The Hunter's Song

Chapter 12: Voyeur🔥(Mourning Crow)

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...

I could see their heat signatures surrounding me, big, angry, bloodthirsty.

I'll kill them all before I let them touch her!

Where's my fucking blade?

One of the shapes swung at me but my leg struck its head first.

One quick snap and your bullshit is over!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPP!!!!!!

The tapping stopped.

Wings flying away.

I was standing over Dran with my hands on the back of his head and under his chin.

I hopped back, trying my best to smile and laugh like the fakeout was my intention all along.

"That was fucking amazing!" Dran rolled off his belly, chortling from the ground.

My other opponents were circling but were polite enough to restrain their attacks until their brother had returned to his feet.

That sound?

I turned to Eh'kt who was standing with his hand hovering over his wristcomm. He'd set the frequency in a high-pitch range that only myself and nearby animals could register.

"Would you be ok if we cut this short?" Eh'kt chimed in, pointing to his gauntlet. "A small errand has come up for my appt tomorrow."

I've never wanted to run over and curl up into Eh'kt's arms more than I needed to now.

"Sorry fellas," I helped pull Dran up. "Today's been a little hectic."

"All good!" Dran patted my shoulder. "But we'll be expecting you back. If I'm here, stop by. You'll always have a place in my ring!"

Some of the other yautja groaned in disappointment but stifled their whines when Dran narrowed his eyes at them.

I waved goodbye and returned to Eh'kt side.

"Thank you," I clenched my ears together and crossed my arms shamefully. I didn't know where to begin or how to apologize. I wasn't sure what was worse, that normally I was unaware of these episodes until long afterward or that now Eh'kt was my witness.

He hooked his arm around me and I instinctually leaned in.

"Every once in a while," Eh'kt spoke softly. "On those rare occasions, I let you sleep, you get noisy."

My ears shot up and I turned to him.

He thrummed his chest and rubbed his knuckles on my arms.

"When I rouse you and ask what it was that upset you, you always reply pigeons."

"Pigeons..?"

Wait, what?

Flickers of Thorngate blinked in my mind and I felt my chest grow cold.

Eh'kt walked me out of the arena as though everything was perfectly fine. Calm, patient, and vigilant. He was my balas when I was certain I was going to drown.

"They ate Two Clouds," I spoke up after a long walk into a section of jungle Eh'kt referred to as his favorite place to meditate. "I couldn't get to her body and lay her to rest proper. On account of that sniper, Red Spider, hiding and using her body to bate me."

The jungle path devolved into a winding swirl of giant vines.

"So I ignored her corpse and let her rot in the open," I continued, feeling my eyes burn with imminent tears. "Instead, I used the whole mess as an opportunity to hunt down her killer. That's when birds came. A flock of nasty mutated pigeons."