By the time they had returned to the clan city, word had spread quite far and wide, and K'Shai noticed immediately that she was being treated differently. She was being avoided, she noticed eyes more quickly diverting from her direction as if their owners couldn't do it fast enough to avoid striking a nerve with her.
Suddenly, she was actually a female Yautja. It only, apparently, took a necklace full of Bad Blood tusks to get to that point. A small price to pay, she thought as she frequently fidgeted with the necklace in public, just to make a point.
R'chnt often would sit with her over a meal or in the baths, and would watch her fidget with those tusks. She noticed him watching her, but he did not speak of them, nor discuss the hunts with her. She couldn't help but notice that sometimes he looked at her with a sort of discerning look of concern, especially so after a sparring match in which she might forget to hold back a little too much against her opponent.
"K'Shai! This is a spar only." He scolded to her not two days after she returned from her hunting. She whipped her staff around at downed N'tul, and he looked quite surprised to see that the blade was swinging at his neck.
"Not a m'dei-kwei thwei."
She scowled a bit at R'chnt and then looked down at her opponent, realizing suddenly she was swinging the blade out of pure reactionary instinct, like she was still on the hunt; still after prey.
She withdrew, fidgeting with her trophy tusk necklace and paced past R'chnt like a lioness proud of a kill.
"M-di h'chak/ m-di h'dlak" she said to him abruptly before seating herself on a wall near the kehrite they were training in and watching the rest of the group practice. It was a hunter's motto; no mercy, no fear.
R'chnt tipped his around and followed her until she rested. He continued on with the sparring while she seemed no longer interested.
"K'Shai… What was that earlier?" He finally asked her once they had finished sparring, finished bathing, finished eating, and were now sitting on the deck overlooking the vastness of the kehrites, the cliffs, the waterfalls beyond.
"What?" She asked absently.
"K'Shai! Your mind is elsewhere. You attacked N'tul."
She glared at him.
"Wasn't I supposed to attack him?" She asked casually with a raised eyebrow.
R'chnt shook his head. "You know exactly what I mean. I think had I not stopped you, you would have cut his head off."
K'Shai gritted her teeth, clenched her jaw. Honestly, he was right. But she simply stared at her own toes in response.
"What is happening to you, K'Shai?" He asked gently, reaching over to her and clamping a hand on her shoulder.
"Not a thing, R'chnt. I'm becoming exactly what I need to be." She eyed him proudly and fidgeted with her necklace of tusk trophies.
"You need to take Yauta tusks as prizes?"
She eyed him widely. "They are my prizes. Trophies that I earned, each and every one. This one… this one right here; he killed S'nj…"
"I know, K'Shai. You have told me many times," he cut her off with a disgruntled growl.
"He used to be your 'aseigan," she added with emphasis.
"Does that somehow make me responsible for his actions?" He snapped.
"Wha…? No… that's not… I didn't mean to imply…" K'Shai stammered and huffed, growing enraged with each breath. "Doesn't it mean something to you? That someone in your servitude could do this?"
"K'Shai… why would I be angry over what some 'aseigan I never once looked at in my service years ago did? He was bad blood and he was dealt with."
"That's right he was…" K'Shai confirmed proudly.
She huffed and brewed for a moment, then added more.
"Do you know he actually said I was no Yautja? He had the nerve," she emphasized, clearly growing more angry. "To talk about our offspring like they were any of his business!"
"K'Shai… K'Shai…" R'chnt cooed. "This anger; this hate…. This is not you."
She shook her head fiercely.
"What's wrong with hating something that committed horrible crimes and then tell you he's better than you? That green blood of yours only gets you so far! Being Yautja is more than that, and I know it. You know it. Our Offspring prove it."
R'chnt sighed. Recognizing that he was not going to get anywhere with her this night, he stood up.
"Well, I am going to refill my mug, and get some rest. Perhaps you should as well."
She waved a hand in the air, "No. I just want to stay out here for a while longer."
"As you prefer, my K'Shai."
He departed, but she did not notice him stop in the doorway between the deck and the kitchen area and stare at her. She did not realize he stared at her like he was studying her for minutes. She sat, curled up in the oversized chair, with her knees pressed into her chin, one arm wrapped around them, the other hanging off the edge of the chair, vibrating violently; furiously, as if it were a volcano ready to erupt with tremendously fierce power.
In the morning, K'Shai was gone. While it did not take long for R'chnt, once he donned some garments and checked the computer, to realize that she had gone to the mei'sa, he did at least spend a small moment recognizing that she had not said anything to him. She simply left to go about her business, see her children, and that was it.
"R'chnt? Did you hear me?" W'rsa had asked of him while they were in the courtyard. Before him was a platter of food he had not touched; meat and berries with a side of creamed baratha root. In his hands was a mug of a;gha, the hearty and sweet nectar was K'Shai's favorite. He had not touched it.
"R'chnt?" W'rsa tried again.
Finally R'chnt looked up to his aging comrade of so many years.
"I wonder what it is that you see in that drink?" W'rsa asked lightly.
R'chnt huffed in return and W'rsa growled softly. Suddenly, R'chnt stood.
"Where are you going?" W'rsa asked. "What is wrong?"
R'chnt looked at him like he just had an epiphany.
"There is someone I must see. Come. I'll explain along the way."
They talked as they walked, quickly, as if it was urgent, out of the courtyard, across the clan square; down the paths they needed to go to reach the destination R'chnt had in mind. By the time they got there W'rsa had very little say, and simply stayed quiet as R'chnt once again reviewed the entire situation to L'ruch.
"You have been tending to her for years. What has happened to my K'Shai? You must know?"
L'ruch withdrew from R'chnt, making sure to keep himself quite clearly across the entire room, as jammed into a wall as he could.
His voice raised and lowered in a whimpering sound as he thought carefully about his words back to the Elder, who stood before him quite a completely different Yautja than he had ever once seen before.
"Long ago, R'chnt, long ago; you were on such a table." L'ruch said in his high-pitched yet whispering voice, and pointed to the only examination table in the room, that fortunately enough was well between them.
"She stood by you, she worried for you. She asked me to fix you." The pitch in his voice went up a little; hoping it would emphasize the reminder that he would not even be alive if not for his medical efforts. But the tone of his audible humming dropped dramatically.
"Now, how different times are, and what a turn around things have become. But what you ask…" L'ruch paused, stretched out his hands in a sympathetic manner and bowed his head. "Is not something I can fix."
R'chnt growled and took two large, powerful, angry steps towards L'ruch, who immediately withdrew by twice that amount, coyly putting himself in the archway of the entry into the next room; not that it would do him any good should the angry Elder decide to come after him, which prompted his next words.
"She is broken, no doubt, R'chnt." L'ruch said with a deep hum and a deeper bow of his head. "But not of bone nor skin, not that I can fix."
W'rsa nudged R'chnt's elbow.
"K'Shai had become what she had spent years...years… working to become." He said delicately. "She is powerful, fierce, strong…. Maybe a little too sure of herself, but she is still young."
R'chnt turned away from L'ruch, looking at W'rsa with a concerned gaze.
"She is…" he dropped the words right there and bowed his head slightly.
L'ruch happily filled in the blank.
"She has become a female Yautja. A true Yautja."
R'chnt looked between W'rsa and L'ruch.
"How can I undo it?"
The silence that filled the air was deadening. L'ruch finally had to give himself a leg tick just to make sure he was still actually alive, and when the other two moved in response to his sudden jerking action, he at least knew they had not slipped into a coma before his eyes.
"Undo it? You want to make K'Shai less Yautja?" L'ruch said quizzically. "Less of what you trained her to be? You are a great and mighty Leader, and you have indeed taken her and made her Yautja. I do not believe this can be undone."
W'rsa looked at R'chnt. "Are you sure she is the one needing to be fixed?"
He turned on his friend, glaring at him and growling. W'rsa bowed his head.
"L'ruch is right, R'chnt! She has spent years working on becoming a true, powerful hunter, and she has succeeded. Because of your training. I remember when she was younger, smaller, weaker. She just seemed like she would die in a week in this life. Everyone questioned your motives, and your sanity. And you know it. But you trained her, taught her, and she has become one of the most incredible females I've ever known.
She is beautiful, fearsome, and incredibly loyal to you. Why do you wish to undo that?"
W'rsa's points were valid. R'chnt quieted down and thought about it for a while. What an irony. His training had completely changed her into something he barely recognized, and suddenly he wished he had neve done it.
"Perhaps…" L'ruch chimed in with a delighted hum and a long, grey, wrinkly finger raised in the air while the thought brewed into his mind. "She could benefit from a visit with the Great Ones."
R'chnt and W'rsa both stopped and stared at L'ruch with wide eyes, giving away their shock at the brash, radcal idea.
"The Ancients…?" L'ruch clarified as if the pair before him had no idea what he was talking about.
"The Ancients…" R'chnt mumbled in echo. "If they would see her. If she would see them. Perhaps."
He then turned to L'ruch and nodded humbly. He had not even thought of it himself, and the Healer, known for being eccentric enough to do what others would not, deserved a nod of thanks at the very least.
The moment W'rsa and R'chnt left L'ruch's infirmary, R'chnt turned and immediately offered his departure.
"K'Shai will be in the mei'sa no doubt. For how long I do not know. I will venture to the Mountain Temple in the Great Lands, and seek the council of the Ancients. This must be done."
W'rsa nodded and simultaneously shook his head; not daring to interfere with R'chnt's plan to somehow fix whatever it was he thought needed fixing. He left immediately, and W'rsa could only wonder what would happen next. R'chnt was right, though, that K'Shai would remain in the mei'sa, and so she did. For weeks that turned into more weeks and yet more.
R'chnt had not returned, but W'rsa finally saw K'Shai walking through the Clan square, looking perhaps somewhat lost. He approached her, but carefully so, not wanting to agitate her, or appear as if he was trying to make overtures to her.
"Where is R'chnt? Have you seen him? He is not answering my communications, he is not in either of his homes." She asked him after offering a subtle nod that acknowledged his presence.
"R'chnt has gone to see the Ancients. Most likely he is not responding because awu'asa and any other electronics are not allowed in the Temple." W'rsa informed her.
"The Ancients? Why would he go to the Temple of the Ancients?" She questioned.
W'rsa did not quite exactly know how to respond to that question without implying some kind of insult to either R'chnt or to K'Shai, which he dared not do for many reasons.
"He has his reasons."
K'Shai nodded. "Well, that is a bit disappointing. I wanted to share the good news with him!"
W'rsa perked up a bit. "Oh? What good news is that?"
K'Shai smiled wide, and nodded her head, "It is time for A'ryin'di and El'tude to be placed with a Leader. They are ready for their Blooding hunts!"
"Ah! A proud moment no doubt." W'rsa acknowledged with a deep head bow, before his eyes fixed on a distant spot.
"Well, look at that."
K'Shai turned around to see R'chnt walking toward them, head proud and looking mighty and strong, perhaps even better than he had looked when she last saw him. She ran over to him, greeted him with a happy, warm hug, and filled him in on the news of their first two offspring.
"I know, I've heard." R'chnt acknowledged and nodded to W'rsa who casually strode away.
"W'rsa said you went off to the Ancients?"
"I did." R'chnt answered succinctly.
"Why?"
"K'Shai…" R'chnt said softly and directed her off to the cantina. "Let us sit. Talk. Do you have any word of hunts soon?"
"No," she shook her head and smiled. "I mean, we train all the time, but it's been pretty silent, which has actually been kind of nice, I've got to admit."
R'chnt noticed a change in her demeanor as they talked. She was relaxed, happy, and
laughing with him, touching him lightly along his arm, resting her hand on his thigh. She smelled sweet; she smelled aroused. She was proud of both of their offspring and spoke richly of their accomplishments in the mei'sa, how they had grown and become something truly special.
"I can't wait for you to see them spar tomorrow. El'tude is huge and so powerful. A'ryin'di is… well, she's just perfect really. Not that I'm partial or anything." She joked lightly.
"And, oh did I tell you how well S'aruch-de is coming along. He's gotten so tall, and he just fits right in." She added with a whispy tone like it was almost impossible to believe that he could have become so well adapted to mei'sa life.
"Several times, K'Shai," R'chnt purred.
Night fell upon them while they were still talking and K'Shai pressed herself more deeply into R'chnt with each passing minute until they finally stood and returned to his home overlooking the sparring rings and courtyard. K'Shai breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of the fresh water dampness on the air that flowed in easily through the pane-less windows.
"Oh, it's so nice just to be back here. I've missed you, R'chnt." She said softly, yearningly, as she paced into him like she had eyed a hearty meal, and placed her palm on his sternum.
Without any more words, K'Shai moved her hips into R'chnt, and used her body to direct him through the corridor, through the bed chambers door and onto the mat, laughing coyly and kissing him as she did so. He shut his eyes, relaxed the tension from his body and allowed himself to enjoy the feel of her delicate lips on his skin, her hands rubbing him and removing garments and armor as they did so.
He missed the feel of her skin, the coolness of her body, and the gentleness of her touch, and he purred to her as she explored him and slid herself onto his erection.
When the morning light came, she was sleeping peacefully and he simply watched her. He watched her without moving for he did not want to disturb her. It was nearly mid day before he finally stirred enough to get a groaning rumble out of her as she came back into consciousness groggily.
"K'Shai, come," he said in a whisper. "It is almost time for the trials to begin."
"Wha…? Really…." She mumbled with her face still partially pushed into the pillow, one eye opening just enough to asses the situation around her.
"It's still dark…" she protested and rolled over away from R'chnt.
He chuckled. "It is midday, K'Shai."
She finally jerked her head fully up, looked out the window and reconfirmed to herself that he was wrong.
"Nope. Still dark."
"K'Shai! It is storming today. Come, the trials are going to begin within the hour. Let us dress, eat, and get to our viewing spot."
"Ugh!"
She finally sorted herself out and while she was proud of knowing that her first two
offspring would soon be making their own appearance on stage before the entire clan for the selection process, the fact that she just wanted to sleep the entire rest of the day and that it started pouring - absolutely monsoon levels of rain - the moment they found their way to their seats in the upper level not far from the podium, did not help to lift her spirits.
Yaut was a beautiful world with its two suns and vast landscapes, but when it turned stormy, it seemed like the planet was angry each and every time. Lightning flashed across the sky nonstop and the rain continued to pour on them, however, the wait would, apparently, not be a long one.
The hunt leaders, both young and old, experienced and nearly as raw as the students they watched, all eyed the contenders in the ring carefully. Win or lose, each student would be placed with a Leader. These were the students that graduated mei'sa 101, and it was amazing enough to K'Shai, that any of them could even make it that far.
Any of them other than her first two, of course. She and R'chnt raised them differently, intelligently, and gave them experiences that no other youngster in the mei'sa would have even dreamed of.
Just like everything else in the mei'sa for a youngster, each day was a test, and this trial was no different. It was not a pass or fail test. In some ways, the young unbloodeds gathered in the pouring rain had already been through that. They had passed Clan criteria for being a worthy enough Yautja just to make it to the selection trials.
Now, it was only a matter of who they would be selected by. It was quite simple really; stronger leaders looked for strong, promising offspring, while weaker or inexperienced leaders usually ended up with the losers of the demonstration spars. The youngsters were being judged by what they could potentially be under the right leadership, not by how much they actually knew coming out of the mei'sa, which was of course very little.
Most of them knew that they needed to fight and they had the urge to - be it driven by hormones or experience or both, they just needed to fight, and fight they did. Not necessarily with any real skill, grace, or tactic. They just fought, which was exactly what was taught in the mei'sa.
Without the basic ability to read, and lacking any real knowledge of the world, the sciences, mechanics, or even how their own armor worked, the students donned awu'asa for the first time minutes before climbing onto the elevated platform sparring arena in front of thousands and thousands of fellow clanspeople they had never met, on their first trip out of the mei'sa in what would have been the equivalent of one hundred human years.
Fortunately, El'tude and A'ryin'di, as well as S'aruch-de, all seemed to grow at a more humanized pace, and thankfully their trial day would not come decades after she had died, so she was proud to see them. Soon, El'tude and A'ryin'di were visible in the line up. By where they were standing, they would be contestants number twelve and fourteen, each one standing next to their assigned opponent, clearly each tryin go reserve their vigor for the actual sparring arena.
K'Shai felt herself getting nervous and grabbed at R'chnt's hand perhaps a little harder than he expected. He nudged her gently and offered a sideways smirk, nodding with approval and telling her that he had no concerns about what was going to happen.
"Which Leader do you think will want them?" K'Shai whispered, noticing that R'chnt's eyes were scanning over judging panel of leaders lined up along the edge of the platform, right on the ground next to it.
He huffed.
"Oh, K'Shai, I have already spoken to half of them!"
"Only half?" She asked coyly.
"The only half that matters." He responded dismissively. "They were all accepting and wanting to train them, but Or'thgu-de and K-veesh'de are most interested in taking on El'tude and are worthy choices."
K'Shai nodded. Her eyes settled onto Or'thgu-de, the second leader in the line up. She had met him before, once or twice. He was a regal looking thing; elder, but not quite yet showing too much gray, just a bit.
"I don't believe I've ever met K-veesh'de?"
R'chnt nodded towards the line up.
"Four." He said.
Leaders were, of course, standing in the judging panel based on their status in the clan, which also allowed them to make decisions on who they would take before lesser standing Leaders could.
So, the two that R'chnt seemed most pleased by were ranked second and fourth in the line up. K'Shai did not need to ask about why the leader first in line was not one R'chnt would like to train their offspring. He was an obnoxious, awful Leader, strong, but as bullheaded as they come, and R'chnt and T'rouk-de never saw eye to eye.
"What about the third? L'tau-de? Is that his name?"
"D'tau-de," R'chnt corrected. "Young, promising, but his hunt history is not exactly the greatest, and he has had fourteen under his training die in the last two seasons. Our offspring deserves the best chance possible to make a worthy, honorable name for themselves in the Clan."
Quietly, K'Shai scanned her eyes over to the other side of the kherite and noticed where the female Leaders were lined up, watching with interest. There were, admittedly, less options as far as female Leaders, but none the less, K'Shai had at least briefly met most of the dozen females lined up and thought they were all good choices.
It was hard to truly pick what makes a Leader great or poor, besides their trophies and how many young bloods actually survive under their tutelage.
Females were proud. Males were proud indeed, but females were even prouder; especially the females who actually hunted, and even more so especially the females who hunted so much that they became Leader themselves. It seemed true that most of the female Leaders, even the youngest of them, had more knowledge, skills, and training than the males, so A'ryin'di, K'Shai felt assured, would recieve the right experience with any one of them.
"Well, I still don't understand why you can't just train El'tude. You trained me. What's the harm in that, so what if he's your offspring? I am your mate."
R'chnt shook his head and partially raised his palm towards her.
"K'Shai, I have told you many times. No male ever trains their own offspring for the Blooding hunt. Most males do not ever even meet their own offspring. It would look bad. It was a different matter entirely with you, but as El'tude proves himself Yautja, he must do as Yautja do. I have confidence in both Or'thgu-de and K-veesh'de.
K'Shai, all want to see El'tude and A'ryin'di on their blooding hunt. Do you not see? If I train El'tude, and he returns with a Blooding mark…"
"Everyone might think he did not really earn it."
"This is as Yautja must do, K'Shai."
Smirking, K'Shai quieted down. Everything always comes down to Yautja doing what
Yautja do, she thought as the rain continued to pound down on her head. I don't think I'll ever understand.
"Oh! He's ready! He's next!" She said with a brimming smile, nudging R'chnt in the arm as if he could not see his own son stepping into the kehrite to face off with the young hunter he had been standing next to in line for the past eleven fights.
Some of the fights were over in seconds, while others went on a few minutes. None lasted very long, but the thunder and rain brutally and relentlessly pouring down on them all made it feel like the whole thing was taking an eternity. Still, as soon as El'tude stepped into the arena, it seemed like an entirely different atmosphere swept over the place.
The crowd grew quiet. The male leaders perked up. The female leaders focused their attention. K'Shai noticed how young blooded females in the crowd, most likely maiden females considering prospects for the next breeding season, paid close attention.
R'chnt slid a bit more forward in his seat, and rested his knees on his elbows, looking carefully over the arena, the leaders, and the two youngsters in the ring.
K'Shai couldn't help also but to notice how very different El'tude looked from his soon to be opponent. They stood before each other and nodded a deep head bow of respect before moving to their opposing spots on the training circle etched into the floor of the arena.
For the brief moment of the head bow, the opponents squared off in the middle of the circle; the smallest circle, where they ultimately would eventually determine who would be a prized pick for training, and who would be a leftover for the less experienced leaders to teach.
It was when the pair stood together in the center like that when almost everyone, including K'Shai turned their full focus towards them. El'tude's opponent was actually, by human standards, five years older than El'tude.
He should have been bigger, but El'tude dwarfed him by a half a meter and easily overwhelmed him in weight by three times. El'tude was just huge. He always had been, even as a baby, he was just chunkier than any Yautja infant K'Shai had ever seen, and he had now grown into a massive male. He was as tall as R'chnt, and a good thirty percent bigger than him.
"He really is big," R'chnt commented.
"See! Told you. But wow he looks so much bigger down there." K'Shai confirmed.
His opponent looked like the equivalent of a lanky tweenager, not quite at puberty and no longer still a true child. There he was, like a moose getting ready to battle with a fawn amidst a resounding silence. For a moment, K'Shai actually found herself contemplating tactics for El'tude's opponent, since being smaller than basically every single thing that she ever hunted or sparred with was a life's fact for her, she was well aware of the need to rely on other aspects than brute strength for victory.
She shook her head, remembering that she was actually rooting for her own son, and hoping that he did not attack with a brute over-confidence because of his size, as most were expecting him to. That was not particularly to single him out. Nearly all of the youngsters attacked using their brute fierceness, including the females, since that was pretty much all they really knew.
El'tude had learned early on, though, different ways of fighting, and actual tactics and within the first few strikes, it was very clear that the youngster he was pitted against had also picked up tactics along his way through his mei'sa journey. He was spry, agile, and noticeably faster than El'tude. But El'tude was smart, cunning, and knew exactly when to hold back and exactly when to jump in and fight.
Both students knew how to move, and they both knew how to avoid being beaten on. They hopped around their circle, careful not to step outside the etched edge, as it would simply be poor form to do so.
They looked a little like boxers, the two of them bouncing on their tip toes, warily watching the footwork of what the other would do and neither really going at it for awkward moments, like little stalemates.
Suddenly, it was like a real, true spar between trained hunters was taking place. The two students connected, struck and withdrew. Within a minute, both of them were bleeding slightly from their bruised faces. By the end of three minutes in the arena, they had gone on longer than any of the pairs before them, and they were battling with an incredible amount of perceptiveness not typical for unblooded mei'sa youngsters.
Every time El'tude landed a good blow, K'Shai felt herself ringing her fist in excitement and squeezing R'chnt's thigh with her other hand while muttering cheers of pride. R'chnt simply remained silent and watched what was taking place.
The crowd was cheering and hissing as each opponent attacked or was injured, and it did not seem to matter to them which they cheered for; they just rooted and jeered in synch with whatever was happening. They were just enjoying the match.
K'Shai could see the rest of the mei'sa students watching in the line-up, trying hard not to move out of their assigned place, while all the same trying to edge just a bit closer to the arena to get a better view. All eyes were on the two students in the arena that were putting on quite the performance for all the spectators.
Finally, after seven minutes, it happened. Both students were growing fatigued, that much was obvious. It was stressful for them, to fight their first real spar that meant so much, while wearing armor they weren't used to, in front of the entire clan crowded into nook and crevasse possible, watching from nearby rooftops and trees. With each young male trying their heart out to make the most and impress their potential leader, they were both beginning to falter a little bit.
El'tude grew slower, while his opponent grew clumsy, almost tripping himself by rubbing his leg shielding too close together and making him nearly misstep. El'tude did not miss that, and moved in immediately while his opponent used a fraction of a second to right himself.
El'tude charged in like a bull, then dropped to one knee and simply reached out and grabbed his opponent's leg that he was trying to rebalance on. Already off balance on one leg, with the other leg now being forcefully yanked nearly out of the socket as El'tude ripped it so hard, his opponent went down hard, slamming to the metal platform so quickly that his helmet flung free and skidded across the arena.
The fight was over. K'Shai realized she had been holding her breath for who knows how long, and she took a deep, slow sigh. It was over. The demonstration was an excellent one, and it was just a matter of a few minutes before A'ryin'di would take to the ring to attempt to impress the female leaders on the other side of the arena.
For now, though El'tude was done, and he and his opponent, who actually took a brief moment to pat each other on the back of the shoulder, went to stand in the line with the rest of the juveniles who had finished their spars.
The next battle was on its own, disappointing and the crowd let it be known. A short, poor performance by both competitors, one who simply body slammed the other in less than twenty seconds by pure luck since he had nearly tripped over his own feet from pure nerves ten seconds before, was not something to get the crowd howling again like they just were.
On top of that, following up the performance of El'tude, and preceding A'ryin'di's time in the area made that match even more pitiful.
After watching enough unblooded and youngsters spar, fight, and try and fail to impress the females, K'Shai had become more than familiar with being able to judge the makings of a promising hunter, and one who would like die, either in a hunt or at the hands of a prospective mate. Neither of the two males that had just sparred would get very far, for sure.
K'Shai smiled and squeezed R'chnt by the thigh again as A'ryin'di stepped into the arena. She had an opponent of prominent breeding, similar size, and comparable manner and stature. Both of them moved quietly, gracefully, into the center of the sparring circle and bowed respectfully.
Where young males usually thumped along like some kind of buffalo trying to make an impression, female Yautja tended to be quite cat-like in all they did, and that was a trait that seemed to be born right into them and never disappear. A'ryin'di was definitely no exception.
Her long legs allowed her to move around with an elegant athleticism, and in this ring, before the entire Clan, A'ryin'di looked completely at home, not one shred of nerves. Her opponent was exactly the same and within an instant after the bow, the pair were attacking one another.
They had just barely stepped out of the center of the circle and towards their opposing edges before they lunged, jumping nearly halfway across the arena to combat one another. A'ryin'di's younger half-blood brother had an impressive display and both K'Shai and R'chnt whispered to each other confirmation of that fact. A'ryin'di's display amplified what her sibling had done, and her opponent equally matched.
The performance was short, A'ryin'di coming to a stunning victory by flinging herself in a cartwheel towards her opponent, which clearly caught her off guard, and landing a firm foot right into her chest. A'ryin'di stood on her feet gracefully while her opponent, winded and stunned, was flung nearly out of the training circle.
While the only two spars K'Shai cared about were done, she sat with R'chnt and waited for more than an hour as the rain continued to drench them, while the rest of the sparring took place.
It was obvious from the performance of so many of the youngsters that they had almost no interest, or knowledge, in impressing great Leaders in the hopes of making noteworthy names for themselves. The ones that clearly wanted it simply presented themselves most prominently in the arena, and even if they failed to inspire momentum for what a great hunter they would likely be, they did adhere to strict little details of grace, presence, and honor that the higher ranked leaders would be looking for.
The others; the ones just hoping to make it through their blooding hunt well enough to be worthy enough to the Clan to become a scientist, an engineer, or anything other that an 'aseigan, just went up into the arena and sparred the best that they could.
"El'tude and A'ryin'di did way better than those two. Didn't they?" K'Shai nudged R'chnt after every battle.
"They did, K'Shai," R'chnt responded each time, and each time with a deeper and deeper growl of displeasure.
"Looks at them down there! Just waiting for their selection. El'tude will be selected by one of your friends, yes?"
"Yes, K'Shai." R'chnt grumbled quietly, with no concern over the matter.
"I know A'ryin'di will be highly sought after. There has always been so much talk about her in the mei'sa. Well, really, they talk a lot about El'tude, too. And it's been earned today. They are brilliant, aren't they?
Oh, I wish I could go down and congratulate them!" K'Shai said emphatically.
"No, K'Shai." R'chnt growled firmly.
"I know, I know… I just… they did great didn't they!?" She exclaimed.
"They did, K'Shai." R'chnt confirmed with a hint of pride in his flat tone.
In a matter of minutes after the final battle had completed, the leaders, females first, then males, called out the names of the individuals they chose. The students, even if they may have been targeting a specific Leader to impress, had no choice but to go with whoever called them over. If they were not called by the one they wanted, that was it. Opportunity over.
A'ryin'di was called to train with a highly bred Leader named Tu'ni'di, who K'Shai had heard great things of, but had rarely ever seen. She was one of the most prominent females that had gone on to hunting instead of Clan business or becoming a mei'sa mother. A'ryin'di would learn great things from her, K'Shai knew.
When it was time for the males to make their calles, it was Or'thgu-de, the second one to make his selections, that chose not only El'tude, but also his sparring partner. The two of them jumped over eagerly to their new Leader like they had just won some kind of award, and both looked proudly towards each other.
K'Shai felt a brush of relief about the selections. It was over. El'tude and his friend were set up with a Leader that R'chnt had confidence in to train, and it was good that El'tude would be with someone he knew and supported in the mei'sa. It was possible, of course, that lives could be lost on the Blooding hunt, but the better Leaders trained their students appropriately enough to ensure that did not happen.
Some leaders took two students. Some took three. Some took one and only one, while others, most notably the lesser ranked Leaders who squabbled over the underwhelming performers, took five or seven students under their tutelage.
"Now, we must discuss a matter of importance," he said as he gently gripped K'Shai's arm from bicep to forearm with his hand, stopping her in her tracks as they headed a bit too close to the cantina, the busy bustle of the Clan, of youngsters celebrating their performances in the demonstrations. K'Shai was clearly distracted, scanning the crowds for the new unbloodeds now out in the Clan city for the first time.
"K'Shai, come."
"Oh, R'chnt, I just want to go see if A'ryin'di and El…."
"K'Shai!" He hissed. "Let them be. They are doing…"
"Ok! Ok! Don't even say it. I know, I know." She said with a scrunched nose and squeezed eyelids as she tossed her hands up in the air in surrender.
"What did you need to discuss with me?"
He directed her with a gesture of his head back down the cobblestone path between the buildings and he found a quiet spot on a fountain wall out in the main Clan square which was relatively abandoned in favor of the food and fire and music in the cantinas.
"I have been to the Ancients, K'Shai. This you know."
K'Shai nodded and turned her focus to R'chnt completely. She almost didn't think he was going to discuss his visit to them.
"I know," she whispered.
"The Ancients," he said softly, clearly, and slowly, "have lived, hunted, and travelled, for over 1,000 years, K'Shai. They are three that have achieved something that no other Yautja achieves." He emphasized with a swipe of his hand across the air. "They know a great many things, K'Shai. They have lived through more Yautja history than any other alive. They have a wisdom all could learn from."
K'Shai bit her lip lightly and waited for him to continue.
When he said nothing for a moment, she asked, "And why did you go? What did you need to learn?"
He looked at her, tipping his head sideways and reached his palm towards her cheek.
"So man things, K'Shai. So much more than I ever realized."
There was a pause. K'Shai said nothing, R'chnt said nothing, he touched her cheek and she held the back of his hand.
"They wish to see you."
"What? Me? Why?" K'Shais asked suddenly, withdrawing a bit in surprise.
"K'Shai, you can learn much there from them. They allowed me to see them, but they asked for you to come."
"Did you… did you go see the Ancients about me?" She asked with a twisted face.
He nodded. "I did."
"What? Why?" She shrieked defensively.
"K'Shai much has happened, much has changed in you in all this time. The Ancients wish to see you to understand, or to help you understand."
"There's nothing that needs to be…" she protested. "I don't…." The words could not come. "R'chnt, I'm not going to…" she stammered again.
"It is a long journey to the mountain temple that must be walked. The Ancients…." R'chnt started.
"There is nothing I need from them, nothing the need to see me about. I've finally gotten to a point here where I'm not being judged for every single thing I do, and now that's exactly what you are doing!" K'Shai howled in anger, lashing out at R'chnt and pushing his hand away from her as she stood up.
She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't get it, R'chnt. I don't understand. What did I do to make you so dissatisfied?"
"K'Shai…. That is not it at all."
"It is! You were happier with me when I was not quite a Yautja. Now I'm what? Just too Yautja for you? You taught me that well." She snapped. "Now you want me to see the Ancients to fix something that finally just got right?"
"K'Shai, they have wisdom… wisdom that I cannot offer you. Wisdom that you can learn from." R'chnt insisted.
"Well, they are ancient, right? They can wait to meet me." She said, and stormed off.