Chapter 1

~Sorry For Dropping In, I Just Wanna Find My Way Out Now~

Ailin sat there as she leaned against the wall, relaxing but not so much that she was oblivious to what was happening around her. She sighed softly, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she tried to make sense of everything. She had been dragged here by the military to help investigate some ruin that had been discovered in Ireland. She was the best of reading many old languages, even having theroies on how they were spoken, and they had needed a "bright mind" like hers to figure out the ruin's text. Damn she hated being this smart. It always got her into trouble. But this time...not only did it take the cake, it had ripped it to shreds and ate everything in sight.

They had opened the ruins, and set off some booby trap, one that most of the group didn't see coming. Upon hearing a rumbling sound, she shot up and pressed herself against the wall, willing it to let her through it and escape this nightmare. She watched how a large form crept through a small space in the wall, one she had thought it's kind couldn't fit through, but she clearly had been wrong.

It stood tall as it surveyed the area, it's eyeless face was completely black except for it's sliver teeth. It's huge oblonged head swayed in time with it's equally black and rigid body. Ailin held her breath as it bent over to stand on all four of it's legs, it's jaw opening to reveal a second set inside that crept out and seemed to sniff the air. It stood like that for a minuet, then began to shake it's head in frustration as it rose and stood tall, a good six and a half feet, at least. It roared loudly, causing Ailin to cover her ears as it took off down one of the hallways at the fork she sat at, the hallway she herself had been planning on using as soon as she had caught her breath.

"Shit. Now what?" Ailin thought to herself as she looked down the other hallway. She shuddered as she looked down it; the way the walls looked sent her bad vibes in every part of her body. They were covered in some strange goop. She had seen it in the hallways that those things seemed to like.
Ailin sighed, not sure what to do. She unconsciously wrapped her hands around her pendant, the act soothed her mind as she tried to think. "Remember Ailin, always be prepared." Her mother had said this to her constantly when she was alive, before she had disappeared without a trace.

The pendant was a charm made from part of the strange weapon-like thing her mother always had, and that had disappeared along with her. Ailin sighed again, then was about to step down the hallway that screamed Do Not Enter, when all of a sudden, the ground began to shake. Ailin gave out a small cry as she fell to her hands and knees, the whole building trembling. Then, suddenly, the floor beneath her split open, leaving her to fall into the darkness it had uncovered. The tiniest tear drop fell from her eyes as she felt nothing but air, think that for sure, she would die.

Va'n looked around as he stood in the open area that had been just a corridor before the pyramid had shifted to challenge his pack. He growled, tightening his grip on his spear as he slowly pivoted around. He knew that he needed to be cautious; the room was so large that it was possibly that another corridor had opened up somewhere. As he returned to the direction he had begun to spin from, he suddenly felt a liquid fall down on his mask, making a small but sudden ping on the metal. He put his hand to it, wiping it away and then looking into his hand, discovering it was water, though he found that it held a suttle salty scent to it. Looking up, he saw that a chute had formed above his head during the building's rearrangement. Hearing something, he used to scanners in his mask to try and identified what was falling to him, but it soon came into light, heading straight towards him. He knew it wasn't a kiande amedha as it wasn't roaring or baring any teeth at him, but that was as far as his thoughts went before the thing landed on him, his spear falling out of his hand as he clung onto it, his strong body able to take the weight of the blow.

Looking down at it, he saw that it was a pyode amedha and it was also female, and unconscious. He growled at himself, disappointed in himself for not identifying it as such before it could have reached him. Va'n put the ooman on the ground, propped up against one of the pillars, and then walked around, wanting to know what exits he could take. He certainly did not want to be with... her. But as he quickly scoured the room, he found that there weren't any exits. No hallways or passages or anything. The only one way out of the room was the chute the ooman had come through. But just as he realized it, fate seemed to taunt him by closing the passage, leaving him sealed in there with the ooman.

He growled deeply, cursing aloud in his native language as he leaned his weight against the pillar across from the female. He wouldn't touch her, not until she woke up anyway. After that, he would get entertainment out of her, what little he could get, until he was released and then he could begin his hunt again. He lifted his left arm, typing on the computer attached to it, finding that his hunt brothers, Grra'ul and T'rska, were in the floor above them, clearly not trapped as he was. Va'n let out a rare sigh as he let his arm fall, then looked over to the ooman.

She was not large for one of her kind, he suspected that her head would be about at where his waist was. She had a red clothe over her hair, the dark tone of red complimented the brownness of her hair. Her skin was dark too, though it did have some lightness to it that he could not see how it could serve as camophlage. Her face looked strange to him, as all pyode amedha did.

Her eyes seemed out of place, she had one of those protruding noses, she didn't have mandibles or tusks, just more flesh covering her mouth. But, as he looked to the rest of her body, he saw that her hands were small, her limbs lean with a seemly lack of muscle, though her face did not appear unhealthy. She wore coverings over her torso that were cut and torn, probably from running from the hard meats. The clothes on her leg were the same, her right leg looking like she had just barely escaped death.
As he heard a soft sound, his eyes returned to her face as he saw that she was beginning to wait up, and he began to grin behind his mask. Looking could only get so exciting.

Ailin groaned as she came back to the world, her eyes slowly flickering open. She had been falling when she lost consciousness, but by the way her body ached like it had fallen onto a tank, she could say that she had landed. She stretched all her limbs, checking to see if she had broken anything with her landing. Nothing seemed broken, but everything hurt. She looked around herself, trying to figure out where she was, and found she was in a large room.
It seemed to go into the floor above them, though with this place, she couldn't be quite sure. Along the walls and pillars were great statures, matching the description of the ruin's text of the Gods as they claimed they were. Blinking, she realized that one figure was out of place, and that it was moving as it breathed. She felt her eyes bug as she stared at to being across from her, as he stared right back at her.

He was identical to the statures, though he did have some differences. But the way he stood tall, his armor shining in the little light that they received, his mask keeping his face completely covered, was hard to ignore. She slowly stood up, keeping her back on the pillar she had been propped against, as she stared the thing straight back. He followed her movement, never turning to look at something else, and it kept her at an uncomfortable level of the Oh My God, What The Fuck, and Holy Shit I'm Gonna Die meters.

Was he gonna kill her, or let her live?
As she asked herself, he suddenly moved, extending his arms as he bellowed at her, the sound ricocheting off the walls intensified the sound. She gave out a small cry as she tried to get away, only meeting the pillar at her back. He suddenly gave a small rumbling noise, leaning back into the position she had woken up to. Great, he's a fucking comedian! Ailin thought agitatedly, her hands forming into fists. The movement didn't go unnoticed, his mask tilting downwards to see. As she stilled again, and he moved to "look" higher on body, though it stopped before it reached her face, and settled just bellow it...

"Hey!" He snapped all the way up to see her face, and she was betting all her money, all 25 bucks, that he had a very smug expression on his face. He growled in response to her shout, but this time she refused to cringe or look away. "...What do you want from me?" She asked softly, slowly gathering her courage. He simply tilted his head to the side, the move reminding her distinctively of a dog's confusion.

"Can you even understand me?" She asked, but was answered by his stillness and silence. She then sighed, then looking about the room to see if she could get away from him. As she walked about the room, she felt his eyes watching her every move, and it disturbed her to no end. After a few minuets, she gave up, but then took to looking at the text on the wall, trying to read it though some parts were damaged. One distinctive place where it wasn't, however, was on one of the pillars, specifically the one the so called "deity" was leaning against.

Ailin sighed, then took a deep breath as she walked to the opposite side of the pillar to read the text. He seemed interested in what she was doing, but it could have been that until things started to shift again, he didn't have much else to do. She tried to ignore him, but it was hard to when a mask that could scare the shit outta you was looking right at you. The words spun around the pillar, and so it came that HE would have to move in order for her to read it. "..."
As she came close to him, she didn't know what to say. Instead, she stared straight at him, then lightly pushed at his arms to try and signal him that he needed to move. But as soon as she touched his skin, she felt her own crawl at the contact. His skin was...was scaly! Much like a snake, only it was smooth no matter what direction you touched it in. She froze as she touched it, the feeling sent shivers down her spine, but she glared as she pushed as hard as she could against him, detirmined to at least move him an inch. But, he didn't even flinch, his relaxed and at the same time tensed stance the same. He rumbled again, Ailin knew that he was, of all things, laughing at her! Then, he suddenly did move, but of his own accord as he stopped leaning on the pillar. She fell down with a yelp of surprise, but then quickly stood up, her eyes landing at the beginning of his eight packs.

She tilted her head up to see he was peering down at her, no longer laughing . She gulped softly, then straightened her tired and aching back as she looked at him, where she assumed his eyes were behind his mask, and said in a steady voice, "I need you to move so i could read the writing on the pillar." He didn't move, didn't flinch, but Ailin refused to show that she was scared shitless right at that moment, scared because he was so close to her, and because of the reputation the ruins had given him and his kind.

They simply stood there for a good time, staring each other in the eyes, until the tall beast looked away and began to walk into the middle of the room. Ailin gave out a shaking sigh of relief, then turned to the pillar to read it's "better then most but still hard to read" writing. She peered at the text, and found that this pillar seemed to hold something in it's words. She pulled off her backpack off of one shoulder, picking up a notebook and pen, the replace the light bag back on her back. She copied the original text, going through three pages, then stood back up and focused on what she had, trying to figure it out.

The Way of the Warrior is hard and tough. The Path is never easy. Truth be told, many will fall, some may not complete. Serpents Rise, the Queen she leads, to take the challenge of the Hunt. To defend is to be weak, to attack is to live. May you rise when they all fall.

But some can rise, against Fate, to take the Challenge of Old. To hunt like the Gods, to join the Way. To Obtain the mark, but stay. They shall be amongst them, with false hope and joy, as they forget their place as Prey. But forget, even so, some do not, and then they come down of their own. During the way, a Warrior may follow. Trapped by the hunt of Blood. To this, they shall never return, but may their Spirits be joined.

The Hunt never ends, it is always there, but the game may change, as Time changes the Rules.

Ailin stared as test as it automatically translated in her mind, and she grumbled as she put the notebook back in her bag. "What does it mean? There's so much going on, yet it's only a few lines! It just doesn't make any sense..." She sighed as she turned around to look at the tall being behind her, as he looked at the thing he had on his wrist. "His kind are the Gods, i know that much. Serpents might be those...monster things that took everyone. but Queen? Mark, warrior, hunt? What could it all mean."
As her thoughts ended, she saw that he had stopped looking at his...thing...and now was simply standing there, as if waiting for something. Ailin stood still too. If he was on edge, she should only react the same.
Right?
Suddenly, there was a click noise, and then the whole room was in motion. Gasping, she turned to see that he was doing the same, and she realized that if she didn't move, she could be flattened or trapped again. Moving forward, she just focused on running as she dodged the blocks of the walls that reformed themselves. she landed on a block of the floor that was still, and found a staff looking thing next to her.

Thoughtlessly, she grabbed it and continued to run, the floor where she had been standing on before joining the movement. She ran for a hallway opening, a stature coming down to close it off. Sliding along the ground at the last second, she slipped under the great mass of stone just before it slammed on the ground, blackness covering her eye sight. Blinking, she pulled out a large glow stick and snapped it, causing light to fill the hall and to see the masked creature standing close to her again. Gasping, she peddled backwards until her back reached the wall, trying to breathe as he just tilted his head at her, for a moment, then he turned to walk away.

Sighing, she looked down at the staff that she had picked up, and gasped in awe. It was small, a main center piece was where she held it. Longer, speared ended pole stuck out from the sides. The thing looked deadly, and at the same time, familiar. she moved her hand, accidently pressing a switch and the poles lengthened as they shot out from it, the sschking noise sounded like a sword perfect for killing being unsheathed. Her eyes widened, the sound was just as familiar...

Ailin looked up as another sound entered her ears, he was close again but now he was growling, loud and clear, Give that back. Gulping, she pressed the button again, reverting it back to it's compact form and then held it out to him, letting it sit in her hands.
"Here. Better you get it back then me keeping it." She said, looking down from his face and watching the staff, making sure she didn't drop it. The growling stopped, as if he was surprised, but then he reached and picked it up from her open hands, then left with a swift and short chuff noise. Ailin sighed, then looked back up to watch him walk down the hall and out of view. She clutched her pendant, then, with a deep breathe of some courage and possibly insanity, she dropped the glow stick on the floor and ran after him, trying to be quiet as best as she could. "Like Mom always said, The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Hey! I know, so bad of me to write a new story when i have two others completely untouched. I have them written, i just need to find them again (just moved so things are being stubborn about being found.)

Anyway, tell me what you think, you can even flame if you want, but if you do leave me a message, please tell me if you find a spelling error. Thanks!

-Souzou

(after thoughts~just edited the spelling and such, and also from a review, who told me how big paragraphs scare people away *you know who you are*. Aside from that, nothing big. And sorry if things end up so spacey-I'm trying to make it so that it doesn't look so overwhelming!)