And here we go again.

Mark panted, his head pressed against the floor, the tip of a combi stick was being pushed against his neck, his left arm crushed under an armored boot.

He tapped his right hand twice, signaling his surrender. The weight on his bruised limb was lifted off, as was the spear.

He got back up to his feet, and bowed his head to the arbitrator in front of him. The other arbitrators observing their spar gave clicks and trolls of praise and encouragement.

The warrior he had just dueled with was armed with a katana of all weapons, but ended up using his spear once he realized that Mark would not be fazed or overpowered by using the sword.

They walked side by side to the sidelines seating themselves on some of the chairs, catching their breath from their hard and long battle.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you acquire that weapon?" he asked, pointing at the object in question.

The larger male chuckled before answering: "It was given to me by the opponent I defeated... he was a dishonorable warrior yes, but he recognized my skill to be worthy enough to wield this blade."

"This dishonorable warrior... he was a ronin, wasn't he?" the other seemed surprised at his knowledge, "Precisely, did you live the in the area?" Mark let out a small laugh "Oh no, not at all, I grew up on the other side of the planet."

Just then he saw Kyiv enter the training quarters, followed closely by Gruvin and other guards.

By his side stood another elite arbitrator, this one a female.

"Your mentor is an excellent hunter young one."

"Yes, I have been blessed by his training." he saw Gruvin call him over.

"I am afraid I must go, thank you for the spar honorable warrior." with a final nod of respect, he turned around and walked away.

It was always pleasant to be around arbitrators.

They were those who upheld the code of honor, and thus they were also the most honorable. This made them also the most open minded out of all hunters.

He was always treated with the respect his station deserved, and they simply saw him as an unblood; not a weak human and certainly not prey.

While not all of them were so open going, there was a fair number that were friendly when not on duty.

He took his place next to Gruvin, acknowledging the other hunters with another nod of respect.

He leaned to the left and whispered to his friend: "What's happening?" "I do not know. They are speaking of things that are of no concern to us."

Then, a set of guards arrived, an eldress at their head.

Their entrance through one of the many doors didn't seem to worry or startle the honorable hunters in the kehrite.

They seemed... strange. They looked to be a tiny bit smaller than the yautja around him, and the armor and ornaments they wore had a different style.

'They're from a different clan!'

Mark realized, it made sense now.

It was a curious moment: this was his first time seeing yautja that were not part of the Fire Skull clan.

The column stopped next to them, and the leader approached Kyiv and his fellow colleague.

He silently watched as the trio talked.

In less than an instant, Mark was hoisted above the ground, before he could even process what had happened, his eyes widened when he saw a pair of wrist blades erupt from his abdomen.

Chaos exploded, and he was unceremoniously thrown away, he landed on his side, and yelled when pain rammed through his lower body.

He had been shot before, but he had never felt anything even close to this agony.

Blood cascaded out of the two slits, instinctively he pressed his hands to his stomach, bile churning up his throat at seeing his red coat his fingers.

Numbness immediately washed over him, and his vision darkened. He fought to stay awake, dizziness clouding his mind.

He felt himself being placed on a table of some sorts, several taloned hands holding him down, a few pressing a cloth against his bleeding holes.

The world flashed in his eyes, on and off, on and off.

Finally, he felt the prick of a needle piercing his skin, and this time sleep overcame his defenses.

He was furious, trembling with anger and rage, his mind screaming at him to just order the execution of all the members of the visiting clan.

It was unthinkable that a hunter would try to kill the member of a clan not of their own, what was more was that it was done without provocation, in a dishonorable manner, and on sacred grounds no less.

He thanked the gods that Y'rall was there to restrain him. She was conversing with the eldress, and even though she hid her scent and emotions, Kyiv knew her well enough to determine that she was as angry as he was.

He now stood in one of the many healing quarters, watching as a few healers worked tirelessly on Mark, applying disinfectants and pain blockers.

He was not surprised when they had to operate him, but dread settled into his being when he realized the damage the attack had caused.

The blades had ripped open his intestines, and bacterial flora had leaked into his blood.

What worried him was the fact that his guts were now a mangled mess, and he would have to receive a few artificial braces to reconnect and support the remaining tissue.

That was if the bacteria wouldn't kill him first.

Operating on a yautja was a completely different matter than operating on a ooman. Mark's body was not built the same way his was; it was weaker, more fragile, less resistant.

His body could've downright rejected the artificial material.

It dawned at him that there was the chance that they would be forced to subject him to the transformation, even before the Chiva.

He received a message on his computer wrist:

"Elite arbitrator Kyiv ar'Khan,

your presence is required in the main hall, the trial of the aggressor is about to commence. Please join your fellow colleagues at once."

Letting out a frustrated growl, he gave Gruvin the task to stand guard and contact him if Mark were to reawaken.

He briskly traversed the various corridors, the yautja he encountered moved out of his way, not wanting to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

It took him a good few minutes to reach the main hall.

The enormous room was packed with murmuring and whispers. Quiet reigned when he entered, taking his place beside his counterparts.

Their seats were elevated on a higher stand than the one of the convicted.

Since they were putting on trial a member of the visiting clan, the other 5 elite arbitrators were present thanks to holographic interfaces.

None were friendly, all arbitrators stood straight to attention, immobile and still much like the towering statues decorating the room.

The pauking bad blood had the nerve to pledge himself innocent, even with the testimony of all the present arbitrators and the footage of the numerous cameras.

The vote was anonymous, Kyiv alongside the others voted for death, and so did the other five, clearly disgusted by the actions the dishonorable hunter had condoned.

It would have ended right then and their, but the eldress spoke out of turn: "That animal is just an ooman, no better than prey. My guard is innocent of this ridiculous accusation!"

Everyone present stood silent, shocked at her outburst. Kyiv gripped the edges of his seat, slowly standing up to his full height.

He openly growled at her, allowing the anger to seep into his scent.

"So you claim this pauk de bad blood is not guilty of striking an unarmed opponent, without provocation and dishonorably so, the same ooman who is my very own apprentice and who is one of Cetanu's chosen?!" he was now roaring, the older huntress growled back in response.

She was about to retort, but one of her own elites beat her to it: "Eldress, I would like to remind you that our honored matriarch will want answers if the trade deal you have been sent to broker does not come to fruition."

She wisely closed her mouth, realizing that her defiance would do more bad than good.

Y'rall nodded her head to the arbitrator closest to the accused, and the bad blood was decapitated with a simple swipe of the wrist blades.

The etas present in the room quickly removed the corpse, cleaning away the green blood.

With the trial over Kyiv briskly made his way to the exit behind the thrones, not caring if his actions would seem offensive.

This cycle had turned out bad enough as it was; he wasn't in the mood to deal with other things.

He passed Gruvin, and the two shared a short greeting.

He entered the medical quarters, and proceeded to move towards the room where Mark was kept.

He saw that his friend was sleeping, a heavy smell of anesthetics covered the room, a healer approached him and showed him a few diagnostics.

"The surgery went well, the bacteria has been cleansed from his system. We had to replace most of his intestines, and also we had to put a protective brace over his lumbar vertebrae."

Kyiv's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Was his spine damaged?" the other shook his head, "No, the blades merely chipped the bone, but I am not going to take any chances with assuming that he won't be left paralyzed."

He praised the healer for his efforts, and then sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed.

He observed the diagonal scar running across Mark's abdomen. The only sound in the room was his companion's light breathing.

The automatic door opened, and the warrior was surprised to see a priestess of Cetanu walk next to him. He rose to his feet, properly welcoming the follower of the dark hunter.

He was even more surprised when the female told him that she had come to bless him for a quick and healthy recovery.

She explained to him that Mark had made numerous offerings in the past months, his most recent one was the skull of a "Chelduh." "Sei, precisely. I can see why our god has chosen him; he is an honorable male, ooman or not."

Kyiv received another message on his computer wrist, this one from Y'rall, who had invited him to join her along the other arbitrators for the evening meal.

Biding his goodbyes, he quickly reached the designated dining hall, the tantalizing smell of cooked meat and spices invaded his senses.

He sat down with his fellow warriors, and started to consume their first course. Talk was made, along with the discussion of the gossip in the clan.

Apparently, the high matriarch had all but refused the partnership with the neighboring clan, and the offensive eldress had lost her head by the claws of her very own matron.

A formal apology was sent on behalf of their leaders, along with one from their tribunal.

"Did she truly think that she could simply do as she pleased?" the humorous question was met with barks of laughs, "I do wonder how such a hot headed female could achieve the rank of elder." laughter reigned again and Kyiv started to open up a bit more.

They asked him of Mark's condition, and were relieved to know that he was stable.

"Your student is skilled Kyiv ar'Khan, I've seen him train in the communal kehrite before, you've trained him well." his fellow huntress complimented, and he immediately answered: "What Mark lacks in strength he more than makes up for it with his will."

"He was a part of the ooman elites back on Terra. Very proficient and focused soldiers if I do say so myself." he informed, not noticing the silent ping of a message.

And here you go, the bonus chapter that was promised.

Please remember to comment and vote, until next time.