Chapter Eleven: Kweide

The minute they entered the viewing room Kweide's ooman shadow began to move freely. She had remained so close to him in the presence of the others but here in this dark quiet place, the outside seemed to have beckoned her from her hiding place. He understood her awe at the scene. The darkness of space was littered with the lights of thousands of suns. Never ending. 

Her jaw opened wide in an amusing way, it was a different sight from the usually collected ooman and he allowed himself to stare at her a moment longer before he shook himself. They couldn't waste time here. There was more to do, their walk was not over yet. But somehow, this experience seemed worth it. Something in her fascination led him to believe he could use this moment to his advantage. She was a curious being, not unlike him in that sense alone, and any leverage he could find would aid him in molding her.

He walked up behind her though he did not move to touch her. "Come" he played the recorded words while carefully stepping back as she jumped in surprise. She was easy to scare and it entertained him to some extent. She gave one last look out the viewing window before finding her place as a shadow attached to his side once more.

He thought back to what had happened just moments ago. The other male had mocked her when he finally noticed her behind Kweide. With a look back at his silent follower he decided the male should be mocked instead. Not noticing this ooman sooner could lead to fatal mistakes later. She was hard to miss in their environment; humiliation would do him good for being so careless

Leaving the room they made their way to the Elder of the clan. He was currently located in a more private room of the mothership and they had been summoned to see him. It placed him on edge, whatever he could think of the Elder adding to his punishment, he could think of worse.

"Kweide," the soft call of the ooman made him halt before entering their destination. He looked at her wide eyes and fearful expression, wondering if she was becoming nervous from his own tension. She looked like prey. He could see her eyes looking all over him for bodily reaction, observing him. 

"We will be alright" He played for her before he entered the room the Elder had summoned them to. The Elder was standing in front of a holographic map of space. More than likely deciding where to send scouts for new hunting grounds.

"Kweide. Where is your servant?" The Elder asked as he turned, walking slow steps closer. Kweide twisted and placed a hand on her back to push her forward. She had her head down and he could feel her trembling when he touched her. The Elder must have frightened her more than  he did. It was good for her to be scared of him though. She'd be cautious and respectful of him as was proper of them all.

"She is here" He kept his gaze lowered but felt the beginnings of pride when presenting her. She wasn't ideal yet, but she had potential.

"Interesting" The Elder pulled her closer to inspect her. He grabbed her jaw between his hands and turned her head from side to side. "Open your eyes ooman" He told her. When she just stood there, eyes closed tightly and shaking he let her go. He motioned for me to back away and placed a hand on the top of her head.

For a moment the trace of a wayward thought wondered if he would rip it off and Kweide held his breath. With effort he steeled myself from moving to stop him. He could not fail this mission and her death would be humiliation, there was much more he could learn from her as well. But Kweide could not challenge the Elder, it was not his place nor his right.

"Open your eyes" He spoke to her in her own language lowly. The tension in his shoulders unwound, he was more patient than Kweide had hoped for. She stood stock still but I watched her eyes fly open with surprise. "Kweide you may leave the room." The Elder commanded too busy looking at her curiously to even shoo me away properly.

With a huff ge bowed and left to stand outside the doorway. It was minutes before it opened again and his servant stood much more relaxed in front of the Elder. He seemed amused and unoffended at her lifted gaze. Interest burned him but would have time to ask of their conversation later. When the Elder tells her to leave the room Kweide entered and awaited an evaluation or command.

"You've done well, and have chosen a promising servant. Work tirelessly and you may unveil more than you bargained for." Elder Lar'ja comments before turning to the maps and zooming in on the planets that our ship was currently orbiting.

"I will not fail." He replied firmly though he was confused by his cryptic words. Elder Lar'ja motioned Kweide closer to the maps with a wave of his hand. They're focused on one planet in particular.

"H'chakde and his servant will be hunting on this planet in 14 moon rotations. You will wait for their return and after a suitable amount of time you are expected to do the same with your servant." Elder Lar'ja ordered.

"Elder, are you sure-" He is interrupted by a growl and  he lowers his head before continuing. "I ask out of awareness of the ooman, she is intelligent but not physically capable of of letting me hunt to my full potential."

"Then she will make your hunt more challenging, bringing you more honor if you are able to succeed. Know that you, and only you decide if she is a hindrance or an advantage." The Elder dismissed him immediately afterwards.

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The ooman looked up at him when he exited the room. Much to his relief she only reclaimed her position silently. He was too concerned with orders to deal with any chatter across their language barrier at the moment. Would H'chakde be capable of success with his ooman?

Surely if he could pass this trial then Kweide could as well. There was so much to plan and prepare for. Too much. He needed time to think. Time to clear his head and enjoy a hunt before he had one filled with more caution than ever before. He took the ooman back to his room and left her. He wanted to request a solo hunt for the next sun rise and had to do so quickly before others took the chance.

Elder Lar'ja did not appear surprised when Kweide came to see him, before he could even speak he gave his approval amusedly. Kweide nodded briskly, bowed and then began the walk back to the room again. Despite the circumstances his body screamed for the hunt, ready to release pent up energy and frustrations on whatever was deemed worthy prey.

When he returned to the room he did not expect to see the ooman injured and hanging from the tusk of a creature he had hunted long ago. There was a hole straight through the left side of her smooth garments at the shoulder and cuts running down her hands. More than likely from her flailing for grip amongst it's serrated teeth. He crossed his arms and struggled to keep his composure.

Helost himself to amusement the moment she looked up at him with her large eyes sheepishly. She looked like a pup that was caught in the act of disobedience. He would have been angry if not for her clearly already having suffered enough humiliation. She was pitiful dangling a few feet off the ground and he was enjoying this.

Looking up he knew what she was after, her bag was hung up a couple inches above where she was. He huffed in acknowledgment. She had almost gotten to it after all. He reached up and grabbed the bag and tossed it down to her pelt bed before grabbing her off the tusk. It had only ripped her soft armor and grazed her shoulder from inspection, but her hands needed more medical attention than he had the means to give.

"Come" He grabbed at her wrists to bring her along quickly but her wince alerted him to how bad her cuts were. Not even light pulling would be little enough to not cause further damage. He flared his mandibles irritably, not that she could see it beneath his mask, and he then decided there would only be one way to get to their destination in enough time to be checked for serious injury and for him to get rest. He grabbed beneath her legs to hoist her into a sitting position in the crook of his left arm. She was lighter than he anticipated and to his own inner amusement he imagined throwing her all the way to the medic.

"Kweide!" She yelped in his ear as she was lifted. Her good arm flew around the back of his neck while her bad one was clutched fearfully to her own chest. He began a speed walk, occasionally adjusting her in his arm to keep her grip on strong. He paid very little attention to how she was reacting to this move. It was for her health after all.

"Kweide why are you coming so late?" Lar'ja-thwei, one of Elder Lar'ja's offspring and the ship's medic, asked not turning around to face me. He was far too immersed in his research on scans of an ooman ribcage. He glanced at his ooman knowing she'd piece together that it was a scan of H'chakde's servant. Undoubtedly heavily bruised by the scans on the screen. He dropped her on a nearby table to distract her and get Lar'ja-thwei's attention. Her shocked sound had the medic turn in surprise immediately.

"She has injured herself" He told him bringing her hands up from her lap to show the lacerations. Lar'ja-thwei walked over quickly and took her hands into his for closer inspection. More gently than Kweide could manage, he tilted her hand around slowly and pressed around the whole hand and it's wounds to gauge her reactions.

"How mysterious that both your and H'chakde's oomans are injured today." His comment is very thinly walking the line between an average observation and accusatory. Knowing him it would be the later.

"Unlike H'chakde I would not risk her health in my anger. It would be against our set of challenges to keep them unharmed by ourselves and alive." He said calmly, glancing down at the small ooman looking between them in confusion. "She tried to climb my wall for her bag and when she lost her grip she grabbed at a jaw belonging to one of my more dangerous trophies. It cut up her hands and hung her up by her smooth armor. That is all"

Lar'ja-thwei looked at Kweide and then at her wounds for a moment in thought. "Alright, that is a passable explanation. Since it seems to be true, I acknowledge your dedication, you are sticking to your rules more than H'chakde at least. He was 'teaching' his poor ooman and bruised her quite badly. Both of the oomans will be fine. Yours just need some rest and restraint on hand movement until the wounds are sure to stay closed." He cleaned her hands while carefully avoiding hurting her. Quickly he pulled a paste from his shelves and grabbed a smooth cloth to apply it to the wounds and wrap them before they bled again.

Lar'ja-thwei motioned for Kweide to take her away in annoyance now that his job was done and he no longer wanted the pair delaying his studies. He grabbed her up again and she sighed, staring at her bandaged hands. She leant over his shoulder and said a word from her kind in a loud tone that neither Lar'ja-thwei or Kweide understood. But Kweide felt he would one day.

With a relaxed stride he carried her back quietly but before they could arrive the gentle swaying motion had surely put her to rest like a pup. She was in a state of deep sleep, curled close and clearly exhausted. When he went to drop her on her pelt bed he halted.

Glancing at the slight up and down pattern of her breathing he realized,more so than before, just how much her kind was of a weaker composition than his. He had thought mostly of the physical health, when he thought of her health at all, and had paid no mind to her mental state. Often ignoring the state of mind with prey leads to failure. You could end up with an honourless kill or death.

Had she been sleeping well enough, was he even feeding her right? He had taken something, some ooman, from earth and had no plan or knowledge of how to keep her alive and healthy. It was like taking a hunter pup and expecting to train it into a fine hunting asset without help of those with experience or knowledge on it's needs. He needed to know more about her if he was to keep her alive. And this meant communication as well as patience. Something a good hunter should know how to use. Something he usually prided himself on.

There were dark circles under her eyes and he wondered what they meant for her. Deciding to keep her asleep he laid her down in a slower motion being sure not to drop her as he had originally planned. He sat on his bed and laid down in contemplation. Failure comes from negligence. He would not be ignorant of what he needed to know. Knowing she was in need of more care than he thought left him burning with a question. How do you take care of an ooman?

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"Kweide, I have made arrangements for your departure. And for the care of your ooman. I will personally see to her watch when needed. You are cleared to leave when ready" Elder Lar'ja had summoned him before the day broke over the planets and he could feel the excitement begin to rise into a steady thrum.

"Elder, my servant has injured hers hands and ruined her soft armor. She has been treated for it." If he needed to watch her he should be clear on the situation so that when Kweide returned he did not suffer punishment for her mishap.

He looked at Kweide, assessing the truth to his statement silently. "Understood, you may go" He dismissed him calmly. He knew Kweide and himself well enough to know that Kweide wouldn't dare lie about such a situation. He would surely be killed if he had.

With a clear mind Kweide waited for the drop off on the planet. Thoughts of wrist blades plunging into flesh, the scratch of claws on his armor and the crack of bones filled his thoughts. He was in his minds realm of content.

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Emerging from the pod he shook himself lightly. The part of land he landed on was a blaringly bright contrast to the ship and darker coolness of space. He took time to collect a sense of his surroundings and familiarize himself with it. A boom filled the area around him and for a moment he was startled.He hadn't realized the storm would start so soon. Feeling the warm liquid run down him he chittered happily. This would be good for the hunt in one way or the other. He could not use his camouflage though, and with a disgruntled shake he continued on.

He dug his claws into the nearest tree and pulled himself up it's thick branches. Deciding to sit on the highest branch he could manage to be on without it snapping beneath his weight or giving away his position. He surveyed the forest, good thick green foliage to the north. His deep green skin would do well to hunt there.

Figuring himself to be at enough disadvantages he leapt from tree to tree,making his way to the more suited environment to begin his hunt.

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Over several sun rotations he scouted for good prey. Something challenging to be proud of and mount on his wall. He almost settled for leaving his selected grounds to find more dangerous prey. Then on the 13th sun rotation he found a herd of a peculiar kind, their thick fur reminiscent of the ooman's own soft armor. The large circular horns and lengthy thick fangs made their design more fierce along with their large paws that held hidden claws.

He was excited at the prospect of a good struggle with them, their ears are so large that he would have to be extra careful not to rustle anything that cannot be explained by the ongoing storm. He stalked them for a few days more and an idea struck his mind. Perhaps... this creature could be of more use than just one more trophy. Perhaps it could be three. It was a crazy thought. But one that pleased him greatly.

He could mount it's skull on his wall surely, but perhaps he could use it as a bargaining tool for the ooman as well as a display. He could use it's pelt to form a new soft armor for the ooman, perhaps boosting her mood and obedience. But just as well it would work as a showing of his skill to the others. He would dress her as a living trophy, a testament to his strength and dominance.

Content and ready to enact his plan he waited for an older male of the herd to wander too close to his tree. Standing up on its hind legs it strained it's neck for the foliage carelessly. He moved in a flash and dropped onto the creatures back while seizing hold of it's curled horns. The bellow it released echos through the forest alerting the herd to the danger.

They took off without a second glance, leaving the male to make his own fate. Growling back at it's huffs and grunts he did all he could to stay on top of it. Kweide narrowly missed being slammed into the ground as it purposely fell on its own back. Throwing himself off of it he slid across the soft ground turned into mud. The pelting rain was loud but the sound of the creature's roar was louder as it charged at him. With a flick of his wrist blades he was ready for a death blow.

It lowered its head to knock him down, within inches from him he jumped onto it's back again. This time he dug his wrist blades into its thick shoulders and pulled himself up. He wretched the blades from it's body and it emits a pained and angry bellow. The creature bucked suddenly, managing to throw him from it's back and to the forest floor. It bears down on him viciously, trying to slam it's thick skull into his ribcage while simultaneously slashing his sides with it's razor like claws.

Kweide roared in rage and shoved a blade into its throat, using his other hand to keep it from smashing him to dust. It backs away growling and gurgling, the strong paws made a swipe at him but he dodged and stabbed a side dagger into its throat along with his other blade. The jaw snapped at him as it fell but it was dead when it reached the ground.

Filled with pride and 'happiness' as the ooman would call it, Kweide roared loudly. Anything near him would know of his presence. But he no longer cared. His short hunt was completed and he would return with his prize, and an unfailing plan. By the next sunrise he would be back aboard the ship and enacting his plan just before H'chakde's hunt. Oh how entertaining that would be to watch.