hey my dudes! i'm here with an update!
hope you'll enjoy! make sure you comment to let me know your thoughts
i absolutely loved the reviews i got last time and they motivated me greatly to begin writing this chapter
so pls keep it up? orz without further ado, here you are!
The tension was thick. Something changed in the way he was watching her.
Body aware in a manner that made her skin prickle, Kali'adah halted at least forty noks away from the towering male, sharp blue eyes roaming over the way his muscles coiled underneath the dark blue leather-like flesh.
His mandibles spread and his forked, long, thin tongue tasted the air, her scent, through sharp fangs. The long tresses, adorned with his victories and trials, didn't even move, didn't even ripple with how still he was.
For just a second, she realized how different they were, how scary his kind could be, how unsettling it felt in her stomach to be fixed with simmering gaze like prey, ancient, buried-away instincts making themselves known in her body as she felt a rush to run, to survive; battling with the learned ones, to stand and brave it as she was taught. She quickly reminded herself that she was one of them, that she shouldn't feel the nauseous pit in her belly.
Instead of cowering, she stood tall, shoulders back, chest forward, chin up, eyes on his, respect be damned. She felt disrespected by his presence here right now, at her door of all places.
The little spines around his crown stood on end, brows furrowing deeply and terrifying molten gold eyes fixed on her, taking in the blood on her body, the sign of a battle she had won. Deep in his chest, he rattled, approaching her with slow, predatory steps. He was hostile, she could feel it. He was looking for a fight, for a provocation, for something that she wasn't willing to give.
When he was finally a nok away from her, he scented her properly, lowering his head to take in her smell at the neck. In response, she growled in warning. That was a vulnerable spot. A snarl followed suit when he didn't pull away and she lurched back from him violently, roaring.
His pupils dilated and he spread his arms, retaliating with a howl that put her to shame and made her hiss, turn her head and avoid his eyes. He was still a rank above her, female or not.
"Brought ooman, male ooman," he chirred, as he straightened up, like he was battling with the instinct to tear into her.
"Pup. Ooman pup, taken from his home, by honoreless thieves," she spat, a new burning in her eyes that made him chitter in irritation. Her submission had not been lived long, much to his chagrin.
"Will grow,"
Oh, by Paya, he was pissing her off. How did he find out so fast anyway? Well, she did walk the corridors with the pup by the hand, many hunters having witnessed it. Clearly, it was only a matter of time until the information reached him, given his status and the many hunters that were looking to just make a jab, throw some words to rile him up, especially now that he chose to court her, an ooman of all things.
Yautja were cruel like that. They weren't afraid to speak up, or make fun of one another in the most childish of ways.
"And?" she cocked an eyebrow without even meaning to, a sign of mockery that he took seriously and came at her, getting into her face with sharp tusks close to her eyes and a clawed hand that shot up to grab her chin menacingly.
"Will want to mate you,"
What? He was being ridiculous. Why would that happen?
More importantly, why was he so bothered by it? With an incredulous huff, she smacked his hand off her face and glared up at him heatedly. "What's it to you, Lar'ja? He will not be grown for at least several rotations!"
He jerked his head comically, making his tresses clink together. "H'ko,"
No? No what? "Sei-i!" she shouted back, baffled by this whole encounter. He turned around briskly, his shoulders flexing with tension, hands clenching and unclenching, as if he was trying his hardest not to react.
Finally, he left with a snort and no explanation.
Kali'adah remained there, speechless and staring dumbly after the male even when he disappeared from her sight.
What was that about?
...
She didn't get much sleep, her heart kept pounding at the prospect of meeting Cetanu. The chances of returning from this hunt were half in her favor, half in the dark warrior's favor. All in all, the odds were not stacked against her, but they weren't with her either.
When the summoning happened, the dreaded clinking of her wrist computer, she had to physically force herself to put her armor on. She felt sick to the stomach, as if she were marching to her death willingly. It never happened before, so she remained slow as she prepared, minding her state and waiting in case she felt like regurgitating.
Breathing in and out steadily, she leaned on a wall, bringing her hand up to level with her eyes only to see her fingers trembling.
Right. This was no good.
"Pauk…"
After some more time, when she got herself under control, she strapped her weapons onto her worn-out 'awu'asa and left her quarters.
As expected, hundreds of warriors walked the corridors in silent, organized rows towards the dropships located many floors down into the mothership. Kali'adah joined one of the rows, as it didn't matter where she ended up, she would still be under the command of a higher in rank.
That's how big hunts were handled when it came to dangerous prey, kainde amedha extirpations or something of this ilk. Each elite had three hunt groups under their supervision, each hunt group was led by a honored warrior, which only answered to the elite in charge.
In the previous hunt, she had a few blooded warriors under her care, those that came to the same dropship after herself. Three hunt groups, hers, Marc'te's and another one's, answered to Lar'ja.
It didn't mean she had to watch them like a bearer would their suckling, she only had to maintain communication through the mask, watch their heartbeats and give them instructions in case they ran into trouble that did not involve the hunt. She was responsible for the reports that came afterwards in case some of them did not return, however.
The duties were clear and the positioning of each group always determined by the elites at the landing of the dropships.
Once inside the shuttle bay, after a long annoying ride into the lift among towering giants sniffing and chirping, Kali marched forward onto the docking bridge, her eyes roaming over the available ships in waiting. Jac'in was ten ships away, on the ramp, but it appeared she already filled the available space. The door to her shuttle closed behind her retreating form, while the ooman huntress watched with apprehension.
It took her too long to get ready.
R'ka's ship also pulled up its ramp. Lar'ja's next to him, as well, the male not even acknowledging her standing by and taking in the surroundings.
"Come, sain'ja!" the voice coming from her left made her furrow her brows as she turned to regard the one it belonged to, quickly discovering it was one of their arbitrators, Ye'sta, giving her an expecting look. His dropship had not been filled yet, so she made the decision quite fast and walked up the ramp, as to not irk the yautja.
Upon passing through the entrance and by the code of honor's protector, she placed her mask over her face and took a seat, mingling with the wrist computer to sync it with the other systems of the shuttle and the warriors present -including her hunt brother, Marc'te, she noticed with open hostility towards the wandering gaze of the male. This time, instead of an elite, an arbitrator would lead the group. She had none in her care, which meant she only had to pay attention to the arbitrator without checking on anyone else.
Each hunter knew the role he or she played, there was no need for encouraging speeches as they departed from the mothership, no need for reminding of the mission, the intricacies of the hunt or the information on their foes.
No unnecessary complications.
As soon as they touched ground, rendering their shuttles invisible using the same technology that offered them coverage through the snug netting against their bodies, the warriors marched outside eerily quiet, prepared for the inevitable, adjusting their armor and weapons, while Ye'sta synced his computer with the rest of them, sending them the necessary information.
Among them, Kali'adah stood stiff, watching as most of them checked the holo image of the terrain, the location where the bad blood clan was supposedly located and the location of the other groups.
Their area was between the north and the west, the terrain looked tricky, therefore, the right way to go was through the trees. Her analyzing gaze roamed the distance, stopping through the dense jungle that surrounded them. They landed by a large river, in the clearing where a waterfall spilled into the deep blue waters, masking both their sounds and smell. The atmosphere was alright, it was obvious that the bad bloods had looked for a planet with the same breathable air and usable soil as the homeworld, or as close as they could get.
"We move as one," Ye'sta suddenly drawled out next to her, his mask angled down at her. She bristled at the proximity, but nodded curtly and strode up behind the group of warriors with the same rank as her, Marc'te giving her a trill of amusement when she joined his side.
"Don't die, ooman,"
"Ell-osde' pauk." she growled out menacingly at the male, making his tresses stand up at the ends against his crown.
Needless to say, the leaf-green yautja remained without retort as the arbitrator signed for the hunt to begin. Kali'adah bared her teeth at him before springing into the jungle at the same time as the other honored.
It was time to empty her mind and focus.
...
Muscles tensed, the flora was so still that even a sigh could be heard, she realized with controlled breaths. Sweat trickled down her back as she stood perched on a thick branch, observing the tracks underneath, on the extremely dry ground. She used her mask to zoom in, making sure that what she was seeing was real.
Red blood.
But no maimed body nearby.
The cloaked hunters around her seemed to find this as unsettling as she did, by the way they flared in color. In response, Kali'adah turned to the shape of Ye'sta, seeing him looking directly at her from the tree across. It was a wild guess, but red blood meant high intake of oxygen, or at least, more than what was present on Yaut Prime and this planet. The reason why Kali had no problem with the air was that she developed on the home planet, from her infancy, nonetheless, and even when she did have problems, her bearer made them all go away, so she could grow like any normal suckling.
It still didn't explain red blood, ooman blood, here of all places.
Etna 02 was not known to harbor her species, it was used very rarely for chivas and maybe it was because it lay abandoned to space that this clan of bad bloods managed to go undetected for so long.
Green blood was also splattered over leaves, which made it a struggle on both sides then, the sign of battle riling up the hunters more.
Ye'sta signaled to move further, there was no use standing by idly. She slid back, stuck the claws of her sandals into the black bark of the tree and leaned over, one hand holding a branch and the other bracing her for a leap.
When suddenly, a large explosion not far from their location made the ground shake.
"C'jit," her eyes widened behind her mask and she slammed her back to the trunk as a tsunami of dust and wind crashed through the foliage as an aftershock.
All hunters did the same, holding tight onto what they could.
Unfortunately, because she wasn't holding onto anything, per say, she was blown off the sturdy branch, her weight meager compared to that of a yautja. With a startled hiss, she scratched at the bark, when a clawed hand shot out and caught her forearm tightly, pulling her up and holding her to a stiff chest.
Leaf-green flesh, feral grip. Marc'te. She held onto his arm regardless, until it was over and she could stand on her own.
The roars that followed, accompanied by blood-curdling wails in the distance, was a clear sign of what was happening and she had no time to think about her hunt brother's actions. They had been found out and they barely even got here in the first place.
"Move!" Ye'sta's battle cry had them all jerking into action.
Her muscles coiled as she quickly activated her shoulder cannon and flexed her arm, letting out the wrist blades. Marc'te chittered next to her, before leaping onto another branch, turning to glance back at her.
Time was of the essence.
With a huff, she followed suit, in a hurried frenzy alongside him, jumping, leaping, diving through the canopy, over fallen tree trunks and rivulets, the footfalls of her fellow warriors as the only reminder that she was not alone, the group spreading around her in a hunting formation meant to take down the vilest of prey.
nok = unit of measurement (13 inches)
h'ko = no
sei-i = yes
pauk = fuck
c'jit = shit
ell-osde' pauk = fuck you
sain'ja = warrior
'awu'asa = armor