CHAPTER SIX
L'ruch withdrew from the room entirely, waiting at a safer distance as R'chnt stirred with a deep growl.
K'Shai stared wide eyed at R'chnt, a relieved smile on her face, glancing only for a moment to L'ruch. R'chnt slowly opened his eyes, never releasing his firm grip on K'Shai's hand. He looked at her and immediately sat up.
She instinctively reached to support him as he did so, but he tensed up, directing her without a word as she picked up his subtle cues that he did not want her support.
He woke up still thinking he was in the fog, looking for K'Shai. He felt her touch on his arm and reached for it, thinking how odd it was that he was not able to feel her before. Slowly, a rush of familiar scents flooded into him and as his brain gathered itself, he could hear the sound of K'Shai's heart; feel her pulse through her fingers into his arm.
He suddenly began to realize he was in a very familiar environment, but wasn't sure how he had gotten there.
The last thing he recalled, he was on Earth. Dancing images of smoke and weapons fire and the gigantic sleek black hide of a kainde amedha queen cluttered his mind as he tried to sort them out along with the smells and sensations around him.
He was comfortably warm, but incredibly sore, tired, and weak. His head felt light, but as he opened his eyes and focused, the familiar sights of the Clan ship jurite came into view. He could sense the subtly nervous h'dui'se of L'ruch and the appealing scents of K'Shai, cleaned and dressed in Yautja garments, emanating her pregnancy through her pores.
He sat up on the table, bracing himself rigid, trying to force the pain away as K'Shai leaned into him to offer assistance. She was keen to his postures and quickly realized he intended to remain unassisted as he still tried to work out what was going on, how he ended up on the Clan ship, and why he was in so much pain.
"R'chnt!" K'Shai said in a whisper, leaning into him, not to support, but to press her head against his, embracing him powerfully and kissing him deeply.
"I can't believe it. I'm so glad you're awake."
"What… happened?" He asked slowly, still trying to fill in the missing details in his mind.
K'Shai glanced to L'ruch, who hadn't moved and remained lingering in the doorway far from the table. He was watching keenly, but made no attempt to approach. She looked back to R'chnt.
"How much do you remember? She asked him.
"I remember a queen. I remember killing her. How did I get here?" At that, R'chnt looked down at his own side and the sealed injuries. He figured out the source of the pain, but did not recall totally the injury that K'Shai began to describe.
He listened to her explain, watching her gesturing with her hands, mimicking actions and reinforcing the emphasis she was trying to make. He watched her body temperature rise as she told the tale, expressed her worry, detailed the trauma he endured, explained how many days he had been unconscious and emphasized again her worry and upset over it all.
He pulled his upper tusks apart into a gracious smile, sitting motionless at the edge of the table until she was done with her furious soliloquy.
"You're Yautjan is much improved." He said simply.
K'Shai stilled and stared at him, allowing her eyes to glaze blankly and her jaw to hang open slightly.
"That... that's all you have to say? You almost died. You've been in a coma for more than a week, and all you have to say is that my ability to speak Yautjan has gotten better?"
K'Shai gaped at him. R'chnt pulled his upper tusks apart a bit further, widening his smile as he extended a hand to her cheek and caressed her. He dropped his eyes to the growing fetus within her and then turned to L'ruch who had been keeping a respectful distance.
"Is she and the offspring healthy?"
L'ruch stepped forward with a deep bow and hummed briefly as he approached the table, stopping well out of arm's reach.
"Yes, Leader, they are both well. The offspring is growing steadily; faster than typical for a Yautja, but infant and mother are both healthy."
He turned to K'Shai without a further word to the elder healer and looked her over again "Come, we will get you garments and I will show you to my ship. Have you eaten?" He began.
K'Shai blinked and finally shoved away her blank gaze, pulling herself together enough to respond. He was about to say something else, but K'Shai cut him off.
"R'chnt, I'm fine… I…you…are you…" she stammered, not really knowing what to say. He seemed unconcerned – almost oblivious – to the events that had transpired.
He watched her curiously, trying to figure out why she was so stressed and anxious over his injury. He glanced at the wounds that were coated lightly with a healing agent. He was certain the injury would leave a tell-tale scar that he would be proud of, certainly the most severe injury he had ever had.
He was alive; the elder healer had performed his job well especially considering that it was rare for any hunter to be treated for such severe injuries.
K'Shai seemed to somehow act as though there was more to it than that, although he could not really understand why as much as he tried. She seemed more discontent by his concern for her, or his indifference to the injuries which clearly had her rattled.
That confused him almost as much as the actions she had described taking to save his life. Having known her the way he did, he was not terribly surprised by that tendency of her kind, though he found it hard to understand.
He had observed humans long enough to know that they had such a profound value for life that they would fight against death in any way they could. It was this quality that made them such incredibly formidable opponents for the hunt, and he knew it was also this behavior that drove them to do almost anything to save or help another.
He knew she and the other humans did what they did, not for trying to embarrass him by keeping him from meeting the gods with glory, but out of their natural drive to cling to life.
It was a strange notion for R'chnt, who like any other Yautja learned at an early age that anyone too weak to survive on their own would be left to perish. It seemed to him that humans spent too much effort fighting the will of their gods; fighting the natural way things should be.
It was no wonder, he thought, why the species was so chaotic and their beliefs were so varied. K'Shai and her species did not share many of the same views as the Yautja and it seemed to him that there was a time in the not too distant past he would have thought such qualities were indicative of weakness.
Humans, with their soft skin, delicate muscles, and easily damaged internal structures, were well known to be weaker physically, though highly intelligent and capable of being cunning and brutal opponents.
Many Yautja thought of most of the species to be generally weak and fearful, and he supposed that if Yautja were so easily injured and killed they may have evolved differently, too. As it was, Yautja were strong, and not easily killed, nor were they fearful of death the way humans were.
It was obvious to him that K'Shai was clearly disturbed by how close to death he had come and instead of seeing it as an honor to die well in battle, she somehow saw it as something to be fearful of. It made no sense to him and as he processed her words and tried to understand her logic, he found he could not.
To be injured the way he was, was weakness, and only weakness and it put him in a difficult position. He knew others would no doubt think he was probably too weak to continue on in his position as Leader.
He considered for a moment that K'Shai had absolutely no idea that her efforts to save his life had put him in a questionable position in the eyes of his own race. He knew he would have to ensure his position was still solid and he only briefly considered how difficult that was going to be.
R'chnt watched K'Shai expressing her concerns, showing no hint that she viewed him as anything less than capable. Quite the opposite, he realized as she exasperated herself over him, he realized she saw his ability to survive the wounds he did as an incredible display of strength.
How it was possible that she could see that as strength confused him greatly.
He had always been taught, and had always taught in return, that extending yourself on behalf on another, weaker individual was foolish. Mercy and compassion were not natural, and usually resulted in the death of both parties.
Hunters died of their injuries as a matter of course. It was simply not the Yautja way to extend such efforts, especially not for a hunter. It was a matter of pride.
If any lesser Yautja was so severely injured, they could seek all the medical care they wanted, and it would be ignored by the hunters who did not bother to concern themselves with the comings and goings of the non-hunters. It was a hunter's will and right to live and die as the gods saw fit, but he considered K'Shai's position on the matter.
He felt a little numb at the idea that he was only alive because of that very same trait he dismissed so easily as fool hardy. K'Shai stood before him strong and unwavering in her need for him.
She still had a grip on his hand, never letting go except to embrace him, share her warmth and her tender touch that conveyed her whirlwind of emotions through her shaky body to him. He studied her silently trying to understand the confusing, even exhausting character trait of her species as he tried to figure out why she still seemed so agitated.
K'Shai, he decided, spent entirely too much time worrying about things that had happened in the past. She suffered from that problem endlessly, it seemed, thinking on the events of the past, envisioning their path differently, or allowing the anxiety from one event to linger on into the future. That was also not the Yautja way.
It was obvious as she stood before him that she was fearful of the idea of a life without him; that she needed him, and as he considered recent events he let the knowledge that he did not wish for such an outcome sink into him. Of course, it was a possibility, he knew. He had assumed that it was understood by K'Shai that he could die and would not return to her.
He was not accustomed to the idea of needing the company of a female so much, and female Yautja certainly never attached themselves to a male in such a way for that very reason.
A hunter's life span was an uncertain thing; most never made it to the age of elder. There was something different about K'Shai and her need for him. She was unusual, unique, and as he surveyed her, watching her respond to him in her powerful way, he realized there was a connection between them that he probably would never fully understand.
Had he never known her, he would have preferred that his injuries have been left unattended and the will of the gods take his Path the way they selected. It would have been an honorable death, fighting a ferocious battle with a viscous prey exactly as a hunter of his experience and skill would have chosen if the great Black Warrior Cetanu called to collect him.
Things were different now, though, and try as he might, he could not recall hearing the howling shriek of Cetanu.
There was no vision in his mind of the warrior's axe, nor of his piercing eyes which were said to burn right through to the soul of a fallen warrior, immediately judging him of worthy or not to be in his great presence.
R'chnt had heard no call of the great God of the hunters. The only thing he could recall hearing at all was K'Shai. He thought about it for a moment, trying to collect his mind, thinking to the absence of time that she told him he was dhi'ki-de.
He could only recall somehow knowing she was there, none else.
Suddenly, the door to the jurite opened and Neh'rti entered. She stopped, gauging the room in surprise just as R'chnt shifted off the table and to his feet. She seemed perhaps more than a little impressed, that he was standing.
"Leader," she greeted R'chnt with respect and a subtle nod. "I see the gods have allowed you to live for another hunt."
R'chnt nodded deeply, acknowledging Neh'rti's words and presence respectfully. K'Shai followed suit.
"Yes, Leader," R'chnt said from his bow. "I did not hear the call of the gods."
Neh'rti turned her attention to K'Shai for the first time since she returned to the Clan ship and finally addressed her.
"The gods have allowed him to live. Your presence at his side is not necessary, K'Shai. You are to take to the mei'sa. You have much learning to do. You will learn of our ways and prepare for the birth of the offspring within you."
K'Shai's eyes widened and she braced up her back, tightened her jaw.
"What…" K'Shai started to rebut in a whisper.
Neh'rti, she knew, was growing ever impatient with the unusual need of hers to remain by R'chnt. K'Shai was quickly growing annoyed at the description of everything about her being termed unusual.
What drove her behaviour was not unusual for a human, and she found it very difficult to accept that it was so drastically different from the Yautja way. She could not imagine anyone being so unfeeling.
R'chnt seemed poised somewhere in the middle between the differencing of opinions and behaviors in the room. L'ruch backed away upon Neh'rti's appearance.
"Leader, K'Shai still has much to learn," R'chnt intervened, stopping K'Shai in her thoughts, before she likely said something to trigger a fight. "…and she will learn from the females, but for now, until I return to the hunt, I will continue her training."
Neh'rti flared her tusks, but quietly considered R'chnt's words, displaying her frustration as her temper rose, but she dismissed herself, grumbling something that K'Shai only barely heard about how unusual the situation was.
"Come." R'chnt directed her out of the jurite.
He stepped slowly, lightly, keeping pace with K'Shai as he shifted his strong shoulders back and his normal rigid and proud posture returned.
Clad in just a loin cloth, R'chnt looked powerful and dignified as he walked along with K'Shai, glaring down anyone who passed them in the corridor until they bowed their head respectfully. He spoke only to K'Shai, never once acknowledging any of the other Yautja they passed.
K'Shai watched R'chnt carefully as they walked. At first, she struggled in her head to figure out how it was that he could just stand and step off so casually despite his injuries. Any human would have been incredibly lucky to have survived what he did, and even though he was Yautja, she knew beyond a doubt that he was lucky too.
Surely, she thought quietly as she studied him moving slowly through the corridors, he was in pain or suffering side effects of the trauma he endured. She watched him quizzically, only glancing around to other Yautja they passed for a moment, noting how they reacted to him and how he acted in return.
Each one of them he seemed to greet somewhat differently. Some were met with light gazes from R'chnt before they lowered their heads into a simple nod. Others drew a deep growl from R'chnt and withdrew so forcefully they flattened against the walls as they passed, clearing a wide berth around both R'chnt and K'Shai.
He guided her through a maze of corridors, down a lift several levels, and through more corridors before coming to a halt at the open doorway of what could only be described as a leather shop. The smells that hit K'Shai's nose were strong and overpowering, but familiar.
Five Yautja were at work within the massive oval space and as K'Shai glanced around, she couldn't help but notice how it seemed as though every room she had been in on the ship was an oval.
One of the workers approached R'chnt with a deep bow, and kept his eyes carefully on his own toes, never looking at K'Shai. His tusks were folded so tightly against the frame of his mouth he looked a little like he was trying to swallow them and it was not until R'chnt spoke, that he even looked up.
Doing as directed, the Yautja with a deeply rich black hide that was mottled with hints of red, gathered garment material and approached K'Shai, pausing reluctantly before he did. Doing as R'chnt indicated, K'Shai allowed the worker to size her up and after almost no time at all, garments were produced for her that fit her properly.
She stripped out of her bath-robe like leather dress she had been wearing, but not before moving off to an out of the way corner and using R'chnt as a body shield to do so. He assisted her in tying the garments properly, getting the fit against her skin just right and snug.
The materials looked like leather and felt like satin, fitting her so supportively she wondered if they were made out of some kind of elastic too. She donned the garments, essentially a fringed leather bikini, and a pair of sandals with leather lacing that criss-crossed to her knees, and felt much more comfortable standing in R'chnt's shadow, with properly fitted clothing and feet finally separated from the hot metal plating of the floor.
She felt cooler, or she had gotten used to the heat, she wasn't sure. K'Shai glanced around again at the leather shop and left with R'chnt and made a comment about the heat, to which R'chnt response was that he found it entirely too cold on her world. K'Shai pressed her lips together into a thin smile.
To a human, a lovely temperate climate of seventy degrees was pretty much perfect weather. To a Yautja, that was like walking around mostly nude in winter.
She followed alongside R'chnt, who took her through another maze of corridors that she thought started to look a bit familiar and they rounded a corner and appeared in the doorway to a cantina, one that she knew she had been to before.
At least, for having limited time roaming the corridors on the ship, she was starting to feel a bit more familiar with the place, she thought.
The cantina was mostly empty. Two nearly clothless Yautja were removing an empty cart of food and two more were organizing foods – meats and fruits – along a buffet style serving area. Large drink vats sat at either end of the tall food bar and off to one end, two more vats with some kind of delicious smelling stew brewing suddenly got her stomach churning as she realized she was starving.
There were seven other Yautja in the giant area, each one stopping in the middle of drinking, eating, or talking to look up, then suddenly back down.
K'Shai noticed that a few of the Yautja kept their heads down, but eyes up, surveying the two of them, while R'chnt broadcast a growl, telling them he knew what they were doing.
He guided K'Shai around the room, each getting a tray of food and settling into a table right near the center of the place. K'Shai sat next to R'chnt, close, and he welcomed it, his body language opening up to allow her to get as close as she wanted. He ate his food and rested one large arm around K'Shai's body while she ate.
They talked over their meals, R'chnt walking her through each of the things she was eating, helping her learn names and how to unshell fruits and nuts, and giving a highly detailed account of exactly how the fillets of meat she was eating were hunted and carved from what type of beast.
As they talked, she watched the Yautja come and go, each one glancing to her only so much as they felt they could get away with before escaping R'chnt's glare.
He seemed to allow each one who entered the room or passed the table take a good look at both of them. Sometimes he firmed up his grip around her hip, pulling her a little tighter into his uninjured side as he glared at a passerby who stared too much or too directly.
K'Shai on the other hand couldn't help but to eyeball every Yautja who walked by; absorbing them from head to toe, looking at all their various differences.
Many of them had injuries and most were without at least full armor. While some of the Yautja had parts of their awu'asa on, others had leather wraps in place of the metal pieces unless an injury warranted leaving the area exposed.
As she watched the Yautja come and go about their business, K'Shai noticed some of them with injuries that appeared almost as severe as R'chnt's. Some of them had damaging wounds, still glowing green with bruises and blood, to their sides, thighs, chests, and arms. Two she spotted as time ticked by, were missing extremities; one from the elbow down, the other an arm entirely from the shoulder.
One other Yautja that limped heavily into the cantina, thumped past their table grumbling and noisily collected food onto his heavy metal tray-sized dinner plate was missing an eye and had severe scars – obvious claw marks – running through his cheek and over the crest of his head. The wounds to his cheek were so severe K'Shai could see the lights from the room shimmering through unhealed holes.
The hunter was dressed in heavy leather and armor and carrying a full variety of weapons all methodically attached to his back. Axe type blades with jagged edges and spears as straight as arrows all shot up past his head like the spindle spines on the kainde amedha's back.
Once the hunter's plate was full, he limped past their table again, acknowledging R'chnt respectfully with a deep nod of his damaged head, and seated himself across from them, glancing up at K'Shai from time to time as he tore into his meat.
She barely even realized hours had passed, and she had done almost nothing but people watching and talk to R'chnt. He remained quietly seated next to her, barely moving, only talking so much as to inform her of facts about their meals or some of the inner workings of Yautja life aboard the ship.
Several females entered the cantina and took to their own table, drawing brief glances from the males nearby whenever they thought they could look without sparking their ire.
The feeling in the room was tense enough as it was and K'Shai eventually realized that R'chnt had kept her front and center alongside him quite on purpose. Just as much as she was eyeing up everyone around her, he was ensuring that anyone who entered the room saw her, and him towering next to her, rigid, alert, embracing her; protecting her, identifying her as his, and with a right to be there.
The thought, once it finally sank in, humbled her and she found herself surveying R'chnt again in silence.
She was sure that he was pained, weak, fatigued and yet he casually strode her the longest routes possible around the ship, walking carefully with each step, forcing himself not to limp or drag the leg on his damaged side, making sure that the most amount of hunters, workers, and 'aseigan all saw her, then finally planting himself with her at a table to eat and rest, silently building his strength over food and drink, making a show of both of them.
K'Shai only left his side twice, to replenish both their drinks and get a second helping of fruits.
Both times, every head in the room turned to her, and she could feel the stares of the Yautja burning through her body as she walked away from R'chnt. He surveyed her and the room around her as K'Shai left his side, warily watching whatever hunters, workers, and slaves that happened to be there, for any hint, any sign at all, that they would attempt to harm her.
He needed them to be aware of her presence, her scent, her pregnancy, and most of all, his scent on her. He clicked and rumbled and glared as necessary, partially in response to the tremendous pain in his side, but well masked enough by his posture and glare to ensure it was taken as direct dominance over anyone who might think to question him.
Once enough time had passed and enough others had seen the two of them, and he felt that K'Shai had had enough nourishment for both herself and the offspring, in addition to having plenty of time to look at the people who busied themselves around her, R'chnt rose slowly to his feet and guided her out of the cantina.
He took a circumvented route around the inner corridors of the Clan ship, up a lift at a far end, and through the massive docking bay for the elite hunters that were given a spot inside the jag'd'atoll to dock their hunt ships until the war was done.
He watched K'Shai as she stared in wonder at parts of the ship she had never seen before. She looked over the hunt ships they walked past and warily eyed a multitude of 'aseigan that were coming and going, performing work as the ship owners required, bringing trophies to the ships, gathering supplies and tending to their tasks.
Each one of them paused momentarily to glance up from lowered chins to K'Shai, some of them ducking into deep bows as R'chnt growled a warning threat to them for eyeing her too long.
K'Shai felt the hair on the back of her neck prick every time R'chnt rumbled at any of the 'aseigan. She wasn't sure if it was the ominous sound itself that elicited the response, or the way the jumpy slave Yautja reacted upon hearing it that made her wary.
They were such a stark contrast to a hunter like R'chnt; smaller and scrawnier, broken, battered, and fearful, and when he growled at them the way he did, they jumped almost out of their skin as they quickly did whatever was necessary to indicate to him they were subservient.
Some of them dropped their heads so low their back hunched. Others stopped whatever it was they were doing and shuffled away carefully, moving completely out of sight of R'chnt, but in such a manner that they never turned their back to him.
They acted as though he would kill them just for trying to catch a peek at her, and yet he was clearly parading her around on display for that exact purpose. She wasn't sure if he was making a point or looking for a fight, or both, but whatever the reasoning he had, the effect was obvious and it was working.
He finally came to a stop at the tail end of a hunt ship and approached it, depressing a panel on the hull and a door above their heads opened up and a ramp came out. K'Shai pressed her lips together into a smile, certain that this was R'chnt's ship, yet asking the question aloud all the same as she entered into it before him.
"Yes," he confirmed and she gaped in amazement at the shell-like vessel, full of curves and ripples in its sleek hull.
The room she stepped into was obviously a kehrite. It was spacious, oval and adorned with pillars etched with ceremonial inscriptions that she had seen in similar rooms on the Clan ship already. It had a tall and ornate dome ceiling that glowed amber. The soft heated lights cast heavy shadows made by the winding patterns of black metal that flowed and curved throughout the room.
R'chnt stepped over to one of the four arcing entryways in the room that led to other corridors, stopped and pressed another set of panels and suddenly, the walls in the kehrite moved. K'Shai stared all around her as five massive panels of wall sections all glided open smoothly and silently, opening like garage doors, sinking back into recesses behind the walls, and exposing massive trophy cases filled with bolted down skulls, weapons and clawed extremities, all shined to glimmering polishes and neatly and carefully displayed.
He watched her bounce from display to display, looking at everything, bounding around the kehrite with enough energy to fuel her through a spar. She was eager and excited, wide eyed and anxious as she tried to absorb all that she saw and heard from him.
After a short while, he stopped her gazing wonder with an elevated palm.
"I will teach you all, K'Shai. It will take time. Be patient. For now, come. I will show you the ship."
She followed him around his vessel, mapping out every inch of it for her, taking her patiently through the corridors and into all of the rooms.
The vessel was composed of two levels, each with two corridors. It was a large ship, big enough to house fifteen hunters, with bunk space in the lower communal quarters for twelve Yautja and three private chambers on the upper level.
There was a shared bathroom and shower area adjacent to the communal sleeping chambers, while two of the private chambers each had their own small facilities. The lower level consisted of a shuttle bay with R'chnt's personal shuttlecraft.
In the shuttle bay, there was also a large wet room with long preparation areas for cleaning trophies and cutting meat.
Beyond a sectioning wall there was, essentially, a walk in refrigeration unit, which was currently looking a little sparse on meats and fruits; unnecessary since they were currently docked inside a vessel big enough to hold forty hunt ships inside of it, with another docking bay capable of holding eighty shuttles, beyond the four dozen docking ports on the outside, all of which currently utilized.
The jag'd'atoll itself was capable of holding ten thousand Yautja under normal use, although at the moment there were only a fraction of that number aboard.
R'chnt's ship was more like home than the utilitarian atoll.
K'Shai was guided to the cantina, which comprised the entire front section of the lower level, another arcing round room, connected to the refrigeration section by a shared wall with an access door. There was a kitchen, with grills and sinks for preparing food and a stock of platters and chalices.
The lower level also housed an engine room and an armory, which was locked. R'chnt opened it for her to have a look inside at the dozens of helmets, armor pieces, and weapons. He told her he would see to it that she received properly fitted awu'asa when she was ready.
The upper level was far more ceremonial than the lower deck, which reminded her more of the atoll.
The kehrite took up much of the space on the upper level. One of the four doorways in the round room led to a prayer temple, another round room, small, with no seating; it was intended for Yautja to show respect to their gods from a seated position on the floor.
The temple was ornately decorated with many skulls and inscriptions carved into the wood and metal of the walls and ceilings, and there were two leather bound books on stands at the front of the room, each one emblazoned with gold embellishments in Yautja script on the covers.
The other three doorways out of the training dojo all led to the corridors on either side of the ship. To one side, the corridor led to two private sleeping chambers for the two highest level hunters of R'chnt's hunting pack.
One chamber was W'rsa's and the other was Gyr'in-de's, the medic who had died in the same attack that cut down R'chnt. He informed her that those chambers would be up for grabs by whoever proved themselves worthy of them once the war was done.
"What happens to his belongings?" She asked curiously.
"When an elite hunter dies, most of his possessions are returned to the Clan, displayed proudly wherever they are best suited. His armor, if not damaged beyond use, is able to be claimed by the most worthy to wear it. Some of his trophies will stay aboard my ship; he served me and this vessel well. His body will be incinerated on the home world. Along with many more no doubt."
K'Shai pressed her lips together thoughtfully as she considered R'chnt's tone upon his last words. Somewhere along the way, she did not realize when, the fighting and the death had just become a way of life for her. It was simply how life was, and she had stopped thinking long ago about how many had been lost.
When she first saw the Yautja fighting the hard meat so ferociously and looking fearless and unstoppable, it really never occurred to her just how many hunters were perishing for their efforts.
She still could not begin to speculate how many were dying; she didn't even know how many were on Earth as it was, but R'chnt's tone reflected a definite sadness that implied the numbers lost would be far more than she could imagine.
He continued on showing her the control room and she stared from the computer consoles and three large seats, out the massive viewing windows at the front, watching the 'aseigan outside strum about their business as a few hunters lingered in the docking bay.
K'Shai was starting to see the differences in physical appearance between the 'aseigan, the hunters, and the blooded Yautja who were following other Paths.
After a brief tour of the control room in which he assured her that he would walk her through all the computer functions and flight controls eventually, he directed her out of the room, immediately to the left, down the adjacent curving corridor that left just one more doorway she had yet to enter.
R'chnt depressed a panel and nodded his head slowly to her and she stepped through and into his chambers. She felt her heart speed up excitedly and nervously as she got her first look at where R'chnt lived and slept. The chambers were massive and comfortable; taking up the entire full side of the vessel.
Like a split level home, there were three levels to the chambers, each circular room just a few stairs above the one adjacent to it. The door from the corridor led into what she could only call a living room or sitting area.
There were large chairs of cloth and leather in a semi-circle along one side of the round room, and a two or three Yautja-sized sofa that looked a lot like an oversized futon, only much heavier framed and matted, on the other side. There was a table between the seats, like a coffee table, and hide on the floor serving as an area rug.
The far wall had a massive viewing window and above and below and along-side it, and everywhere else possible in the entire sprawling chambers were trophies of skulls and weapons and claws and tails and hands and feet and jewels; interesting objects from dozens of worlds, dozens of species, over four centuries worth of Earth's time.
K'Shai gaped in wonder, feeling fairly sure that it would take her a century just to investigate everything he had in his chambers alone. It was a little like walking into a museum and pirate's treasure chest all at once.
Down a few steps to the lower section of his chambers was another, smaller, personal sparring kehrite, adorned with two pillars and many more weapons, each one carefully displayed and easily accessible for whatever type of routine he was working on.
To her left and up a half a dozen stairs was the sleeping area and K'Shai turned and approached it, surveying the trophies all over the walls as she went.
On one side of the sleeping chamber was another smaller armory, for R'chnt's personal awu'asa.
K'Shai gaped in amazement at the meticulously laid out, almost OCD level, armor, neatly aligned and displayed along three walls. On one wall, there were eight helmets along the top row all differing in ornamentation.
Chest armor below them protruded from braces on the wall and below that the rest of the armor pieces all caringly stored, readily accessible.
Another wall housed a variety of spears, swords, and staffs with single and double blades, plasma caster weapons and a variety of knives and replacement dha'kte wrist blades and what looked like a basket full of something that resembled grenades.
On the far wall was R'chnt's armor that had been removed from him when he was brought into the jurite, all carefully displayed, but still covered in his blood. Someone had obviously been charged with bringing it back to his ship, but she presumed they were told not to clean the armor.
She turned to look at the rest of the room. The large bed, stately, regal, and tall, was more like a thick mattress atop a platform of an intricately etched bone base.
It was pressed against the wall, probably the only straight wall in the room, she noticed. The well-padded bed was covered in rich and luxurious looking covers that at first glance appeared to be made from golden silk.
As she drew closer to the bed and investigated the sheets with her fingers, she realized they were leather, so finely sleek and soft to the touch they were unlike anything she had ever seen on Earth, though the material did look quite similar to some of the elegant looking garments she saw some of the females wearing.
Above the bed, enough to give anyone nightmares, she thought, was a massive skull of a hard meat queen. She felt her body prickle and tense as she looked closer at the skull, deciding that it was going to take quite a bit to get used to that hovering above her while she slept.
R'chnt watched her quietly as she surveyed his chambers. She moved off to an adjacent door where she found a private bath house, complete with something that looked every bit like a sunken hot tub and a shower nearby.
The chambers were comfortable, no doubt. Well-appointed with anything anyone could need to be content without being superfluous.
The quarters were well-designed to accommodate the training needs of an experience Yautja while doubling as a museum of various creatures and weapons throughout the universe.
"This ship, K'Shai, is yours to roam freely. No one will come aboard, no one will disturb you. You can instruct the 'aseigan to bring you food, drink, anything you need. You will go with the females tomorrow, but you can always return here. I will show you how to lock the ship if you prefer."
She eyed him suddenly, widely.
"Why? You're going to be here, right?"
"I will return to the planet. I must return to the hunt."
"What? R'chnt you can't be serious?"
He turned and glared at her a little with an 'of course I'm serious' sort of look.
"You're just going to leave? R'chnt you…you…how…" she stammered again, jaw dropped, gaping at him in worry.
He watched her heart begin to pound, her body surging with anxiety. He considered that she was worried about being without his company, in child, on a vessel that was as familiar as home to him but completely foreign for her. Acknowledging her concern, he tried to settle her.
"Of course you would probably be more comfortable in the mei'sa with the females. Neh'rti expects this and you would not be alone. You will need to learn the ways of the females."
K'Shai shook her head, almost a little frantically.
"No, that isn't the problem. I don't see…" she paused, trying to calm herself so she could formulate her sentences in Yautjan carefully.
"I don't see how you can just go back and hunt. Surely you need to recover still?"
R'chnt sunk down onto the edge of the bed, sighing deeply, watching her as he pondered the situation more. He slowly realized she was concerned for him still, even though he stood tall and displayed his ability to protect her.
She eyed him quietly, a wide look of anxious worry on her face, one hand cradled unconsciously over her belly as she faced off with him. He flared his mandibles and dropped his eyes, both uncomfortable with spurring her temper and reacting to the suggestion that he was somehow incapable of returning to the hunt.
If she thought he was too weak to continue, surely others would as well, which would put himself, her and the offspring at great risk. He tried to work out how to explain that to her, but his attempts to do so, no matter how logical he spoke, seemed to baffle K'Shai even more.
"You can't protect me if you're dead," she exasperated.
"You have lost faith in my strength." He said once again, the circular conversation not apparently having an end.
"No, R'chnt. I think you're the strongest person I've ever known. Right now, though, you're being headstrong. How can I…" she paused, trying to figure out how to make him understand that she was not trying to insult his fighting skills by displaying her worry for his well-being.
She knew, although she barely understood the logic, that somehow being injured as he was was actually some kind of embarrassment to him. It was dizzying to try to figure out that mentality, so she changed tactics.
"Are you planning to leave today?"
Finally, he thought, she was coming around and understanding where his position required him to be. It was obvious she was tired and stressed and perhaps overwhelmed with too many changes all at once.
"Tomorrow, I will leave." R'chnt said plainly. He stood, slowly, as K'Shai noticed, and removed his loin cloth as he strode towards the bathroom.
"Come," he indicated and she entered with him.
He helped her remove her garments and he sank into the hot pool. K'Shai toed the water, hissing at how hot it was and slowly waded into it as her body adjusted to the temperatures.
She leaned up against him, holding on to the side of the tub so she wouldn't submerge. The water was deep enough for him to stand up and still be chin-deep in it. She couldn't touch bottom but she supported himself half against him and half crouching awkwardly on the sitting ledge below the surface.
R'chnt reached to a shelf on the wall behind him and opened a bottle, depositing some crystalline contents into the water, which immediately made the water react like he just poured alka seltzer into it.
Within seconds, her body began to tingle and suddenly every muscle relaxed; the effect was incredible. She pressed herself against his body and soaked there with him for as long as she could tolerate the heat.
When she went to climb out of the water, her body had relaxed so much she could almost not stand. She felt like she was made of Jello.
The soak seemed to have a similar effect on R'chnt. She noticed he had a little trouble coming out of the pool. He dried off and returned to bed immediately and was asleep within seconds, exhausted.
K'Shai watched him until she herself curled up next to him to sleep, comfortably nude next to his own garment-free body. She had pondered furiously, her mind endlessly working its way in circles, trying to understand how he could be so willing to go off to certain death just to prove he wasn't weak. It made no sense at all.
When the morning came, if it was morning, she really could not tell, R'chnt went to rise with a grumble, barely sitting upright without a struggle.
K'Shai pressed her lips together and slipped over to him, resting her palms on his shoulders and pressing her face against his temple and her chest into his back. He was moving slowly, wearily, not jumping to his feet with his usual alert alarm.
He was groggy and appeared unfocused as he eased his body back softly into her touch and sharply inhaled against the pain he was clearly feeling.
K'Shai ran her hands over his shoulders down to his chest, back across his biceps and strummed them up delicately through his tresses, carefully tracing her fingers over the metal and bone beads that were fused into his locks, stimulating him into a bit more of a relaxed state.
"Let me get some of those oils, why don't you lay back and let me rub you," she whispered gently to him.
She was almost a little surprised when he did so without a word, expecting him to protest and prepare for his day.
She retrieved a variety of bottles from the bath area and in a few minutes, the sleeping chambers were filling up with the pleasant, if a bit overpowering, alien scents of musky and spicy oils as she worked them into his tresses while his soft rumble relaxed into a deep purr.
Slowly, K'Shai worked each and every lock, ignoring her rumbling belly, silently apologizing to R'chnt's offspring growing inside her for not providing enough nourishment at the moment, and ignoring the call of her bladder as well.
She had R'chnt so relaxed, leaning against her with his head in her lap that she dared not move to disturb him. As she worked oils into every tress, cleaning them and soothing him with her delicate touch, watching him loll his eyelids as he rested, she found herself staring from him to the open door of the armory beyond the bed, eyeing his armor surplus and the damaged and blood stained equipment that he nearly died in.
Everything about him, about his chambers, about his ship itself, all of it, was bred and built for deadly combat.
She thought about L'ruch's words to her about strong hunters making strong clans, and slowly, through a mixed up series of thoughts, she began to understand his logic behind his desire to return to Earth so quickly, and she started to realize that much of it was spurred by her.
Dying on the planet in an honorable fight was not something he feared at all. It was the total opposite of her, who needed him so much she could not envision her life without him.
She somehow felt that she would not live past an hour beyond his death. In some strange way, the Yautja viewed surviving such injuries, for a noble hunter of R'chnt's bloodlines and heritage, to be a sign of weakness, not strength.
Cheating death, something humans utilized immense measures to accomplish, had a much deeper and very different meaning to the Yautja and she had a sinking feeling in her gut when she realized he was so keen to get back to fighting to prove that he was not trying to actively avoid an honorable death.
He purred below her as she continued to stroke oil into his hair strands and she let her mind slip from all thoughts, forcing out the riddle that was Yautjan logic from her mind and instead focusing on the feel of his tresses and his skin.
She lubed her hands up with another coating of hot oils and massaged his scalp, working her fingertips carefully over and around the ridges along his head and the small protruding horns, massaging oils deep into the follicles for each quill that lined his jaws, eliciting a deeper purr from him.
She leaned over, moving her head closer to his, pressing her face against his, kissing him delicately.
The oils tasted sweet and made his skin even warmer than normal. She slid her hands from his head to his chest and leaned as far forward as she could reach, extending her fingertips towards his hips, working the oils into every muscle, carefully tracing the puckered injury on his right side, passing over it and rubbing the soothing liquids along the grainy textures of his skin and into old scars, pressing her lips slowly against his cheek in rhythm with the soft sounds of her breathing.
R'chnt shut his eyes completely, letting the gentle feeling of his mate's hands fill him with pleasure and relax him fully.
Comforted and eased between the warmth of K'Shai's body, the oils working into his skin, and the temperate serenity of his chambers, R'chnt lulled himself into restfulness while K'Shai tended to him.
She eventually shifted her position completely, moving out from under him. She continued on with her rub down, straddling over his knees so she could work the oils into his thighs before she slid her delicate body down further and rubbed him to his toes.
She tended to every part of his body while he laid placidly, filling the wide oval space with his deep rumble.
He had intended to rise and take K'Shai through the ship again until he needed to return her to the company of the females so he could return to the planet below.
The pain in his side was tremendous, but he tried to ignore it, though it made him feel tired. He slipped easily into a state of relaxation, distracted from his agenda by the touch of K'Shai's skin and lips against him.
She worked her way back up from his toes to his thighs, straddling him lightly as she rounded her back and lowered her head to him, kissing his abdomen, stroking the insides of his thighs as she groaned softly.
R'chnt's purr turned to a heightened trill as K'Shai caressed her hands across his groin, taking firm hold of his masculinity and rubbing him into a partial arousal, her thumbs gently caressing his shaft back and forth, working his excess skin folds until they smoothed out over his hardness before she lowered her lips around him, thrilling him with sensation as she moved her tongue around him and sucked, carefully avoiding painful contact with her teeth around his delicate areas.
He rolled his head back as he arched his back, pressing his hips up and forward to accentuate the feel K'Shai was offering him.
He moaned deeply and grabbed the sheets, curling his fingers around them until his talons depressed into the mat below his palms and his body surged with delight and pleasure.
Between her hands rubbing gently, stimulating him and her lips working their way along and around his shaft and tip, R'chnt could only succumb to the sensations flowing through him, howling as those sensations worked their way out of him in hot fluid that K'Shai accepted.
She eased herself off of him slowly, stroking his body with her trailing fingers as she did, and retrieved a damp towel from the bathroom.
Once they were both cleaned, she leaned into him as he relaxed, stretched out, eyes still shut. He was suddenly no longer in pain, his mind had been successfully distracted from whatever it was he thought was going to do when he started his day.
"I'm going to get us some food." She whispered softly to him, pressing her face against his as she spoke slowly and smoothly. "You stay here and rest, OK?"