Rah wasted no time to lead Atorah down a dirt path and to a campground with a roaring bonfire in the middle of it.
"C'jit, who invited that half breed?" A tall mottle green Yautja with long dreads complained loudly to his friends.
The other Yautja around the fire turned their attention to the odd pair standing at the edge of the small camp. Rah stood is ground, watching the drunk Yautja as he took another heavy swing of alcohol. He threw the heavy glass bottle their way. Atorah barely dodged it as he snarled at her,
"Get lost Atorah!"
"She's just as much welcome to the festival as the rest of you." Rah spoke to the drunkard.
"She was too good to train with us. Why the pauk should she be here then?" Another voice near the bonfire spoke up. A female with silvery eyes and silver jewelry on her tusks.
Atorah was getting ready to open her mouth when a voice interrupted them, "leave them be!"
Atorah's eyes snapped to the figure of a much taller Yautja standing behind the fire. His stoic and somewhat lean build, yellow eyes and distinguishable markings were immediately recognizable. Cuda's left foot rested on a large boulder. He leaned over to rest his elbow on his knee. His posture relaxed as he ignored Rah to stare holes into Atorah instead.
"You're just accepting this Cuda?" The drunken Yautja complained again.
"Shut. Up. J'Gur." Cuda hissed lowly. The drunken and belligerent Yautja grumbled before picking up another glass bottle of C'nlip and downing it.
Cuda also grabbed a bottle of alcohol and stalked away towards another group of Yautja. The nights full moons made his small scales reflect gracefully on him. Atorah looked at Rah uncomfortably,
"Maybe I should not be here." Atorah clicked her tongue to him in their language.
Rah trilled at Atorah gently, a deep purr coming from him in an attempt to calm her nerves, "if you back out now. The others will think of you as a coward. Weak. Bad move so close to trials and Chiva." Rah reasoned.
He's right...Atorah thought worriedly. But still, she couldn't help but feel extremely out of place here. Without warning, Atorah took long strides towards the bonfire. Curious and hostile looks followed her as she swiped a full bottle of c'nlip and downed it before everyone's eyes.
Immediately she felt the intense buzz of the alcohol. Her inhibitions slipping away. Definitely not drunk and definitely not sober either.
She had never had alcohol before.
"Cjit! That's the strong stuff!"
"She's still standing!" Said the female who previously disproved of her.
Atorah threw the glass bottle to the ground, shattering it and rolled her shoulders. Paya it felt so good to do that!
"What the pauk is this!? You call this a festival!?" She taunted them. "Where is the music? Where is the fighting? This is bullshit!" She shouted at them.
"She is right!" Yautja surrounded around the bonfire jumped to their feet. Some grinning and other gumbling as they went off with their friends to make the occasion more lively.
In a matter of minutes, Yautja were playing large, loud drums, wrestling and sparring with each other. Some chasing each other stealthily in the trees while others drank heavily and lounged around the fire. Rah had briefly praised her for uplifting the morale in the festival,
"Funny, you were acting more Yautja than any of them."
Atorah was on her third bottle of c'nlip. Still not even drunk. Although she felt freer and more daring than she ever felt before. The young Yautja were still banging on war drums, some females preparing to start howling war songs.
Yautja could not sing.
Their vocal music consisted of words growled into the side in a mix of roars and chuffs. The softer songs made by purring and trilling.
Yautja also were not very good dancers.
Their heavy bodies shook the ground beneath them when they attempted steps in rhythm with the music. But Atorah found herself pulled into a dancing crowd of Yautja trainees by a Yautja male that she didn't even know. Clearly drunk off his ass, he held her hands as he bounced around while Atorah giggled uncontrollably at his antics. Soon another male took her hands to dance with him then another. She became dizzy as male Yautja switched to dance with her wildly.
She managed to skip away from the wild mess of dancing that even claimed Rah. She could see his dark form bounding away as the music and drumming became intense and wild. So she opted to escape the chaos before she was trampled. Atorah's black hair was wild, she tried to smooth it out with her sweating palms and adjusted her clothing. Before she knew it the music had changed dramatically, there was a heavy dai-shui (musk) in the air that even she could smell.
By the time she looked back, the female and male Yautja within the dancing group were grinding on each other desperately to the rhythm. Trolling, purring, some even growling to each other for each other's touch. Atorah's cheeks burned in embarrassment for even watching. But her eyes caught Rah's form again, "dancing" with a green and yellow mottled female Yautja. Her bottom fixed to his pelvic area like a lifeline as Rah's powerful and clawed hands gripped her waist to pull the female into him. His day-shui only making her more desperate to get what she couldn't have at that moment.
Being sexual was one of the things that Yautja were really good at.
When Atorah looked around, many of the other Yautja that were not dancing had passed out from drinking too much. Others were communing around the bonfire again. She looked back at Rah one more time, heat entered her cheeks again.
Deep within her she wished that it was her in that female Yautja's position. But the worst thing you could do is get in between a female Yautja in heat and her interests. Besides, they were just dancing.
But Atorah still felt jealousy grip her.
Suddenly the alcohol seemed to wear off. Atorah grabbed a lone bottle and downed the rest of its contents. She needed to get away from here for a second. Just to catch her breath.
Atorah walked into the wooded area of the camp. No one was here. She hugged herself, toying with the necklace around her neck in deep thought. Finally she had some breathing room.
"Leaving so soon Atorah?" Atorah spun around. Cuda stood on a few yards away, coolly watching her. Atorah gave him a look that could be only described as displeasure,
"No. I was just...catching my breath." She told him.
They both observed each other quietly for a moment. Maybe it was just the fact that she hadn't seen him in a full month, but the Yautja has grown even then. Cuda was already 8 feet tall (she was 6 ft herself) but he looked to have gained a few inches still. His lean body was rippling in muscle and his golden yellow eyes maturely sunk into his skull. Cuda's mandibles, long healed from his fight with Maut. His tusks, hand sharpened in preparation for exams for the Chiva and his teeth were vicious looking. His crown (forehead) was perfectly proportional to his face. Unlike many elders whose crown was large and bulbous. Cuda's dreads rolled to the middle of his back. They would be painfully pleated if he completed the Chiva alive as was tradition. She last remembered them bare, but now, small golden beads were in his dreads. Clinking together as he moved his head.
Atorah hated to admit that she was attracted to him physically.
Cuda took steps toward Atorah. Standing before her in all of his eight feet worth of pure masculine glory.
"You happen to need space while your friend gets intimate with a lou-dte kale (female)." Cuda cocked his head to the side in curiosity. Atorah bristled at the thought of Rah getting intimate with anyone.
She ignored his question. Cuda regarded her for a moment before before coming a bit closer. Now close enough to actually smell the scent of her wild black hair.
"Do you remember the time that I stuck glue into your bhrak-chei (speargun/harpoon) during your weapons test?"
Atorah snapped her head up at him in irritated anger at the memory, "it was a dishonorable trick!" She exclaimed.
Cuda chuffed in amusement at her reaction, "I do not disagree."
"I do not understand why you were such a cruel creature." Atorah rolled her eyes and looked towards the moons in the sky. Cuda watched her closely. She too had matured quite a bit since their training.
The muscles in Atorah's arms were well defined. Her legs were defined as well. She remained, of course, small, by their standards. But it was clear that she had been training just as rigorously, if not more than any other Yautja. Atorah's unique skin markings enraptured him. The stripes on her sides, legs and face, gradually mottling out to her tanned skin tone intrigued him. Her entire body was completely different and she he had not seen her for a month,
And yet Cuda was still drawn to her.
He had hoped that his absence from her presence would somehow wear off the attraction he had to her. He wasn't sure if he should have been displeased or relieved that she has not escaped his desires.
"Atorah..." the tone in Cuda's voice made the hybrid turn her attention back to him. Cuda quickly swallowed his fears and even his pride, "the things that I said, last month. After my victory against Maut..."
"There's no need to apologize." Atorah cut him off. But Cuda growled,
"H'ko, there is. It was a lie. All of it." Cuda quickly spoke out. "I would be a fool to make you believe that you mean nothing to me. And I am no fool." He said lowly.
"W-What?"
Suddenly Cuda grabbed her up into his arms. Atorah yelped at first, but stifled her panic when she felt coarse finger pads gently caress her back. Cuda's glowing eyes were pleading and unsure. His mandibles opened slightly as he leaned down to push his crown against her forehead. The tips of his tusks, lovingly grazed her cheeks as the hand caressing her back went up to caress the back of her neck. Cuda's dreads fell around them like a curtain, the clinking noises ignored as Atorah took in a shuddering breath.
A deep purr shook her whole body. And it felt good. Maybe it was the c'nlip clouding the rational and responsible part of her brain. But this felt right. His large hands fit even the most mundane part of her body perfectly. And Cuda found himself growling in pleasure as Atorah pressed a needy hand into his tube like hair. Cuda's large mouth left her face to bury itself into the crook of her neck and collarbone. Atorah let her neck be exposed to the night air. His thick forked tongue darted out to lap at a droplet of sweat that appeared from their encounter. He trilled in delight at the salty taste.
Atorah's senses slowly came back to her. Self awareness rudely butting in. Before Cuda could start something new, Atorah softly pushed against his toned chest as she took in deep breaths. Her cheeks were absolutely burning at this point.
The two didn't say anything as they trudged back to the campsite. Everything that needed to be said was known to them both at this point.
Upon reaching the edge of the wooded area and campsite, Rah rushed to Atorah with a concerned look in eyes. He spared a distrusting glare at Cuda who simply glared right back at him.
"Where the pauk is that half breed!?"
Atorah heard a small trilling whine behind her before Rah was brutally shoved out of the way. Atorah's shoulder felt a vicious force that almost dislocated it.
Standing before her was the seven foot and a half female that she spied Cuda flirting with a week before.
She was much prettier than Atorah expected. Her body full and curvy. The intense green made her the second most unique individual here. But the rage in the Yautja female's brilliant green eyes were directed at Atorah first and foremost. The pushing of the shoulder was a signal for challenge.
"What bothers you mei-jadhi (sister)?" Rah asked the female.
"This half breed doesn't understand her place!"
"My place?!" Atorah exclaimed.
"Where you pauking humans belong! On the end of our spears!" The Yautja female spat. Atorah stood her ground, incensed but unmoving to strike or hit the taller angered Yautja.
"Enough T'uhtell." There was the edge of warning to Cuda's voice.
"Do you really think you belong here Ooman?" T'uhtell continued anyway, "do you really think you're one of us? That any male would want you?"
Atorah stared holes into the female. She was tired of being silent.
No more,
Rah was preparing to chastise the T'uhtell when Atorah took a threatening step towards her. Standing only inches away,
"It sounds like you're afraid of me T'uhtell." Atorah started, "instead of making up excuses, you should be honest about your cowardice."
T'uhtell grinned maniacally, "if you show up to trials. If I must spar with you. I will kill you. The child of Sirrah will no longer exist tomorrow. Paya willing."
Atorah smirked back, "I know who I am. I know what I am. I don't need to look like a Yautja to know that I can fight like one."