Xenomorph: Being Brave

Chapter One: The New Start

The air was fresh, clean and cool this morning, just the way he liked it. It had always been his little slice of heaven in the life that he now lived. When he came across moments like this, he had to make sure to stop and capture then whenever he could because he was never sure how many he would have left. He looked out over the valley that he had called home for the past year and enjoyed the view.

The forest was thick and lush this summer which assisted in hiding him away from anyone who would be looking for him. Anyone who wished him harm or pain, anyone who he did not want to find him. His head drooped low as he was reminded of what he had lost. His dear Jolene had been taken from him, taken just as their relationship had started to flower. Even though he had been turned into a monster.

As Amun sat upon the face of the mountain he remembered all the happy moments that he had spent with her, it was all he could do to drown out the pain. He let loose a large sigh and brought his large head up, looking towards the sky.

"You would have loved it here Jolene...I miss you." He looked out over the valley once and again. He would walk its paths and creeks almost every day to remind him that there was still beauty in the world. That the life he now had to live was not all evil and pain. He looked up and watched as the sun began to poke up from the horizon line.

At least, he thought it was the sun. His vision was still blanketed with nothing but gray and black tones. It was the sudden warmth that he felt on his exo-skeleton that gave it away. The heat slowly built from his crown down to his large feet and tail. He sat for a long while just enjoying the warmth of the light.

Losing track of time, he realized that he should probably get back, he had been gone for most of the night. He stood from his perch and began to make his was down the rocky cliff. Passed the fifty foot drop and a few scattered bushes that hid away within the rocks, he made his way down until he came upon the tree line at the base of the cliff.

It was a bit of a task for him to get up and down to his favorite spot with his larger body, but he did not mind. It helped to remind him of a time before all this happened, before his life was turned upside down. Now, nothing was normal and he could not see it ever changing back.

As he walked on his hind legs through the trees that he had come to know well, he always took this time to think. About where to go next, how to proceed and an escape plan if they needed. He found he was good as a strategist, somehow he was able to adapt and analyze with great speed. Perhaps he was a military general in his life before this one, or even a professional athlete! He had a feeling that they were rather good at adapting to changes in their situations, especially against something as unpredictable as another human.

He continued his walk until he emerged from the trees and came upon a small river. It was one that he knew rather well and followed back to the cave that he had hiding in. He stepped into the cold, mountain water and let his feet cool down before walking again.

It was the little things like this that he enjoyed. Sloshing through the river without trouble, just enjoying nature. As he came around a bend of trees, he locked eyes with a rather large grizzle bear that was fishing for a meal in the waters. Amun did not stop his stride and simple walked towards the beast. The bear, who turned to face the monster that was approaching him, stood on two legs as to challenge the three story tall alien king. The silly thing then let out a roar to display its strength that made Amun mentally chuckle.

Amun stopped and went down onto all fours, which still made him quite a bit taller than the bear, and let out a mighty roar of his own. The water of the river shook with the velocity of the sound and dwarfed the roar that had been presented by the forest animal. Amun laughed as the bear took off running into the woods, not wanting to fight with such a monster.

"That's right! Running little guy, I'll see you next week." Amun thought to himself and began his walk once again. He suddenly felt a familiar feeling tickle his mind. "Morning Emilia." He said to the one that was now connected to his mind.

"Good morning. What was that, I swear I heard something." The presence in his mind responded to his greeting. Emilia, who had probably just woken up, usually did not join Amun on his walks around the valley, she was not much for mountain climbing.

"I hope I didn't wake you. It was Bob again, silly guy still won't give up thinking that this is his river." In truth, Amun found it rather nice to have something so simple take his mind off of things. Even if it did include taking over a bear's territory. He really had no choice though, it was the only place they had found in three weeks that was hidden well enough to use. "I'm sure he will be back tomorrow." He felt the humour from Emilia sneak into his mind which made him smile. It reminded him of how Jolene use to laugh at his really bad jokes. The thought spoiled his mod a tiny bit, but it had just been enough for Emilia to notice.

"Amun, I..." He knew that he had let his mental defences slip a bit too much and Emilia knew that he had been reminded of his past love. The one that had helped him escape the company that transformed him and Emilia into Xenomorph's. The ones that ended her life.

"What shall we get up to today?" Amun cut her off to change the subject quickly, he did not want to ruin her morning with his sad past. She knew well enough not to push the subject. He could feel a wave of comfort flood his mind and he didn't know why, perhaps Emilia was stretching after her sleep, he did not know.

"I have no problem just being lazy today." Amun mentally laughed and Emilia had caught it.

"What?!"

"O nothing, you have just loved being lazy for the past two weeks. It's like you're on vacation." Indeed it had been a rather nice break from everything. Once they had found their current cave that was so well hidden, the Weyland company had either not found them or not bothered.

"And that's a bad thing? I am rather enjoying myself, but I could really use a coffee!" Amun remembered the last coffee he had. It was the breakfast that Emilia had made for him. Then he remembered the bounty of bacon that they had shared. And that was it, Amun was starting to feel hungry.

"Ok, now I want breakfast, thank you for that." Amun deviated from his path and headed deeper into the forest, looking for an animal to fill his belly.

"Ooo what are you brining me?" Emilia asked and Amun knew that she wanted to be pampered today so he would entertain her.

"I'll grab some pancakes and bacon for sure, and ill grab some coffee." Was his response, he knew it would bug Emilia to no end.

"O Amun, done even tease! I would walk into the city this moment if I could to eat such a meal!" Amun's imagination took off with the thought of the two grabbing brunch in the city. Some poor little padio beign invaded by two royal Xenomorph's looking for a hundred or more pancakes.

"You know what...I think we could actually get away with going through the drive through." Amun commented.

"Amun!" She playfully snapped "Are you calling me fat?!"

"It's not my fault you eat so much Salmon from the river." Amun froze as he saw a trail of pheromones in front of him. "I'll get back to you Emilia...I think I may have found breakfast." Amun lowered his front arms to the ground and began to follow the sent through the trees and vegetation. The trail weaved over boulders and through trees and seemed as if the animal was running from something. As the scent got stronger, Amun scanned the forest in front of him with greater caution.

He did not want to scare away breakfast. As he scanned the forest in front of him he heard something moving to his right, he got as close to the ground as he could. As he turned his head to look, he noticed a cloud of color coming from a bush that was nearby. He now had his target, the hunt was on. Amun wanted a bit of fun, so letting out a lour roar, he took off towards the bush. When he had gotten half way, he watched as a human boy took off from behind his cover and darted into the trees! Amun took after him, letting out another roar to scare him.

As the boy zig zagged through the trees, Amun simply put his head down and ran through them, destroying them into splinters. He lifted his head to relocate the boy but could see nothing. That was when he felt a small sting on the side of his head. He turned to see the boy upon a large rock with a rifle pointed at Amun. Amun did not hesitate, he quickly crouched and leapt at the boy. To his surprise, the boy rolled off the back of the rock and out of site.

As Amun impacted the rock, he felt more snaps of something hitting him in the back. He turned to face the new threat, but when he way nothing in his gray vision, he knew there was something else at play. Amun needed to re-set the fight in his favor. He took off quickly to his left where he knew a large hill was located. Once at the top, and making sure there was no one on top with him, he started to scan the trees and became very quiet.

That was when he noticed a small trail of yellow down to his right. Amun took off down the hill, back on the trail of the human. When he broke the tree line he was taken back when he was confronted by the boy standing on another rock, nothing in his hands and not moving to run. Amun approached him quickly and stopped only a few inches from the small human. Amun let out another loud roar and extended his second mouth.

"Fell for it." Was all the boy said. Amun had no time to react as a furry of paintballs impacted the front of his domed head. He had no time to react and block the incoming projectiles! Realizing his defeat, Amun began to dramatically flail his limbs in false pain. Letting out a screech, he fell to the forest floor and let out one last soft roar before playing dead.

As he laid still in the ground he felt more than a few bodies begin to climb over his horizontal shape. Cheers of victory and congratulations were had from all as they towered over their kill. Amun slowly lifted his head and looked down at the group of humans that were now dancing upon his chest. They all turned to face him, smiles upon all their faces. Amun let out a low purr to show then his happiness. One of the group, Jenna, stepped forward.

"You almost had me on that rock, I rolled out just in time to hide in the mud we found." Amun realized that was how the group had ambushed him. They had covered themselves in mud to hide their sent from his vision. Amun was proud that they had been learning and adapting to his hunting abilities. Amun shifted a small bit to indicate that he would like to stand. They all knew what the gesture meant and proceeded to slid off of his exoskeleton.

Amun stood and looked down at the four that all held their paintball guns, looking proud to have defeated such a large foe. Amun smiled. He had first run into Jenna and her friend when they had ventured too far into the woods and had found Amun relaxing in the river. Instead of running in fear they had all approached the large Xenomorph in the water.

Jenna had explained that they had been present in the city when Amun had first made himself known. They had all began to follow him down the street towards the lab before he took off after the trucks. So when they stumbled upon him in the forest, they all knew that they were in no danger. Since then, they had come out a few times to chat and see both him and Emilia. In truth, Amun did not mind. They were just a bunch of rowdy teenagers, but the company was more than appreciated.

The last time they had come, Steve had come up with the idea of playing a paintball game against an alien king, Amun thought it would be fun. So today, without warning, had been the test run. Amun had known it was Steve and his friends the moment he saw the trail of pheromones. Something in the colour had been the identifying factor. As Amun looked down at the kids who were all chatting among themselves about the action that had just aspired, he felt Emilia reach out to his mind.

"Amun, what was going on? I could tell you were excited and running around?" She asked with a bit of fear. Emilia had always been a bit worried that the Company was hot on their trail.

"Nothing to worry about, it is only the group come to play." Amun had told Emilia about the group of friends when they appeared the first time. He knew nothing good would come from keeping secrets from her. Especially when she could tell if he was lying or not. "Come say hello? Might be nice to get out of that cave eh?" He felt her hesitate a bit. "O come now."

"Alright alright! I'm coming! Geeze, make me get up and do something why don't you." Amun laughed at her stubborn nature, it was proving to be quite dominant. His nagging worked as he felt Emilia mentally reach out to find him and get a fix on his location. Amun bent down low to gain the attention of the four friends. Jenna noticed the large Xeno head beside them first.

"Sup Amun?" She asked. Amun looked to her and then reached down to write in the dirt.

"WANT YOU TO MEET EMILIA" As he finished his message he noticed that they all seemed confused. He realized that he had never told the boys that he had actually gotten her out of the labs. He had to explain a bit more. "QUEEN FROM LABS." At that, all four of them let out a loud cheer as clouds of teal pheromones over took them all. He could hear shouts of 'No bloody way! A queen!' and 'Damn! Two of them?!'.

"It seems like you have a bit of a fan base Emilia." He told her as he felt her getting closer.

"What's that now?" She asked in confusion.

"Just wait, I think one of them is going to ask you on a date!" He laughed as he watched the teal pheromones showing hints of purple which he knew was something that connected with passion. He remembered it well from the barn with Jolene.

"Bloody hell what did you do?!" She yelled at him playfully.

"Me? Nothing, but they are a bunch of nerds so I don't know what they are into!" He could feel her disgusted feeling and could not help but mentally smile.

"This better not get weird Amun, or your sleeping outside tonight!"

"O ho ho! In the dog house am I?" He asked as he felt her approach. He turned to face her direction and felt the four move to stand in front of him.

"Is she here Amun! Where is she, I can't see her!" It was Steve who had asked the question this time. His short blond hair covered in mud and leaves. Amun did not respond, the thunderous sounds of a Queens footsteps were all that was needed.

"Hay! Think she wants to play paintball! Ha ha!" Amun looked down quick to see Rod reloading his hopper full of paint-balls. He quickly and gently placed a hand over top of the rifle . When Rod looked up, Amun shook his head. He knew that Emilia would not be very happy if she was getting hit with paint-balls the first time they meet. Rod understood the gesture and placed his paintball gun on the ground, not wanting to piss off the large alien queen. As big as Emilia was being a queen, Amun was naturally taller and build bigger. However, Emilia was still something you did not want to have pissed off. As she appeared from the trees to meet the gaze of four teenagers , she paused as they stared at her in silence.

" Well then...this is awkward." It was a fair remark as each one of their jaws were half way to the ground and Jenna looked up as if studying the large Xenomorph that had not joined them. It probably had something to do with Emilia being such a famous figure from the movies. An alien king was cool, but the iconic crowned head and slender body of a queen could not be beat. Emilia took a few more steps towards the group.

"They know the process and are patient while we write a response." Amun explained. With that, Emilia bend down and cleared some leaves away to expose the ground.

"HELLO. IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU." The four read the message and looked back to her crowned head, still saying nothing.

"O dear lord, it's not going to be like this all day is it?" Amun let out short bursts of grows as a laugh. As the morning went on, the teenagers opened up to Emilia rather well. Asking all kinds of questions about what her life was like and how she had lost her arm. She answered each one of their questions without hesitation. Perhaps she could tell how interested they were and did not want to be rude.

A most of the day had passed and Amun was sure that every question that could have been asked had been. So the boys said their goodbyes and started the long trip back to the city. Amun and Emilia watched them leave from the safety of the trees. He turned and started his way back towards their home and felt Emilia turn to do the same. It would have been quite a sight to see a King and a Queen making their way through the forest. It made Amun smile, which Emilia had felt through their link.

"What's that?" She asked, coming up beside him.

"O not much, just that we must look like a scene strait out of Jurassic park. A pair of T-Rex sized Xenomorphs making their way."

"Interesting...I had never really thought about it. This has just been so normal for me that I guess I am too use to how it feels and what I look like." This was very true, Amun had forgotten that Emilia had been changed by the company much earlier than he had. He did not know exactly how much longer, but he didn't feel the need to ask.

"That's fair. I guess I'm still a bit new to my size."

"Just a big bug hay?" Amun stopped in his tracks and stared at Emilia. His nickname that Jolene had given him was something that he had never told her. Amun did not want to jump to any conclusion before getting angry, but Emilia had noticed something had happened. "What is it?"

"Where did you get that from?" He asked, wanting to know. It did not anger him so much, but he did not feel comfortable with anyone else calling him by that name. The death of his past lover was still in his emotions. Especially since he had not been able to visit her grave yet to say a proper good bye. He did not even know where she had been laid to rest for that matter. It bothered him that he could not visit her, but with the company still probably looking for them, they will still need to hide for a while.

"Not sure exactly. I probably heard it from one of the scientists in the labs. I'm not sure, why?" Amun felt it would be best just to tell her so that she knew.

"It was a name that Jolene use to call me... her 'big bug'. It was actually the name that helped me remember who I was after I changed into a king." He felt the sorrow flood his mind and knew that Emilia was sorry. "It is alright, you did not know. Let us get home." He said as he started off once again.

The rest of the trip was silent as the two moved through the trees and found the hidden opening to the cave. Amun stopped at the entrance and gestured for her to enter first, he wanted to take a moment and make sure that no one had been following them. After a thorough scan of the area, he entered into the dark cavern. The cave was rather narrow at the entrance for the three story tall Xeno, but after a few bends and twists, it opened up into a rather large cavern.

As he entered and was able to stand, he meet the gaze of Emilia who was now laying down on the far side. It was the flattest area of the cave and, after a bit of foliage gathered by Emilia, had turned into a rather cosy little corner. Amun turned to the entrance he had just came and took a moment before he started to produce resin from his mouth. Every night he did the same thing, covering the inner opening with a thick layer of the hard saliva to protect them from anything that might enter the cave. Including the company. He produced handful after handful and sculpted the barricade with grace and speed.

"If this were a hive, we would have drones doing that for us each night." Emilia stated as he placed and stretched more of his resin.

"True, but there is only the two of us, so someone has to do it."

"What if there wasn't just 'us'?" Amun paused and repeated what she had said in his mind. A bit excited and worried he looked over his shoulder at her.

"What do you mean? Did the company make more of us?" Emilia shook her head.

" I was thinking...that...it might be nice to, you know...maybe start a hive." He could tell that she was beyond embarrassed. The problem was that Amun had no idea what she was talking about. Or why she was asking him, he was pretty sure that if she wanted to produce eggs she could do so without him. Or could she? His train of thought was starting to answer his own questions. He wanted to ask her questions, but did not want to be to rude.

"You are more than welcome to start making eggs, I will watch over you as you do." He said, hoping that his vague answer would make her explain more to him.

"It's not that simple Amun. I...I need your help."

"You will have it, I told you I will watch over you while you do." He could tell that his responses were annoying her and not the ones she wanted to hear.

"That's not the help I need you goof!" She snapped back. " You need to...we need to...well." With that it clicked Amun knew where this was going.

"Ooo...ok I'm going to halt you right there. I don't think we need to do that...do we?" He asked.

"Well...when I was in the labs, I was forced to create an egg sack which I was able to do with ease. But as I produced eggs, they were empty. The face huggers were not developing properly. The scientist came to the conclusions that, like bees and ants, a male is needed to fertilize the female so she can produce more offspring. This is why they picked a you, a male, to kidnap and change into a xeno." Amun felt a wave of sorrow and pain come from Emilia. "It's also the reason I was leading you towards me when you first woke. I...I wanted to start a hive. I thought if I had drones to command...I could escape." Amun felt a bit of anger bubble to his surface, but quickly suppressed it. He could not blame her for her actions, he might have even done the same in her situation.

"Emilia I..." He let out a long sigh. "I found my mate, and I lost her. She died in front of me because of that stupid company and my heart died with her. I do not know if I want to take another as a mate after that." He explained to the curled up Xeno queen. All the while he felt her disappointment sneaking into his mind.

" You do not have to love me Amun, I am not asking for that after what you have been through. I just need...I need your help." Amun did not like this conversation and the way it was turning out. Flashes of Jolene flooded into his mind and he remembered every emotion attached to them. The good, the bad and the wonderful. He knew that Emilia could tell that he was torn. "I just...it would be nice to have more like us, more Xeno's. I don't want to take over the planet or anything, I can stop producing when we have just a few."

"I...I don't know." Logically it made sense to him. Having a handful of drones or warriors would not be a back thing. He just did not like the idea of betraying his past lover who was taken not long ago." Let me think about it ok." After finishing the barrier, Amun moved towards his own nest area that he had created and laid down. Letting out a long sigh he relaxed upon the ground and let the silence invade his mind.