Looks like this will be my first AN, I will make it short so that you can get on with your reading. First off, I'd like to thank my reviewers. You are few but I love you. Encouragement is always welcome and you don't need to be a registered author to leave an encouraging message.

I'd love to get more feedback on my characters so if you have a few moments to spare I'd love to hear your opinions. We're in for some smut soon, just so that you're prepared for that.

I'd also like to inform you that I've made some fanart on deviantart, only of K'han so far, we'll see if I get the time to make some more. You'll find the pic's at:

http[colon]//mortilias[dot]deviantart[dot]com

Yeyinde pt. 6

"Use your hip!" came the barked command.

Yeyinde stopped in mid-movement and threw a look at her Zah'zai. He made a motion with his right hip and slowly extended his right arm and with it the wrist blades. She balled her hand into a fist and tried the movement again, this time making sure to work with all of her body.

Just before she had extended her arm too far she tensed the muscles in her arm and with a scraping noise the wrist blade was released.

"Good", said K'han. "Now, defend yourself."

She didn't even have the time to stop and think before her Zah'zai dove at her with his own wrist blades extended, she had to leap back and avoided being impaled by the blades with only a finger breadth. Yeyinde could hear how K'han clicked his approval. She herself was far from satisfied with her move though; all she had done was to delay her death for a while. If this had been a real fight she might be dead within the next move the huge hunter made. She sank down low and parried a blow toward the head with her lower left arm, and then she drove her right arm and the extended wrist blades almost into her Zah'zai's side, missing the target on purpose. She made a summersault backwards and rolled away to a safer distance. When she got up again her Zah'zai stood still, facing her with an unreadable expression on his face. She stopped and regarded him, worried that she had done something wrong somehow.

"Acceptable", he said after a while, giving her a half-smile. "You might even have succeeded to kill me." He withdrew his wrist blades and came over to her and put a huge hand on her shoulder. "I think that you are ready to face the real challenge by the end of this month. Do you feel ready?"

"I do Zah'zai", she mumbled.

"Good, I will see to that you will get a place in the hunting team."

Yeyinde smiled. "What will happen after the hunting trip Zah'zai?"

"You'll be an adult then Yeyinde", he said and started to walk out of the training hall. "What you choose to do then is up to you."

She followed him, feeling a bit anxious. "Will we not train together anymore?"

"We might", he said and turned around to face her for a while before he started walking again. "But if you return from that hunting trip victorious you'll be able to see to your own training. Every hunter has to develop his own unique skill. I can only teach you the basics, you yourself have to find a way to minimize your weaknesses and use your strengths to your advantage."

She stopped in the doorway and watched him leave, not feeling quite sure about if she should follow him or not. He didn't turn around and she was left feeling strangely empty. The funny thing was that she had longed for this moment, for her trainer to tell her that she was strong enough, that it was the end of her days as an un-blooded. But now she felt abandoned. She looked at the wrist blades that K'han had given her and withdrew them with an angry hiss. She was pathetic for wanting to hide behind her trainer even though he himself had told her she was ready to stand on her own. Yeyinde turned around and went back into the training hall. Some more training would take her mind of things.

She closed her eyes and tried to breathe regularly; in and out, in and out. She opened her eyes again and sank down into battle position with her right arm positioned parallel with the floor and her left arm higher up, ready to block if needed be. She took a step forward and struck the empty air with her right fist.

Then she followed up with a strike with her left arm.

She lost herself to the feeling and sank down, mimicking the movement that had defeated K'han only moments ago. Blocking an imaginary strike toward the head and struck out with her right hand in a hook, feeling pleasure at the sound of her extending wrist blade.

Yeyinde backed away as she imagined that her opponent made a blow toward her head and so she thrust her left arm into the air in a parry and then another one in front of her face and her stomach. Standing like that she felt confident enough to try a right kick toward her imaginary opponent, roaring a battle cry as she did so. In a smooth movement she brought down her foot and was once more in a defensive stance.

"Would you look at that Kwo-hn", a voice spoke from the door. "The little soft meat has been given a pair of wrist blades. How are you doing Yeyinde?"

She froze for a moment, feeling the familiar sensation of fear as it spread through her body but then she straightened up and turned around to face the two hunters she knew was watching her from the doorway. She glanced over them quickly; none of them had changed a bit. Kwo-hn was still as huge and Kul'vir was still as mean looking. She herself had changed though and the terror she once had felt whenever they had approached her refused to settle in her body.

"Why, I'm doing fine Kul'vir", she sneered and relished in the way his face darkened when she didn't show any signs of fear. "How are you doing? Have that looser Mahwa taught you anything of value these past months?"

"Watch your tongue Tarei'hasan", said Kwo-hn and growled.

Yeyinde still couldn't understand why she didn't get frightened. "I'm not going to watch my tongue", she told them with a sneer. "But you should."

"Why?" Kwo-hn laughed. "And for what reason Tarei'hasan?"

"For that exact reason Pauk-de", she snarled.

"So you don't like me calling you Tarei'hasan?" he asked. "Big deal, what could you ever do to stop me?"

"I'd challenge you", she said without missing a beat.

"You'd do what?" he asked in bewilderment.

"You heard me", she growled and sank down into battle position. "Listen, I'll even give you a handicap and remove my wrist blades. We un-blooded are sadly enough forbidden to participate in a duel to the death." She removed her wrist blades and let them fall to the floor.

Kwo-hn still looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Yeyinde ground her teeth together and roared at him in a quite good reinterpretation of a battle cry.

"Come on you coward", she sneered.

That did it. She could almost see how Kwo-hn lost it. He ran toward her, just as she had anticipated. She stood stock still and waited for him to get in range. When he punched at her she ducked swiftly under his arm and got in close to deliver a heavy blow to his stomach. It connected perfectly. Kwo-hn stopped his furious attack and made a gurgling noise, she had successfully hit the abdominal brain. Yeyinde took advantage of his surprise and made a sweep at his legs; the huge yautja staggered and fell to the floor. Yeyinde didn't miss a beat. She wouldn't let him get up on his feet again. She wouldn't let him regain the floor and perhaps shape up a bit now that he must've realized that she was both much quicker and stronger than before.

She cried out in victory and smashed her right fist into throat; the crushing noise she was rewarded with was like music in her ears. She punched her left fist into a soft spot on the side of Kwo-hn's head and saw how the lights went out of his eyes. He was unconscious. Dhi'ki-de. She got up on her feet crying out her victory for the whole training hall to hear it. She had beaten Kwo-hn fair and square in a duel.

"Take that you coward", she snarled and turned to look at Kul'vir that stood passive in the doorframe still. "And how about you? Would you like a bit of what he received s'yuit-de!"

"It won't be as easy to fight me", he warned and approached her slowly.

"You'll never know until you've tried", she retorted and once again resumed battle position, hiju.

"You'll regret it", he said coldly and to her surprise he sank down into a defensive stance, hiju-de.

Yeyinde growled. Trust Kul'vir to make it hard on her. He must've realized that she was better at defending and counter than attacking. She wouldn't allow him to best her however. With a shout she rushed at him, wary of his bigger range. When she got close enough for him to strike he immediately did so and Yeyinde ducked and like before she tried to get in close. Kul'vir however must have accounted for that because he swiftly delivered a low blow with his left fist that connected painfully with her left side. Yeyinde made a fall backward and cushioned the impact against the floor by rolling away, thus also increasing the distance to her opponent. He made no move to follow her.

"C'jit!" she cursed. He'd seen her fight of course. He knew that knew some fancy steps. If she tried anything ordinary on him, this genius of combat would know exactly what was going to happen and would be a couple of steps ahead of her.

"Well you bastard", she muttered. "Luckily I've got some new moves."

She attacked. If anything she was in much better shape now than she had been when she was in her old training group. More limber and agile, and she put it all to the test in just under two seconds. She feinted, flipped, rolled, rolled, retreated, rolled, ran, fell and then thrust upward toward the place she knew was most vulnerable. The abdominal brain.

The moves clearly surprised Kul'vir.

Nonetheless, he wasn't quite in the spot where he was supposed to be, probably due to the fact that he was shorter than the usual yautja, so her fist didn't connect with the right pressure point. Even so she must've hit partly right, perhaps nicked a few of his ribs, because he grunted with pain and staggered a bit backward. Roaring at her as he did so and then he rushed at her bringing his own right fist down toward her.

Mistake.

She dodged the thrust, grasped his arm by its base, and the torque of her body in such a way as to capitalize on the momentum he had generated.

Her legs went up, and she executed a perfect flip. Kul'vir fell to the floor with a loud bang. She followed up with a kick to his stomach and the sound of his ribs cracking made her smile grimly.

"Payback's a bitch", she snarled and sank her right knee deep down into his abdominal brain. Spit flew from his mouth and he roared in pain. Yeyinde balled her right fist and slammed it into the sensitive spot on the side of his head.

"Bitch", he gurgled.

She snarled at him and hit his head again. The lights went out of his eyes and so, in only a few minutes she had succeeded in beating two of her worst enemies. She got up and watched them for a while, feeling the sweetness of victory. They would never dare to speak lowly of her again, not if their honor was dear to them. She raised her hand into the air and cried out in victory. The movement sent jolts of pain through her body and she realized that Kul'vir must've succeeded to break a rib or two.

She sneered. "Trust that bastard to ruin a perfect day."

She turned to leave but stood stock still as she thought she had seen someone standing in the doorframe but the corridor was empty when she got there to have a closer look.

'Must be my imagination', she muttered and headed for the infirmary. She might as well tell them that Kwo-hn and Kul'vir needed medical attention. After all, she wasn't allowed to kill them.

"Perhaps I should pay Vraa'hn a visit later on tonight", she mused. "I must tell him that Zah'zai have deemed me worthy to participate in the hunt."

XxX

She hadn't followed him. K'han exhaled and stopped for a while. That had been hard. To sewer the bound that he had created between them. But that was the way of the yautja; he couldn't allow them to grow too close.

'She must learn to stand on her own', he though and ground his teeth together.

Then why was it so hard? He had sent numerous students on their way and never even felt the smallest amount of regret and still- still she awoke these strange protective feelings inside of him that he was unaware of even existed. For the first time he understood Vraa'hn's protectiveness over her. She seemed so helpless and innocent in a world built on battle and iron will. For some reason he wanted to be there for her and keep her out of harm's way.

That didn't do. He had to keep well away from those feelings.

Two young yautja passed him by but he didn't pay them any mind until it registered in his brain that he knew those two from before.

'Kwo-hn and Kul'vir', he thought and watched how they made their way toward the training hall. Toward Yeyinde.

He stood still for a long while, torn between the want to go back and see to that they didn't hurt her and the need to walk away and let her handle it on her own.

'But what if they hurt her', he debated with himself. 'What if they hurt her badly?'

His body made the decision for him and started walking back to the training hall. The scene that met him when he arrived back to the training hall was something else completely than he had feared. Yeyinde had defeated Kwo-hn and was well on her way to defeat Kul'vir. She moved with such agility and perfection that he almost was dumbfounded. Was this really the same person that he had started training only months before?

He watched as she executed a perfect flip and brought Kul'vir heavily down to the floor with a loud bang. K'han felt how his chest swelled with great pride as she rendered the other yautja unconscious and roared her victory for everyone to hear. A pure win. Nain-desintje-de. K'han almost joined in. It was as if he himself had won the battle.

"She has no more need of me", he mumbled to himself as he watched the proud little figure of his student. "All that is left for me to do is to prepare her for the hunting trip."

He turned around and left not wanting her to realize that he had worried for her safety. That he had doubted her skill. It was for the best if they didn't grow too close. The feelings he felt for her wasn't healthy nor were they professional. They were something else. Something a trainer shouldn't feel for a student. Something a yautja shouldn't feel for a soft meat.

XxX

Yeyinde got out of the infirmary rather quickly after the medic had assessed her injuries and applied the healing gel. She had never liked that place it was a sign of weakness and she had been there far too many times. She even knew the name of every yautja that worked there. She smiled in spite of herself. It wasn't that they weren't nice to her, they were too nice. As if she was a child still and she wasn't soon she wouldn't even be an un-blooded youth anymore. She would be a blooded warrior. If she survived that is.

She smiled grimly when she met with the medics that brought Kwo-hn and Kul'vir back to the infirmary. They were still unconscious but would be in for a hell of a lot of pain when they woke up.

'Serves them right', she thought and opened the door to the stairwell and started to climb up to the nineteenth level. 'I hope they feel half of the humiliation I've been suffering from these past eight years.'

She got out in the corridor on the nineteenth level and then turned right. Her Yau-th's quarters were behind the two hundred and thirteenth door to the left. She raised a hand and knocked. Vraa'hn should be in at this time of the day. It was almost time for dinner.

A few seconds passed by and then the door opened. Vraa'hn stood facing her on the other side. It had been a while since she last saw him. She couldn't help but smile. His appearance alone spread warmth and comfort through her body.

"Yau-th", she said humbly and lowered her head in greeting.

"Yeyinde", he said and stepped aside and allowed her to enter.

His quarters weren't as big or as luxurious as K'han's but they were still huge in comparison to her own. They were familiar though as she had been raised here. They still smelled of home and safety. Vraa'hn motioned for her to go and sit down in one of the two, huge, armchairs. Yeyinde smiled and picked her favorite one that was draped with white furs.

"How are you Yau-th?" she asked. "Is your training working out well?"

"Yes", he murmured and sat down opposite to her in the other armchair. "And yours?"

"I beat Kwo-hn and Kul'vir today", she informed.

"Did they attack you?" he asked and Yeyinde though she caught a note of aggression in his voice.

"They might have", she mumbled and couldn't keep a grim smile from spreading over her lips. "But I challenged them instead and won in a fair duel. Nain-desintje-de."

Vraa'hn looked so flabbergasted that Yeyinde almost felt offended. "It's true", she growled and her Yau-th blinked in surprise.

Then he started laughing.

"By Paya", he said. "I've been praying for this day for several years. You must tell me everything about it over dinner. Would you like to join me?"

"You know that I'd love to Yau-th", she said and smiled. "We'll also have to celebrate that I'm due to go on my first hunt at the end of the month."

"It would seem that I'm indebted to K'han", Vraa'hn said and stood up to go and fetch their dinner from the food shutter. "He's done a mighty good job with you."

"He said that we wouldn't be able to train like before when I got back from the hunt", she mumbled and felt a stab of sadness.

"That's the yautja way", Vraa'hn said and sounded surprised. "You should be proud."

"I am", she said and forced the tears back. "But it makes me sad. I like him."

Vraa'hn paused with whatever he was doing before he returned with their meal. A juicy stake accompanied by s'pke and two goblets with water. He sat down and offered her a plate and a goblet.

"There is nothing to be sad over", he said after a while. "You will still see each other, only not as much as before."

She nodded. It made sense of course. Her yau-th was right and she was being silly.

"Here's to your victory!" Vraa'hn said and raised his goblet in a toast and Yeyinde joined him. "And to your upcoming first hunt, I will wait here and hope for your safe return."

"To victory", she mumbled.