Lilith waved Gwen into her room, put the bag by the door, and grabbed both of the super long pair of pants. She held one up to her waist, and saw where she wanted them cut, but she didn't have anything to mark it with. Then she started digging through the box of colored map pencils when Gwen entered along with all three of the Thing sisters. Lilith figured that things were looking up when she found the pen. It was just a cheap blue pen, but it would do the job… if it worked. She held the pants back up to her waist and marked one pair. She wanted to see if they were too short before she marked the other pair.
Lilith took the weird pants over to Gwen who had her head tilted to one side and was watching her curiously. Knowing that she wasn't supposed to use someone else's knife or other weapons without their permission, she pointed at the big knife that was strapped to Gwen's leg.
Guan pulled her knife out when Lilith pointed at it, and then knelt down when Lilith motioned her lower. "What do you intend to do with my knife Lilith?"
Lilith dropped the pants for a second and then reached out and moved Gwen's wrist and hand so that the knife was sticking straight out with the edge turned up. Then, she reached down grabbed the pants, and folded them so that both legs were together. Once she had them ready she put the pants over the blade and started to position them to cut on the mark she'd made. That was where she made the mistake. Gwen's knife was much sharper than she thought and the pants were cut easily before she was ready.
Lilith gaped at the knife with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. That knife had cut through those pants like they were tissue paper. Lilith looked at the results and saw that the pants had been cut right below the crotch.
'Well, I wanted to make shorts out of them, except now they're really short!' Lilith thought in surprise.
Dropping the pants legs, Lilith pulled on the shorts to see if they would fit. They were just a little bit loose in the waist, but not enough to fall down or anything. They were perfect!
"I wouldn't have thought of doing that." Yeyinde said with a smile. "Now that is showing some intelligence, and ingenuity."
Guan looked at the remains of the coverings on the floor, before looking at Lilith who was smiling as she pulled her top covering down over what she was now wearing as a lower covering. She couldn't resist the curiosity that filled her mind at that point.
"Lilith… did… did you plan to do this when you first saw these leg coverings in the shop?" Guan asked curiously.
Lilith nodded her head, and started to reach down to pick up the other pair of super long pants, when she was suddenly pulled into Gwen's chest.
Guan pulled the ooman pup into an embrace with a very pleased purr. She knew that Lilith had very little to call her own, especially when it came to the type of coverings that that the little female found acceptable. The knowledge that Lilith would use her natural cunning and intelligence to improvise coverings was truly pleasing to her. It told Guan that Lilith was actually trying to make a life for herself among them, and was willing to use what she could to do that. She felt that such a thing was a vast improvement for the pup, instead of trying to end her own life and meet the Dark Hunter; she was actually making an effort to try to improve her life.
Lilith was surprised by getting a hug from the big Predator. It had been so long since she'd received such attention from anyone who cared about her, or even acted like they did, that she wasn't quite sure how to react. It was a strange situation for her, because as much as she wanted the attention, she didn't know how to handle it. She was about to just stand there and not do anything, when she remembered that she used to give the hug back, and that it felt good to do so.
Guan had been about to release the little pup, when she felt one of Lilith's arms slide up and around her back to return the embrace. Lilith wasn't returning the embrace completely, but that didn't stop her from being pleased with the tentative, almost hesitant response. She held Lilith a bit tighter for a moment while being careful to avoid the wounds on the pup's back, then she released the little female.
Once Gwen let her go, Lilith reached down and picked up the other pair of super long pants. She folded them in half at the waist, so that she could show Gwen where to cut them for her. As soon as Gwen cut the super long pants, Lilith was grinning in delight. She took the cut off shorts and the rest of the T-shirts, and put them in her closet, so that she could use them for pajamas. That was when Lilith froze as she remembered her cigarettes and lighter in her pants pocket.
Guan watched as the little ooman pup placed the coverings in her closet. Then the pup turned around and stiffened. She could smell the sudden increase in Lilith's stress, and saw an expression of near fright cross the pup's face. Then the pup bolted out of the room.
Guan and her Hunt sisters quickly followed Lilith as the pup ran straight to the bathing room. She saw the pup run straight to the chute where soiled coverings were moved into a room to be sterilized. When Lilith started to try to squirm her way into the chute, Guan stepped forward and pulled her back quickly.
"That is not a place for you to go Lilith. I put your coverings in there so they can be cleaned. You can have them back when that is done." Guan told her firmly.
Lilith wanted to tell Gwen that she'd left her cigarettes and lighter in the pocket of her pants, but didn't know how to do that with out actually talking. In desperation she looked around the room while wracking her brain as she tried to think. That was when she spotted her necklace still laying on the floor where she'd placed it. She ran over and picked it up.
"Yes, you left that in here, and I was waiting to see if you would remember leaving it. You need to have that on and visible any time you leave this house." Guan stated while slightly confused at Lilith's actions.
Lilith nodded her head and froze as she realized exactly how to make Gwen understand why she wanted her pants. She pointed to her necklace, and then pulled up her shirt. She put the necklace in the pocket of the cut off shorts. It wasn't a very deep pocket, but it was enough to hold the pendant and chain. Then she pointed to the chute where her clothes had been dropped, and pointed at the pocket where the necklace was, before pointing at the chute again.
Yeyinde tilted her head to the right as she looked at where Lilith had put the clan symbol. She stepped over to the pup and examined the spot in those strange leg coverings where the symbol had been put.
"It's like a sheath for a weapon, except… one can place many things in it. It would serve better if it were larger though." Yeyinde remarked interestedly.
"That's why she tried to get into the chute! She must have had something in those soiled leg coverings." Than-guan-thwei exclaimed as she realized what was going on.
"I would have to agree with that," Than-guan said readily, "With the way she's acting; I'm not sure it could be anything else."
Guan looked at Lilith curiously. "Did you leave something in those leg coverings?"
Lilith nodded her head emphatically.
"Come then, I'll show you were the soiled coverings are cleansed." Guan instructed as she began to lead the way.
Guan observed Lilith carefully as she led the way. She had picked up the strong increase in the stress that was contained in Lilith's scent, and she found that very disturbing. She couldn't help but wonder why Lilith was severely stressed over whatever might be in those soiled coverings… then she realized that it would have to be something Lilith had possessed prior to her arrival here. As little as the ooman had owned before this day, Guan could understand the pup's apprehension.
When Gwen showed her where her dirty clothes had gone, Lilith quickly rifled through the pockets and grabbed her cigarettes and lighter, but didn't have a pocket large enough to put them in. She turned to Gwen with a wide smile of relief, and nodded her head.
"That is what you wanted then?" Guan asked quickly. "Good! Do not forget such things in your coverings again, because they might well get sterilized before you remember where you left those items, understand?" She added as a warning.
Lilith nodded her head in understanding before she ran back to her room. She put her cigarettes and lighter in her closet, before she turned to get the rest of her clothes. She bent down to pick them up when all four of the female Predators walked in.
Guan watched Lilith curiously as the little ooman female was very gentle about placing her coverings in her closet. After she finished putting her coverings away, the little ooman picked up one object and placed it against a wall at head height for her. She looked behind it for a moment, before she stuck a single finger on the wall behind the object. That was when the ooman pup turned to her and held up the strange rectangular object with only one finger behind it. Curious, she walked over to see how the object was being supported.
Guan found herself surrounded by all three of her Hunt Sisters, and she knew that they too were curious about the object and what ever it was that Lilith was doing with it. As she moved around to see the back side of the object, she could tell that Lilith was using a single finger to support it.
"Okay, so you can hold that up with one finger. Why are you showing me this?" Guan asked as her head tilted to the right in curiosity.
Lilith quickly grabbed the mirror in a better grip and acted like she was going to hang it on the wall.
'Why is she trying to get that to stay on the wall? There's no peg there for it to…' Guan thought as understanding dawned on her.
"I'm guessing that you'd like a peg to hang that on… is that right Lilith?" Guan asked easily.
When Lilith nodded in the affirmative, Guan smiled at the pup's ingenuity. "I will retrieve a peg for you then." She said with an approving nod.
Lilith moved immediately to put the mirror down and held up six fingers after doing a quick count of what she'd need. She wasn't sure if Gwen would understand about the nails or not because Gwen said "peg", when what she needed were nails to hang stuff on. She watched apprehensively as Gwen left the room, to return a moment later with a small gun looking thing. As soon as she saw it, Lilith's blood ran cold. It reminded her of the last time she'd seen her father, and she wanted nothing to do with a gun.
"Now Lilith… where do you want pegs installed?" Guan asked lightly. She knew that pegs were normally used in ones room to hang weapons and armor, but Lilith didn't have any of those things yet, so she was more than a bit curious about what the ooman would place on the pegs.
Lilith quickly grabbed a black map pencil out of the shoebox and checked the position again, before making a mark and pointing to it.
Guan knew that Lilith had done something to the wall in front of her, but she had no idea what because neither her natural thermal vision, nor any of the visual modes of her mask could detect what it might have been. The thing was; she had seen where Lilith had tried to mark the wall even though her tool had left no indention. She quickly used ejector which relied on compressed air to propel the peg far enough into a wall to support any object hung on it, and put the peg in place.
Guan watched as Lilith looked at the peg with a frown, before hanging the strange object on it. It took the little ooman a few tries, but she finally managed it. Then Lilith stepped back and smiled, before motioning for her to follow. She followed Lilith a short way along the wall before the pup retrieved a large cylinder, and with careful, gentle movements, pulled something out if it, before unrolling whatever it was.
Lilith went around her room, getting Gwen to put those weird looking nails or 'pegs' as she called them, in the walls so that she could put up the four hangings, and memo board after she'd hung the mirror. She stepped back to look at the result and almost smiled.
Guan looked around the room that was now Lilith's after having once belonged to her sons. She saw that almost everything was either placed in various containers or was stacked neatly. The only exception to that were the numerous playthings that had been there prior to Lilith's arrival. That was when she noticed that even they were positioned along the edges of the walls as if watching the room for some reason. She thought that it was a strange way of arranging the room, but that was how Lilith wanted it.
"Is there anything else you need Lilith? The four of us are going to go check on Thwei-de-guan and make sure that she's getting what she needs to continue with her training." Guan asked.
Lilith shook her head as she looked around and actually admired how the room looked. There still wasn't any paint on the tan colored walls, but that was kind of okay because she now had a few things to break up the plain color. She planned on taking some pictures to put on the memo board later, but right now she wanted to go play with something that she was eager to use.
"Good." Guan said as she stepped out of the room and made some adjustments to the control mechanism. "Lilith, I know my sons will not bother you in here, but you should understand, that no male may enter without a having female with him. Since the only females who are able to enter are you, the four of us and Bakuub so there won't be any problems. The only one who won't signal before she enters is Bakuub… understand?"
Lilith nodded her head as she went and put the coloring book and box of map pencils by her bean bag before going over to the dinning room table and climbed up in Gwen's chair. That was when she frowned because the table was still as high as her nose. She huffed angrily and got down before climbing up into her own booster chair. She hated the stupid thing, but she had to admit that she needed it to sit at the table. She placed the rack with the thirteen balls on the table, and pulled back two on one side and three on the other before letting them go at the same time.
Lilith sat at the table and played with the … whatever it was… for a while. Then she thought of something else to do. She was sure that doing it wouldn't be easy, but if she could pull it off, it would be a load of fun! She grabbed her… well toy, because she had no idea what it was actually called and jumped out of her chair before she ran to her room.
Once she was in her room, Lilith was digging through the box that had the water guns in it. She froze as something occurred to her, and then she grabbed two water guns and one balloon. Then, she was off and running to the bathroom. She filled one water gun up with very warm water, and the other with water that was almost freezing, and then she filled the water balloon up with freezing cold water as well.
There was a large smirk on Lilith's face as she left the bathroom in search of Scar. She saw him almost as soon as she left the bathroom. She waited until he had just walked into the living room before she nailed him right in the back with the water balloon.
All of Setg'in's breath was released a blood curdling roar of shock and surprise as the freezing cold water splashed across his back. Even though he was struggling to recover his breath from the shock of the cold water, he spun around and ejected his wrist blades to face what ever had attacked him in his own home.
Setg'in froze in surprise to see no one but Lilith standing in front of him with an expression of shock as she stared at his extended wrist blades. Then the little ooman dropped one of the weapons she held and began plastering him with more of that shockingly cold water! Even as the little pest ran from him while shooting water at him, Setg'in was observant enough to note how the strange weapon was operated. He lunged forwards and snatched up the dropped weapon before he began firing back at Lilith.
Lilith shrieked as she got pelted with water from the super soaker that was now in Scar's hands. That shriek immediately devolved into a giggle as she steadily returned fire in an all out water gun war!
Hulij-bpe's blood ran cold when he heard his youngest and smallest brother let out that roar. He froze in sheer disbelieve for a few breaths before a second and much higher pitched shriek shocked him into mobility. He burst from his room and ran down the hall into the main room where the sounds were coming from. By now loud roars with accompanied by the sounds of someone giggling with laughter.
As he entered the main room, Hulij-bpe was prepared to see almost anything except what he actually saw! Setg'in and Lilith were using weapons against each other, although neither was actually being harmed by those weapons. He could smell the water in the air, and knew that was what was emerging from the weapons. He froze, and stared in total confusion as the two continued to shoot and pelt each other with those strange weapons that fired water instead of plasma.
As Hulij-bpe stood there and watched in disbelief, Lilith apparently ran out of water in her weapon, and was snickering as she ran towards her room. Setg'in quickly followed while firing at Lilith even as the little ooman bolted into her room. His brother wasn't very pleased to find that the door would not open for him though.
As soon as she realized that Scar couldn't get in, Lilith ran over to the stuff she had stacked along the wall. She started digging in to the boxes of toy swords and pulling everything out of them. She took a long knife and sword scabbard off the plastic belt of one set and put them on another. It took her a few minutes to get both the swords and the two knives positioned where she wanted them on the plastic belt so she could get to them fastened. Then she got two more of the foam rubber swords before darting out of her room.
Setg'in stared at the little ooman as she came out of her room holding a sword in each hand while wearing two more. That water casting weapon was one thing, because while incredibly irritating with the water being so cold, it was still nothing more than an obvious plaything. Swords were another matter entirely.
Lilith saw Scar flick his wrist to extend those twin blades and quickly glanced at the door to her room which was behind him. There was no way that she could run past him and get to it. She'd only wanted to antagonize him a little, but now things were serious. Without even thinking about what she was doing; she threw one of the toy swords at him and turned to run.
Setg'in heard his brother's indrawn breath of surprise as he caught the… weapon? The hilt that he'd grabbed didn't feel right, and in surprised curiosity he began to examine the sword that had been thrown at him. Even as he realized that the thing was actually harmless, he could smell his brother's rising anger.
"Relax Brother… this must be another of her playthings. It has no edge, and can't even be used to score the rind of a naxa fruit. Her plasma caster that only fires water is more of an actual weapon than this is, because the water she was firing was pauk-de cold! This… might poke an eye out, but that's all." Setg'in said quickly.
"That… that won't hurt you if she hits you with it?" Hulij-bpe asked in confusion.
In answer, his brother retracted his wrist blades before placing the tip of Lilith's sword against his palm and pushing on it as if to impale his hand. The result was that the blade of the thing only bent against the palm of his hand. With a large and obvious curve in the blade of the supposed weapon, Hulij-bpe could only stare as his confusion grew.
"What… what use is a sword that is completely harmless?" Hulij-bpe stammered.
"As a weapon… none!" Setg'in answered as he stared at his brother for a moment before a slow smile spread through his mandibles. "But as a method of training? It is perfect! Think about it… with these, we can teach Lilith how to use a sword properly, and it won't cause any injury to her if she fails to block a strike. It has the proper shape and balance, but not the weight or the edge. It is a perfect training tool!"
When his brother said that, Hulij-bpe knew that Setg'in was stating fact. If it was harmless then it wouldn't matter how many times someone got hit, because that could only teach them to block or avoid that strike in the future. Hulij-bpe smiled widely as he stared at his grinning brother.
"Let's go find her and take her to the kherite!"
The two found Lilith in the main room crouched next to Bakuub. There was an acrid scent of fear pouring off of the little ooman female and she was watching them warily.
"It's a good thing you threw one of these at me Lilith. If you hadn't I would never have known that they are actually harmless and only resemble actual swords that can be used to kill. Since you seem to be wearing two more of them in addition to the one in your hand, why don't you come with us to the kherite and we will start teaching you how to properly use them?" Setg'in suggested with a grin.
When Guan entered her home she could hear loud growls and snarls coming from upstairs in the kherite. It was nothing more than curiosity that drove her upstairs to see what her son was doing. After having raised him, Guan knew that the voice was that of Setg'in, but what she didn't know, was why he was being so vocal while training.
Guan quickly headed up to the kherite, followed by her three Hunt Sisters after each of the four females had dropped a bundle near the entrance. With those three females at her back, Guan had no qualms about walking into a potentially dangerous situation. While there were often those who did not even acknowledge the bond that was considered to be formed by taking the Chiva together, Guan, Than-guan, Than-guan-thwei, and Yeyinde had chosen to both honor that bond and strengthen it. The four females had become fast friends and were as close as sisters born. To them, they were sisters in every way except genetically. Guan was the eldest by two years, while Than-guan was the second eldest by half a day. Yeyinde might be the youngest of them by three years, but she was no less cherished than any other. As long as the four of them were together, they felt that there were few obstacles that they could not overcome by team work.
Guan entered the kherite to see Setg'in bearing down on Lilith with a knife in his hand. Although it was something that she never would have expected to see, Guan was spurred into instant action. As fast as she could possibly move, she was grabbing Lilith by her shoulder to pull her away from the intended blow which she knew would have been fatal. Before she could even begin to demand what was happening, Lilith had turned in her grasp and was in the process of stabbing her with a blade of her own.
Guan stared down at the knife in Lilith's hand as the blade merely bent against the skin of her stomach. She had heard that oomans didn't have the knowledge to make metals as durable as their own, but surely that were able to construct better materials than this? She stared in disbelief as Lilith frowned up at her before jabbing that flimsy blade against her stomach several more times. Each time the knife hit her skin, the blade only flexed and bent without leaving so much as a scratch or bruise behind.
"What in the name of the Gods is that thing?" Than-guan demanded.
"I don't know, but it looks like a knife, and even has the balance of one, but our claws can do a lot more damage than these can." Setg'in exclaimed with grin. "Look!"
Setg'in smiled smugly as he ran the blade of the knife he'd gotten from Lilith across his fingers. There was a rapid flapping sound as the knife flexed and bent before snapping against the next finger.
Guan stared with her mandibles slack in stark disbelief as she watched her son's demonstration, then, she blinked, and her mounting anger dissipated into confusion.
"Where could you possibly have acquired such a useless weapon?" Guan asked finally.
"Well they might be useless as far as actual combat is concerned, but they are great for practice. As for where I got them, you'll have to ask Lilith that. She let me use this one, but the swords are made of the same material. They can't break the skin, but they can be used to teach. So Hulij-bpe and I have been showing Lilith how to use them. She has one for each hand while Hulij-bpe and I only use one each; but between the two of us… we are showing her how to properly defend herself." Setg'in explained easily.
"Show me these swords." Guan promptly demanded.
When Setg'in gestured to him, Hulij-bpe smiled and proudly showed his mother the sword that Lilith had handed to him. "See? It's just as Setg'in said, it can't cause any injury, and it doesn't have the proper weight, but it's still great to practice with."
Hulij-bpe's smile faltered a bit as all four of the females gathered around and frowned at the blade. Finally... Yeyinde turned to face Lilith.
"Lilith… may I examine this weapon?" Yeyinde asked softly.
Every Yautja in the room held their breath, because they knew that such a request was not exactly polite in nature. Yeyinde had phrased her request both politely, and with utmost respect, it was still a question that wasn't normally asked. When Lilith nodded her head, Yeyinde smiled at the ooman.
"Thank you Lilith, I will not damage it any way." Yeyinde said as she smiled and bowed her head respectfully.
Yeyinde examined the strange material of the weapon and was truly shocked. There was no possible way that such a thing could be used to cause harm unless it was deliberate. The only way that an injury could possibly occur would be for a fully grown Yautja to use all of their strength to strike Lilith in a way that might break a bone, but given the rather flimsy nature of whatever material this sword was made of, even that would be doubtful.
Yeyinde looked up from the weapon in her hands to stare at Guan and her sisters. "Setg'in is right; this can't cause any injury while sparring with it. I would have thought that he was joking, but he isn't!"
Judging by the way that Gwen and the others were acting, Lilith figured that there was a good chance that she would get in serious trouble for the rubber swords. She started backing away from them slowly, hoping that she'd get the chance to run, even though she knew they could catch her easily. She was ready to turn and run for it anyway when Gwen looked over at her and smiled.
"It would seem that you deliberately chose many things that are more than mere playthings. Items for proper hygiene, coverings, and now I learn that you also chose items for proper training. Very well done Lilith!" Guan said approvingly.
Lilith was surprised… she had expected to be in serious trouble, but here Gwen was actually saying that she'd done something right. This was certainly not what she'd expected. She knew that she had done several things to get beaten for, but none of the Predators seemed to care anything about the things she had done.
"Come Lilith," Guan said in a proud tone. "It's time for us to prepare the evening meal. We will eat and then relax in the main room before a fire while you teach us how to properly tend to our armor so that it looks like new."
Lilith gaped at Gwen, while Thingy gathered the rubber swords and knives from Celtic and Scar, before handing them to her hilt first. Lilith nodded at Thingy, before she left the room, and scampered down the stairs before entering her room. She immediately went over to put the toys back in the boxes when she heard the door slide open behind her. Lilith glanced over at the door to see Gwen followed by the 'Thing Sisters' walk into her room.
Lilith turned back to what she'd intended to do and began putting the stuff back in the boxes that had been in when she got them.
"I remember you choosing those items Lilith… did you have such training in mind when you did?" Guan asked when she spotted the long rectangular containers.
Lilith swallowed hard before she nodded her head nervously and with a little hesitation. She wasn't really sure if Gwen would let her learn to use a sword or not. Suddenly, she found herself snatched into Gwen's arms while pressed firmly against the Predator's body.
Guan released a loud and powerful purr of pride and satisfaction as the pulled Lilith into her arms and stood up while firmly embracing the ooman pup. There was a very pleased smile to her mandibles as she turned to face her Hunt Sisters.
"Lilith has only today finished her First Hunt, and already she acts in anticipation of the day that she can become a Blooded Warrior! Tell me that isn't a sign of a Warrior's Honor!" Guan stated proudly as she looked each of her Hunt Sisters in the eye.
"That is an Honorable goal!" Than-guan exclaimed quickly. "Lilith, you are to be commended for deciding on such a path. I will not tell you that such a thing is easy, because it isn't, but it will be a path that you may take pride in achieving."
"I agree with my eldest sister Lilith. Becoming a Blooded Warrior is difficult, because facing the hard meat is never easy, but the position is one that will gain you a lot of respect, and honor." Yeyinde said with a purr of approval.
Than-guan-thwei looked at the pup that was being proudly cradled in Guan's arms as the female hugged the little ooman firmly. She couldn't help but be impressed by the little ooman; as small as she was, she had encountered the hard meat. She knew that such an experience usually inspired some level of fear, especially in those who weren't properly prepared. She knew beyond any doubts that Lilith couldn't possibly have been prepared to face the hard meat, but she showed honorable courage in the way they had been faced down, and to save the life of a better trained and prepared candidate as well, made what Lilith had accomplished something incredible. Now it seemed that Lilith was only getting started, and she thought that was good.
Lilith wasn't sure, but she thought that Gwen and the others sounded glad that she wanted to learn how to fight.
Guan maintained her satisfied purring as she carried Lilith to the main room and placed her in one of the chairs. "I want you to relax now Lilith. You have been busy today, so just rest while I prepare the evening meal."
Lilith watched Gwen walk into the kitchen. Even though they called it the 'food preparation and storage room'; she still knew it was a kitchen. She shook her head and looked around. That was when she noticed that she was hot and sweaty from fighting with Scar and Celtic. That and the water gun fight meant that she really needed another bath. She had no idea how these Predators would feel about her being at the dinner table all hot, sweaty, and soaking wet, but she wasn't too happy about it. She got up and headed to her room to grab a change of clothes. When she got to her room, Lilith grabbed a shirt, pair of underwear, and the second pair of shorts. That was when she thought about the swim floats. The idea of trying them out was almost irresistible, so she grabbed those too, before heading back to the room where the swimming pool sized tub was.
Yeyinde tightened her mandibles in a frown. She moved quickly as she went to find Lilith. The little ooman female wasn't in the main room where she'd been left, nor was she in her own room. So now, Yeyinde was following the scent left by the little ooman, but that scent led to the bath, and she knew that Lilith had already bathed.
All confusion flew from Yeyinde's mind when she entered the bathing chamber and was almost overwhelmed by the stench created by the combined and very strong scents of fear and stress. Her eyes started to water, and her mandibles tightened up against her face in an effort to block out some of the smell. The sound of water splashing made her blood feel like it was freezing solid in her veins. She was almost afraid to look towards the bathing pool even though she was already moving in that direction at high speed. She was moving so fast that she was almost in the water before she even spotted Lilith struggling in the very center of the bathing pool.
Half a dozen questions flew through Yeyinde's mind as she dove into the water to promptly grab Lilith and pull her to the side. She placed the ooman female on the side of the pool, before getting out herself. Then she picked up the tiny female and moved her further away from the pool before kneeling down to look Lilith in the eyes.
"Lilith, are you alright?" Yeyinde asked quickly.
Lilith nodded her head. She knew that she'd only been trying the floats out, but once she had them on her upper arms where they were supposed to go, and had gotten back in the water, she couldn't touch the steps. That was how she'd ended up drifting into the middle of the pool.
Yeyinde looked Lilith over carefully. She could see that Lilith was physically very tired, but unharmed otherwise. "Lilith, I have told you that I would teach you how to swim, and I will do that. But I don't have the time today…."
Yeyinde paused in what she was saying as she spotted the strange objects on Lilith's upper arms. That was when she realized that Lilith had been struggling on top of the water! She tilted her head to the side as she looked at Lilith curiously. "Lilith… did these… things keep you from going under and drowning?"
Lilith nodded her head again. She couldn't help but wonder if Thingy was going to get mad and punish her for doing what she'd done, and she really didn't want to start hurting any more than she usually did.
"Good! I want you to keep those here so that you may use them when you enter the bathing pool. I want you to continue to use those until I am sure of your swimming ability." Yeyinde ordered in a pleased tone. "Now, let's get you into some dry coverings, the evening meal is almost ready."
Lilith could hardly believe what was happening as Thingy actually helped her get dressed by handing her the pieces of clothing after she had taken off the swim floats and dried off. That was when Thingy started that purring sound as the Predator picked her up and carried her out of the bath. Straight to the dinning room table where everyone was starting to take a seat.
Lilith could see that more chairs had been added, so that the Thing Sisters now sat across from her booster chair. Scar was now sitting by Old Bruce, and Rave and Celtic had just been moved down a spot. The only ones who hadn't had their chairs moved when her, Gwen, and Old Bruce. Thingy was sitting across from her, next to Gwen, and Thing-one was next to Old Bruce with Thing-two in the middle.
Lilith saw that Gwen was still bringing some of the food to the table, and that was when she remembered some of the stuff she had in her room. She jumped out of her chair and sprawled on the floor before running to her room. She grabbed what she wanted, and then bolted back to the table to face bewildered stares from everyone there. She reached up and set the stuff on the table before climbing back into her booster chair.
Lilith watched apprehensively as everyone started fixing a plate of food. She was starting to get more than a little agitated because she couldn't reach anything to fix her own plate. Suddenly, Thingy reached across the table and took her plate while leaving the one she had just fixed in its place. Lilith looked at the Predator suspiciously for a brief instant before she pulled the plate closer to her. She quickly mixed a bit of pink lemonade powder in the cup of water that was sitting next to her plate and stirred it up before using her fork and knife to avoid eating like an animal.
Guan stared in fascinated horror as Lilith used some rather interesting tools to eat with. She recognized the knife that the pup was using to cut the strips of meat and fruit into smaller pieces that were more easily consumed, but the other thing that was used to either scoop up the pieces like a spoon, or spear them to be placed in the mouth was completely unknown to her. While those tools were both strange and interesting enough, it was the other thing that Lilith had brought to the table that made her stomach want to rebel.
"I have no idea what that stuff is, but it smells very similar to sleeping draught. I know it isn't sleeping draught, because that can't be made into a powder. So what is that disgusting smelling substance?" Than-guan demanded sourly.
"Lilith… is that powdered substance something from your world that you are familiar with?" Yeyinde asked with a shudder.
Lilith shoved a piece of meat in her mouth with the fork and nodded her head at Thingy in answer to the question. She took a quick gulp of her pink lemonade to wash down what she was eating and smiled over at the Predator while nodding her head to show that she was thoroughly enjoying her food.
Guan looked at the cup filled with the foul smelling substance in dismay. She had heard somewhere that oomans often drank many things and that a lot of them were mixed with water… but never would she have guessed about the existence of this one that Lilith apparently liked!
"Well… whatever it is, it is definitely not sleeping draught, because there are no sedatives in it. There is a very mild amount of stimulant in it, but not enough to preclude her having it." Yeyinde explained after using her mask and wrist computer to analyze the substance that Lilith was happily consuming. "Lilith… do you actually like that stuff?"
Once again, Lilith nodded her head happily at Thingy before taking another swallow of her pink lemonade. When she saw the looks and shudders of disgust from everyone one of the Predators, she was sure that they were going to take it away from her. A sense of disappointment filled her mind as she slid the plastic container over towards Gwen.
"Isn't that one of the things you purchased after we ate?" Setg'in asked as he looked down the table at the container of stuff.
Guan saw Lilith nod her head in answer to her son's question, and released a breath of irritation. She knew that what Lilith had purchased on her own had been done with money gain from the sale of a trophy. That meant there was no honorable way that it could be taken from her… regardless of how others might feel about it.
"Lilith… I want you to understand that we find what you are drinking to be disgusting. The smell and taste of sleeping draught is not something that anyone likes! I… we have now learned of an exception to that. I know that what you have mixed in that cup and the powder in that container is not sleeping draught, but it smells much the same. No one here will stop you from… enjoying it… but I will ask that you do not do so while we are eating. If you want something other than water to drink with your meal, I can provide Naxa juice, or broth… do you understand?" Guan said firmly but gently as well.
Lilith nodded her head, because what she understood out of that was that these Predators didn't want to smell her pink lemonade while they were eating. That was fine with her; she could have some after they ate, so it wouldn't bother them. At least they weren't taking it away from her. She grabbed her cup and gulped down the contents before shuddering and smiling. Then she pointed over at the pitcher of water. Gwen only nodded with a smile and poured some water in her cup.
After they finished eating, everyone moved to what Lilith thought of as the living room. Lilith promptly went and flopped down on her bean bag, and reached for her coloring books.
Than-guan gaped at Lilith as the little female sprawled in the what-ever-that-was in surprise. Then she was quickly grabbing her mask while looking at Lilith in each of the various spectrums that the mask offered. She could then see that every joint was properly supported, but very relaxed at the same time.
"Lilith? Is that something from your world?" Than-guan asked curiously.
Lilith nodded her head and with some irritation and nervousness wondered if the bean bag was going to be something else that they didn't like.
"Look at this!" Than-guan exclaimed to her sisters excitedly. "That… thing allows Lilith's body to be relaxed in a completely natural state!" That was when everyone gathered around while staring at Lilith; some of them used their mask to examine exactly what she was referring to.
Guan let out a short bark of wry laughter upon realizing what Lilith had done. Acceptable coverings, hygiene articles, tools used for eating, weapons that were perfect for training, and now she also learned of furniture that the pup had chosen. It was immediately obvious that Lilith was going to teach her many things in the future, and she had to wonder if she would be able to keep up with the pup's ingenuity.
Guan shook her head with some confusion at Lilith's behavior this day. It was as if the pup was suddenly being driven to become a Blooded Warrior along with making a life for herself with them. Whatever the underlying cause of Lilith's actions, Guan knew that she would not discover the answer until Lilith chose to break her silence and speak to them. Shaking her head again, she went and started building a fire after moving the partial shield away. She could readily see that the device would allow the heat and light through, but should stop errant sparks from leaving the fire pit. As soon as the fire was built, she sat down and allowed her food to digest.
Lilith had colored a few different pages in one of the coloring books after Gwen had built a fire. She had to admit that it was really nice to just relax in front of a fire and color by the light it gave off. She was actually enjoying just sitting without bothering anyone while listening to Gwen and the others talk about the kind of day they'd had. It was a seriously big difference from the way she'd had to live in the basement. This seemed almost… normal!
Guan looked around the main room and saw that everyone was relaxed, and in good spirits. That meant that this would be a good time for Lilith to teach them some of what she knew. "Is everyone ready to take some lessons from Lilith in how to properly polish a set of armor?" A round of enthusiastic answers were unanimous in their agreement because they all wanted to know how to properly maintain equipment that their lives often depended on.
"Good… Lilith, will you show us the method that you used to polish our armor last night?" Guan asked as she stood facing the ooman pup. "You do not have to if you do not want to, and no one here will try to make you, but I can say that all of us would greatly appreciate any lessons you give us."
Lilith looked up from her coloring book. It was a really easy picture to color since it was a frog sitting on a lily pad, but the last time she had done such a thing was more than four years ago. She could see that Gwen had a very serious expression on her face and a firm set to her mandibles.
Lilith nodded her head and set her coloring book with the others before putting up the pencils she'd been using. Then she got up and went to the center of the room where everyone was seated on the floor while getting out a set of the armor that they intended to polish.
"I had to purchase another set of armor just so I could learn this method from her. Normally, we must each learn how to polish and clean our armor on our own, and that is how things have been for many, many generations. However, whatever method Lilith used is not only different, but clearly better than the techniques that we have known and used for thousands of years. I am well aware that I shouldn't have asked to begin with, but Lilith has agreed to show us what she did last night. I will not be asking her to show us this again!" Guan lectured sternly.
"I can't help but agree with you on that one Hunt Sister. I have heard of some Yautja who charge for the service of polishing armor because they excel at the skill, but even then it doesn't look like new. If Lilith chooses to give us any of her secrets for polishing our armor, then it only shows her honor, because no one else would do such a thing!" Than-guan exclaimed quickly.
"Well Lilith… what should we do first?" Kwei asked as he got a small jar of metal polish out of his cleaning kit.
Lilith watched as everyone got out the stuff they usually started with. She had no idea what any of it was, or what it was used for. All she really knew about any of it was that the stuff was supposed to polish metal. She sat down on the floor, and only watched as Gwen placed a carrier looking box with a handle in the center, but a space on each side to hold the small jars, rags, and other stuff that was in there. Lilith picked up the rags, and began to look through them. She finally found the one she was looking for. It had a finer grit than any of the other polishing cloths, and she knew that it was the kind she had used on that weird helmet looking thing the first night she had been here. It was also what she had used last night. She placed the cloth to one side before she put the other stuff back in the box, and then she picked up the cloth before holding it out to Gwen.
Guan accepted the cleaning cloth that Lilith was offering to her. She easily recognized that it was the same grit as the cloth that Lilith had used during her first night in her home. She looked at it for a moment, before studying the pup curiously.
"Lilith… is this what you used to polish all of our armor last night?" Guan asked suspiciously.
Lilith nodded her head. She wasn't sure what was expected of her, and she didn't want to be in any trouble either, because she knew she already had enough of that coming for the things she had done today.
"Is this the only thing you used?" Guan demanded as her suspicions rose even higher.
Again, Lilith nodded her head. Now she was getting worried because Gwen didn't seem to be very happy about the way this was going, and she didn't know what to do about that. She was now sure that she was going to get it bad. She lowered her head, and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see what was coming.
Guan could smell the sudden increase of fear that Lilith was experiencing at that moment, but she had no idea why the Little One would become afraid for no apparent reason.
"What is it Guan? What's wrong?" Than-guan asked after glancing at Lilith.
"This cloth is the finest grit we have. I would normally use this for removing tiny scratches and things of that nature… but this is what Lilith used. It is the only thing she used!" Guan replied with a low growl.
"If that was all she used, then it must have taken her all night to get our armor looking like this. I remember how much time she spent on your old mask mother, and she had to switch hands several times just to accomplish that." Setg'in said with a frowning set to his mandibles.
"Exactly! That means she's been without the sleep that a pup needs for proper growth!" Guan growled.
Guan turned her attention back to Lilith, before she reached out and gently raised the little female's head to get the pup to look at her. Once Lilith opened her eyes, Guan began to speak. "Little One, I know that you are tired. You have to be! You can't have gotten to sleep for very long before I woke you up to eat, and that means the only restful sleep you've had this day was when I was holding you this morning… wasn't it?" Guan asked in a concerned tone.
Lilith nodded her head and tried to lower her head to look down, but Gwen wouldn't let her, because she still had hold of her head. She raised her eyes to look back at the larger Predator nervously.
"Lilith… when we are finished here, I want you to sleep this night. I want you to rest! Is that understood?" Guan demanded gently.
Lilith nodded her head again. She was surprised that Gwen actually seemed to care whether or not she got enough sleep. This was weird… instead of punishing her for the things that she knew she'd done wrong today, Gwen was acting like she actually cared about her! She knew that Gwen wouldn't stay concerned like that forever though… as soon as Gwen learned or figured out the truth about what a worthless mistake she was, it would all end, and she'd be in pain again.
With the little pup sitting right next to her, Guan couldn't help but smell the stress and anxiety coming from Lilith. It caused a strange thought to flow through her mind.
'She can't be that concerned about making some type of mistake while instructing us… can she? Why? Why would simply instructing us cause her to be so afraid? This doesn't make any sense!' Guan thought in irritation.
"You would do well to heed her words, Lilith. After the way you exerted yourself in cleansing an entire nest of tunnel runners, you will need plenty of proper rest after not getting that last night. You will also need to rest and allow the healing serum to have a proper effect on you." Than-guan stated as she reinforced what her friend and Hunt Sister had said.
Lilith looked over at Thing-one in surprise, because this was another Predator who was acting like they actually cared about her. It was something that made her extremely nervous because of the truth that she knew about herself, but at the same time it gave her a feeling that she'd been missing for years while chained in the basement.
"I am not exactly certain what that expression means Lilith, but I am telling you that you will sleep this night, and if I have to stand over you to ensure that it happens, then that is exactly what I will do." Than-guan stated firmly.
"If Lilith were a male, I would use an ooman phrase and say 'get in line', but I'm not nearly stupid enough to get involved in one female taking care of a female pup. Although, I too believe that she needs the rest, and that she has earned it!" Setg'in said with a smile.
Guan gaped over at her son in surprise, while everyone else did the same. "Where did you learn about an ooman phrase?" She asked suspiciously.
"I've been doing a bit of reading on the ooman world, the culture, and some of the phrases used in one of the areas that Lilith might have come from. We know the language, because of what the adult oomans were speaking during our Chiva, but that language is apparently becoming a common one among the oomans. They are a very interesting species, and I can already see that Lilith is a very interesting example of that species. We know that they are cunning, intelligent, and able to become very dangerous when necessary. But… what I've seen today… gives me the impression that they also do not forget things easily, and they certainly do not forgive easily. If such were the case, Lilith wouldn't have hunted down the entire nest. She would have been satisfied with killing the single tunnel runner that startled her. Instead, she killed them all with such an intense wrath that even Thwei-de Thei-de was concerned about it. In fact, I do not think further hunting of oomans is advisable. From what I have learned in the past two days, they really do not forgive being wronged! There are many accounts of entire clans of oomans fighting and killing each other over something that occurred to a distant ancestor so many generations prior that none of the living oomans really know the actual cause." Setg'in explained as he stared at his armor while deep in thought.
"That may well be a certainty, but that will need to be discussed at another time, for now, we should give our full attention to Lilith, so we can learn what she is willing to teach." Guan replied before turning to Lilith. "Now Lilith, will you show us what we must do to get our armor looking like new as you did last night?"
Lilith nodded her head and scrounged through the cleaning kit that Gwen had put in front of her. She wasn't able to find another cloth like the one she'd handed Gwen, so she pointed at it before holding her hand open. When Gwen handed her the cloth, she reached out and picked up a solid metal plate before starting to polish it, like she had everything else. That was when Gwen reached out and grabbed both her hands and gently pulled them apart so she couldn't polish the piece of metal.
"No Lilith. We are not here to let you do this… you must show us when we are doing something wrong. I understand that you do not wish to speak, but showing us by example is not the way this will be done. We are going to do the work! You must show us when we are making a mistake… otherwise, you must allow us to do the work; understand?" Guan said gently before releasing Lilith's hands.
Lilith nodded her head and sat back to watch what everyone was going to do. Each of the Predators selected the type of cleaning cloth that had the same fine grit as the one she had picked out.
Lilith watched each of the Predators as they began to rub away at their armor. She knew that she'd been watching them all for at more than an hour, at least it felt that way, when she realized that none of them were doing it the way she had. She shook her head irritably and reached out to grab Celtic's hands. As soon as he looked at her; and it felt strange because even though they were both sitting on the floor, Celtic was still a lot taller than she was; she shook her head at him.
"Why are you telling me no? I'm doing it wrong aren't I?" Celtic asked sullenly just before Lilith pulled her hands away.
At that moment, Lilith would have sworn that Celtic was like some two year old kid who thought they had been skipping rope the right way, only to find out that they weren't. Her mouth quirked into a small frown as she nodded her head.
"But… but, I'm doing this the same way that everyone else is. Doesn't that mean they're doing it wrong too?" Celtic asked almost plaintively.
Lilith looked up at Celtic and nodded her head reluctantly. She didn't want to tell them that they weren't doing it the same way she had, but she knew that she didn't really have any other choice. The way they were going at it would take forever.
"Very well then Lilith, since you are the teacher in this, what is it that we're doing wrong?" Kwei asked respectfully.
Lilith froze as she looked over at Old Bruce in shock. How could she be someone's teacher in anything? She knew that she was a mistake… a worthless mistake at that. All she was doing is showing them what she'd seen on TV one time… how did that make her a teacher? She shook her hear to clear it of thoughts as well as the echoes of her parents voices when they'd always called her that and worse.
Lilith wanted to talk to them… to tell these Predators what they weren't doing right; she wanted to talk so badly, but she knew that as soon as she opened her mouth, they would know her horrible secret. She knew it because her parents had told her such things so many, many times, and why would they lie to her? Didn't the things they did to her, and even the things they made her do to herself… things that hurt so much that she just wanted to die so she could escape from the pain, prove that what they told her was true?
With a frown aimed more at herself for even dreaming about a world where she wasn't a worthless mistake, she reached out and caught Celtic's hands again. She moved them so that he was ready to polish the chest piece that he was working on, but then she started pressing harder on his hands, while at the same time giving a grunt of apparent effort. She knew that she wasn't really pressing hard enough to make such a sound, but she was trying to make it seem that way without accidentally hurting the Predator, because she actually liked him. She had to admit that he could be fun to hang around with… especially when they were making faces at each other.
"Lilith, are you trying to tell us that we need to use more pressure while polishing our armor? Is that how you did it?" Kwei asked after watching Lilith closely.
When Lilith nodded her head, Celtic let out a disgusted grunt.
"It looks like this is going to take a while." Hulij-bpe said moodily.
"Of course it is brother; it might have taken her most of the night, but think about what the result is going to be!" Setg'in said with a grin. "Besides, that was when she was polishing more than a single set of armor; we only need to polish one set."
"Lilith, since you have nothing to do except watch us and make sure that we are doing this to your satisfaction, you should get one of your playthings from your room. That will give you something to do besides stare at hands scrubbing away on armor." Guan suggested.
Lilith looked up at Gwen who was sitting on the floor fairly close to her and thought about that for a moment. It was too dark to really color, since the only light was coming from the fire place, so she got up and went to her room. Once there she grabbed the can of Slime, the plastic skull on a board, along with the 'Clicker Balls' as she'd decided to call the thing, before going back to the living room and sitting down.
Lilith was pretty sure that Gwen wasn't going to be too happy about the Slime, so she decided to see if the battery in the skull worked. She pushed the little red button in front and the skull started letting out a very evil sounding laugh while a pair of red lights in the eyes flashed and the jaw moved. She recognized the voice as that of Vincent… Vincent Price! That was it; Vincent Price; he always used to do evil voices and stuff like that when he was alive. She thought that he had done part of a Michael Jackson song once, but she wasn't sure about that. She was pulled from her thoughts by a question from Celtic.
"Why… why is that trophy… laughing?"
Lilith had never heard someone sound so scared in her life! She couldn't help it as she cracked up and pushed the button again.
"If you must choose between two evils…. Choose the one that you know won't kill you!"
"Where did she get that?" Than-guan demanded.
"Trophies aren't supposed to do that!" Hulij-bpe exclaimed nervously.
As soon as he heard that ooman skull start speaking, Kwei grabbed his mask and began looking at the thing in every spectrum he had available. He quickly saw that it was artificial, and only made to resemble an actual ooman skull.
"Lilith… I know that it is something from your world, but do you know why someone would make such a thing?" Kwei asked as he kept looking at the strange thing that the ooman pup was playing with.
Lilith shrugged, because she really didn't know why people made things like this, but she was glad they did because this one was funny. She cracked a half grin while she pushed the button again. Suddenly David Lee Roth was singing part of one of his old songs. She had never heard the song before, but the word… oh the words were hilarious!
"I… ain't got no body! No body, no body, NooOoo body! I said, I… ain't got no body… so de bop… de bop! De bozly, bozly bop! De bop! De bop!"
Lilith was now laughing so hard she had to lay back and hold her stomach. 'It's just a skull! It doesn't have any arms or legs! 'No body'!' She thought as she started laughing even harder.
Lilith finally rolled to her side and sat up still snickering. That was when she saw that all of the Predators were looking at her with their heads tilted to one side or the other. Old Bruce had even taken off the mask he'd put on and was looking at her weird.
Guan had seen what Lilith had done to make the skull thing start singing. Curious to see if it would now do something else that might be more acceptable, she reached over and pushed the protrusion herself.
"You can always trust an evil person… to be evil!"
Guan's eyes shot wide and her mandibles flexed in silent rage when she heard the strange skull start laughing after having said that. The rage that she felt coursing through her upon hearing that… that thing state that one could always trust a person with no honor was infuriating. She clenched her fist in preparation to smash the thing, and had raised her hand to do so before she remembered that it belonged to Lilith.
When Gwen turned to look at her, Lilith could tell from the corner of her eye that the Predator was way beyond pissed! She turned her head to look at the woman and immediately went as pale as a ghost while her blood ran cold with fear. Every dreadlock on Gwen's head was sticking out; her eyes were narrowed, and her mandibles were spread out while Gwen's whole body quivered with anger. Lilith had no idea what she'd done to make the Predator so mad, but just seeing Gwen so enraged terrified her to no end.
"That actually makes a strange type of sense." Setg'in said thoughtfully as he stared at the strange skull.
Guan's head spun as she quickly looked over at her youngest son in shock. "Explain!" She demanded in a low but deadly growl of anger.
"Simple… a bad-blood is eventually going to act without honor, and if you always expect it, then you will never be surprised by that result." Setg'in explained calmly.
"You might be speaking honorably, but that… that thing was not!" Guan growled to her son before turning back to the ooman pup who positively reeked of fear. "Lilith… that may be one of your playthings, but it is something that I do not want to see again! I would much rather you play with that substance that you used earlier this day which I found to be utterly disgusting. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
Lilith nodded her head and swallowed hard. That did nothing to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat, or the large knot that was in her stomach. She just knew that Gwen was going to beat her for playing with the skull that she clearly didn't like.
"Good! Now take those things to your room, you have had a long day, and you need to rest. You can inspect our armor in the morning after the morning meal." Guan said in a gentle tone. "You did very well this day, and you should take pride in your achievement. I don't know of any others who turned their First Hunt into a cleansing."
Lilith nodded her head once more, as she quickly gathered up her toys and headed to her room. At the door, she stopped and let out a two tone whistle that she knew would call Slobber to her side. As soon as the huge beast was next to her, she was licked on the side of her face. Lilith snickered as she entered her room. She was sure that Slobber wasn't going to change.