Chapter Seventeen- H'chakde

H'chakde pulled the ooman behind himself as he walked back to his quarters. Trying to grumble away the fury that burned in his chest. The evident look of amusement she held on her face made H'chakde's blood boil even more.

This ooman was supposed to be a servant, a barely tamable one at that. She was as intolerable as a bloodthirsty unblooded, with the temperament of a suckling to boot. Now he was to treat her as if she was another one of his students.

Training plans began to flourish in the young warriors mind, but he knew he would have to wait. Oomans are fragile creatures, easily injured and easily made sick. He certainly didn't need her dying from any sickness her wounds caused, and he didn't need the stitches ripping.

H'chakde would allow her a few days rest before they got to work. If he was now to mold her into a hunter like him, he would make her the best one he could. And that took a lot of hard training.

He smirked to himself as he slammed his hand on the pad to his door. H'chakde shoved the ooman in as soon as the door opened, being sure to lock it tightly after both were inside.

The ooman stood a few feet from him, doubled over and taking deep breaths. Her hands placed on her wound as she let out a slew of curses.

H'chakde understood some of them, the ooman had cursed at him enough for him not to. Other he wasn't so sure about, but he didn't care. They could both curse and grumble all they wanted, they were stuck in their predicament.

"Rest!" He commanded, pointing over to the little mattress. Much to his surprise, the ooman didn't budge. He would have thought she would have jumped at the opportunity to rest. Instead she straightened herself up, taking a quick moment to glance down at herself before looking back up at him. Her arm still firmly pressed against her abdomen.

"I need garments." The sentence came out to the hunter in broken bits, but nonetheless he understood what she was asking. Her clothing had been shredded to pieces in her little encounter. She was now bare from the waist up, only covered by some of her bandages that were wrapped tightly around her.

H'chakde didn't understand what the problem was. Males and even Females of his kind wandered around the ship wearing even less covering then she had. Another ooman issue he supposed.

A problem he would have to fix either way, lest the ooman bother him to no end about it. And with the other things going on, he certainly didn't want to hear her complaints about it.

"I will handle it. Rest!" He growled pointing to the oomans bed again. This time she obeyed. Staggering slowly to the mattress made of furs before dropping on it.

While the ooman began resting, H'chakde began contemplating how to solve the clothes issue. He knew she would need armor eventually, but she hadn't earned it just yet. She would want a substitute in the meantime. His gaze landed on the creature she had killed, maybe he could use that? He turned his full body toward the kill, a new layer of frustration pulling over him.

It had been meant for her to skin and do with as she pleased. But given her injuries, that wasn't possible at the moment. He could use the fur from his kill, but if she were to start training, it would be better to wear her own.

Ceasing his grumbling, he started the process of skinning the hide from the creature, and cleaning it. The next step would be the toughest for him. 'What to craft, what to craft?' H'chakde asked himself.

He didn't want her to wear something too flashy, that much he was certain of. It wouldn't do her any good to develop rivals till she was better, and well trained. In her current state she would easily be defeated and humiliated in front of her peers. Or even worse (for him at least) killed.

Clutching his knife firmly in his hands, H'chakde began making careful cuts around the hide. Continuing with this pattern until he had a nice round shape, then he cut another hole in the direct center of the remaining skin.

He studied it a moment, hoping that it would be the right size for the ooman. If not she would just have to make do, it mattered little to the hunter.

With the easiest part behind him, he started on bottoms for the ooman. Grabbing up some extra mesh he had lying around her began his attempt. Layering the mesh he made a loin cloth like garment, with one side being much higher than the other.

H'chakde held it up as he inspected it. Despite it's tattered appearance it was still very much wearable. Just another piece of clothing the ooman would have to deal with until she could get armor. Throwing both aside, H'chakde made quick work of cleaning the area.

Despite the hours of peace he had gotten away from his task. He was still very much exhausted from the hunt, and was in need of some unwinding time. Any idleness and free time he would be gifted in the coming months would be nothing short of a blessing.

After everything was clean, he unhooked his face mask and placed it on his bedside table. H'chakde took a moment to glance at the ooman, checking to make sure she was still breathing. Seeing that she was, he plopped down into his bed and closed his eyes. Soon falling into a restless slumber.

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Much to his surprise, H'chakde had woken earlier than he expected despite his exhaustion from the night before. He glanced over to the ooman, to see she was curled up on her side. Her chest rising and falling in a slow rhythmic pattern.

She looked almost peaceful and quite. The exact opposite of what she was like when awake. It would have been a lot less frustrating if that were the case.

So he allowed her to sleep a little longer, if only to save his sanity for another few minutes or so. He would not be getting much of this peace and quiet for the next while. Unless he kept waking up before she had.

It wasn't until he began growing hungry did he attempt to wake her. Knowing that she would be hungry as well, it would be easier to take her with him. "Ooman!" He growled, causing the ooman to jump awake. "Wake up, we are going to get food."

She slowly sat up from her bed, wincing as she did so. H'chakde waited until she had stood to before he came over to help her straighten her. He pushed her shoulders back, and pushed down her arm away from her wound.

If she was to be one of them, she needed to learn this. She had to walk wearing wounds like this as if they were merely a scratch on her hand. If she didn't she would be seen as weak by the other yautja. She would never earn their respect that way, and to H'chakde, this was not acceptable.

The ooman looked up at him, annoyance evident in her eyes. In response H'chakde leaned down and placed his hand on her shoulders, his eyes meeting hers as he spoke. "We are about to go around other hunters." He talked slowly, making sure she understood every word.

"Showing you are in pain, showing you are weak or vulnerable in front of them is not an option." H'chakde could care less how the ooman acted in the privacy of these four walls. But to save both his reputation and hers, she needed to not be seen as weedy.

Once she nodded to him and he was sure she understood, H'chakde straightened himself. Turning he grabbed the clothes he had made for her and tossed them to her. "Dress quickly." He said.

The ooman picked up the clothes from the floor, and studied them a moment. Once she looked back up at H'chakde she made a circular motion with her finger. "Turn around." She strained.

With an annoyed grumble, H'chakde obliged. He turned toward the door waiting patiently for her to finish dressing which had taken longer than he would have liked.

Finally he hear the ooman speak, indicating she was finished. Looking back he saw she was clutching the mesh around her waist, a look of displeasure on her face.

"What is the issue now?" He growled. Was it too revealing for her? A further look told him that indeed would have been the issue. "You will get over it ooman, it is fine."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but a light rumbling noise stopped her in her tracks. The ooman looked away from him defeated as she stepped toward him. She was ready to go.

H'chakde nodded, pleased that the ooman wasn't going to push the issue. He opened the door and stepped out of the room. Waiting for the ooman to file out along with him before letting the door shut and lock again.

It took only a few minutes for the two to reach the dining hall. The ooman following behind H'chakde much slower than she usually did, but to his pleasure, she had listened. Her back remained as straight as she could make it, and she only had a pained expression crossed her face every now and again.

When they had finally reached the dining hall, water began to leak from her eyes. Before they had stepped in, the ooman stopped. She took a moment to take a few deep breaths before forcing herself to move on.

H'chakde felt a sense of pride rise up in his chest at the ooman's persistence. The thing that had caused so much irritation for the young hunter, may end up being her ooman's saving grace.

They both waltzed in, and headed straight for the dishing area. H'chakde forcing himself not to look back at the ooman all the while. He trusted she was too stubborn to fall too far behind him, not now at least.

They both grabbed up a chunk of meat, a good size for the both of them. Just as H'chakde began making his way to one of the tables, the sound of the ooman's voice stopped him. He turned back to her, she held up the meat in her hand. Reminding him that it was raw and needed to be cooked.

H'chakde suppressed a growl as he led her to one of the fire pits. "Use this. Stick the meat in there."

Hesitantly, she did so. Soon pulling her arm back and dropping the somewhat cooked meat onto her plate. He ushered her over to one of the empty tables, and sat down. The two spending their meal in complete silence.

All the while H'chakde was brewing different plans for her. She certainly couldn't fight just yet, but she could observe. She had certainly done a lot of that, and for the time being it wouldn't be too difficult for her.

Her training would become more vigorous once she had gotten better. He wanted to test her human strength and abilities, and make them better. Maybe even break her completely in a worse case scenario.As H'chakde glanced at the golden haired ooman however, he had a feeling this would be different.

She had already proven herself in such a short amount of time. With the fire burning behind her eyes, he knew she wasn't intending to stop anytime soon. If she had considered giving up at this point, she would have allowed herself to look feeble in front of the others.

H'chakde scoffed as he took a bite of his meal. This only further proved that this would be his most riveting challenge yet. One he completely intended to conquer.