Oh man, remember when I said to have a safe 2020? I apparently wasn't kidding! Sorry I haven't updated this fiction in 5 months, I was fortunate to not get laid off. I kept thinking to myself, too, that it would probably be nice if some of you who are in quarantine had something to read. Well, here is my contribution to you all!

"Dragged once again…" Eris thought to herself as she was once again forced onto another ship. It seemed as though the "whoosh" of the doors and the dimness of the red lights had lost all of their excitement and mystery that they once had on her. It was as though her life would just consist of being ushered onto another strange ship after a couple of weeks or months, she wasn't too sure on the timeline. The only difference with this encounter was the fact that she was being ushered onto a ship by a Yautja that didn't speak English and the fact in knowing that Cara was alive and well.

Seeing Cara brought hope to her that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was as though she had been holding her breath and now she was able to release just a little. If she was on that ship with a smile on her face and telling her not to worry, then Eris knew that things would be at least semi alright. The most timid of the group was okay, which was the best sign she could ever get in a world like this. Now, she could only hope the same for Alegra.

Feeling a squeeze on her neck brought her back to her current situation. The angered alien behind her kept his monstrous hand on the back of her neck as he pushed her through the ship. When they had passed the cell she was kept in, Eris didn't know what to make of it. If she wasn't staying in that room, then where was she going?

Passing parts of the ship that Kidra had familiarized her with, she found herself in parts she hadn't ventured to yet. Stopping at what looked to be a control center, she watched as the Yautja pressed some buttons before she felt the ship detach and start to drift. Pressing a couple more buttons, it wasn't long until the ship began to head to, well, wherever. Continuing to be pushed through the ship, Eris never anticipated that it would be this large. Was this a clan ship? Was this his ship? If it was his, it was far greater than that of Tichinde's.

Another door opened up revealing what appeared to be a training area. There was a raised platform in the middle of the room, a structure that held different looking weapons, slits cut into the wall along with random shapes that popped out of it that made her believe it was some sort of rock wall to climb. Above was something that looked like trapeze bars in the air high above them along with a thin beam that went across the ceiling breaking in the middle so you'd have to jump to get to the other side. Looking to see how one would even get up there since the rock wall surely didn't, she found different sized pillars across the room that seemed to do the trick. There was a small pillar on the left which led to a bigger pillar on the right that you'd have to jump to, which led to a bigger pillar on the left and so on and so forth until you'd jump to a ledge that led you to the thin beam.

"There's no way you think I can do this," Eris felt the pressure leave the back of her neck as she looked at the gigantic Yautja male that was now in front of her. She couldn't think of any other reason he would bring her here except for her to perform, unless for some reason he wanted to show her his mad skills at jumping, which was very doubtful. "No way, I can't scale all of that shit." Her arms folded across her chest in discomfort as her heart began to race at even the thought of trying to do any of the obstacles in this place.

Looking down at the ooman in front of him, Dachande couldn't believe he had to train her. Sure, he was a very successful and sought-after trainer, but those days were long past him and he would only break his absence from training for extremely high payment or to do a favor in order to be part of the council one day. This, though, having to train an ooman was an asinine verdict from the Arbitrator. He could do it no problem, but he was an Elder Yautja who shouldn't have to. Bet-Karh was making an example of him because of his high status to show anyone beneath him that taking in an ooman would result in this verdict to keep them from doing the same. The punishment was final so the only way Dachande would get out of this was to train her up and then go back to dealing with his own kind.

The ooman's discomfort was apparent and he was only going to amplify that feeling. Looking at her arms covering her chest, he could tell she wasn't about to like what he was about to do. The language barrier was an issue, but he wasn't going to have it be an issue long. Knowing she was more frail than his kind and knowing that she didn't understand his language, he would go easy but he fully expected pushback.

Dachande had never trained an ooman himself, but from what he had heard from Blooded Yautja who had trained them, the general consensus was that they were difficult. It seemed they thought they were being toyed with or made to be humiliated instead of seeing it as a training opportunity to get stronger and learn new skills. They purposefully didn't have a translator while training to make the oomans have to learn and listen to the Yautja, having to pay attention, learn quickly, and trust in them. If they had a translator, such as Ki'dra, then there would be too much conversation and questioning in their tactics.

"You, watch." Dachande pointed to his eye as he spoke to her. His strong voice boasted through the room, he knew that she was in fact watching him now. Taking is dominant leg, he threw it back to stand in a lunge, bending his knees to be centered. His arms bent at the elbow, his dominant arm slightly behind his other, hands raised but his fingers relaxed. "Battle Stance."

"Ell-osde Dekna " Eris' eyes immediately went to his as she felt the bass of his unexpected voice shoot through her. When her eyes met with his for a moment, she flinched when he began to quickly move. She watched as his leg went back, he went low, and his arms swung up. "Hiju." He spoke once more. Was he about to fight her?

"Now you." Dachande spoke once more to her, fully knowing that she didn't understand a word of what he was saying. "You, watch." He repeated his words and his signals, pointing at her and then at his own eye. When her eyes were back on his, he repeated his stance until he was done, "Battle Stance." He stood upright once more.

"H'ka-se Ell-osde." Eris had no idea what the hell was happening. She had a million-pound giant man in front of her throwing his body and words around and wasn't so sure what he wanted. "Ell-osde Dekna." She recognized those words, noticing that he was repeating himself as she watched him point to her and then back at his eye. Once her attention was there again, she saw him nod and repeat his tai-chi motions. "Hiju." The same word as last. As soon as he was done, he stood back up and pointed back to her.

Eris watched as he repeated his words and motions one more time. It was then she could only conclude that he wanted her to do the actions that he was doing. She had never taken tai-chi or a yoga class before, so she really wasn't sure if what she was about to do was right. When he began to repeat himself for a fourth time, she followed what he was doing. As soon as he pointed to her and then his eye, he shot back a leg and then bent it to be low. Taking her own leg, Eris threw it back along with his, lowering herself as he did. When his arms came up, one slightly behind the other, she did the exact same. While continuing to look at him, Eris was happy when he gave a nod. Now all she had to do was remember what the hell he just said for future reference. She didn't know what the words meant, but she pieced together that the first phrase he said was to get her to watch him since he would point at her and then to his eye.

When he stood up, Eris followed suit. He repeated his words again and they proceeded to continue the previous actions. She would be lying if she said she didn't immediately feel her thighs start to strain at the low bouncing she was doing. Though she had been walking a ton, she was nowhere in peak physical shape to not feel some sort of burning as she stayed low. Being confined to a small room, little food, and little exercise, Eris knew she had lost some muscle mass. Hopefully muscle memory would kick in at some point because she knew that this was only the beginning of whatever the fuck he wanted of her.

Getting the hang of it, Eris tried not to show that her legs were burning as she tried to keep up with him. Whenever they were done and completed in their stance, she noticed that he would say, "Hiju" which led her to believe that that was the word for what they were doing. As soon as they stood up, her theory was proven correct when instead of repeating himself like they had done several times, he instead said "Hiju" while not moving. She felt his eyes on her as he repeated the word once more. Giving him a slight nod, she repeated the word he used and went down in the stance they had been doing. When he gave her a nod, she knew she had done well.

Dachande was pleased that the ooman seemed to catch on pretty quickly, but this was only the very beginning. So far there was no pushback and she seemed like she wanted to understand, but he anticipated the ooman characteristics that his clan members had told him about to come out soon.

"Battle Stance." He spoke the command again, now was the time to correct what she was doing wrong. As soon as she was in position, Dachande walked over to her and began to correct her stance.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Eris broke her stance and stood straight up as soon as she felt the Yautja touch her. She wasn't expecting him to and it didn't feel right when he had touched her stomach.

"Battle Stance." Dachande demanded, not pleased with her getting out of it without his permission.

Eris felt his voice rumble lower at her actions. She didn't want him to touch her again, but it seemed like he was going to either way now. Hesitating, she found herself getting back in her Hiju stance, ever preparing herself for him to touch her once more.

Taking his hands and placing them back where they once were, Dachande began to twist her midsection to be more centered than what she was doing. Using one of his own legs, he tapped her dominant leg to move back until he found the place suitable. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he pressed down until she bent her knees more to be lower. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he pushed her right one back as he brought her left one forward, angling her body. Lastly, he gently touched her head, ignoring her increased breathing, to face her left a bit more than what it was. "Battle Stance." This is exactly how he wanted her to be whenever he requested her to be in it. Stepping back to look at her, he could tell she wasn't as strong as he was hoping. Her body temperature was increasing, legs were shaking, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She would be permitted to stop when she got it right. Giving her a nod, he watched as she stood upright once more.

Eris' heart began to slow down knowing that his touch was to correct her positioning and nothing more. It was still intimidating having an overgrown alien bring his giant, human crushing hands towards her and grab her the way he did. When she was able to stand up, she felt emotionally and physically exhausted. Even given her circumstances, how was she this tired from just repeating a position?

"Hiju." She heard him say once more, knowing she had to remember how he had placed her. Kicking her leg back, trying to ignore the pain in her thighs, she tried to sink as low as he had her before. Twisting her body back the way he had her previously and placing her hands where they should be, she looked back at him. When he walked over to her, Eris cringed when he began to correct her again. He forced her to be lower even though her legs said no more. When he was done, he would have her hold herself there for a moment before allowing her to stand up once more.

The actions seemed to repeat until she forced herself to remember the painful position so this whole thing could be over. Repeating over and over, it seemed he had little to correct each time they redid the Hiju. When he asked her to do it one more time, Eris was relieved when there was nothing for him to correct, just giving her a nod of his head. Standing up, a sigh of relief left her mouth when he didn't repeat himself for her to do it again.

Eris didn't know why she was learning this, but she knew it was only the beginning. Wiping the sweat off of her forehead, she was feeling the effects of the exercise plus the gauntlet on her left arm. This was exhausting and she wasn't sure how she was going to get through this random training process. Did Cara have to go through this to be on the ship? If Cara could do it, she knew that she could, too.

Oomans were a lot weaker than that of Yautjas, but Dachande didn't know it would be this significant of a difference. She was already tired and it hadn't even been that long. He knew that pushing her wouldn't be wise right now since it was only the beginning, but he would be doing so in the future. He would make sure she got the vitamins and minerals her body needed to gain the muscle she was about to build and keep. Looking down at the ooman mess in front of him, he hoped it wouldn't be too long until he was looking at a warrior.

Over the course of months, Eris broke down several times over their training, not even Pike would be able to calm her down. It was hard for her to understand every single command he gave her since she learned new ones each day, her body exhaustion affected her mental capabilities, and using her body in ways she had never before left her completely winded.

In the beginning, Dachande had been lenient to her which she appreciated, but after some time passed, she was punished for her screw ups. He wouldn't abuse or hit her, but make her repeat everything until she had it right until the point of muscle failure. Those days left her in an emotional state after her training, crying a lot from pure frustration in her cell from not being able to ask or communicate anything. She was expected to know everything right then and there from that day and the days prior including everything else that was being thrown at her. She was basically studying a foreign language but to the extreme. He would speak and she was expected to perform.

It took a lot out of her and there were a couple of times that she felt she wouldn't be able to do it. Dragging herself out of her cell at random times of day or night to train was tiresome and she didn't know how she kept doing it. There was no fear in death for her since she just wanted it to end from how exhausted she was as a living creature, but the thought of not seeing her friend kept pushing her on. If Cara did this, then she can too.

Whenever Eris would cry out of frustration during a training session, the Yautja would make her do sprints until she was done crying. The exhaustion from her body would take over her mind and all of her focus would transfer to what she was doing rather than what had been done. She would get over it quickly and be able to move on to the next trial. Whenever basic commands were learned and mastered, she began to move on to the other things in the room.

The first thing she did after the basics was learn to climb that wall. The slits that were carved into it tested her fingertip strength while the shaped that came out of the wall tested her grip on foreign surfaces. Before she was able to be on the wall, Dachande would teach her how to fall. It was intimidating at first, but once Eris learned how to fall, it made climbing easier.

The wall was not easy by any means, there were no beginner's courses like the rock climbing places on Earth. Whether she was up high or on the low part of the climbing wall, it was all the same difficulty. When she had learned how to climb from the low points of the wall without falling, Dachande would make her climb higher. The adrenaline from falling from that distance scared the shit out of her, but after a couple weeks of training on the low part of the wall with no falling incident, she knew it was all mind over matter.

After the wall was completed came the pillars. She would watch as Dachande would climb one, steady himself, and then jump to the next with great success. Even just climbing and holding onto the first pillar was a troubling task, seeing how climbing the wall was an appropriate first lesson before coming over to this. It took Eris a couple days to even be able to climb the first pillar and took her an additional day to learn how her body should be before trying to leap to the next. It took a lot of ab work to be able to ready herself for the jump, but after a bit it became like muscle memory to her.

Jumping to the next pillar, though, was another task in itself. Though she wasn't that far from the ground being on the first pillar, it was still daunting to have to throw her body to another hard object, grasp it, secure herself, and then do it all again, especially with someone watching. The first time she jumped and failed, Eris had hit her ribs wrong against the pillar, leaving them bruised up. Having to climb back on the first one, worm her way back up, and face the second pillar to try again was intimidating. Her body asked for no more but her mind had to tell it to try again.

Hundreds of failed attempts left her soul and body wounded, but she knew there was no way the Yautja was going to let her skip it. After what seemed like struggle after struggle, bruise and cut after bruise and cut, when she was finally able to throw her body at the pillar, grasp it, hold on, and climb up it to prepare for the third pillar, Eris couldn't help but scream in joy. Her voice echoed withing the training area, which she learned was called a 'kehrite' by Dachande, as she held on with her legs and stretched her arms out with succession while she called out in joy. When her reverie was over, she now faced having to do it again and again until she would reach the top.

The falls from the third and fourth pillar taught her not to fall from a fifth or higher. She was surprised she hadn't broken anything, but because Dachande had taught her how to fall, she was injured far less than if he hadn't.

When the pillars were mastered, she would now have to run and jump the beam that stretched across the ceiling of the ship. At first, she didn't want to even try it because if she fell from that height, she was sure to die. After trying to express herself to Dachande about her fear of falling and dying, using her hands and facial expressions as an act of charades until he got what she was saying, Dachande signaled back to her that he would be ready to catch her if she were to fall. Putting a lot of trust in him that way was another daunting task, but again she had no option.

Dachande let her walk it a couple of times before having to go faster until she was at full speed. Trying to balance the beam while running and nothing below her made her heart race like never before. Any misstep would cause her to fall, and even though the Yautja said he would be there to catch her, she would just rather not fall.

Running the beam and stopping at the break in the beam kept her complacent. It was hard, but she was able to keep her balance, stop, and turn around to do it again without falling. When it was time for her to actually jump the distance, though, she was scared shitless. Standing at the platform the beam connected to, Eris looked out at the beam before finally taking in a deep breath, clearing her mind, and running full speed, knowing that going any slower might cause her to not make the jump. As her feet carried her closer to the break, she let each step clear her mind before she found herself slinging her body to the next beam. She could feel her stomach sink as she tried to look only at the beam that would catch her rather than the ground further below it.

Her right foot caught the beam first before her left followed suit. With all of her practicing, she had never learned how to recover from a jump. As her body now moved faster than her feet, Eris found herself falling on the thin beam. The weight from her body caused her to swing over the edge until she was just hanging on by her hands. Trying to swing her leg around and lift herself back up, it proved a pointless feat due to the lack of energy she had from climbing up there from the pillars.

"Dachande!" She called out as she felt her fingers begin to slip, trying to look down to see if he was even in the room while this was all happening. Feeling her stomach sink lower into her body, she had no means to let go of the beam. Slowly but surely, her finger began to give until she was plummeting down to the ground.

Her fall was short lived when she felt herself no longer falling down but swaying towards one side of the room. Looking up, she saw Dachande. Holding her with one hand while gripping the wall with the next, he brought them back down until they were safely on the floor. That was when Eris knew she could trust Dachande for the first time. Thanking him while having a sudden feeling of appreciation run through her body, that too was short lived when he told her to do it again.

She fell a few more times until she learned how to recover after her jump. No matter how many times she fell from that height, it never got easier. When Eris had finally completed the task in jumping from beam to beam, Dachande would lengthen the distance. Falling a few more times before succeeding in those tasks, too, it was on to the trapeze.

It used to be tiring climbing the pillars to get to the beam that lead to the trapeze-like structures, but now it seemed so simple to do. Making her way to the bars, it didn't take her long to be able to hold onto one, ignore the ground below her, and successfully jump and grasp the next. Eris was surprised that she never had a mishap with them, thinking it would cause her the most grief.

Looking back on her training, she could see how all of the tasks before that one would help her be able to succeed. She learned balance, grip, recovery, and basic methods in all of what she had done prior. The tears she had shed for this kehrite room were not in vain.

One thing she was uncertain of was Pike. Had Pike been here the whole time, or was all of this strength from her true self? Since she had been homeless on Earth and then taken from it, Pike was always on her mind, but it seemed in the course of these months she hadn't thought about her. Was that because Pike had taken over or because she was too exhausted mentally to need or think about her?

After each training session, Eris would go with Dachande around the ship and head to where his kitchen-like area was. He would already have meals prepped for consumption. It was a big difference between him and Tichinde. Tichinde liked to harvest his food in front of her and only take what he needed at the time, placing the carcass back into the enormous freezer. Dachande, on the other hand, fully took apart his food right then and there, cutting it up how he wanted, throwing the access materials away, and storing what he would consume for later. She never saw an actual carcass on this ship, unlike the one before.

Their conversations were non-existent. Dachande would talk to her most in the kehrite, but not so much anywhere else on the ship. Eris would ask what things were and he would ignore her so she got used to not talking. One thing she had noticed, though, was the planet they had been circling for quite some time. She wasn't sure why they had been there for so long, but she figured he would go for a hunt, after he felt her training was good, and leave her on the ship the way Tichinde had done.

The curiosity that Eris had for the mysterious planet was finally answered when Dachande came to her cell, waking her up as usual but lead her to a different part of the ship far from the kehrite. She hadn't explored this part of the ship since she was here with Kidra, not like that mattered since she didn't know what was going on. Another 'whoosh' of the door exposed a tiny metal hallway that led into a much smaller, but still a pretty large, ship.

"Where are we going?" Eris asked, knowing that she would be left answerless.

Dachande couldn't understand what the ooman was trying to say, and even if he had, there were no means in explaining it to her. Once she was deemed a warrior, communication would be so much easier. For now, though, he would have to keep steering her in the direction that he wanted her to go. It took a couple of weeks for her to understand him, but after she got the hint it made things much easier.

He had never trained an ooman before, and he had no plans on training another after this. The communication wasn't even the worst part for him, but instead it was her frail ooman body. She built muscle slowly, her body learned things slowly, and her attitude adjusted slowly. He wasn't sure if both genders were like this, but he knew he wasn't even going to give a male a chance unless he was forced into it again.

The emotions that the ooman brought to the table were troublesome, something he never had to deal with amongst Unblooded Yautjas. Whenever he had pups to train, dozens at a time, none of them ever reacted the way that she would. It was exhausting, but it also helped him understand some of the ooman ways. Her tears were never out of sadness like he had seen before, but pure frustration and rage against him. The only way he knew to battle that was to get her to focus on something else, which worked in his favor.

Throughout all of the training, though, she had never given up like he anticipated she would. Hearing stories of his clan-mates training oomans, he was prepared for an absolute breakdown but never got one. He wasn't sure if this was something special within her, or if the other oomans were defective. Some who were thought to be a warrior would quickly go into servitude because they couldn't pass the kehrite, she was not one of those oomans.

It took her a while to pass tasks that even pups could do, but she nonetheless passed them. He could see changed in her body that she was gaining the muscle she needed and retained it. She wasn't breathing as heavily from simple things anymore, but instead conquered it with steady breath. The animal skin she came in on seemed to fit loosely on her now, knowing that she would get new ones when they were back on the clan ship.

Since he felt she had passed the training in the kehrite, it was finally time to take her to the planet to see how she would fair. The planet he was taking her to had no immediate threats living on it, all docile creatures, but he wasn't about to try to tell her that. For all she would know, this would be a challenging planet. Her training from the kehrite would come to fruition out here on a real planet, in real time, with real weather conditions playing a factor. She would have to hunt her own food and survive on her own. It would also be another exercise for her to be able to listen and trust the Yautja kind. If she was going to be a warrior, she would have to give herself completely to their species.

As the ship began to descend onto the planet, Dachande looked at the ooman. Her face was that of concern as she fidgeted with her nails. He wasn't too certain on ooman facial expressions before, but this time with her had helped him read what her face was portraying. Having this unwanted opportunity would help him in the long run, unless all oomans used their foreign facial expressions for different things then he'd be at a loss once more. He hoped for the former.

The ooman's concern would only rise as soon as they got on the planet. This was going to be her test, far from the Chiva she would be expected to complete. None of the oomans on the clan ship had finished their Chivas, some died trying to do so, but they were all masters of the kehrite and planet survival. Though the oomans weren't Blooded yet, they were still able to help on easy missions that would continue to prepare them for their trial. The trials that he had in store for her on this planet would help him understand where she needed to improve and what she had already mastered. Though no other ooman had completed their Chivas, Dachande was determined to get this ooman Blooded as soon as possible.

The downside to getting this female Blooded weighed on him. If she became Blooded, would he be expected to train the other oomans to succession as well? Whenever Dachande trained, he trained to completion, nothing half assed. It would be unacceptable for this ooman female to train under him and never become Blooded; it would show signs that his training didn't live up to the name that he worked so hard to obtain. He would make sure that she was going to become Blooded or die trying.

The landing seemed bumpy to Eris as the ship speedily dropped from the sky and onto the planet. This wasn't the first time she had been on a foreign planet, but it was the first time she had been on one not knowing the outcome. With Tichinde, she knew that she would be on the ship while he went out and did Yautja things. Now though, she was on a drop ship and was most likely expected to get out and do something on it.

It was oddly refreshing when the 'whoosh' of the door opened to a planet instead of another metal container. Looking up at Dachande, Eris reluctantly followed suit to leave the ship. Hanging onto the trip of the door, she leaned out to take everything in while the Yautja scanned their surroundings.

Teal grass covered the planet's surface, stretching high enough to meet the waist of Dachande. Had Eris not still been on the ship she would have been barely able to see above it. The height of the grass made her question whether or not there were creatures on this planet that ate grass, being able to mow it down. Though the large structures that grew out of the ground were brown, they resembled nothing like trees back on Earth. Instead of branches, they just towered above like large pillars, almost like the ones back on the ship except for the rough texture that acted like bark.

Peering up to the sky, Eris had become used to seeing other planets loom so close. It didn't make it any less beautiful, though. The planet that loomed so close and took up a large portion of the sky above had a purple glow radiating off of it, almost as if the sun caused it to have such a glow. If there were large bodies of water, or something like it, on this planet, Eris could only imagine how this planet effected it.

"Pi'ike" Eris heard Dachande call to her, tearing her sight from the sky and down to him. She remembered when she first told him what her name was so she could at least understand when she was being called. It took a while for her to get used to how he pronounced her name: Pie-ee-kay. It crossed her mind that he pronounced it this way because he didn't have a grasp on the English language. She wasn't bothered by it, though, she knew she bastardized his language right back at him. Comparing how Ki'dra and Tichinde spoke her name against Dachande was a night and day difference, but at least he was trying. Hell, he could have just kept calling her 'ooman' instead.

Nodding her head in response, Eris slowly began to walk down the ramp and into the shimmering grass. Ducking her head to not get poked in the eye by the grass' point, she tried her best to follow where Dachande had been to make things less difficult. It was then she couldn't help but notice the texture the grass felt as it grazed her skin. It was soft and silken as if she had torn up silk sheets, strung them from a doorway, and ran back and forth through it. This would have been a lot more comfortable to lay in rather than the grass back on Earth as a child. She remembered always laying down in tall grass as a kid, but this put those memories to shame. She would take this silken grass over the papercut grass any day.

It wasn't long until they made their way into an opening. The grass suddenly stopped, exposing a dirt path that seemed to stretch over the land below. She felt the clay on her callused feet as she walked towards the edge of the cliff she had found herself on. Looking down, it was quite a drop. She could see the tops of the weird pillars down below, knowing if she fell from this height, she would be sure to be kabobbed. In front of her, perfectly centered in the sky, was the glowing purple planet. It was breathtaking with the scenery below.

Feeling the presence of Dachande, Eris looked up at him. He towered over her in more than just height. She could feel the dominance of him radiating off of him. He was confident and sure of himself, but all Yautjas were that Eris had noticed. She wondered if she would ever be like that, so confident and ready for anything that would be thrown at her. That's when she noticed his head tilt down and look at her. Knowing something was up, she paid attention.

"Ell-osde Dekna." She knew he wanted her to watch him. He didn't have to point to her and then his eye anymore, she just knew that was what he was telling her.

Her eyes watched as his hand pointed to the edge of the cliff, point back to himself and then over the cliff. "You are going to jump off of the cliff?" Eris repeated his actions as she spoke, pointing to him and then over the cliff to show him that she understood that he was going over. Eris could feel her eyes widen at him leaving her up there by herself. Did he expect her to find her way down? When he nodded that she had understood his motions correctly, Eris knew she was going to have to find a way to scale down herself.

"Ell-osde Dekna." He repeated as she brought her eyes back to him. What else did he have to say? She watched as he repeated signaling that he was going to jump off of the cliff, it was then her heart began to race as he pointed at her and then over the cliff's edge.

"What? You want me to jump off the cliff?!" She repeated his gestures, pointing to herself and then over the cliff's edge, watching him nod in agreeance. "Oh, fuck no!" Eris backed up from the edge, her hands flailing in the air. "There is no way I am going to jump off that edge. Are you kidding me? It's one thing on your ship and a completely different thing to have to sit here and jump off of something 3 million times higher. No, just no!" She continued her rant. She couldn't believe he was telling her to jump over the cliff! She had listened to his every command up until this point, but she wasn't about to do it anymore. "No way, fuck this. I can't do that!"

This must have been what his clan mates were talking about when they said that their ooman would completely shut down. Granted, Dachande thought that she would have broken down a lot sooner. It almost annoyed him that she was acting this way now instead of back on the ship. They could've already been done with this tantrum, but instead it was happening right now during a test. As he watched her pace back and forth, arms still flailing before resting eternally in front of her chest while she continued to say things he didn't understand with fluctuating tones, Dachande had to get her to jump.

One of the reasons why they had oomans complete a trial like this was to make sure they knew they could trust a Yautja. In battle, they needed to be able to give themselves completely to the Yautja with all of their being. If they were commanded to do something, they needed to follow through because it's what they deemed to be the best options for the oomans. If they couldn't trust them with everything they had, they would never make it as a warrior, and here the ooman was, questioning a simple task. If he thought it best for her to jump off, then she needed to do it.

"You watch," Dachande made sure to lower his tone, watching as the ooman stopped in her tracks to look at him. It seemed he had scared her out of her stupor as her wide eyes settled on him, chest heaving up and down as she looked at him. It was hard getting used to her stares, knowing that she wasn't challenging him but instead waiting for what he had to say. Taking his hand, he gestured one more time that he was going to jump and that she would jump after him.

Making a fist with his hand, Dachande used his other hand to point at her and then to his fist, gesturing that his fist was her. Raising it in the air, he slowly let his fist drop until he caught it with his other hand, showing her that he was going to catch her and she would not hit the bottom. "Enough, no fear." Touching the ooman's shoulder, Dachande fearlessly jumped off of the edge.

"Dachande!" Eris got close to the cliff to see Dachande below, grappling down from foreign tree to foreign tree until he was a tiny dot on the bottom.

"Ki'cte, h'ko h'dlak," Eris repeated in her head what Dachande had said before he went suicidal off of the cliff. Remembering when she heard 'ki'cte' for the first time, it was back on the slave ship when she was talking to the other Yautja that was typically with Tichinde. She asked him what it meant: enough. She also heard Dachande say that at the end of each training session, so she knew the meaning and welcomed it well.

"There's no way I can just quit being scared and just jump off of the edge Dachande!" She yelled from below, knowing he probably couldn't hear her all that well. Hell, he had his helmet on, he probably heard every single word perfectly. "I'm not going to jump. You're out of your damn mind if you think that I am going to go through with this just because you are going to catch me. No, just no!"

Looking up at the ooman from below, Dachande let his helmet adjust until it zoomed in on her, picking up her tones as he watched the radar on the side of his view fluctuate with the tones of her words, still unsure of what she was saying. What he was sure of, though, was that she wasn't going to jump. Taking in a deep breath, he was heavily annoyed. This could have all been done with had she just done it already, but instead she was up there being stubborn. Any other pup he had trained would've jumped with no problem, no fear of death. He knew that she wasn't as skilled or durable as a Yautja, but the fact that she wasn't trusting him was cutting close to the limits of his patience.

Bringing up his left arm, Dachande began to engage with his gauntlet. Pressing the proper buttons he needed to in order to get to his desired screen, he pressed a 'release' button and waited. When the gauntlet showed 'release confirmed', he then exited the screen and entered a new one. Pressing a couple more buttons, his gauntlet began to emit a high whistle that the ooman would be unable to hear.

Moments passed until Dachande sensed something heading his way. Looking towards his left and into the tall grass, he watched as his Hell Hound approached him. Sparing no time to get to him, the Hell Hound was by his side in seconds. Kneeling down to be level with his obedient companion, Dachande opened his palm, the one that he had previously touched the ooman with, and brought it to the hound's face to give him her scent. Sniffing the air, it didn't take the pseudo canine long until he looked straight up at the cliff before hauling ass to get to the ooman female. Pleased with himself, Dachande knew it would only be moments until the Hell Hound would make his way up there and force the ooman off of the cliff's edge.

Remembering when he had first obtained the Hell Hound, he recalled it as a lucky encounter. When he and his clan were taking down a small group of Bad Bloods, one of them had several adult hounds ready to attack. Taking them out first along with the Bad Bloods second, Dachande was exploring the ship for anything that might be useful when he found 4 small Hell hound pups. With council from his clan mates, they figured it beneficial to take the beasts and raise them.

Raising the Hell Hound, who Dachande called Halkrath, was an experience that he wasn't ready for. Having to create brand new armor so the hound's horns didn't gouge his legs and arms, it was a difficult task to get the beast to do anything. Not knowing too much on Hell Hounds, Dachande had to wing most of it, beating the hound into submission if he disobeyed a direct order or tried to attack him. There were several times that he almost killed the creature, having it be more of a pain than anything, but after a while it was like something snapped within the animal. Not knowing if it was because of some sort of maturity or if Halkrath had had enough, but he started listening to his every command without fail. Now, he was a loyal companion that typically roamed the ship when it was just Dachande. He looked back on that moment and knew that keeping the hound was the right call, especially now in this situation he was in with a stubborn ooman female.

"Nope, not jumping down." Eris stood with her arms crossed over her chest. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to just fling off the edge with no care in this foreign world. This wasn't Tarzan, she wasn't Jane, so there would be no swinging from the vines on this planet, no sir. It was one thing to do it in his ship, but this was all too real.

While her mind kept racing with fear, Eris stopped abruptly. As she stood there looking towards the edge of the cliff, she felt something off in the air. It was like when she was on Tichinde's ship while they played cat and mouse, she knew something was around. Turning around, she looked at the wall of silky teal grass. Nothing. Scanning all across the wall, it was when she was going back to where she first started scanning when she saw a set of eyes. She froze.

Horns were the first thing that left the silken grass, followed by a set of grueling teeth, wild eyes, and more horns. As its body crept closer to her, Eris could feel her heart sink as more horns exposed themselves all over the back of the beast. Thylacine markings etched the animal's skin, and that's all it was, skin. This animal looked like a demented dog without fur.

The animal turned to the side, blocking off one of her escape routes. As it did so, she saw the entirety of the beast. The furless brown and black body exposed all of its rippling muscle to her, showing just how dangerous this animal was. While Eris tried to move her way to the exposed area, the beast quickly jumped to the other side, blocking her path once more. He was quick and he was large.

Eris wasn't sure what to do as she was backed in a corner. Kicking her leg back, she began to place herself into her Hiju while the beast continued to walk side to side before it began to slowly walk right towards her. Lowering herself even further to be in deeper to her position, Eris tried to make herself ready to the creature to lunge.

"Fuck this!" Eris screamed when the beast was only mere feet in front of her, breaking her stance and throwing herself off of the cliff. "Dachande!" She screamed on the way down. Her stomach sank and her mind grew light as she was free fall plummeting to the ground below. Was Dachande still even waiting for her down there?

As if someone punched her in the stomach, Eris felt the wind get knocked right out of her as Dachande caught her half way before she would've hit the ground. Looking up at him as she always did, she was thankful he was still waiting for her while that beast was back up top.

"There's something up there!" Eris pointed back up towards the cliff when her feet were placed safely on the ground. "We gotta move, it's terrifying!" Within moments of her speaking about whatever it was up top on the cliff, Eris' jaw dropped when the creature was right behind Dachande.

"Watch out!" She pointed behind him with panic in her eyes. Watching Dachande slowly turn around and look at the beast, she couldn't tell if he was just as concerned as she was or not because of his helmet. It was then she watched as Dachande patted his side with his left hand, the hound following suit to come and sit down right next to his leg with the Yautja placing his hand atop its head. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Her panic was replaced with anger.

Dachande looked at the female whose expression had changed. While he continued to pet Halkrath for a job well done, he began to chuckle at the ooman. He wasn't able to communicate with her left, but if he could he would say, "You should've jumped when I asked." Turning around, Halkrath turning around with him, Dachande began to walk into the trees. He was going to teach the girl how to survive on this planet and then he was going to leave her to survive on her own.

You know, I am really excited with what I have planned for this fiction. Please comment and review! :D