Here is the first chapter to 'Heart of a Hunter'.

Enjoy :)

July 15th, 2023

Wildwood, New Jersey

"God fucking dammit! Where are the keys!?" A young woman snapped in annoyance.

Thirty-three-year-old Natalie Ricci ran around her studio apartment. Trying to find her car keys. She swears if she's late for work again, no doubt, she'll probably be fired.

And as much as she hates her job, she still needed the income.

Being a waitress was not exactly a dream job for everyone. But she had to fall back on something when her artwork wasn't selling. And rent in Wildwood wasn't exactly cheap. Even if it is a shitty little studio apartment like the one, she's currently living in.

She tried to stop and think where she could've left them last.

Natalie pushed a long dark chocolate strand of hair behind her ear. Then a though hit her. She sighed in frustration and ran to one of her drawers in her bureau.

She pulled out the shorts she wore yesterday. And low and behold, the keys were in the back pocket.

She rolled her light blue eyes and slammed the drawer shut. Then she grabbed her phone and stuck it in her back pocket along with her wallet. Before she walked out the door.

Natalie clicked the unlock button to her silver SUV.

She got in and quickly checked the time. The screen on her car showed it was 8:47am. And she had to be there by 9am. Luckily, it wasn't that far of a drive. At the most, it was eight minutes.

Normally, she'd take her bike there. But the weather here has been experiencing hotter than usual temperatures lately.

Not wanting to deal riding in the scorching heat, she decided to drive to work the last couple days instead. Natalie started it up and blasted the AC, before backing out of her parking spot.

Somewhere in space not far from Earth...

A young, lone hunter went through one last weapon's check.

It was habit for him to make sure everything was working right. Especially, for this hunt. After all, this will be his first official ooman hunt since he past his Kainde Amedha Chiva and became Blooded.

Ever since he was a pup, he heard many stories of hunts that involved the prey, Oomans.

He was always told that despite their smaller and weaker size they were still a very cunning and crafty species. Many could never think to out power or out run a yautja.

But for some ooman individuals, it was pure wit and determination that made them prevail against some of the hunters in the past.

The young hunter was told in detail how some of these sneaky oomans had managed to best one of their kind. Most had to do with clever traps or knowing their surrounding areas well to utilize it and use it to their advantage. And other cases, were a couple or small group that collaboratively worked together to take one of them down.

Either way, throughout the centuries, oomans have evolved and become trickier and more challenging to hunt.

These stories of course, didn't scare him. No, they fascinated him, and made him more eager for the hunt. He may have been newly blooded, but he worked hard to get there.

Hell, he was the only one to successfully pass and survive the hard meat trial he participated in, not too long ago.

And he had killed not one, but several hard meats during the process. Then able to mark himself to show that he had succeeded and was worthy.

Now that it was over, he was excited to finally move onto the more challenging and dangerous prey.

His metallic mask reflected off the large window in front of him. And right outside the window, was a view of the large blue, green, and white planet.

"Stupid summer traffic." She mumbled, as she sat behind a red light.

This really was turning out to not be her day in the least. Here Natalie thought she still had plenty of time to get to the restaurant she worked at.

Instead, she hit a ton of beach traffic on the way there.

Her light eyes flickered to the screen; the time showed it was now 8:58am. And she still had another five minutes to get there.

"Yeah, I'm late for sure." She sarcastically said.

Still, she likes to think her boss will go easy on her. Everyone knew the traffic here in the summer was hell. You could leave for work ten-fifteen minutes early and still hit traffic and somehow arrive at work late.

She knew this because, it happened to several of her coworker friends in the past.

After a while, her boss could no longer tell them, to leave earlier next time. Because leaving earlier didn't always make a difference when you live in a popular beach town that raked in thousands of tourists each year.

Natalie finally pulled up to the restaurant and parked her car. At least she was able to find a parking spot right away this time.

She ran to the door, pulling her long wavy brown hair up into a messy bun on the way inside. She gave a quick hello to the hostess, Nicole as she passed her.

Then ran to the back room and clocked in on one of the laptops.

The petite young woman then grabbed a note pad and went back out to start taking orders and serving tables. One good thing about working as a waitress, it was hardly ever slow. And she enjoyed the quick pace which was the complete opposite of her other work making drawings, paintings, and ceramics.

He waited patiently as they drew closer.

Then he heard a door his open behind him and off to his left. Quiet footsteps approached his position, followed by a series of clicks. Before he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder.

"Your pod is ready, Yeyinde. You may proceed to the docking area." The yautja next to him stated.

The young warrior known as Yeyinde shifted his gaze from the window to the other hunter and nodded.

"Thank you, Bakuub." Yeyinde replied.

Then he followed the slightly taller warrior out of the room, and they headed down to the docking area.

On the way, they passed a few more hunters walking by. Some bowed their heads slightly in passing at the two yautja. A few of them Yeyinde knew, some others, he wasn't too familiar with.

The drop ship they were currently on had a total of twelve yautja currently on it. But only one was going down to Earth for a hunt, and that was him.

Most of the others on board were older and have already had their fair share of hunting oomans and had the trophies to show for it. Even his older brother 'Bakuub' who was the one leading him down to one of the pods had already participated in such a hunt and came back successful.

It was his brother that told him much he needed to know about hunting oomans. Yes, he learned about the species during his lessons. But Bakuub was the one to tell him all about their tricks and how he should never let his guard down around any of them.

They may seem weak and pathetic at times, and that is what got a cocky hunter killed sometimes. Because they were being callous and reckless while hunting them.

Yeyinde never thought of himself as callous or reckless, despite his young age. While it is true younger hunters were known to be as such at times, along with being impulsive, he told himself he wasn't like that at all.

Though Bakuub didn't always agree. There were times his older brother had said there were cases he was reckless and had a habit at times to be overconfident even.

Of course, the younger hunter denied it. He was confident, yes. But not overly confident.

Yeyinde chalked it up to his older sibling treating him as if he were still a wayward pup sometimes. Which did tend to get annoying. Considering he wasn't a pup.

He was ninety-four years old. Or around twenty-one in ooman years. And he passed his hard meat trial around three years prior. Which really didn't seem all that long ago. He went on a few hunts to other worlds since then.

But he didn't find the prey all that challenging. And this is why he was excited for this hunt. Because at least oomans would provide him with the challenge he was seeking.

The pair made it down to the docking area.

Bakuub lead him over to one of the pods. Yeyinde pressed a few buttons, and the door slid open. He stepped inside the small, hollow space.

'Can't wait until I can get my own ship. These pods are always so cramped.' He thought to himself.

As if sensing his discomfort, Bakuub gave him an amused look.

"Comfy?" Bakuub asked, teasingly.

Yeyinde snorted. His brother was such a smart ass.

"Yes, very. Thank you for asking." He replied sarcastically.

Bakuub trilled in amusement.

"Remember, when you're ready to be picked up. Contact us through the wrist computer. Good luck on your hunt. And hopefully, next time I see you, you will have plenty of new skulls to add to your collection." Bakuub stated.

Yeyinde hopes so too. Not only that, but he's hoping the new ooman skulls will impress the females on home world. After this hunt, if he's very successful, he hopes to participate in what will be his first mating cycle with a female.

It made him shiver with anticipation thinking about what it will be like to finally mate a female and sire some of his first offspring. That excited him just about as much as this hunt.

Because it was also this hunt that will boost his status even further. And females prefer those of higher statuses and those with the most impressive trophies.

Yeyinde would like to collect as many ooman skulls as possible. It's what will make him more desirable to the females upon returning to Yautja Prime.

The door to the pod slid shut, and before he knew it, the pod jettisoned from the drop ship and headed straight to Earth.

At least another good thing about this hunt, is there was no time limit on which to complete it. He could take as long as he wants before contacting the main ship to swing by and pick him up.

Until Next Time ;)