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The Yautja were legendary throughout the universe.
“Just a little to the left...”
Known by all for their unmatched strength, skill and resilience, they had more than earned their reputation as fearless hunters of the most dangerous prey alive. On countless planets, the sentient beings that lived there told tales of how the best among them had been deemed worthy opponents and given the honour of contributing to a Yautja's trophy collection.
“Now left again- Too much, too much, back to the right a bit...”
Although he still would not allow Thia to address him as 'Dek of the Yautja' just yet, Dek felt he was already well on his way to prove that he was a worthy inheritor of that reputation. After all, he had not only survived Genna where so many others of his kind had failed but had also emerged victorious against several of the death planet's most dangerous creatures.
“Okay, now one more step to the left...”
So how, he wanted to know, had he been reduced to this?
“Aaaaand perfect. Thanks for your help Dek, you can put me down now.”
A disgruntled sound rumbled its way out of his chest but he dutifully knelt so that Thia could hop off her perch on his shoulders and admire her handiwork. “Bud could have helped instead,” he pointed out, a hint of petulance in his complaint at having been used as a living, breathing ladder. “Or you could have used a box.”
“Actually, I did ask Bud first but she got distracted by a passing spotted moth and practically sent me flying when she chased after it,” she explained with an exasperated sigh. “And it would've taken me more time to find a box that was just tall enough for my needs than it did to ask you for help.”
It was a sensible argument... but it failed to make him any less unhappy with the situation. “Don't see why you need to do this anyway,” he grumbled, scowling at the scraps of salvaged cloth that now hung across the top of the building they were using as their temporary shelter while they repaired Kwei's ship. There were Earth words painted on the cloth scraps but without the help of Thia or his mask to translate them, they might as well be animal claw marks.
“Well, consider this a cultural exchange moment,” she told him cheerfully, unaffected by his sour demeanour. “According to my intergalactic clock, it is now December on Earth which means humans will be celebrating Christmas soon enough.”
“Christ... mas...?” he repeated slowly, his mouth struggling to form the unfamiliar word. “What is that?”
She beamed, bright enough she might as well be an actual source of light in the encroaching dusk. “I'm glad you asked!”
Oh no. She had that look on her face again – the one that meant she was about to start talking incessantly about a topic he was almost certain he did not care about as much as she did.
Internally groaning in defeat, he dropped himself down on a nearby rock and resigned himself to another very long and very one-sided conversation.
“...and that's how that particular tradition evolved to its more commonly practised form today,” Thia finished at long last, wide smile still very much firmly in place. “Any questions?”
“...Some.” Dek wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there doing his best to pay attention to every word she said no matter how confusing but it had to have been quite a while. She would know, of course – could tell him the precise time down to the second – but he didn't particularly feel like finding out. “This human you mentioned...”
“Santa Claus or Jesus Christ?”
“The first one.” He hoped she didn't expect him to learn how to say that. “Why does he enter through an air vent? Why doesn't he use the door?”
“Because he's trying sneak in undetected, of course. And humans usually lock their doors anyway.”
He clicked his mandibles in open disdain. “His skills are lacking. He's clearly not a good hunter.”
“Maybe because he's not trying to be a hunter; he just wants to deliver presents to nice children who deserve them,” she reminded him wryly. “Besides, it's just a myth of sorts humans tell their children until they're old enough to know none of it is real.”
“Just like humans, their myths are dull and pointless,” he declared, crossing his arms. “Yautja myths are far superior and more entertaining.”
She gave him a look. “Dek, every Yautja myth you've told me so far either involves a hunt or is related to hunting.”
“Exactly.”
This time, she rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything else the faint sound of light footsteps approaching them drew their attention.
“There you are, you naughty girl!” Thia exclaimed sternly as she glared at Bud who continued to shuffle closer with her hands behind her and her head bowed in shame. “You were supposed to stay still and only move when I asked, not throw me off to chase the first bug to catch your attention!”
Clearly aware that she had done something wrong, Bud stopped in front of Thia and brought her hands up to reveal a peace offering in the form of the battered remains of a spotted moth. As she did so, she batted her big eyes, gave the Kalisk equivalent of a smile and trilled softly. It was, as Thia liked to call it, Bud's 'I can cute my way out of anything' trick.
Predictably, it worked just like always; Thia's frown slowly softened into a sweet smile and she bent down a little so she could pat Bud's head affectionately. “Okay, apology accepted. Just listen to instructions next time and don't do something like that again, got it?”
Dek watched the scene unfold through eyes narrowed in disapproval. “You spoil her too much,” he scolded. “She must learn discipline if she's to become a great hunter.”
Thia straightened and arched an eyebrow at him, inadvertently stopping her pampering of Bud who whined pitifully at the injustice. “I'm not sure you're in any position to talk when you're the one who's been secretly giving her cloud lizard meat to snack on between meals.”
“...You weren't supposed to know about that,” he said stiffly after a long, awkward pause.
“If you didn't want me to find out, you should have tried making sure I don't keep finding stray scales all over the place,” she replied dryly.
Pride stung, he glared at Bud who didn't take long to realise she was in trouble yet again albeit with a different person this time. “This is what happens when you don't listen. I told you to eat them somewhere your leftovers wouldn't be found.”
“Really, Dek? That sounds a little like you're shifting the blame.”
“If she had listened, you wouldn't have found out.”
“I think you're skipping over the part where you're helping her snack on something that's not very good for her behind my back.”
“It doesn't happen often. And you give her too much during meals so you're also guilty.”
“She's a growing girl so she needs to eat more than she did before. It's not the same thing.”
Looking back and forth between the bickering duo, Bud realised they had temporarily forgotten she was there and seized the opportunity to make her escape. By the time Dek and Thia realised they were alone, she was long gone.
In the ensuing search for the mischievous third member of their clan, Dek wondered if he had perhaps been training Bud to cover her tracks a little too well.
“...Thia,” he started after several silent minutes of searching for the elusive young Kalisk had passed.
“Hmm?” she responded distractedly, her attention focused on scanning the compound for any sign of where Bud might be hiding.
He weighed his words before speaking again. “You wish to celebrate this... Christmas?”
“Huh?” Caught off guard by his unexpected question, she came to a sudden halt and stared at him, prompting him to stop as well in the process.
“The decorations.” He gestured in the general direction of their shelter. “They're for Christmas?”
“Oh. Um, yes. But they don't have to mean anything.” She was waving her hands a lot and looking somewhat unsure of herself which was unusual for her. He didn't like it. “I mean, it's not like I've ever celebrated it for obvious reasons. And I don't exactly feel the need to do it. Also for obvious reasons.”
It was like she was trying not to answer a question he hadn't asked yet. He didn't like that either. “You want to?”
His question seemed to make her even more unsure of herself, and for some reason it caused an unpleasant irritation of some kind in his chest. “I mean... I guess I thought it would be fun? But we don't have to do anything you and Bud don't want to-”
“We can do it,” he cut her off bluntly.
She blinked and then stared wordlessly at him for a few seconds. “...Are you sure? It's just... I got the pretty strong impression you didn't like much of what I said about Christmas earlier and it's not really... compatible, I guess is the word? With what I know about Yautja culture, that is. Plus, I don't think Kalisks do any kind of celebrations at all.”
“We are our own clan.” It filled him with a great sense of pride to say the words out loud. “We can make our own traditions.”
Thia's typically expressive face went blank, but it didn't last long and her smile returned, soft and tentative. The sight of it eased the irritation in his chest. “Okay then.”
Dek nodded, pleased with himself. As the alpha, he was responsible for protecting his clan in every way, their happiness included, and he took this as a sign he was fulfilling that responsibility well.
“We can go Christmas tree hunting tomorrow or whenever we have time to spare.”
His mind stalled, and it was his turn to stare at her in confusion even as she resumed their search for Bud and left him standing there like a statue. “...Trees become prey during Christmas?”
“What about this one?”
“Judging by its size, it hasn't reached maturity and gone through at least one reproduction season yet. Let's just leave it alone and choose another one.”
“That one.”
“A bit too big for us to carry, I think. Remember, we still need to get it back to the compound and we left the transport at the edge of the forest.”
Dek could not understand how a hunt for 'the right tree', whatever Thia meant by that, was proving to be a far greater challenge than any other kind of hunt he had ever attempted. They were trees. Trees that could not move, think, attack or even defend themselves in any way. He had half a mind to just start chopping and hauling if only so that he had something more to do than walking around aimlessly while pointing at random trees.
Thia would probably not approve, however, so he sighed internally and kept walking. He would persevere. He would follow her lead and not say anything that would indicate he was seriously reconsidering the idea of celebrating this Christmas-
“This one looks about right.”
Thank the gods.
“You've chosen this one?” he asked just to be sure as he squinted at the tree she was examining so excitedly. It didn't look all that different from the other hundred trees they had passed earlier.
“Mhm.” She shot him a curious glance. “Why, did you see one you think is better?”
“No.” The word could not have exited his mouth any faster. “I trust your decision.”
Cutting down a tree had never felt more satisfying, and not even the hassle of transporting it back and setting it up outside their shelter could take that away from him.
Now that they had a Christmas tree, the next step was to decorate it.
To Dek's utter lack of surprise, Thia already had quite a few ideas how to achieve that.
“They usually put a star at the very top and that should be easy enough to make. All I have to do is either cut a piece of scrap metal that's big enough or weld a few small ones together. As for the lights, I think I remember seeing something I can use in one of the spare parts storage containers...” She trailed off and turned to meet his gaze. “Any suggestions?”
He crossed his arms and rolled his shoulders absently. “Don't know what it should look like.”
The corners of her lips curled upwards. “It doesn't have to be the same as normal Christmas trees. You said it yourself, remember? We're free to make our own traditions. So feel free to contribute. I'll get Bud to add her own touch too later.”
Since she was the one who knew best what was required for Christmas, he had been content with letting her decide everything and only helping in whatever way she needed. In light of her obvious eagerness, however, he felt... compelled to become a little more involved than he had originally intended. “...I'll think about it.”
“Great!” She smiled a little bit brighter at that which would should have been impossible if not for the fact that she was Thia. “I'll go find Bud and explain things to her; it's almost dinnertime anyway.”
Left alone with the subject of their conversation, Dek scrutinised the still unadorned tree as he tried to visualise its finished state. What had she said that humans used for decorations again? Shiny spheres, even shinier false fur trimmings of some kind... but then again, she had said that he was allowed to use something of his own choosing...
An idea came to him, and he wasted no time acting on it.
By the time he had achieved his task and made his way to the campfire, the food was nearly ready and Thia was preoccupied with trying to 'build on her Kalisk dictionary' as she called it with Bud's help.
“Here.” He thrust the tattered sack he had brought out to her before she could say anything. “For the tree.”
“Already? That was fast,” she said as she accepted the sack and fished out one of its contents. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise when she found herself face to face with... “A skull? Wait, isn't this one of your trophies?”
“Unworthy prey and too small for my collection,” he corrected her gruffly. “They were killed for food and easy to hunt. I simply used them for practice.”
Bud made a questioning sound, and Thia handed over the expertly polished animal skull she had been holding so that the young Kalisk could inspect it while she looked inside the sack again. “This is quite a lot of skulls.”
“...Are they unsuitable?” he asked, unsure how to read her statement.
“Hmm? Oh, no, not at all! It's just very... you. I feel like I should have expected it, actually.” She let out a laugh but he knew it wasn't at his expense. “If we tie some thin wire or string around them, we can hang them up on the tree without damaging them. I know you said they're not part of your collection but it doesn't feel right to ruin your hard work, you know?”
It didn't bother him but it was so very like her to consider that so he simply nodded. “Tell me how and I will do it.”
“We'll do it together,” Thia corrected him and laughed again, but this time it was because of a now hungry and impatient Bud trying to tug her towards the food. “That's how it should be, isn't it?”
Whether she meant a Christmas tradition or how things were in their little clan, Dek didn't see any reason to disagree.
Once she fully grasped what was going on, Bud was all too eager to join in.
Thia naturally matched Bud's enthusiasm and readily accepted the assortment of leaves, rocks and other random items that were brought to her.
But she drew the line at the entrails.
“Bud, sweetheart, I appreciate it we can't use these,” Thia said, very clearly doing her best not to give in to Bud's big pitiful eyes. “It's just not a good idea.”
“Why?” Dek asked at the same time Bud emitted a questioning trill.
Thia slowly turned to stare incredulously at him. “You're not seriously asking me to explain why putting something that's going to rot and attract all kinds of unwanted attention on the tree is a bad idea.”
He stared back even as he raised an arm to point at the half-decorated tree which had glowing cords and other sources of light draped around it. “You put too many lights on the tree.”
“I wouldn't call that 'too many', more like 'just the right amount'.”
“It can be seen from low orbit like a beacon. That counts as 'too many'.”
She pouted, which meant she knew he had a point but didn't want to admit it. And she called him stubborn. Ha! “No it can't. Besides, that's different-”
Very audible munching cut her off, and they both looked in the direction of the source of the sound to find Bud disposing of the entrails in the most efficient way she knew. When she was done, she let out a muted burp and glanced curiously at each of them in turn.
“...Well,” Thia said at long last. “I guess that solves the issue.”
“Indeed.”
The topic was not discussed during dinnertime and never brought up again.
It was days later when something occurred to Dek, and he cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. Hopefully he was not too late; if the state of the tree was any indication, he should still have some time to spare.
“Thia.” To his relief, she was easy enough to find, buried nearly and literally neck-deep in her seemingly endless search through yet another storage container for anything they could use or repurpose. “That day when you told me about Christmas...”
She met his eyes for a fraction of a second, her attention mostly focused on her current task of dismantling some kind of machine with her bare hands. “What? Oh yeah, you said you had questions, right? Ask away.”
“Are gifts necessary?”
Her entire body stilled and she locked gazes with him, a strange look of shocked surprise on her face. “Uhhh, no. Not at all. Totally optional. You don't have to get anyone anything. We're just doing the bare minimum so don't worry about that, okay?”
Suspicion aroused, he studied her through narrowed eyes.
She stayed silent and tried for an innocent smile but didn't quite succeed.
Neither of them so much as twitched during the staring competition that ensued. It would have gone on for much longer until he realised that she had probably shut off all her motor processors and essentially turned herself into an immovable statue. Growling in frustration, he turned and left without another word.
He would take her silence as confirmation and act accordingly no matter what she said – or in this case didn't – later.
Time passed, more decorations appeared on the tree, and one day Thia declared that it was Christmas which meant a break from their tasks and a feast. Bud was more than thrilled about the idea of getting to eat more than usual and unfortunately took the initiative to source some of the food herself unsupervised. Dek was thus forced to head out earlier than planned to make sure she didn't get hurt and that there would actually be something to eat later.
One mostly intact bone bison carcass and a narrow escape from a luna bug later, they returned with their spoils and without injury to find Thia had already prepared everything else. Bathed in the light of the campfire and the tree's decorations, Dek and Bud ate while Thia filled the peaceful silence with animated retellings of Christmas stories.
All in all, it didn't feel that much different from any other day to Dek.
But then Thia whispered something to Bud once all the food was gone that sent the young Kalisk scampering off before asking him to stay put.
To his utter lack of surprise, she returned with a rather large metal case.
“Here, this is for you.” She was smiling but looked strangely nervous as she held it out for him to take. “I don't know if it qualifies as a present but I thought you might like to have it anyway.”
Whatever he had been expecting to find when he opened the case, it was not the plasma bow he thought he had lost forever.
“I remember you telling me about how you lost almost all your weapons to the vine serpents when you first landed on Genna,” he heard her explain. “This was the only one I could find that was still in one piece when I searched the area; the rest were only slightly better than scrap metal. But I brought everything back anyway and stashed them in one of the storage containers in case there's something you can do with them.”
She kept talking but sounded so very far away when his entire world had been reduced to the item before him. It all felt like a dream, and he slowly raised a hand to rest it on the bow just to reassure himself that it was real. “This was Kwei's,” he murmured, almost afraid to speak any louder in case his voice alone could somehow shatter the weapon. “I was never allowed to earn my own so he let me use his whenever I needed it. He never complained or refused. Not once.”
Silence descended on them, and it lasted until she sat down next to him and covered his hand with her own and gently squeezed it. “I think he would've wanted you to have it. Especially if it helped to keep you safe.”
“You shouldn't have gone alone.” It was difficult to talk, his head filled as it was with memories of Kwei, and the realisation of what she had needed to do in order to return this bow to him made it even worse. “If something had happened to you-”
“Nothing happened.” He felt the lightest of touches on the side of his face and followed its unspoken command to turn and face her soft smile. “See?” She pulled her hand back and waved her fingers in a very deliberate manner. “Every part accounted for. No need to go looking for any missing legs or arms.”
“It's not funny.”
“I know. And I wasn't trying to be. But I can take care of myself and I was very careful. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't calculated all the risks and possibilities. Which you know I did.”
Silence.
“...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you.”
“It's okay.” He closed his eyes and breathed in as if he hadn't tasted air in years. “Thank you, Thia.”
She squeezed his hand again. “You're welcome, Dek.”
Focus. He needed to focus. With great difficulty, he pulled his hand away and carefully put the case and its precious contents aside. “Your turn to stay here,” he told her gruffly, standing up and stalking off before she could do anything.
“What- Oh no. Dek, I said it was optional,” he heard her protest from behind him but she hadn't moved just as he had asked when he came back.
“For you.” He waited for her to take the hide-wrapped item before he sat back down next to her and watched her carefully unwrap it.
“A belt? No, wait. This is...” she trailed off when she found the actual gift and pulled it out of its sheath.
“I made it out of the remains of the vulture in the field,” he explained as she examined the bone knife in the dim light with quiet wonder. “To commemorate your first kill... and the first time you saved my life.”
She said nothing for a while longer, clearly lost in thought, but finally and carefully placed the knife back in its sheath before meeting his gaze again. “Dek, I... I really don't know what to say except... thank you. If I'm being honest, I don't know if I can bring myself to use this. It's just too... I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I so much as chipped it.”
He looked away and tried to shrug off the tightness in his chest. “It's yours. You can do what you want with it.”
Thia's only response to that was a non-committal hum, and after a few seconds Dek felt the slight but familiar pressure of her head resting against his shoulder.
Silence blanketed them again, but this time it was a comfortable one that did not invite further conversation. Everything that needed to be said had already been said before, and whatever else remained had been expressed without words or could wait another day.
They were here, together and alive, and nothing else mattered in this moment.
Then he quietude was shattered by the sound of metal being ripped apart and a shriek of pure delight.
“Oh, Bud finally found her present,” Thia said idly, sounding rather pleased.
Dek glanced down at the top of her head. “What is it?”
“Just some specially cooked and very select pieces of bone bison meat I hid in a container for her to find.” A pause. “I hope she doesn't expect me to do it more often because I added some stuff that's not exactly easy to get.”
“And you say I spoil her.”
“Because you do. And please tell me you got her something too.”
“...I caught a fresh cloud lizard for her to eat before we returned from our hunt.”
“Normally, I'd have another talk with you about that but in the spirit of the season, I'll let you off the hook.”
“...But I haven't been attacked with a hook.”
“...I'll explain another time. Let's just enjoy the moment, okay?”
“If you insist.”
She shifted just enough to loop her arm around his. “Merry Christmas, Dek.”
He reached out his free hand to rest on the case that held Kwei's bow and decided that perhaps this was a tradition worth adopting for their clan. “Merry Christmas, Thia.”