Author Note: I don't own Predators. I. Am. So. Freaking. Sorry. For. Being. Such. A. Terrible. Person. I really shouldn't have left you all hanging for so long, and I apologize. It was just...you know, real life being real life, with one thing after another but I freaking promise to get writing again. I'm even planning to post artwork from my stories! It won't be on deviantArt, probably, but definately on my new Tumblr account. My username is d3l1ghtful1ns4n1ty. Feel free to check it out. Enjoy the new chapter. :3
~Chapter Three~
~Kwei~
Kwei was still fuming when she reached the medical bay, still supporting Paya-sain'ja. Her Ooman apprentice sat on the nearest table while Kwei summoned one of the medics (a younger one named Shi-t'k.
"What happened to you?" Shi-t'k asked her as he examined her damaged him.
She seemed to suppress a hiss. "One of the priests attacked me. I overextended and tore my muscles," she explained.
Shi-t'k rumbled disapprovingly. "Your hip is bad enough as it is," he said, but he didn't seem to be scolding her. "You're going to have difficulty walking after this."
Kwei's anger rose at that. "I should have killed Dtai'k-de for what he did. Now her hip is even worse."
Shi-t'k half-glanced at her. "I'm going to need to perform surgery on your hip," he said to Paya-sain'ja. "That way, I can at least try to get the muscles to heal properly. It won't be easy, considering they're already damaged."
She nodded, looking gloomy. Just then, Luar-lce appeared.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Kwei shortly explained what had happened. Knowing how close Luar-lce was to Paya-sain'ja, she wasn't surprised by how angered the medic was, or that he had started growling deep in his chest just by the mention of an attack. He told Shi-t'k to fix Paya-sain'ja's hip, saying it would be more difficult if he did it later. Shi-t'k hastily agreed and started preparing Paya-sain'ja for the surgery, taking her away from the general med bay to the surgical bay.
"When are those s'yuit-de morons going to realize she belongs to this clan as a priestess?" Luar-lce snarled darkly.
Kwei looked at him, a little surprised by just how agitated he was. "I doubt most of them ever will accept her. Even if she was Yautja, they would have difficulty accepting that a young one is to be my successor." She sighed. "The fact that she is not Yautja just makes it impossible for them to grasp."
"She may be Ooman, but she is more worthy than them. She was chosen by the gods themselves! Is that not enough?" said Luar-lce.
"It should be, Luar-lce," said Kwei. She knew the medic had strong faith in the gods. "It really should. I am disappointed that it isn't for our priests." She paused. "But it's personal for me as well. Paya-sain'ja is like a daughter to me. I hate to see her treated so dishonorably."
Luar-lce growled his agreement. "I only hope that someday they'll realize their mistake. But somehow...I doubt it will happen."
Saying goodbye, he returned to his duties.
"So do I, Luar-lce," said Kwei softly. She knew Paya-sain'ja was in good hands and wouldn't be able to leave for a while, so she left the medical bay.
She ignored the Yautja in the corridors of the ship as she went back to the temples of the gods. She automatically went to the shrine of Lil'ka, goddess of life and knelt with her eyes closed. Kwei may have been High Priestess and the chief of the gods may have been Cetanu, but her patron had always been his mate, Lil'ka, ever since she was a young priestess. Kwei had always felt a strong connection with the dual-aspect goddess, more so than Cetanu (though she still heard him clearly).
She hadn't told Paya-sain'ja as much, but she, too felt a despair she couldn't quite place. She, too, had noticed a distraction in the Yautja gods. Even now, she couldn't feel her patron goddess as clearly as she usually could. This made her feel even more unsettled about Paya-sain'ja's injury, for some reason.
Despite the fact that she couldn't manage to speak to Lil'ka at the moment, Kwei silently asked her for help and guidance, and to help Paya-sain'ja. She knew her apprentice would have to take care of herself, but she couldn't help but pray for her. As she'd told Luar-lce, she felt like the Ooman was her own pup.
Sometimes, she thought it could be because her own pups had died. Kwei had always wanted pups of her own, but they never survived. She was full of despair, and found peace at last upon becoming a priestess. Now, she felt she knew what it was like to be a mother, even if she hadn't borne Paya-sain'ja, nor was the same species. But she never felt silly in the least for being protective of her. She'd been teaching her since she was little more than a child.
And now she was already an adult in such a short amount of time. It reminded Kwei that Oomans lived such short lives compared to Yautja, and that her apprentice would not live that long (in Yautja time anyway).
She fought back her despair sternly. She couldn't afford to be so weak.
Kwei spent the rest of the day meditating, and fighting her own emotions.
...
Please review! Sorry if it was a bit too feely for you but I wanted to show a motherly side to Kwei (who's one of my favorite AVP OCs).