The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
They woke up the next day feeling quite refreshed. The pair fell asleep shortly after another round of making love the night before. Initially they haven't planned in doing so, they went to bed with the intention of going to sleep.
Aurora noticed though she's been extra horny as of late and doesn't know why. Not that Air'ik minded in the least.
They also got a call at some point last night after dinner from Air'ik's father. He informed them that he went to speak with Prit'zu and the healer informed him that he could see them the next day.
Prit'zu kept a lot of detailed records of Zin'tou's work. This included the formula for the procedure to extend one's life. Though it was hardly a formula and more or less likely just consisted of mainly yautja blood and the components it already has.
So, the couple was set to see Prit'zu later this morning.
"You slept very soundly last night. Did I wear you out that much?" Air'ik teased.
Aurora rolled her eyes, "No, hotshot. I've just been feeling a little more tired than usual these last couple days."
He took a seat next to her, "You think you might be getting sick? It's not like you to be overly tired. The only time you have expressed a little more fatigue than usual is during menstruation sometimes. Perhaps it is coming soon."
She is unsure. Perhaps it could be the case. Aurora opened her mouth to speak, when they heard the doorbell which to her sounded a little more like a short abrupt alarm than a ringing.
They gave each other a brief look, before Air'ik got up to answer the door. It couldn't be his father, he had other things he needed to get done this morning.
The door slid open to reveal a very familiar older female with a beaming smile on her face.
"Aunt Cora, this is a surprise. Normally you would let me know ahead of time that you're stopping by." Air'ik said, as he let her in.
"Apologies, nephew. I've been quite busy as of late with some of my grandpups. It's why I couldn't come by yesterday to greet you upon your return. And sorry for not contacting you sooner.
But your father had told me the great news that you have finally found a mate and an ooman one at that. Naturally, I just had to find the time to squeeze in and come and meet her." His aunt said, with excitement.
Aurora watched as the two exchanged words in their language. She could clearly see this new yautja was female. But she looked different from the rest.
For one, just about all the adult females towered over the males. Yet this one was actually several inches shorter than Air'ik. If he is 7' 4in, this female looked like she only topped out at 6' 4- 6' 5in.
Her features somehow seemed smaller and a bit more delicate looking too.
Air'ik gestured to the right with his head. And that's when the female turned her attention to Aurora, who was still sitting on the couch.
She chittered happily and made her way over.
"Hello dear, I'm Cora, Air'ik's aunt. You are Aurora, yes? My brother has told me quite a bit about you." She told the young woman.
Aurora smiled, so this was My'hai-da's sister and Air'ik's aunt. Air'ik told her how much of a sweetheart the woman was. And so far, she seems to be living up to it.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Air'ik has told me a lot about you." Aurora replied, as she stood up.
She reached out and up to shake the taller woman's shoulder. But Cora put her up her hand to signal that there will be none of that. And instead wrapped her arms around the petite human woman and pulled her in for a hug.
"There will be none of that. We are family here. I believe hugs are in order." Cora said, as she embraced her.
Aurora's smile widened; she really was beginning to like the lady. Whom she gladly returned the hug.
"I certainly have no problem with hugs." Aurora lightly teased.
After a few moments, the taller female took a small step back to get a better look at the ooman female.
She sure was a tiny thing. But Cora could tell she could probably be a tough cookie when she wanted to be. It made her think of her own mother. She was rather small herself, but still could be quite as fierce as any yautja warrior.
"You're certainly quite a beauty. And seem quite strong. I also see Air'ik has marked your cheek with one of our symbols signifying your successful hunt. That is great to know.
I've only just seen the recordings of yours and Air'ik's latest hunt on Earth earlier before I came here. It was quite impressive to say the least." Cora complimented.
A light blush tinged the human woman's cheeks.
"Thank you." She said, barely above a whisper.
Cora trilled a little at her reaction.
"For a warrior, you're quite the shy one. It's cute though. You remind me of my youngest daughter, Mes'ii. She too is a bit on the shy side. But it certainly doesn't seem to make her or you any less the fierce huntresses that you are." The female yautja said.
"So, I take it father has told you everything he could think of about Aurora." Air'ik piped in.
Cora nodded, "He did, your uncle also filled me in on the small meeting he and the other Elders had with her, you, and My'hai-da."
Air'ik grunted, figures his uncle would share his two scents about Aurora.
"Wait, what? Your uncle was at the meeting? Are you saying he was one of the other Elders?" Aurora asked, clearly surprised.
Cora chittered in amusement.
"Of course, Elder R'ka is my mate and Air'ik's uncle. He spoke briefly with you from what he told me. But he mainly said he was quite impressed with how you handled the meeting and liked the answers you gave to them. Stating you had spirit and should fit in well here." The female yautja explained.
Aurora turned her attention back to Air'ik.
"Why didn't mention to me one of the Elders was related to you?" She asked.
Air'ik shrugged his shoulders, "Guess it slipped my mind." He lightly joked.
Though in truth, he didn't want her to become too lax if she knew one of the Elders was his uncle. He wanted to see how she would hold up in the meeting and hear what she had to say to them.
"I'm not all that surprised. It's just like my nephew to leave everyone in suspense about the important things. I'm sure you have already seen for yourself that he is quite the jokester.
Yeah, tha'st not an accident. It's a family trait. He gets it from his ooman grandmother. She too had an infinite flare for jokes. Always had my brother and I laughing. My father too." Cora stated.
Though Air'ik was just as surprised to hear this. His father and aunt normally described his grandmother as a fierce and brave warrior. He doesn't really recall them mentioning that she too can be a bit of a jokester or a smart ass.
"You and father never mentioned that little detail to me, aunt. You always stated she was a strong and brave warrior." Air'ik pointed out.
His aunt just shrugs, "I'm mentioning it now though. Humor is not very common among our kind. Yet it's quite common in our family. And that is all because of your ooman grandmother.
She liked to crack jokes, your father occasionally does too, and so do you. Even Ki'morah can be a bit of a smart ass at times. You all inherited that trait from her."
Air'ik snorted, and here he thought he just like to be funny because he could. Now he finds out he's like that because his grandmother was.
"Any ways, when do you plan to see Prit'zu today? Your father told me earlier this morning that you two were going to see him about the procedure to extend her life." Cora stated.
"We were thinking about seeing him a little later this morning. My'hai-da said he may meet us there a little later if he didn't get held up with his errands." Aurora explained.
"I see, that's good. You're in good hands. Prit'zu is just a talented and gifted healer and scientist just as Air'ik is a hunter and warrior. He apprenticed and worked under Zin'tou for the last 2-3 decades that Zin'tou was alive.
The old healer taught him everything he knows. And shared much of his research with him. This includes the procedure that extended my mother's life." Cora informed them.
Aurora lightly bit her lip, "Do you...recall your mom telling you if it was very painful or not?" She asked nervously.
Cora gave her a small reassuring smile.
"From what I heard; it wasn't that bad. It was akin to having a simple blood transfusion of sorts. She felt a little out of it for the next few days or so. But the symptoms weren't too drastic.
Mother mainly felt lightheaded and had some on and off bouts of nausea. But nothing too serious. And after a few days, she felt better again." She assured Aurora.
The young woman let out a small sigh of relief.
Then Aurora recalled another question she wants to ask the older yautja woman.
"Did you and Air'ik's father need to go through with the procedure too since your both half breeds?" Aurora asked.
Cora shook her head, "No, they found with us that yautja traits and genes are very dominant. While My'hai-da and I were closely monitored as we grew up, they soon noticed we aged at a similar rate to yautjas rather than oomans.
There really was no in between, we definitely aged like pure blood yautjas. And we're still going strong."
"How old are you and My'hai-da then? If you don't mind me asking." Aurora inquired.
"I am currently 222yrs. old. And My'hai-da is two years older than I at 224yrs. old. In ooman years, we're around 52-55yrs. of age. And in case Air'ik hasn't mentioned it to yet or perhaps he has. He is 153yrs. old. Or around 35 in ooman years." Cora told her.
"Yeah, he told me not too long after he took me aboard his ship. Still blows my mind at hearing the actual numbers though. Even more so when he told me that his kind can easily live to be around 300 years old.
For a good while there, I kept teasing him and calling him an old man." Aurora joked.
Cora trilled in amusement at that last remark while Air'ik rolled his eyes and grumbled.
"And as I told you. I'm still considered very young among my kind. And not much older than you in ooman years. You have just seen older males past their prime just yesterday though. And those were the Elders.
They all range around the 240–265-year mark in yautja years. Elder Luien'zah is the oldest by far though. He is 288yrs. old. Don't let his age fool you though. He can still be quite the formidable fighter when he wants to be." Air'ik stated.
He grew up watching the older experienced warriors fight during countless Jehdin Jehdin fights. And knew that despite their age, the Elders were not yautja to take lightly in a fight.
They have put many young and cocky fighters in their place. For many, it was quite a painful lesson in pride and humility. But at least they came out learning from their experience and eventually went on to be better hunters with more discipline and patience to show for it.
Air'ik too had the priviledge of training and sparring with a couple of the Elders himself. Mainly his uncle Elder R'ka and sometimes Elder Luien'zah. A couple times even Elder Shun'tu sparred with him in his youth.
And not one of them took it easy on Air'ik either. There were quite a few trips to the med room with broken bones. But that was the norm in sparring and training.
As you get older and gain more experience, the injuries become a little less severe over time. The training he had with the older experienced warriors definitely had the effect he needed.
It wasn't long after, that young Air'ik sent a great deal of his opponents to the med rooms.
His small trip down memory lane was disrupted when his aunt spoke again.
"You know, I'm not sure what it is. But you seem to have a bit of a healthy glow to you, dear. I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Though it is something I know I've seen before." Cora said, as she closely studied the young woman before her.
It was at the back of the older woman's mind. And she was almost certain to know what it was.
"Really? Funny you mention that. Since, I've been feeling a little more fatigue than usual the last couple days. It's not very prominent and still quite minute, but it's there." Aurora replied.
Cora lightly cocks her head to the side.
"Fatigue you say? Anything else beside that?" The female yautja asks.
Aurora shook her head.
"Not really. Just that." She said.
Cora nodded, "Well, not to worry. You'll be seeing Prit'zu in a little bit. And before he can proceed with the procedure, he needs to run a full body scan on you to check your health. That's typical for any procedure and checking overall health and vitals on an individual. If there is anything wrong, though I doubt there really is, he'll find the cause."
"Speaking of, we should probably get going. This conversation dragged on a lot longer than we thought. Because it's about that time we were going to head out to see Prit'zu at his lab." Air'ik chimed in.
"Well, look at that. Time really does fly when you're engaged in deep conversation with others." Cora lightly teased.
"Really? It's that time already?" Aurora inquires.
Air'ik nodded, "Yes. I'm ready when you are."
He then turns to his aunt.
"Are you going to accompany us too, aunt Cora? Or do you have engagements elsewhere?" He asks.
She shrugs, "I still have some free time. If you don't mind me coming along that is." Cora says to them both, not wanting to intrude.
"I don't mind at all. You can come if you'd like." Aurora told her.
"I don't mind either. I wanted to ask you on the way there how Ar'lo's hunt is going." He inquired.
"Last I heard, it's going well. I'll explain more on the way to Prit'zu's lab. For now, let's go." She said.
The three of them headed to the front door.
"Who's Ar'lo again? If you don't mind me asking. The name sounds familiar. I believe Air'ik mentioned them in passing a couple times while we talked on his ship."
"Ar'lo is the youngest of my pups, and only son. Well, by blood I mean. When I adopted Qu'or, he became my second son. Has Air'ik explained Qu'or's history with you?" Cora asked, as they headed out and began their trek down to the pod station.
"Yes, he told me his story. It was quite sad, but it was nice knowing he ended up with a great family in the end." Aurora told her.
"Yes, it was rather cruel that his birth mother up and rejected him when she saw he was different. But unfortunately, that is how things are in our culture.
If we feel there is something very wrong with a pup whether it be mentally or physically, it's not very uncommon for a mother to reject them.
Our culture really lives up to the whole motto of 'Only the Strong Survive'. And there is no room for weakness." Cora explained.
No matter how many times Aurora heard that by now, it still didn't sting any less. She knows that some human parents have been known to do that to children who were born with deformities and disabilities. But it wasn't nearly as common on Earth as it would be here.
Normally, human parents took their child's disabilities in strides and did everything they could to provide for them and made sure they were being well provided for.
The three continued to chat on and off as they made the twelve minute trip to Prit'zu's lab.
Until Next Time ;)