Chapter 17: an Old Legend's return and demands of a Ctarl Ctarl

As Gene made his way onto the Horus II, he had all sorts of hidden weapons; he could hardly believe what the hell he was seeing; there was no way that this would change what he was feeling in his heart. It was a build-up of all kinds of painful memories, losing her all over again…Hot Ice Hilda had become a close friend in the short time; the one whose head held a huge bounty, the one who saved Melfina for her secrets and for her help using the XGP. All of the things that happened up to the point of her death, Gene was still reminiscing on his way into the familiar layout of the Horus II; checking out the bridge first with all of his senses about him.

"Whoever's hiding onboard, come out now before I shoot; I don't care what you are, taking a mana caster shot? Isn't smart unless you're anything short of Ctarl Ctarl." His words spoken with that usual trace of cockiness/confidence which kept him going in the world, it was more than enough to at least normally survive by the standards of just about any combatant that he took on in battle.

For this he wasn't prepared for what came next, as obviously there was something different by the way some stranger emerged from the shadows immediately with speed that was greater than a human's, though she hid her body well and pointed a pistol at Gene's temple, she came from behind and spoke in a shaky voice, no doubt that something was wrong with her as it was.

"You…you come back through painful thoughts, you are someone…with red hair." She smelled his hair and then drew back, she looked at him carefully. "I know you…I do know you somehow or maybe you knew…knew my parent." The mysterious person spoke, by the sound of the voice; to Gene it was likely to be some kind of a little girl; or at least a teenager…that or she was just someone with a very high voice.

"Lower the pistol, it's just Starwind." That voice much deeper and confident, was revealed to be the elusive Hot Ice Hilda in the captain's chair, turning to face Gene and giving off a small smile.

"Hilda…, you really are back…" his voice was a little quieter, in some awe as the most obvious wish to just hug her tightly was repressed, Gene wasn't that kind of guy to lose his cool normally and he wasn't going to change that for the moment now even.

"What's the matter Starwind? No hug? Oh yes, of course you're supposed to be mature but you seem to be exactly the same as before; I might hope you'd have grown to be a real man." Her tone teasing as she rose up, obviously by that look on her face she was glad to see him.

Though as he felt the pistol finally lower and watched the shorter female hop in front of Hilda, his eyes blinked a few times; he watched the teenage looking girl hug to Hilda's side and nuzzle against her side.

"Who the hell is that? Hilda since when do you have little girls running around with you?" He asked her, obviously confused by the sign of this girl holding onto her now; who the hell was she?

‑­

"I'm-" the girl started to say, but was silenced by Hilda's fingers against her lips.

"A long story Starwind, all you've got to know right now is that she's my daughter…don't ask how or whose the father; anything more on the matter and I'll shoot you for being stupid, got it?" Hilda's tone was sharp as ever, and the look on her face said that she was very serious about it and that she didn't want to hear anything else about it.

"…Okay." He said as he looked at her, who the hell was that? Some kind of strange dark skinned girl, she was taking in the scent of his hair and other things as a form of identification. "But, is she some kind of damned cat or something?" He noticed her mannerisms and couldn't help but comment on it.

"She's Ctarl Ctarl, surely you could tell that by her actions." Hilda said most accusingly, since he'd been around Ctarl Ctarls in his time as a pilot and a bounty hunter; she wasn't expecting him to be stupid about it, but then she gave him a look that said 'enough' and there would be no more to say until she decided.

Gene didn't say anything that was tied to the situation and instead was making sure that everything was clear first, more or less that since Hilda's return they would be traveling together for some time and that the Horus II would follow in deep cloak mode, something new to the ship's design. And though Gene was against it at first, the half Ctarl Ctarl teenager would be staying on board as well; however separate from Hilda and would have her own room.

As the group now stood on the bridge, things were obviously going to be reconfigured a little bit since Hilda was back in action; he was going to see about getting her situated on the bridge as well since she insisted on it.

-On the bridge of the XGP-

With a little bit of time now free, Hilda had retired from her new position on weapons/ops as a new terminal that Gene had put in over the last year, adding new weapons and back up grappler arms had made the XGP even more dangerous; adding to its reputation as the Outlaw Star.

Of course given that everyone had a lot of questions to ask Hilda, mainly to see how she was and how it felt to come back by such strange means; it was very clear that she was in no mood to answer questions, though she appreciated the sentiment. She left them with Gene, to tell them everything that she told him and she was going to settle into her room; obviously things were weighing down on her a lot more than what people might've considered, there was a lot of things going on really in her mind and she wanted to collect it all herself.

"So guys, Hilda not only is back, but she has a half Ctarl Ctarl daughter who protects her with all of her might." Gene ended the tale, obviously repeating on what Hilda told him aboard the Horus II; it was just to make all things clear to everyone.

‑­

This last bit of information made everyone go silent; obviously that Hilda had a daughter? That was so old? How the hell did that happen? Though it's true that Hilda had a hidden past, having a daughter that was half Ctarl Ctarl stated the kind of union that had taken place.

"So who is the father then?" the words coming from Aisha, who seemed to be curious and was obviously wanted to know who coupled with Hilda in order to produce a daughter. "Surely the Cur will come forward and claim his daughter, if he won't I will find out who he is and force him to!" she seemed outraged that there was no father, she felt it an embarrassment of her people, if the father hadn't stepped forward yet; he'd better and if he didn't then she'd hunt him!

"I can't say Hilda didn't say anything and that she would reveal the information about her daughter later, it's nothing that can be done about it right now; we need to wait and see." Was the only thing Gene had to say, he saw that look in Hilda's eyes, it was definitely nothing she would reveal so soon.

"Either the father is dead or perhaps doesn't realize he has a daughter; it might also be this." Haomaru was ready to give this father a reasonable doubt that he didn't know or something to that effect, so of course it would be giving her a likely reason for not revealing it.

"Let's not think about it alright? It's something that was very important to her and Hilda will reveal it when she decides; she is our guest and new crew member, let's give her a little consideration." Gene seemed to be very concerned about her, and obviously wasn't going to leave her as the main subject of talk.

Given that, Gene had finally decided that it was time to let the crew be dismissed to whatever they were doing; obviously now it was enough that he was being serious, and he had his own devices to think about. Obviously now she was safe and that was important enough, he still had to consider the new enemy that they had fought previously to this.

--With Aisha and Haomaru--

In those hours that had passed on the time, Aisha was very busy with Haomaru training, her body was being worked to some greater limits; as she was testing herself against his skill, a feat that she was proud of. Making sure that he was getting to exercise every one of his very sword techniques while she gained a new recognition from him.

She ensured that he was flying through the air, to give her a solid challenge as she never feared a sword nor anything that slice; her skin and her fighting skills kept her from fearing them but her sparring with Haomaru was proving that those with a blade weren't weak, in that sense they were very threatening. Never had she seen such grace in her beautiful mate, his power and speed were worthy of her; as she seemed to be reminding him constantly, that he was her equal in combat and as her mate. Though the bedroom was a very different story with her, as she made it clear what would be done and she was in control 99 of the time; which to her liking, Haomaru was fine with.

"What a workout you gave me today my love, a magnificent fighter…you have improved greatly since we started this sparring, I find that your speed has picked up and your precision striking has also dramatically stepped up, your skill is something else my sweet; very much something I approve of, continue to grow strong." Hao said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a hand towel.

Aisha meanwhile was rubbing her sore forearms, though she could take the cuts from his sword and keep the blade from penetrating her skin; it was still rather fierce in the way that he struck with them. But by now, the wish to fight was boiling over and this quickly was growing into a more natural need. Something that made her tail sweep around behind her for, it seemed much easier to support a 50 transformation when one was mated, at least she found it to her liking since he naturally had a tail and now she could wrap her tail with his own.

There was just one last moment that was given to thought of what she'd do and she decided; that she wanted something from her sweet mate who was oblivious to her intentions as per usual.

"You know, you might figure that he'd come to me for loving." She uttered, not really anything but a little annoyed; but she also liked how she would break all of his concentration, to make him hers by merely demanding his care of her with little vocals being expressed.

She walked towards her meditating mate and knelt behind him, at this point slipping her arms around his waist and then licking along the side of his ear; which much to her liking made him physically shiver. As it became more obvious that she had his attention, she curled a leg around his back and let it rest in his lap while she rubbed along his shoulders, he was rather tense and she did find it easy to have her way with him right now the way that it was now.

It was all but a moment when she kissed his neck and then drew her fingers along his side, she managed to rouse his attention now and that was just what she wanted; she watched him turn to face her and draw her into his lap while she felt his fingers drawing around her waist, she curled her tail at his side and then growled into his ear.

"That's enough Hao, get me to our room first…I have something new for you today." She obviously was speaking of something that she was going to be revealing to him, something that came from her heart and was important enough for her to pursue it.

As Haomaru brought her to the room, she smiled at him and kicked the door closed, using her tail to lock the door while she bit on his neck and started dry humping him a little bit; growling at him.

"Put me down Hao…I am getting anxious." She said with a growl again, well she was really getting hot from just holding onto him, now as hot as she was in her stomach; she could hardly wait to change her clothing into that newest teddy that she grabbed from the store, she had actually become quite attached to the negliche collection that she had growing; she was fond of having Haomaru wearing them and of course without them; it was more than good enough for her.

(--Sexual Content ahead--, skip to next set of Parenthesis to avoid)

"Lie out, let me look at you." Aisha smirked at him, giving her usual demand, as she was still very much cherishing what she had in a mate and obviously that was considering his beauty, the appeal that such a beautiful male could elicit; a flawless body that was only marked by her claws and her fangs; someone to curl up close against when she was sleepy.

Haomaru could do little more than blush, as per usual he was being sized up like a tasty meal by his mate; he was shy in that aspect, to have someone to look over his body with nothing but adoration and love. But he also felt her lusts, obviously she was cranky without having a regular piece of her mate every night; as it sounded more or less that she had a healthy libido.

She grabbed the obi holding his yukuta together and tossed it to the side of them, leaning her face down against his stomach, drawing her tongue out along his skin; tracing her fingers along his defined pectoral muscles, tracing a claw along the flawless skin, he took care of himself and she adored that.

"I think its sexy when you have a loincloth, you know that…hmm?" she grinned and straddled his waist, letting her claws trace along his stomach slowly, how could she do anything short of showing her passion for him, such a sexy male was rare.

He just blushed a little deeper and let his tail rest along his back, looking up at her and blushing again; with a little more color in his cheeks as he felt her hips grinding into his nice and slowly, such momentum was only going to grow. He knew Aisha and of her appetites she would have her mate's attention for the next few hours, maybe being creative with her lover if she decided to.

However he would be surprised to find that she rose from her mount and went to her closet, her special negliche closet, as it became more she was showing off more feeling than anything else; showing her growing love for dressing up. It seemed that Aisha herself might've gained a few fetishes from his cousin, dressing before the fooling around proceeded; it was really a quirk that she adopted and had become a small part of her even.

She emerged from the closet and was wearing a silken teddy, a soft baby blue tone teddy whose transparent form rested comfortably over her body, lining her curves and showing off her beautifully figured body; her tail swishing lightly behind her as she revealed the frilly underwear by raising the end of the teddy to show her mate. More like a form of teasing, she was trying something new today and was obviously swaying and trying to allure him with her very look alone; to make him flush and bring her a result that she was hoping for.

"Ah..." a soft breath did escape Haomaru, he was looking at her in some shock and just considered her entire appearance, she was working so hard for something that he clearly seemed to understand what she was trying to do to him; to be sexy just for him and make him realize how much he needed her.

And to his shock, he found her suddenly smiling, was he doing something to show his need? He hadn't realized it yet if so, he seemed to be as clueless as the next person would be to the subject; he found himself blushing deeply and once more, not knowing the reason or which he was doing this.

"That's what I wanted…good." She said as she stepped before him, placing her hands on her hips and just pressing the tip of her foot to the end of his perked up loincloth; grinning a bit toothily as she used her toes to caress the end of his member.

"Uhhn…" a grunt coming from Haomaru, now clearly told him just what she was talking about and just what he was showing to her that gave her such satisfaction, unknown to him was a hard-on that had come from just watching her come towards him.

"Nya, so my mate isn't as monk-like as he once thought hmm?" Aisha drew her foot back and used it to nudge his loincloth backwards, so that the flap was splayed off to the side; creating kind of a sexy and helpless look for her mate, whose seemed to be watching her every action.

He seemed to be almost too vulnerable there, she could taste his curiosity and yet his shyness about the whole situation and it made her want to devour him right there; just like a predator did to prey like him.

"Damn you Hao, you are so sexy." She said one last thing before pouncing him and laying her body impacting his with a little thud on their bed, she wasted no time in straddling him once more and raising her hips and shifting her frilly panties to the side before she lowered her waist down and used her tail to hold his cathood steady while she dropped herself onto his member quickly.

Instantly a soft mewl of one very pleased Aisha came as she hilted on her love and let her claws scritch at his chest, bringing her face to rest in the side of his neck while she adjusted her hips against his form, rocking slightly on him and drawing her body against his form; back and forth she slid herself to adjust at the base of her mounted mate comfortably.

The squirming was enough to make Hao shift and whimper to her, a soft kind of mewl/sound that sounded out to her as a whimper and made her grind a little harder. He knew that he loved this, he enjoyed everything; being her mate seemed to be the best thing to ever happen for him. He knew that he was very submissive when it came to loving, but he had a few moments of being a dominant figure. This came into play especially when Aisha was requesting/demanding it of him, there were times when she told him to take what he wanted; she had teased him into such things before very effectively and obviously, this was going to be another very one of those days for her.

"Yes…" she said as she let her claws dig into his shoulders and started to ground her hips into his now, still slowly and not yet pulling him from her love tunnel; she was still resting at the hilt, squeezing him and grinding on his base hard while her tunnel gripped him and she took the fine pleasure from their embrace.

His breath was caught in his throat as he felt her resting against him; as if the time had come to stop while she tortured him like this, he finally felt her raising her hips before descending once more in a nice brilliant resounding slap. Again catching his breath in his throat while he curled his tail around her own, his eyes only half opening as he felt her claw tips running down his chest; was this only 50 of her strength? He was almost inclined to push her and find out if she could tap into more; it did seem that Haomaru tended to change his tune when thinking about it.

As Aisha fell into a wonderful rhythm of rising and dropping her hips onto her mate's own, she felt his hands gripping at her waist; squeezing her thighs which was often unusual for her mate, most times she kept him so pleased he writhed instead of grabbing at her. Though it made her smile and she squeezed him harder, like a vice while grinding her hips down on him once more and gyrating violently at his base while taking hold of his shoulders.

Haomaru even surprised himself, for his small little moments of drawing out more in his mate had reacted in a heavy dramatic increase of her actions on him; his breath was once more caught in his throat and seemed to be half brought forth by another mewl. Her strength alone was just too much to keep him from feeling anything more than a sweet kind of need for his embrace of her. What she was doing to him seemed to be quite intense, but was only hungered for more; whenever Aisha claimed him in this way he grew more savage; more wild and in tune with her.

"You finally feel it don't you..?" She managed while she continued to ride him, her actions nothing sort of powerful and dominating in its own right; but seemed to have the right effect on her still, as another few beads of sweat formed on her body, she continued to work him for all he was worth.

Of course before her mate could answer, she'd already claimed his lips in a hungry kiss and laid back down with him while her hips worked; claiming that pleasure that she needed to breathe, what was a part of being life partners with someone, was a joy she was coming to love and a thing she never wanted to let go.

(--End Sexual Content--)

While the two Ctarls made love, it was all the more clear that Hilda was trying to figure things out for herself; it became clear to her every time she thought about it that something wasn't right about her return, about this Lord Hazanko who returned from the grave shortly after she did.

"This isn't right, I don't know what about it…but I don't like it one little bit." She seemed to trust her gut on this; indeed this was wrong; as bad as it was that she suddenly found her daughter after her return, someone she never expected to see her in her lifetime again after leaving her daughter with her father.

"She's mine and that's what's important." Hilda reminded herself of her sweet little daughter; born of a sick operation performed by the pirates.

Her daughter, born as 'Project Elise' as the Kei Pirates called her, was now just Elise and living her life free of that experiment to create some kind of power house, born of the physical strength of the Ctarls and the chosen 'cell' whose potential with Senjutsu knew little bounds, it was something that was being considered by Gwen Khan to be; scientifically improbable if they somehow managed to create the baby in one try.

She stopped thinking about it, the fact that those men had done any such thing was in that same way unthinkable and unforgivable, she was at first disgusted with the very thought of Elise; the fact those men forcibly took something from her and forced her to be a mother.

Had she lost her freedom or would she merely abandon the child? Hilda had already worked out her escape, and was just ready to go until she saw Elise's face light up; when she saw her little girl at the age of 11, the innocent little child that wanted nothing more than to love her mother…that broke her heart.

"Elise…" she spoke her name softly and sighed, she had treated her daughter with little care at first; little more than something to be used by her and then…then she met the Ctarl Ctarl father, in all of his pride he had come to take the child from Hilda.

She thought him such a fool and when she had the proud warrior at his point of death, Elise spoke of him with such tenderness.

'Did you and Daddy have a fight? He's all beat up, what happened Mommy?' the innocence then proved Hilda in her view wrong of the young girl, what could be wrong with her way of seeing things? Why was she so blind to see that her daughter was in fact just that, a daughter to be cared for.

A voice awakened Hilda from her less than subtle sleep, she reached for her gun instinctually; then felt the soft nuzzle against her shoulder and a soft body resting against her side. She relaxed, knowing who it was.

"Couldn't sleep Elise?" her voice coming in a whisper as she felt her daughter adjusting against her.

"No mom, I couldn't sleep and I hope you don't mind." Her daughter said softly, hoping that her mother would allow the intrusion.

"Let's get some sleep." Hilda said in a soft voice, wrapping an arm around her estranged daughter; what a thing to come to understand…that being a mother wasn't so bad at certain times, even when it was dropped in your lap by a hated enemy.

There would be peace for them now, she hoped that her little girl would get to know a peace finally; aboard a ship of misfits.

(End chapter)

I hoped to surprise you here, and don't worry; all of this stuff about Hilda being a mother, obviously was an experiment and now she kind of is a mom and died being one to her little girl; who up until now lived with her father. I will come to explain more in a flashback next Chapter.

Well to all those who like this tale, it's about to get a whole lot more exciting; with a new face that will turn some heads.

Until the next time, adieu.

-Quentix