moved, but I don't know how safe this camp is going to be for us." He said after a quick look at the female ooman.

"You wouldn't happen to have a ship nearby would you? Even deployment and escape pods have some type of medical gear aboard them." R'ka-thwei said as she looked down at the female.

"It is four days walk to get there. I can make it in half a day by running, but I doubt the ooman would survive the run. Do you have a ship that is nearby and safe?" Kwei-kv'var-de demanded quickly as he began donning the rest of his armor.

"I have a cave on the coast among the cliffs. But I only have an eighth of a dose of healing serum left." She answered now certain that the ooman who had saved both her life, and her honor would now die.

"Then carry her there. I will find you. Do not shake her in any way. An eighth of a dose might be enough to keep her alive until I can reach the coast. Is there a way that I can signal you?"

"Yes, when you reach the cliffs along the coast, make the water splash loudly four times. I will know that it's you and will guide you from there." R'ka-thwei answered hesitantly.

She didn't want to reveal the one safe place that she had on this world, but it now seemed that she had no choice. Not if she was to keep what was left of her honor, which had been restored to her by the ooman whose life now depended on someone being able to find her cave. Then, as soon as she had finished speaking, the male Yautja cloaked himself as he took off at a swift run.

Certain that time was short, R'ka-thwei found the crate that contained her own equipment, and quickly donned it. Then, she spotted a game bag in the gear that the males had shed when they were about to force her. She quickly gathered up all of their equipment and weapons before severing the heads of the four males. All of it, including the severed heads, went into the game bag. Then she took her dagger and cut a long strip of skin from one of the now dead males. She smiled grimly as she did this, thinking that it was strange that the dead body could be used with more honor than that warrior had possessed in life. She used the long and wide strip of skin to bind the arm and ribs of the tiny female, before she gently lifted the unconscious ooman into her arms.

Contrary to what the male had said, R'ka-thwei was running. It wasn't the rough bouncing run of the untrained, but a smooth steady lope that ate the distance easily without jarring her precious burden in the least. It wasn't too long before she was leaping up to the entrance of her cave, and scurrying down the entry tunnel to lay the ooman in her own furs.

Opening her medical kit, she looked sadly at what little was there; a quarter dose of pain blocking serum, and one eighth dose of healing serum. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough. She wasn't stupid enough to simply inject the serum right after mixing the two together. Instead, she cycled through her visual modes until she could see the ooman's bones. She worked carefully and quickly as she set the arm, so that it wouldn't heal crookedly and cripple the tiny female. Then she took her dagger and carefully cut away the ooman's strange awu'asa, so that she could open the female's side to set the ribs. It was a messy task, but it took her only a few brief moments to get the job done. Now came the hardest, and most nerve wracking part of all of it; waiting until Kwei-kv'var-de arrived, if he even planned on doing so at all.

From the way he was running, one might have thought that it was his life which was at stake. That it was his own life which was dependant on every last bit of speed that he could possibly muster from a pain wracked body that had hung motionless for who knew how many hours prior to being beaten. But the pain of agonized musculature was as nothing to Kwei-kv'var-de. It was a minor hindrance that weighed upon his heart and mind even less than his armor did upon his battered body. He knew that his freedom had been restored to him by the ooman. But more important at the moment was that both the honor and freedom of a female had been restored by the actions of the ooman as well. The result was something that he knew had not occurred since the schism; a peaceful meeting between a Yautja, and a Black Yautja.

Kwei-kv'var-de was not stupid! He knew that this unprecedented and uneasy peace between he and the Black Yautja named R'ka-thwei would not last a single instant beyond the death of the ooman. From the comments that had been made, he knew that the Black Yautja was obviously one who held her honor in high esteem, even if others had declared that she had none. It was also obvious that the Black Yautja owed the ooman a both a Life Debt, and an Honor Debt! Those were debts that could never be fully repaid, and what shocked him more than a little was that he owed the ooman as well. He knew that should that gravely injured female ooman die, that R'ka-thwei would be left with no way to repay the debts that she owed the ooman without killing him in an attempt to avenge her. That was why he was running so hard.

He had no idea how he had managed what he'd done, but somehow, something had given him the strength to make it to his ship in much less than the time he had thought that it would take. He headed straight to the pilot's control room, intending to relocate the vessel so that the ooman could receive proper medical attention. What he saw when he entered the control room made his jaw, and his mandibles drop in dismay.

Everything was smashed, and destroyed! There wasn't a single control in the room that was intact enough to even salvage for repairs! Kwei-kv'var-de shook his head sadly, before he froze. If he couldn't fly the ship from here, then he might be able to do so from the engineering room where the engines themselves where located. He turned from the destruction of the pilot controls to dash through the ship to the engine room. There he found the same level of destruction. The interstellar drive was beyond salvage or repair with what was available on the vessel.

Kwei-kv'var-de began moving through the ship to see exactly what devastation had been committed. His heart sank as he discovered that the perpetrators had been almost as thorough as they had been destructive. Flight controls, interstellar engines, sensor network, and even the trophies he had claimed while on this world had been destroyed. Every last piece of awu'asa and weaponry in the armory had been taken. There wasn't much that he was able to do for the vessel at this moment, because he had more pressing issues. He turned and headed to the small but well stocked medical room, and saw that nothing had been disturbed. Once again his jaw and mandibles dropped, but this time it was in relief. He moved quickly as he gathered more than a dozen vials each of both healing serum, as well as pain blocker, along with a small portable medical scanner, before he stuffed them in a pouch that he attached to his belt. Then, he looked back at the vials as an idea occurred to him. He knew that he was beyond exhausted from his headlong rush to get here, and that was after receiving two separate beatings from the Black Yautja males. But… if he were to dose himself with a large amount of pain blocker combined with healing serum, then he would be able to make the return run that much faster. He knew that it wasn't considered honorable to use healing serum to temporarily boost one's endurance in the way that he was thinking, but then, that was while hunting. This wasn't a hunt; there was a life at stake, and having enough of the two serums in his system to counter the effects of any fatigue before it could even begin to affect him just might make the difference for the ooman.

He left the ship at an all out run that he knew would drain his endurance long before he even got close to the coast! Under any other circumstances, he would have limited himself to half the speed at which he was running now. That had been the pace he'd used to approach his ship, but for this run, things were different. For this run, he had dosed himself with no less than two vials of healing serum to make certain that his muscles wouldn't be able to form cramps from overuse, and a vial of pain blocker to ensure that even if his muscles did cramp up on him, that he could still keep running at top speed! He knew beyond any doubt that there would be some chance that he might suffer greatly for this later, but for now, it had to be done.

R'ka-thwei idly ran her fingers through the ooman female's hair as she studied the tiny form. The female was just barely more than a third of her height, and perhaps a tenth of her weight. But what truly surprised and more than slightly horrified her, was just how fragile and thin the ooman's bones were. She could see that the broken bones had barely begun to knit before the meager supply of healing serum had run its course, but several of the internal injuries that she had viewed through her mask were partly healed. This was a huge relief to her, because she did not want this female to die before she could even express her gratitude. Unbidden, her eyes leapt to the unfinished carving of the Dark Hunter.

'Please do not claim this one just yet. At least let her live to receive my thanks.' She pleaded in silent fervor. Alone for more than four and a half long years, she now had someone with her; someone that she devoutly hoped would be a friend. She had removed all of the rather odd and essentially worthless protection of the female's apparel. She termed it such, because other than the strangely made cloaking mesh, which she'd had to damage in order to set the female's broken ribs, there was literally no protection provided by any of what the female was wearing.

Suddenly, the Great Yautja froze as an idea occurred to her. Then she moved to the other side of her cave and began tearing through the game bag that still held the equipment and awu'asa of the four males. She dug out every one of the medical kits and opened them. The sudden hope that had flared so brightly within her died instantly when she saw that there wasn't a single vial of healing serum in any of the kits. She took a deep shuddering breath as she looked back at the unconscious female. Cycling through the visual modes of her mask, she looked closely at the partially healed injuries to the ooman female's organs. The internal bleeding was still there, and though it wasn't as pronounced as it had been, it was still enough to end the life of the female if she didn't receive treatment soon.

R'ka-thwei had no idea how long she had sat there watching the ooman fight to simply survive, but she was startled out of her blank state of mind by an impossibly loud splash from outside. She all but froze as she turned her head towards the entrance to her cave. A moment later, there was a second loud splash. Her heart seized in her chest as sudden hope blossomed, and then flared into existence. She quickly made her way to the mouth of her cave to be greeted by a third splash. Poking her head out of her cave, she saw the Yautja male rapidly scaling the face of the cliff before dropping into the water with a fourth loud splash.

"Kwei-kv'var-de! Over here. My cave is here." She called out softly in an urgent tone.

The instant she called out to him, the smaller Yautja moved towards the entrance to her cave as fast as he could. She had to scramble backwards to make room for his rapid entrance.

"Tell me that I'm not too late, and that the ooman still lives." Kwei-kv'var-de rasped as he struggled to catch his breath.

"She lives for now, but she is still bleeding internally, so I don't know how much longer she can hold on." R'ka-thwei answered honestly.

"I've brought enough healing serum to make certain of it. I would have used my ship to get here sooner, but those pauk-de cowards destroyed both the controls and the engines." He told her bluntly as he followed her down the tunnel like entrance.

As he entered what was obviously the main room, he couldn't help but stare for a moment. Having been told that it was a cave, he had expected something primitive and austere. But what he saw before him was nothing of the kind. True, there was no furniture, but there was a fully functional fireplace that was complete with a cooking spit, a small area that held bowls, cups, a pair of stew pots, and utensils for cooking and eating. Then there was the thick layer of furs that covered the entire floor of the cave. Those furs made it obvious that this female had been living here for some while in order to gain so many. When he finally spotted the rather large but shallow pit that had been made into a bedding area, he stopped and turned to face the female Black Yautja.

"You said that it was a cave, but you did not say that it had been made livable, and comfortable." Kwei-kv'var-de said with no small amount of surprise and admiration as he complemented the female on her home as courtesy and honor demanded.

"I… I have had a long time to make it this way." She replied a little embarrassed by her living conditions.

He didn't know of anything he could say at that point which wouldn't be insulting to the female who had invited him into what was obviously her home, so he remained silent, and turned his attention to the ooman instead. He stepped over to the sleeping nest, and knelt down beside the unconscious ooman female. There was a loud and ominous growl from behind him when he pulled the covering fur back to reveal the nude body of the ooman.

Kwei-kv'var-de froze, and didn't move a single muscle as he studied the internal injuries of the female in front of him. That did nothing to stop the warning growl from behind him though; because it only grew louder the longer he looked.

"Relax; I am only examining her injuries. I do not wish her to die anymore than you do. I brought a portable medical scanner that will help; it's in my bag along with several vials of serum." He said calmly without moving a single muscle.

"Very well."

Although begrudged, it was still permission to do what he needed to do. Removing his bag, he opened it and retrieved the scanning unit, before running it over the female ooman's body.

"Pauk!"

"What? She isn't dieing is she? Tell me that she will live. I owe her far too much to allow her to die without doing something to save her!" R'ka-thwei exclaimed in protest.

"Her injuries are worse than I thought. You did well by setting the broken bones before giving her that serum, but I will have to cut open her abdominal cavity and apply the healing serum directly on the injuries to close them quickly. She has already lost too much blood. That's why her abdomen is swollen like it is." He said truthfully.

He heard a shuffling sound as the female Black Yautja moved alongside him.

"We should move her off these furs. When I cut into her abdomen, the blood that has gathered inside will spill out and ruin them." He said cautiously.

"Cetanu take the furs! I want her to live! Those furs can be cleaned or replaced, but she can not; not after what she has done for me and my honor!" R'ka-thwei retorted hotly.

Kwei-kv'var-de readied no less than four injectors with healing serum, and a fifth with pain blocking serum. The pain blocker was given immediately, as was a full dose of healing serum. Then he took a small knife, and after a slight adjustment, used the targeting lasers on his mask to heat the edge and sterilize it. Then he cut carefully into the swollen abdomen of the ooman in front of him. Instantly large amounts of thick black blood began pouring from the opening. To the Yautja's heat sensitive vision, every drop showed up as a bright white fluid that was much thicker, and hotter than it should have been. As soon as the opening was clear of the outpouring of spent and contaminated blood, he started using one of the injectors to apply the healing serum directly on to the bleeding areas. There was a sigh of relief from the large female beside him as the bleeding began to drop off and finally stop altogether. It had taken him nearly twenty minutes to apply small amounts of healing serum to the damaged liver and kidneys, not to mention a small and apparently useless organ attached to one of the intestines. Then, finally after using up three and a half vials of serum, the task was complete.

"I need your help now. You will need to hold her muscles closed, so that I can seal them with healing serum, then we can do the same for her skin. Once she is closed up, I'll give her another dose of healing serum, and leave her in Lilka's capable claws." Kwei-kv'var-de instructed.

"What? Does this mean that she will still die?" R'ka-thwei asked in confusion.

"Not necessarily. It means that I have no idea when she last ate, so I don't know if she has the reserves to replace the blood that she's lost, or to finish healing properly. Then there is the risk of infection. From what I have heard, oomans are very smart and cunning, but they are also unbelievably fragile, and easily injured or killed." Kwei-kv'var-de answered quickly.

The two worked together in silence as the he made short work of sealing the stomach muscles of the ooman female, and then the skin of her stomach. Once he was done, he ran the scanner over the female once more to make sure that he hadn't missed anything.

He turned to the large female beside him and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will need to wake her. Speak to her, get her to talk. We should never have let her lapse into unconsciousness like this. When she hit the tree she also received a concussion. Continuing to sleep can now kill her in spite of all the healing serum!"

"You said something to her after she killed three of those males. You know how to speak her language. I've never even seen an ooman before now! You will have to speak to her, because you obviously know more about her kind than I do." R'ka-thwei replied emphatically.

"It was not I that she sought to rescue. She didn't act until those cowards were about to breed with you by force. That is when she killed them! That was made perfectly clear when she deliberately used her weapon to remove the genitals of the male who planned on being the first to use you in such a despicable manner. You should let her see that her effort was not in vain. Show her that she succeeded!" He instructed quickly.