Predaliens Chapter 1:
It had been five days since my brother and I had been brought into the world from those hunters chests. Memories of how their race had been breeding my ancestor only to kill them for sport. The sickness of it. My brother and I have no names, no mother, nowhere to go, as we look at the rotting flesh of the hunters I roar.
"Brother, you don't have to roar, they're dead," I'm told in my mind. My brother seems less vengeful and I pity him, if he loves the dead I think he should join them.
"There is no way I'll forgive a cruel thing such as what they'd done to our ancestors," I tell brother firmly, "Did you not see the memories also?"
"I did brother, I am sorry," his sincerity lightens the mood, "Brother in one of my memories there were our ancestors, they look different to you and I."
I ponder his insight. We are as our ancestors are but not quite, our ancestors had a second jaw but it seemed part of the mouth and not inside as a tongue. The ancestors hosts were paled skinned with black eyes and a bony armor that encased their bodies. It looks similar to what our bodies look like. Along my head are sharp tendrils, short but there similarly to the hunters. At the front of my head is an almost opaque dome, within which I have sockets. I don't have eyes like the hunters though. A few traits we share though include the tendrils, a lightly tinted shade on our bodies (however my host had completely black skin, therefore my armored body appears a perfect black), and four mandibles on our faces which tuck away nicely next to our mouth. When I had roared I extended them to make myself look bigger, which it did but the dead don't care.
"I did see brother, really. I think whatever we live in before birth we inherit the traits of during that time," I tell him.
"That would explain a lot, I wonder what mother looked like or looks like, we never know she could be alive," he thinks to me.
"Your optimism is really some," I voice sarcastically to him. He rears at me offended. I roar immensely at him making him back down. It is clearly me who is alpha male. I tell him we need to ditch the bodies, so we find a creek and dig holes to cover the scent of the hunters. The bodies are covered up and so we leave following the creek upstream. I growl a low growl, it's a warning to nearby creatures to stay away. Strangely enough a creature with a death-wish comes up to me and growls protective of its territory, it has an orange fur coat, large canine teeth, ears which are white around to edges, a matching is on the creatures abdomen, around the blue eyes are black marks just like the muzzle. The claws on the creature four legs are impressive however pathetic in comparison to my own. As for its tail, it has no form of weaponry at all so I assume its only other function is balance much like my own. It stays it a defensive pose until I open my mouth and extend my mandibles, its pose changes, it looks aggressive now. It growls a screeching growl which annoys me greatly. Annoying, weak, no good defense, it pretty much rings one word for me, lunch. I step forward but stop as two tiny identical creatures come into view, was this its backup, pathetic. No not backup, children, that's what the two males we. I don't care, however the loss of oneself without a comforter is something I have felt greatly in the past days and has my brother. We decide to leave on peaceful terms so I step back and the mother relaxes.
'Oh mother, we need you,' I think to myself. We continue to follow the creek until we reach a strange cylindrical rock which is hollow. It's quite warm and humid, very dark too however it is no trouble because we see through our senses. The creek seems to have come from the waterway. We enter the passage way and sniff around, the smell isn't too pleasing however it's far better than the cold of the previous nights. Strange sounds come from above as we progress deeper into the maze of waterways, roaring beasts which seem larger than us. Their movement is intriguing, they make such noise yet their is almost no distinction of their footsteps. I want to investigate but it is still fairly bright and clearly daytime. When it is night we'll go find the dwellings of these roaring beasts and determine wether they are a danger to us or not. Small furry creatures with ugly tails scuttle by, I step on the tail of one and it screams. I find comfort in his screams, then roar in pain as it bites my foot. My roar is deep and throaty, with a slight clicking purr incorporated.
"Be quiet brother," I'm told and I calm and turn back to the creature. It starts convulsing at first then its mouth melts slowly progressing towards its head.
"It appears, brother, that we have blood that melts through flesh of the weak," I say to my brother picking up the creatures remains, I hears sizzling, "as well as through materials as tough as rock." My mind's voice sounds slightly impressed at the discovery. I look at my wound which for the most part looks to have healed. Fast healing and immunity to our blood. Blood that which remains though, seems to give a slight bioluminescence, which will be troubling in if in future encounters I bleed. I purr and growl annoyed at the fuzzy mess in my hand. I decide to snack on it seeing as my lunch just had to have children. The taste isn't too bad, a slight sourness but the flavor of the creature is balanced. Sweet, tender meat and slightly salty from the creatures blood, a nice snack. I hiss happily and motion to my brother to tell him to try one, though I recommend that he doesn't spill his blood to get a better tasting snack. He chases one around playfully, I listen to the heartbeat of the tiny morsel. Thump thump thump. Fast to even faster, then nothing as my brother catches his snack and snaps its neck. I listen to the beat of my brother's heart, indeed it is slower, moreover it is incredibly loud in comparison to his snack dwarfing it entirely. He shivers as the morsel slides down his throat.
"You're right brother that thing was good," he chirps delighted.
"You didn't even taste the creature, you just shoved it down your gullet," a sigh, he really doesn't have any patience.
"I know it satiated me though and that's all I cared for," he retorted. He came over to me and we place the forward part of our heads together, "We need to be strong, for the sake of our kind, the sake of each other... even, dare I say it, for the hope of finding mother," he is genuine and that comforts me somewhat. Mother was what, if I can remember correctly, was called a Queen. She orders something, like maybe, building a new section of her nest and everyone follows suite. As I think this,
"Brother we need a nest, for when we find mother, we can build it using these strange, damp caves, the heat and moisture is perfect," I announce confidently. He releases me from the embrace and give me a purr saying, 'I couldn't agree more.' It takes the rest of daylight to finish four sections of the nest, one small area for eggs to be brought to and placed, with the hosts to be stuck to the walls (the thoughts are making me giddy). Another section is planned to be for where the queen will lay her eggs and give orders, and finally two sections for the living spaces of our brothers and sisters. The resin sets almost as hard as the rock that surrounds it, it sets a darker color to when it is placed down. We build it with the same designs that were in our memories only with a little bit of personal flare to it. I am quite pleased we brother and I show him my appreciation.
"Brother, I am sure that we will have a great family here, many new brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, you know-" he chokes stopping his thoughts, he swallows then resumes, "You know I would challenge your leadership, but in all honesty, you my brother, are far better, both as a leader and a judge of character."
"I'm feeling a bit peckish, what about you brother?" I suggest.
"Starving!" he snarls. His excitement for the hunt makes me more excited.
We go out into the dark, I've completely disregarded my curiosity because I am so damn hungry. We stalk down two creatures with small horns and white, spotted, brown coats. The hoofed creatures give a yelp as we bite down on the necks of our prey simultaneously. Blood drips from the animals neck and I hold it in my hands, I give a menacing hiss and then my inner jaw begins ripping the creature apart as I eat it. I can't help but feel the satiation the animal gives me. The resin that is used to make our nest is immensely tiresome for two males such as we. The time and effort for the outcome is worth it though. It takes a while longer to finish the meal, I finish quick than my brother which surprises me, but that was only because he went over to a tree to claw at it. I wonder what I would look like through the eyes of another creature. I know brother's description but I want more information, a better understanding of myself. My tail wraps around me. Its thickness is impressive and what's on the end is even more impressive. I look over to my brother who has just finished eating and was back to clawing at his tree. It is like he and the tree were having some intense argument that he isn't happy about and they're hashing it out only the tree decides it gives up. I look at the scratches and tell my brother, "That's really nice, I didn't know you looked that good." At this he was fuming he started growling furiously and lunged at me, "I see someone doesn't know satirical comments when they get them, okay brother let's go!" I snarl back. We tumble multiple times. He throws a fist at me, then another I catch both, holding them under my armpits. He kicks a knee up but I block it and pin his foot down. He tries to step on my foot with his remaining free foot furthering his demise as I pin that too. Our tails dance around in an interlocking swordplay, mine slides up allow me to position the spike at my brothers head. I speak to him about his endgame and that he cannot win... honorably. He snaps his inner jaw at my head nearly touching it. This gets me, I am so infuriated, "You dare attack me brother, I have played your silly shenanigans now let me make something clear. Without me these last few days you would have died. Without me! You would not have survived that creature when you were still in infant stage. WITHOUT ME! You would not exist now. Let me make this very clear now, I tell you to do something, do it, I tell you to don't breathe, you don't breathe, I tell you you stop this rubbish... you STOP this rubbish," my harsh words echo through him. He is completely ashamed.
"Brother I-I-I I-" he begins.
Don't want to hear it," I finish his words and fill them with enough venom to kill a million of those cave dwelling creatures. He sulks off back to the nest. I feel stupid, then remember his choking, could it have been something to do with that that so rapidly changed his behavior? I contemplate the thought and then rest my head next to my fairly fleshless, meatless meal. I sit up as I hear footsteps, I am so far from the nest, I wonder if brother is there yet.
"My God, Charlie look at this!" the meat-sack is calling another one, this one was much more slender and the chest protruded a great deal more than the male's.
"Great Scott! The meat is still fresh, whatever ate this ate in numbers or really, really, really quickly," the female tells him. I somehow establish a link to the humans, not one that allowed me to sense their location or communicate with them but one which allows me to quickly gain enough knowledge to understand the situation. The meat-sacks are known as human beings. They look like prey though, but I observe. The link is gone and then I shift to another branch as the food looks at brothers fight.
"Yeah, Charlotte this is either the biggest mountain lion in history or this is something else entirely," he hollers to the woman standing at brother's scuffle. Mountain lion? Is that the creature that fought to defend its young, and there were more? They could get this big, what a worrying thought.
"Uncle I don't think this was the work of a mountain lion. Look," she holds up some resin and moves it within her fingers, "Some sort of slime." She brushes it on her outer skin which is fairly loose against her body. Around her shoulder is a small brown carved piece of tree with a black shiny material entangling it. It looks to be the meat-sacks weapon. I stiffen defensively and ready myself to strike at a moments notice.
"That there is disgusting, J now Christ himself sees that and he'd flip!" he exclaims. The girl flinches then she gags and her body convulses, but she composes herself.
"Are you saying this is semen? That is disgusting. I'll need at least six showers when we get back!" she shudders once more.
"I'm not saying it is seminal fluid I'm saying it could be, just don't touch it again, some animals can track their own smell no problem. That could be saliva now that I thin-" he trails off. True I could smell it but he was wrong that it was, semblah-de-blah. Also it was my brothers resin and not mine, it was slightly different though by the looks these humans can't smell well or see greatly in the dark. They rely on light making tools which they carry in there hands. The meat slowly turn to leave first the male and slowly the young female. Suddenly my branch begins to give way and I leap to the next tree scratching down it. I feel the light on my body as I sprint away as fast as I can, had the human seen me? I am so worried now. There is no way the imbecilic meat could have seen me. Could she? Even if she did would she tell anyone? I slow as I realize that the scent of the female mountain lion and her offspring are nearby, the mother is in view and clearly asleep so a creep away silently. I hear the roaring of one of the strange beasts. Good, let that finish off the meat-sacks, at least then the rest of the humans won't blame brother or me. What if the humans were controlling the beasts? This could prove troublesome for when we start filling the nest. If those beasts want a fight, brother and I are here to fight. I feel something come up into my throat making me gag and want to let it out. It doesn't go down and I begin to panic, the stuck object is quite strange, then I muster all the strength in my neck muscles and swallow extremely hard. The object goes down and my fear subsides. I have to go to brother, I choked also, there has to be a link, possible something in the air or from what we ate. I have to make amends if the hive is to thrive under our management. On the journey back I look at strange creatures with massive tails, they can easily fit in my hand. They're resting and when I get close the fear I instill on the fluffy-tails causes them to wake up and scramble away. I scent the tree telling the creatures not to come back ever. The scent is partially reacts to objects like my blood and so it starts to melt the bark of the tree. Turning back to my destination I make hast and break into a steady run. The feeling of the passing air through my tendrils is amazing, not to mention across the rest of my body. This night has been up and down all the evening, emotionally, physically, mentally, and in the way the events played out. Brother didn't deserve everything I said about him, he just makes problems because he has a short temper. I don't think I'll tell brother of the humans, what I will show him is their language so he can understand, somewhat of this places creatures. I stand at the entrance to the cave,
"Brother! I don't want to fight. I do however wish to make up for my behavior towards you," I call at him through the mental link. He doesn't answer so I check the sections of the nest. He isn't in the living quarters, nor is he in the Queen's chamber. He must be in the egg room. I hear faint groaning and purring as I reach the chamber. I am stunned when I see numerous eggs around the floor.
"Brother, we can start the nest," he moans faintly.
"Brother are you actually my sister?" I ask perplexed beyond belief.
"You know what? In actual honesty, completely and utterly, my thoughts are everywhere. It seems that in the event of no queen and with the combination of the hunters' traits and our inheritance, we can lay eggs, for asexual reproduction. I suppose you too can do this. Did you choke yet?" he finishes his talking.
"As a matter of fact I was coming back to talk to you about that. It happe-" he cuts me off.
"Fantastic. You get that feeling again... LET IT OUT!" he yells happily. I start at an appendage between his legs.
"Brother what is that?" I ask stupidly, I had no clue but the appendage was something that I myself did not have.
"I don't know what it is called but it came out when I was laying these eggs, it felt incre-" I cut him off,
"Too much detail, you should probably keep that away it doesn't look like it has any armor on it and it looks useless."
"Are you jealous?" he asks crawling around me.
"Don't be rediculous!" I protest. I don't care if it has no use.
"Well I guess that you'll be missing out then," he teases. In the way he says that I don't have a clue what he means. I look at my tail and swing beneath his legs knocking him over onto his face nearly hitting an egg. He then rolls to his side clutching the space in between his legs, he was in obvious pain, "You moronic, foolish, imbecilic, barbarian! You nearly hit one of the eggs!" he grovels in pain but is more worried about his eggs. I pick him up. Apologies aren't my strongest suite. I back away heading over to the resting sections of the next. Although I call him brother, we aren't related I can feel it, the difference came from the hunters. I curl up and rest not needing any sleep like the majority of the creatures I'd seen. It is almost light when I decide to head back to brother's dwelling.
"Brother, about what I needed to talk to you about," I begin and he lifts his head, it was clear he had been resting too, "we need hosts for the eggs correct?" I change the subject, "We could use some of the forest creatures, right?"
"We need them alive though," he clarifies. Of course they need to be alive how stupid does he think I am.
"Sure, we should probably get going," I tell him. Brother doesn't budge, he merely looks at me and extends his mandibles.
"What do you mean, WE?" he asks, "Someone has to guard the nest fool!"
"Okay... your highness," I add.
"What did you say!" he seems unhappy from that comment.
"I said, 'Goodbye'. Nothing more," I lie. I sneak away, brother's behavior is different yet again. He is acting like he's boss, well I get I'll show him. I walk the forest to scout for prey before deciding on one mountain lion and one spotted-coated meal. I stalk the stalker and in a flash it is knocked unconscious. Then I stalk its prey, becoming my prey, the sense of hearing this prey has is impressive. Manages to run away twice before I grab it and take it back to brother's domain. Our nest had been built only a day ago and yet our goals have almost been achieved. I am quite happy at the moment and begin purring. The mountain lion stirs but it is too late. Brother and I stick the creatures to the wall of the egg chamber then watch as three eggs' tops begin to peel open. The four lips of each egg open and a mucous membrane falls into the egg awakening the creatures inside. 'Was that what we were?' I ask myself as creatures which look like two hands joint at the carpal, with a tail pathetic in comparison to mine. The creatures scuttle then one jumps up onto the face of the mountain lion and then a tube enters its mouth. It screams in agony and fear, afraid it can't breath and feeling the pain of an embryo being shoved down its throat. The meal was even more fearful, practically screaming at seeing something take out what had been its predator only moments before. I am confused when the two creature stop before the four legged meat-sack. They turn to each other and begin to brawl, they tumble over each other numerous times, unbeknownst to them another egg begins to open and then another face-hugger jumps onto the meat-sack remaining. As if defeated both creatures that had just fought begin to spasm and then die. Well I guess that was a waste. I throw the face-huggers in the creek, they drift of steadily. Now to wait. The sun was slowly setting as the mountain lion's face-hugger peeled itself off. It was dead. For a moment my brother and I panic and then the chest of the predator cracks waking it up and causing it to scream for release. It didn't get release though when out of its chest exploded a similar creature to what brother had looked like but with minor differences. The creature had no mandibles and was a lighter color than brother was, another thing was the difference in the blood of this creature. It appears that the hunters are not from here, their blood is different. The screaming creature is hushed by my presence and it slithers onto my shoulder hiding in my tendrils. The second creature is released from its face-hugger and then its chest too is torn out from the inside. With both babies on my shoulder I head to the nesting area. Nothing is quite like them, the one that had come from the mountain lion has morphed into a Praetorian with strong back legs and a tail like a whip but the most interesting thing is the coloration. She appears to have shades of orange along her chest and at the end of her tail and limbs too. Her brother morphs into a Warrior with a very spiky head. Spikes at his elbows and knees and a tail chock full of spikes. He's a very, very dark brown with white accenting his joints, lengthly head and tail. His limbs are much more slender than her sister two allowing him to be incredibly fast and agile. I have an arm around my brother's son and his daughter stalks the roam with great impatience,
"Why can't I go see the outside world? I want to see the outside world just like you and your brother!" she shrieks prudently.
"Sister calm down, come be with our uncle," the little male calls to his sister. Only a few hours and the male was making quite reasonable calls, maybe he should have been born Praetorian and she the Warrior. Well life has its ways. The roaring beasts were starting to become silent again and so I assume it is nightfall. Brother takes care of his children as I head up to investigate.