Heading through the fields, I came across something interesting. A Yautja. He looks... smaller than the ones I've seen. But he looks about my age. He was trying to sneak through this field, and the explosive spore pods all grew big as he passed them. I hate going past those things, no matter how careful I am, they always go off, and the spines get stuck in the plates of my suit. Using the tech in my suit, there were no other Yautja nearby. Odd. Why wouldn't they send drones with him like the rest? Unless he's the runt, and he had to escape Yautja Prime to come here. But he looks right for a runt of his kind. Keeping my cloak on, I sprinted through the fields when the Yautja got hit by the explosive pods. Their poison is fast-acting — a toxic paralysis. The explosive pods are a death threat for anything that gets hit by their spines and inhales the mist; it leaves the victim vulnerable to the big animals here.
"Yautja! Something's coming!" a young woman said from a distance. Glancing up, I saw a blond Synthetic tangled in a nest. Looks like the Kalisk tore her in half. The Yautja fell to the ground, and the flying beast overhead dove towards the Yautja. The beast had its talons raised. Once close enough, I struck the creature in the neck, breaking it and killing it. The creature fell to the side, dead. That will be the meal today. Turning around, turning my cloak to shut off, I looked at the Yautja as he lost consciousness. Kneeling, I hoisted him over my shoulder and picked some black flowers to apply to his wound once there is a covered safe area. Standing up, I made my way to the Synthetic and yanked her out of the nest.
"I don't remember other Yautja being on this planet," the synthetic said as I carried in one hand that was holding the Yautja.
"I'm not one," I said in English to her, my free hand dragging the beast behind me.
"So you're human?" the synthetic said to me.
"Does it matter what I am?" heading for a shallow cave in a relatively safe area on the other side of the field, just need to watch out for explosive bugs that could be anywhere.
"Well, it would help understand- wow!" I threw her aside in the cave before laying out the Yautja on the smooth stone floor deeper inside the cave. Standing up and moving to the front of the shallow cave, turning my back to the outside, my suit opened up. Douma jumped out of the suit and ran around, sniffing the two I will most likely be traveling with. He was a little aggressive before getting used to their scents. I stepped out of the suit, and in the corner of my eye, I saw the Synthetic had a surprised expression on, looking between me and my Yautja hellhound. Probably surprised it wasn't just me in the absurd-sized tech suit. Taking the flowers in my hand from my suit, then crushed them up into an in-between thick and thin paste. Sitting on my knees beside the Yautja, I applied the mixture to the wound on his neck under his jawline. The more I look at him, the more I realize how ignorant the Yautja are. Especially just because of simple differences. He may be smaller than most Yautja, but he is lean and strong. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing what he can do. He can do more than most. He can get through smaller spaces and could be much more agile. He's missing a fang, wonder what happened there.
Getting up and leaving him to rest and recover from the poison, I gathered some rocks and sticks for a fire. I hit the two rocks in my hands together, creating a flame in the sticks. Going to my armored suit, I took my knife from the hilt and began prepping the meat to cook. Taking some meat, I put it over the fire and placed some raw meat for Douma. Taking a seat beside the fire, I watched the flames dance. They remind me of back when Mom was still alive; she and I would sit by a flame, and she would tell me stories of her life on Earth before she worked for Yutani. I would listen so carefully and watch her hands as she drew in the dirt. She was an orphan in Korea. She made herself both a scientist and a soldier. I just hope I make her proud with my mission. Some motion brought me out of my thoughts. Turning to the side, the Yautja had woken up and started moving.
"I wouldn't move much," I said to him, poking my stick into the fire while cooking the meat over the fire. Douma was taking a nap near the Synthetic. The Yautja snapped his head to me, but immediately flinched, and his hand went to his wound. "Your body is only just waking up; give it a minute to adjust."
"...Kx'rrt! Ya'ka drexx?" He asked after a moment of silence.
"I did help," I said to him, turning to face him. " But not out of kindness. You're after the Kalisk, right?"
"Ka'tra, dra'kxu txa?" He replied.
"You and I have a common interest here," I began. "You want its head, I want it dead. We can work with each other."
"Kx'rr! D'lex, ya'ka."
"You and I work together, I tell you what I learned from it and what has failed to kill it, and you get its head. Deal?"
The Yautja sat there for a while, silently contemplating my offer. Picking up the cooked meat, I tossed it to him, and he caught it.
"Eat up. You'll need your strength." I said to him, eating some cooked meat I had set aside.
"Tx'ra kxun'da vel'kri?" He asked.
"Nine years," I told him. "I can't leave till the Kalisk is dead."
"Kalisk'kxa! Vrr'tach ya'ka?"
"No, it's something that... took someone I loved."
He was silent for a while, not saying anything for a while and just stared, like he saw something in me.
"What?" I asked.
"Kx'thra! Va'ren d'lok?" he asked, careful with his words.
"... my mom," I said, staring into the flames. The Yautja sat up straight, hearing my words. "What is it? You're looking at me like there's something about it."
"Kx'tra! Nak'ta d'lex, ya'ka! Vrr'kth txa'kor, sha'nak krr'ta," he began. "Tx'krr! va'ka drru'k, sha'tel kx'ren."
I was silent for a long while, not expecting him to ask that. Let alone say I fight like a Yautja when he only saw one instance of what I can do. The only response I could give was a long blink stare. My mind was blank on what to say. Nothing came to mind. He was just waiting there for me to respond.
"I... I don't know what you mean by that," I managed to say. Douma stretched in his sleep, making a sleepy smile; his nub tail wagged in his sleep.
"Right, uh," the Synthetic spoke up, and Douma squirmed up from hearing her talk. "So the three of us are going?"
"Three?" I questioned her.
"Yeah, you lived here for nine years, and our new Yautja friend could use more help surviving and eyes to watch out for him," she explained.
"..." I looked between both him and the Synthetic. he looked just as confused.
"Unless introductions are in order." She said with a bright smile, "My name is Thia."
"..." I just stared at her for a solid ten minutes. "Ru."
After that, Douma came over to me and lay his head on my lap.
"And this is Douma," I said, and pet his head. The Yautja didn't say anything, just stared at Douma.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" Thia said, and I just looked down at Douma and petted his head. "Okay, so neither of you is up for connecting."
"It doesn't matter, once he gets the Kalisk skull, he's leaving," I said, still giving attention to Douma. "And you will end up back with the Yutani Corporation."
Thia looked surprised that I knew where she was from.
"Dek," the Yautja said.
"Huh?" I looked to him.
"Dek'tx! Ya'ka," the Yautja, Dek, said.
"Dek, good to know," I said after a moment. I hadn't expected Dek to say his name. After a while of sitting in silence and allowing Dek to recover fully, I got back into the suit, Douma jumped in, and the suit closed us in. "We should go while it's still light out."
"Dx'rr! Va'kren d'thak!" Dek asked.
"I can be of use to Dek," Thia said. I sighed.
"She can be of use as a tool for you, Dek. Once you get the Kalisk, you can drop her somewhere, and you can head home." I explained to him.
"Tuhl'kx!" he asked.
"Yeah, eyes around you when I don't catch it in time."
"Tx'kan, drah! Sha'ka vren'k tal'ash." Dek Agreed and picked up Thia, and we headed off.
Thia wouldn't stop asking questions the entire way through while climbing up terrain. The rocky cliffs overhead were jagged and not easy to maneuver. Dek threw Thia up over some ridges.
"I've never been thrown before, what a thrill!" she exclaimed joyfully. She is very odd, especially for a Yutani Synthetic. Climbing up was easy in my suit; Dek was a bit slower.
"Do you always talk this much?" I said, not very pleased to be talking so much. "Or are you just trying to get something out of this?"
"No, I'm just making conversation," Thia said, still very chipper.
"Sure," I responded, reaching down and pulling up Dek, who was struggling to get up over the ridged edges of the mountainside. Thia was still talking.
"She's not gonna stop talking, is she?" I looked to Dek. He nodded.
"Sha'kren'ta." He said and picked her up to continue. The day continued with her talking, us climbing over rough terrain and rock.
Grabbing Dek a few times before he stumbled backward, every so often, we would stop, and Thia would look after Douma while I trained with Dek, testing his skills. We started with hand-to-hand, no weapons.
"We start with the basics. If you can't handle a fight without weapons, you will end up dead, losing the gear you have," I told him firmly, training him under a covered area.
"Rrrhk! Da'kra huk! Vok'ti-na Kalisk no'kran!" he demanded, but it only got him distracted, and I tripped him, and had him pinned under me, my knee on his chest. He let out a harsh breath.
"This is why. You get cocky, and you lower your guard. You do that and lose a weapon? You'll die without any way to get a good hit!" I said to him, looking down at him. He was stunned, looking up at me. "Take this seriously, or you will end up dead on this planet for not trying!"
"Kx'tah!" he ordered. I got up and stepped away.
"Get up. We're getting you ready for surviving on this damn planet," I ordered, standing ready. I watched him stand up and get into a stance. I attacked first, he blocked it, but I didn't stop, and I kept making advances; he missed a few times, and I didn't stop. No matter what, I didn't stop, even if he fell, I kept up a steady attacking pace. He got sloppy, but I didn't stop till he was on the ground.
"Kr'cha! Txen'ka vrr! Ya'ka dlex ka'tra shuun kx'rr," he asked, his breath heavy. "Kx'ra'hun, Ya'ka."
"I've been sparing with some droids here and there for years. I have also used these skills to hunt," I told him, watching him stand. "You have work to do if you want to survive this place."
Dek was both standing there, heaving and watching me with a new light.
"Douma," I called him as I headed to my suit. "Come here."
Douma trotted over as I got in, he jumped in the suit, and it closed once he was settled.
"Let's go," I said as Dek went to get Thia. Heading off, I kept an eye on him as we traveled again. he was walking funny, but it's just a good example of how much more work is needed. He is strong with the knowledge he has from his time on Yautja Prime to now, but it won't be enough to face the Kalisk.
Continuing through valleys, we headed into a woodland area. Keeping an eye out for the living roots, we followed a river. Dek had Thia hold onto his shoulders as we walked through the river. I kept an eye out for anything that would inevitably attack us. The water was cold based on what my suits' sensors were telling me. I kept ahead of them, walking through until we reached a walled-in area as the stream continued. Walking ahead, it was silent, till silent hissing started. They were from slug-like creatures that spit needle spines.
"Go, run!" I ordered him, shoving him ahead as the creatures began firing, we ran through the water.
"They're just hungry," Thia said as Dek carried her on his back.
My suit had a small compartment with these fruits that these slugs eat. I threw a handful of the distracting slugs while we ran. "That should keep them busy, move!"
We ran out of there quickly.
"Kx'tra! Va'lek txa'ruk?" Dek asked, and he followed me into the woods.
"It's what they eat; they are very docile when they snack, they're slimy berries, I wouldn't see if you can eat them though," I explained to him. We kept going till we were i a somewhat safe place in the woods. Dek set Thia on a rock and gathered some vines. I helped him with it, most likely to get some kind of ropes to tie Thia to his back so she can talk, not right in his ear.
"Kx'tah! Ren'ka drau'th, no'rah vrei'k." Dek said as he twisted vines into strong rope.
"I don't doubt you on that," I said as I cleaned up the vines and broke long strands of the vines, and handed them to him to work with. he kept working with me in silence. This isn't half bad, working with someone in silence, better than being alone forever again. Before long, the rope was finished, and I helped him tie the rope around Thia and slip the rope over Dek's shoulders like a bag strap.
"Kr'cha! Vrr'tak. Shu'kra, Ya'ka." Dek told Thia as we went on traveling through. Dek had his spear out. Douma was getting hungry; his belly was growling in the suit with me. As we walked, Dek took out his spear and extended it by hitting the button on the side. Leading him to the razor grass fields, there were bone bison grazing.
"Those things are what the Kalisk eat. Be careful of the grass," I told Dek, extending blades from the back of my suit's clenched fists.
"Tx'kan! Vrr'ka, d'lex ka'ta." Dek said, staying close to the ground.
"Be careful-" I tried to warn him a little too late. He let out a growl as the razor grass pricked him. "Razer grass, cut you up like meat."
He let out a grunt. Looking up overhead, the trees were high enough to get a good view and a good place to get the kill.
"We may not be alone in this hunt," I heard Thia say. Looking back at her, then the direction she was looking.
"Kx'ta! Tool." Dek said, not paying any mind to her.
"Dek, turn around," I told him, looking at a creature in the branches. When he did, he saw the small creature just sitting in the branches, looking between us and the Clam-headed bison. "Looks like there are others just as hungry."
Dek let out a growl, seeing it. The little creature leaped from the branch and rolled through the razor grass like it was nothing.
"Shit, we gotta go!" I lunged up the tree, and Dek followed after me. "That thing is going to get the bone bison before we do! Dek, keep up and don't fall behind!"
Dek grunted and followed behind me.
"You won't reach it," Thia said, very much not convinced.
"Tx'kra! Vek'ta shuun kx'lek." Dek said while we leaped through the tree branches to get to the clam-headed bison. looking ahead, I saw branches ahead that could be close enough to land on the bone bison as it passed. That is, until I heard a snap. I turned back, and Dek fell.