He seemed to make some headway against the animal-like intruder as the minutes dragged on, actually managing a few glancing blows before taking what appeared to be his chance. But things are never as they appear to be as when he closed in the beast gripped both of his forearms and followed with a knee strike to the stomach. His eyes almost went blank from the power behind it and a gasp followed by a spurt of blood came from his mouth.

Within moments one of his arms was released and he felt a powerful strike against his chest, the bones cracking audibly as his body was spun around leaving his still held arm gruesomely broken behind him. He was defeated the moment he thought victory was possible....he knew that now as his body slumped downward.

As his prey slumped Yautja released his hold on his shattered arm and let him fall to the floor. Turning away he walked to where he had let his weapons drop and collected his spear. At the press of a button it extended and Yautja turned back to his prey and walked towards him. His mask scanned the edge of the blade as it did and determined that it was easily sharp enough for what he needed it for. A foot pushed on his preys chest and forced him to look at Yautja as the edge was brought down across his neck, severing the head.

Yautja retracted the spear and clipped it into his webbing. He reached down and grabbed his newest trophy before walking back to his gear and going through the process of re-attaching it all. First him armour plating and than his weapons were replaced until he had fully replaced the various weapons and armour he had discarded to offer his prey the fairest fight possible.

He turned to leave, but something drew his attention back to the sealed door behind the throne. Walking towards it he let his mask scan its composition and structure. Nodding slightly to himself he reached down and unhooked a breaching charge and placed it on the door before taking a few steps back.

The charge detonated with a sharp retort and Yautja walked into the new hole in the door. He had found what his prey had considered his most valuable treasure.

With his arm released the battered man fell to the floor landing on his broken arm with a gasp of pain, but even as the foot of the beastly warrior forced him to look at him his eyes still remained defiant. Even as the blade sliced through his neck and sent him to his death. There was no one left to stop the successful hunter as he took his time reattaching his gear and preparing himself to leave. But for some reason his attention was drawn back to the sealed door behind the throne, and as the breaching charge destroyed the door he would soon find out why.

After walking down the hallway he would see what looked like a prison cell wall blocking his path, almost every bar covered with what appeared to be paper talismans. And within that cell, almost unnoticable in the long darkened room appeared to be the body of a girl which was tied with ropes at almost every opportunity. She was too far to make out any real details but even the small glimpse would be enough to attract men further.

As Yautja saw what lied within the barred door he felt his earlier contentment about a good hunt vanish and be replaced by cold hatred. Lic'Tora. Slaver. If Yautja had known about this earlier he would never have bothered offering a chance. He would have opened with his ship and would have used his shoulder cannon. His hatred at someone being controlled like that drove him closer, although his mind had enough control to bring him to a halt in front of the bars wreathed in paper talismans.

Yautja's mask could detect some unusual energy inside the talismans, but had no idea what. While his mind tried to guess what they could do his masks vision zoomed in on the bound female. He could see now that she wasn't human, her large white furred ears and long bushy tail proved that quite clearly. As for her posture and binding Yautja felt nothing but disgust and contempt for it, and what it represented. The very idea that a sentient being could be considered a thing was equal to Yautja breaking his honour. A heresy of the highest order.

Impatient and irritated at seeing someone bound in such a state Yautja's claws extended out of their holsters and he attempted to simply cut through the bars with them. His prey's head was attached to his mesh and Yautja knew that his claws would normally have no trouble cutting through the metal bars.

Having woken from the explosion Ayame was trying to look back towards the cell's entrance to see what could be coming for her now, but in her tired state her sharp eyes could only make out a large blur standing just outside the bars. It didn't look like the man who had tormented her these past long years but she knew it was too early to hope.

At the bars he would find that simply shredding them was not the greatest idea as the talismans released powerful shocking energy as they sensed that he was not a human. But to a warrior of his power it would likely do little to stop him. When he did manage to break in, and as he closed closer to the well bound girl he would see that she had been left half naked. Her breasts were hanging forward unrestrained, and her lower half was only covered by the ropes tied around the cheeks of her round ass. He would also see that another of the paper talismans was attached to the ropes their, hanging downwards and blocking the view of her cunt.

Yautja felt the shock flow through his claws and into his muscles as the blades tore through the bars as if they were not even there. The shocks were painful, but compared to the plasma burn he had felt earlier were nothing. That hadn't slowed him down, and this wouldn't either. Soon he had cut enough bars away to step through and he approached closer to the bound female.

As he saw the ropes binding her more clearly Yautja felt his hatred and rage grow. Almost to the point where he would smash the trophy he had worked so hard to hunt. But Yautja restrained himself, for the moment at least. Seeing one more of the talismans he ripped it off and discarded it, ignoring the shock. Pulling out a ritual knife Yautja started cutting each of the ropes that bound the helpless female. Fortunately his mask's scent filters were preventing him from smelling any of the huge quantity of pheromones that had saturated the air.

Soon the female was free, and when she turned to look at him Yautja offered her a canister. Inside was purified water. Yautja did not know anything about how she had been treated, other than the Lic'Tora he had just hunted had no doubt used her. In another time and under other circumstances Yautja would be very tempted to hunt her himself. But finding her like this was not a hunt, and as such he did not feel the slightest stirring of interest. No doubt her pheromones could easily change that, but he would have to ensure that his mask remained in place for as long as he remained with her. Water. The voice that came from the mask was clearly computer synthesised. Yautja had no idea how she would react to various tones and as such chose a neutral tone of voice. As he spoke he had moved the open canister even closer, encouraging her to drink.

Still managing to look towards the newcomer she heard the cell's bars clatter on the ground, cut as if they were simply paper and the steps of the large hunter as he came closer to her. She then felt the final talisman on her ripped away, and it was only then that she began to hope that she would finally get to leave this place.

The ropes binding her seemed quite old and tough, even with their small width, but it was easy enough for the powerful warrior to cut them. And when the last rope was finally cut she stumbled forward before managing to catch herself against the wall. Turning towards her 'savior' he would notice the blood red tattoo etched onto her belly before she noticed his gaze and closed the front of the little clothing covering her and looked at the canister.

Grabbing it quickly from him she sniffed the opening of it before giving a short nod of thanks and taking a drink the liquid almost seeming a blessing after her many years remaining tied up in the gloomy room.

Yautja watched as she started to drink and he wondered briefly on what the red tattoo did. The only clue he had was it seemed to pulse with a similar energy to those pieces of paper that had delivered the shock when he touched them. Similar, yet slightly different. But Yautja had no further clues, and as such did not even bother trying to guess its purpose. He would find out when it became relevant.

When she finished drinking Yautja extended his hand for the what would probably be empty water canister. When it was returned he clasped it back on his mesh and the computerised voice of his mask spoke out again. Who are you, how long have you been here and why? And finally was this the being who did this to you? As the last question is asked Yautja unclipped the trophy he had collected earlier and raised it so she could see it.

Having quickly drained the water canister she tilted it upward, tapping its bottom to try and get every last drop out of it, but when no more came she handed it back to him looking slightly disappointed. Wiping the small lines of water that had escaped onto her chin off with the back of her hand, seemingly hesitating to anwser his questions before deciding that she at least owed him something.

"My name is....Ayame. I can't remember how long I've been here but as to why I tried to rob this place when I was young and stupid." She then watched as he unclipped the 'trophy' from the mesh that held his belongings and said "Uh huh. That's him. Or I guess I should say that was him now huh?" She didn't seem to be willing to offer much more information then the questions he asked but it was easy to see that she felt no sympathy for the human even with his disembodied head right in front of her eyes.

When Ayame confirms Yautja's suspicion as to her captor he lets out a hiss of anger. He had offered an honourable hunt to a being that did not deserve it. In rage he flung the head back towards the breached door. Before it landed Yautja's mask had targeted it and his shoulder cannon fired. The guided plasma projectile hit the head almost instantly and in a brilliant flash completely vaporised it. And to think I considered him something worth hunting. He was just some lowlife trash. In his anger Yautja forgot that his mask was still translating his words.

When I get back to the Shadow Stalker this entire fortress is going to be reduced to a patch of glass.Yautja turns and starts to stalk off. In his anger he seems to have forgotten about Ayame, who would probably have worked out that unless she found a way to remain with him, for a while at least, she would die along with the others inside this fortress.

With her confirmation, it seemed as if a flash of anger struck her 'savior' and with a hiss he flung the disemobdied head back towards the breached door. Before it had even hit the ground a bright flash sprung from his shoulder, and while shielding her eyes from the glare she watched as the head was vaporized in moments. So he's a hunter huh? Explains why he came here in the first place I guess. she thought to herself as the flash from the cannon dimmed.

When he mentioned leaving and what she could only assume to be a ship's name she stumbled after him, hardly able to keep up due to the soreness of her muscles after being tied up for so long, and asked "Wait....You're not just going to leave me here are you?"

As Ayame speaks up behind him he suddenly stops and spins back to face her, and just in time to catch her as her sore muscles try to match his rather quick pace. He had forgotten about her, and her being here did complicate his plan. With her muscles as stiff as they would be he doubted she could escape, even without the threat of an imminent plasma bombardment. With it she would undoubtedly be unable to escape the destruction of the fortress.

As he realised this he determined that the only possible way for her to survive would be for him to take her with him. The idea would complicate matters a lot. Not only would he have to slow down to ensure the two escaped together he would then have to deal with her pheromones filling up the Shadow Stalker. That would take days to clear out and Yautja would be forced to keep his mask on the entire time.

As well as that Yautja was not by nature generous. He did not share things without reason, his earlier gift of water had been spontaneous and had cost him nothing. What she wanted would cost him a great deal. Yautja did not have much comfort, his ship was very spartan in its interior furnishings, but he did have a place he could rest in peace. The idea of that place being disturbed was ... unpleasant.

I am not a charity, and unless you have some reason otherwise, Yes I am. Yautja steps back, but does not start walking away again. He will give her a chance to come up with a reason. In fact something is floating in the back of his mind, an offer he could make that would give him reason to tolerate her aboard the Shadow Stalker. For a time at least.

She stopped as he spun around to face her, wondering at his reaction of her asking so much of him even after he freed her from her wretched human male captor. The anwser he gave was not completely unexpected as who would really do something so generous for nothing. And sparing little time to think "Well what could I even offer? All I have is my body and what little clothing I was left with and....." she sniffed the black and red garment before adding "....it smells like that vile human so I'm going to have to get rid of it too."

Since my mask blocks all sense of smell I will take your word for it. Well how about this deal than. I will ensure you reach the Shadow Stalker safely, and I will let you come with me. You can remain aboard it until I ask you to leave, at which point simply inform me of your desired destination and I will drop you off their. As for the price, if you are prepared to ensure my weapons and trophies are clean. And when you leave you will participate in a hunt with me. Is that acceptable?

Yautja thought that was a fairly generous offer from her perspective, and it was from his as well. He would have to keep his mask on during his stay aboard his own ship, but he would surely be able to develop some workaround. And he would have to feed, and probably clothe her as well. But in return he would get a hunt at some point, and something about the female told him it would be a good one. And a good hunt was something Yautja would pay any price for.

"That is a very generous offer, and I will accept of course. It's not like I have any other options anyways." She started walking forward again before she stopped again and asked "Should I leave this here? Or wait till we get out of the castle?" she pulled on the black and red garment before adding "Just thought I should ask since I don't think you would want your ship to smell like a human." And with that she started walking once again, seemingly eager to get out of this castle and be free once again.