{And so arch two of our story begins ;) enjoy!}-Admin Sapphire

Chapter Sixteen - Kweide

My limbs ached as I pushed them into a fast walk towards the servants hall, it was meant to hold high ranking warrior's servants if they had to leave them for a short amount of time. And lately, from what I've been told, it housed a young warrior's failed attempt to turn a foreign life form into servitude. That venture cost him his own life, and the life form earned it's right to be free. I could not understand the Elder's calm attitude towards it and leaving the ooman there.

He was no fool. This I knew very well. But her life could be in danger if she were to anger it and there was little I could do at this distance to stop myself from failing if it decided she was its next victim. I would certainly want to fight it, at least to defend my honor, but she was a servant and it out ranked her. If she offended it, her head was up for grabs and far from my own reach.

I slammed my palm against the door's lock to get it to slide up faster, much to my irritation it took its time registering the gesture and opened slowly. I moved in and almost called for her when I spotted her. Sitting on the chair with the life form in her lap. My stomach dropped.

"Ooman..." I spoke in a calm manner though I felt tension gripping me like claws. This venomous being lay content on her as if it were no more than a mere hellhound pup ready for sleep. I was not fooled by that demeanor, it could kill us both if I wasn't careful. "Ooman, set the life form down." I had no words for that recorded, I could only hope my movements and voice could convey what I wanted.

"I don't...I don't understand. Kweide, what are you trying to ask of me?" Her furry patches did that undoubtedly common motion of lumping together with her confusion. I pointed at the being, "Dangerous" I did have that word at least.

It began to growl immediately and rise from her threateningly in my direction. I unsheathed my wrist blades as a precaution, I did not want a fight in this environment with the ooman being in an annoyingly large amount of danger from us both. But if it came to tooth and claw fighting, Yautja lived and died this way. I would be no different.

"Hey shh, it's alright little one." I watched with disgust as she cooed at the creature and calmed it down again. "He's not dangerous really, you just have to treat him politely. You would be surprised how far one can get with a little common respect." Her tone was different, I didn't understand everything she was saying but the way she looked at my legs with disdain I knew her words were aimed at me like verbal plasma bolts.

My growl was enough of a response, I could tell from the way her eyes looked away and her head tilted lower that she was regretting whatever her words had been. I felt better though y response was not well received from the creature as I watched it snap at me twice. I twitched my mandibles furiously as I demanded she move away from it again.

She moved slowly to take the creature off her lap and set it back on the plush seating. "Goodbye little one, maybe later I will see you again?"Her face pulled into a lesser version of her ooman 'smiles' as she patted it once and pulled away to join me. Finally.

With a grunt I flicked my wrist blades closed and exited the room, checking once to make sure she was still in tow behind me. The ever present shadow drifting close but not too close to my back as the door slid shut.

"Kweide?" Her voice drifted up to me just loud enough to hear properly. I noted she addressed me more today than she had before. The little ooman grew braver it seemed, what I could do with that knowledge I didn't know. I turned back to look at her expectantly, she better make it quick.

"Where did you go?" Thoughts filled my head of storms and spilled blood, tired limbs suddenly begged for acknowledgement and I realized I regretted not knowing more ooman language. It was a valiant hunt that would have made an entertaining tale or lesson if she thought to kill me like that being in the room had done with its master.

"Hunting" I gave her the simplest reply I could, I didn't have time to explain much. I was ordered to take her to the viewing room by the Elder. He desired for her to see us in action and be wary or so he had told me. His face gave away nothing so I held my suspicions to myself.

"Oh, did you find good prey?" I eyed her with disbelief. What all had she learned while I was away? With a nod of my head I pushed her into a walk again.

She remained quiet the rest of the way and I did not break the silence between us. Upon arrival however I was confused by the buzzing hall. More Yautja than usual were gathered and watched the screen with shouts and blood thirsty cries. My hunt was done, who were they watching now?

My body froze as I recognized the pair on screen. H'chakde and his servant were in broad view and exciting danger. As if against my will my blood rose alongside the crowds at the display before me. But my ooman's did not. Her face grew paler than it's already glaring shade as she gripped onto the railing where we stood.

"Oh god. God please protect her."She was barely speaking as her eyes were glued to the screen with horror. What was wrong with her? Perhaps this would be a good time to learn more about the oomans and their odd mental states. Or perhaps not.

"NO!" Her scream was shrill and pained as she collapsed down to her knees, her hands gripping the railing painfully tight. Had she been hurt? How? Nothing had changed, I looked around for sign of perpetrator until I saw the screen. H'chakde's servant laid still on the ground, seemingly dead.

"Ooman, stand... This grief will pass." I did not know how ooman's processed grief but I certainly hadn't been prepared for the bone-chilling cry she let out. Nor for the streams of blubbering words as she lay there aching and leaking from her eyes and nose in a horrible fashion. I could do nothing but stare.

"GOD! NOT HER, NOT MY FRIEND PLEASE. Anyone but her. Me. Take me. Please take me, I can't go on without her." Her hands fell from the railing and covered her head as she rocked back and forth on her knees. "No no no no NO!" She was moaning in pain as if she had been stabbed relentlessly. Guttural cries and pleas fell from her lips like blood from her body. Thick and slow in a painstaking way.

"God, I know I haven't been perfect, but please not Kayla. I can't. I need her. Oh please" She began to sob harder as her body wracked with convulsions and her breath hitched.

"Ooman..." I was too astounded by her active display to notice the male approaching us, he must have grown tired of her desperate pleas and was set on shutting her up. For good.

Angered by his intolerance, disrespect to me, and at myself for my own pity resting inside. I flicked out my wrist blades and snarled in warning, if he wanted to kill her he would have to do it beside my dead body.

The approaching male roared and charged at me full speed, his intent clear I gauged his size and braced to move out of his way last second. I did not expect for a large arm to shove me down and grab him under his armpit before flinging him far over the railing. His body soared straight into one of the screens, the glass shattered and ended up piercing through him in a gruesome display as his glowing guts spilled to the floor.

For a moment fear coiled low in my belly until I regained my composure, I looked up to see who had stolen my fight and shamed me. "Whom do you look at so disrespectfully young male?" A female stood before me. 10 feet of strong large muscle that made us look tiny in comparison and suddenly I remembered myself and the trouble I was already in.

"I apologize, I am too low to look upon you I was only impressed by such a magnificent display." I complimented her kill and herself as soon as I could, she would toss me similarly if I didn't.

"Your flattery does little, your attempt is not enthused enough." The female trilled lightly in laughter and then the scent assaulted my sense of smell. A female in heat, which was odd in itself since they usually all came into their mating cycles in groups, had come aboard our ship seeking a potential partner. The moment the shocked males below smelled her pheromones any anger at the slaughter of a yautja over a ooman disappeared. Now they were pushing each other as they tried to show themselves off to the female. It was disgusting.

"My apologies." I bowed my head, I'd faced one female's punishment before for drunken mistakes I would certainly not make sober ones. It's reminder pulled me back to my punishment laying on the floor convulsing and still making sounds of intense distress.

"This isn't fair. No no no." Her cries were weaker now but she looked different. Something about her had disappeared within moments that I did not understand.

"Your ooman, she is grieving the loss of the female on the screen yes?" The female followed my eyes back to the ooman on the ground. I began to stand and nodded.

"Yes." I felt conflicted as I watched the ooman struggle to breathe and continue her quivering movements. "I do not understand this." My voice was slightly sharper as I felt frustration taking center place. H'chakde's servant died in the hunt, honorable and taking her attacker with her. This was a good way to go for any warrior let alone servant.

I felt the females gaze on me and I looked up slowly in case she did not permit it. "You would like to understand if you could. I can see that in your frustration. How odd of a male." She seemed amused by what she gathered on my reaction and I felt a little disgruntled she had read me so well. "You will never understand. Not even many females can say they've experienced anything similar to the power of ooman emotions. I have hunted a long time and I have watched and killed several prize oomans. Their kind is not easy to understand, even harder to hunt. But they feel intensely with no shame."

She crouched down and stroked the ooman's head and curly tendrils like a suckling. "The closest I have come to their fierce feelings was with the loss of one of my young. Grief from their kind, I understand. It should be respected." After a moment she stood to observe me and with a purr she asked. "Tell me young warrior, how many trophies do you have?."

"Many, but not enough to be deserving of mating with you. In this alone I will admit my shortcoming." I wished to deflect her advances quickly but still show respect. If I even insulted her a little or blatantly denied her, castration was possible. I knew I must have seemed like an anomaly, any male would be jumping at the chance for such a beautiful female. As for me, it was not allowed. I was raised to remember I would never be allowed a mate nor the very rare life partner. I was a defect.

The female stared at me as she gauged whether she should feel insulted or not. "You really are an odd male. You truly believe the words you say." As if my confused head tilt had asked a question she spoke again. "Being apart of a council makes one good at judging lies from truth." She looked down at the ooman and then at me. "Take your ooman and go. I must seek a male and I do not wish to be reminded of pups lost anymore."

Before I could even start to move she pulled a knife from its sheath and pointed it at me. "Remember this,give her fair mourning or I will turn you into a trophy on my wall. Grief cannot be rushed." Her eyes mirrored a great pain I had seen in the oomans own face and then she blinked it away and lowered her knife to leave. She said no more and descended to the herd of males gathering below.

I felt relieved that she did not question me. Only the elder and my own mother knew of my issue and though others held suspicions not one yautja had a right to that information past that. I fought to keep my secrets since I was young and secrets they would stay.

"Kayla..." Attention now back on the ooman I scooped her up into my arms for a quick escape. I was exhausted and I assumed her lethargic state meant the same for her, I did not expect for her to yell out and start thrashing like an animal. "NO! I CAN'T GO. KAYLA HAS TO GET UP, SHE HAS TO. I'LL WAIT!" Her legs began to kick as she tried to leap from my arms, when it didn't work she began to pound her fists on me in a surprisingly painful way. She seemed weak but her desperate punches stung.

"Enough! Enough!" I repeated the ooman word she had taught me just weeks ago and walked out of the room with my palm covering her screaming mouth. The other males hadn't noticed much to my relief as I carted the ooman back to my room with trouble. Her constant struggles and cries as she beat me made me furious. It was not my own fault H'chakde's servant had been killed and I would not allow mine to attack me for it.

The moment we entered the room I let her down and closed the door from any prying ears or eyes as she tried to make a move to run out of it. With a growl I slammed her straight into a wall. "Enough ooman!" My hand was supporting her against it as her legs gave way. Leaning over her with my other hand pressed against the wall above her I scowled.

"Kayla is not gone. I can't accept that. I won't. I wasn't supposed to do this without her!" Her eyes began to leak profusely anew but I held my place. She turned violent again in an instant, though it lacked any power this time as she tried to hit me. "If one of us were to die it shouldn't have been her, it was supposed to be me! It's expected that I die... it would be okay. I am the weak one, i'm not supposed to make it. But Kayla...she was too brave and too strong for her to just..." The ooman's face fell apart and she crumpled to the ground as I let go.

"Ooman..." I was angry and now my sore muscles felt even worse but I remembered my punishment's guidelines still and the threats of the female. What I remembered more was what I had decided before my hunt. I didn't understand her, nor her kind, their emotions and mental processes were different and entirely foreign. If I wanted to succeed I would have to put my pride aside when it came to some of our interactions and learn about her. So I lifted her up off the ground and carried her to her pelts.

She seemed exhausted by her outbursts and hung limply as I lowered her down on her side. While I stared down at her I remembered the female from before's actions and words. Looking from my hand to her I reached out and began to stroke her hair with a gentle flow. It felt unsettling at first to be like this but it seemed to work as she quieted down some and continued her crying and sniffling at a lower level.

Slowly as time passed my sore back and legs began to protest my leaned over position so I sat down beside her and continued my movements while looking away from her. I didn't like the feeling I felt when I saw the ooman's face, she looked broken. As if somehow all the life in her had drained out from some unseen wound and gone away.

Out of uneasiness I kept my gaze elsewhere until she had sobbed herself into an exhausted sleep after hours had passed. I watched her now and noticed her shivering and the red tint her face had taken on. It all began to alarm me so with quiet movements I pressed my palm onto her forehead. My kind liked heat and were used to it but her soft flesh had never been so warm before. It reminded me of something Lar'ja-thwei had warned me about before, what did the oomans call it? ... Fever!

I dared not move her encase it would worsen her symptoms, instead I got up and made a hurried dash out of my room and towards the med bay. In my haste I pushed past many yautja without thought as I made my way there. They were younger and lower ranked than me, why should I care about the protested sounds or how many offended unblooded I left in my wake. If they had a problem with my actions then let them earn a battle with me. As for now, there was nothing they could do otherwise.

"Kweide!" Halted by the call of my Elder I turned to see him walking in the other direction. "Your ooman made a ruckus today though many have already forgotten in the presence of the female." Expecting to hear a scolding I held in my protests and readied an explanation if I was allowed one. "Is the ooman alright?" Shock runs through me as I tilt my head at his concern. As if trying to defend his question he speaks once more. "She presumes H'chakde's student is dead correct? I have dealt with ooman's before, their grief can be deadly and destructive in more ways than one."

I nodded and accepted his answer before I spoke. "She does think - think? Is H'chakde's servant alive then?" I questioned the elder and felt a slight sense of relief with the news.

"Yes, I was just on the way to inform you both of this. And of the fact she is no longer a servant. She is training to become a part of our clan now. The guidelines will lessen on her as she joins our society but you may not kill her still. She has much to learn, the fierce little warrior." The Elder searched me for a sign of reaction but my mask failed to give away anything of amusement to him. With a displeased look at my blase reaction he tilted his head in realization. "You would think her dead too, so why have you come this way?"

"The ooman, she has a fever and I came seeking Lar'ja-thwei." I felt the jittery feeling to get moving resurface, I'd have time to bemoan the fact H'chakde's servant was becoming part of our clan later. My ooman's life could be in danger.

"Then hurry to him, I will go stay beside her encase of emergency." Before I could tell him it was not needed he had walked away in a calm manner towards my room. Perhaps he wanted to observe if I would fail or not in the area of taking care of her life. Obedience training was not the only requirement for not failing this punishment.

"Lar'ja- thwei!" I opened the med bay doors after that moment had passed and called for the medic loudly. He stood in front of a board of scans, so many that he practically had the ooman's whole body.

"Do not shout, I am right here." The medic's arms crossed in suspicion immediately at my sudden entrance. Could I blame him? Not really, mine and H'chakde's track record for our ooman's health was not a kind reflection to our skills.

"The ooman is sick, she has the fever you spoke of." I stood in the doorway prepared to head back the moment he was ready. I watched as his face changed and he began collecting several cloths and items of herbal medicines before he headed toward me. He was ready for a war of his own.

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When we arrived back to my room I was not surprised the elder was there. What did surprise me however was the way he was positioned. Crouched beside the ooman, he was carefully keeping tabs on her temperature and stroking her head at the same time."Elder?"I questioned as I stepped inside and out of the door way

Elder Luar'ke turned and stood. "Her fever worsens, what will you do?" He questioned as he faced me. I motioned for Lar'ja-thwei to pass before I spoke.

"All that is possible." I wanted to assure him of my loyalty to my duty as we waited for the medics judgement. As if assessing me he stared with scrutiny then nodded.

"Good. Do not fail."With that the Elder made his exit and left me to simmer in my nerves. It was nearly an hour before Lar'ja-thwei broke the silence and turned to me.

"Her body is experiencing a stress fever, she requires lots of rest and a check up in a few days. Keep plenty of water on hand and feed her broth from the food but no more than the broth." His warning was loud and clear so I nodded and devoted his words to memory. "Her state is sensitive right now but if she wakes enough then you must tell her of her companions health.Keep her warm and treat her like a weathered trophy" He eyed me once more before he left the room.

Taking her fragile state into full consideration I picked her up off the pelts to rest her on my bed. It was covered in furs, enough to warm anyone, hopefully even her. Regardless I had much work to do so I ignored her as best I could after that.

While she slept like the dead it was quiet in an an unsettling way until a pained whisper slipped from her lips. "She was supposed to come home with me." I re-covered her as her unseeing eyes darted around and then she rolled back into slumber. Whether she would live or die was anyone's guess.