Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior: an Alien story ❯ One-Shot

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Warriors at heart. Hunters of one. That was the way thought to be of the Yautja. But, I was never supposed to learn the truth.

I don't remember much of anything from my culture, except an unnatural hatred for this species. This species that I was a part of. Being a Predalien thrown into a most hateful culture.

*******

I slept, comfortable and satisfied for now. My Host was threatened, but I didn't care. I hadn't slept in three days because of this. Something was bothering him.

The Elders were bothering him. His thoughts were full of Them. I felt my Host moving to battle, and fell into a deeper sleep.

When I woke, it was unnaturally cold. I soon realized why. My Hosts body jerked once, and then a spear left my side. I peeked out the wound and there were a few Hunters there. One looked different than the others.

Gilded armor, cape, longer dreadlocks, and he held the spear covered in my Hosts blood. I cringed. I had to escape, but I would be killed. I was sure of that. They didn't know that he was infected.

I didn't care anymore. Death might be better than it sounded. I waited a few seconds, until everyone I could see had turned away. And then I jumped out. I escaped out of the same wound that the spear had left.

The Hunters turned as one, froze, and stared at me, nothing more. They just stood there. I took my first breath, and coughed on Hunter blood. I felt a warm spot on my head, and looked up.

Three dots were on my forehead. The Hunter aiming at me froze. I so wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't respond. My shoulder was cut, probably from the spear that had killed my Host.

I closed my eyes as one of the younger Hunters approached me. He picked my head off the ground, and I opened my eyes again.

His face was in mine, mandibles twitching anxiously. I copied him. He wiped some of the blood off my face.

“D'acht, get away from that thing. It'll kill you.” A voice called.

The Hunter by me turned. “But, father, it's too injured and young to attack. Look how docile it is. How many Predaliens are like this one? It even looks different.” He turned back to me. “Got a name? All of your kind is born with one.”

I stared at him. “No. I don't think so.” I said, in perfect Yautja. I felt everyone staring at me.

“You're hurt.” He said, placing his hand over my shoulder. “Your bloods not even acidic yet. You have no defenses.”

“So what? I'm too young. You said it yourself. And, one of you is going to kill me. I can tell.”

They all stared at each-other, then at me, then at their Elder. The Elder was the one who had killed my Host. He approached me, knocking D'acht away. It was then that I was able to stand, and I moved into a defensive position.

He went to attack, but I dodged with skill that I didn't have before. My Host was a strong warrior, and I stole that trait from him. I attacked back, clawing his arm. Blood sprayed the floor.

He was surprised at that. Most Aliens must have been easy prey for them at my age. I was different. Even I could tell I was.

“You are a worthy opponent. Even for a most worthless species.” The Elder said, stopping the fight.

“Worthless! Excuse me? I am not worthless! I can be just as, as perfect as any of you!” I exclaimed, circling him.

“Prove it. You stay here. And, by the time you're full grown, if you're as perfect as us, you can stay. If not, you Die.” He laughed. I nodded.

It was settled. I was to train with D'acht until I reached adulthood. If I failed to prove myself, I would be killed.

Morning came with a most unwanted wake-up call. I had fallen asleep on the floor in D'acht's room. They woke us up with a foghorn. Breakfast was crap. Dried food with no flavor. I rather have eaten rotten meat. Or cardboard. Yeah, cardboard would've defiantly been better.

Half-asleep, we were forced outside. Some of the older Hunters supplied us with armor. I got the wrist-bracelets, and a spear that I gave to D'acht. D'acht got everything. They fitted D'acht with a mask, and taught him how to use the vision modes and taught both of us how to use the cloak. We had to fight each-other.

We circled. I knew how to win without killing him. I dodged his attacks, and tripped him with my tail. His leg had hit my tail-spike and he was now bleeding. He couldn't hurt me. I was too fast.

They stopped the fight after a few minutes. D'acht was taken into the infirmary for treatment. I followed. The other Hunters stared at me as I tried to talk to D'acht. We ended up arguing about our fight.

When he was treated, we were let outside. Everybody was outside; the adults were all by each-other, and a few children were whispering. One of them approached D'acht, followed by the others.

“Hey, D'acht! What's with the inferior pet following you around? Can't find any real friends?” The largest of the five said, and then laughed. He appeared to be the leader of these kids, and he wanted to fight D'acht.

“Back off, C'atie! She's a whole lot smarter than you!” D'acht said, readying to defend himself.

“Let's settle this! Right here, right now!” With that, he attacked D'acht.

I could barely stay focused on them. They flipped out on each-other. They had reasons to fight, reasons to kill.

And suddenly, there was a spray of blood. Florescent green lit up the ground as someone screamed out in agony. D'acht was hit. His side was cut wide open, and he was struggling to stay on his feet.

“Brought down by a little cut? Come on, D'acht! You're weaker than that thing following you!” C'atie said, wiping the blood off his spear.

D'acht fell to his knees, and hung his head. C'atie readied to cut off his head. D'acht removed his mask, and his face just read “help me”. I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something.

I hissed and jumped in-between them. I roared in C'atie's face. I felt the others turn to watch us. We circled. I attacked first. My wrist-blades missed his face by inches. I caught his head in my hands, and prepared to head-bite him. One of the adults pulled me off of him. But my tail “accidentally” cut his side.

I went immediately to D'acht's side. He was hurt badly, and rested his hand on my head. I sat down by him. Suddenly, the Elder was there, staring at us.

“D'acht, looks like your unnamed friend is quite brave. Most of its kind would've let you Die back there.” He said, then turned and left.

I looked back at D'acht. He seemed to be thinking, but I couldn't read the Yautja's facial expressions.

“What are we going to call you?” He said, sighed. “I have no idea.”

“Anything really. As long as it's not something stupid, I don't really care.” I looked around, then back at him.

“Tian means trust in our language. Is that a good enough name for you?” He looked back at me.

I nodded. “Tian it is, then. I like it.”

“Come on, um, Tian. I need to get my side fixed. Help me up.” He said, leaning on me to help steady his legs.

I stayed close to his side as we walked back on the ship. C'atie was aboard already, and he would want a rematch. I would have to try not to kill him.

As we entered the infirmary, C'atie glared at us from across the room. I glared back. We stared at each-other as D'acht was treated.

We were enemies from then on. He hated me because I wasn't of his species. I hated him because he was going to kill one of his own, dishonorably, without a full fight. And he didn't even consider trusting me. I would have more than just that against him soon enough. Then, I would be able to kill him.

I had a feeling that the meeting the adults had was about my actions earlier. D'acht and I were left with the others in the infirmary, since that room had a one-way lock. We were locked in. And half of them wanted to kill us.

D'acht sat on a spare bed, and I laid on the floor by his feet. The others continued to whisper and stare at us. I continued to glare back at them.

I caught a glimpse at my reflection, off of one of the metallic things nearby. Blue-eyes, same colored skin as D'acht, and my excuse for hair at the back of my head already in dreadlocks. I was completely sure if I was fully Yautja, I would have fit in perfectly with everyone else.

D'acht didn't appear to want to talk to these people. I had no problem in killing them all, but I didn't want to end my life this soon. But, if I made Hunter before them, they would hate me; yet have to listen to me.

That kind of power I wanted. If I could get that far, I would be satisfied. But if I could be Blooded, that was a different story. The Blooded were of an elite force, Hunters gone out of their way for the sake of the Kin.

The Elder was in the room suddenly, and he approached us. D'acht stood up and I sat up, mainly because D'acht had dragged me up.

“We have discussed the day's events,” He said, alerting the others, “and have decided on one thing. You two will be left in the most remote area we can find to Hunt. If you survive, you're Hunters, if not you are forgotten.”

We nodded, and were led out to select our Hunting gear. While D'acht picked out his weapons, I sharpened my claws and tail. Those were the only weapons I needed, but I took some extra ammo and med-techs just in case. It was our first Hunt, ever, and the Kin wasn't gonna help us.

I knew this was more about me than him. I had to prove myself, and D'acht was going to be helped by it. If I passed, so would he. We were not only friends, but battle partners. Not many Yautja could trust one another for that.

We stepped into the forest that stretched for miles before us. Our first Hunt ever. It was survive or Die. We watched as the ship left, and then staked out the tops of a few trees as base camp. It was then that D'acht turned to me.

“Tian, I know this test is more for you than for me. But, I think we should get our own kills, like you go one way I go the other. If anything bad happens, we could call out and come help. Ok?”

I nodded, and he ran off, spear in hand. I finished hiding our weapons in the trees, and headed off to Hunt. I spotted my prey: a lone raptor-like creature. I stalked it quietly. I readied to strike.

There was a call suddenly, and the creature scurried off. It was D'acht. I recognized his voice calling my name. I ran faster than I ever thought I could. I reached where he was, and killed the Human that was cutting him. The knife flew from the Humans' hand, impaling a tree.

D'acht was injured beyond belief and I had to force him back to camp. If we stayed there he would have died. His blood left a trail back to our camp, but I could kill any enemy that came our way.

D'acht's hands shook as he treated his wounds. That was one of the lessons he had to learn. All Hunters had to learn how to treat their own wounds on their own, with no ones help.

I stayed as look-out and by his side.

I stayed up as D'acht fell asleep. It was dark now, and I Hunted any of the creatures that came to attack us. I couldn't sleep when I had a chance. Something was bugging me, and I couldn't think of what. My best guess was that I was worried about our survival on our first Hunt.

We were young. D'acht was around eight, and I was just a few days old. But, I was half his height already. We were so different, yet we were friends. There was that trust there. That same trust that he could protect my life.

Daylight revealed twenty-five skulls from the attackers the night before. D'acht was better, not as weak as before. In fact, he went off Hunting as soon as he woke up. I stayed close to camp.

Something told me to. But, that didn't stop my Hunting. The raptor-things kept coming, and I kept killing.

I started carving one of the larger raptor-thing skulls into a spear-gun. D'acht would appreciate that.

He returned shortly, and he looked awful. He was pale, sweating, and there were lacerations around his face. There were deep acid burns on his flesh and armor. He fell to his knees, and then leaned onto his hands.

“What happened? D'acht?” I said, rushing to his side.

“I was attacked by a facehugger. I was able to fight it off before it was too late, but it did choke me. I was able to kill it. But, then I was attacked by an Alien. I forget what happened next. I think I was attacked by another facehugger.” He said, nervously, paused. “I don't know what to do know. I don't even know if I'm infected or not.”

I moved by him. I smelt no Alien.

“You're not infected. If anything, you were attacked by a dud.”

He sat back onto his heels. “You think so?”

“Yeah. But, we'll check back at the ship.”

His body stiffened suddenly. In a matter of seconds, there was an Alien tail-spike through his chest. A small Queen had impaled him. I prepared to attack as the Queen neared me. She flung D'acht away from us, and I heard him hit a tree.

“A young Alien working with a young Hunter. You may be half of his species, but you can't stay with him!” The Queen said, and then attacked me.

I dodged and cut her side. There was a horrible screech from her. There was a hum in the distance that I recognized as the ship's engine. If I could just keep this Bitch busy until the others came, I would be set.

I kept dodging the Queen's attacks. Then, she got me. I was pinned, and she prepared to head-bite me. But then, she was knocked to the side. D'acht was in the fight again. I couldn't go and help him. The Queen flung him back into the forest. I snapped and cracked the Queen's neck. She was Dead. I had killed one of my own.

I turned to see the ship, and the Elder, along with a few others. They were staring at me. I turned to face them.

“D'acht was fighting with me. That thing flung him into the woods. He's hurt. We have to help him.” I said, and then ran off. They followed.

I found D'acht after a few minutes. He was sprawled out on the ground, blood all around him. As I neared him, he woke up.

“Tian, help me.” He said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“The others followed me. We're going to help you.” I said, turned. “Help me get him back to the ship.”

The ones who followed me nodded and helped D'acht back. I covered them, making sure nothing was going to attack them.

Back at the ship, D'acht was treated for his wounds. I stayed by him. I whispered what I had told the Elder and to play along. All he could do to answer me was nod. I had to wait until his treatment was done until I could get an answer.

“Remember what I said. I don't want to lie to the Elder.” I said.

“I know, but if I told my half, it wouldn't be lying. And besides, he's right behind you.” He said.

I froze. I was caught in a lie. I was going to be killed. I knew it. I turned to face him.

“We saw the whole fight. You don't have to explain anything. Tian, come with me for a minute.” He said.

I nodded and followed him.

“What do you want to tell me?” I said, leaning against the wall.

“It's about D'acht.”

I leaned closer to him. “Go on.”

“He's infected. I know that you didn't sense any. But, our equipment is extremely high-tech. I figured that you're the only one that can keep him calm when we tell him. He has to go into surgery as soon as possible. You have to convince him.”

“He's infected? I was wrong? I was wrong! He did say that he was attacked by an Alien too. Maybe I had mistaken the smell of the chestburster for the attacker.” I looked up at him. “He might not trust me after this.”

“We'll figure out the minor details later. Every minute counts now, and we have to tell him now and get that thing out of him.”

As we started out, I said. “Why do you care so much? I saw you with the spear that killed my Host. You killed him, but you're worried about D'acht. How come?”

“Because I'm the only thing he has left. His mother abandoned him with me. He's my only son.”

I stopped short. “You guys are related?!?”

He nodded and stopped the subject as we entered the room.

D'acht looked at us. I could smell the Alien now, and I became tense. I wanted to help him, but something felt wrong.

“D'acht,” The Elder said, “I have some bad news. You're infected.”

“What? I can't be! Tian said—”

“Tian was wrong! Don't argue! You need surgery now!”

With that I was let out of the room.

I didn't know how D'acht would treat me now. I felt like that trust would be gone. I had made a stupid mistake. A mistake that can still take D'acht's life. I just leaned back against the wall in the hallway where I waited. I had to find out if he survived, but I also had to wait.

If he hated me now, I deserved it. I had made this mistake and if they didn't check him, he would've Died by now. But, I deserved anything that he did to ignore me. Even if I had to be killed.

I looked up to see the Elder, a.k.a D'acht's father, coming towards me. I didn't move. I didn't feel the need to.

“D'acht is alright. The Alien's Dead. He's looking for you.” He said.

I nodded and followed him. D'acht was still pale, sweaty, and his chest was wrapped in bandages. As I neared him, he struggled to sit up, and failed. I reached his bed and put my hands on the bed.

“Tian,” He said, put his hand on my head, “it hurts when I breathe.”

“It's alright, D'acht. You're not going to Die now. It's Dead.” I said, trying not to sound nervous.

He paused. “How could you been wrong about me being infected? You're Alien, right? How could you be wrong?” He yelled at me.

“You were attacked by one too! Remember? I could not tell the two scents apart! I'm sorry!”

He stopped. He and the Elder stared at me. I didn't get it. What did I say?

“What?” I said, looking at them.

“You said sorry. Hunters usually don't admit to their mistakes.” The Elder said. “You're not normal. But, you're worthy to be a Hunter. This proves it.”

I just stared at him. “I-I am? I'm a Hunter? I made it? I'm not going to Die? That's it? I'm in?”

“Yeah. Both of you. The others are going to be pissed, right?”

I nodded. D'acht laughed, and then stopped suddenly. He sat up, and grabbed his chest, and started coughing terribly. He couldn't breathe, I could tell. I rushed to his side, and leaned on his shoulder. Me just being there seemed to help him out. He stopped immediately, and fell back to sleep.

I turned back to the Elder. He was looking at me funny. He walked over and removed one of D'acht's bandages.

“You healed him. Look.” He said, pointing to D'acht's arm.

I looked over to see the wound gone. “How the hell did I do that?”

“You must have some power that others don't have. If I'm loosing a battle, I'll just suddenly get the strength to win. You must have that power to heal the ones you care about.”

I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. But, it would be good to have that kind of power.”

He nodded and continued to remove the bandages covering D'acht's once life-threatening wounds.

D'acht woke up soon after that. He sat up, and was confused for a minute. He had no pain. He looked over at us.

“Tian, what happened? I feel better.” He said.

“I think I found a way to heal you. Whatever happened, you're better now.” I said. “Please don't be mad at me for lying. I helped you to Hunter.”

“I'm not mad at you. I just didn't like that you were wrong.” He paused. “Lying is what got C'atie to be my enemy. I told him not to go out that day. He said that he would stay. But he left. And he got hurt. I was blamed, because I didn't go with him.”

“It's alright now. I won't do anything like that. I'm not like the others. You can probably tell that much.”

He nodded. “We're Hunters now. Next step is Blooded.”

“When we are older. I am not risking my Life anytime soon to raise my rank!” I joked.

They laughed. Then, the Elder said, “Let's get your new armor and weapons. Let's just see C'atie bother you now.”

I followed them to the weapons room. Wall to wall weapons. Guns, spears, smart-discs, knives, more guns, ammo, net-launchers, spear-guns, even more guns, and more that I couldn't figure out. D'acht picked out his weapons for battle and for Hunts.

I watched as D'acht was given his new armor, and was told to change before dinner. It was the first time we were going to eat with the others. D'acht always ate in his room with me. And now we were to eat with the others as equals.

D'acht went to change, and I stayed by the Elder. He gave me the necklace only a Hunter could earn. A necklace with sharp teeth and a skull of a small Human in the middle of it. I was part of the Kin.

D'acht returned shortly, and the only difference in his armor was that it was silver and sharper points than his training armor. We had the same necklace. I walked next to him entering the dining area.

For once, D'acht wasn't afraid to go by C'atie and the others. In fact, he wanted to piss C'atie off. I followed D'acht as he sat down by the others.

“D'acht go away. No one needs you around.” C'atie said, glaring at us.

“You can't order me around. Notice the necklace.” D'acht said.

“You took that from your father.”

“Actually, we're Hunters. Tian and I. You can't tell me to do anything. Tian is staying with us for good now. She is the Kin pet. She'll kill you in an instant.”

C'atie glared at me. I glared back.

“Tian is still a Bitch from another species. And, you're still an asshole that needs her help in any battle.” He paused, “Just wait five years.” C'atie said then left.

The next few years went by quickly. D'acht wasn't a little kid anymore, having reached 6 feet tall by his 13th birthday. I was still half his height, until I stood on my hind legs, which was when there was only centimeters difference between us.

I was five now, and I had recalled what C'atie had said a while ago. “Just wait five years.” Well, we did. So far nothing bad has happened. There was a few meeting with me not invited, but that wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal, until D'acht came out of one really upset.

“What happened now?” I said, looking up at him.

“A few others and I have to leave. There is that Hunt.” He paused, looked me in the eye. “We are going fight to the Death with your species. They said that you can't come. And, I have to trust C'atie.”

“Oh, great. You might Die and I'm going to be stuck up here watching you. When do you have to leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

I froze. “Tomorrow? Great.”

He turned and went with the others. I followed them. They went to the weapons room to pick out their weapons, which ended up with C'atie fighting two others for a spear that there was five of. D'acht went after the ones with more than one blade or multi-victim-hitting guns.

Fighting my species could kill him. Hell, I could kill him.

The next day, I followed the Elder as D'acht and the other young Hunters left to Hunt on the planet below us. We were close enough to the planet that I could sense the Aliens. It was driving me crazy. I wanted to kill them.

I sat by the window overlooking the planet. From there, I could get through to D'acht; could see what he saw. What I saw shocked me.

For a few minutes it was black, but then there were many Aliens. D'acht attacked immediately. It went black again. I couldn't stay in his head.

When I regained my link to him, the Aliens were gone, but I could tell he was in pain. He was heading towards the exit. I lost contact again. And I didn't feel like reestablishing that link. I knew enough for now.

D'acht was injured, and escaping. I quickly told the Elder. He said that there was nothing he could do.

That all changed when we found out that the Aliens had escaped from the training grounds. We had to go and put them back. We had only minutes to decide on a plan, and then it was to the planet. The ship landed while everyone prepared their weapons and cloaked.

We stepped into the cold. Snow was everywhere. I could tell there had just been a blizzard because most of the snow was untouched, and the Hunters ships were snow blown. We walked, all cloaked and in unison, to where the Aliens were. The plan was to have me go and talk to the Queen, and have Her call the rest back. That would be no simple task. Queens were the worse thing to try to talk to.

I walked along the edge of the Kin, running over rocks and snow mounds. I sat on one of the taller rocks as the Kin fought over which attack plan to go with. I laughed at their stupidity.

And then, I slipped. My claws scratched the rock as I tried to get my footing. I fell onto a snow mound and was very surprised when it jumped.

There was a horrible cracking sound as blood hit the snow. The frostbitten face of D'acht stared back at me. His skin was cracking from the cold.

“Oh my God. D'acht.” I said, digging him out of the snow. Half of his heated armor was missing.

“Tian,” He said. The skin around his mandibles cracked.

“You're skin keeps cracking. Talk now so little damage can happen.”

There was a pause. “Tian, I'm infected. I came out here to Die. I was checking something on my mask and when I turned I saw a facehugger. It attacked and I fell backwards. I blanked out. When I woke up it was lying Dead next to me.” He paused, coughed, “I'm gonna Die.” He coughed again. That cough shook his body.

“It's not too late, D'acht. We can still help you.” I turned and called, “Guys, get over here now!”

The Elder ran around the rock. “D'acht! What happened?”

“You tell him. I'm going to talk to the Queen.” I turned to the Elder. “He needs help. If you guys can, stay here so I'll know where to go to get home.” With that, I ran to the entrance of the cave.

The Praetorian Guards at the entrance stopped me. “Who are you? What is your business here?”

“I'm Tian. I wish to speak to your Queen on behalf of my Kin. We sent Hunters here and there seems to be some, complications with the Hunt.” I said.

They nodded. I ran into the Queens chamber.

“What do you want?” She hissed. She was massive. I had never seen a full-grown Queen before, and I tried to keep my fear hidden. She could kill me before I could say anything to Her.

“I want to discuss your expansion of your Hive. It's upsetting the Kin.” I said, approaching the Queen.

“How so?” She said, and then growled at me.

“They're going to the surface. My Kin will kill you and everyone else if this offer isn't fulfilled. You'll live if you stay underground until permitted else wise. Better Hosts will be provided. We don't want the Humans to find out. The Humans could destroy your Hive and kill all of your children.”

“Fine. Deal. Hosts as soon as possible.” The Queen then hissed for everyone to come back inside.

“Thank you.” I said, bowed my head.

“Tian!” A voice called. I turned to see S'ans, the newest member of our Kin.

“S'ans? What now?” I said, turning and going to his side.

“It's D'acht. He's looking for you.”

“Right. Back to D'acht. Come on.” I ran out to where I saw the others.

The Elder was kneeling by D'acht, as if comforting him. The others were all standing around them. D'acht was crying, coughing now and again, and his wounds were gushing blood.

“D'acht, I'm here.” I said, rushing to his side.

“Tian,” He paused, coughed again, “I-I don't want to Die!” D'acht screamed. He convulsed. The skin on his chest bulged, cracked. There was that horrible cracking noise again. Skin and bone cracked as he convulsed again, blood spraying from his chest and mouth.

“Hold him down!” Somebody called. I think it was me.

Instantly, there were Hunters holding him down, but with a price. His skin cracked and bled where they held him, and his skin was splitting from the fact that he was thrashing from the pain.

I couldn't do anything for him. My mind said `save him', but my body wouldn't respond to the command. All I could do was stand there and wait.

He looked at me, and I saw the pain through his eyes. His eyes where blue I hadn't noticed before. He wanted me to help, but I couldn't. His face was drenched in tears. He flung his head back and yelled.

D'acht convulsed again, and his chest practically exploded. The chestburster flew from his chest, landing in the snow. The snow stuck to its blood covered body, lowering its body temperature drastically.

“Leave it. It'll Die from the cold.” I said, turned back to D'acht. “You still with us? D'acht, were gonna get the ship. Stay with us.”

He did his best to nod. The skin around his neck cracked. Blood hit the ground, and froze instantly.

To keep him from further frostbite, we had covered him with a spare blanket. There was no way to raise his body temperature from here. The Elder called the ship on auto-pilot, and we were shortly back in the heat.

I stayed with D'acht as he was treated. He was calm with me there, compared to the last time when I was left out and he panicked. I seemed to help him remain calm. My best guess was that is anything went wrong, that I could help him out.

D'acht's wounds were covered and he was left to recuperate in the infirmary. His skin was scarred from the frostbite. His right arm was completely covered in bandages, and was resting from a sling around his neck.

“What happened to your arm?” I said after five minutes.

“When I had to be restrained, one of the Hunters grabbed my arm too tight. I guess that I moved the wrong way and that was when it snapped.” He said, his voice cracking. “Hurts like hell too.”

“At least you're alive. You could've Died if I didn't fall on you in the first place.” I paused. D'acht had turned away from me. “Are you alright?”

He didn't look back at me. “You should've let me Die.”

“What?” I said, shocked.

He turned back to me. “I said, you should've let me Die. How many Hunters are this, this clumsy? I've been almost killed three times. I can't Hunt by myself. If you weren't around, I would've Died five years ago by the hands of C'atie! You're the only reason why I'm alive!”

“I have kept you alive because you're the only reason I wasn't killed in the first place! Remember? You stopped your father from killing me!” I paused. “I was just returning the favor.”

He turned to me, but hit his arm on the side of the bed. He recoiled, and held onto his arm.

“Goddamnit.” He said under his breath. Blood stained the bandage.

“Let me see your arm. You're bleeding again.” I said.

He reluctantly let me look at his arm. There was a gash that wasn't fixed in the first place. I put my hand over his arm. There was a flash, then the pain was gone. He looked at me weird.

“How the hell did you do that?” He said.

“I wish I knew. But, that's how you got out of here quick before.”

He looked at me in the eye. I could tell he felt terrible. “How come you can't heal me that way?”

“Like I said. I don't know how. It just happens sometimes.”

He nodded, and sighed. “I want to get back to the Hunt.”

“You have to get better first. You can't go `my arm feels better so I'm going to Hunt the very thing that almost killed me'. You'd Die if you go Hunt now. You now that just as well as I do.”

“I know, I know. You don't have to tell me. I just like Hunting. Killing helps me from being stressed out. It's a habit.”

“I can't picture you staying sane when we have to go between planets. I'll probably just go insane of not being able to run around.”

He managed to laugh at that. “Yeah. But we're fighting a rival Kin later this week. I want to fight by then.”

“You probably will.”

After three days, D'acht was back to his old self. Just in time for the Kin battle. We attacked first, and I killed one of the Hunters with a head-bite. Without even thinking I attacked another. It was one from my Kin. I felt something hit the back of my head, and then it went black.

When I awoke, it was still dark. I was in a room, and there was a collar around my neck. I went by the door, and I got shocked until I returned to the corner. I was isolated. I didn't mean to attack one of my own Kin. It was an accident. But, how come I couldn't stop myself from attacking him?

D'acht was there suddenly. I went by his side, but somehow I went for his neck. I was shocked again, and recoiled to my corner. My back faced D'acht as I found my neck bleeding.

“You attacked me?!?” D'acht said, furious and approaching me. “How could you? I thought we where friends! You attacked S'ans outside! Do you even know that? You went for my father too! What's wrong with you? All of a sudden you're attacking us! Answer me, goddamnit!”

I looked over at him. “I wish I knew what's wrong with me, D'acht.” I said my voice cracking.

“You don't even know, do you?” He paused. “Your eyes just went from blue to yellow, and back to blue.”

I knew what was wrong with me then. “Oh shit.” I turned back away from him. “I'm going to be stuck in here forever. I know it.”

“No. You shouldn't be in here that long. They said only a week or two. That's if you're curable.”

“I'm not.” I snapped, curling up.

He stared at me blankly. “What? How do you know?”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “You said my eyes turned yellow. That is what all of the other Predaliens eyes are. The ones that kill anything and everything that moves. It's the natural eye color of any murderous Alien. I'm resorting back to my natural instinct. The fact that I had head-bitten that Hunter must've triggered it.” I paused. “You're better off leaving me here, or killing me.”

“You are not staying in here. And, I'm not going to kill you.” He went to my side. “I'm returning the favor. You saved my life, three times. And, I will risk mine again to save yours.”

I looked back at him. “You sure?”

He nodded.

“You can Die. I might kill you without realizing it. There are risks involved in helping me. You know that.”

“I know. But, you'll Die if you're left in here. I will do anything to keep you around. You are the only thing keeping me alive.”

I hung my head, and fought off the urge to kill D'acht. I couldn't. I hit my head against the wall, twice, and then the thought went away. I had a slight headache, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

“You wouldn't have a plan about keeping me from killing the others, would you?” I said, rubbing my head.

“Kind of. Mostly just keeping you on a leash, and separate from the others.” He said, noticing my neck bleeding. “How's your neck?”

“Fine. I'm just bleeding.” I paused. “But, won't your father say no?”

“No. I already asked him. He said that training, for you, starts tomorrow.”

I nodded, and he left.

The next day I awoke feeling sick. My head was spinning. My neck was still bleeding, and my blood burnt through my left arm overnight. I got up, and limped over to the door. I was shocked again and collapsed. I crawled back to my corner.

D'acht might not even come for a few hours. My condition could worsen. I could Die in here.

I curled up, my tail resting in front of my face. It was then that I realized how hungry I was. I was weak, hungry, and tired. And, I was going crazy. I felt cold, and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

My eyes flickered open. D'acht was shaking me. I was still lying where he couldn't tell my leg was damaged and my neck was bleeding.

“Come on. Get up. You have to start training.” He said.

“I don't feel good.” I mumbled.

“What? Speak up.”

I picked up my head. The air hitting my leg stung terribly. My neck was still bleeding, but I didn't feel it.

“Your neck is still bleeding?” He said, shocked.

I moved my leg towards him. My arm was basically bone, the flesh having burned away. A few pieces of flesh and muscle hung loosely off the bone.

“Damn.” He said, and then picked up my arm carefully, trying not to burn himself. “What happened?”

I looked at him. “I think my blood's gone acidic. My skin won't heal by itself.”

He nodded. “No one will come by you. You might be stuck in here and like this for a while.”

I nodded. “I don't feel too good. My head's spinning.”

“It's alright. Tian, I'll go talk to my father. For now, we'll just wrap your arm and neck to stop some of the bleeding.”

I nodded. He left after fixing my wounds and giving me some scraps. I curled back up and slept.

D'acht woke me up again, this time to get my arm fixed. He hooked my collar to a leash and I limped to the infirmary. I was left alone with the medic, and my arm was clamped down to the table. I laid down on the remainder of the table.

Pain washed over me as my nerves and veins had to be reattached. I showed no pain, but I wanted to be anywhere but here. I was able to see D'acht through the window from where I was.

D'acht walked past the window, and then he was in the room. He went to my side. I would've said something, but the pain from my arm was killing me.

“Tian, you'll be out of here soon enough. And, your arm won't be ripped apart.” D'acht said, resting his hand on my head.

“I hope so.” I said through gritted teeth. “I want my arm to be fixed, or gone.”

D'acht laughed.

I flinched. My arm looked almost normal, but it hurt like hell. I wanted to get up and leave the room. But, I had to have my neck fixed too.

“I wanna get out of here.” I said as the last few stitches were sown into my arm. Bandages covered that.

I sat up and was shocked. My collar was still on. D'acht reached over and carefully removed it from my neck.

Upon seeing my neck, he said, “Ouch. Your skin is raw.” He turned. “How many volts did you guys put this on?”

One of the Hunters, that was on the other side of the window, came in. “Volts? Twenty. Why?”

“Twenty? Are you crazy? That could kill her! It already burnt most of her skin away!”

He backed down. I got bandages around my neck and was dismissed. I stayed by D'acht. I was allowed to stay loose. Most of the Hunters were outside or in their quarters during the day. There was no chance of me killing anybody.

I was tired from the whole epidemic. D'acht and I sat outside and watched the others train. C'atie kept falling on his face. We kept laughing at him.

C'atie stared at us blankly. He still hated us. He came over after finishing his so-called “battle”.

“D'acht, I heard that Tian snapped and almost killed your daddy. Is that true?” He said, stopping three feet away from us.

“So what, C'atie? She's fine now.” D'acht said, trying to remain calm. “At least she has the will power to stay on our side.”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell me about it. But, let's not talk. Let's fight!”

D'acht dodged C'atie's attack and flipped him. And in a split second, there were weapons in the fight. D'acht with his wrist-blades, and C'atie with both his wrist-blades and spear. They were both getting injured right and left. D'acht had a huge gash in his side from C'atie's spear.

“Had enough yet?” C'atie said, cutting D'acht's leg with that damn spear of his.

“No.” D'acht said, staggered backwards, “I refuse to lose to you! You're not the boss of me!”

C'atie roared and attacked D'acht again. This time impaling him, in the chest, and flipping him. D'acht hit the ground hard, and I heard snapping as he hit the ground. C'atie ran up and kicked him in the head and side, cutting his flesh.

“How about now, D'acht? You can't fight! And, Tian can't help you this time!” C'atie said, kicking D'acht again.

D'acht was facing me, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. He coughed and struggled to get up. He failed, and collapsed back onto his side. Blood continued out of his wounds and mouth.

I looked around. No one was looking. I stumbled to my feet, and growled at C'atie. He armed himself and faced me. He readied to attack me. My tail twitched as I readied to fight.

C'atie was furious. He attacked, but I was too fast for him. I turned and his leg was cut by my tail-spike. I hissed and flung him aside. He skidded ten feet then stopped. He didn't get back up.

I turned to D'acht. “You alright?”

He looked back at me, shook his head.

I went over by him. “I can't believe you're still alive.”

“Me either.” He said, his voice faint.

I put my hand on his head, and there was that flash again. The blood disappeared, and D'acht was left with a few bruises.

“Why can't you do that every time I get hurt?” D'acht said, whining.

“Because I don't know how. Like I said before, it just happens. I can't control who I heal. But, it always seems to be you.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” D'acht said, facing me and getting up.

“Whichever one means you keep getting hurt.” I laughed. “It's a good thing, I guess. You get to stay alive.”

He shrugged. “I don't know.”

After an hour, everyone returned to the ship. C'atie came to and limped inside. He was injured when he entered the main room. His side was scraped badly and there was a little blood on his face. He glared at me. I glared back. He flipped me off then went into his quarters.

While in the main room, we were informed on a battle against the Human warriors. The battle was tomorrow. Humans had guns and bombs that, though inferior, could inflict a lot of damage to a Hunter.

The adults went to train. The rest went to bed. Including D'acht and I. I fell asleep on a spare blanket on the floor in D'acht's quarters.

The next day. Battle day. The day that the Humans would get out of our Hunting ground. I told D'acht that we would battle together. And, after food was provided for the day, and we got our weapons, we left.

Gunfire covered us as we approached the base. A few Hunters were hit, but a bomb sent three of them in different directions, injured terribly. Some of the Humans had guns that fired knives. Those came awfully close to hitting and killing D'acht.

The plan was to attack the Human base camp, but that was on the other side of a dense forest. D'acht followed me as I made my way into that forest. The others were going to hold the Humans in battle as D'acht and I destroyed the base. But, we had to find their base first.

Not even half way through, D'acht stopped.

“What's wrong now?” I said.

“My side is killing me.” He said, partially through gritted teeth.

“Ignore your side. We have to get away from the battle. We can still be killed now.” I said, turned and left.

D'acht followed. There was a gap in the ground ahead. I noticed too late. I fell down and moved. D'acht fell right after I moved. He landed on his left side, and yelled. He sat up, and grabbed his side.

“Aw man! My fucking side!” D'acht yelled, grasping his side tightly.

“You alright?” I said, looked over at him.

“Yeah. I just got something sticking my side. It's probably nothing.” He lifted his hand and froze. “It's not nothing.” His voice squeaked.

I looked over. There was blood on his hand. He reached over and pulled a knife from his side. The color left his face. The blade, which was at least fifteen inches long, was completely drenched in his blood.

“Damn. There is nothing we can really do out here. Can you deal with that until we complete the mission?”

He nodded, and wrapped his side in a cloth he had. He limped after me. I wanted to complete the mission. I wanted to kill off these Humans. Even if D'acht could do nothing but watch.

The base was in sight. D'acht was lagging behind. I stayed by him. He was weakening fast. He was losing too much blood. I couldn't help him. We were almost done with the mission. We just had to kill these Humans, and we could leave.

D'acht threw a bomb into the base, which blew it up immediately. He stumbled over and I went by him. He leaned on me and got back up. A flying piece of steel had gone clear through his right ankle, and was stuck through it. His face just read how much pain he was in. Between his side and his ankle, he must've wanted to Die. He grabbed his ankle and yelped.

“D'acht, we have to make it back to the others. They can help you.” I said, as D'acht hooked my leash on my neck. That was my cue to shut-up and help him back. No matter how much like them I could become, I would still become a guide to D'acht. He would probably always need my help.

We had to go through that ditch again, and there was a crack as D'acht climbed out. He grabbed his ankle again. He didn't call out this time, though. I followed his gaze, and saw C'atie.

“Perfect timing, C'atie.” D'acht said, through gritted teeth. “You really know when to piss me off.”

“Brought down by injury again? Come on, D'acht. You're the weakest one in the whole Kin!” C'atie said, approaching us. “You should just be exiled! You and that thing that follows you!”

“Tian isn't a thing! She's smarter than you, and she's one of us!” D'acht said getting up and preparing to fight C'atie.

“She isn't one of us! She's Alien!” He kicked D'acht in the face, flinging him back. “You're worthless!” C'atie approached D'acht, and readied his wrist-blades. “Prepare to say goodbye to your life, D'acht!”

I hissed, distracting him.

“You can't stop me this time Bitch!” C'atie said, facing me.

“Just watch me!” I turned to attack.

“You want to fight? You want to lose? You want to Die?”

“Yes. No. And no. I'll fight. And, I'll win. I might even let you Live.” I dodged his attack, and tripped him.

C'atie fell down the ditch. He appeared to have landed on his head, and was out cold. I didn't want to take a chance of him attacking again. I got D'acht up and forced him to get out of there.

After a mile or so, D'acht stopped short. He grabbed his now infected ankle and side. Surprisingly, the piece of metal was still through his ankle, still causing him even more pain. He looked up at me.

“I can't make it back. The pain—I can't stand it. I can't put any pressure on my ankle.” He said, sitting back on a rock.

“I can't leave you here to go get the others. If I go, you have to come with me. You know that.” I looked him in the eye. “I would leave you alone, but I'm afraid to. You know how I am.”

“I'll be fine. Go get the others. If their fighting, just come back.”

I nodded and ran off. I had to hurry; D'acht could be killed while I'm gone. I saw the others, but everyone was fighting. I turned and ran back to D'acht. But, I didn't see him. He wasn't where I left him.

“D'acht?! Where are you?” I yelled.

I listened. There was no sound. Not even the birds. Complete silence. I didn't even hear the battle anymore. Something was wrong.

And then I saw the blood. Neon green spots leading away from here. Fear rushed through me. Not for my sake, but for D'acht's. It could be his blood. He could be really injured. He could be Dead. And it would be my fault.

I followed the blood trail. It lead to a puddle by a tall tree. The trail had run cold. I didn't know where to go from here.

“D'acht! Are you around here? Answer me!” I called again.

This time I heard a faint groan, like if someone was coming to. But, I didn't know where it was coming from. I looked around, and then up. One of the top branches was completely covered in blood. I couldn't tell if there was someone up there, but I decided to climb the tree.

Half-way there, I could see D'acht raising himself to a sitting position. He was cut up badly, and was missing almost all of his armor. His chest-plate, shin-guards, weapons, shoulder and arm guards, and boots were missing.

“D'acht, you ok?” I said, nearing him.

He turned towards me. “Not really. That fucking son-of-a-bitch C'atie caught me off guard. I couldn't fight back.” He paused, looked around. “He stole my goddamned weapons! I'm gonna fucking kill him!”

“Not like this you're not. You need to get to that ship now.”

He nodded and was able to get himself out of the tree. He leaned on me as we walked back to the ship. The battle was over and no Hunters were left. Everyone was at the ship, or elsewhere.

We avoided the bodies of Humans as we crossed the field. I could sense C'atie around, but I couldn't see him. I heard him, I smelt him, but I didn't see him. I didn't let D'acht know that C'atie was around.

After an hour or so, the ship was in sight, getting ready for takeoff. I ran ahead of D'acht, and tried to get the entrance open. They already locked it. We were going to be left behind. I couldn't get their attention.

I watched in horror as the ship took off over me, almost severing my head and tail. They were heading towards D'acht. My calls for him to duck were drowned out by the ships engine. Damn ship wasn't in stealth mode yet.

From where I was, I saw D'acht duck, but not before trying to stop them. We were stranded. And, D'acht needed help for his wounds.

And then, I remembered the med-techs I had “borrowed” from the ship. I had buried them under the ship so no one could steal them from me. As D'acht started over, I dug them up.

D'acht fiddled with the medical equipment, trying to find whatever to stop the bleeding from his wounds. Even now, his hands still shook. I stared off in the distance where the ship had left. I didn't get it. Did they care that we were alive? Did they even know that we were gone?

“Hey, D'acht. Why do you think they left us behind?” I said, still staring off into the distance.

“I have no fucking clue, Tian.” He said through gritted teeth. “Maybe C'atie convinced them that we were Dead.”

“Well, do you think they'll come back? I mean, they can't leave us here forever. Can they?”

“They better come back. I want to punch C'atie's face in!”

“You're violent lately.” I paused. “What's with you? You're more violent than usual. What happened to you?”

“I changed, Tian. Plain and simple. I didn't want to be the weakest anymore.” He turned to me. “You know that C'atie will eventually kill me. I want to be able to defend myself. Incase your not around. I've had a grudge against him since he blamed me for getting hurt that time. He can go Die and burn in Hell!”

“Calm down before the Humans here you. And, C'atie can be killed later, after we get back to the ship.”

“That is, if we find the damn ship! Face it, Tian! We are stuck out here forever! Forever with no ship, no Kin, and no protection from anything! We're left here, Tian! Left for Dead! They won't come back in time to save us from anything! We're going Die out here! And, there's nothing we can do to survive out here for who knows how long! You know that!”

“But there's still that slim chance that they'll come back! D'acht, why can't you just realize that?”

“How can I realize something that will never happen? Tian, you're not realizing this! Once someone's left behind, they're left behind! Alright? We're stuck here forever! Tian, either shut-up or leave! I don't need you to complain!”

I stopped. Did he just tell me to leave? I didn't want to, but he might have a point. We were stuck here. But, I didn't mean to complain. I wanted to go home. I was used to the ship, with the shelter and the heat.

After a few hours in silence, it stared raining. D'acht had built a shelter, but locked me out. There was smoke coming from the top of the shelter. He had a fire, which meant heat. I was outside in the freezing cold and soaking wet in the open. I almost was struck by lightning twice.

D'acht didn't seem to notice that I was hiding under a tree, shivering. Trying to sleep while being drowned wasn't easy. I couldn't get comfortable, the rain kept hitting my head, and where I would lay down, and there would be a puddle.

I finally gave up on sleeping and cowered under a tree. The cold was getting to me. I was going numb. I stared at D'acht's shelter. He was fine, and I was freezing. He was supplied with three days food, for both of us. And, he still had that. So, he had six days food, and I had zip.

I looked away. I couldn't stand that I was outside and he wasn't. I didn't know how to make a shelter, so I was out of luck there. And, I couldn't make a fire, so I couldn't stay warm.

I wasn't sure what good prey around here for food was. I was screwed. I couldn't survive out here. I wasn't used to the wild. I was as good as Dead.

I turned back to see D'acht. He was in the rain, by me. There was the sound of someone else coming, and he motioned for me to follow him. I followed him into the shelter, and I saw a Human passing by as he closed the door.

“That was close.” I said, curling up by the fire. “It's too cold out there.”

“I know. I was just outside.” He said, and then passed me food. “I figured you'd freeze out there. `Cause I was angry I was going to leave you out there. And then, I thought you were right.”

I nodded, shoving food into my mouth. “So, I was right. At least I'm good at something. Besides my annoyingness.”

He laughed. “Being annoying is one thing that you're actually good at!”

“Shut-up! I was right about something! Right?”

“Yeah, I know. We still have to find the others. And, more importantly, the ship. The ship would take us away from here and back to the Kin.”

I nodded again. “I miss the ship. I don't like this forest. And being left behind junk. I wanna go home.”

“I don't like this at all.”

The next day, the rain had stopped, but the Human was still around. That was a bad thing. Humans weren't supposed to find out about us. If one did, they all would try to kill us and our species.

Humans were threatening to us, but some of them were weak by themselves. The Humans in groups were Deadly. The Human that was outside could kill us. Especially when D'acht had no weapons. That was the only thing on his mind. The fact that C'atie had the nerve to take his weapons. And then tell the Kin to leave us behind.

I wanted C'atie to be left here, too. Just so we could kill him. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but he was who-knows where with the Kin. If I ever saw him again, it would be too soon.

D'acht clearly wanted him Dead. C'atie not being around anymore might benefit everyone. C'atie was a nuisance to everybody but himself. Him gone meant peace for the rest of us. D'acht wouldn't have an enemy. And, neither would I. C'atie was my enemy almost as much as D'acht's. C'atie would kill him first, then me. I was sure of that.

C'atie would do anything to get rid of the competition. He would even kill an Elder if it meant more control for him. If he made it to Elder, all Hell would break loose. The whole society would domino, falling under his stupidity and eventually ending. Even if riots broke out, it wouldn't stop him.

C'atie was power-hungry and would stop at nothing. He would probably conquer the Human planet and enslave the people. My species could be endangered too. Hell, he would probably enslave his own people. But, he couldn't succeed if we were around. We prevented him from everything.

After a week and a half, there was still no sign of the Kin. That was, until three days later. The ship returned. And, we met the ship. But, there was something wrong. The Hunter in Elder armor was C'atie.

D'acht stopped short. “C'atie, you son-of-a-Bitch, what the fuck have you done with my father?!?” He yelled.

“You mean your daddy?” He paused, laughed. “I killed him! He was no real test for me! His skull is in my collection! The Kin is mine now! The Elders are even listening to me!” He paused, turned to the Hunters by him. “Capture them. Throw the Alien in the acid-proof chamber. Put D'acht in the chamber across from it.”

I went to attack them, but they hit my head. It went black.

My eyes flickered open. There was little light in the chamber. I looked around. There were basic things in the room. A bed, sink, two windows, and a door. I went to move, and tripped over a chain. The chain was attached to my neck. A heavy iron chain attached to a steel collar around my neck. Other than a headache, I was fine. But, what happened to D'acht?

That was soon answered when the door across from me slammed. I was able to get to the door and looked out. I waited until the guards were gone, then I was able to see the Hunter across from me. It was D'acht. He was missing his mask and most of his armor.

“D'acht!” I said, slight hope in my voice.

He looked over at me, ran to the bars in his cage. “Tian! You're alive! I thought—” He stopped short, grabbed his side.

“Hey, are you alright?”

He shook his head. “I fought back before I was captured. C'atie tortured me first. I can't feel my left leg, and I think he broke my ribs.”

I nodded. “Well, I'm chained to the wall. At least you can walk around freely. I'm stuck to a, um, 10 ft chain before I get choked.”

“Yeah. C'atie has my weapons. I'm an outcast here. But, I overheard one of C'atie's conversations on the way down. He has the Council in his control. He's enslaving Hunters that are either criminals or in high debt.”

“That's weird. He's power-hungry.” I paused, “D'acht, we have to stop him from controlling us! We can play along. You know, like pretending to join him. We can't turn against each-other. You know that.”

He nodded. “I know. I don't want to listen to C'atie anymore than the next guy.”

One of the Hunters in the cage next to D'acht's spoke up. “If you planning to overthrow C'atie, good luck. He won't listen.”

“Oh, he will after I'm done with him.” I said, clawing the ground, leaving scratch marks in the metal. “This is the last time he will have control over me!”

After who-knows how long, D'acht and I were enslaved like the rest of them. I worked alongside with D'acht, mining for diamonds in the caves of whatever planet we were on. It wasn't Earth, I knew that much.

Where ever we were, the mines were loaded. Not only with Diamonds, but Rubies, Sapphires, Onyx, and Topaz. Gemstones galore. And, we had to work from dawn until dusk in the mines, then cook dinner and clean in the Elder's place. I swear I was going to kill somebody

Everything was going fine, until one of the guards started with D'acht and I. He stopped us on the way out of the mine.

“Where do you think you're doing, newbie?” He said, blocking D'acht.

“My job.” D'acht snapped.

“Wrong answer!” He snapped and hit D'acht in the side with his spear.

The blow knocked him into the wall. D'acht called out, and grabbed his side. His ribs were still broken. D'acht was hit again, this time in the head, and was stabbed in the chest. His calls stopped, and his face read shock.

I hissed and the guard turned to me.

“You're friends with this excuse for a Hunter? Kainde Amedha, enemy of Hunters.” He snapped, pulling his spear from D'acht.

“I'm friends with him. And, he is no excuse for a Hunter. I should know. We're both one.” I said, dodging one of his attacks.

“You can't be a Hunter! You're not Yautja!” He yelled, frantically trying to hit me. “Thalac, imposter!”

I dodged again, and pinned him against the wall. “Tell me one thing that my species usually won't do.”

“Work with Hunters against their own species.”

“How about killing another to save a friend? Or, is that forbidden in this goddamn society?” I said, teasing him with a head-bite.

“Killing isn't forbidden.” He said, his voice cracking. “Not in a battle. Killing for no reason is forbidden.”

“Let me and my friend back to our quarters. And, provide us with a medical kit. Or you Die.”

He nodded and I helped D'acht back to his quarters.

D'acht gladly rested on his bed, even after bandaging his wounds, he was quite calm. But, he was in extreme pain. I stayed with him. Sure, he was calm, but the pain was threatening to change that.

His chest was still bleeding, and his ribs had completely shifted. His ribs were putting pressure on his lungs, constricting his breathing. D'acht needed my help, but there was one thing I couldn't do. I couldn't get my powers to heal him. Something was wrong. The prison must've been interfering.

D'acht was weak, and he kept loosing blood. I was able to convince the guard to let me stay with him. That much was good news. Other than that, the Hunters in the rest of the corridor kept yelling at me for caring if he Died. I ignored them, and occasionally flipped them off.

“Tian, I'm going back to work tomorrow. Injured or not. I'll get killed if I don't.” D'acht said.

“Fine.” I said. “But, if you get hurt again, I swear I'll kill you.”

He laughed, and then fell asleep.

The next day, it was free-time. But, there was something wrong.

The same guard that was bothering us yesterday came over, this time with two others. And, they started a fight with us. I attacked the newcomers, and left the weaker guard from yesterday to D'acht.

After a few minutes, the two guards had retreated, and the third was no where in sight. But, D'acht was injured. He was holding his side, and I saw blood.

“D'acht, you ok?” I said, going by his side.

“Damn guard stuck one of his throwing discs in my side.” He said. “I swear, if I ever get out of here—”

“You'll kill them. I know.” I helped him up. “Let's get you back inside.”

He nodded and followed me inside. D'acht's wounds were treated easily. But, I was put back into my own cage. This place sucks. Word was that C'atie was going to start killing the weak and sickly. That meant D'acht was endangered.

I wasn't too sure about our survival, and started a kind of diary. If we didn't make it out, at least the written form of what happened would survive. I started with today, the second day of real work.

After finishing, I went to bed.

I woke up to the sound of coughing. It was pitch black, besides the moonlight coming through the cracks in the ceiling and the few windows. I pinpointed the sound. It was D'acht. Something was up.

I was able to slip through the bars, and into his cage. I woke him up, and I saw blood glowing on his face.

“You ok?” I said.

He shook his head. He tried to talk, but the words Died in his throat. I leaned on the bed, and accidentally hit the side. He gave a pain response and grabbed his side. I sensed something wrong. I moved his hand, and the blanket. One of his ribs was sticking out of his skin, at a perfect angle. I covered his wound with the bandages.

“D'acht, can you breathe ok?” I asked suddenly.

He looked at me weird, and shook his head. He then coughed up more blood. It was clear to me then. His ribs must've punctured one of his lungs. He was Dead by law. I had to prevent C'atie from finding out.

“What are you doing?” A guard yelled.

I spun around. S'ans was there.

“S'ans? What are you doing working for C'atie?”

He moved close to the cage. “Tian? I'm a Capo. Enslaved controlling the enslaved. What's wrong with D'acht?” He said, coming in the cage.

“I know his ribs are broken. I think he might have a puncture in his lung. He's Dead if C'atie finds out.”

“He can stay here. I'll make up some story to keep him alive.”

I nodded. S'ans then explained how he was the most trusted of all of them, and how C'atie would believe anything. If you told him he was going to Die in three hours, he'd flip out. So, C'atie was as gullible as he looked.

D'acht was safe, for now. C'atie would believe S'ans story for a while. Especially because he was planning to build the execution chambers. He was planning to start the killing. First thing he did was separate the guys and the girls. I was put with the Bitches and D'acht was left.

By the looks of it, the guys were going to beat the shit out of D'acht. And I couldn't save him this time. C'atie had divided the two camps with a twelve foot electric fence. No one would get past it without Dieing first.

I was stuck with the Bitches. An elite force of crybabies and girly-girls. I was the toughest one there. And my stories about my Kin freaked them out. It was too gory for them to hear. Like I said. They were crybabies.

Again, we were allowed to roam around. I went strait to the fence. I saw S'ans coming out of one of the buildings, and called him over. He looked nervous.

“S'ans, is D'acht ok?” I said.

“I can't find him. They moved the bunks around. A couple of others and I have been looking since yesterday. When they moved everyone.” He paused. “C'atie might have him!”

“You check that out. I'll look for him from a distance. He's bleeding last time I checked. Look for blood and listen for him coughing.”

He nodded and ran off. I walked the perimeter of the fence. I could see the line of men being sorted.

And I saw D'acht in the line. I think he saw me and made himself look less sickly. One of the guards went to him. I held my breath. He was sent to the right.

The left line was the sickly, which were almost all of the oldest men. The young boys were sent to the left originally, but were put back on the right with the stronger old men on the right.

Only the Dead left the men's side.

Then it was our turn. I was excused, since I wasn't Yautja, and that I was stronger than the others. I had that will power to stay alive. And, it was almost impossible to starve an Alien. I was safe here, for the most part.

In harsh times when a Hive had little or no food, the remains of the Hosts would be eaten first. Then parts of the nest were used to sustain the young and the starving. Aliens also ate anything that could be edible. Rotten food was usually the first to go. Then local plants and grasses were eaten.

There was a lot of grass around here. I would be able to survive on that if I felt starved.

But, for now the portions they provided us with were perfect.

I watched as the Bitches were sorted. This time, almost all of the oldest were put on line for execution. A few of the others were put there. Thirty-two were killed. One of the children was left alone, her father stuck on the other side of the fence.

I knew this kid. Her name was K'ainte. She was only five, but extremely smart. We got along, but her mother hated me for my species. Her mother's sister was killed by one of my relatives.

K'ainte would still talk to me against her mother's will. I shared a room with them, and her mother would beat her for talking to me. I never interfered, for I knew that she would kill me in my sleep.

Now that her father was separated from her, I was the only person she knew and trusted. There were no children around her age. I was the closest thing to a friend that she had. I told her about D'acht, and she seemed to know him.

K'ainte accompanied me by the fence as I waited for D'acht.

“There he is.” I told her as D'acht approached us.

“Hey Tian. Who's your friend?” He said.

“This is K'ainte. Her mother was just taken to the execution chamber.” I said, looking over at K'ainte. “You wanna say anything?”

She nodded, and removed her mask. She looked almost exactly like D'acht. She had the same skin-tone, but green eyes. “Before she Died, my mother told me I had a sibling she left behind.”

D'acht stared blankly at her. “What are you saying?”

“My mother told me that I had a sibling. An older brother. D'acht, we're related.”

“We can't be! My father said that C'atian left me behind and went missing!” D'acht said, backing up a bit.

“C'atian was my mother. My father is on your side. His name's K'etve. Even ask him.” She said, then turned and looked past D'acht, waved.

There was an adult Hunter by D'acht suddenly. “What's wrong K'ainte? Where's your mother?” He said, kneeling down.

“Mother's Dead! They killed her! I'm going to kill that bastard C'atie!” She yelled.

“Don't say that, K'ainte! They'll kill you.” He paused, stood up. “You guys are?”

“I'm D'acht, and this is Tian.” D'acht said.

“K'etve.” He said, shaking D'acht's hand. “C'atian told me about you. She said that you were the unwanted one. Then, she started trying to kill K'ainte.”

“So, I'm related to her?” D'acht said, a little nervous. “Before my father was killed—wait, not killed—murdered, he told me that C'atian had killed previous children before. I was going to be the next one. That was over eleven years ago.” He clutched his fist. “C'atie murdered my father. He was our Elder, the only person I had. I am going to have C'atie's head or Die trying!”

“D'acht!” I snapped. “You're not alone anymore! You have me, remember? We've been friends since day one! And, now you have K'ainte and K'etve. If you can't kill C'atie, I'll kill him for you. You know how I hate him.”

D'acht nodded.

“Capo three o'clock!” K'ainte snapped.

We all spread out. The Capo walked by, stopped, and eyed all four of us. I hissed at him. I couldn't help it. He smelt like C'atie. He turned to face me. I snarled at him. K'ainte stopped me.

The Capo said something into his microphone, and continued on his way. Instantly, we were called back inside. K'ainte grabbed my collar as we walked inside. Our room in the building was lonely without the third person. I laid at the foot of the bed as she went to sleep.

Daylight revealed that K'ainte was crying. A simple nightmare couldn't have brought her to this many tears. I moved next to her. The pillow she clutched in her arms was soaked. She was only five. So young and already missing her mother. Her father would've helped her, if he wasn't on the other side of camp.

“K'ainte.” I said quietly.

She looked over at me. Her face was wet with tears. I handed her mask to her. She took it in her hands, didn't move to put it on. She just sat there, crying.

“K'ainte, you have to get to work.” I whispered. “First ones up get best breakfast.”

She looked at me, then put her mask on and got up. Together, we walked outside. Sure enough, we ended up with the non-stale, non-moldy food.

We sat by the fence. D'acht and K'etve must've had the same idea that we had. We talked through the fence, then it was to work.

We were sent to C'atie's personal quarters. Laundry was to the adults. Preparing food was up to anyone under 20. I didn't do anything really, besides get everything and be a step-stool.

When the food had to be brought to C'atie, I stayed by K'ainte. She dropped a plate right in front of him. C'atie hit her in the head, and she fell back to the floor.

I jumped over her and landed in front of him. I blocked his attacks, preventing K'ainte from getting hit.

“So you did survive, Tian. I thought you were killed with the rest of them!” C'atie yelled, backing up a bit.

“What others? You mean the women you had murdered?” I said.

“No. I mean the Aliens we had killed.”

“Aliens? You mean like me?” I snapped.

“No. Not like you. The murderous ones. The ones that follow the rules. That Queen knew you and was planning an attack. We showed her!”

“What did you do with Her? I wish to see Her.” I said, backing up a bit.

“She's locked up in the dungeon. Locked up and hopefully Dieing!” He paused, laughed again. “You can go see her. S'ans can take you. Your friend can go back to work.”

I nodded, and S'ans lead me to the Queen. He left me there.

I cautiously approached the Queen. She clearly wasn't as old as the last Queen I saw. She was restrained by her neck and limbs. Her tail was stuck to the wall. There was no food in the room.

“Tian.” She said.

“How do you know my name?” I snapped, jumping back a bit.

“I of all people should know you. Besides that Hunter friend of yours. Who do you think I am to you? Who's the one person you've never met?”

I thought about it. “My mother. I was brought up by the Hunters. I know almost nothing about Her, or this culture.”

“I thought you were dead along with the rest of them.”

I stared at Her. There was that same feeling of trust that I had around D'acht. She went in my mind. Tian, you're the only one left. The only one out of fifty. Believe me.

“Why should I believe you? Give me a good reason.”

Your Host was a strong Warrior. His name was C'antdae, brave one. He was killed by the Elder, who was D'acht's father. C'atie killed him, and now D'acht might Die. Not from C'atie, but from his wounds.

“I'll help you out. But, I have to go now. K'ainte might be in danger.”

She nodded and I left.

After everyone was asleep, I was still up. What the Queen had first said to me was coming back. She said that I was one left of fifty. Her fifty children. Queens only knew the information of their most recent born, and their first born. The info Died with the normal ones though.

But, I still didn't want to believe Her. Something was still bothering me. Some of us were going to a different Death-camp tomorrow. I didn't want to be one of the ones to go. I was the last person to mess with. If I went, D'acht and the Queen were Dead.

I finally got to sleep, but it was almost dawn.

By the time I got up, half of the trains were full. I rushed out to the dock. D'acht was on one of the trains. I was able to reach him. He looked like he was going to start crying. I told him to hold on and that I was going to get him out of this whole thing alive.

He nodded as the train took off. I stood there for a bit, and then went to find K'ainte. Her father was missing too. He must've been taken with D'acht.

K'ainte knew what happened. I told her that D'acht had gone too. She was ok with that. D'acht was her brother. She had the right to be upset. I didn't want him gone, but I couldn't do anything.

It was settled from then on. C'atie was going down. I would free the Queen after assembling a rebel troop to help me fight. C'atie would go down.

It didn't take me more than three minutes to find fifteen Hunters willing to risk it all to kill C'atie. The fifteen grew to twenty-five, then to thirty-two. Plans were made. Day, time, place. Who to kill and who to let live. Everything was set. We were to attack tomorrow when we were let into C'atie's dwellings.

For now, we went to do whatever. Couldn't act suspicious around here. I stayed by K'ainte, who was finalizing the plans to pass to S'ans. S'ans would give the plans to the Hunters that volunteered on that side.

It was then that I recalled the promise I had made to D'acht. I vowed to make sure he didn't Die. But, it was survival of the fittest. And, if D'acht wasn't injured, he would've been fine.

K'ainte passed me the plans. I ran them over and stuck them through the fence. S'ans stuck them in his pack and went to find the rebels. I went with K'ainte back to our room. There was that slight hope that we would survive.

“I heard the trains came back for a reason.” One of the Hunters said. “I saw D'acht and K'etve being shoved into one of the spare areas by C'atie's chambers.”

I nodded. “At least they're still alive. Remember, our plan goes into affect in two hours. Don't forget.”

They all nodded. All twenty-five of them. Our attack was nearing fast. An hour and a half spent on the food. With only a half an hour left to free D'acht and the Queen.

Everybody headed to free D'acht and the rest from their chambers, while K'ainte and I went to free the Queen.

K'ainte picked the locks and I stayed as look out. I then told the Queen when to attack. She would guard the door when the plan went into motion.

Time had finally come. Time for C'atie to feel the revenge of those he enslaved. We played along as usual. Then, the ones that we freed with D'acht locked us in the room, barricaded the doors. D'acht picked a final fight with C'atie. Only one of them was leaving here alive.

I was about to help him, when the guards blew a hole through the wall. Fifty or more guards attacked. The Queen killed seven off the bat, but instead of going after more, she decided to finish them.

While the Queen finished Her meal, I jumped into battle alongside K'ainte. I killed three Hunters, and K'ainte managed to kill one. I sat back and watched everyone brawl. I saw D'acht and C'atie fighting with no end in sight, and then C'atie was down but he moved out of D'acht's way.

There was a pain in my back suddenly. My whole body stiffened as a stabbing pain pierced my back and chest. I looked down as a spear came through my chest. I couldn't breathe, my one thought said scream, but nothing came out of my mouth. The Hunter behind me slit my neck and flung me aside.

I hit the wall, then the floor. I couldn't feel my right arm, and my strength had completely vanished. I just stayed there. I was able to still watch the fights though. K'ainte had her father helping her.

Then the picture started to black out. The fights got blurry, less clear. My eyes got heavy, and then it got darker. I felt myself being rolled over. The Queen was there. She seemed worried.

“Mother.” I said, and then it went black.