He watched her enter the settlement with glowing satisfaction and pride. Over the course of three years, this particular Apprentice had gone from a sensitive soft meat to the hardened warrior he'd come to respect. In battle, she had a fire that raged and thrashed at all of her opponents, no matter how difficult the challenge.

At first, Sain'ja merely saw his getting stuck with her as an annoyance. Although a former piece of game, she had spared him in battle, and due to the Yautja Honor Code, she was his equal and had earned his protection. He didn't have time to babysit some creature with the intelligence of a pup. However, once he got to see her prowess and understood her personality a little better, he actually found himself fond of the human female, that is, if only as some sort of pet anyway.

When he discovered she had saved one of the elders, and that he had a connection with her through their departed fathers, that had made certain his decision on treating her as an equal rather than killing her and committing suicide for the act. Fifteen years ago, both of their fathers had perished on Earth, one the hunter, the other the prey. Neither of their bodies were found and returned, almost all evidence of what occurred destroyed due to a self-destruct device, and while Sain'ja had his father's trophies and honor to remember him by, she had no one but the sole survivor to guide her through childhood and a human military dog tag that her father had owned. Sain'ja remembered feeling a pang of sorrow, for whom else could he look up to as a role model? His mother, although alive, had chosen a life of bearing-children and training them.

There had been so many questions; many of late had only been recently answered. The female had been able to tell him more details of his father's final hunt, and let him know-although obviously treading carefully as to not upset or insult him- that he had died with much honor and skill, putting part of Sain'ja's mind at rest. In turn, he was able to help give her the closure she needed after losing both of her parents and her guardian, the survivor, and then finally her allies.

Things had gone relatively well after the first few days of getting to know one another; she even was able to earn a few points from his own friends. However, a day came when the other humans- the ones who came to be hunted along with her- escaped across the borders and right into the claws of the Bad-Bloods, dishonorable Yautja who refuse to follow the code and are cast away from Yautja society altogether and instead seen as another part of the hunt. She had tried to leave quietly the night she found out about the situation, but Sain'ja had expected this, given how much loyalty she had shown before towards other members of her kind.

He remembered rushing through the confines of his bedroom, swiftly rummaging through old equipment and weapons until he was able to find ones that would benefit her small frame. Shoving them all in a pack and activating his cloaking device, he had gone after her before she could get herself caught by the watchmen. At the time, he hadn't understood why he was so concerned, and when she yelled at him for his attempting to get the female to stop her ridiculous crusade, Sain'ja was almost ready to just rap her on the head and let her go ahead and have a pointless death. Yet he didn't.

Sain'ja had calmed down and talked enough sense in her to use his equipment. He looked in her eyes that night and, although not perfect in the knowledge of human facial expressions, saw many different emotions; confusion, anger, determination, defensiveness, and…fear? In what? She was an excellent fighter and it was obvious she was prepared to die if it meant protecting her own. After all, she had nothing to lose. Looking back on it and how she's felt all this time, maybe it was fear in him. Fear in how he'd see her once all was said and done, and what she would be forced to face if she succeeded in saving her comrades; they would've had to fight again, the wager being the other humans' lives. His mind shut off for a second at the realization on how everything could've ended instead.

No; he wouldn't have killed her. He would've simply knocked her out and restrained her until she'd be able to listen to reason. And although now he didn't believe she might've tried to kill him anymore, she still wouldn't have placed all her trust in him, certainly not the others. Given the ends she had delivered to three of the Bad-Bloods, someone would've perished in that scuffle.

He was glad it hadn't needed to come to that.

After a week and with no clue as to if she was alright or not, he and his fellow Youngbloods-Makya, Fox, and Adahy- went to rescue her. They wound up running to some of the human males as well, one of which nearly confirmed of her death or despair. In a temporary alliance, they formulated a plan to get her to safety and get a small amount of revenge of the Bad-Bloods.

Sain'ja had been the one to carry her to safety as the others took on the Bad-Bloods far from the pair. He had seen her for the first time leak water from her eyes then, crying. Later he would learn this water was called tears, more than just a sign of being hurt physically, but of a shattered heart as well. Hers were due to feelings of disappointing him by her need of saving and not using the self-destruct device on the wrist console he gave her. He allowed himself to admit he was relieved she hadn't been able to use it; he would've lost a strange, but reliable friend.

He made a soft trill, chuckling at the irony. Prey, pain, pet, ally, fellow warrior, friend. That was what had become of them now, after five years since they had met. Give and take, two of them she had spent back on Earth, but that didn't stop him from thinking of what would happen to her…or occasionally making a quick stop on the backwater planet to spy on her progress.

At the end of those two years, when he finally became a Blooded hunter, an adult in Yautja culture, he finally worked up the nerve to speak to her one more time. Her sixth sense- a genetic gift bestowed by her father and onto her- had let the female know he was there, and she looked at him once more, unafraid, but not hostile. Only a casual, blank expression took hold as he had deactivated his cloaking device before her and placed her earpiece in. Almost as if she was waiting for something.

"Hi, it's been awhile," she had said in an unfazed tone, looking up at him from her sitting position on the ground in front of a human home.

"Yes, it has." She then showed him the scar on her arm that the elder she saved had given her. He felt proud she had kept it, "I see you're Blooded too?" he had asked, recalling the odd ceremony he watched her partake in called a 'graduation'.

Sain'ja recalled her laughing; the two talking for a moment more before the words suddenly flew out of his mouth without warning.

"…You could still come back you know..." Right after he said it, he felt stupid. The female had left, not wanting to be any more a part of Yautja society then she had endured already. What in his right mind made him think that she would even consider-

"I think I might take you up on your offer."

At first he felt a large sense of numb shock. Had he heard correctly? Thinking a second longer and reading the smirk on her face, he had guessed not. Still he asked if she meant it. When she nodded, it was all he could do to stop himself from yanking her up and question both of their sanities.

To this day, he still kind of did. However, looking at her know- her skin a darker tone from days spent out in the sun, wearing the traditional mesh, cloth, and armor garb of the Yautja, the mask he had reclaimed from her captures on her face- she fit in just fine. The others had accepted her well enough; at worst they saw her with contempt. The very day he brought he back, his friends greeted her with respectful shakes on her slim shoulders and the rest gave courteous nods or ignored her completely. The elder had smiled and shook his head, as if he knew somehow she would come back, which, in Sain'ja's mind, who wouldn't?

Spotting him in the crowd, the human female approached him. Although still short and meek in comparison, she had a set of toned muscles and the top of her head came just above his shoulder in height. She was the one female in the entire settlement he- literally- didn't have to look up to, which amused him. Still, she could be one of the tallest of the human females. Sain'ja wondered if it might have been due to what he had been giving her. She had earned a kind of near-sudden growth spurt.

There is a known fact that if a human were to eat Yautja flesh, their lifespan would greatly increase. It was possible for their physical attributes too as well. Whenever they fought Bad-Bloods from the Jungle Hunter Clan's rivals, the Super Predator Clan, he had taken some of the meat and tried to get the female to eat it. If she was going to live with the Yautja, he wanted her to stay with him as long as possible, given his own lifespan could last centuries. Sain'ja might have felt sick about it if the Yautja they fought weren't dishonorable filth, already seen as merely another quarry. However, it didn't sit at all well with his human comrade, who viewed it as near cannibalism. That's why he never would tell her and just sneak a couple small pieces in her food when she wasn't looking.

Her brown hair was braided in dreadlocks, with beads intertwining in them from time to time. On her right arm was the scar she had been given, a punishment she had taken for Sain'ja and his friends, but she showed it proudly. Her left shoulder was covered with lightweight armor. Her waist and stomach were covered in the thermal mesh while she wore a solid black bandeau top and small shorts. Instead of wearing any real sort of footwear, tan cloth wrapped around her mid-tarsal regions and from her ankles to mid-way up her calves.

She wore his old mask and had his weapons from when he was very young, being some of the few that could fit her small frame. Sain'ja had retrieved them from the abandoned Bad-Blood camp, along with her dog tag, after he had come to rescue her and discovered the others were safe as well. Although hand-me-downs, they were just as good as the newer models.

When she was within arm's reach, he placed a hand on her bare shoulder, "Dto-Raija, glad to see you didn't get yourself maimed to death while I was gone." Dto-Raija, meaning Jungle Cat, was the name he has bestowed on her; however her human name was Nina.

Nina laughed as she returned the gesture, "You don't think I can handle my own after the past few years?" She slugged the large carcass of a grazing animal off of her back, having just returned from a hunt for food with some of the other females. "I think he'll make a decent stew tonight. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but I'll be coming home a little late. I promised some of the young ones I'd help them practice using wristblades." Since he was also an Elite, he was obliged to specialize in some type of weapon. He was working to be a Brawler, a master of wristblades.

"I'll be sure to keep it warm for you. Anyone else coming after your voyage?" Sain'ja had been traveling with some other hunters for a few weeks to the planet, Yautja Prime for trade, and a few other worlds to scout.

He shrugged, "Just the other guys."

Nina smirked from behind the mask, "Considering Adahy would nearly eat anything, even if it was still alive and kicking, I'll probably need to whip up a big supper then." Since she was still pretty young and the pair knew each other well enough, she stayed in Sain'ja's house, in one of the spare rooms. It wound up being good for him considering the place was always so quiet with just one person and rarely any company.

Trilling at the joke- which actually was kind of true in his friend's case- he gently cuffed her shoulder before walking away. Nina shook her head as she watched him go. Boys; no matter what species their all the same. She walked past the towering buildings and eventually made it back to Sain'ja's place.

Closing the door behind her, Nina took off her mask, walking into her room and placing it on her bed. She would be alone with her thoughts for a couple hours, which suited her just fine. During the past three years, she had much to think about. She began skinning and cooking as she did so. Humanity, morals, life, death, betrayal. These and more filled her thoughts.

I'll be watching. That was what her father had told her the time she had a near-death experience. Although, now she wondered if it all might have been a dream, merely an illusion caused by injury and thirst. It had seemed real enough though, and either way she didn't like the thought of it. If you're watching, then what do you think of me now? Have I hurt you by joining him? she questioned. In the vision, her father had seemed to know just who was trying to keep her alive, but what would he think about all of this? Befriending the son of the man who killed him. Would he think of her any less?

No. Her father might have been a hardened man of war, but he also had been gentle and compassionate. He wouldn't hate her, even if he didn't approve in the very least of his daughter being in the company of the predators.

Once the meat was set to boil for a while, Nina went back into her room and placed the mask in her lap, looking at her reflection in its scuffed-up yet still mirror-like gaze. Could she even say she was his daughter anymore? She definitely wasn't the same six-year old, little girl who played with binoculars and Barbies.

Everything had felt so certain when she wanted to come with Sain'ja, but so had it when she had returned to Earth with Corin, Nick, and Colton. At times, she still felt she made the right choice, but there was still the edge of doubt that would linger in on occasion. It would test her and force her to ask herself what was right and what was wrong.

Who are you now? the voice spoke again in her mind, Nina or Dto-Raija? Human or Predator?

In the end, Nina didn't know. Part of her didn't really want to; not ever.

Her hands moved to the eyes of the mask, the beads that strung throughout her hair, the scar on her arm, tracing them with careful fingers. Sain'ja seems to think you belong here, she reminded herself, and Corin didn't try to stop you from leaving. Was this inevitable then? Definitely at times like this, she wished her father was still alive, or at least Dutch was there with her; they might've just told her what to do and made all of this so much easier.