Eat. Sleep. Breathe. Train. Fight. Study. There was no time in her recent schedule for anything that didn't involve these six things. It felt like getting ready for her military school's exams all over again, only about twenty times more intense. If Sain'ja wasn't the one mentoring her each step of the way, and the fact that she was never one to back out very easily, Nina would have more than likely just rolled over and shouted to the sky, 'I give up'!

Before she would be allowed to go on any real hunts on other worlds with the other Yautja, she needed to take the Kiande Amedha Chiva, the Hard Meat Trial. Hard Meats, referred to as Xenomorphs by most humans, were endoparasitiods who have large parasites called Facehuggers that latch on to a host and insert an embryo into the host's body. The host is kept alive during the process, the Facehugger supplying the needed oxygen through a proboscis while keeping them unconscious. Sometime after the host awakens, the Facehugger dies and a Chestburster is born, ripping its way through flesh to tear out of the host. The host is, of course, killed instantly. Soon, the Chestburster rapidly reaches adulthood, becoming a Xenomorph in a dramatically short amount of time. They have a skeletal, biomechanical appearance and are usually dark shades of black, blue, and bronze. Rather than having a tongue, the Hard Meats have a small, silver looking inner mouth that can pierce even through a Predator's helmet. Their entire bodies might as well be registered as lethal weapons; spiked tails, razor sharp fangs and claws, acid blood.

Nina wouldn't be alone in this; there would be two others taking the trial with her. The trial was traditionally taken in groups of threes, but after each of them had claimed their first Hard Meat kill, they would contact the Mothership as soon as possible for their next challenge; to kill the Xenomorph Queen and collect the Royal egg- which would contain the Facehugger that would birth the next Queen- for future hunts. The Queen was such a challenge, groups of Yautja were sent to fight her as a whole. In hives where the Queen was still fairly young and healthy, she would be merely subdued and placed in hibernation instead.

One month was all she had until then, and she needed to be as prepared as can be. The Yautja didn't think highly of any form of weakness. They wouldn't stay to the code of "no man left behind" as her human comrades might. If she fell behind or become too injured, Nina knew she would be left alone to face whatever horrors came to bring forth her death until the last of the Kiande Amedha were finished. Even then, she might be killed by her allies for her failure.

And so, failure was not an option.

"Are you sure about this? You'll have your mask, so it's not really necessary," said Sain'ja. The two stood inside of the clan's kehrites, training halls. Each held a basic, training staff in their hands.

"I'm sure. If those things like hiding in the darkness, then I can't rely on my eyes alone," replied Nina as she finished fastening a makeshift blindfold around her eyes. She also wore weights around her shoulders to prepare her for when she would receive a plasma caster. "There's no telling where they'll come from either."

"Alright," he said with a sigh, "but don't yell at me when you can barely feel your arms and legs in the morning."

Nina smirked and braced herself, "Don't hold back." She heard a quick, sudden swoop and all too late lifted her staff to block where she thought the attack was coming from. Sain'ja's staff slammed against her stomach enough to send her staggering back by a few yards and make her wrap one arm around her abdomen in reaction.

"I won't."

It wasn't so much practice as it was a severe beating. By the time her ears registered the sound, Nina would feel the impact of the strike half a second later. Whenever Sain'ja faked an attack in one direction and then struck somewhere else, it really threw her off. After about thirty minutes of this, Sain'ja launched a kick that sent her sprawling to the floor and began trilling loudly, finding this very entertaining.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Nina said as she finally removed her blindfold and allowed her eyes to adjust to the light.

"Sorry, but that was just plain sad," he said once he caught his breath.

"Again?"

He shook his head, "Not today. I think you've had enough of getting your butt handed to you," he trilled again, "Let's practice something else for now." He reached down a hand, lifted Nina up onto her feet, then returned his staff to a rack on the wall before leading her over to a group of thin mats. Although gymnastics were definitely not one of a Yautja's strongpoints, it helped to throw in a spinning kick or flip in the air during some fights occasionally. Dto-Raija's small frame, however, should be able to handle the flexible exertions required to make such moves. "How about a new trick? You'll run towards me and place one foot in my hands, then I'll launch you upward and as you propel yourself down, you spin and thrust your staff forward."

"Right, no problem. Piece of cake," she muttered under her breath as she stepped back. Sain'ja bent down and cupped his hands low to the ground. Once she felt she was far enough away to pick up enough speed, Nina took off at a mad dash towards him, gripping the staff in one hand and her arms pumping back and forth in rhythm to her movements.

She placed one foot in Sain'ja's massive grip and he, as good as his word, sends her flying upward. She hadn't been expecting the amount of force behind his push, and spent part of her time in the air is shock. Feeling her decent, she rapidly spun around once in the air, bending her knees is preparation for the landing and holding the staff tightly in both hands. She targeted a nearby dummy.

Rii-ip! Stuffing came out of the dummy from where the strike punctured.The staff tore right through it and out the other side as Nina slammed it through the chest, landing with her legs bent before it and gripping the staff like a vice upon landing. It was rough, but she hadn't fallen flat on her face, so that was an accomplishment.

"Pretty good," Sain'ja shrugged as he strode over to where she stood. "Your stance at the end needs a little work though." He gently rubbed one hand across her hand, purposely messing up her hair at the top. As she tried to smooth it back, he took her staff and set it aside. "Let's have you try a couple more flips before heading back home."

Unbeknownst to either of them, the Fox, Adahy, and Makya watched from the entrance to the kehrite, all three fully cloaked and just peering through the edge of the doors. They were more than interested on seeing how far Dto-Raija would come along. They even considered betting on her survival during the trial from time to time.

"Shouldn't you three be honing your own skills before the time for the journey arrives?" whispered a voice as someone tapped Adahy's shoulder gently. The turned around and jumped a little when they saw one of the Elders and Clan Leaders, Adahy's great-grandfather, standing directly behind them with a smug look on his face.

The trio immediately stood and bowed before him in respect, uncloaking as they stood away from the doors. "Yes, sir. Our deepest apologies. We were just curious of how our Ooman companion was faring during training," Fox managed to quirk up, his voice rushed.

With a slight chuckle, the Elder sent Fox and Makya away down farther to another kehrite, but requested Adahy's company in a friendly sparring match. He head his grandson's friends snicker a bit as they left, knowing 'friendly sparring match' meant Adahy was in a little trouble. The Elder figured he might as well show him a small lesson in snooping around. He didn't do the same for the other two because they weren't his students or descendants, but no matter. They wouldn't find it too funny when he mentioned this to their training masters.

As Adahy began to enter a third nearby kehrite, his head slightly ducked down in submission to what was coming, the Elder shut the doors silently and followed. Although he stayed true to his own rule on spying, he couldn't help but curiously wonder about the human female that was in their company as well.

It wasn't so much of a shock to him when she returned to the settlement with Sain'ja. Within the final two weeks before being sent back to the human planet- Earth, she had called it- he had noticed very slightly an ever changing pattern within her. She was very much able to adjust and befriend the other Yautja, making even some of those who were racist reconsider their thoughts and feelings.

She had earned the near sympathy from the females of the clan, looking at them in awe and admiration from the facts that they were considered forces not to be reckoned with by the opposite gender and were highly respected as fighters. It was true; any attempt at harming a Yautja female- especially one who had fully matured- usually resulted in the male's utter death. It was practically made a silent rule to never anger a woman. How women were seen in human society…that remained a mystery. Probably because Kota and Halian didn't want to mention it in fear of being throttled and Dto-Raija didn't speak of it due to embarrassment. After many years of hunting humans and seeing their behaviors though, it was clear to the Elder that the soft meat males were usually dominant in strength, and sometimes arrogant about it.

The two weeks came and passed, and still Dto-Raija continued to pass off his offer on her staying. However, a look in her eyes hinted of being torn between the two choices. When she did leave, she said her goodbyes as with an impassive expression, but when she bordered the ship, he couldn't help but notice what appeared to be a small amount of sadness on her face. She hadn't looked back. She didn't say anything else. She had just walked off, fists clenched and her eyes kept on the other humans that had lived. They themselves were more than eager to go home, despite whatever companionships they might have made here.

A month passed, then another. Life went back to normal for the Jungle Hunter Clan. Well, almost normal save the activity of their rivals increased some. Adahy, Sain'ja, and the other two were practicing with a lustful passion as their own Kiande Amedha Chivas neared- sooner than planned actually because of their skill shown against the Bad-Bloods. It was also decided they would go as a group of four since they seemed to battle well as a team. With that settled, the Elders own thoughts revolved sometimes to the human girl and, more specifically, a unique skill she claimed to have inherited from her passed father.

A retired hunter for the most part, set in the comforts he had placed himself in due to climbing up in rank, the Elder had plenty of time to dwell on it after everything was resolved. There wasn't much information of the human species about the girl's ability, save for it was a rare, almost spiritual trait. Members of their species that had it usually came from cultures that were less civilized- by soft meat standards- and that had practically bonded with the natural world around them. Dto-Raija would prove an even better ally then if she was telling the truth, and what they might be able to learn about this trait through her might also assist the Yautja on other hunts for humans. However, to be of any help, she needed to be observed. To get that to happen, she would need to come back, and only willingly at that; they couldn't harm Dto-Raija due to being given near immunity. They couldn't force her either or she wouldn't have anything to do with them save to fight her way to the jungles in escape.

The Elder first spoke with the Yautja Stalker that had had the order to bring the adolescent humans to this planet in the beginning. He needed to know as much about the girl as possible in order to find some way to convince her to return. The Stalker had claimed he had first taken notice of her during a human practice course, and that she had also noticed him for a brief moment before falling off of a wall that she had been climbing. She had gotten up almost as quickly as she landed and began the ascent again.

The Elder noted her traits; Determination, stubbornness, will power.

The Stalker explained how he watched her and another human male fight, how she had left to be on her own and tolerate what could have been pretty bad injuries. Then he said he had watched her sit in some human resting chamber, practically stewing in her anger and fiddling with a necklace, which only could have been the jewelry of her father's.

Loner, proud of her predecessors.

He further described her capture. He had caught both a male and female and hid their unconscious forms from view as he spotted her peer through a glass window and get down from her resting place on a double bed. If she heard the noise from his stun cannon, others might have too. The Stalker had been a little caught off guard when he saw he leave only to head toward his direction from another part of the structure.

Brave, curious.

He had waited, just enough for her to come into view. When she had, he aimed his actual plasma caster at her, right on her forehead, to try to scare Dto-Raija. The human female had looked up, still gripping her light stick tightly and saw him. What was most shocking of all; she didn't run, or cry, or scream, or beg. She had stared at him with a type of venom only those who were ready to die could give off. She too, had fallen from a stun shot in the end.

Strong-minded, valiant, unafraid of death.

The last trait had almost unnerved the Elder, who had grown to know enough about human ways to understand they never normally gave up life easily, clinging to it with every ounce of strength in possession unless it was for some righteous sacrifice in their eyes. For her, of all humans, to just stand solid and take a shot…it was nearly unthinkable.

But then again, humans also took their own lives at times. The Elder knew that would never be the case for Dto-Raija. Still, after Sain'ja's full report on his meeting and befriending her, including how the God of Death had almost claimed her, with wounds her fiery spirit could've at least tried to brush off…

Maybe she was unafraid of death, because life had graced her with grief… It had left barely anything for her to hold on to. Although she was strong emotionally, she was still undeniably human, and humans could often be very affectionate and sentimental beings once they found someone whose life has intertwined with theirs in a mutually positive manner. How many of the ones she cared for had died and left her? How many lives had slipped through her begging grasp, enough lives for a sense of pointlessness and eternal mourning to overcome her? He didn't know.

Eventually, after learning more about Dto-Raija from each point of view of the Yautja that knew her the best over the short period of time, he had called Sain'ja to speak with him alone. His orders to him were elegantly simple and the young warrior was willing to follow them; visit Earth when he had free time on his hands, record the human female's progress and lifestyle, and report back to him.

It had taken a while, but the Elder had found out about her struggle to join in among the ranks of some of the higher human warriors due to her gender. This, added to the information they already knew about her personality, was enough to suffice, enough to hopefully talk her into leaving her world for theirs. They bid their time, waiting for the right moment when her morale of succeeding in her plans greatly wavered, and then Sain'ja was once more sent to Earth, only that time, for the task of retrieving her.

What could they learn from the female about her kind? If she taught them anything, would it merely fall on deaf ears? The Elder would be vigilant of her behaviors, habits, and reactions.

He smirked when, for a second, this might all wind up being for nothing. After all, Dto-Raija was no ordinary human.

Night had fallen. The planet's moon that was so close to the atmosphere lit up the darkened sky brilliantly. However, that was not the light that stirred Sain'ja during his sleep. He blinked his eyes open and saw a dim light coming from the door and hallway. She's still up? Sain'ja thought as he pushed himself off of his bed and headed to the parlor of his home. After hours of training and a quick meal, he had gone to bed and left Dto-Raija to study some more on her future prey for the trial.

That night's fire still glowed brightly, warm and welcoming, in the pit, the technology that allowed it to burn for so long having not been switched off yet. He found her passed out, documents spread across the floor near her, and a datapad still clutched in her hands. Her breathing was soft and shallow. She had fallen asleep in the middle of studying.

He shook his head, but decided against disturbing her slumber. She had trained hard today, more than likely to try to make up for her awful attempt at fighting without her sight. He put out the fire and tossed a fur over her, then went right back to bed. Best to get some rest.

They would continue training tomorrow.