�You are special.� A voice calls.
�You are a messenger of the Gods. Feel pride. Many changes will come to pass in the near future.� Ja�akir wakes up suddenly in his bed. Scanning his surroundings, he recognizes the familiar architecture of his Clan�s church, just barely visible in the darkness. He is just a young pup, unblooded and untrained. A tall, foreboding silhouette cloaked in darkness walks into his quarters,
As the figure lurched slightly forward, his features slowly come into the glow of the light from the flanking hall. Still, Ja�akir�s nerves are not quelled. The figure speaks with a soft voice, �Your father wishes to see you, Ja�akir. He is in the mess hall. From his tone of voice and his agitation, I can tell that whatever it is, it is important.� Ja�akir, recognizing the voice of his sworn friend, Tilk, relaxes and nods his head before climbing out his bed and heading towards the mess hall.
Shortly after leaving his quarters, Ja�akir runs into a group of hunters, easily distinguished by their clan markings, scars, and aura of swagger and bravado. Ja�akir excitedly approaches his superior Yautja, eager to hear about their latest hunt. �Greetings, brothers. How did your recent game fair?� He now realized upon approaching the hunters just how extremely they outclassed him in both height and weight. It was like a child looking up to an adult, and Ja�akir was now regretting his unsolicited question. In spite of this, the one who appeared to be their lead hunter looked towards Ja�akir with a look of faint appreciation. �Greetings. We�ve hunted without peer. Our game, in spite of its ferocity, stood no match.� Ja�akir, almost taken aback at the fact that a hunter so above him even spared the breath to speak at him, could barely muster his next question. �What was the game, then?�
Before the hunter could proceed with his answer, Ja�akir�s father angrily bellowed out at the sight of him, stepping past the clergy reciting their prayers in the church pews. Ja�akir now realized his mistake of keeping his dear father waiting.
He almost flinched when his father, Dra�ki stepped just a few paces in front of him. There was silence for a moment, before the baritone of his father�s voice echoed against the spacious and vacant church walls. His words would be heard by all in the vicinity. �Ja�akir,� he began, �the elders and I have convened. It is time, my son. Time to begin your training.�
With confusion, Ja�akir stammers, �My training? The council has finally recognized my maturity? I will become a hunter? What made them change their minds so suddenly? I just do not understand, father.� He realizes that this morning has been nothing but question after question. The council had always denied his father�s requests to begin his training. �The boy is too small,� they would say, �Too young. Too fast in his ways.� Ja�akir was sure they would see him in a life confined to the church rather than become a hunter like most of his brothers.
�A recent premonition has turned them to the idea. They are withholding the details, but I am just happy to see my son become a mighty warrior. Get your things. I have informed your brother. He will be your trainer.� Dra�ki states.
Ja�akir�s eyes light up in excitement. Year after year he had pleaded with the council to begin his training, but his wishes fell on deaf ears. Getting denied the opportunity over and over again had sank the young Yautja�s spirits and he was certain his lot in life would be sweeping pews, dusting the trophies of his more fortunate clansmen, and revising the scriptures the priests toiled over ad infinitum. Now, it seems, Ja�akir will see the stars. He could already smell the blood in the air and the adrenaline course through his now shaking body.
Containing his joy was an impossibility. His mandibles clicked and chirped in jovial rhythm as he dashed towards his quarters for the last time. Scooping his few, meager belongings off of the shelf he himself had installed above his cot into a bag his father provided him, Ja�akir�s excitement was mixed with feelings of sadness. Sadness at the abandonment of his previous life. While it was a life he had detested, it was the only life he knew. Ja�akir took a moment to sulk in his now empty quarters, but just a moment was enough. His life now was that of a hunter, and it truly begins once he meets his brother.
�Munaki, it has been far too long. How has the good life treated you?� Ja�akir clicks with a loving tone. His brother stood tall and proud, wearing scars and symbolic paints, no doubt representing the many hunts he has participated in. His bodyglove had been torn in places, and Ja�akir thought it strange that he had not replaced it. As Ja�akir�s eyes ventured downwards, he noticed the skulls of unfamiliar beasts strapped to his brother�s loincloth. It was an impressive sight to behold.
�Indeed, our separation was regrettable. I thought you and I would never get this opportunity to catch up. The life of a hunter is one full of not only honor and glory, but of pain, sweat, and blood. You need to be prepared for it, dear brother. Do not expect me to go easy on you, like when we were children.� Munaki tried his best to appear stoic, but Ja�akir was too familiar with his brother to be deceived by the facade. Munaki�s own joy betrayed him.
�I have squatted in contempt for far too long in that hell. There is nothing you can do to me that would deter me, brother.� Ja�akir scoffs.
Recognizing that there were no more words that could describe the sheer emotion the brothers had been feeling upon seeing each other, they embraced for the first time in many, many moons. Both brothers had sensed that this would be the last exercise of fondness they would share until Ja�akir�s training was complete. Munaki pulled away first, but not before giving his brother a crisp slap on the back before gesturing him to his personal ship. With that, they took off. Ja�akir watched as the church grew smaller and smaller as the ship hurdled forth towards the infinite curiosity of the stars.
After a few long, gruelling months, Ja�akir�s patience was growing thin. He felt as though the anticipation of his first hunt had been more agonizing than the doubt of leaving his previous home. Still, he was grateful. If only it would come sooner! After his morning training exercises, Ja�akir stumbled through the temple halls he had only recently become familiar with. The architecture was surely of his people, yet it felt so alien compared to the church he had spent most of his life thus far in. The corridors were narrow, and winded in sharp turns and slopes that seemingly had little reason. The cold stone would be nigh unbearable were it not for Ja�akir�s heated bodyglove. As he turned around another dimly lit corner leading to his new quarters, Ja�akir took a painful fall. His head felt like it would split open, and it was all he could do to not roar from the pain.
�Do not be afraid. Hear our voice and know us.� A thunderous voice echoed in his skull as if it were a chasm.
�You are our chosen. You are our messenger. Whichever of our gifts you select, through your own premeditation, this you may have through your own judgement and feelings. Never forget.� The voice was otherworldly. It was deep and commanding, yet Ja�akir could not tell if it belonged to a male or a female Yautja.
�You are our speaker, our voice. The Yautja have lost their way. They fight and hunt in the name of honor, yet they do not understand what honor is. They mark themselves with blood and muds of worlds they have walked, yet they do not feel its energy. They devote themselves to our teachings in the motions only, and do not appreciate the deeper meaning behind them. They are disgustingly reliant on their machinations. You will teach them what it truly means to be a hunter. Hear my command, my child, and adhere to it. We have chosen you.� A cacophony of voices ring through Ja�akirs mind. It was not just one voice, but many. Ja�akir wakes up in a cold sweat in the hard slab on stone he grew to know as his bed to two voices arguing. Munaki and Dra�ki had been standing over him, but were not aware he was conscious.
�You are taking this too far, Munaki! You are pushing him well beyond his limits!� Dra�ki clicked ferociously.
�Father, you have given me flesh and have raised me to be strong. I am doing the same for our Ja�akir. He had been in that church for far too long, father. If I am not hard on him, he will be too soft for when his first hunt comes. I am merely making up for lost time, father, and you cannot stop me!� Munaki shouts.
Dra�ki�s brow curled and his mandibles clenched with rage. �We found him unconscious on the floor! Munaki, did you not think the extensive training would be too much for him? What if you push him too hard and he gives out during the hunt? That blood will be on your hands! I am beginning to believe the council was right in their former decision to keep him at the church. I was a fool to stress that they change their minds.�
Munaki takes a deep breath and calms himself. �He is doing fine, father. Trust me. Fatigue is nothing. If he were really too weak, he would be dead by now. Do you not see? Ja�akir shows potential.�
�I� I heard a voice...� Ja�akir whispers. Both Dra�ki and Munaki, startled, turn their gaze to him.
�A voice?� Dra�ki was confused by the word Ja�akir had chosen. �Explain, my son. What did you hear, exactly?�
�It was a great voice. A voice that had overwhelmed every sensation. It spoke to me. It spoke within me.� Ja�akir chirped. �I� I can�t remember what it had to say. Why are you two arguing? I am fine, father. Do not be worried.�
�Ja�akir,� his father started, �You are hearing voices in your head and blacking out and you expect me not to worry? The training is hurting you. I do not want my son to end up dying as the others do.�
�You are afraid of me dying? I am not. I would rather die than return to that abhorrent church. There is nothing for me there, father, but there is everything for me here. This is the life I am meant to have. This is our culture! You would have me abandon that to stagnate under the heel of those fools who call themselves priests? They know nothing of the Gods and their teachings! You wish for me to be close to the Gods? Then allow me to do it in the way of our progenitors. The way of the blooded. I have no other desire than to become a hunter like my brother, like our great ancestors.� The words ooze out of Ja�akir�s mouth like venom. Dra�ki had never seen such passion within his second-born son. Recognizing Ja�akir�s adamant stance on the matter, Dra�ki has no further words. He nods silently and exits the room.
Munaki and Ja�akir spend a moment in silence before Munaki engages his questioning. �Brother, I told you I would not relent in your training� However, I am concerned. I need to know now that you can keep going. You do not need to act tough to impress me as you have for father. Be honest.�
�I just� Got dizzy and fell, truly. As I told father, you do not need to worry, Munaki. The pain, the exhaustion. It makes me feel alive in ways I never have before. I am begging you, brother, do not fear for me. � With his strength returning, Ja�akir stands up as a show of confidence for his elder brother. The rigorous training was showing. Once a pathetic, miserable little twig of a Yautja, Ja�akir had truly grew into his body with an impressive physique and respectable form. Munaki had chuckled and gave Ja�akir a hard, but loving jab in the shoulder. Ja�akir�s training would continue.
The holy, ancient planet had completed a journey around its star since Ja�akir had begun his training. The air, the foliage, and the temple had awakened a vigor in Ja�akir he never realized he had. He found meaning in his life. The temple had its own scriptures, not unlike the church, but this scripture Ja�akir worshipped as gospel, taking time out of each day to read them in between his training. The writings spoke of tales of ancient hunters spearing beasts as large as mountains, wrangling the stars to provide the technological chariots the modern Yautja took for granted, and cleaving worlds apart to plant the seeds of life that would become the game of future generations. One tale in particular had caught Ja�akir�s interest more than any others. The dusty scroll prophesied that every new millennia, the Gods, in their infinite wisdom, would pick one Yautja as their prophet and set the new standard of warrior every future Yautja would aspire to become. The Gods� favor would rest on these chosen as they spread their teachings both through the commune in simple life and the glory of sport. Could it be a coincidence? Ja�akir wondered if he was this chosen one of legend. Could he just be grasping at straws to find a way to make himself feel special? Regardless, Ja�akir found solace in these writings and used them as a well of strength and determination. With his training nearing completion, he will soon venture out with his brother and his hunting party to claim his first trophy. Ja�akir knew it would be the first of a great many. The time to be an unblooded pup pondering his own existence had passed, and now it is the time to prove himself worthy of the Gods� favor.
Spoiler:
Originally Posted by MattAtlas
