After Dachande, his hunters, and ship go missing, Vk'leita is sent by higher ranked predators to investigate what happened. He goes along with a Blooded warrior, called Ci'tde, and instead of finding Dachande, they find Machiko Noguchi. After confirming that she is indeed blooded, he decides to stick with his warrior code, and bring her along on their hunt — later — back on their ship.