Grace of An Elder

Chapter 14

Since the female known as Rachel was said to be occupied with teaching the human children their daily lessons, Dahdtoudi had opted to sit outside the group home and wait for her. She had asked Zaiyu to help her form her tresses since her hair had finally dried, and T'ahrou and Aichu had decided to use their cloaking devices and explore the area.

Zaiyu and his sister sat in silence as he twisted her long hair as his mother had taught him, but when Melanie had walked past them  nearly an hour later, he noticed Dahdtoudi's heart rate spike. "What do you think of the pyode-amedha so far..?"

"I don't like them." Her tone was harsh and quick, something that Zaiyu was not used to seeing from his adoptive sibling. "I don't like their clothes, I don't like their mannerisms, and I don't like their traditions."

"Do you think you just need an adjustment period?"

"Absolutely not..!" Zaiyu stopped twisting her hair for a moment, and she took a deep breath. "Something doesn't feel right about this clan...I feel like they are trying to avoid talking about James and Laura...like they're trying to keep me in the dark."

"What do you think they're hiding, mei-jadhi?"

The female shook her head at his question, watching a group of men fishing near the shoreline. "I don't know...I just feel like it's something."
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Jason was helping his father gather driftwood into the back of a pickup when he caught sight of Sarah sitting outside the group home with the smaller of the two male gods styling her hair into dreadlocks. "What's wrong, son?" Malcom followed his son's gaze to the Macintosh girl, and his expression twisted into a sly grin. "Don't worry, Jason. Melanie will teach her the ins and outs of the colony, and then you can act."

"I don't think she wants anything to do with me, dad." Malcom scoffed now before throwing the final piece of wood into the bed of the blue truck and slapped a comforting hand on his son's shoulder.

"Nonsense! She's just playing hard to get. The gods brought her back to us for a reason...it will all come to pass, my son. I'll make sure of it. Just hold strong in your faith." Jason nodded, understanding his father's words.
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When Rachel finally finished with the younglings, Dahdtoudi quickly rushed toward her as she exited an extension of the group home and Zaiyu moved to join the other two Yautja in the nearby treeline. "Rachel, may we speak now?"

"My dear, I'm so sorry..! I'm afraid I have to help Malcom with something."

Dahdtoudi frowned in annoyance as she caught up to the woman who was trying to quickly walk away. "Rachel please, I want to know about James and Laura!" The woman turned on her heel to face the girl, nearly causing a collision between the two. Rachel brought her face closer to Dahdtoudi's until they were nearly an inch apart.

"You want to know about your parents?" Dahdtoudi nodded in response to the question, and Rachel lowered her voice to barely more than a whisper. "Within a year's time, your parents were going to start grooming you to take over as the leader of our community. It is an important, glorified position and our entire way of life depends on our leaders. Your father knew you would make an excellent candidate, but they were slaughtered by the serpents before you could begin your training." Rachel suddenly took a step back and turned to continue on her original path. "That is all you need to know."