CHAPTER THIRTY -SIX

The hunters moved along the plateau only a short distance, barely getting near the edge of the treeline when the group stopped suddenly and simultaneously, even without R'chnt cuing a halt. There was movement. Massive movement in the trees. K'Shai saw what just looked like a blob, undefinable for a moment until it broke apart and took shape - took the air.

It was them. What they had come to hunt; redemption in honor of S'ruch-de at K'Shai's own bidding. Three of the animals took to the air and as she tracked them up, up, up, she suddenly realized there were dozens more flying well overhead. Perhaps they were above the clouds and no one had noticed because they were watching where their feet were falling.

The animals circled like vultures and some broke away from the main vortex, off to attempt to dine on some other creature, no doubt. Plasma bursts from the hunting party did little except to excite the animals into a frenzy. Some split off and fled from them, but four of the larger, more protective and dominant ones, flew down to meet the Yautja group head to head.

One of the animals dove for K'Shai, and she hit the ground to avoid its claws coming at her. She rolled over as the creature passed by and whipped her spear into it, landing it loosely in the underside near its tail. She could hear the animal howl in pain and anger, but her shot only managed to irritate the beast for a moment before it clattered to the ground.

She jumped up to retrieve her weapon and immediately heard a thud behind her. Before she ever got to her spear, she saw another of the dragons had landed hard on the rocks and the fragile plateau was crackling. The very footing the were all standing on was giving way. N'tul lunged at the animal, which in response, lunged right back at him with its long neck curving around as it snapped successfully at him, grabbing the Yautja up by an arm to the howling rage of the hunter now dangling by it.

N'tul tried to free himself and the animal whipped out its long wings, so powerful that they caused a wind surge that made K'Shai move back out of the way. She turned again to grab her spear barely noticing who the two other Yautja were that started attacking the things' wings as they tried to quite literally bring it down while it attempted to achieve lift off, bleeding and stabbed, with three people hanging from it.

There was no time to consider it. She looked over and saw R'chnt and W'rsa along with Mora'th-de and M'jniir-de lunging at, and jumping on, another one of them. The animal reared up wildly and huffed out a blaze from its mouth that lit trees afire and caused the entire scene to light up. K'Shai headed towards that beast, failing to pay attention to what was happening just off to her side and suddenly she was slammed down to the ground from the tail of the creature that N'tul and the others had been attacking.

She moaned and gasped, winded and hurting, but pulled herself together near the feet of the other creature just as it successfully took to the air. She had just enough time to look up and see R'chnt still on the animal's back, trying to bring it down, when two more flew down from the air. One of them was diving directly at R'chnt, trying to help its friend or mate by removing the nuisance that was causing it pain.

K'Shai tried to watch; to see if R'chnt would be clamped up in the other attacking animal's claws, but her attention was diverted by W'rsa, still on the ground next to her, as he howled and pointed up to the shadow now casting down over the two of them.

Suddenly, K'Shai felt her thigh flare up in pain and a moment of sheer agony was followed by an odd and uncomfortable sensation of weightlessness. She was flying. Not by choice. The animal had a tight grip on her, with one claw sunk into her thigh right down to her femur, she was sure of that. Her body suddenly felt a piercing pain that was almost too much to endure; a nerve no doubt, lighting up her senses sharply, reminding her that she was now in a world of trouble.

Where R'chnt had ended up, she did not know, but before she passed into unconsciousness, she did notice another Yautja climbing along the animal's back, having inched his way along the creature's tail, which had plenty of grip thanks to the long spikes and armoring of its natural hide.

She gasped for air and felt her eyes grow heavy. She was losing alot of blood, she knew even without looking. Dazed, she shut her eyes, just wanting a little rest. For the moment, she was just floating. What harm in resting through it? She opened her eyes again and was still floating so she shut them and rested.

Open. Floating. More rest. The sounds and sights became blurred. She could hear the whooshing of the creature's wings above her and the shrill howls of the animal from time to time.

It was suddenly not a very smooth ride. The animal would drop harshly. It would roll and dip and speed up and slow down then fly so high she thought it might very well end up in space before it dived back down towards the trees. She realized slowly that it was being attacked. The hunter that was on its back was likely stabbing it, and the animal's jerky fight was a direct attempt to dislodge the unwanted passenger.

She still had her wrist blades, no idea where her spear was. Her plasma caster was charged and ready and the targeting system was active. She could stab the thing with her blades, which didn't seem like the greatest idea; it might let her go. Likewise, if she shot the animal in the belly with her plasma caster, it very well would drop her, the hunter on top, and itself all to the ground below, which she suddenly realized they were all speeding towards anyway.

No time like the present, she decided and aimed the plasma caster.

The burst of bright blue charged plasma shot up quickly, landing square in the creature's underside and suddenly a deafening roar filled her ears. She felt woozy, sick; tired. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she felt the animal's descent towards the ground speed up. She knew if she didn't move, she would likely be crushed. Perhaps her blow had been fatal or perhaps it was the hunter on the animal's back had struck the fatal blow. Hard to know for sure, and irrelevant anyway. The only thing she knew was the animal was crashing to the ground, quickly.

Uuugggghhhhhhh. K'Shai moaned and tried to focus her mind. What happened?
Wait, did she think that or speak it? She wasn't sure.

Again she moaned, vaguely in response to sounds she heard around her. It was all hazy and fuzzy for some time until she finally was able to see things straight. There was a small fire glowing before her, and off in the distance was the heaping cadaver of the great flying beast. Between that, was a Yautja staring her down quietly, assessing her once again.

"W'rsa?" She moaned. "W'rsa, what happened? Where is R'chnt?"

He grumbled quietly and she did not hear him.

"What?"

He looked up at her, helmet off, and spoke louder and clearer.

"You killed the beast with your underbelly shot. I don't know where R'chnt is. He has not responded."

"What do you mea…uuuuggggghhhhh."

"Remain still, K'Shai. Do not move. I've given you sedatives and painkillers and healed your wounds." W'rsa advised.

She glanced to him and looked him over.

"What about your wounds?" She asked, noticing that he had a gauge on his arm and was bleeding from his abdomen.

"They are nothing." He said coolly.

"Of course not." She muttered, unimpressed and then tapped at her communicator. "R'chnt? R'chnt" Where are you? R'chnt?"

Again and again she tried to get a response from him to no avail. She scanned the immediate area for his life signs, then a bigger area, and a bigger.

"I'm not finding anything." She muttered in pure worry. "The last I saw him he was… was… on the back of one of those."

W'rsa nodded. "He is likely dead."

K'Shai shook her head violently. "No. No! His armor could be damaged, shorted out, or just broken."

She scanned the terrain around them. The sun was rising, the rain was still coming down, though much less torrentially. They were wet, filthy and bloody. There were mountains to the West and North of them, the river and cliffs from which they had come was to the south, and towards the east and the rising sun was more forest, and who knew what beyond.

R'chnt had been on the back of the dragon-beast, and could have been carried anywhere. Any number of things could have happened or would explain why he was out of contact.

"I'm not going to just assume he's dead because we can't get in touch with him." She snapped unhappily at W'rsa. "We have to find him."

W'rsa shook his head. "K'Shai! Take your trophy and we shall head back home. Let us make our way to the ship as soon as you are well enough to walk."

She huffed in aggravation. "If you think there's even a chance I'm going to do that, W'rsa… then you better just start heading off alone."

"I can sedate you and carry you with me," he threatened.

"Come near me and I'll kill you." She responded immediately.

W'rsa spread his mandibles, disturbingly aroused by her determined behaviour and ultra-female-Yautja dominance. K'Shai sensed it immediately. His musk filled the wet air around them. Mating season was not far off, and W'rsa looked at her with a desire that she definitely did not want of him.

"Look, W'rsa… you know I'm not going to just leave this world without R'chnt…. Or …. Or… his body if he is dead. We just need to find him. I need your help doing it."

W'rsa nodded quietly and K'Shai turned her attention to her thigh, which was well supported and her wounds had been sealed. It hurt like hell, but she slowly pulled herself up to her feet after several long hours of rest.

She hobbled over to her kill and looked the beast over. It was an impressive kill, she had to admit. The thing was absolutely ferocious and its might jaws, large teeth and spiny head would certainly make for an incredible trophy. There was already part of her thinking of where she was going to put it; perhaps right on the foyer of R'chnt's home, or even right in the front yard. Maybe in the Clan instead.

The rest of her was thinking about where R'chnt was, and how the two of them were possibly going to find him.

She continued to try to get a response from him over and over and over again. Eventually others in the group did respond, and so far only three hunters had been unaccounted for. That was at least something.

"They are going to head back to the ship with their trophies." K'Shai informed W'rsa, as if he didn't just hear the entire conversation.

"Yes, and they will leave once they grow tired of waiting and we will be stranded here." She glared at him, but said nothing, knowing full well it was true.

It was not typical at all for Yautja to wait for a lost hunter, or even form a search party to look for one. If you die, you die. Just die with honor and that's all that mattered. Not even mighty R'chnt was worthy of a search party to retrieve his body. And their patience would only last so long waiting for K'Shai and W'rsa to make their way back.

-

R'chnt awoke well into the mid-day. He had managed, after bringing down the beast he was riding, to find a makeshift shelter in a shallow cave and start a fire with the last of plasma caster. Wet, filthy, and injured, he struggled to breath as he leaned against the cave wall and looked over his armor once again.

It was definitely destroyed. That wasn't the worst of it, though, either. He looked over himself once again assessing his injuries and assets now that things were less fast paced. Bringing down the beast with only a sword was no easy task. Crawling out from under it when it crashed upon him and snapped his leg, in two, was worse. Realizing that during the foray, the animal had bitten into him so hard that it pierced his armor, damaged every system he had, and left him without any way to find out where K'Shai was or if she was alive, was the most bitter part.

He had been carried off on the back of one beast, when its companion attacked, gnawing at him and biting into him, lifting him right up into the story sky by the mouth. It flew off while he fought it, and he had no idea how far away from the fight he had been carried. There was a high cliff above the very cave he made residence in, but climbing up to with tattered armor and a broken leg would be no easy task either.

He tried to pull himself up, tried to find a way to support himself. His body pierced with pain and he collapsed backward, managing to drop so hard he felt the already exposed femur on his left leg crack even more.

With an annoyed huff, he pulled out his field kit. Hardly enough to treat this kind of injury. He did what we could with emergency antiseptics and wound closures. He had one...one… injection for pain left- that would be enough to get him through the day if he was lucky. Considering he could be lost for days, or even longer, it seemed pointless to even both. None-the-less, he injected himself and then went on to assess his tattered armor before the pain killers even set in.

Pulling off damaged, useless pieces of destroyed armor, R'chnt evaluated what he could do to support his leg, if anything, with those same pieces. He gazed down to his wrist; at least his k'cit-pa blades still worked. They were sharp enough to sever bones of mighty prey; they could certainly remove his leg.

Then what? Stuck there in some forsaken place with not enough supplies in his med kit or anything around him to stop the bleeding, he would simply bleed out with one leg gone. If somehow he managed to survive amputation, he thought, how embarrassing it would be to return home as a one-legged hunter. R'chnt had never heard of such a crazy thing. A hunter without a leg would be unable to run, or jump, or climb, or spar, or barely even walk for that matter.

It was one thing to replace a broken tusk with a metal alloy. He had even heard of some hunters who had entire bones replaced with alloy when they were too badly damaged, but surely not an entire limb. A crippled embarrassment of a former hunter trying to limp around with an alloy leg; it would be a pure disgrace of an unfathomable sort.

It was one thing to lose an arm, an eye… R'chnt thought about it and even knew a hunter who had part of his head crown ridges bit off by a beast. Though the wound was right down to his skull, somehow the hunter managed to survive and move on with that type of injury. But that hardly inhibited full function.

R'chnt knew he must look for K'Shai, and he knew he needed both legs, somehow, in order to accomplish that. Bleeding out uncontrollably from an emergency amputation was about as pointless as trying to envision the idea of limping his way back home carrying his leg in one hand, like it was some kind of trophy to brazen.

With that, he took pieces of dismantled armor and forcibly set them over his shattered thigh. What was once shiny and barely used was now battered, punctured, non functioning, and useless. At least, useless as armor anyway. He removed a bent thigh shield, the very one that had assisted in breaking his leg and looked at it before tossing into a small pile next to him.

He removed his shin guards and using a length of leather belting and high tensile rope that was normally for stringing up prey to make skinning and gutting an easy process, he tied pieces of his armor around him forming a solid metal bracer.

How ironic, he thought. What was intended to help assist in tearing something to pieces now being haphazardly used to hold what was left of his thigh together as he forced the pieces of destroyed armor around his shattered thigh to help offer support.

The pain as he shifted bones around in a massive injury shot through him so hard he was knocked unconscious. When he returned to consciousness, he felt something wet against him, breathing on him.

R'chnt barely opened his eyes and looked up to see the face of an animal, with a short snout and four tusks peeking out from under its upper lip sniffing him up and down, grunting. He supposed the thing was assessing if it could eat him, figuring he was dead or as close to it as a creature could get. The animal clearly did not assess the wrist blades he wore on his perfectly functioning right arm.

Well, he thought, if food is going to walk right over to him, at least he wouldn't starve while in such a deplorable condition. While he ate, he wondered where K'Shai was. The last he saw, she was on the cliff face with the others as he was being carried away. There were any number of possibilities that could have happened to her. It was possible the hunt was completed and they were all back at the ship, though with his tracking and bio readings non-functioning, it would be impossible for them to find him.

It was also possible, he thought, that she had been killed. The entire hunting party could very well have been killed. Or, if there were any survivors, he wondered how long it would be before they reached the ship and left, stranding him there without any way to send a signal off-world.

This planet could very likely become his new home and his graveyard all at the same time. He grunted as he thought of such things and focused back on his meal. It felt invigorating to get some meat into him, and drink the creature's blood to quench his thirst.

He was so thirsty. And tired. He was very tired. He knew that if he slept too much, he would likely never wake again, but now with a belly of meat and large blood-drink to satiate him, the fire feeling so warm so close to his body, he laid back and soon fell asleep.

Limping and leaning heavily on W'rsa, who offered no complaint, for support, K'Shai and W'rsa had been searching the forest for three rotations with no sign of R'chnt. None of the hunting party, all of which who had survived had been injured, had made it back to the ship yet. She knew the clock was ticking. When the hunters got sick of waiting on nothing, they would leave. There was no avoiding it.

W'rsa reminded her of it as well, trying to spur K'Shai into giving up the futile search for R'chnt. She continually snapped at W'rsa for even implying it, but yet he continued to try to pressure her all the same.

"You know, it's almost like you're intentionally trying to irritate me, W'rsa." She growled as he helped her carefully set her down onto a rock for a break in the search.

"No, K'Shai. I would not do that." He assured her.

"Why then? Why are you so insistent we go back to the ship?"

"R'chnt is very likely dead. It's been days, no one has heard from him. K'Shai do not fear for yourself. You would not be alone. I am here."

She clenched her teeth and swallowed, not particularly liking where this conversation was heading, once again sensing W'rsa musk tainting the air.

"W'rsa?" She whispered softly as the mighty Yautja before her surveyed their surroundings.

"There is fresh water just there. I will bring some back, remain here. I will hunt us some food."

"W'rsa!" K'Shai demanded again, after he forcibly ignored her.

He turned slightly towards her, looking at her over his shoulder.

She tipped her head towards him and her voice softened.

"R'chnt did not tell you to get me out of that cave, did he?"

W'rsa turned away from her again, and responded simply, "I will hunt us some food. Remain here and rest."

K'Shai felt completely at unease with the situation and used the time while W'rsa was gone, to get up and pace as far away from the camp as she could to search for R'chnt. W'rsa eventually found her and brought her back for a meal which he put over fire for her, letting her know that he was aware she preferred her meat well cooked.

"Thank you," she said to him with a deep, gratitude-filled nod of her head and she ate the meal and drank the water he gave to her.

"Do you wish to rest?" He asked after they were done with their meal.

"No. No. That's…. Uhhhh… That's fine. I'm fine. I'd rather find R'chnt." The sooner the better, she thought.

With that, they were off until the pain in her leg subdued her again and she caused them both to stop for the night as the rain came down again.

"Does this place ever stop raining?" She moaned. "I miss the suns of Yaut…"

"Well, in the morning we should…"

"Don't even say it! I'm not kidding! Don't. Just don't." She growled at W'rsa.

Annoyed and irritated and in pain, she nestled into a small spot on the rock hollow they found, barely big enough for the two of them to fit into. W'rsa started a fire and the heat blasted off the rocks around them, making the entire area into something like a giant basting stone. It was warm and comfortable and K'Shai quickly fell into a deep restful sleep.

When she awoke, W'rsa was hovering over her, uncomfortably close. Of course, then again, everything about the entire situation was uncomfortable.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked quickly as though there was a problem.

"All is quiet K'Shai. There are many beasts in these trees, but none are a problem."

"Any more of the dragons?" She asked.

W'rsa shook his head.

"Ok. Good. Let's get searching."

"K'Shai…" W'rsa called to her and she stopped, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, not at all liking the tone in his voice.

"You should know, that…" W'rsa said, stepping close to her. "If R'chnt is dead…" He paused, reading the glare she shot him, but respectfully attempting to continue. "I would want you as my mate. I want to sire offspring with you."

K'Shai backed away from W'rsa attempt to place a hand on her. She felt an anger flare, but she tried to remain respectful.

She simply nodded and then turned her back on him; a mistake. Figuring he would follow along behind her as they continued their search, K'Shai started to move towards the river, but W'rsa was not talking about mating with her months or years later when or if she recovered from the loss of R'chnt. For all he figured, R'chnt was dead, and it was nearly mating season. Yautja who wait, would not get the prize. W'rsa had initiated a mating ritual with K'Shai, but he tried to do it in as non-Yautja-y way as possible.

In response to him grabbing at her arm and yanking her back into him, huffing her scent into his nostrils with a big inhale and flaring mandibles, she hit and kicked at him, using her extensive jehdin-jehdin training to her favor. Unfortunately, she well knew that fighting a potential mate was exactly how female Yautja chose them.

"W'rsa! No!" She yelled at him. "Stop! Stop this!" K'Shai growled and hissed at him, making him stop to reconsider his actions.

It worked for a moment, before he was upon her again, pinning her down in true Yautja mating-fashion. He grabbed at her loincloth, presuming that she was accepting of his advances as she fought desperately against him, even once biting him; a sign of acceptance of mating by Yautja females.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't, K'Shai suddenly thought.

Had she done nothing, he would have taken her carefully, as a non-Yautja. Instead she resisted, and he engaged her as a Yautja. She howled at him to stop as he pulled at her loincloth, and removed his own, fully erect and fully intent on violating her, fueled by powerful hormones, driven by pheromones, and locked into a mindless moment of the need to mate, encouraged by the belief that he was proving his worthiness to her, and that she wanted it.

K'Shai, for a brief moment, felt sorrowful and angry simultaneously. She was sorrowful because she knew his intention was well-placed, and she had decided on a course of action that she would not ever have done otherwise. But she was angry enough, that she did not care. She grabbed at a small knife in her belt, a handy little tool that had been well used over the years for getting her out of a difficult situation by stunning her attacker; she never imagined it would be used for this.

Any Yautja female that failed to be impressed by a mate, would take out her disappointment on the mate's genitals. It was a harsh lesson of unworthiness; one that would ensure the hunter would not ever be able to sow undesirable seeds into any female ever again. W'rsa was not unworthy. He was powerful, with a deep sense of honor.

K'Shai hardly wanted to take it that far, but a cutting wake up call him that she did not want his advances was very necessary.

She stabbed him, deeply, putting the entire six inch length of the blade into him, right up to the handle, but she did not stab him in the genitals. It was close enough on the inner thigh to get the point across. He would likely interpret it as a miss, but the message was loud and clear and instantly, W'rsa withdrew.

K'Shai half expected to hear W'rsa howl in agony, or at least give a roar of surprise. No doubt he would whimper in embarrassment or shame. She was stunned as she pulled herself away from him and gathered her coverings; eyeing him with a furious stare that did eventually soften as W'rsa sat there in a crumpled heap on the wet muddy ground, and did not speak, or move, or make a sound at all.

Once K'Shai had composed herself she sidled over to W'rsa and knelt beside him. He dared not look at her. He maintained a very steady eye contact with the ground below his clawed toes.

He simply just looked so defeated, she had never seen him in such a state before. Knife still sticking from his thigh, blood pouring out of the wound, W'rsa just sat in silence; either contemplating his failure, or wondering when exactly it was that she was going to finish the job.

K'Shai pressed her lips together and retrieved her knife, trying to be as gentle as possible. The damage was done, the message had been sent and well received; there was no need for further injury or humiliation. W'rsa flinched, but not so much at the withdrawing of the knife from his thigh, more at the notion that K'Shai had it back in her hands and might very likely finish what she had started.

She eyed him directly for a few moments in silence, though he maintained no eye contact with her at all, then she stood up tall and put the knife back into its sheathing on her belt.

"W'rsa, come." She spoke flatly and plainly. "We still have to search."

He looked up at her rather in surprise; he clearly was not expecting that reaction, but he quickly moved away from her and donned his belt and loin cloth and tended to his wound. When he tiptoed near her, but not close enough to arouse her anger again, she spoke.

"I am R'chnt's. You must understand. I am R'chnt's. Only R'chnt's. And I believe he is alive, and I believe we will find him."

W'rsa stayed silent and nodded his head subtly, then followed her as she continued her search, though he remained dreadfully silent for days. He stayed well out of her range, away from her wrath, though he continued to tend to her needs at camp, with food, water, and fire. The company was beyond awkward and the silence between them was worse than anything.

"What is it?" W'rsa responded to a hail beeping on his arm.

K'Shai's heart leapt, hoping it might be R'chnt himself, or at least news of R'chnt. Instead, it was Mora'th-de with news from the ship. The hunting pack had finally reached it, and had brought back with them their trophies and meat. Unfortunately, the ship was in no condition to fly. Clearly the dragon beasts, intelligent enough to figure out that their attackers were not of their world, had found the means by which the hunters had arrived and took out their anger upon the vessel.

The news was good and bad to K'Shai. On the plus side, with days, maybe even weeks of repair time, it gave plenty of more time to search for R'chnt and hopefully find him, alive or otherwise. On the undesirable side, it also meant there was now a very real possibility that the entire hunting party could be stranded on the planet for however long it took for some hunter to eventually get around to responding to their distress beacon.

That also meant more time alone with W'rsa searching the forest, and potentially an indefinite amount of time on the planet with W'rsa and R'chnt together. K'Shai tried not to think about any of that as they continued to search. They had finally made it to the river, and with certainty, if R'chnt was alive, or had been alive at all, he would have made his way to the river as well. Of course, he could have been in either direction, upstream or down, and there was a vast planet's worth of terrain.

As K'Shai and W'rsa continued to survey the terrain and search for R'chnt, she tried not to think about the endless possibilities of looking for someone without a homing signal, without any form of communication. She tried not to think about searching for her mate with another male that wished to be her new mate. She tried not to think about the creatures that could attack them from the sky at any time. Perhaps they had moved on, she did not know.

It was also possible that the beast that took R'chnt had carried him away from miles; maybe even to another continent. It was impossible to know, but after days and nights over and over and over again, combined with rains that just never seemed to stop sometimes, it was hard not to think about the very real possibility that she would never see R'chnt again. How long W'rsa patience for this would hold up, she did not know.

Mating season was very close now, and that meant there was a group of males stuck on this planet, far from home all looking to express their natural needs. It was hardly the first time, she was ell aware, of Yautja males being away from home during mating season. She had been told plenty of stories from the females and even from the males, who did not deny any of it.

Trapped usually with no one, no company, when pleasuring oneself was simply not enough, would drive males crazy as they tried to endure their bodies' own heightened urge to mate. It was a matter of biological need, not just male desire. Like the females that cycled into heightened receptiveness each mating season, the males also cycled into heightened desire to mate, conveniently enough.

K'Shai processed in her mind what it might mean for her to return back, with W'rsa, without R'chnt, to four other males full of pent up mating anxiety, and building frustration and anger while trapped indefinitely on the planet with a broken ship. Even mating with W'rsa, at that point, would not be enough. She knew he would likely die trying to protect her, and should that chain of events play out, she was not sure even that would be enough.

"W'rsa…" she whispered to him quietly one night, as they sat on a blissfully rain free evening after a sunset of brilliant peaches and purples. They were on the river's short, sitting in a soft bed of mossy grass, surrounded by hills and rocks and animals and water, with a small glowing flameless fire between them. It was idyllic, serene.

"If R'chnt…." she started, but dropped her eyes and fell silent. "I just…" Unable to come up with words, she tried again and W'rsa simply sat silently waiting for her to finish whatever thought she was trying to come up with.

She tried again.

"You are a very honorable Yautja. If R'chnt…. If we can't find him, or don't find him well…. It would be an honor to bear young for you."

She struggled with the words, the whole idea of a life without R'chnt. It was a disturbing notion, but after so long searching for him, with no communication at all, it seemed like a very, very real possibility. Even if he was alive, it was possible he was stuck somewhere, far away, unable to make it to the ship. Unable to make it back to her.

She tried to sleep that night, but found it difficult and full of dreams. When she awoke for the last time after shifting and tossing throughout the entire stretch of star-filled night, the sun was cracking over the mountains, casting incredible hues of pinks and teals through the sky. This planet was definitely beautiful. Very much so. The sunset the night before and the sunrise before her now were two of the most amazing events she had witness in all this time on the world.

There was such a surreal beauty in all that surrounded them. She felt a sinking feeling with it, though. The search for R'chnt was not going well at all, and she hated to think about what that would mean.

Then, she noticed a shadow, a silhouette, moving along the river with the rising sun behind its shape. Its shape was tall. Its shape was on two legs. It was no creature of this planet that she had seen before as of yet. Its shape was moving towards them slowly, cautiously, and it stopped. It stopped and surveyed them and then belted out a roar louder than any she had ever heard before.

"R'CHNT!" K'Shai howled and darted towards the river, whipping across it like it was not even there as he stepped along the shoreline and made his way towards her charge.

W'rsa, well awake now from the outbursts, lingered on the other side of the river and simply waited for them to cross back over.

K'Shai ran to R'chnt, wanting so badly to slam into him, kiss him everywhere, knock him to the ground, hold him, and feel him against her. Instead, though, she approached him carefully. He was battered and broken, with his left thigh wrapped in armor strapped on with leather belting, padded in hides. He had cuts, scratches, bruises, and he was so thin his ribs were showing. He was leaning heavily on his own spear for assistance standing.

She had never seen him looking so defeated either, not even when he nearly died now so long ago back on Earth with his abdomen ripped open from being partially gutted by the tail of a hard meat queen.

"What!?" She gasped and surveyed him. "What happened?!"

"K'Shai," he said. "It's been one hell of a hunt, and a very long story."

She smiled and pressed her lips together. He was weak, sunken, and injured, but he was also happy and he clamped a hand around K'Shai and squeezed her to him.

"You were searching for me?" He asked in a disbelieving whisper.

"Of course." She assured him with a confident tone.

He nodded deeply and began to move towards the river, slowly wading across, with K'Shai helping to support him. They made it to the other side and R'chnt carefully slid onto the shore, dragged his broken leg out of the water and fumbled back up to his feet, then moved directly for W'rsa without a word.

K'Shai noticed W'rsa stagger a bit. It was slight, but it was enough to tell her that all of the current events were running through his mind at an alarming rate, and he somehow apparently suspected that R'chnt woudl be aware of them.

Instead, much to W'rsa's relief, no doubt, R'chnt clamped a mighty hand on his shoulder, in a friendly gesture of both greeting and gratitude and R'chnt took a deep bow.

"Thank you." He said in a deep tone. "For searching for me and for protecting K'Shai."

W'rsa nodded in acknowledgement and gripped R'chnt's shoulder with his own hand, but said nothing.

They headed back together, slowly, towards the ship. It was going to be a long walk. First, they used the last of all of their medical supplies to help R'chnt's injuries, and waited for him to eat, drink, and get some much needed rest. He slept well until the sun was at peak height in the sky, while K'Shai hunted for some meat and W'rsa remained near the camp, faithfully keeping an eye on R'chnt.

When R'chnt awoke, he immediately looked about.

"K'Shai?" he questioned.

"Hunting." W'rsa responded simply.

R'chnt nodded and pulled himself upright with a grunt. W'rsa surveyed him.

"What happened to you?" W'rsa asked.

"It has been a long fight. This leg…." he said in an annoyed growl looking down at his incapacitation.

"K'Shai killed one of the beasts." W'rsa informed him proudly. "It was taking her. I was on its back, she was in its claw. She made the killing blow. I admit, I tried, but mostly I just hung on."

R'chnt chuckled a bit.

"That I understand!" He announced heartily, vocalizing a laugh.

W'rsa nodded in agreement.

"She never wanted to stop searching for you. She kept saying she believed you were alive. She said she could feel it somehow."

"And you?" R'chnt asked. "You had wanted to leave me for dead?"

W'rsa eyed him slightly warily. "Yes."

R'chnt nodded and took a good long drink of water from a flask.

"As well you should." He confirmed.

"K'Shai is… stubborn." W'rsa commented quietly and R'chnt busted out in another hearty laugh.

"It's taken you this long to figure that out?" He said jokingly. "She has an alien body, but the heart and will of a Yautja, no doubt."

"That she does," W'rsa agreed without missing a beat. "There is something you should know."

R'chnt looked to him and interrupted. "What I know is that you kept her safe, and followed the Yautja way as you should have. I have no doubt K'Shai resisted. You were unable to take her, but she left you intact."

W'rsa and R'chnt were both fairly quiet when K'Shai returned, and she eyed them both warily. R'chnt, perhaps more than W'rsa, noticed the look of concern in her eyes. He did not seem to respond to it and that just made her all the more concerned. She eyed R'chnt carefully but said very little. In fact, much of the rest of the very long walk back to the ship was quiet and uncomfortable.

The trio returned to the ship after many more sunrises. R'chnt, with more food to fuel him for the return trip, was feeling stronger, and walking somewhat better. He would, no doubt, have a limp for the rest of his life, but the bones had begun to set. Kor'aun-de had so informed R'chnt after he tended to the injuries. That was, however, after they were all greeted back to the ship with cursing and frustration.

The hunters had been left to repair the damage to the ship with limited supplies, and even more limited knowledge, while W'rsa and K'Shai had simply abandoned them to do it, chose to set off on a search that they never would have done, and ultimately returned back just in time for the repairs to be nearly completed and the ship ready to go.

Rightfully so, they were angry. K'Shai stayed as much out of it as she could, leaving R'chnt to be the Leader he was born to be. Injured and limping and half starved, or not, he was powerful, dominant, and let the others know he did not at all appreciate their attitude.

Once the ship was prepared, they were off, without wasting any time. The trophies were the only thing left to collect; an easy enough job, hoisting the now rotting meat-covered skulls into the cargo bay. It was done and they were headed home. It would be a long journey, but with a little luck, they would arrive back before mating season ended.

For R'chnt, there was no such concern, and K'Shai kept him pleasured and peaceful while they had little else to do aboard the ship.

"You know what, R'chnt?" She whispered to him softly as she nestled against him, sweaty, hot, nude.

"What, K'Shai?

She turned slightly to look directly at him.

"That was one hell of a hunt."

R'chnt bursted out in laughter.

It felt good to laugh, especially after so many weeks aboard the ship fighting stir craziness, trying to keep well away from the others as they continued to let off steam in anticipation of returning home.

It had been weeks, and suddenly, K'Shai felt nauseous. She knew exactly what that met, and so did R'chnt. The rest of the ride home, she knew, was going to be uncomfortable.