The History of Tomorrow

The History of Tomorrow

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

Part One: The Ugly.

Authors note: I claim no ownership of the Predator franchise. Warning: Yautja/Ooman pairing, descriptions of sexual intercourse and murder/death, and bad language. I will be using some information previously stated in ‘The Ripple of a Stone’, if any questions, please email me. Pronunciations at bottom. Good reading!

This is short and sweet ladies and gentleman, the rest will be here in a day or two.

E.M.

“” “” “” “”

Kella raises her hand to her head and before she knows it, blood is dripping down her nose and chin. The world is suddenly so silent that the drips of red falling onto her chest plate echoes on the wind. With a final slice, Kella palms the small piece of skin, the strangeness of seeing it not on her making her mind wonder for a moment. But it is soon brought back to her next task, dying. Looking up to Elder Rhd, Kella finds his face to be full of emotion, his old eyes portraying sadness and mandibles down in a frown.

“It is done.” Elder Rhd sighs. Kella stands up, letting her sign of protection drop to the ground before bowing to him, their fight starting.

“It was an honor knowing you, Elder Rhd.” She says softly, a thick taste of blood invading her mouth.

“The honor was mine, Caretaker.” He tells back. Unsheathing blades, they both move to the center of the street where on one side are the other Yautja, and her children on the other. She demanded that they be there for her death, saying such an honor to have the Elder take her as a trophy is something they should wish for. And so they watched with emotionless faces as Kella and the Elder begin their fight, the smell of Kellas blood soon becoming potent and thick.

“” “” “” “”

Aja sits alone in his room as the night of the Ooman planet slowly makes darkness take over the light, a strange line from the sun running across his scarred face. All day he had been touching his three scares as his Kella once did, but it did not feel the same. His fingers are callused and rough, hers soft and nimble. But also he had been feeling a rock of agonizing dread in his gut all day, Aja thinking to himself that he disserves to feel every bit of pain coming to him. Slowly moving his hand to his chest, he rubs his lifemate mark gently, not having the gall to cut it off himself. While most Yautja would remove their mark if their lifemate had removed theirs, Aja could not. Even as he would stand before a mirror, holding a blade to it, he couldn’t. And he knows he will never be able too. He hadn’t slept the night, unable to even think of it as he knew what would happen this day. He spent the day before standing alone thinking of his Kella, knowing that within a few hours she would be dead. And by his fathers hands. Elder Rhd had asked Aja to go down to the Ooman planet with him, saying that it would be best with the other Elders and hunters being there, but Aja refused, no matter how much he wished to go. And so now he waits in his room, the white and blue globe of Kellas world below him.

“” “” “” “”

A few hours later…

“Aja?” A gruff voice comes over the COM to his room. Instantly sitting straight, he says that he is in fact awake, fearing what is going on. “Elder Rhd wishes to speak with you in his residence.” The person tells, Ajas stomach dropping at knowing what is to come. Telling that he will go, the contact leaves him and Aja takes his time in getting ready. He can’t help but question if he should wear his Awu’asa, knowing his father will be angry with Kella and her marks. Without a doubt he has seen her scars, not only the mating marks on her shoulder, but the scar from where their lifemates mark once was. He decides on a semi-armor dress, metal over his chest and arms for protection, just in case. But even with the slight protection, as Aja gets closer and closer to his fathers deck, he can’t help but acknowledge that he has never felt so nervous about going to meet someone, no one is ever going to make him as nervous as Kella. When Aja steps into his fathers’ room though, he is not met with Elder Rhd, but the stench of Ooman blood. But not only Ooman blood, Kellas blood. Aja knows her scent to well, and instantly he looks around the room for her, in hopes of seeing her standing there, beaten but alive.

“Aja, this way.” His father calls from his front sitting room. With heavy feet he goes, each step feeling as if it takes an hour to set down. But gradually he gets to the front where giant windows fill the room with the light from the stars. But it is not the window which Aja is looks at. Elder Rhd himself stands with his back to his son, blood on his arms and down his Awu’asa. But lying on his long table is the unmoving, lifeless body of his Kella, open and gaping wounding on her stomach and chest. Suddenly Aja can feel his hands shaking, his heart pounding in grief. But as his eyes roam up her tattered corpse to her face, his body nearly falls at seeing her once bright and blue eyes staring at him with not even a sparkle, the cold darkness of death deep in the color. Unknown to Aja, his feet had been moving slowly towards her until he falls to his knees beside her, a hand raising and closing her eyes tenderly.

“My Kella…” He whispers, lowering his head.

“I wondered to myself how I didn’t know. When I first saw her markings of course.” Elder Rhd starts and turns towards his grieving son. “She kept herself cleverly armored, hiding it all from me. But when I finally got her heart to stop beating…” He stops for a moment when Aja bends at the waist, his head resting on her stomach. “When she finally died and I began to strip her so I could take my trophies, I saw her shoulder. At first I thought that an over zealous Yautja may have tried to hunt her once, not knowing of her mark. But I soon saw them to be rather fresh, a few seasons old.” Elder Rhd sighs and walks around to the other side of Aja, looking down at Kellas body. “And then I removed her chest plate and saw her scar. I saw where her lifemate scar was. Was. A mark like that does not simply imprint the skin, but also the soul. I could see the markings you left on her Aja, the mark of lifemates between you and her on her chest. Is it still on you?”

“Yes father.” Aja answers, taking off his own armor to reveal it.

“When I saw that, when I saw that you and her were lifemates, I stopped my given right of taking my trophies in respect of my sons lifemate.” He says.

“Kella stopped being my lifemate when she cut the mark from her skin.” Aja growls, not at his Kella, but at the fact he let her do it without fighting for her.

“No Aja. No matter if she cut it off, she is still your lifemate. It marks the soul, Paya will see it when she looks at Kella.” Elder Rhd smiles down at the body on his table for a moment, thinking of what Paya may ask Kella when she gets to her. “I never suspected a thing. It was not my right to ask where you had gone when we were on the planet. I wondered where you went, but now I know. We were mating with an Ooman female, Aja.”

“…were…” Aja whispers to himself as he looks at his Kellas pale face.

“While not illegal, it is frowned upon. But you should have come to me my son, I understand why you became lifemates with her, I of all Yautja would have understood. But I do not understand why she cut off her mark...” Elder Rhd insinuates and sits down across from Aja.

“I denied her the most basic right of a female, to reproduce.” Aja tells as he gently pushes a strand of her hair off her face.

“You know as well as I that it is nearly impossible for a pure Ooman female to produce a child with a Yautja, but it is possible.” Elder Rhd offers.

“It is not possible now, is it?” Aja hisses to himself, his fist clenching so hard blood begins to drip as his claws dig into his palm. Elder Rhd gently cups his sons bleeding hand, calming him down.

“’Remember those who earn to be remembered. Mourn for those who earn to be mourned. Honor those who earn to be honored. But remember yourself as well, never mourn that with the ending of one life, more remain to continue. More remain to honor their passing with the life given to them.’” Elder Rhd quotes the story of creation for his sons’ misery. “Kella,”

“Father, please.” Aja looks up, his eyes full of horrible sadness. “I know what Kella was, I know what I had and I know what was lost. Leave me to my sorrow.” He asks, gaining a slight nod from the Elder who soon leaves him with the body of his Kella.

“” “” “” “”

Standing side by side, Elder Rhd and Aja watch with heavy hearts as Kellas ceremonial pod makes its way to her sun, the eccentric tube shaped box holding her body. It took less time then he thought for the rest of his Clan Ship to know of his and Kellas bonding, but he does not care any longer and says with pride that he did in fact share a lifemate mark with her. But as he dressed her body in the white fabric and marked her pod with blessings and prayers for Paya, he had stayed quiet, knowing that if his Kella were still there, she would not have liked him to be anything else but respectful of her death. Despite the fact that behind him are the many Yautja Kella had grown to know, Aja feels that it is only he who is watching Kella move closer to her sun. It is in Payas teachings that the bodies of her children are to be sent to one of her suns, their bodies turning to light so they will forever live. When Kella disappears into the brightness, the room slowly empties until only Aja and Elder Rhd are behind, both of them unwilling to move.

“You have to remember this moment as well as all the others, Aja.” Elder Rhd starts. “All of the good that came from her, all that you learned of her and yourself must be remembered with all the bad that came from it as well.”

“I know father.” He sighs and finally closes his eyes from watching.

“As once said by the Her, for everything there is a season. Kella was a season for you, but seasons change.” With that Elder Rhd places a gentle hand on his sons shoulder and gives it a slight shake before leaving him alone.

“” “” “” “”

For the rest of his life, Aja thought of his Kella, never letting anyone take her memory away from him. Strangely enough, Aja had gone back to that Ooman planet one last time to retrieve Naxa, their dog. One of Kellas children were there, Aaron, and it took little convincing for him to give up the white fluff. But Naxa died as well after some time, Ajas heart breaking once again at losing one of the last things he and Kella had. But the very last thing Aja had of his Kella was his lifemate mark, a mark that he had to paint red to signal that he is no longer in a mating pair. Every time he saw his father, Elder Rhd would remark that he looked no better then the last time, though Aja could not say the same for him. Age began to take its toll on the Elder Rhd, Cetanu taking him soon after Aja was appointed Elder to their clan. And until the very day the Black Warrior took him, Aja constantly thought about Kella, her being his last thought.

“” “” “” “”

Next: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

Part Two: The Bad.