Blooding Ritual

"He's marking himself. Ancient warriors would mark themselves with the blood of their kill. It's a rite of passage."

―Sebastian de Rosa

Scar marking his mask.

The Blooding Ritual or simply Blooding, called the Hish Walk in the Hish-Qu-Ten culture, is a special kind of Hunt near-universal in predator communities. Blooding is a initiative process by which young adult Yautja attain adulthood in the eyes of their peers. Upon it's completion, they are no longer considered youths.

Overview

"The Burning mark was proof of his skill and his adulthood; a jagged etched badge for all to see."

―Dachande recalls his Blooding Hunt

Machiko describes the blooding process.

A training arena, used for Dark's elite blooding.

Once they have been sufficiently trained, un-Blooded or Young Blood hunters will embark on a blooding hunt. Often, this is their first hunt, which can be overseen by either a Clan Leader/Leader, Elder, Elite, or an Ancient. In most cases, these Hunts are pre-planned, the locations pre-selected and seeded with Xenomorphs with which to hunt. Planets are often re-used for multiple blooding hunts, Earth and Ryushi being two such examples. In other cases, Yautja will lure prey into a seeded hunting grounds unknowingly, so that Xenomorphs will infect them and the hunt can begin. However, Blooding can also be spontaneous and taken up opportunistically, teachers sending their charges into areas that have been pre-infested.

Yautja are typically sent out in groups of three to five in order to kill their first Xenomorph, but large groups of fourteen to fifty sometimes occur in larger excursions. Dark was blooded by his lonesome, though his trials were for Elite status, requiring the deaths of several mature drone Xenomorphs instead of one. Usually, these Xenomorphs are the less-lethal castes, such as simple immature Drones. Despite this, it is common for young warriors to perish in the attempt at attaining their adulthood. Only one instance of the complete survival of a Young Blood pack has ever been recorded, and even then their ultimates fates were unknown (and one was infected with a Chestburster). Commonly, only one Yautja emerges from a small group of would-be warriors. However, entire packs dying is unusual and often warrants investigation, usually by the clan responsible.

During the Hunt, young warriors are supervised either in-person or from afar by older hunters. They stalk and kill individual prey, and the fight for first-kill (called Jeh'twei) is feirce as it is considered a high honor. Once a Xenomorph is slain, it's blood is used to mark it's killer as a Blooded Yautja, which signal the end of their childhood. This can be done by the Yautja themselves, as seen with Scar. Yautja can also blood each other, as Dachande was blooded A'ni'de. Scar himself, newly blooded, also bloods Alexa Woods. A prospective hunter is only expected to slay one adult xenomorph, though in rare cases, such as with Dachande or Kudlak, a hunter may kill two or more. This is considered an exceptional performance and the Yautja who manage it are known to go on to be exceptional hunters.

The Mark

" You have much work ahead of you if you wish to feel the sting of the Hard Meat's thwei upon your brow-- if you survive that long."

― Nat'ka'pu to Ki'vik'-non

Scar's 'lightning' mark.

V'kleita's blooding mark.

The meaning and significance of the mark beyond a marker of adulthood varies from source to source, perhaps clan to clan. In some clans, all hunters will have the same mark, as demonstrated by the Isolated Clan. That clan's mark is said to hold some religious signfigance, being conntected to a "extraterrastrial odin", hence it's lightning shape. However, this same lightning mark has been seen outside of that clan, implying that it may not be unique to just that clan. Other sources suggest the mark indicates who a Yautja learned their skills from, stating that every teacher has their own unique mark. Indeed, Vk'leita has a mark of his own. The mark is applied to both the mask and the skin of the Yautja, the latter being painful due to the Xenomorph's acidic blood. Many Yautja are seen without marked masks, however, suggesting that the mask worn for the Blooding Hunt may not be worn again in future hunts. Many Yautja are also seen without marked flesh; presumably, this is due to the wound healing once made.

De-marking

Machiko is de-marked.

Another explanation for the lack of marks is that the Yautja may have been de-marked. It is unknown precisely what circumstances this occurs under, though appears to be involved with a hunter voluntarily giving up the life of a hunter, for one reason or another, under acceptable circumstances. For Machiko Noguchi, her de-marking occured after leaving the Ryushi Hunters behind on their hunt and choosing her humanity over the glory and thrill of hunting. It was a disdainful act for the Yautja, who removed her mark and thus her attachment to them.

De-marking is a similar process to marking. It involves taking Xenomorph acidic blood on a blade and use the flat end of the blade to effectively "erase" the mark but burning all the flesh on and around it, making it indistinguishable from the new, acid-scarred skin.

Non-Yautja

"Da'dtou-di had to be Blooded. It was his responsibility, as Leader."

― AVP: Prey

Lex, blooded by Scar, with the finger of the Drone she killed.

In rare instances, a blooding ritual will prove most unusual in that a non-yautja will unintentionally get involved in the process. Typically these non-yautja serve as host and little else; Young bloods don't even prioritize them in a the hunt (though will kill them if they interfere). But rarely they will also join in on the slaughter of the Xenomorphs, though for simple survival rather than ritual. Still, Yautja will respect this, and will blood them just as they would another Yautja. This has only occured three times, with Alexa Woods, Machiko Noguchi, and Elden.

Known Blooding Packs

• Scar, Celtic, and Chopper; Only Scar lives to be blooded.
  • Scar bloods the human Alexa Woods.
• Yen'sha, Kud'lak, and R'ka; All three hunters lived to be blooded.
• Ka'Torag, Halkrath, and Lar’jaluar-ke; only Ka'Torag lives to be blooded.
• Dachade's Unblooded; all fail.
  • Dachande bloods the human Machiko Noguchi.
  • All of Dachande's students turn into Bad Bloods, led by Tichinde.
• Claw and Others; all fail.
• Light-Stepper, Two-Stripes, and others; Two-Stripes is the only apparent casualty.
• Pig Iron and Splitter; both fail.
• Nk'mecci and his brother; both succeed.
• Shorty, Freckles, Others; Shorty and Freckles perish.
• Scavage, and Renegade, Others; Scavage succeed and lives to be blooded, is unknown what happened to Renegade and rest of them.