The Elder's Mate

Twenty-Six - Old Male

Rhage paced around the room as the others debated at the table. There was much excitement for the Queen hunt ahead and many on the council were already taking bets on how they could outdo each other in slaying Xenomorph drones.

Khaj and Valam were at it while the others chimed in with their own potshots at their friends. The only ones not interested in the friendly rivalry were Dhare and Kato, the two discussing Dhare's plans once he was done holding his seat on the council. He had wanted to explore when he could and locate that female.

The noise of the room was a pleasant rumble behind him as he paused at the large window to watch the stars pass by. It had been only a day that they were traveling through space to the destination planet.

There they were meeting the Black Blade clan, an allied clan that would test their Young Bloods. Rhage also planned to test his. Such a hunt was a good way to test their teamwork skills and how to work with others when tasked to do so. Teamwork was imperative, of the utmost importance. Without it they would fail and it could get ugly.

"I never congratulated you about Orion."

Dhare joined Rhage at the window, the younger Yautja standing beside him.

"Thank you. Your new mei'hswei will be a promising hunter." The Elder Yautja smirked, trying to envision just how challenging his training would be.

Dhare grunted, "Indeed. A hybrid is likely to give us better insight into potentially improving the training pups currently go under."

"Sei'i, Artemis has been determined to not let me lose sleep to feed the pup. I never knew they required so much feeding." As he spoke he received yet another message from his mate, a pinging noise alerting him. She was pissed about the wet maid taking over her job when she needed sleep.

Artemis was a feisty little female who wanted to take care of the pup even when her body required sleep. His love was the soft and miniature version of a female Yautja. Her spirit and determination filled his chest with warmth.

"I do not remember being a pup, I suppose you don't, either, old male." Chuckled Dhare, casting his eyes to the side to meet his sire's unamused face.

His locs swayed about as he shook his head, "I may be old, but I still have what it takes to keep a wei'ghe-h." Rhage eyed Dhare closer, "Speaking of wei'ghe-h...what of this female you seek? Do you have leads to her current whereabouts?"

Shaking his head, Dhare sighed. He stared out the window into the void of space as his thoughts warred within. Rhage squeezed his pup's shoulder reassuringly as he watched him grow tense.

"Worry not. You gave her your blood. Humans have prolonged lives with a dose of it. Artemis will live for centuries and so will your mystery female." He thought of how Artemis had been excited for the prospect of growing old with him. Old age was not something he looked forward to, but he would gladly do it with his life-mate. Together they would have many pups if she so pleased.

"I am surprised." Dhare noted. "Does Artemis not care that old age comes with less strength and ability to hunt? Are humans that different?"

"Humans are. They like companionship more than one's own strength. Their culture is not like ours."

The younger Yautja nodded, "I have noticed."

"I assure you they do not care about certain things that are important to us. To us, growing old can sometimes bring negative emotions of inadequacy and a loss of something important, but to her kind, they look past it. Their lives are a blip in time."

Dhare narrowed his eyes in contemplation and stood in silence. He was still lost in his own thoughts until a beeping noise caught everyone's attention, the debate abruptly stopping to look at the source.