Back at it again.

"This is quite relaxing, you know?"

He stated, looking over the grand valley beneath him, minus the river of magma that gave off a blast of heat to his left, the rest was a true visage.

While the land was certainly arid, there were many great trees sprinkled over the area, each one massive in its own right, and they were all encompassed by the presence of the large, orange sandstone colored formations of rock.

The sight of it all reminded him a lot of the biome of the grand canyon, 'Sigh... best not to think of it right now...'

Besides him, the female arbitrator stood observing the landscape, her masked face gave her the ability to visualize everything with the human spectrum.

"With your eyes, yes, I do most certainly agree." Yurli replied. He turned over to her, "Having infrared vision must be pretty helpful though: the ability to see heat signatures has got to be damn nice." "In most occasions, yes."

He cast his view to the horizon again, absently tapping his foot, "I didn't thank you for inviting me, by the way. This game preserve is truly wonderful from the reports that I've read." she gave a short snort: "Did you expect anything less? You are my friend Mark. And being an arbitrator does have it's advantages. Perhaps I could show you them all, should you join the ranks; I'd be willing to oversee your progress as an instructor."

The human shook his head: "Thanks but I'm good. While it is honorable and dutiful to do such a thing, it just doesn't fit my wants."

Silence echoed in their company, before Mark shifted a little and made his way to a set of rocky formations on the side of the cliff, that lead down the mountain.

"You have everything, right?" he called out to her, and she nodded in response. Tighter, they climbed down the face of the stone, reaching the bottom a few minutes later. Yurli fiddled with the few pieces of her awu'asa. She wasn't dressed in her arbitrator garb, but opted to instead forego the armor in exchange for hard leather cloths and the fishnet, however, it seemed as if the pelts had less the function of protecting her, rather than highlighting and accentuating her toned and feminine shape.

If she did it to try and catch Mark's eye, then she would have to try harder though, as he gave her nothing more that a curious glance once she had finished changing into her current state of dress.

As for him, he was using a lighter set of awu'asa to compensate for the hotter climate. He didn't bring anything else but his sword, gauntlets, a couple of combisticks, and shurikens with a collection of daggers and throwing knifes. He didn't see the point in bringing the more advanced and potent weaponry, as it would make things too simple, and negate the thrill that the hunt provided.

He reminded himself to purchase acid proof armor once they returned to Yaut. In the few months that had passed, the Fire Skull clan had implemented the engineer tech into their own technology in record time. Now they were in the process of rendering it available to all of the other planetary colonies.

It had taken the system by storm, and both Kyiv and Y'rall had become much more occupied and busy with dealing and sorting out the whole thing.

By the recount of the two elite arbitrators, this had shifted the balance of power more in favor of their clan. So much so that the Dark Blade clan, one of the most influential (arguably the strongest) and most technologically advanced tribe in the entirety of the species had begun negotiating with them.

Luckily, both matriarchs decided to form an alliance: they would lend the engineer technology, in exchange for more territories, and both groups would forward new discoveries and become exclusive traders. The fruits of deals would be shared equally and both would cooperate to strengthen each other's military strength and send help during times of need.

Mark couldn't help but be glad of this, as when he had learned of the Yautja's history, these two powerhouses often clashed heads, and since they were both so influential, the clans whose allegiance was close to them would join in the fight, creating dangerous conflicts. Such an outcome was the best chance, as know they benefitted from this union, and as would the rest of the clans loyal to them. It did shift the power struggle, and he could safely say that now they were the dominant force. Between these two came the support of hundreds of other minor clans, along with a few major ones.

Statistically speaking, he calculated that this alliance of their exchange would be comprised of something over 30% of the entirety of the Yautja race, around 50% of the other clans would be neutral, while the remaining 15% would be aggressive, or even downright hostile towards them.

Naturally, a full blow out war would be unlikely to happen, and ever since the end of the last series of internal conflicts millennia ago, a collective council of all the major matriarchs would be held on Yaut, as it was the cradle of the species' power and strength. This convention had helped maintain peace and prosperity, it would also serve to defuse tensions, as well as go over plans and manners that would involve the race as a whole. The decisions of the core worlds would then be obeyed by the ones near the edges of the yautjan controlled space, whether it to be to organize defenses or attacks against the infamous Hish-qu-Ten, their mortal enemies.

All in all, the relations would be good, and Mark had this nagging feeling that he would become a much more notorious individual now that news of his hunt would become know.

He would take the matron's advice to heart, for the last few events that he had joined really did put him under a better spotlight than he previously had. Many other important hunters were interested in getting to know of his experiences of fighting the Engineer; it truly was a precious trophy, a one of a kind.

It did better his relations with those of the clan, hopefully, that would be true for the other clans as well. Mark still knew that a lot of other Yautja would still see him as nothing but prey, though hopefully, his most recent actions would help erase that idea.

Guan-kwei was right: he would have the backing of his clan, and by extension, all of the other allied ones. And one day, dare he say it, he could maybe convince the matriarchs to let him freely go back to Earth, even if for a little bit.

Mark yelled as he slammed his sword deep into the creature's throat, pushing forward until the hilt rested against the bleeding wound. Simultaneously, Yurli pierced its eye with her wrist blades, entering the skull and cutting the brain, killing it.

Panting, he pulled his weapon out and flicked it to remove the excess blood. Curiously, it was purple, and it reminded him of naxa juice, but he quickly frowned in disgust at such a comparison, 'Ah... yuck, that's fucking revolting.'

It smelled awful, and this was one of those few moments that Mark regretted having his enhanced sense of smell, for it made the putrid stench all the worse, and he was covered in it.

Yurli patted his shoulder, "This was a glorious hunt, many good trophies have been obtained on this cycle." "Yes, it was good." he said, looking over the giant beast that resembled a spiked ape.

'Still not as satisfying as killing serpents...' but he pushed that thought away as the screeching became more pronounced.

He took his mask off, and inhaled the outside air, trying to ignore the smell.

About an hour had passed as they finished skinning their fallen prey, taking the skulls of the most dangerous and difficult to hunt as trophies, but that caused them to get dirtier.

He turned to look at the crystal clear lake that was located some fifty feet away, already thinking of bathing in it along with washing his gear.

Behind him, he heard his companion fiddling with something, but he paid it no mind.

"I need a bath, and I'm pretty sure that the water over there is safe to use." he stated shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"It's safe, nearly all bodies of water of this location are." "So..." he began, turning around, "Do you want to go firs- he gaped at her just as she pulled the metal plate and cloth covering off of her chest, exposing her voluptuous cleavage.

He looked to the ground, red tinting his cheeks as Yurli stopped undressing to look at him confused, "Mark, what is the problem?" he stuttered for a moment, trying to recollect himself: "It's... you're naked..." "And? It is not the mating season yet, come, join me."

The navy seal fully turned around, his back facing her, "I-I'll keep watch. It's just considered rude and disrespectful among us humans to stare at a bare woman, even if said woman is beautiful." "But I am not ooman, and that rule doesn't apply to me. Come." she insisted.

"I'll simply stay here, alright? Take all the time you need, I will wait for my turn." "Very well." had he been closer and paid more attention, he would have heard the low growl of annoyance rumbling from her throat as she stalked away.

He felt scared for a moment, turning her down like that, disturbing memories of the last time he had done so came up to his mind, and he felt his sweat go cold; but the sensation went away as soon as it had come. The blooded hunter let out a breath of relief, tracing the scars that went to his empty eye socket.

They sat in front of the fire, cooking their portions of meat over the warm flame. Much like the deserts on Earth, the nights proved to be very cold indeed, so they had retrieved some pelts that would be used as blankets.

At the moment Mark carefully observed his chunk of food, poking it to determine its state, trying to nail the medium rare texture that he enjoyed. Yurli preferred hers to be well cooked. Although they had the ability to eat it raw, it tasted much better when it was properly heated and seasoned.

Some basic spices were added to spice the taste of it.

His slice weighed something in the ranges of ten and fifteen pounds, hers was nearly double as she was larger than him, and thus required more nourishment.

The crackling of the fire was relaxing, and it allowed him to properly rest and think.

"I assume that we'll continue tomorrow then." she gave a click of confirmation.

"There are more places to see, and more game to hunt. Lots of worthy prey." "I'm kind of surprised that there aren't any other hunters around. I would have expected to see some by know, considering that this hunt reserve is popular among the more experienced hunters."

"I selected this location because it's relatively left to itself. It would be preferable that the two of us be alone." he stared at her, a question glance on his features: "Any particular reason for it?" "Crossing paths with other hunters tends to form large group hunts. I wanted this hunt to be between us two only."

He smiled at her, patting her knee, "Well, I still thank you for this experience. You're a good friend Yurli."

She turned her gaze to the flames, "Yes, so are you."

And done.

Jeez, I really can't seem to contain myself with this.

As per tradition, please vote, comment ideas and critique.

Out of general curiosity now, I'm curious to see who you think Mark will end up being with (if he'll end up with someone) so let me know in the comments.