The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
After the pair finished up in the mess hall, they didn't go back to the kehrite.
Natalie felt she had enough excitement for one day. And just wasn't in the mood to go back to training. So, instead Yeyinde brought her up to the bridge that overlooked the kehrite and also had a nice view of space from a nearby large window.
Yeyinde informed her that he sometimes like spending time up there. It was quiet and had a great view both in front of them and below them where they can watch some action down in the kehrite.
It was here, that Natalie inquired more about his kind and his home world.
While they were being held imprisoned, he was more reluctant to talk about his race, tech, and home world. It's not that he didn't fully trust Natalie with such information.
But he knew at any time that the other oomans will try to force whatever info he told her out of her and eventually him.
Things were different now. They were both free and safe aboard the drop ship and tomorrow they would be back on Yautja Prime. Yeyinde was quite looking forward to go back.
At the same time though, he was still concerned how Natalie will be treated and how she will adjust. The young hunter also recalls that he still has to contact his father and inform him of everything that went on back on Earth and about Natalie.
Tonight. He'll contact him tonight.
"So, is it true that your kind can have a lot of kids in their lifetime? Dachande told me that many pairs tend to have quite a few kids. He told me that so far, he had five." She said.
Yeyinde nodded, "Yes, since we tend to live long lives, it's not uncommon to have multiple pups. I myself am one of five. And that alone was seen as odd. Because five pups really aren't all that much.
Many can have as many as ten to twenty pups. Some more prolific warriors have had even more. My friends here come from bigger families with many siblings."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Ten to twenty!? Damn, your kind is certainly a horny bunch! Most adults think two kids can be too much to handle at times. Never mind multiples like you just mentioned." She exclaimed.
Yeyinde trilled at her response.
"That's just how it is for my kind, Natalie. And not all pups have the same parents. Males can and will have multiple females at different times. Mating season can last for a couple months. And within that time, males and females could have different mates at different times.
Though there are some that will choose one mate to return to with each mating season. And a few have taken them for what we call life mates. A mate they will spend the rest of their lives with.
My mother and father are life mates. And my siblings and I all came from the same parents." He explained to her.
"So, your saying monogamy can be seen as uncommon among your race. But it is possible. And your parents are an example of it." Natalie pointed out.
Yeyinde nodded.
"Yes, to some of their closest friends, this was not surprising. My father and mother have always been very close, even when they were pups growing up together. Some yautja just have a deep bond with one another, that can grow and flourish with age." He said.
"That's a great thing to have. Kind of sad it's not more common among your kind. With humans, it's what we strive for. Most prefer to spend their lives with one other special person than have many throughout their life." Natalie stated.
He slightly tilts his head and stares at her.
"It also sounds like something you really want yourself." He pointed out.
A bittersweet smile formed on her face as she continued to stare ahead out the large viewing window where trillions of stars lit up the pitch-black void of space.
"Yeah, but it'll never happen now." She says, barely above a whisper.
Natalie always imagined it happening for her eventually. Selling enough of her artwork while working at the restaurant in hopes of getting her own house someday. Then eventually meeting a special guy to share her life with. And hopefully one day, it would lead to marriage and kids.
But all of that seems to be a mere pipe dream now that her life had been flipped upside down by corrupt humans that decided to kidnap her, shove her in a cell with an alien being, then pump her full of said alien's blood.
And to make matters worse, the same beings had just informed her that she will not be able to return home due to the fact she already knew so much about them and had their blood flowing through her veins.
"Why you say this? You can't say for sure it won't eventually happen, Natalie." Yeyinde said.
Her gaze shifted from the view in front of her to him, with an incredulous look.
"Yeyinde, you and your friends had just told me not that long ago that I may not be able to go back home. And if I truly can't go back to Earth, then that won't most likely happen in my future." Natalie replied.
Just thinking about that fact really pulled at her heart and made it feel heavy.
For all she knew, it could've worked out between her and Robbie. Had she not been kidnapped, they probably would've ended up dating, and it could've gotten serious enough over time that for all she knew, he could've ended up proposing to her.
Her hands tightened around the edges of the railing, as she fought back tears.
"Doesn't mean you can't have that life on Yautja Prime. It can still happen." He told her.
Though as he says this, Yeyinde knew it could be highly unlikely for the ooman female. He sadly doubts any male would think of her that way. Mainly because to most of his race, they would view her as weak and unappealing just like the rest of her kind.
But he said this in hopes of making her feel better. Despite the fact it may not be entirely true.
It's funny, most of his race may feel that way about her. Yet Yeyinde, can't help but feel the opposite. He found her to be quite strong and resilient. And for some reason or another, he can't help but feel a growing attraction to her.
Even while they were imprisoned, despite their difference in appearance, he found her to have a strange alien beauty about her. From her long soft tresses to her light blueish grey eyes that resembled her world's oceans, and despite not having mandibles he found her pouty lips to be quite endearing and somewhat alluring.
Still, he's a little unsure if this attraction he does feel for her is real. Or simply induced by the fact he hasn't mated with a female of his kind yet.
He tries to imagine her with another male. And when he does, it does seem to irk him quite a bit.
Something that was odd because jealousy was not something usually felt among his kind. If that is in fact what he's feeling when he thinks about it.
'I think I might be overthinking things here a little too much.' He thought to himself.
Natalie didn't know how to reply to that remark at first.
"Yeyinde, you just told me yourself that most of your kind doesn't think highly of humans. Hell, you said there would probably be many there that would be unhappy to have me living among you guys.
If that is the case, I doubt even the friendliest of yautja would never view me more than a friend. Because let's face it, do you know of or have any interspecies relationships currently there at this time?" She inquires.
"No, at least none that I've ever heard of. But yautja have been around for many millennia. Because of this, such a pairing must've happened at some point in history. There are very few other alien species compatible with my kind. But it's not impossible for there to be hybrid offspring from their union. And this is why I tell you not to lose hope. I believe it could happen." Yeyinde assured her.
A spark of amusement flashed through her eyes as a smirk appeared on her face.
"God forbid if that male ended up being Larja-Thwei." She joked.
Yeyinde's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Her...with his biggest rival and one of the clan's biggest assholes?
"Fuck that! Not going to happen!" He blurted out with finality.
Natalie started to laugh at his choice words and reaction.
"Female, that's not funny in the least. You want me to be physically ill? I don't think Kv'varde and Dachande would appreciate my vomit raining down on them from up here as they spar down below." He quipped.
This only made her laugh more.
"What? Maybe beneath that asshole exterior of his lies a big cuddly teddy bear." She says, between laughs.
Still Yeyinde didn't really find it all amusing. He almost believed for sure there was a spark of jealousy within him at the mere thought of Natalie with Larja-Thwei.
Not that it would happen. Given his great dislike of them. And he still isn't very fond of Natalie.
Natalie could see the look he was giving her right now and it only prolonged her laughter. The look was a cross between mortification and annoyance. And if she didn't know any better, she thought she saw a hint of jealousy in there somewhere.
"Aww, c'mon, Yeyinde. I know he doesn't even come to compare to you. Your still my favorite yautja. Or as you stated once before, my favorite Smart Ass." She assured him, albeit in a teasing way.
He huffed but couldn't help but smile at her words.
"After everything we've been through, I certainly hope so. I even lent you one of my loincloths to cover your chest with. Despite the fact I think it's a shame to keep them covered up." Yeyinde teased.
She rolled her eyes, "Easy big guy, once you land tomorrow, I'm sure you won't have any problems finally getting laid. Then you can look at naked females all you want."
Though as she says this, Natalie can't help but feel a small twinge of hurt at the thought.
Perhaps her time spent alone with him in a cell made her feel too close to him. Or perhaps she was jealous that he can go off, meet someone, and be intimate with them. While she will most likely never get that luxury to feel that type of closeness with anyone again.
Yeyinde didn't miss the flash of sadness in her statement. Despite the fact she meant to tease him.
"Maybe. Not all newly blooded males always get the privilege to mate. Most females tend to seek out slightly older more experienced warriors first. Before moving down the status ranks. Usually, they tend to flock to Elites and Blooded Hunters first." He told her.
Though the odds of him not mating this season were unlikely. He knew there were a couple young females around his age that have expressed interest in him in the past. They even mentioned to him not that long ago that they would look for him come mating season.
Natalie just gave him a look, "I doubt it. Your very brave, strong, and quite cute. I'm sure you won't have any issues there."
Her brain came to a screeching halt when she realized what she just said. It didn't help that Yeyinde was throwing her a wide grin either.
"Really, Natalie? You truly think that highly of me? And even find me physically appealing? Funny, how the truth leaves you when you least expect it." He said, while slightly puffing out his chest.
Her mouth opened and closed a couple times, making her look like a fish out of water. And her cheeks were tinged pink on top of that.
"I was just giving you a compliment. I'm sure your friends down there would be telling you the same thing." She quipped.
"While they may agree that I'm strong and brave in the face of battle or a hunt; I doubt they would make comments on my physical appearance like you just have." Yeyinde continued teasing her.
"Again, it was just a compliment." She blurted out, getting more embarrassed by the minute.
The young hunter started to chuckle at her blatant embarrassment and awkwardness.
"It's ok to admit you find me attractive. Don't think I never saw you glimpse at me while I was showering when we shared a cell." He said, with a wink.
"I did not!" She blurted out quite loud.
Yeyinde started to really laugh now.
"Then why did you look at least twice? One time is an accident. But you can't tell me the second time was too." He said, between laughs.
"I did not look, Yeyinde!" Natalie countered.
"Sure, you didn't." He continued.
"Don't make me shove you headfirst off of this bridge, Smart Ass. I gather that large head of yours will make quite a crater in the sparring ring below us." She quipped.
"Nah, I'm good at landing on my feet. But I doubt Dachande and Kv'var-de will be all that happy with me 'dropping' in and disrupting their sparring." Yeyinde replied.
Funnily enough, Natalie could almost believe that would be the case for the two males down below too.
They all really were a great group of guys. Even Yeyinde's brother Bakuub would acknowledge her and be civil with her. But Larja-Thwei still stumped her.
"Can I ask you a question?" She asks.
"Yes, what is it?" He asked.
"Why does...Larja hate oomans so much?" Natalie inquired.
Out of all the questions she could've asked him, Yeyinde was not expecting that.
The young hunter sighs, then turns his gaze to the view right in front of them on the bridge.
"Larja-Thwei and Kaail had an older brother. His name was Mahnde. Growing up, he and Larja were very close. When their father was too busy to train Larja and Kaail, Mahnde would oversee their training.
He taught them well. And taught them a lot about weapon usage and close quarter fighting.
Several years ago, Mahnde went to hunt oomans on Earth. He had hunted them quite a few times before and always came back successful with a few new skulls from each hunt.
But the last one was different. He was engaged in combat with a skilled large ooman male. As they fought, the ooman managed to severely wound him. The wound must've been very serious. Because not long after, he activated the self-destruct bomb on his wrist computer. And obviously, he died once it went off.
When Larja overheard the news of his older brother, it angered him greatly. And since then, he didn't like oomans. I wouldn't say he hates them. That's an awfully strong word, even among our kind.
Considering we are all aware of the risks when it comes to hunting. And we certainly know there is always a chance it could be our last hunt before we join the black warrior.
But Larja has always had problems letting go of his anger and holding grudges.
Still, no matter how much he bothers you, he will not try to seriously harm or kill you. Because despite his anger and animosity, he's still a very honorable and proud warrior. One who would never break our codes, no matter how angry he gets." Yeyinde explained.
Hearing all this, Natalie kind of felt bad for the red skinned yautja. She can also relate in a way to how he feels.
She too was very close with her older brother. And while she was deeply saddened by his death, she also held a lot of anger. Most of the anger was directed towards her parents.
They knew he had a drug problem. Hell, because they did too. But they just didn't care. There were times they encouraged him to keep using because they kept telling him how good it feels.
To Natalie, they may as well have walked up to him and shot him, while stating it was for his own good.
And after his death, she never forgave her parents. It's also one of the main reasons why she ran away about a year later after his passing. And she never looked back or gave them a second thought. All she brought along with her, were the memories she had of Tyler.
And the ring she wore on her right ring finger. It was a silver band with three leaves on either side of a small round garnet, her birthstone. It was his last birthday present to her, before dying a month later.
She never took it off. And was relieved that despite the fact the people on Earth holding her captive may have taken her clothes, wallet, and phone; for some reason they let her keep her ring.
"Well, at least now I can understand his anger." She admitted.
"Perhaps, but his anger is displaced. And he shouldn't be subjecting you to it. You have done nothing to earn his harsh treatment of you." Yeyinde told her.
Before Natalie could say anything else, there was a beeping sound coming from his wrist gauntlet.
Yeyinde pressed a couple buttons and spoke.
"Sei-i?" He said, in his native tongue.
"Yeyinde, it's Guan. I got some more results from Natalie's blood and tissue work. You two can head down to the med room. I'll be here waiting to discuss it with you." Guan replied.
The young hunter's gaze shifted to Natalie than back to his wrist gauntlet.
"Ok, we'll be right down." He said.
"That was Guan. Your results are in. He wants us to meet him back down in the med room." Yeyinde informed her.
She was a bit surprised, that was pretty quick. It's only been what...a few hours at best since she saw the young healer?
"Really? that was pretty quick. But ok, let's go." Natalie replied.
Then the two of them left the bridge and headed down the halls to the med room.
Within five minutes, they were at the door. It slid open to allow the pair in.
When they got in, Yeyinde was surprised to see his brother there. He was talking with Guan when they walked in. But they paused mid conversation and turned their attention to the younger hunter and ooman female.
"Thanks for coming." Guan said.
"Sure, that was pretty quick work though. Feels like I only just left here a few minutes ago." She lightly joked to cover how nervous she was to hear the results.
"And why have you come, brother?" Yeyinde asked.
"Because Guan has just informed me of the results before contacting you. I was already in here getting a small gash patched up that I received while sparring with wrist blades against Larja-Thwei.
And he just came out and told me of some of the results not long after tending to my shoulder." Bakuub explained.
"And...what are the results? Are they...very bad?" She hesitantly asked.
"Depends, on what you view as bad. The blood has not only bonded well with your body and DNA, but it also added a few changes to your DNA. Instead of looking like a normal strand of ooman DNA it added some characteristics of Yautja DNA.
By doing this, it changed some of your body's natural chemistry. The results made you stronger, and faster. The blood cells in the yautja's blood have seemed to have bonded and fused with your own blood cells as well.
With how much it has changed you inside, I strongly believed it has also tampered with your biological clock. To the point you will begin to age much slower. Possibly much closer to our life span than an ooman's.
And of course, we already know it sped up your healing process quite a bit. Again, probably healing as the same rate as a yautja. Because our kind does heal quite fast, even without proper medical attention.
I also have no doubt that it made your body more compatible to our kind. Meaning there is a very strong chance that you could conceive and gestate our young.
These are all the results I was able to find. I also found in conclusion, that there could not have just been yautja blood in that vial they gave her. I believe there had to have been other bodily fluids mixed into it. Because I don't think blood alone would've changed her like that as it did." Guan surmised.
The more Natalie heard, the more she felt like she was going to be ill. Stronger, faster, healing faster, aging slower, and being able to possibly being impregnated by one of them.
She really was starting to feel like a freak of nature. And these results truly cemented her fate. She will definitely not be able to return home now.
She still looked like your regular run of the mill human on the outside. But inside of her, was a completely different story. No doubt if any humans back home found out about her, they would love for nothing more to get their hands on her. And she'd be imprisoned once again.
A tear left one of her eyes as she slowly shook her head and looked away.
Yeyinde could tell this news greatly disturbed her. And he didn't blame her either. It was clear her life has been completely turned upside down and will never be the same again.
"And...there is no fixing this? No fixing me?" She shakily asked.
Her heart dropped as she watched Guan slowly shake his head.
"No, I am sorry, Natalie. This is a part of who you are now. It's embedded in your DNA and body. There is no possible way to reverse what was done. All you can do now, is move forward. Learn how to adjust to it and tomorrow you will learn how to adjust to life among our kind on Yautja Prime." He told her.
Natalie let out a shaky exhale. Yeyinde went to place a hand on her shoulder by means of comforting. But she stepped away and raised her hand up to stop him.
"Please...don't. I...I just wish to go lie down for a little while." She said.
Then she turned around and made a B-Line for the door. It slid open and she walked out.
Natalie was so shocked, she felt like she had tunnel vision as she walked down the hall. She barely stopped and acknowledged Kaail as he said hello to her in passing.
Her quiet behavior confused him. And he watched her just continued to head down the hall as if she were in a daze.
Kaail was aware that Natalie saw Guan earlier and had tests done. And he knew it had to do with the freak occurrences in the kehrite when she punched the wall, indenting it and kicking his brother across the floor.
With these things in mind, he decided to head to the med room to see Guan and inquire what was going on with Natalie.
He made it there in the next three minutes, to see Guan, Yeyinde, and Bakuub conversing among each other. But they all stopped when he came in.
"I just saw Natalie walking down the hall. I said hi to her, but she kept walking like she didn't hear me. Did something happen?" Kaail asked.
"I'll explain once everyone else gets here. We're just waiting on Kv'var-de, Dachande, and Larja-Thwei to come in. Bakuub and Yeyinde has just contact through their wrist computers. They should be here any minute." Guan informed him.
Kaail furrowed his eye ridges, "She's not dying, is she?
Yeyinde shook his head, "No, Kaail. She is not. But the samples of my blood the other oomans have given her have done something to her. And as Guan stated, he will explain everything when the others get here."
Bakuub turned his attention to his younger brother.
"Yeyinde, father needs to know too. Have you contacted him yet?" He asks.
The younger hunter shook his head.
"No, I'm going to tonight though. And yes, I will tell him everything." Yeyinde assured him.
They could only imagine how everyone else will react to the news of Natalie's crazy results. Either way, they will try and be supportive of her regardless. Because they know, this will not be easy for her.
Until Next Time ;)