Hunters

New Family

     The first thing that A'dta feels is a very light pain in his forearm. It's like a pinch that seems to be running down his arm. Very slowly, he opens his eyes and takes a look around, unable to move his head much. 

     Oomans. He tries to sit up, but his limbs and chest have been tied down with some sort of chain. He looks at his forearm and is shocked at the sight of a very large ooman stitching up a cut in his flesh. For a brief moment, the Youngblood is unsure why he was wounded, before his memory returns to him. A Hard Meat had attacked him. How he isn't dead right now is a mystery, but these oomans must be involved.

     His small movement draws the attention of the oomans, and a short female aims what he recognizes as one of their 'firearms' at his head. A male grabs her by the arm and stops her from shooting, and the two have a short conversation before she lowers her gun and takes a few steps back, though she glares daggers at A'dta. 

     The male turns to the large ooman and they exchange a few words, before the big man grabs a pair of scissors and snips the thread that he was stitching the cut with, tying it off.

     The male snaps his fingers, and the big man walks to a spot out of A'dta's sight. The ooman returns with the Yautja's bio-mask, and lays it down at the foot of the bed. The smaller man fiddles with the inside a little bit, before the helmet flashes to life, the systems rebooting. The man waits for the systems to finish starting up, before speaking in his own tongue. To A'dta's surprise, the helmet presumably repeats his words in Yautja.

     "Blink twice if you understand this," it says, the voice computerized and monotone.
     The Yautja stops for a moment to consider his options, but decides to go along with them for now. He blinks his eyes twice, and the smaller male breaks into a smile. 

     "Good. Can you speak to us?"

     A'dta pauses for a moment, before stating, "Yes"

     The helmet translates, and the bigger man lets out a cheer.

     "Alright. Let's get some introductions. You can call me Alpha. She's Beta, and he's Delta" the smaller man says, pointing to his colleagues.

     A'dta thinks for a moment, before telling Alpha, "My species is unable to breathe your air for long periods. I will need my mask if I wish to survive"

     The man just waves it off. "Don't worry about that. We have records and have already fixed that problem" he says, unclamping the chain keeping A'dta's head down and tapping the Yautja's chest with two fingers. 

     The Youngblood looks down, and sees a long set of stitches going directly up his chest.
     "What did you do to me?" He asks, hiding the fear that is creeping on him.

     "We replaced one of your lungs with one from a donor. You'll be fine" Alpha says, sitting in one of the chairs next to A'dta's bed.

     The Yautja would normally be terrified that an organ from another species is inside him, but he feels nothing but shame at the moment. "You should have left me to die. I failed"

     The oomans give each other a glance.

     "I've been reading your "Honor Code" while you were unconscious, and let me tell you that it was a pain in the ass to get your language translated. They said something about "Bad Bloods" that is a little unclear to me. Could you clarify?" Alpha asks.

     A'dta pauses, before starting to explain the Yautja Code of Honor in full, and in his rambling, ends up talking about their hierarchy as well. He had just started talking about the Ancients when Alpha cuts him off.

     "You spoke of Adjudicators. The ones that hunt the Bad Bloods?"

     "Yes. They're some of the best warriors a Clan has"

     "Well, you could say that we're our world's Adjudicators, only we fight for money, not honor" 

     While A'dta is pondering this, Alpha starts to unhook his restraints and sits back.

     "You can try and contact your people if you want. We won't stop you"

     "What about my ship?" The Yautja asks, sitting up and rubbing his wrists

     "It self-destruct after three days of you landing here. Guess it believed you had died. Your gear was really damaged when we found you, so we tossed them inside. Your helmet was still functional, so we kept it. " Beta says coldly

     "I checked any communications that were sent your way. They think you were killed in your 'hunt'" Alpha leans back in his chair, relaxing

     A'dta pauses, before stating, "My equipment is gone. I offer no value to you. Why haven't you killed me?"

     Alpha just shrugs. "You could be a valuable asset. Records show that your species is very strong. I'm thinking that you would make a good addition to the Wolf Pack" 

     Beta seems skeptical about Alpha's statement, but Delta seems to be for it.

     "But I have no gear"

     "You won't need your old stuff. We're going to teach you how to fight like us. Your small size should help that" Alpha replies, leaning forward to get a little bit closer to A'dta.

     A'dta is silent. His family believed he was dead. However, they did have his brothers and sisters, and Ro'katos was under the apprenticeship of an Elder. His family's honor won't be hurt by A'dta's 'death'

     "If I agree?" 

     "Then we'll give you a few days to heal up, before starting your training"

     A'dta looks at the three ooman's around him, before making his decision. "Alright. I'm in"

     Delta laughs and claps A'dta on the back with a hand, which hurts his existing wounds, but the pain fades quickly.

     "If you're going to be working with us, we need to know your name?" Alpha asks, glad that the alien had said yes.

     "It's A'dta. It means 'Little Dagger'"

     "Well, we prefer easy to say names. How would the name, 'Epsilon' do?" 

     A'dta thinks, before nodding

     "Alright then. We'll let you get some sleep. Try and get as much as you can. You'll need it" Alpha says, walking out of the room with the others following. On his way out, Delta flips a switch on the wall next to the doorway of the room, and the white walls and grey floors are lost in the darkness as the lights extinguish. 

     After a moment, Epsilon lays his head down closes his eyes, quickly falling asleep, the air around him the perfect temperature