A'ryin'di strode into the massive central keh'rite of the Clan with power and a prideful presence. She howled to the crowd, to her challengers; to her supporters. She was greeted in return by howls of equal fortitude.
Some in the crowd supported A'ryin'di's challenge to become Clan Leader; as K'Shai was informed by plenty of catch-up gossip on the way from the estate to the Clan City.
"Many feel she is the… different style of Leadership a Clan truly needs to grow and ensure longevity." She was told.
"Others yet, K'Shai, do feel that there is too much alien influence in her blood," she heard to the opposite end.
"Especially as Sar'uch-de now stands with his own human mate. Some question the direction of the Clan."
"It almost sounds as if you yourself do, Mora'th-de," K'Shai questioned the Elder that filled her in on the latest.
He gripped his tusks tightly closed upon that and made sure to find something interesting to look at in the opposite direction. R'chnt walked on with the group, not particularly taking any concern of the negatives against A'ryin'di, for none of it truly mattered. Like most things in Yautja society; privilege was not voted upon; it was won through blood challenges.
Opinions did not matter so long as A'ryin'di was able and willing to destroy any of the opposition, literally. K'Shai made sure Kelly was seated in a clear view of the sparring arena. While it was typical for higher ranked hunters to sit higher, further away from the elevated arena walls; further from the blood that would inevitably splatter, K'Shai took a position with Kelly well into the splatter field, down with the lesser ranked hunters who all cleared a berth for the two females and R'chnt who lingered nearby.
"What is happening exactly?" Kelly asked.
"Our Clan Leader died in battle against the Q'atza-rij." K'Shai said.
Kelly eyed her, obviously aware of that fact.
"Do you see those twelve… oh, now fourteen… standing there?"
Kelly nodded.
"They have petitioned to be the next Clan Leader. Three males have even stepped up to try."
"Males don't become Clan… Leader?"
"Not typically. Males die far too frequently in hunts." K'Shai said coolly, as if such a thing was simply expected. "A'ryin'di has the strongest support, I believe. But like any other right in Yautja life such things are earned through bloodshed. She will have to fight her challengers. All thirteen of them."
K'Shai turned and eyed Kelly severely, and reiterated.
"If you want privilege, respect, if you want to not be cast down with the eto, bring dishonor to your entire bloodline and be humiliated before death or worse; you must fight for these things. You must endure."
K'Shai lifted her head pridefully, not the least bit abashed to show that she had done just that; she had endured and thrived. She could not help but to look over Kelly as a weak, fearful, entirely too human little thing that would most likely break from the pressure of Yautja society. She gulped and broke that glaring eye contact suddenly when she realized that was exactly how Neh'rti and every other Yautja looked at her the day she stepped aboard the hunt ship for the first time.
Before long, the fight was on. It was cruel and quite pointed, K'Shai knew, to pit Kelly right next to the arena and watch her cringe when every warm splatter of green blood hit her face and body. K'Shai watched her reactions as challenger after challenger in the arena fighting against A'ryin'di had their bones broken and blood poured out. Arms, mandibles, and a leg, all ended up broken in minutes, and each hunter that clung to their broken limb made a hasty exit from the arena.
Death challenges were not appropriate for this situation, but that was not to say that A'ryin'di would be outside of her right to kill an opponent if they did not dismiss themselves from the petition. K'Shai realized she was perhaps enjoying a little too much watching Kelly turn away with each ferocious blow and shriek as blood pommelled her, or fidget every time the crowd around her howled.
She realized that she was taking entirely far too much delight describing in detail every blow, every injury, narrating the fights. She suddenly saw a look on Kelly's face; the same type of look she knew she was had chiseled into her features. It was a look of welling up old trauma and horrific memories, fears once pushed to the bottom now resurfacing. K'Shai saw so much of her own self reflected in Kelly's face,
K'Shai suddenly felt a wealth of guilt rising up in her and she stopped talking. She stopped driving home the violence and gore and bloodshed that Kelly had spent a lifetime trying to forget, and living unaccustomed to.
When she grew so quiet, simply watching the petitions fight each other for dominance while her offspring merely paced with power, gracefully, as if she knew all of it was for show because she was the only one worthy of taking over the Clan, Kelly finally turned to her.
"When does it end?" She asked in an almost embarrassed whisper.
K'Shai's mind flooded with thoughts. She remembered asking the Ancients almost the same thing recently; asking R'chnt similar questions through the years, and asking when she was in labor pains with her offspring.
Turning towards Kelly with a straight face, she gave the truest answer she possibly could.
"It never ends, Kelly." K'Shai said flatly.
Realizing fully that Kelly was asking specifically about the end of this particular fight display, K'Shai continued.
"This is the life of the Yautja. You fight for your position… your rank, status… it never ends. If you stop fighting, you die. You end up a disgrace; maybe even an eto. There is no end from the moment you can walk to the moment you enter the realm of the Black Warrior, Cetanu. There is no end.
This is the life that you will lead amongst the Yautja. The mei'sa is a difficult place; and if you want to make a life here with my offspring," she noticed how she growled to Kelly, but she continued. "You must be prepared to fight for that position. You must be prepared for more challenges than I can possibly explain.
"How did you survive?" Kelly asked of her.
K'Shai snorted through her nostrils and ticked her head, turning away from Kelly for a moment as she thought about that very thing.
"It was very difficult. But I had R'chnt. You have Sar'uch-de and you must know if that will be enough."
The crowd howled as A'ryin'di shattered the jaw of another opponent and sent her slamming back down to the ground. The line of would-be petitioners changed size after each fight as some who foolishly stood awaiting their turn simply to do nothing more than savor the spectacle of it all, made a better choice and abandoned their idea of fighting a powerful female. If anyone had doubted A'ryin'di's abilities because of her mixed-blood heritage, they had changed their minds soon enough and willingly, and smartly, accepted her viable bid for Clan Leadership.
Only a handful of competitors ultimately ended up taking on the task of making their challenge for leadership known on the stage. There were plenty of capable potentials in the clan. Some were active hunters, some held other positions. They were strong and willing, but it was the hunters who posed the most competition. Some of the males and females that held other positions in the clan, but still kept to a regular sparring schedule did at least put on a good show, but it was A'ryin'di who prevailed over them all. Finally, when the last would-be fighter had stepped into the arena, it was A'ryin'di who stood at the end, looking around for more challengers only to find none.
K'Shai could not contain her howl of delight, shocking Kelly with her sudden outburst, which was quickly drowned out by the rest of the crowd. They cheered because they saw a good show that day; they cheered for their new Clan Leader who would ultimately make decisions on the direction of the Clan going forward until if at any point some new challenger arose and defeated her.
"And she will rule, now?" Kelly asked finally when the roar died now enough.
"Rule…" K'Shai said with a smile. "I suppose you can look at it that way. The Clan Leader does oversee the strength of stability of the Clan."
"So, she is like… a Queen or something now?" Kelly tried to clarify.
"She is the Clan Leader," K'Shai answered as if that should settle that conversation.
Kelly looked at her quizzically.
"One of the decisions that would be up to her to make for example, would be on the matter of more aliens joining the Clan, or especially the mei'sa."
"You don't…. You really don't like me do you?" Kelly said with a huff.
K'Shai rounded on her, smiling rather sinisterly, not caring in the least that R'chnt, sire of the new Clan Leader, and Sar'uch-de both approached the females.
"You must learn to understand what life here is like, if that is your wish. If my son continues to ignore my warnings and brings you into the Clan. You will face far more than what you think I am."
She continued, "life amongst the Yautja is not simple nor easy."
"But you will teach me?" Kelly said hopefully.
K'Shai smiled widely. "What do you think I have been doing?"
The look of hopeful optimism quickly melted off her face as the males made it over to them and the conversation turned towards that of praise and support for their daughter. K'Shai threw her arms around R'chnt with delight as he lifted her up.
"This is incredible. She truly is a spectacular thing, isn't she?" K'Shai said, eyeing A'ryin'di across the arena who was being congratulated by a crowd of supporters, with her bother El'tude standing by her side as well.
Eventually, well into the night, K'Shai and R'chnt were finally able to offer their personal words of support to A'ryin'di. The food, fire, and drinks lasted the whole Clan well through day break, though K'Shai and R'chnt returned to their home above the city before dawn. She returned to the balcony after both suns has broken horizon, and watched the fog move across the nearby cliffs, listening to the sound of the waterfall rushing.
Below, the sprawling concourse between the buildings and sparring arenas was mostly empty. A few idle hunters milled around, some sparred lightly, others looked asleep from all the way high on the banked building where she sat. They could have been dead, hard to know really and not worth investigating. Such matters were for the eto anyway.
K'Shai looked around for Sar'uch-de but did not see him or his human companion. They had disappeared sometime in the night, far earlier than R'chnt and she had slipped away to their private bungalow to release any additional exertions that were welling up inside them, begging to explode forth. In fact, it was no less than three days before K'Shai saw either one of them again.
"Where have you been?" She questioned Sar'uch-de with an all too similar tone she could well remember her own mother using upon her when she had disappeared for far too long when she was far too long.
She shook her head slightly, barely believing where that had come from. She had turned into Nehr'ti towards Kelly and her own mother towards Sar'uch-de. As if he had no choice but to respond to her hissing tone, he let her know.
"We were at the estate."
"Of course you were," K'Shai sneered with displeasure.
"We were at your… house.." Kelly filled K'Shai in, not realizing that had just been established. "It's beautiful there. Right on the beach like that. Sar'uch-de said it's brand new, that R'chnt had it built for you?"
K'Shai returned to her seat and sipped her warm drink. She noticed that Kelly seemed to look at Sar'uch-de with a questioning stare, without saying a word. Sar'uch-de obviously understood the question and gave her a silent answer; a simple nod, and with that Kelly approached.
"I'd like to… if it's not too much to ask.. I'd like to see the mei'sa. Will you take me there? Will you show me where…. Where I might be staying?"
"I believe that is a matter for our new Clan Leader, who will very much be wanting to see you. Come, we will go."
"Right now?" Kelly questioned with a little look of surprise.
K'Shai clenched her teeth, merely staring without response, then started down the bank of stairs off the balcony, not ever looking back to see if Kelly had joined her until they had reached the mei'sa gate and Kelly finally stepped close enough to her shoulder.
"The mei'sa… So this is like… what exactly? A school? A nursery…"
K'Shai opened the gate, glanced at Kelly and stepped into the perimeter.
"Yes." She responded.
"The mei'sa is the Clan. It is the future of the Clan."
Without any further explanation, K'Shai led Kelly through the grounds, acutely aware of how similar the look on her own face must have matched Kelly's as she saw the inside of the mei'sa for the first time. The obvious look of hesitation, uncertainty, even fear all too apparent. She tried to convince herself that she did not look that way so many years ago, but she knew she most certainly had.
Passing through the mei'sa gate was like stepping into a whole new world, from what was already a whole new world. It was a self-contained alien world at the heart of an alien world. And just as the females of the mei'sa were demanding and somewhat less than forgiving for K'Shai, she knew they would also be towards Kelly. As she looked at the red-haired woman following her, she could not help but think the clearly frightened, pink-skinned thing, did not yet have any idea what that actually meant, and was unprepared to find out.
As they entered the very same room where K'Shai had once been brought to stand face to face with the mighty Neh'rti for the first time inside the mei'sa, now Kelly stood facing K'Shai's own offspring, who looked amazingly similar to Neh'rti; proud and bold in heavily adorned robes that flowed down right to the ends of the claws on the back of her heel bulbs, new beads in her locks and upon her cranial ridges, and most of all - the same look of doubt on her face that Neh'rti had every time she looked at K'Shai for more than two decades.
"I can understand why my brother brought you here." A'ryin'di said immediately.
"And I most certainly understand my own mother's objections. Do you?"
Kelly looked very surprised to be asked a direct question by the Clan Leader, and in perfectly spoken English.
"I… uhhh. Well.. I…" Kelly stammered, trying to form words. "It's obviously very different here, but I am here to learn. And obviously, I'm not the only human who has survived here." She said, gesturing towards K'Shai who lingered in the back of the room like a shadow.
"That is true. But my mother has also been tasked with hunting down and eliminating humans who had failed in surviving this life."
Kelly shot K'Shai a stunned look.
A'ryn'di stalked towards Kelly.
"You did not know this." She said in a rhetorical tone. "There is much, I am sure you do not yet know. Humans have come to our world before with our hunters. They have attempted to join our world in our ways, and K'Shai," she paused for a moment. "...is the only one who has thrived. Yes she has produced offspring, one of which is now the Clan Leader of the mighty Kaunte D'areen.
She has hunted our own bad blood, she has nearly died more times than I'm sure even I realize. She had offspring die. She had been stranded for years alone on a far away world when a hunt turned difficult. There are many stories about her… even some songs."
Kelly looked back and forth between the Clan Leader and the lingering huntress in the back of the room with a gaze that suggested that she finally realized she was being prowled upon from the front and back by lionesses.
"Are you prepared to live such a life, and learn from K'Shai and all of the other huntresses?"
Kelly boldly responded with certainty.
"Yes, I am."
A'ryin'di glanced to K'Shai, noticing the refuting glare she was most certainly casting.
"I do not believe my mother agrees."
Kelly and A'ryin'di both stared for a moment towards K'Shai.
"But, I also would not exist if for the strength of both of my parents. Not to mention their defiance. So Kelly of Earth, you shall be granted the opportunity to remain here with the mei'sa mothers and learn as a proper Yautja should. Only," her voice deepened harshly, "without the defiance."
Kelly smiled softly and K'Shai gritted her teeth. She wanted to protest, but she remembered that while it was her own offspring making such decisions, that offspring was also the Clan Leader know, and had earned her place as such.
"Well, now I guess there's time for that interview after all." Kelly said to K'Shai trying to make light of the situation, blind to the grumbling and stares of some of the other matriarchs.
"I can show you around, come." K'Shai led Kelly through the campus of pyramids and sparring grounds, showing her the training fields, the indoor arenas, the soaking pools, the jungles.
"What is it you do here?" She asked.
"I teach, as you may learn to do."
"What do you teach?" Kelly questioned.
K'Shai turned and eyed her.
"I teach what the youngsters must learn in order to survive, live to be Blooded and not become eto; as do all the females of the mei'sa."
"But… I don't know how to …" Kelly started.
"You must learn. You have chosen this life. My son is young and foolish, and unwilling to listen. I had hoped you might be more sensible, having lived through all you have, but you have made your choice."
"K'Shai… I really don't understand what.."
"You will. You will see and learn." She said with a foreboding warning.
The days passed much like K'Shai's own initial time in the mei'sa. It was a whirlwind of familiarizing herself with the grounds, the mei'sa mothers, the youngsters, the expectations, and trying not to feel too much like an outsider, all the while slipping away to see R'chnt whenever she could.
It was no different for Kelly, and while K'Shai knew she was being incredibly harsh on her, that was no different than normal when it comes to dealing with Yautja females. In Kelly's reflection, K'Shai was able to truly see how Yautja she had become. The visit to Earth reinforced it, and settled any debates she might have had inside herself. She was Yautja.
Kelly enjoyed leaving the mei'sa just about as much as K'Shai did her first few years. Sar'uch-de was attentive towards Kelly, and they would often disappear for days at a time, which did not make the other matriarchs any more happy than when K'Shai did the same.
It was a full cycle for certain and day after day, K'Shai could not help but notice so many similarities. For the first few weeks, it seemed as if Kelly was going to do well enough. Although she attempted to spend more time away from the mei'sa than within its walls, she did display an eagerness to learn, which could only benefit her as she continued to build her new life on such an alien world.
K'Shai had left the mei'sa for close to three weeks after that, allowing herself some much needed alone time with R'chnt, hunting and enjoying the sound of the ocean waves from their new home, while Kelly was able to experience life without her lingering over her.
"My R'chnt," she purred in his arms on the long chaise chairs she had positioned on the deck in front of the ocean.
He was laying next to her, her body pressed into his, one of his arms wrapped loosely around her; the other clenched in her folded fingers.
"Yes, K'Shai?"
""It was a good hunt today." She said contentedly.
He chortled. "Yes, it was."
She twisted her chin up to look at him softly and smiled.
"I prefer this."
"What?" He asked softly.
"Lying here like this, listening to the waves, feeling your warmth," she moaned as she snuggled a little tighter into him.
He simply cooed a wordless agreement and she felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier.
"We can stay here if this is what you like, K'Shai. I will make the Clan Council meet here, and we can stay just like this."
She brimmed with a wide smile and an amused laugh.
"I think I like the sound of that." She added and paused for a moment.
"But I suppose I must go back to the mei'sa after all. See how our newest addition is managing." She rolled around a bit more to face R'chnt, kissing him gently.
"But I will do that tomorrow," she added with a laugh.
R'chnt mumbled an acknowledgement and wrapped his arms tighter around her.
"She is not my K'Shai, I think. And my K'Shai I believe prefers if she was somewhere else."
"No, not somewhere else," K'Shai rebutted. "Specifically back on Earth. That is where she belongs."
R'chnt did not respond. This was after all, a female matter.
"Sar'uch-de should never have brought her here. It was foolish."
"Many said the same about me bringing you here." He added.
"Very true, I'm sure. And I don't doubt that she could eventually learn to adapt to life here. But.." K'Shai faded her thoughts for a moment.
"She is just so… so…" she tried to come up with the right word.
"Human." She finally settled on the best adjective she could.
R'chnt made no comment or rebuttal over that remark, he simply turned the conversation a slightly different direction.
"Sar'uch-de cares for her. I see the same look in his eye that I recognize in myself."
"I know he does. And that worries me as well."
"Why?"
"You had more… experience… A lot more experience." K'Shai explained. "Sar'uch-de is too young, and he definitely does not understand how difficult it can be to adjust to Yautja life from the outside. I know because I went through it. It was like a quarter of a century right of passage and I still don't always feel like I've got it right. I mean.. I don't particularly care anymore, but…"
She offered with a little laugh.
"It can just be hard. Kelly had far more time on Earth than I ever did. Her whole life to be exact. Life with humans was … can be… just so different. There, Kelly was part of building a life, recovering from the war, creating a community. She's well regarded there and a part of that society. It is too ingrained into her. She won't be able to adjust. She will try, and it will break her."
K'Shai continued.
"I tried for so long to stick to what I knew of humanity, and that is why A'ryin'di and El'tude were raised so differently. I tried to change that with Sar'uch-de and now of all things, he went ahead and brought her here to live with us!"
"One of the human-raised becomes Clan Leader, and the most Yautja-raised wants to be with humans." R'chnt mused.
"Ironic, isn't it." K'Shai sighed defeatedly. "What are we going to do with our offspring?"
"Nothing at all, K'Shai. A'ryin'di has claimed a place she well deserves, El'tude is a powerful hunter with all the makings of an Elder working for him. Sar'uch-de might be young, but he knows what it is like to truly be Yautja and he has you to look to for help with his chosen one."
"He does not listen to what I say. I have tried to tell him that trying to adapt to life on Yaut will probably kill Kelly. If he cares enough for her, he would understand that, but it's like … it's like talking to that rock over there and expecting it to change into a bird."
R'chnt chortled loudly. K'Shai broke a smile and shook her head softly.
"Oh nothing is simple, is it?" She said exasperatedly.
"K'Shai, my mate," he said with a contented purr. "It is all simple. Your will cannot change the way of others. You must allow life to continue as it will."
She smirked, and kissed him gently, with a soft head shake side to side. He was right, though she might not have wanted to agree with him nor admit it.
She tried her best to simply move on and do just that. Day after day, week after week, K'Shai continued with her own routine while watching Kelly try to figure out hers, all the while trying to remember hard that it was not her place to push into the matter anymore than requested.
For a while, Kelly seemed to finally find her stride within the mei'sa. Just as it was for K'Shai, Kelly too, would often leave and visit with Sar'uch-de when he was planetside, which clearly was not quite as often as Kelly preferred. She would often comment to K'Shai that he was gone again.
"I think this time he's been gone longer than the last." She said to her once during some long, hot weeks without Sar'uch-de.
"Was it like this for you?" She asked K'Shai.
"Yes." K'Shai said plainly.
Seeing that Kelly clearly needed more, she continued. "Hunters are often off-world. That is the Yautja way. They hunt. They return with their trophies. They seek mates."
"But we…" Kelly started.
Knowing exactly what Kelly was about to say, K'Shai interrupted. "He is still Yautja and the hunting drive is not something that can be quelled. He must hunt. By nature and by blood, he is a Hunter."
Kelly sighed, "I understand. I did rather think we would go together, though. Didn't you? You did that with R'chnt?"
"I did. I hunted with him. I hunted without him. I have been away for months and years with and without him. But first, I learned. I was here, just as you are now. You must learn as well."
The conversation seemed to do some good for Kelly's mindset as time continued. She did train in sparring, though it seemed her talents were best aligned with study than fighting. Kelly had not earned a Blooding mark, and until that had happened, she would not be accepted by the Clan, could not hunt, and most of all, could not bear acceptable offspring.
K'Shai grew ever more concerned as the months passed, that Kelly would not earn the Blooding mark. Sar'uch-de of course knew the importance of the Blooding, and moreso knew the dishonor he could bring to his entire bloodline should he choose to make poor decisions with an unblooded female.
A'ryin'di checked on the situation frequently, far more than Neh'rti ever had watched over K'Shai, and K'Shai had thought she was always being scrutinized. She would watch Kelly regularly, sometimes multiple times a day when she was in the mei'sa, and she would often confer with K'Shai, amongst many others, for more input on the situation.
Kelly was not ready to become Blooded, and that much was clear to anyone who watched her.
She tried her best, but she lacked the power and fierceness that a hunter needed. K'Shai tried to instill those qualities in her by pushing her the way she herself was pushed, though it seemed to little good; K'Shai could see the same breaking look in Kelly's eyes as she had in her own so many years before.
It was a difficult life, Kelly was finding. Even in the sanctity of the mei'sa, the hunter's life was grueling and dangerous. As the daily, bruise-filled reminders to fight and be strong caused past hidden traumas to resurface in Kelly, so they seemed to well up inside K'Shai as well.
K'Shai found herself meditating more, daily, even, to bring herself back to harsh lessons learned with the Ancients and allow her strength to dominate her buried desires to curl up in a ball and cry hysterically.
Kelly, on the other hand, could not hide that desire.
"This is not where you belong," K'Shai said as she stood over her, watching the red-headed woman cry on the floor of a currently vacant bath house. At some point, someone would come in and see the would-be Blooded huntress trying to prove her worthiness to the Clan, crumpled in a ball on the floor with her knees in her chin, face flush and wet. It was not at all a desirable appearance in front of anyone in the mei'sa.
K'Shai pressed her lips together, squatted, and tried to soften her voice, realizing she was coming across more critical than factual as she had intended.
"I...struggled with this myself. For a very long time." K'Shai spoke smoothly, quietly, and Kelly brought her red eyes up to meet the woman staring at her.
"Life here was hard. So hard." She bounced her eyes around the room.
"I admit, I hated the mei'sa when I first arrived, too. I avoided it for as much as I possibly could. It wasn't really until after S'aruch-de was born that I finally found my place here. I stayed away, I stayed with R'chnt and on the hunt ship. Believe it or not, male Yautja are actually far easier to just… get along with than females ever will be. And that is something that will never change."
"What should I do…" Kelly whimpered. "I don't know what to do. Everything I do is… just… it's just…"
"It's not you." K'Shai confirmed.
Kelly seemed to steady her gaze, as if somehow having some one voice it out loud was like a release from her angst; like she had permission to be human again.
"How did you finally get to be comfortable here?" She asked of K'Shai.
K'Shai thought briefly back over the past few decades of her life, right up to her time with the Ancients when it all finally seemed to click together for her, and then she offered Kelly a sideways sort of smile.
"I don't think you ever really feel comfortable. Not one of us does. The moment you become comfortable; that's the day you die."