The next chapter is up! Enjoy :)
Kayla groaned as she was nudged awake.
"Time to get up, Sleepyhead. Your burning daylight." Than-guan said.
She lazily rolled onto her back and looked up into the masked face hovering over her.
They have been out here for a couple days now. Within that time, they haven't spotted any sign of the bad bloods. Though she did see quite a few interesting looking animals.
Than-guan told her the names of each of them. He also pointed out which ones were herbivores and which ones were carnivores. Luckily, most of the ones she did see so far, were herbivores.
"How do we know they haven't left yet?" Kayla inquires.
"Because hunts can take anywhere from a few weeks to sometimes a few months. And you mentioned they only landed here a couple days ago. So, I doubt they have left yet." The large male told her.
"What makes you think they haven't found the body of the one you killed yet? They could've found it and gotten scared off." She said.
He chuckled, "Most bad bloods don't scare easily. They wouldn't be perturbed or afraid of seeing a comrade strung up in a tree, headless, and skinned.
If anything, it's the opposite. They like to challenge other hunters they may come across. For them, other hunters are on the same level as prey.
They won't hesitate to kill another hunter and take his head as a trophy."
She continued to look ahead as they walked through the dense foliage.
"Well, I can't speak for the other two. But something tells me the leader, doesn't scar easy, that's for sure. Guy is nearly eight feet tall of solid muscle." Kayla stated.
"This leader of theirs, what does he look like? I've seen a list of names with images of bad bloods. Perhaps, your description might give me an idea to who he is." He told her.
"Like the fucking devil. At least his skin is red like him. Red with black tiger stripes and a cream-colored stomach. He also has black armor and a very scary looking mask. It kind of looks like a snarling beast of sorts.
He also had part of a human's skull attached to his hip. And was loaded with some pretty knarly scars. And if I had to guess, he's a very cocky and arrogant motherfucker. And...Midnight? What's wrong?" She asks in concern.
She noticed he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He stood ridged with his fists clench and an angry snarl left him.
"Lar'nix'va." He growled.
She furrowed her brows, "What?"
His masked gaze slowly turned to her.
"The one you described; it sounds a lot like a bad blood named Lar'nix'va. He's a savage brute with not one honorable bone in his body. The description you just gave me is uncanny." Than-guan said.
"What did he do to get labeled a bad blood? Before he took me, I mean." Kayla inquired.
"More like what didn't he do? You name it, he did it. Stole live cargo, stole ships and weapons, slaughter a couple villages, raped females, stole a hard meat queen and placed her in the middle of a heavily populated area.
And when that happened, it took nearly four dozen yautja warriors to take out the huge infestation of hard meats that spread across the land. For a while they weren't sure they be able to kill them all or contain the spread.
He and his brother caused a lot of chaos wherever they went and left a large trail of death in their wake." Than-guan told her.
"Fuck. This guy sounds like one sick bastard. Certainly, scared the shit out of me when he implied, he was going to rape me. And not just him, I think he was going to share me with his friends." She said, with a small shudder and covered her arms.
"Wouldn't put it past him. The first two I saw a couple nights ago; I heard one of them call the other one Mar'cte. That is the name of Lar'nix'va's brother.
And the more I think about it, I believe it was him. And if it is, that means Lar'nix'va is here too. And I'm right in assuming that the yautja you just described is him." He said.
If it is, it's one hell of a crazy coincidence. Here he was out hunting for the bad blood that ruined him and framed him. What the hell were the odds that he so happened to land on the planet Lar'nix'va happened to be on?
'Just when I thought my luck ran out when my ship broke down. That bastard happened to be here already. And now, I have an opportunity to take him out.' Than-guan thought.
Then his gaze went back to Kayla. It seemed clear that she was very afraid of the bad bloods, especially, their leader Lar'nix'va.
While he was happy to know the bad blood, he was searching for was here, he needed to come up with a good plan of attack. For one, he will not be easy to take down.
They were both seasoned blooded warriors. Before Lar'nix'va turned, they sparred with each other quite a few times. They also went through their Kainde Amedha Chiva together.
The large red yautja was a very imposing warrior. And while Than-guan had beat him during several fights of Jehdin Jehdin, he knew Lar'nix'va would often fight dirty.
He even pulled a few cheap shots on Than-guan. And that's what caused him to win a few fights. Even then, his honor was questioned from time to time.
His true colors finally came to light when he was sparring with another fellow hunter. The hunter was a bit older and more experienced at the time.
He put away Lar'nix'va rather quickly.
This enraged him, and when the other hunters back was turned, he grabbed a combi stick from the weapon's wall nearby and threw it at the hunter walking away.
The combi stick pierced through his back and came out his chest.
After the unfortunate hunter collapsed to the ground, Lar'nix'va didn't stop there. He ran over and pulled the combi stick free and began to stab him repeatedly and quite viciously.
It took nearly three yautja to pull him back and get him under control.
But by then the damage was done, and the other hunter was dead. Lar'nix'va was pretty much branded a bad blood then and there. And when he did decide to run, his brother Mar'cte joined him.
Pretty soon, Arbitrators were chasing them all over the known universe. But Lar'nix'va was very smart and elusive. He somehow always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else.
And because of this, he was able to go on and cause so much damage to each planet he stopped at.
No one would've ever guessed the bad blood would ever step foot back on Yautja Prime, but he did. And that is where the crime took place that framed Than-guan.
This happened five months ago now. And since then, Than-guan has been on the hunt for him while also being on the run from Arbitrators.
"Just what are we going to do if we happened to run into them before they run into us?" Kayla inquired.
"Will have to fight. Though I rather take out his brother and the other one first. And save Lar'nix'va for last. I know that he prefers to hunt alone when he goes out.
He's always been that way even before he became a bad blood. Whereas with his brother, it can go either way. It's either he would tag along with Lar'nix'va or go alone.
"I'm not entirely sure who the other two were that were with him. For all we know, he could've recently recruited them. Which is surprising, since it was usually only just the two of them originally."
"Well, you did mention the one you killed was fairly young. So, it's possible he was a new recruit. But at least now we're down to three instead of four." She said.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean anything. You start with the weakest link in the group and from there they tend to get stronger." He stated.
"Great." She said, sarcastically.
"I agree, the better the challenge, the more exciting it is." He teased.
Kayla rolled her eyes, "Not what I meant."
Meanwhile with the bad bloods...
Mar'cte and Ka'Torag were a bit surprised when they found what remained of Chulonte. His body was skinned and hanging upside down in a tree. And his severed head was shoved onto a stick jutting from the ground.
They had just informed their leader of what they found several minutes earlier. He told them to stay put and that he was on his way.
After another fifteen minutes, Lar'nix'va made appeared and saw the mangled body. This confirmed it for him, another hunter was here somewhere, and had killed the young hunter.
Mar'cte gestured to the tree trunk.
"Apparently, whoever left Chulonte also left this little message. And it's obvious that it's not another bad blood." He said to his brother.
Lar'nix'va walked up to the tree and saw the symbols etched into it.
'Bad blood Bastard.' It said.
The red yautja snorted at the little message. Judging by this little warning, the display of the skinned body, the head on a stick, and the message. They were dealing with a seasoned hunter here and not some novice Youngblood.
"There is a seasoned warrior somewhere around here that did this. And before this hunt ends, we will find him, and kill him." Their leader stated.
"But what if it's an Elite or an Arbitrator? Or a group of them at that?" Ka'Torag said, with worry in his voice.
No sooner did the words leave his mouth, the green colored yautja was on the ground. His head pounded from where he was struck.
"Stop being a pauking little coward, Ka'Torag. If there is one thing I will not tolerate in this group, it's cowardice and weakness. If this is how you will react whenever something like this happens, you may as well be on your own." Lar'nix'va growled threateningly.
The younger male lowered his head in submission.
"Forgive me, where would you like us to start looking for him or them?" He asks.
"We should start right away. He or them could already be tracking us right now. So, I say we split up. We will cover more ground that way. And if one of us finds their camp, don't engage, call us on the communicator and we will meet you there. If you see one on their own though, then you may engage. But I have a feeling we're only dealing with one hunter here." Lar'nix'va stated.
He's already wondering who it could be. If it's someone from their clan, a neighboring clan, or one of the other clans they don't affiliate much with. He supposed it doesn't matter. They will be dead regardless.
Lar'nix'va is hoping he'll be the one to find them first. Assuming they haven't moved on. This planet is quite huge after all. And for all they know, they could've taken a ship and moved to the other side of the world.
The large red yautja turned to his two comrades.
"Well, what are you two waiting for? An invitation? Get your asses moving. Ka'Torag take the southern section. Mar'cte take the eastern section and I'll go north." He ordered.
Ka'Torag went ahead and left. But before Mar'cte could leave Lar'nix'va grabbed his arm stopping him in his tracks. He waited until the other yautja was out of earshot before turning to his younger brother.
"You watch yourself out there, brother. Remember, if you see multiple hunters out there, don't engage, stay out of sight, and call me. As far as that idiot Ka'Torag goes, don't bother with him. He's turning out to be more useless than I thought he'd be. It's best to leave him to his demise if he finds himself surrounded or having trouble taking the other hunter down." Lar'nix'va told him.
Mar'cte sneered, "Good, I hope he does get himself killed. To be honest, we worked better when it was just the two of us anyway. I feel that Chulonte and Ka'Torag only slow us down. Though I must ask, what makes you seem so certain that it may be only one hunter?"
"Call it a feeling. And as dense as this grass is, I thought I saw a couple single tracks of footprints in some mud about twenty-five feet from this spot. I just didn't want to say anything to Ka'Torag about it.
If this hunter does end up finding him first, he'll most likely be good as dead. It would certainly save me the trouble of doing the deed myself. And when we find Ka'Torag's body, it may help us close in on the one involved." The red yautja ascertained.
They talked only for a couple more minutes before they activated their cloaking device and headed separate ways.
Until Next Time ;)