Grace of An Elder

Chapter 3

"What were you thinking?!" Tah'kath flinched at his mate's harsh tone as her amber eyes darted from him, to the human, and back to him. "Tah'kath, you cannot simply bring in any stray that you come across on your travels!"

"Daih'kea, she's an orphan."

"IT IS PYODE-AMEDHA!" The girl jumped slightly and grabbed hold of the elder's cape, hiding her face from the enraged female. Her red and gold armor against her pale skin only intensified the fury in her eyes, and neither of the two wanted to meet her gaze. "You are supposed to be one of the most fierce warriors of our clan, and yet you are too soft to get rid of a simple cretin?!" The female growled at her mate, her mandibles spreading in a display of frustration. "You are not the warrior I once knew, Tah'kath. Why would you even consider bringing one of their kind home as a pet? They are arrogant, aggressive, and they have the intelligence of-"

"She will not be a pet." Daih'kea's amber eyes widened in concern and disbelief at the elder's words. "Her clan was slaughtered by kiande-amedha. She was trapped in a fire. If I would have left her she would have been killed by flame, starvation, or larger predators. I would not want that for our son, nor any innocent youngling. You always said you wanted a daughter, Daih'kea..."

"A Yautja daughter..! Not some ui'stbi!" That's what she saw this youngling as: an abomination. The thought enraged Tah'kath to no end, and he slammed his massive foot on the ground as he flared his own mandibles, bowing his chest out as he did so.

"The pup will stay, Daih'kea. I will hear no more of your foolishness!" She appeared as though she would say something more, but decided against it and instead lowered both her head and eyes in submission. "She is a member of our home now...of our family...and I expect you to treat her as such, is that understood?" She gave a curt nod, and Tah'kath made his way down the corridor toward his bed chamber. Meanwhile, his mate was left in the gathering room with the strange-looking alien spawn.

The female's eyes looked the shivering child over head to toe; she was filthy and she wreaked of soft-meat vermin and smoke. "I will have no contaminants from whatever hellhole he dragged you from infesting my home." She crossed the room faster than the child could comprehend and took hold of her forearm. "Come now, you must bathe. I may not have a say on whether you stay or go, but you will not look like a bad blood in my home."

The youth tried to free her arm but Daih'kea grew impatient with her fit and lifted her in the air by the captured limb, carrying her the rest of the way to the bathing area. It was a large room with an oasis type pool in the center, and several plants, herbs, and scented salts and oils placed throughout. Once the child noticed her surroundings, her struggle eased but did not end. Daih'kea placed her on the ground before tugging the sullied blue fabric over her head and placed her in the shallow edge of the pool. She cringed when she saw how much dirt and blood began to separate from the youth, and she almost felt sorry for it. Almost.

"Typical of that male to not only bring home a stray youngling, much less one that can't speak in our tongue, but I'd guess you can't even speak your own yet, can you?" The human gave no response, but began to move her fingers through the crystalline water. Daih'kea sighed in frustration before retrieving a black metallic container and waving it in front of the child's face. "See this? It's soap. SOAP." She proceeded to dump a few capfuls into the warm water and moved her hand around to create the scented bubbles. This time she lifted a silver container and placed it next to the child who reached for it only to have her hand swatted away. The large female used a wooden bowl to scoop up some water and dump it over the child's head, earning a displeased grunt as she began to wipe the water from her eyes and nose. Now she held up the silver container and announced rather loudly "TRESS OIL."

She rolled her eyes when the child seemed to have no idea nor any care for what she was saying, and began applying small amounts of the oily substance to the child's strange "hair" as she knew the humans to call it. She couldn't get past the strange sensation of it; it was so fine, yet there was so much of it..! Already it reached halfway down her back when a Yautja child her age would barely have tresses to their chin. She would definitely have to give her the traditional braids and beading tomorrow, or at least as close as she could manage without the proper act of blood binding.

As she massaged the oil into the child's scalp, she noticed it's silver eyes begin to ease shut. Daih'kea gave a stern flick to the back of her head which caused the child to jump. She made sure to stay awake through the rest of the process.

Once Daih'kea was satisfied with her work, she gathered more soap and began to scrub the child's body down. This happened about five times until Daih'kea was sure she'd gotten rid of any foreign bacteria that may have been on the youngling. Finally she lifted the child from the pool and began to dry her tiny, tanned body. "I have no clothes for you, so we will make do with what we have." She retrieved one of her old gardening dresses and draped it over the child before tearing the fabric to where it would hang just above the ankle.

The child swayed side to side, watching the black fabric flowing with every motion. She clasped her tiny hands over her stomach as it grumbled loudly and Daih'kea sighed in frustration. "Of course he didn't feed you, why would he? Come child, let us find something for you to eat."