You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Twenty-Six

****Trigger Warning, y'all. Fighting/bullying. You have been warned. 😁

Brielle focused on leveling her heartrate as she stepped tiredly through the maze of hallways, following closely behind the two large males. "Why do you two have to act like body guards?" she asked as she focused most of her attention on the larger of the two. Ghost clicked something to T'ahrou who glanced down at the human and gave a trilling response.

"Some Yautja have extensive experience protecting small females."

She hummed thoughtfully, almost disbelieving as she pondered his response. "You said at the lab that I would be killed since I'm not a member of your clan..." The smaller male said nothing as he kept his eyes forward. "Why doesn't T'ahrou?" she pointed at the male for emphasis, and Ghost flexed his mandibles slowly as his body seemed to tense ever so slightly.

"T'ahrou is not one to judge by appearance. He was...enlightened, years ago."

"What do you mean by 'enlightened'?"

His mandibles flexed again as he risked a glance at the larger male. "Dhadtoudi is...small. She is weak among our people. She was believed to be short lived because of this."

"She was born prematurely?"

"I do not understand."

Brielle frowned at his response. "So because she was so small, she was supposed to die?" Ghost nodded. "But she survived, so that was his big realization that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover?"

"I do not understand." The steady humming/growling sound from earlier was now accompanied by a thunderous, rhythmic beat that reverberated through her very core. "You have your weapon, Ooman?"

"Yes, mom..!" Brielle rolled her eyes as she placed a hand absentmindedly on the hilt of the sword that was sheathed on her left hip. "It's hard to forget it when you kept trying to kill me earlier..!"

"You will be grateful." She rolled her eyes again. He really is like a parent... The woman was pulled from her thoughts as they stepped out of the hallway and into a vast room that was large enough to be its own temple.

Stadium benches that looked as though they belonged in the Ancient Greek amphitheater lined the room on all walls and were leveled on top of one another several stories high. Each seat held a large, terrifying Yautja, and most of them showed their natural alien facial features to the world around them. Brielle's heart felt as though it sank to her feet as the blood rushed from her face and her mouth went dry. "I thought this was supposed to be a schoolyard brawl..!" Her grey eyes darted around as T'ahrou and O'kaor led her to a bordered area in the center of the arena.

It wasn't long before she caught sight of Dhadtoudi standing near a male; he was large next to the female, but small in comparison to O'kaor and T'ahrou. His eyes were a sparkling emerald green color and held a devilish ferocity that made it difficult to tell whether he was contemplating murder or if he was just a terrifying individual. T'ahrou clicked a phrase once more and O'kaor nodded once. "You must attack first, Brielle Ronaldi. You are the challenger. You must not allow Dhadtoudi any opportunity to retaliate."

"Seems simple enough..." The woman licked her lips nervously as she met Dhadtoudi's shielded gaze. "She can't be too quick, right?" O'kaor clicked now and T'ahrou created a sound that closely resembled a disagreeing groan.

O'kaor looked down at the human woman, his amber eyes appearing stoic and unreadable. "Approach the master. Pay your respects." With that said, the two males moved to the sidelines outside of the 'ring' and Brielle stepped silently towards the opposing Yautja. She craned her neck to look up at the male before she glanced quickly to the side, one last glimpse at Ghost before she did the first thing that came to her mind. Without hesitating, she placed her fist over her chest and bowed low at the waist. She stayed in this position for several seconds as the arena filled with loud clicks and growls.