Chapter 85: The Male Madness
Au’dtair watched as his pet appeared on top of the dead zmaj. He stood frozen as it tried to release its blades from the creature’s head with no luck. Wondering if he was going to have to go help, his pet quickly proved its intelligence by retracting the blades. However, it didn’t appear to be to happy to be covered in the blood of its prey.
His pet was definitely a study in contradictions. It seemed too stupid to live sometimes, needed more resources than any other creature he had ever seen, and yet managed to kill a zmaj. Something that most hunters were not able to do.
Au’dtair smirked under his helmet as he watched its armor disappear. The voragyvis was clung onto its back, and yet, his pet didn’t seem to be concerned, even going as far as... pressing its lips to the voragyvis’ head? What type of gesture was that? Was that what it required as a pet and gave it to another in consolation? He would have to think about that particular gesture.
There was a vibration on his wrist unit, alerting him to an incoming communication. "Yes?" he demanded as he watched his pet going through a bag and placing a device onto the zmaj. It seemed to be... arguing... with something or someone.
"Did you hear me?" demanded the voice inside his helmet.
"Not really," said Au’dtair. His pet was much more interesting than anything that Vraev’ox needed to tell him.
"I said, you need to wrap up your hunt. We will be leaving in two rotations. Ye’tab has some information for us," said the male currently the leader of the hunt for stolen technology. Au’dtair turned his attention back to his pet just in time to see the zmaj disappear. He narrowed his eyes. He had never seen any hunter treat a prey like that. Was it not taking a souvenir? It was an impressive kill. It should be celebrated.
"No," said Au’dtair, in a hurry to hang up on Vraev’ox. His pet was once again treading through the jungle, the voragyvis now clinging to its back with the bag hanging behind it.
"Repeat," clicked Vraev’ox, his outer mandibles clicking in irritation.
"You leave in two days to meet up with Ye’tab or whatever your plans are. I will stay here," said Au’dtair as he started following behind his pet. It was almost laughable that the other male was going to leave the planet when his prey was currently not more than 1,000 clicks away from him.
But Vraev’ox’s prey was his pet, and he was not interested in having the other male hunting it and finding just how interesting it was. "No," replied the other male. "We need to find the stolen technology. Your hunt can wait. Besides, just how are you going to leave the planet without a ship?"
"I will figure that out when I need to," Au’dtair replied with an irritated click of his own. His mandibles were moving uncontrollably as the pheromones released by this pet entered his helmet’s breathing systems. He could feel himself become out of control. The need to mate was pressing on him, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Shaking his head, he filtered out half of the pheromones so that he could concentrate on something other than his root. He then took a sample of them in order to be able to study it later. It would be interesting to see what signals his pet was putting out.
And did it affect all males or just him? He was not in the mood right now to find out.
"I am coming to your location, you seem distracted," said Vraev’ox, causing Au’dtair to issue a challenging growl without realizing it. "My point exactly. You are out of control. Am I going to need to put you down or find you a female? You are too young to succumb to The Male Madness."
"You stay away from me, and we will be just fine," clicked out Au’dtair; however, making meaningful sounds was a bit beyond him right now. The idea of the other male coming close enough to scent his prey was almost too much for him.
"You are a good friend," said Vraev’ox slowly over the comms. "I don’t want you to go through The Madness by yourself." His statement caused Au’dtair to pause mid-step. Was he experiencing The Madness? What that what the physical changes to his body were indicating? But that was impossible. He was still centuries away from even possibly experiencing The Male Madness.
Unless the pheromones of his pet were setting off The Madness. But not all males experienced it either, but those that did were hunted down and killed without mercy. Au’dtair cracked his neck back and forth, trying to think past his physical reactions.
If a male had tried to take his pet away from him, then he would enter into a Berserker state the likes of which had never been seen. Maybe that was the basis of The Madness; the other males were attempting to remove the Saalistaja from the thing that called to him. Maybe it wasn’t madness, but something differently entirely.
Whatever it was, The Madness or something else, it didn’t matter. What mattered was staying with his pet. Nothing can get between them, or he would kill them, friend, brother, or Elder. "I will deal with it by myself. I am probably just getting frustrated that this hunt isn’t going the way I expected it to," admitted Au’dtair giving a half explanation as to what he was experiencing.
"If you are sure. Remember, a good hunter is a steady hunter," said Vraev’ox as if offering words of wisdom. Au’dtair held back a snort. If only the other male understood just how steady he was being right now, he wouldn’t be questioning him.
"Understood. Happy Hunting," he said, putting an end to the conversation. So far, his pet had narrowly avoided the bite of two smaller venomous creatures and being taken away by a shkaba.
His pet was extremely accident-prone. He sighed in frustration when he realized that he wouldn’t have it any other way.
