Chapter 2: New Mission

Khalon examined the red piece of string that was neatly wrapped around his wrist and let out a small series of clicks as he remembered his once mate that he had grown to love and adore. His ooman had mentioned that the red string meant strength and love, sometimes luck depending on the situation and, since he'll go out hunting, she wanted him to stay safe so, she gave him her lucky string, realizing that there was no need for her to have. Until this day, he never removed the small string, since it was something that had once belonged to her.

"Sch'arlet..." He spoke from underneath his Bio-mask. He never forgot her name nor did he forget those beautiful light brown eyes that shined whenever the sunlight hit them, sometimes he would find himself lost in those beautiful orbs.

He rose from the fallen tree trunk he had been resting on and took one last look at the red string and said the only word he knew in English "Love..." with that being said, he began making his way to the pyramid where the elders were waiting for his arrival, it seemed they had been eager to speak to him since, they had been searching for him for quite sometime now.

After the events that took place 18 years ago, Khalon had separated himself from his clan, disappearing into the deep jungle where he knew no yautja would dare enter due to the risk of getting lost or being killed by some other creature that lurked in the dark areas of the forbidden jungle. Using logs and jungle leaves, he made himself a small wooden hut where he had been living for the past 18 years now. And, after years of searching for this missing yautja, it seemed that the elders had finally found his hidden home, thanks to a group of hunters who were wondering in the forbidden part of the jungle.

And here he was now, making his way to the elders who had once wanted to slaughter his child.

'Maybe father has changed his mind about sch'arelt and A'lek' Khalon thought as he walked through the jungle floor with his metal combi stick in hand, in case something were to jump at him. Even in the area where most villages were located, anything could be lurking in the bushes, waiting for the proper time to make their surprise attack.

He could hear the sound of birds chirping from a distance as they were communicating amongst themselves. The sounds of the insects, the birds, and the larger animals created a symphony of nature calling. The sound of water bashing against rocks could be heard indicating that there was a waterfall near by. He could hear the soft sound of leaves rustling in the wind as if they were dancing to a slow tone. It was just a peaceful and beautiful scenery, something he witnessed in a long time. Usually, in the dark part of the jungle where he had been living, everything was pretty much dead, even the sun refused to shine its warm light on the forbidden land.

After what seemed to be hours of endless walking, he finally made it to his destination where two guards were waiting for his arrival as well. Khalon gave them a nod and greeted them in their native language "A'stbe. T'au'theiur."

One of the guards named A'stbe looked at Khalone and spoke "Long time no seen, brother Khalon." The young yautja walked up to Khalon and placed his hand on Khalon's shoulder, shaking him. This was their form of greeting each other. Khalon returhed the same gesture but shook him a bit harder, indicating that he had no time in having a conversation.

"You're father awaits you" A'stbe spoke as he backed away from Khalon's strong grip.

Khalon looked up at the mighty structure that was a few centimeters away from him and began moving upward.

The pyramids were typically constructed of stone and included elaborate decorations in the form of statues and carvings that celebrate both Yautja themselves and their reverence for the Xenomorphs. Despite the seemingly rudimentary stone construction, many pyramids conceal advanced technologies like the one that Khalon was about to step foot in. There were two types of pyramids in Yautja prime, one of the pyramids was for ritualistic hunts, where teen yautja's had to prove they were ready to enter adulthood by killing their first Xenomorph. The second pyramid was for the elders. Here, the elders gathered around and have important meetings regarding their next hunt.

Khalon walked inside the pyramid entrance and saw an older yautja sitting in his throne. The yautja looked similar to Khalon ranging from the reptilian skin, the four mandibles, no nose, and the flashy dreadlocks around the side of their head. The only two difference they had was that the older possessed sparse, coarse facial hair on its cheeks and above the eyes and had a dark reptilian color and he appeared to be dry.

As soon as Khalon was a few centuneters away from the elder, he removed his Bio-mask and kneeled down on one knee and spoke "Father..."

The elder named, Vih-Ih'Kea, rose from his throne and spoke "My son..." he made his way towards Khalon who had his head bowed down, stopping when he was a few inches away from his only son and spoke "Rise..."

Khalon obeyed and rose from his position. He looked at his father and could feel the slightest bit of anger slowly starting to awaken within him, since, his father was the one who had ordered the exectution of his son. Of his grandson, but Khalon remained calmed and said "May I ask, why have you summoned me?"

Vih-Ih'Kea said "May I ask, why did you abandon the clan?"

Khalon cocked his head to the side and answered "Is this why you summoned me? To answer a question you know the answer to?"

There was silence.

Vin-Ih 'Kea let out a vicious roar as he turned around and walked away from his son. He sat back down on his throne and let out a low series of clicks as he rubbed his forehead.

Khalon followed his father and said in a candid tone "Father, you know the reason why I left the clan..." he placed his Bio-mask on and callously spoke "If this is why you summoned me, I have no intentions speaking to you..."

He turned around and was making his way out of the room until his father spoke, causing him to stop his trace.

"Son...Khalon, come and let's put our differences aside and move on to more important things."Vin-Ih'Kea spoke. He rose from his throne and made his way to his son who was standing still. He placed his hand on his son's shoulder and spoke "I have a mission for you."

Khalon was now confused, he turned around and cocked his head to the side and asked "For me? Even after what I did? You still want me to go?"

His father lets out a small chuckles he made his way to the small wooden table that was placed against the wall. He opened a glass bottle and poured the red liquid into two small glass cups and spoke "Despite what you did and how you disobeyed me, let's not forget, you are a fully trained warrior who can defeat anything that comes his way." he continued "And with your set of abilities, you can easily get this little mission out of your way and come back."

Khalon wasn't sure if he should feel honored or confused. Honored, because his father was admiring his skills and abilities whenever it came to hunting or fighting, confused, because his father was sending him to a mission when he could've easily chosen Bhih'kea, who was a great strong warrior or Tha-T'i'ke who was known for his abilities of killing without hesitating, but instead his father choose him, a warrior who had disobeyed his elders.

Vin-Ih'Kea made his way back to his son with the two alcoholic beverages in hand and spoke "Well, what do you say?" he handed his son a glass cup as he took a sip of his own.

Khalon took the cup from his fathers' hand and curiously asked "What exactly am I killing this time?" he took a sip from his drink and waited for an answer.

His father, liking the idea that his son had accepted the request, placed an arm around his son's neck and spoke "Glad to see you still have the old warrior in you. Follow me." his father ordered as he began walking towards the secret room that was located behind the throne. He punched in a couple of codes in the keypad, making the stone wall rise.

Khalon followed behind.

The secret room had a round metal table in the center and it also had the same wooden table against the wall with the same alcoholic beverages. Drinking was a thing that yautja's love to do whenever they celebrated their victories or whenever they had a chance to drink the sweet yet bitter red liquid. Khalon wasn't huge on drinking, he only drank whenever he wanted the cold beverage which was pretty rare for him to want.

"Come here and I'll show you." His father spoke as he walked around the metal table. He began punching in some codes which made the table turn on. Shortly after, his father punched in a few more codes and a hologram of earth popped out from within the table.

'Sch'arlet...A'lek...' Khalon thought as he looked at the round blue orb that was floating on the center of the table. He placed his cup down and waited for his father to speak. The thought that maybe the chance of seeing his ooman and his now fully grown son, made his heart jump in excitement.

"A couple of days ago, a team of yautja's discovered an kiande amedha nest in a small town located in the North America. We aren't quite sure if there's a queen, but if there's a nest well, you know the rest." His father announced. He clicked a couple of buttens, zooming in on the location the nest was located.

"Khalon, I need you to destroy that nest before the eggs hatch, luckily you have a couple of days before those little bastards decided to come out. I'll be sending you with Bhih'kea and Tha-T'i'ke, I want the three of you to make sure no egg is left behind and if you see the queen, bpi-de her." His father spoke as he looked at Khalone from across the table.

"Yes, father I will take care of it...Where is this town you mentioned earlier?" Khalon asked. He took another sip of the red liquid and waited for an answer.

His father looked at the data chart and answered "Woodhaerst..."