Hi there! This is a small one-shot I wrote that I thought I'd try out. This takes place a week after the pyramid battle, enjoy! Please tell me what you think!
She could still hear their faint cries for help... the pain that carried through the air. The cold shiver settling into her heart, paralyzing her body. The burn that stung deep as clawed fingers pierced her freezing body.
Their faces were burned into her brain. Their smiling, trusting faces.
She remembered going to each one's stone after the funeral. Remembered the shadowed faces of children, wives, husbands... and the anger electrifying the air. Anger at her, and what she failed to protect.
She failed them. Failed to protect them, to save them. Now a head of stone is all that's left.
Sleep was hard for her to find... And when it did manage to claim her all she could see were them. All she could hear was the low growl of both the black serpents and the humanoid creatures that threatened her life.
The Predators left her alive. Why though? To plague her with Sebastian's dying breath? With the endless hours of sleepless nights? Or the bitter feeling of being the only survivor; and hated for it?
When the night grew thick and the moon waxed high, she thought about the night in the pyramid. She thought about how her death would've been so sweet. Instead all she's plagued about are the words she proclaimed to Wayland and the crew, about how 'No one get's left behind'.
But she did leave people behind... every single person who went with her. Not only that, she had joined the Predator's race to boot to get out of that dark place.
Lex looked out past the snow rimmed window to the high moon, full in the grim black sky. Small flecks of white drifted down, slowly covering the ground outside. The wind was starting to pick up, howling against her little cabin. Brittle unseen trees scraped their claws down the cabin's walls... almost sounding like the black serpents that climbed the ancient walls of the pyramid.
Shaking off the shiver clawing her spine, Lex slipped on her boots, jacket and mitts. Then she faced the door that lead outside. Lex trailed the wood lines in the blood red door, a heavy burden draining her heart.
She disliked the outside world now, and she hated herself for it. But something had to be done about it sooner or later... and she opened the door.
The second her boots crunched down the soft piling snow, she thought about turning around to head inside. Her fireplace was warm, and her small heater was constantly blowing out warm air to help heat her small place. Gentle soft lights played with the shadows in the corners of her home, followed by the light hum of the dimmers.
Lex observed the blackness that stretched for an eternity in front of her, snow sizzling on her cheeks.
What if they came back?
Lex smashed that thought with a quick shake of her head. A week's already gone by, the memory's been done and dealt with. They weren't coming back. He wasn't coming back... She watched as he died in the snow that night, neon green blood seeping out of his pierced chest, dribbling out of his small teeth.
Anger spiked her heart at the memory. Not at the humanoid who attacked her and her crew, but at the queen serpent. She felt anger at the queen for killing her ally, and it sickened her to her core. How could she be friends with him... the one who was responsible for killing some of her comrades... her friends... and Wayland.
Laughter, dark and brutal, left Lex with a shaky sneer. "See what happened?" She whispered, her voice barely audible over the roaring wind.
"You see Wayland?! I told you we were unprepared!" She shook her head in a violent motion, ignoring the lashing pain growing in her neck. "I told you!" Lex's voice cracked, bitting down on the corner of her lip to keep it from trembling. Tears snaked down her frozen cheeks, thawing them before freezing over.
"But now... now what?" She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.
What was she waiting for?
She already knew the answer... denying it did nothing, only delaying the inevitable. She was waiting for them; and they were going to come back for her.
Were they coming back to take her away from the only thing she knew because she found out they existed? Or was it to finish the job the pyramid did not; to kill her.
But then why would her humanoid ally save her from that despicable place just to kill her in the end?
A lone fleck of cold snow brushed against the answer... The mark on her cheek. Because she killed the black serpents, he saved her. And marked her because of it.
New questions burned into her mind. Were they coming back for her because she was not worthy of the mark their youngling had given her? Lex watched the ground as snow began to pile, lost in her thoughts.
Time went by without meaning, only the numbing tingle of her freezing skin told her she'd been out long enough. Any longer and she'd get hypothermia...
Working her stiff legs to move, Lex slowly began to turn, only to freeze when she heard it; a low growl.
The hairs lining her back prickled nervously with the sudden realization she was being watched. Lex scanned the plain, greying now with more white flecks, before her hazelnut eyes fell on something. Her heart began to flutter, her breath quickening when the 'something' shimmered. It moved with the grace of a cat, clicking lightly as if amused.
The shimmering object slowed down to a halt, it's cloak wavering slightly before dissolving in a slow dance of colour, revealing it's occupant.
Lex took a hesitant step back, clutching the hem of her jacket as the Predator stood, still as stone. It clicked in a slower beat, it's dreads falling limply to it's shoulders as the Predator tilted it's head.
Lex shifted slowly from foot to foot as it's black hollow eyes watched her, tested her. She felt more black cold eyes stare her down as more Predators became visible.
She didn't want to leave... she didn't want to have to say good bye to the world she grew up on, the world she calls her home.
Looking up with eyes steeled at the humanoid, the breath that lumped in her lungs she put to good use. "I guess you're here to take me away?"
Lex could do this, leave her planet for the sake of the creatures she'd come to know. The sliver of despair that settled in her heart she cast away. This was her life now... Better to face it with open arms and a strong glare, then to run and hide.
The Predator only growled, muffled slightly by the thick metal of his mask. It took long steps, crossing the distance to her in mere seconds. His long serpentine black dreads brushed against her scarred cheek.
But she didn't break contact, her hardened brown eyes met the lifeless black mask of the predator.
Just like she did with Scar... The youngling she named, the one who saved her from that dark and brutal place. She remembered when he reached up to pull out the tubes that held his mask to his head, revealing the ugliest thing she'd ever laid eyes on. She remembered when he let out a roar that nearly knocked her back trying to scare her into submission... But it didn't work. To appear strong made them give her the slightest bit of respect.
The predator cackled, slightly amused by the staring war. But he sharply turned on the heels of his feet, his strong form moving with grace. His dreads smacked her, but she didn't dare move.
"Come." The Predator's voice was scratchy and thick, but Lex understood him clearly.
This was her new life, living amongst aliens... Predators. She couldn't be thinking about backing down now.
This would be the last time she'd see snow gracefully flitter down to the white world. This would be the last time she'd sit by a crackling fire, warming her numb body from hours of the cold.
A low chitter brought Lex to the present hour... Maybe even her last. The Predator was facing her again.
Looking behind it, Lex was greeted with the sight of the ship, now uncloaked, whirring softly. It's large body had taken up a good part of her five acreage lot.
"Come." The Predator decided to move again, pushing against the snow towards it's ship. Lex followed slowly in the trail it made, making the trek a bit easier.
She was ready... Ready to leave behind her unforgettable past. It was now, or never.