Chapter IXX
Ryend cheered as she was given leave to dispense aid, and understood that this was the best she would get, now all she had to do was make sure the female Ooman survived, or they would have a very unstable Young Blood on their hands.
The new Bloods were startled when they were suddenly bathed in a bright light, making them turn towards the source readying their weapons prepared to make sure that no more harm could come to their comrade.
#Is that any way to greet your mother?# said a voice from the light, a voice that Range recognized and was relieved that it had appeared.
Scar sighed in relief, they finally had someone that could properly help the female Ooman, someone who was fully trained in the healing arts. He sent a prayer of thanks to Paya, that the council had sent her to them at the moment that they had needed her.
The female Yautja saw their reactions to her appearance and shook her head, wondering how they would have acted had she gotten there too late to save the Ooman, that one wanted as a mate, whilst the other saw as a sibling.
#Calm.# She said as she placed her hands in their line of sight, showing that she held no weapons and was not a threat. #I am here to help, it took me a while to convince the council to allow me to come here to heal the female.# she continued.
Scar and Range nodded and moved to the side to give Ryend room to work, half an hour later she leaned back with a sigh.
#I have done what I can,# Ryend said. #she needs to be taken to the medical bay.#
#But they won't allow that.# Scar said agitated, as he looked at the dark beauty that had captured his attention, as she laid there in the snow breathing shallowly, but she still had a smile on her face.
Ryend sighed, normally he would be right, as the ones that aided their Hunters couldn't be taken on board unless they had accepted the mark of the clan, and that was because they hadn't been as injured as this female was, which was a result of the female wanting to make sure that the Hunter's survived, making this a special case, which granted some leeway from the rules of the Yautja Race, in this case she had a right to be fully healed by them, no matter her choice in the end, as this had not been her hunt and yet she had participated.
#They will,# The female Yautja assured the young Hunter's. #They owe her too much to let her die here, before she can make her choice.#
At that Scar relaxed safe with the knowledge that the female Ooman would live for now until she was healed enough to make the choice that was before her. With that four other Hunters cam over with a stretcher which they placed on the ground before moving the Ooman onto it and taking her onto the ship, and then they moved towards the infirmary.
UUUUUU
Adrinle stared at the screen, re-watching the part where his daughter got hit by a tail-strike from the Queen; he had wanted to intervene but his hands were tied by the laws and rules that governed the Blooding Chiva, also he was lucky that Minderin had managed to distract him for a moment, however brief that moment was. He sighed and looked up to the ceiling, praying to Paya that his daughter was still alive, due to the fact that one could not tell when they are staring at the screen that showed the Chiva.
Adrinle knew the looks that he was being giving by the Clan and Minderin and he ignored them, he didn't want his daughter to be even more angry at him than she already was, it never ended well for the object of a female's ire, and he was adamant to not anger his daughter any more than she was already.
Minderin eyed his Commander worriedly, he and every other Yautja in the clan knew that the fact that his Ooman mate had gotten together with another had hit the Commander hard, to lose his daughter, on top of what had already happened, well they didn't think he would be able to recover from such a blow.
They knew all this about the Commanders mate, as they had come back over the years to Milder'ni, to keep an eye on his family, the only reason the family was separated was due to circumstances out of Adrinle's control, if it had been up to the Commander, Minderin was sure that he would have gathered up his family and brought them with him, but that had not been possible.
The only thing about the Commander's planet bound family that had confused the Clan was the constant disappearance of his daughter, they didn't know where she went, or what she did in those periods of time, but what they did know was that when she appeared again, she seemed more jaded than the previous time, but one guarantee was that she became a lot stronger.
None of the Clan could figure out the reason for these disappearance's, there was various opinions but no one could agree on one; one thing that they could agree on was that the Commander's beloved daughter Alexandria, would be welcomed into the Clan, they would also retrieve his Ooman mate, if only to enquire as to why she had mated another.
Minderin sighed as he looked back at the screen, thankful that Adrinle had enough restraint to not go down to the Chiva's ground and interfere, possibly damaging his daughters' chances of gaining the Mark.
UUUUUU
Flashes of colour burst in front of her eyes, images came and went rapidly, images showing her life, her trials and tribulations, her triumphs but also her greatest lows, flashed before her out of focus, only distinguishable due to her constant reflection of them.
She tried as hard as she could to See anything that could give her answers, or at least comfort, but none was given; until her Sight cantered on her mother.
She was a beautiful woman, hair as black as night, which shone in the light, her eyes a dark mocha, in which one could read all of her emotions, skin just a few shades lighter than her; she was dressed in black and crying.
In front of her was a black coffin, on which sat her picture, in the background she could see various friends of her that she had made over time, but even further back she saw her allies, al this that had helped her fight the Cyrel Institute, all of them had their heads bowed in sadness; she knew that they would blame Cyrel, she could care less about that all she cared about was that they had good life, she also hoped that the Institute would leave them all alone.
The image blurred and the flashes of colour returned, confusing her, when the image came into focus again but the edges were blurred, letting her know that this was a possibility, she saw as her friends fought the Institute until there was nothing left of it, she saw all of those that died, all of the lives that had been lost, and momentarily she saw who was affected by those that had lost their lives, but in the end her greatest friend had survived.
Said friend looked up at the sky after the last lab fell and smiled.
"Lex, I know that you are watching, even if its moments from your death, for you. If you survived then live a long and happy life wherever you are, but if not know this that its finally over, no more will we have to fear them coming after us, no longer do we have to worry about them taking others to fulfil their sick and twisted urges."
She looked away from the sky and to the wreckage, which was on fire.
"You know I always thought of fire being the start of a cleansing, fitting that the labs on fire now isn't it? Then water will come and finish what the fire started, and the cycle will begin anew in this place, nature will return until it is chased out by humans again."
She sighed before looking to the sky again.
"Rest easy my friend, you have been set free like all of us, enjoy it, in life or death, that's up to you, just have fun and live well that's all I ask of you.
This is goodbye, may we see each other on the eternal hunt, my Sister."
With that the woman turned and walked away, away from the destroyed lab, away from the hurt, the pain, and the fear that had been their constant companions, away from a life that they had been forced to live, away from the past.
The colours returned with a vengeance after she had had time to internalize the sight of the last stronghold of the Cyrel Institute being burned to the ground by emerald green flames.
At this point Lex was getting annoyed with the colours they gave her a headache trying to comprehend the tiny snippets of future events that passed by her vision as the scenes transitioned from one to the other.
She made an effort to try and see her own future but when it complied all she got was an ever-changing image, one that wouldn't settle even if she tried to make it do so, all that meant was that she had several decisions to make.
So instead she focused on her companions willing herself to see if they were alright, and if they had complied with her request, that got her a somewhat stable image of the two trying to patch her up with the largest one making it clear that he only ever paid enough attention to med class to be able to do first aid, nothing more nothing less.
She also saw that way the smaller one hovered over her, which she thought was kind of cute in a way, she had certainly been impressed with his fighting ability, which were her instinct talking as far as she was concerned, she had no need for a mate yet, and don't get her started on the courtship rituals of her father's people.
She saw as the large one's mother approached, and how she made sure that they both knew that she was there to help them keep her alive, as she was entitled to that much as was decided by the council, as this situation had never happened.
Lex was glad that the Hunters that she had helped were alive and well, and that they had listened to her.
This time she was pre pared for the colours as they came at her and changed her view to that of her father and his ship, she was shocked when she saw that he had been prepared to descend onto the battlefield to avenge her, something which she had not expected of her father as she had never even seen him in her entire life, so she thought that he didn't want her or her mother, or at least that's what her mother thought.
She saw as he was stopped by the one that she assumed was his best friend and second in command, by a shake of the head, letting her father know that it was a bad move and that it would in some way hurt her chances, her chances at what she didn't know, but it seemed important.
Lex sighed as she watched her father cry out a little at the sight of her unmoving body, as he couldn't tell if she was alive over a transmission, they were notorious for not picking up the movement a chest make when breathing, he watched as the two Hunters that she had helped tried to make sure she didn't die.
She witnessed as he almost fell to his knees in relief when the large one's mother appeared and started to help her, saw as he the leaned against his friend when he saw the other Clanship appear with a stretcher for her, to take her on bored and to the Medical Bay.
At this the colours re-appeared, making her sigh in annoyance, even if she was prepared for them, she didn't have to like it when they came back. She willed her sight to show her what was stopping her from seeing her future, what would it take for it to be narrowed down to a couple.
It showed her that she had to choose, Humanity or Yautja, Earth of her father's home planet, an existence where she had to keep her instincts in check, and one where she didn't have to control them if she did not wish to.
To take the Mark or to not take the Mark, that is the question, and what an important one it is. She though, making a play on the famous saying.
She played with her visions for a while exploring the outcomes of each 'choice' that she made, seeing the pros and cons of each and weighing them, some she found wanting others she liked, but at the end only one choice showed her a future where she was the happiest, where she had obtained everything that she wanted in her life.
She also looked at the fashion of each race, curios as to the differences, what she saw astounded her, yet pleased her, but she was also disappointed, there was much that she saw, much that she contemplated. Some of what she saw she liked other she hated with a passion, it seems that to her and her taste there was only one choice that would allow her to be all that she wanted to be without repercussions, without censure.
She smiled as she made her choice, her future settling down as she made one of, if not arguably the most, important decision of her life.