Guan opened the door to the crèche that was now the ooman's room and tilted her head in confusion when she didn't see the little female. She looked around carefully and noted the details about the room. There was the sunken fur lined sleeping nest in the center, the pile of stuffed toys in the far corner, and then there were the other toys that were somewhat scattered around the floor. There wasn't an ooman pup in sight though.
"Pauk! She's run off again!" Setg'in exclaimed angrily after taking a glance into the room before he stormed off to look through the rest of the home.
Guan had turned her head to watch him go when she saw Bakuub slip past her into the room. She watched curiously as the large Yaut Hound walked straight over to the large pile of toys in the corner and began sniffing heavily. She wasn't sure what it was that had caught her attention about the pile, but she quickly donned her mask and cycled through the various visual modes until she saw what she thought was a pair of eyes that looked out of place. Her suspicion was confirmed when the ooman pup moved out from under the pile of toys and pushed at Bakuub to keep the Yaut Hound from licking her face. 'That is an excellent way for a pup to hide! I'll have to remember that little stunt in the future.' She thought with a laugh.
"Come Little One, it's time for the morning meal." Guan said as she beckoned the pup over to her.
Lilith was still more than half asleep, and yawned groggily as she followed Gwen to the kitchen and stood there while the Predator began making breakfast.
Guan was busily heating the broth, mashed grains, and meats for the morning meal when she felt something against her leg. Looking down, she saw that the ooman was literally asleep on her feet! 'Good! She must feel some measure of safety here if she can sleep like that.' Guan thought happily. 'I wonder why she was hiding though. The real question is… what was she hiding from?'
When she had finished preparing the meal, Guan guided the pup to the table, and noticed in surprise that the pup barely opened her eyes every few steps. She knew the room had a lower temperature after the chill of night had seeped through the walls, and that she only knew her way around because of many years of familiarity with her home. But this ooman pup had no such familiarity, so how was the little thing able to find her way around so well? That was when she recalled that ooman sight was drastically different from that of a Yautja, and figured that must have something to do with it. The pup didn't even open her eyes when she placed the Little One in the elevated chair, and smiled at just how similar the oomans actions were to those of a Yautja pup that had been awakened early.
"Here Little One… drink this. It will help you wake up." Guan said as she placed the pup's hands around a cup of hot meat broth.
"There she is! Where did you find her?" Setg'in exclaimed as he sat down at his accustomed place to his mother's right while she sat at one end of the table.
"In her room… where she was supposed to be. You simply didn't observe your surroundings carefully enough. That is the kind of mistake an unblooded warrior would make. You need to be more observant in the future. Had she been an enemy, she could easily have ambushed you." Guan chided lightly as she taught her son a valuable hunting lesson.
"But I looked! You looked! The room was empty… we both saw that!" Setg'in protested.
"The room merely appeared to be empty! She was in there the entire time and sleeping quite soundly, as she was supposed to." Guan replied calmly.
Looking over at the ooman, Setg'in pulled back warily. He had grown very familiar with that displeased expression on the pup's face during the past two days. He noticed that his brother Hulij-bpe was wearing his knife in its normal place on his right side, which was well within the ooman's reach. He knew very well how disobedient and stubbornly willful the pup could be, and made sure to stay out of the pup's reach while she was in such a foul mood.
"Little One isn't awake yet is she?" Kwei asked with a chuckle as he sat down at the far end of the table.
"I don't think she is Elder. I think she's gone completely back to sleep!" Hulij-bpe said as he watched the pup curiously.
"She must know how to eat in her sleep then, because she's drinking that broth just fine from what I can see." Nihkou'te snickered.
Lilith lowered the cup of hot broth from her mouth and yawned widely as she opened her eyes to see what she was drinking. It was sort of like beef broth, but it tasted almost like a mix of beef and chicken. She didn't know what it was, but it still tasted pretty good. Still partly asleep, she ate in a near zombie like state, until her sleep fogged mind registered that she was at a table with others who could easily take the food away from her. Instantly, her mind surged into full alertness, and she began eating at a more rapid pace while watching the Predators carefully.
"Easy Little One! You weren't eating like that a moment ago, and no one was bothering you, so why do you feel the need to eat so fast now?" Hulij-bpe asked as he put his spoon on the table and looked down at the ooman pup.
Lilith focused a bleary eyed glare at Celtic and stuck her tongue out at him. She wasn't quite awake yet, and she didn't feel like being messed with until she was.
Hulij-bpe's mandibles twitched in annoyance at the face being made at him. Then he got the idea of returning the gesture. 'Let's see howshelikes those faces being made at her! If she can do it to me, then I can do it back!' He thought irritably.
Lilith looked up to her left when Celtic grunted at her and nearly choked at what she saw. All four of those tusk things were sticking out in every which direction, his mouth was open and his long slightly forked tongue was sticking straight out at her!
Guan looked at the pup in concern as she started making strange, almost choked noises while setting her cup on the table. Suddenly the ooman pup was laughing loudly while point straight up at Hulij-bpe. Guan glanced at her son, and couldn't stop her own snort of laughter at the ridiculous expression on her son's face.
"Give it up, Brother. She is much better at that than you are!" Setg'in smirked.
"Well what else am I supposed to do?" Hulij-bpe demanded sullenly.
"Try something she can't." Setg'in suggested with a smug set to his mandibles.
Hulij-bpe's mandibles twitched as he thought about how to react to the ooman who was now laughing at him. He knew that he didn't have the same kind of mouth as the pup, and that was the problem. Then he got an idea.
Lilith was still snickering when she looked up at Celtic who had tapped her on the shoulder. Her eyes just about bilged out of her head, and she stopped laughing when she saw those weird looking dreadlocks start sticking out to the sides and all four of those tusk things stuck out at the same time. Then Celtic opened his mouth and roared about as loud as she thought a lion would be. Lilith clapped her hands over her ears to help block out the really loud noise, and as soon as it stopped, she glared up at the huge Predator and gave him a long and loud raspberry! She kept it up for as long as she could until she ran out of breath. Then acting as if nothing had happened, Lilith calmly picked up her cup and started drinking the broth.
"I don't think she was impressed!" Nihkou'te said as he started laughing.
Hulij-bpe huffed angrily. 'How am I supposed to respond to this pup, when she isn't intimidated by such a threatening display? Wait! If she wants to make weird faces, then I can make weird faces at her!' Hulij-bpe thought with a grin. Then he opened his mouth, tucked all four of his mandibles inside, and stuck his tongue out as far as it would go. Then he reached out and tapped the pup's shoulder again.
Lilith glanced up at Celtic skeptically. She was sure that he was going to make another one of those loud roars again, but she was not ready to see the look on his face. 'That's his… tongue! It's just… out there! How can it be that long? And how does he keep from biting it or cutting it on those teeth?' Lilith wondered as she gaped at the Predator sitting beside her.
"Stop it, both of you! I will not have disgusting faces or noises made at the table while I'm trying to eat! If the two of you are going to do that, then you can both go outside so I don't have to see or hear it! Is that understood?" Guan demanded firmly with her dreadlocks now sticking out from the roots.
"Yes, Mother." Hulij-bpe said quietly as he lowered his head.
Lilith looked over at Guan and saw the dreadlocks sticking out more than they usually did. 'So that must be what they look like when they really get mad.' A quick glance at Celtic showed her that he still had his head bowed a little, and that made her realize that Gwen was serious about this. Suddenly, she realized that she'd been starting to have some fun like she'd never been stuck down in the basement, and she knew that this wasn't going to work out. There was no way that she could let herself start liking these Predators because then she would only feel worse when they started hating her. Then, not wanting a beating, Lilith lowered her head nervously and nodded.
The scent of fear that began rising from the ooman pup had everyone else at the table looking at her. Three of the males were looking in confusion, while Setg'in began appraising the ooman pup in a shrewd manner. He wasn't certain just what it was, but something had clicked in his mind that told him the ooman was for some reason terrified of someone in a position of actual authority.
When she caught the smell of fear from the pup, Guan knew that she'd made herself perfectly understood. She was about to let the matter rest, when she noticed a subtle move on her right. A slight signal from her youngest son made her look at the pup more closely. Then, she was reviewing everything that had occurred between her and the pup. It was true that there were several times that the ooman had been not simply stubborn, but once even violent in her defiance of instructions. Then there was this particular instance. She knew that she had directed a somewhat threatening display towards the pup, but then so had Hulij-bpe. The only difference that she could see was that this time there was someone else also responding to the display of anger.
"Eat your food Little One." Guan instructed in a much milder tone.
Guan saw the ooman pup watching her while cautiously retrieving a small piece of meat from her plate. The fearful and apprehensive behavior from the pup wasn't quite timid, but she knew that the response was caused by something in the pup's past. Even though she knew that there was no way that it could have been remotely enjoyed by the pup, she still couldn't help but wonder what the ooman's past held.
Setg'in surreptitiously studied the ooman female while she ate. He knew from first hand experience that she wasn't stupid, and she certainly wasn't a coward either. He had seen that she would face certain death without any hesitation or fear, but then, when possible punishment was at hand, the pup became almost terrified.
'No daddyplease! Please stop! I'll do anything! I'll leave and never come back…anything… please! Just… just please don't hit me anymore,please!'Those words that had been frantically screamed by the ooman pup while she was still asleep suddenly reverberated in his mind. It took every last bit of effort the Young Warrior had not to gape at the pup as he made that one horrifying realization. He hadn't thought about those words since he'd read that translation, but now they held an entirely new meaning to him. Suddenly, with a clarity that was startling in its intensity, Setg'in had avery good idea of who it was that had made this pup so fearful of adults or anyone else in a position of authority.
Setg'in didn't want to believe what he now suspected was true. The very idea that someone could do such things to their own pup was impossible for him to believe. He knew the little female had been subjected to truly vile treatment from what had to have been Bad Bloods, but now, he could only pray that such things had not been done by the pup's own sire.
Setg'in remained quiet while his two brothers made their hunting plans for the day. He had something else that he planned to do instead. The pup's past presented a mystery to him, and one that he wanted to solve. The only way that he could solve the mystery was by being with the ooman pup so he could observe her. It was true that the pup had shown some mild disrespect to him, but when he really thought about it, the strange and even comical faces hadn't actually been all that disrespectful. It was more that the pup was… well… acting like a pup! What bothered him about the whole thing was how the pup had been so quick to show such disrespect to an unknown adult. The more he thought about it, the more he had to ask himself… why? Then… he realized the answer! The horrendous treatment the pup had endured must have been delivered by adults! If that was true, then the little pup sitting across the table from him might believe that all adults would behave so dishonorably! In order to show her the error of such ideas, Setg'in knew that she would need to be shown that such things were wrong, and he knew that he was just the Warrior who could do it!
Guan held the ooman pup so that the Little One was resting while propped on her hip. Bracing the ooman with her left hand, she maintained a strong steady pace as she made her way to Paya's Medical Center for Healing. She knew that she was very fortunate indeed to be friends with three of the top four best healers of the most renowned healing center on the planet. Add in the fact that all three had met the little ooman, and that all three of them had agreed to help with treatment for the ooman pup, and it added up to a very good outlook for the ooman pup's future.
Guan just had to give the ooman credit for trying; after all, the pup had succeeded in walking almost half of the distance to the Medical Center before needing to be carried. She was no longer trying to use such treatment as a means of forcing the pup to speak, because as humiliating as it was, the little pup just didn't have the endurance to avoid being carried. Guan knew that if she were somehow placed in a similar situation, that she would fight tusk, and claw to avoid being carried around like a suckling. The ooman in her grasp couldn't do that simply because she didn't have the strength. She knew that being forced to make such an admission had been seriously damaging to the Little One's pride, and that was something she didn't want.
A glance down at the pup cradled against her left side showed that the little female who was just under half her height was looking around with curious intent. Guan also saw Setg'in following them while watching the pup curiously. She fully approved of his stated reason for remaining with the pup today, since he'd said that he wanted to remove the animosity between them, and try to gain the pup's friendship. She only hoped that he would be able to succeed.
As she looked around, Lilith could see a lot of the pyramid looking buildings scattered everywhere. But there was one in the distance that was positively huge! All of the buildings she'd seen so far had two and three floors, but that one must have close to ten or more. She couldn't really tell how far away it was, but from where she was sitting, it looked even bigger than the ones in the pictures of the Great Pyramids.
As Gwen kept walking, Lilith soon saw that they were heading straight for the huge pyramid. There were quite a few Predators walking in and out of the huge building, and several of them stopped and stared at her. She looked back at them curiously, and saw several of what she thought were dirty looks, but she couldn't be sure. Lilith started to give them her favorite single finger salute, but before she could, she was frozen solid by a deep menacing growl coming from Gwen.
Guan saw the angry, threatening expressions that were directed at the ooman pup she was holding on her side. She came to a halt and angled her body so that she would catch the attention of those who had been giving the pup threatening looks. What those Hunters saw when they looked her in the face were flared dreadlocks, narrowed eyes, and spread mandibles that bared her teeth. The distinctive growl that couldn't be matched by any male rumbled in her chest, and grew so strong and powerful that several of the males and even two females took a step back even though none of them were very close.
Setg'in froze in mid step when he heard his mother emitting the one sound that almost always struck fear into the heart of every Yautja who heard it. It was thevery distinctive growl of a female preparing to violently defend a pup! Although he had never witnessed such a thing, he had heard about it many times. At more than a head taller than a male in height, over two hundred ooman pounds heavier, and nearly twice the strength of a male, a Yautja female defending a pup was wellknown to be the single most dangerous thing ever seen outside of a hive! It was a well established fact that if a female thought her pup was in danger, she would become so enraged that her already great strength and speed would easily double.
Setg'in knew the old story of a Bad Blood who had entered a home intending to kill all of those inside. Things had apparently gone well for the Bad Blood until the lone pup had screamed in fear. The pup's mother, and barely Blooded older sister had been so deep into the rage that they had even mutilated one of the heavily armored Arbitrators who had foolishly tried to calm the two. In the end, it had supposedly taken more than four moons to completely remove the remains of the Bad Blood. The whispered tales were so gruesome, that even battle hardened Elders shuddered at the thought of inadvertently provoking the dangerous response known only as 'Bearer's Rage'.
Not wanting to be a potential target for his mothers anger, Setg'in took a few cautious steps back to show that he was not a threat to the little ooman. He was taking his fourth step backwards when his mother stopped her terrifying growl. Looking around, he saw that everyone had suddenly found another place to be, and had left in a hurry. He really couldn't blame them, because if he hadn't been as close as he was, he knew that he would run and prayed that he didn't become the focus for such legendary wrath.
Being as close as she was, Lilith knew that Gwen was mad, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Then, all of the Predators who'd been staring at her were leaving, and fast! She thought that it was probably because of the way Gwen was growling. She wanted to leave too, but Gwen was the one holding her, and she already knew that Gwen was a lot stronger than she was. Then, when most of the Predators had left, Gwen started walking and headed straight into the huge pyramid building.
Guan walked though the medical center at a determined pace. She kept her dreadlocks flared and her eyes narrowed in silent warning to those she encountered as she walked to her destination. She was still highly irritated when she finally entered the collection of rooms that her friend Than-guan used for a refreshment lounge, office, laboratory, and operating room.
"Than! Are you in here?" Guan demanded in a near bellow after the door to the lounge slid closed behind her son who had followed quietly.
Than-guan came out of her office hurriedly to see what the yelling was about, and stopped when she spotted her friend in an obvious state of anger. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"
"Not unless you count the fact the several Yautja near the entrance to this center were appraising Little One's th'syra (skull) for their collection!" Guan retorted angrily.
Than-guan stopped in her tracks as she looked at the small ooman female still straddling her friend's hip. She studied the pup speculatively for a moment while her mind raced in an effort to come up with an idea to prevent that from happening again.
"I know that she can't be marked without passing a Chiva, but what if she wears the symbol of our family line as some sort of covering or something? It's not a skull, so it wouldn't be like a trophy, but it would still mark her as belonging to our family… wouldn't it?" Setg'in asked curiously.
Both females quickly turned to fix the Youngblood with a hard look. Guan-kv'var-de wasn't quite certain that she'd heard her son correctly. She was about to ask him to explain when Than-guan spoke up.
"I can't think of any reason why that wouldn't work. As long as it's definitely not a Blooding mark, and simply something to identify which family she belongs to, then no one could form any compliant with merit. That's an excellent idea Setg'in." Than-guan approved.
Guan turned her head to give a speculative look at the ooman she was holding at her side. 'Setg'in's right. That should work perfectly.'
"Than's right, Setg'in. It is a good idea. I want you to think of a way for her to wear our symbol so that it will be easily seen, and quickly recognized by others. For now though, she's going to be in another room to receive some medical treatment, which will most likely take a while. Do you plan to wait for us?" Guan said as she looked over at her son.
"The wait should give me plenty of time to think up something the pup might at least tolerate."
Lilith hadn't paid any real attention to the conversation that was going on, because she was looking at everything around her.'Haven't they ever heard of paint?' She wondered as she kept seeing the same drab colors everywhere. All the cloth on the furniture was the same dull gray, and every wall she had seen was the same dark tan color. It was weird, because there were no paintings, pictures, or posters anywhere. The only colors that she saw besides the tan stone and grey cloth were the different colors of the Predators skin, or the plants and sky. It was something that bugged her more than a little, and she had no idea why all the colors were the same.
When Gwen started following Thing-One, while Scar sat down in a big stuffed chair, Lilith realized that she had missed whatever had been said between them. Then Gwen was sitting her down on a large metal bed in a strange room. Looking around, she was reminded of some of the TV shows she'd watched before getting locked away in the basement. There were a lot of different things in this room, and some of it looked like it belonged on the Enterprise-D from Star Trek, and other stuff looked like it had been snatched right out of Frankenstein's lab. Then, the door slid back open and Thingy, walked in with Thing-Two right behind her.
Thingy walked straight up to where Lilith was sitting and grabbed her left shoulder and gently gave it a light shake, before nodding her head with a soft purr. Lilith wasn't too happy to hear that sound, and just as she started to do something to interrupt Thingy, she remembered what Gwen had told her about that weird purring. She wasn't pleased with hearing that sound, because she knew that it would make her feel better whether she wanted to or not. The other thing she remembered about it was that it was something all of these Predators would do, and that she was supposed to put up with it.
With a silent huff of irritation, Lilith crossed her arms over her chest and stubbornly tried to be angry about everything. In less than a few minutes, she had lost her frown because it was really hard to stay angry about something with that sound being made right beside her. Then her attention was drawn to Gwen as the Predator woman spoke to her.
"I need you to remove your clothing Little One. Than-guan and her sisters are going to be treating your arms and legs today. They won't be able to work while you wear that clothing, and they don't want to have to cut through it either, so you need to remove it." Guan said lightly.
Yeyinde was standing right next to the ooman pup, and she easily detected the scents of intense stress and even some fear as the small female began to comply with the request. She intensified the strength of her purr in an effort to calm the pup, and while it did seem to help some, it wasn't much.
When Lilith was finally undressed and sitting naked on the big metal bed, she was at least grateful that she wasn't cold from the bed or the room. Then, Thing-One handed her a weird looking bowl style cup that was full of some pink stuff, and she was told to drink it. She eyed the cup warily, and shot a doubt filled look at Thing-One before she took a small hesitant sip of the stuff.
Lilith licked her lips and smacked a couple of times after that first sip. The stuff was tart and sweet at the same time. It was sort of like pink lemonade, but didn't quite taste the same, even though it was still pretty good.
Four sets of mandibles flared while the jaws behind those same mandibles dropped open in complete surprise. The state of shock that the Yautja females were in, only got worse when the ooman pup held out the cup and apparently wanted more of the draught that she'd just been given.
"How the pauk can she like that? No one likes that stuff!" Than-guan-thwei said in surprise.
"I know! Everyone is disgusted at how that tastes, so why does she like it?" Yeyinde asked disgustedly.
"I don't know… but I think she seems to want some more." Guan said as she looked at the pup curiously. "Would you like some water… or do you want more of that?" She asked pointing at the cup.
Lilith pointed at the cup enthusiastically and smiled hopefully. It certainly wasn't pink lemonade, but it did taste pretty close, and it was actually very good. She really wanted some more of whatever that stuff was.
Than-guan took the cup from the pup and after looking at her sister Yeyinde for confirmation, filled it only part way with a little more of the draught, she knew that it would make the little female sleep through the next several hours, but she was not going to risk any type of overdose with the pup.
Lilith gulped the contents of the second cup down as soon as it was handed to her. It was the first time since she'd been locked in the basement that she'd had anything except water, and she loved it. She looked up at Gwen and held out the cup again, hoping for a little more, but the Predator only shook her head and set the cup on a table against the wall. Lilith frowned slightly, because she did want more of that stuff, but then she realized that she felt a little strange. Her arms felt very heavy, and she was quickly getting light headed. That was when she knew that there was something in that stuff that had made her sleepy. She wondered what these Predators were going to do to her while she wasn't able to do anything to stop them.
Yeyinde reached out and braced the now wobbly pup, and gently eased her down in to a lying position on the table. She knew that the little ooman was still awake, but almost unable to move, and that apparently frightened the ooman, because she could smell the fear rising from the pup.
"Just relax Little One. You are safe, and nothing will harm you here. Neither I, nor any of us will allow anything to hurt you. That was a sleeping draught, and it will let you sleep peacefully now. I will still be here when you wake up, so nothing will happen to you." Yeyinde said as she began purring softly but powerfully at the same time.
No matter how hard she fought it, Lilith could not keep her eyes open. Then, even after her eyes were closed, she fought to stay awake and alert, but it was no use. What ever had been in that drink was just too strong for her to resist, and in moments, she was lulled into a sound sleep by a combination of the draught, and Thingy's soft purring.