_ _ _ _Darook pov_ _ _ _
"They may be ugly, but they're definitely feisty, I'll give them that." Anow'ka chuckled, patching up several wounds across her body.
Ootora simply nodded at her words. "I must agree with you on that."
"Still, it's a shame they're so malformed," Enu muttered as she looked over the mangled skulls lined up in front of her. "Their misshapen skulls are not exactly the most pleasing to look at."
"Their appearance is meaningless; what matters is that they can put up a good fight." Dengwei laughed loudly, grinning as he tore off the head, along with the spine, of a dead splicer.
(I have to admit, this was quite enjoyable.) I mused internally as I polished a mangled skull.
We had just finished slaughtering a large group of splicers, a fact that was the cause of the blood that now stained the hard ground around my feet. The fight had been a surprisingly vicious one, especially when one of the hideous creatures injected some kind of blue liquid into its arm and started shooting fire from its hands. I had taken great joy in skewering that particular one through the chest with my combistick after it burned my shoulder with the flames.
During our hunt we had also been looking for anything of value that we could potentially present to the clan chief. After all, while our mission was to cleanse this place, there was no reason for us not to search for anything of interest while we were at it. And yes, we had found several things of interest, mainly large quantities of syringes containing that strange blue fluid.
Additionally, we had been uploading and updating maps of the floor as we continued exploring. The mental layouts stored within the hive mind would be useful for those who came after us. And yes, while our masks did have their own mapping functions, the maps we created via the hive mind were honestly far more detailed, allowing those using them to see everything we had passed by.
Moving on, though, I strapped my trophy to my waist before standing up. "Are you all finished?"
"Good, then let's get moving; there are more areas we must clear," I said after receiving nods and confirmations from my companions.
"Always so serious, huh, brother?" Dengwei chuckled, causing me to shake my head at him.
"One of us has to be."
Our sibling antics caused Enu to sigh. "You two really do make quite the interesting pair."
"It's surprising he hasn't killed you yet," Anow'ka added, elbowing my brother in the side jokingly.
The battle-hungry Yajua just laughed and cracked his neck at that. "He can try!"
(Children... the lot of them...) I thought, feeling a headache coming on as I began walking toward the exit of the room we were in.
"Stop with your chatter; we are moving," I growled, getting a relaxed and rather carefree response from my younger brother.
"Fine, fine."
(I just hope the others are doing as well as we are.) I thought as I took the lead.
Yes, there were others; while we were here, the other members of my clan were clearing out other sections of this floor. There were not many of them mind you, only a handful actually, but they did exist, and they chose to follow me. They were mainly young bloods who had taken a liking to how I did things; after all, I wasn't as rigid as the other leaders.
"This place may be plentiful, filled with opportunities for a great hunt; however, I wish it weren't so... moist," Ootora said after a moment as we walked through the dark, damp passageways.
"We're in a crumbling city that is hundreds of metres underwater; what did you expect?" Anow'ka shot back sarcastically.
"He's just complaining because the water disrupts our cloaking," Enu explained with her usual calm grace.
(Hmmm?) As the others continued forward, I paused for a second, noticing something amiss in an adjacent room.
(There was a fight here,) I thought, taking note of the chaotic state of the room, it looked as if a mini typhoon had come through. (These things were all knocked over recently.)
(Multiple entities; they were fighting something, something fast and mobil-)
"Pauk-de!" The sudden loud, angry hiss of my brother's snarl reached my ears, cutting off my thoughts.
"What is it now?" I sighed, looking back, only to see the others crowded around a glass window, looking down at something below.
"Of course it's them..." Ootora muttered as I began walking over. As I got closer, I heard it, the sounds of battle.
"You might want to see this, Darook," Enu mused, sounding calmer than the others; however, there was clear displeasure in her voice.
Once I arrived, I looked down, realising we were in a section of the level that overlooked a part of the floor below us. This, of course, wasn't what was causing Dengwei and the others' irritation, no, not at all. The real reason for their aggression was the scene playing out below and the individuals who were currently down there taking part in it.
To put it simply, there was a battle going on. Splicers were pouring into the room below, lashing out with maddened frenzy before they were torn apart by their opposition. I even saw one twisted pyode amedha jump onto a half-broken table, babbling incoherently while firing his weapon madly, only to be blasted apart by blue plasma a second later.
Their opponents were more of my kind, Yautja tasked by the queen with clearing out the levels still overrun by Rapture's deranged inhabitants. I watched as one of them ripped a splicer apart with his bare hand while another bombarded the horde with two quad‑barrel plasma casters strapped to his shoulders. Another even had two whips in place of wrist blades, whips lined with plasma‑heated segments that sliced through flesh and bone alike with ease.
It was the final one, however, that really caught my attention, my mask's display focusing on him as my eyes narrowed with disdain. He was far larger than the others, his broad body adorned with various skulls strapped to his armour. His mask took the shape of some kind of skeletal beast, a fact that only made him more intimidating to his enemies as he tore his way through a group of foes with brutal efficiency.
"Zurvak..." The word came out of me as a rumble, one filled with venom.
"Damn pest," Anow'ka cursed as she continued watching the scene below. "Wasn't he supposed to be clearing out the level two floors down?"
"I suppose that he did always strike me as an overachiever," Ootora hissed sarcastically while he folded his arms in front of him.
(He must have cleared out his assigned floor, or he's just trying to assert his dominance.) I thought, shaking my head slightly. (Probably a mixture of both.)
Zurvak was the leader of one of the clans that formed after the influx of new kin that were recruited by the clan chief. He was aggressive, yes, but no one could deny that he was intelligent, even if his tactics were rather blunt, to say the least. Additionally, his clan just so happened to be filled with the largest number of traditionalists, a fact that made him the most vocal adversary to myself and all who followed me.
"Do you think the clan chief will let me kill him if I ask?" Dengwei asked no one in particular; the question wasn't a joke though, he was deadly serious.
"Probably not, but who knows, we might get lucky and catch her in a bad mood," Enu huffed.
"Wouldn't it be better if she were in a good mood?" Anow'ka mused in confusion, causing Enu to shake her head.
"No." She mused simply before explaining, "If you asked her when she's having a great day she'll definitely say no, however if you ask when she is in a bad mood she might actually end up saying yes. After all, what's a better way to improve your day than watching an idiot get torn apart and put in his place?"
"She's got a point; I know for certain that would definitely cheer me up," Ootora nodded in agreement.
While they debated amongst themselves, I sank into thought and contemplation. If I were being completely honest with myself, he was an obstacle. An obstacle I wanted dead. Although, I made sure to restrain myself, not out of fear or cowardice, mind you; that wasn't the case at all. I restrained myself because he could be useful to the clan chief, and I had no right to break her tools, at least not without her permission.
Of course, he wasn't the only one who had a problem with me and my clan; in fact, many of the new arrivals did. On one hand this greatly irritated me to no end, mainly because the reason was idiotic in my view and only served to cause issues for the clan chief that could be easily avoided if they simply looked past their biases.
On the other hand, however, I understood their misgivings about my little group. I didn't condone it, but I understood the malice behind it. After all, my people and I weren't exactly ones for following the normal customs and hierarchy of things, a matter most of my kin found distasteful, to say the least.
In the end though, this was simply how we were. We had always been different even before we met the clan chief; my brother and I were born with a different mindset so to speak, and over time we found more like us. We followed the honour code of course, never daring to break its rules, that was one line we wouldn't cross. Despite this, we were just different, we weren't as rigid when it came to the overall traditions of things.
The best word to describe it, to describe us, would probably be misfits, in a kind of way. Simply put, we didn't follow the normal path of our species. The fact that two females, Anow'ka and Enu, followed me, not because I was stronger but because they wanted to of their own free will, was more than enough proof that we were rather odd by our kind's normal standards. And Yautja weren't exactly known to be accepting of such things, especially when considering our rather rigid hierarchy system where strength and survival are all that really matter.
The reason for this odd dynamic has a long story behind it, of course, but in the end it does not matter to most of the others. We are different and, as such, those who pride themselves on tradition cannot help but shun us. If I were more like them I would have already challenged them to an honour duel in response to their insults. Thankfully I was smarter than that, after all I hadn't gotten this far by allowing myself to be blinded by pride and rage.
Honestly, I had expected things to be rough in the beginning but it had definitely been more frustrating than expected. In fact, the only reason no one had died yet is because the clan chief forbids such infighting within her ranks. Still, at the very least I had been pleasantly surprised that several of the newcomers had chosen to stand with me. Some came because they appreciate my unique leadership style, others joined me simply out of a wish to be a part of the clan who were the first to submit to the chief. Whatever their individual reasons, it did not matter to me; all I cared about was that they followed. Anything else could be dealt with later.
For a moment I just let those thoughts wash over me before turning away. "It doesn't matter."
"What?" Dengwei asked, glancing over at me sharply. "How can you be so calm? Don't you just want to rip his arm off and beat him to death with it?!"
"No, I don't actually," I admitted bluntly.
Everyone looked at me weirdly for a moment after that, causing me to answer their unspoken question without looking back at them. "I have a proposal for the clan chief, one that, if it goes as planned, will result in a far more... satisfying outcome."
"A proposal?" Anow'ka asked, looking at me curiously.
"Yes, one that will finally help us settle this feud," I growled as I began to leave.
"And what would that be exactly?" Dengwei asked, following after me.
"All in due time, brother, all in due time..."
(((A/N: Sorry I didn't upload this last week, some personal issues came up around that time, issues that I had to deal with. Unfortunately, finishing and posting this chapter had completely slipped my mind by the time everything was solved. In fact, it was only on Wednesday that I remembered I hadn't finished this chapter yet, let alone posted it. So yeah, sorry about that.)))