Authors note:

An update! Glorious Hallelujah! It was a bit slow going but I managed it, thank goodness.

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Chapter 39

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"They're going to what?!" Nicholas barked in disbelief, the exclamation echoing in the chamber with enough decibels to make the glass quiver. A rather intriguing design flaw for a spaceship, or perhaps it was simply the power of the human vocal range? Either way, it was not appreciated to her sensitive ears.

Shra'na shot him a withering glare as before finishing the final functionality check of her mask. As she was of smaller-than-average size, her lungs were also comparatively smaller and thus were unable to accommodate the tolerance for 'alien' air that most others of her kind were able. She could tolerate no more than 3 hours before her body began to shut down. Others could survive a day and some extreme cases; some had been shown to tolerate the wrong air for about to five days. She would hardly make it that far. It was why she often carried more than one mask on her at any one time. She had already checked and double checked her back-ups and both of them checked out fine.

All was good and she smoothly set it into place. She was in favour of human animals and had taken a liking to their felines. They were swift, agile and deadly. Even Jessica's small little 'Tabby' was a force to be reckoned with. Mostly because Shra'na did not want to accidentally kill the small, delicate fragile little creature that had no concept of its size. She had become quite fond of the little creature and often took the time to give it treats, which was probably why it greeted her with enthusiasm each time she visited rather than withdraw into the shadows.

"Set explosives and leave only one exit. One hybrid is not related to the others. It can draw both King and Queen to it. Scar showed me the tunnel they would be using to flee. It leads directly to where Vayuh'ta lies in wait."

"If those scans you're showing are correct, that explosion is just as likely to collapse the entire section they're standing on! That planet is a simple detonation away from falling into its own core. The bugs have dug in too far and too deep. There's a part practically a volcano just waiting to form and explode, which would flood the entire system…" Nicholas trailed off, knowing now why there was such a time sensitive time-frame on getting the hybrids out of there. "If we die in a volcano, I am going to come back just to bring you back and shove you into the nearest airlock to space you."

"I would like to see you try," she snorted in amusement and gestured to the planet the chiva was taking place. "We just need to find a decent spot to glide in. You may have to make our own entrance. There are enough weak points on the surface, it would not be too hard to breach with only our main gun." Sometimes the direct approach was the best course of action. There was no need for subtly. The kainde amedha would be miles away by now, to ensure they were not within range of a new Queen that may or may not kill them. It was a rare thing indeed when a new Queen came onto the scene and it was usually among the same gene pool. A Queen with no blood ties to the current ones often had to prove they were worthy, or simply kill enough of them to earn their fearful respect. Most did not tolerate a new Queen simply because she was one; she had to earn her crown.

Nicholas nodded. "I can do that. Give me a nav-point for where the others are. I can plan our entrance better with a destination in mind."

She rolled her eyes in response, a human habit she had picked up from Jessica, or perhaps it was Nicholas himself she had learned it from?

Sending the nav-point, she headed to her armoury. Nicholas had two sniper rifles, each one loaded with its own single ammo: one for the King and one for the Queen, but before he could shoot he needed a clean, clear shot and the best way to do that was to ensure she could corral them into a corner, making it easier for him to get a shot. She had just the thing… she smiled as she pulled up a lance, but unlike most this one was capable of an electrical charge. It could emit enough power to give temporarily paralyse a kainde amedha in pain. It wouldn't take long for them to shake it off, but would give Nicholas just that extra amount of time to ensure he dosed them well. She also took the liberty of grabbing her chains, which she would use on the Queen; to bind its mouth, arms, legs and tail. Most kainde amedha were aware of the acidic quality of their blood; and she was not going to risk the Queen injuring herself to get out of her chains.

She settled on one final weapon: her shuriken. She would need about two dozen. Perhaps more.

Rolling her shoulders, she prepared for her hunt.

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Myra rang the numbers through her head: eight were out of commission, having moved on ahead with the wounded and those transporting them. That left six she was still unsure of and this group included her 'mother' and 'father'. She did not trust them at her back like she did her siblings, so in her mind; they did not even register as teammates. Not yet. That left twelve – thirteen, including herself. There were three tunnels, which meant three teams, or more accurately: three teams of two. One to hold the explosives, one to watch the other's back as they set the timer. It wouldn't do to cause a spontaneous explosion. There was the matter of the tunnel that the King had appeared from, and where Myra had noticed the older Queen slither down. Whether that meant she was dead, wounded or biding her time for another attack, she wasn't sure.

So, following Murphy's Law, there needed to be a fourth team to ensure that nothing came out of that hole to surprise them.

'I'll handle that,' Scythe's deep tenure flowed smoothly through her thoughts. She looked up and found him tucking a bundle into the waistband of his pants. 'That hole is both an exit and an entrance. We need to make sure Joy follows us. The King will follow her of course, but it would be better to ensure nothing else follows. No one actually saw the Queen die and I'm not about to have three giants chasing us.'

She nodded her assent and took a closer look at her own bundle of explosives Dmitri had somehow had time to meddle with. Say what you would about her brother, but he was a chaotic genius who would never be able to explain how he made something so gorgeously destructive. Like Damien, he was a genius, but the absolute insane crazy kind people warned you about. He liked to make things go BOOM! Each little bundle contained enough of said boom to completely mess with the caverns, which was rather a bonus but the trick would be the placement. They didn't want to accidentally cause the entire tunnel to collapse on them, trapping them inside for the bomb which would not only kill the remaining xenomorphs on this planet, but also the planet itself. A planet-wide purge, which was something she approved.

'So, who do you want to take with you?'

'It's on the way out.' Scythe answered shortly, as was his custom. He seemed to have recovered from the shock of seeing Ciara fall into unconsciousness and remained unresponsive.

'Throwing the rest in as we book it?' she realised, nodding again. Not a bad idea. The ground would collapse, or so she assumed given that the entire place felt hollow; filled with caverns upon caverns twisting and twining all around within the planet. When they had crash-landed, they had gone right through the surface. She hadn't seen it at all. They had landed right in the middle of a cave, all separate and immediately striking out to find each other. Although, when one is bound via a mental link, which grows stronger and stronger the closer you get: it made it a little easier to navigate the labyrinth.

Either way, it would ensure that the King and Joy would follow them through the only route out that involved 'solid ground', making it easier to herd them into place.

Musing on the team formations she could pick, she tucked her bundle of explosives in a satchel she kept around her waist. She double-checked it was tied, secured and would not distract her while she moved. She hated when things bumped into her hip as she ran and she needed to ensure she stay focused. 'Shadow and Lily can take west, Claw and Andre north, Tiger and I can take west.'

Scythe nodded, approving her choices with a small smirk.

Lily was the kind of person who let someone blow off steam, never saying a word as she listened. This helped Shadow, who as the more stressed she was, the more vocal she became. 'Suppressed emotions' had no existence in her vocabulary. More than a few times, they had paired Lily up with Shadow, whom often exploded into rants about any and all of her frustrations and Lily would take it all in stride. Through some kind of psychological thing; the mere sight of, word or look from Lily was enough to calm Shadow down. This allowed her to think and act more calmly herself, which was rather invaluable in their lives as chaotic and dangerous as they were.

Claw and Andre had always gotten along well and their combat styles were similar, though Claw favoured martial art styles favouring his hands whilst Andre focused more on legwork. Their temperaments were similar as well, except Claw was more likely to assess situations first before jumping in like Andre. Claw was good at watching Andre's (and all of his siblings) backs, focusing more on defensive techniques than offensive. The reason she figured they should handle the explosives was because both needed something constructive to do. They couldn't be allowed to sit on their hands, or their minds would wander into dangerously depressing deep waters.

As for Tiger and Myra? Even though she had wanted to pick Star, her twin had gone all gooey-eyed for the yautja, Ash. As squeamish as the thought of her sister liking someone made her, Myra knew how much Star loved the romance novels Ciara had often read to the Aeglaeca during the quiet times. Maybe her sister was just in the crush stages, but she believed her sister had the potential of falling in love. Whether Ash was right for her or not, that remained to be seen but she wasn't about to intervene. Not yet, anyway. First sign that he hurt her intentionally, she was going to strip the flesh off his bones. One muscle at a time, starting from his feet. And as for Tiger's flirtations with Taisto, Myra figured that it was only the fact she was in heat that was making her act this way. She wasn't about to let her sister's hormones do the talking and set her up for a whole world of hurt. As strong as her sister was, she was much more delicate then one would think.

Deep down, her sister was sensitive, had a complex about her appearance and how she was doomed to remain alone for the rest of her life. All the Hybrids had felt that way at some stage in their lives, but with the fact they had met a male from a species they could potentially gain children from, considering that parts of their DNA matched theirs: it opened up possibilities for the future that the Aeglaeca had never considered possible before. Myra didn't want Tiger jumping into unknown deep water simply because her mating season had overtaken her senses, leaving her possibly child-bearing and without a partner. Not that if, should such an occasion occur, she would be alone because each of her siblings would step up to lend a hand: Tiger deserved to have someone both respect and love her for who she was, not because she had beared a child and that was it.

Myra shook her head out of those thoughts. It was all mute right now. Still, she didn't want Tiger too close to Taisto at this point in time.

She knew her sister could control herself, but if those temptations came knocking at her door, she would be hard-pressed to resist. It was far better to cut the possibility before it even threaded the needle.

Besides all that, despite their arguments, they worked well together.

She sidled up beside her sister, taking note of Tiger's gaze lingering on Taisto. Her jaw was locked hard, arms folded as she observed the subject of her interest. Naturally, Tiger was a cool-collected observer of her surroundings. It was her temper that made her rash and impulsive, even though she was not naturally patient. She was a creature of action and detested having nothing to do. She was in constant motion. But right now, she was still. Her interest in the male yautja was not a passing thing, it seemed. That intense stare revealed exactly how intrigued she was.

"Come on, sis," Myra deliberately startled her sister with a dry, snarky tone. "You can googly-eye your honey-pie later."

If it had been possible, Tiger would have erupted in flames, but the tone of her skin made it impossible to guess when she was blushing, caught in embarrassment. But the expression of startled bug-eyed surprise revealed it all. It was a rare moment indeed when Tiger was caught off guard, especially in situations like this one. She did not so much as refute Myra's words, so much as snarl and turn on her heel with an aggravated flourish to escape the scrutiny of any wandering eyes and ears that might have heard her words. There were none, of course. Myra had controlled her voice so only Tiger would hear it. She wasn't that mean.

Myra sniggered. A blushing, embarrassed Tiger was always an amusing sight because of its rarity.

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Scar had forewarned Vayuh'ta that some of the hybrids were on their way with the wounded that were unable to move swiftly. As soon as he reported back that they were safely with them and that Shra'na had found their position would the explosives be triggered; and thus the chase would begin. He would prefer if the newly moulted queen remained behind to be destroyed with the rest of this planet, but the Aeglaeca were not going to leave their sister to die like that.

Since he was keeping an eye out for them, he noticed the group first. It was his first impression of the hybrids, having never seen an image like Haimon had. They were a sight to behold, even for him.

The first he saw was an exotic female with crystal blue eyes and long pure white hair half-in, half-out. She was albino: her spine pushing out with chitinous white skin along her back, to her shoulders and around her neck. Her talons were longer compared to others and startling black compared to the rest of her. She carried a relatively human-like hybrid with caramel-coloured skin with leathery dread-locked hair, plated together to run down her back. Her eyes were bright amber and even from this distance, Vayuh'ta could see her exhaustion and pain. She was wounded.

The next hybrid had the body of a human, but with legs longer and kinked like a kainde amedha; spikes curving up from his ankles, and his feet were chitinous black and five sickle claws, two longer than the other son each foot. From the thigh up, he had charcoal skin with vague patterns twirling around his shoulders and arms. He had human hair, styled rather nicely in a messy way. He was smaller than the others, but he carried a human on his back. The human was more conscious than the wounded female, but looked sullen. Toned and fit; not big and bulky like some humans who spent too much time concentrating on their muscles until they were nothing but. On his left bicep were a swirl of pattern and a touch of colour.

The last hybrid took more from its kainde amedha genes. He had a bladed tail, the same body as a xeno and a strange merge between chitinous black and caramel skin on his form. Bare-back, it was easy to see the chitinous black spreading down the back of his shoulders to wrap around the middle of his chest. His elbows were also black, patching around until completely eclipsing his hands from where black talons glinted fiercely with the added extra digits. Barefooted, his feet were exactly like a xenomorph. His upper chest body, arms and face were shaped more like a human/yautja.

He carried two: in his arms was another hybrid, taking more from his human and yautja genes. He had more reptilian skin with black hair tousled around his head. He looked critically injured, which was perhaps why he was held gingerly in his brothers' arms and not held like the last hybrid: wrapped and carried by the tail. She also had a bladed tail; a perfect blend between human and kainde amedha. She had black hair like a human, sickle claws on black chitinous hands and feet. Even with her closed mouth, he could see deadly sharp fangs peeking out from her lips. She was unconscious as well, and upper-body wrapped in bandages seemed to be rather useless, considering they were already soaked through and disintegrating.

Tarei Hsan approached first, wary as a thirsty antelope approaching a water bank, where it knew crocodiles lingered ready to spring an ambush. It was the most nervous Vayuh'ta had seen him. Even when facing down an annoyed Haimon considering his death, he had not flinched or appeared worried. Resigned, perhaps, but not afraid of the consequences, but now? Now Hsan was shuffling his feet, scratching the back of his neck and restless as he kept an eye on the approaching hybrids. They recognised him instantly, each tensing in their own ways. The albino lowered the golden one, both dropping into an attack-ready stance with snarls on their lips. The hybrid with the human lowered his passenger to the ground, cracking his neck as he prowled closer to the former scientist. The last hybrid first lowered his wounded brother gently and carefully to the floor, then his sister.

There was silence, and then the next thing Vayuh'ta knew: Tarei Hsan was flat on his back.

Fierce brown eyes were as sharp as his claws poised to slice through the jugular. "The fuck are you doing here, Vanguard?"

In normal situations, any sane sentient being would be concerned that their life was danger yet Hsan did not seem to care. In fact, it looked as if at any moment he might fall asleep, believe it or not.

"I'm here with the rescue team, Hunter," Hsan said oh so calmly he might have been exchanging ideas about the weather clearing up before noon.

Hunter sneered. "I don't buy it."

"Didn't expect you would, but the reasons we're talking right now is a long story. You can try and kill me later, mmm?"

"Try?" the hybrid questioned angrily, viciously tensing his talons tighter until pinpricks of blood beaded. Now that was a predatory growl, Vayuh'ta mused as the hybrid arched his back slightly to expose his sharp canines, jaw twitching as he ground his teeth in what could be anger or frustration, or probably both. "It's not a matter of try, so much as it will be that your head decorates my wall when I am done, Vanguard."

"Oh, think I'll make it easy for you?" Hsan smirked and both Vayuh'ta and Hunter blinked, neither expecting that tone of voice.

For Vayuh'ta that tone of voice was given only to someone lower in status to you in your Clan. Mostly this attitude was shown towards Youngblood's and the younger who were not quite ready for their Chiva. A Youngblood never showed this attitude towards an Arbiter. They wouldn't dare. Not only was it disrespectful, it basically gave them a free pass to knock some sense into you; and as they were, yautja were not exactly kind in this. Hunter recognised the tone: it was exactly like Ciara in a playful and mischievous, 'knows something you don't' mood. Then shocking both, without so much as a twitch to warn of his intent, Hsan threw his forehead into the Hunter's chin; sending him back far enough for Hsan to smoothly position into a crouch with all the lithe agility of a snake. His fingers dug into the ground, a slow smirk dancing across his lips as his deep cerulean blue eyes sharpened and honed in with a predator's focus.

Hunter stilled as he watched the sudden change, always remembering Vanguard as the sarcastic 'nothing ruffles my feathers, but I'll ruffle yours for trying to piss me off'. Vanguard had always shown a sense of humour unlike most of the scientists and if he was being honest, he had noticed that there was something about himself that Vanguard had held back. But was this what he was suppressing? The love of a fight? How much did he know about this anyone? Did anyone? Had he ever shown his real self at all? Hunter had never been mistreated by the man, but he wouldn't say he had shown much interest in him at all. That being said, Vanguard knew not only his name, but all of his accomplishments and had even tutored him on occasion when he was not otherwise busy. He had done so for each of the Aeglaeca.

Hunter did not know what to make of this scientist.

"We don't have time for this," Vayuh'ta barked, the command to stop their foolishness clear as he looked between the two like they were nothing more than pups. Quite frankly, he thought they were.

They were all younger than him and until her had prove saying otherwise, they were nothing more than freshly blooded pups on their way to proving their maturity. Except, these hybrids had not been trained in the ways of the yautja and this, he considered this nothing more than a trial run in which he would decide whether or not they were suited to the Clan. He wasn't about to leave it just because of them, but at least he'd figure out who he could come to respect and which ones he should avoid to 'keep the peace'. There were a lot of big, stubborn personalities in Haimon's Clan.

"Raz, get down from the ceiling!" he barked up at the younger hybrid and everyone turned their heads up to look at him.

"What… the hell?" That was Hunter's exclamation, a soft whisper of disbelief unable to conceive the reality of what he was seeing.

The hybrid had the same slender body of a xenomorph but more… human, but still had the dorsal fins. It was as if he was a perfect merging of the two, as if he was coated in chitin like paint. There was red on his bald head, a striped pattern branching out at an angle like arrows pointing forward and that same pattern continued down his tail; the blade was more like a scythe: not quite curved but not flat either. He had five digits on his hands and feet, all bearing sizeable claws quite capable of tearing flesh and eating it – his teeth were reminiscent of a xenomorph but situated more to suit a more human-sized jaw. The cranium was more compact and his jaw a little wider to fit the teeth without causing damage to himself; and as a benefit, not to drool all the time. He could probably blend in with humans with some concealing clothes, but those blood red eyes were inhuman, seeming to glow with their own light and the pupils were strange. One was round and the other slitted, now that he took a closer look.

"You…"

The hybrid (because what else could he be) dropped down from the ceiling and snaked closer, his movements showing caution and intent curiosity. "Ciara's mental images of you are perfect," he breathed out in awe, causing Hunter to flinch in surprise. The voice was deep, coarse as if he was more suited to hissing and growling or simply wasn't used to speaking in the human tongue. It wouldn't surprise him. "You look just like she showed me," he smiled as he stopped a few steps away, not too close but a little too close for his comfort.

"Ciara knew about you? Who made you?"

The hybrid nodded, tailed curled around him and crouched in the same position as a dog quietly waiting and hoping to be petted. "She knew of me." He pointed at Vanguard. "He made me."

"Why did she keep you a secret?" Hunter asked, choosing to ignore the urge to slap Vanguard with talons for being just like the other scientists.

"I requested it. Don't be mad at him."

And that… seemed to be that. It seemed he was of a 'man' of small words.

Raz however, had a reason for that request. While he knew them they did not know him. Ciara had never told them about him as per his own request. He would have liked if they had known about him, but for whatever reason only Ciara was able to link with his mind. Sky, he recognised the white hybrid observing him in slight recognition; as she had been the only one Ciara had attempted to connect him with. Alas, she had been able to sense his presence. If they had known about him, he would have been adamant to meet them. He had asked once, but Hsan had shaken his head. It was not out of cruelty he had denied Raz the chance to meet his distant, perhaps not even related to, cousins. Because if they were to meet, Dunstan would have pitted them against each other in the Arena and he would never wish them harm but if they came at him with the intent to kill, his survival instincts would kick in before his heart did. And that would destroy him more than what Dunstan would ever be able to do.

"What's your name?"

"Raz."

Hunter blinked. How… ironic for a secret hybrid's name to mean 'secret'.

"Enough!" Vayuh'ta barked out. "We are running out of time. Everyone this is Raz, I am Vayuh'ta and David Vanguard is now Tarei Hsan. Get used to calling him that. We will explain more in detail later. I am informing Scar that you have arrived. We are awaiting a message from a huntress named Shra'na who will be our ride out of here. Once she is here and the wounded loaded, the explosives will be set and the plan in motion."

"In that case, you might want to move out of the way of the tunnel," Vanguard (now Hsan) suggested as he carefully approached Raptor who stood protectively over Fang and Ciara. "Give me Ciara. You're going to need to move fast. I am aware you're quite capable of carrying both, but if we're attacked it would be better to keep your tail free."

Raptor's crouched and bared his teeth in a hiss.

"No, I am not going to hurt her."

Hunter blinked. He could understand him? How?

"Raptor, think about it. If I wanted to hurt Ciara, I had plenty of opportunities even before you were a thought in Dunstan's mind. Running without your tail is difficult. It will slow you down and you cannot afford that."

Raptor eased up, head tilted like he always did when considering his choices in any situation. Eventually, he moved to the side and allowed Hsan to approach Ciara. Regardless of their feelings, they all took note of how carefully he picked their sister up and held her against his chest as if she was precious. Even though she was, it was the fact he treated her as such that astounded them. It was very rare that any scientist they had had shown affection for the Aeglaeca. And those that did were often gone by the next day no matter how smart or cunning the person was.

"You can understand him?!" Joel had to bark out, looking back and forth between Raptor and Va-Hsan.

"I've known him since he was in a test tube, Joel Green," Hsan replied, hardly flinching as Ciara's tail came up to wrap around him, an unconscious move on her part to keep steady. She was still out of it, though. What surprised them was how natural it seemed to him as he caught the appendage and tucked it more securely around him. She shifted, her cheek pressing against his heart, eyelids fluttering but she settled instead of drawing away…

Joel opened his mouth, but then closed it. "Can you hear him in your mind?"

"Ah, so they do communicate with their minds. Thought so," Hsan mused as he moved further away from the tunnel. "So, when did it start?" He directed this question to Hunter.

"Around the same time as Sky, but I think we've always felt each other's presence even before that."

Hsan nodded then looked up at the yautja who was tapping his foot in an agitated, impatient rhythm. "Yes V, we're aware. Keep your panties on. Has Scar responded yet?"

Vayuh'ta exhaled a long breath to calm down. Now he knew why others were so serious about him being lucky not to have siblings. He already wanted to strangle Hsan like so many others wished they could do with theirs. Then again, even as much as they complained about their little/big brothers/sisters, they were always the first one's stepping up to help them out. What was it about siblings that drove you crazy in not only annoyance, but to ensure they were protected? Although, he had also seen some who had killed their siblings…It was either love or hate with very little in between.

"He says they're waiting until Shra'na gets here and she's ready."

"Very well then," Hsan nodded as he found a sizeable boulder and sat down, wrapping an arm around Ciara to ensure she didn't fall off and was supported.

The gesture was not lost on his audience, but he did not even seem to notice.

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"There they are!" Nicholas called out, and as luck would have it Shra'na had just finished preparing the cage and ensured the chains were in good condition. "I'm landing."

Shra'na growled in acquiesce as she headed for the loading bay and hit the switch to open the bay doors. She timed it perfectly, for as soon as the ship settled the extended to fit snugly on the rocks, she stepped off the ship onto the ground. When Nicholas was sure the ship wouldn't fly off without his say so he hurried over to join her. She had grabbed one of the rifles, the one loaded with the specific ammo to deal with the king, while he grabbed the one for the new queen.

They made quite the pair strutting down the ramp, leaving their audience in slight awe of their awesomeness. Ah yes, she had been spending too much time around Nicholas after all…

"Shra'na!" Vayuh'ta called out. "It is good to see you, but why did you have to bring Nic'ja?"

"Hah! You and I both know I'm the better shot. Remind me again who was it that won the tournament that year? That's right, it was me!" Nicholas argued proudly, but bounded over and gave the bigger male a greeting fist-bump he had taught many of his yautja friends. Vayuh'ta snorted, but conceded. He often called Nicholas Nic'ja, a sentimental 'nick name' of sorts.

Nicholas had many more yautja friends than human, which made him something of an oddity. Unlike most humans who came to their Clan, he had been with them since he was eight years old. His English was limited, but he had been an avid reader and thus had learned all the words in the dictionary. A human doctor had been rather impressed: Nicholas' memory was extremely impressive, sharp and clear. He could remember all that he had seen and he was the kind of person that only needed to be shown once what to do, and he could replicate the results with extreme accuracy.

He was more comfortable with yautja then other humans, which made his eventual marriage with his wife Jessica a little impressive as he had been extremely suspicious of all of them. Sufficed to say, Jessica was the kind of person who had a warm soul capable of extreme patience, earnest and genuine affection and forgiveness. She had earned his trust and loyalty and she had his entire heart and devotion. That's not to say they didn't have their troubles. Their first fight had ended up with him in 'the dog house', which meant he had ranted and cried whilst Vayuh'ta pretended to listen. They eventually talked it over, but still… no relationship was smooth sailing and there were times when both ended up with their respective yautja friends, ranting and raving about their other half.

That being said, Nicholas respected females and considered their opinions before anyone else, which probably came from this bond with the matriarch who had raised him. She was one of their best huntresses. She was a matriarch now, but no less formidable. She was a female of respect and was often consulted in many matters: she was something of a medium between the humans joining the Clan and the yautja – and other Clans. She could see the humans' potential and did not classify them as prey, but as smaller version of her species. She knew there were many things different, but there were enough similarities between them to find some middle ground. As a species whose entire culture was based on the hunting of other creatures – usually the kind smart enough to present a challenge, it was no easy task. She had befriended many humans.

Perhaps it was where Haimon's fascination with humans had come from. She was his great grandmother after all…

So, Nicholas' ties to Haimon's Clans were strong and he was often the first to the defence and offence, should the occasion call for either.

"These are the wounded?" Shra'na's business tone made its appearance as her gaze cut an assessing pass over the hybrids.

"The wounded, she says," one of the two humans of the group muttered as he rubbed his head. "Like I don't already feel uncomfortable being carried around like a rucksack…"

"Would you prefer I treat you like one?" one of the hybrids growled menacingly, stepping forward as if to act out the threat.

"No thank you. Really, there's no need. But come on, give me a break already!"

"Where would you like it? There are so many bones in the human body."

The human's blue eyes narrowed on the fierce brown. "I cannot tell if you're being serious or sarcastic."

The hybrid grinned toothily in response. "I can see why Andre likes you."

Joel spluttered. "Huh?!"

"When you are quite over your… whatever it is," Shra'na gestured to them in a way that suggested she couldn't articulate exactly what 'it' was she was looking at. Their blasé attitude in such a situation concerned her. She had been trained quite fiercely as a child to never dawdle in the territory of a kainde amedha. It showed both idiocy and a complete lack of survival skills. Exactly how they had managed to do so with nothing more than scrapes and bruises baffled her mind. "Put your wounded in the med-bay. Vayuh'ta can show you the way. I will let Scar know we can begin with the plan."

"Glad to hear it," the other human said as he stood, carrying a female tailed hybrid in his arms. "I didn't think you would land so close… the geology of this place isn't exactly what I'd call stable."

"We were lucky," Nicholas explained, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb to where the ship sat. "That is one of the few structural pillars that keep most of this place from collapsing in on itself. There isn't another one for miles." Folding his arms, he took a closer look at the human. "Hey, you're the guy who was sending those messages, aren't you? David Vanguard, right?"

A light flickered in those eyes, a strange cerulean blue like the night sky: "And you're Nicholas. You're the one who got my messages?"

Nicholas nodded. "Yeah, that's me. It was a hell of a thing you did, considering but I'm curious why you'd go out of your way to help hybrids?"

"Technically, I am one myself," was the matter-of-fact response that surprised not only Shra'na and Nicholas, but the other hybrids were curious and flabbergasted. They all stared at the man with big, wide eyes and their mouths dropped open wide enough for a face-hugger to easily insert itself. "We can go more into it later, though. I don't think now's the best time. Do you by any chance happen to have an MRI scanner in your medbay?"

"We have something like that, yes."

"Good," David smiled and then bowed slightly, "And thanks."

"My pleasure."

"He's a hybrid too?" the other human murmured.

"I was not expecting that," the more vocal hybrid muttered, but steadily followed. "Come on, let's go. The sooner we're inside, the quicker we can leave."

And so, they all loaded into the ship and Shra'na got in contact with Scar.

"The wounded are aboard. Begin."

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