Succulent Prey
Adderwyrm shit. It had to be adderwyrm shit. Sure. Why not? It adds to the chic-sewer-rat ambiance.
"The things I do," I sighed. Ignoring the nagging voice of reason that insisted I was being difficult. Stubborn... See what I mean about pesky disembodied voices haunting my grey matter? Couldn't be my conscious. That guy committed suicide years ago.
Disturbed by my presence, the adders huddled together above my head, shifting nervously as I passed. Their little black furry bodies gave depth to the shadows and breathed torturous life into this infected planet. Their restless energy crawled up my neck, and I had to curb the desire to spook them. It would've been fun to make them shriek and take flight, but not down here where the walls could collapse at any given moment. So deep were the tunnels beneath the Whispering Peaks of Tassix 7 that my natural night vision couldn't penetrate the dark beyond a meter in any direction. And while having extrasensory perception gave me a badass edge, mine wasn't as good as my much-much-much-much uglier cousins. And without the glow of the witch-light stones ensconced in the walls guiding my path, I'd likely slip in guano and brain myself on broken masonry. Or die in some other fantastical embarrassing way.
"... pauk-de, u'darahje! Dtai'k-de!"
Memory flickered then vanished. Losing to a pack of inexperienced, not to mention hormonally charged kits would've been an embarrassing way to go. I smirked. And luckily, my skull hadn't ended up on any of those cocky asstards walls where they could paw at themselves while they stared at it. Or whatever the Yautja do with their trophies. Don't know. Don't care. I won and that's all that matters. But what the hell is an u..ururuje? I've been given many enduring labels over the years, but that's one I haven't heard before. 'Course I've never run into a Yautja before either. It was bound to happen. My xenomorph heritage marked me as "Big Game" to them. The lead hunter hadn't been fooled by my human skin, but he'd underestimated the size of the queen bitch just beneath the surface. Maybe that's why he'd stupidly thrown untrained juveniles at my claws. He hadn't expected me to put up such a fight. I didn't have the lethal whip tail or inner jaws of a xeno, so maybe he thought they stood a chance. Dumbass. Part of me wanted to take pity on them. But I had known with absolute certainty they would never stop hunting me.
My tongue darted out to lick salt roughened lips. I liked a good fight as much as the next girl, and I enjoyed myself up until the older one realized they weren't going to make it out alive and then the bastard had to go and ruin the game by attempting to nuke us! And for realsies here, who runs around with a fucking bomb strapped to their wrist?! Yeah, I get it. They didn't want me to loot their corpses, or make finger puppets out of their mandibles, or steal their tech and blah, blah, blah, die with honor, blah, blah, blah. But a bomb?! Talk about a race of sore losers.
Hmmm, they were fun. I half laughed, half snorted at myself, then sighed. Here's the best part about being a hybrid. Everybody and their snaggle-tusked mother wants a piece of you. Here's the downside. They all want the wrong bits! And I have such nice bits too. Hmm, maybe I'm sending out the wrong signals? Nah. Couldn't be that.
From behind me came the sharp furtive footsteps of hundreds of tiny clawed feet. There was nothing to fear in these derelict mines, well, except being buried alive. But as far as the old stories go, I had yet to run into anything nastier than me, simply put, I was the scariest thing down here. And that ain't ego, that's just a fact. Still, the sound scraped my nerves with needles of ice, raising my hackles and setting my teeth on edge. I stopped and twisted at the hips, tilting my head as I examined the empty corridor. Clots of dirt fell from a small hole in the ceiling behind me. There was frenzied movement at the opening then whatever it was disappeared.
I snorted, hoping to dislodge the foul stink of adderwyrm shit from my nose then turned 'round and continued. Hag larvae, I decided. Likely attracted by my heat. Good. It meant I was getting closer. Bag some hag jewels then get the hell off this slimy rock.
Exiting through an arch guarded by statues whose black jeweled eyes glittered balefully in the low light, I came upon a chasm. There was no bottom that I could see, and the stone chasm-bridge had been destroyed long before this planetary system's star began to die, but hey, there was a rickety rope bridge I could cross. Go me.
Why not the eyes? It was odd. The despoilation of this ancient underworld was evident in every room, corridor and vault, yet no one took the eyes of the statues. Tempted, I glanced back at the stone sentinels, noticing the dry and blackened lichen tattooing their massive paws and muscular forelegs. Bodily, there was something very canine about them, but their heads were akin to the Kulra of Hiaako. Were their jaws open when I walked past? I straightened and shrugged the creeping weirdness off. I was not spooked, besides what I hunted was far more valuable anyway. And sadly this would likely be my last chance before the weight of the mountain became too much to bear.
I clenched my teeth. This was the only place I've ever found hag jewels. Not that I looked real hard. And discovering them had been a total freak accident anyway, so losing them wouldn't be the end of the universe, but it would suck.
I eyed the rope bridge with cautious optimism. Optimism likely born of desperation but I was okay with that. Besides what's an adventure without a little thrill?
"Oh, yes, the things I do," I grumbled and stepped onto a wood plank. It splintered and whined but luckily didn't break. A minor miracle considering I wasn't dainty in the slightest. After the rape and splicing of my genetics, whatever formula of hybridization the Wey-Yu scientists had used on me, gave me a lot of muscle. And not gazelle legs either, though they are quite sexy.
Not what you were expecting right? Well, neither was Wey-Yu. I'm not some adorable pixie badass you can carry in your pocket who's absurdly strong for her size. Nope. I'm a fucking Amazon goddess with an abundant mane of untamable raven black hair. And I am no one's pet. So upon my grand escape from that miserable life, I disabled the lab's lockdown and left the doors to the hatcheries wide open. And you better believe I strutted my way through those halls of carnage in nothing but my skin right out the exit. Tit for tat.
I passed through a small square that branched off into three other directions. I chose the one not completely carpeted in guano which seemed like a good idea until I found myself hunching the further I descended. Freakishly tall, remember. The masons got a little lazy down these halls.
A pulse. I paused, closed my eyes and focused on it. In my mind's eye, I saw a lump of darkness; felt it shift inside my head; sensed its breath. I reached out, my fingers ghosting the frost licked wall. I tried to open up the pathways in my mind and see the way a xenomorph does, but all I got was a feel for the hungry predator and the general size of the room.
Big boy.
A dull ache started behind my eyes. I blew out a breath and reminded myself it was best to conserve energy because I was gonna need it.
I came around a curve, then down a stone step into a vault, and there, he stood waiting for me. I took a deep breath, scenting him. Over the dank mustiness of earth and the rotting of meat, I caught the telltale whiff of a scent I associated with springtime and growing things. A smell so out of place in this hellish pocket of the universe it could only mean one thing. Saliva filled my mouth, and my heart sped up; lips quivering in anticipation as they lifted to bare a gleeful smile I purred: "Nmm, bend over, baby."
...
The Hunter
At last, Kazai'sa's exasperation curled into a guttural growl. The hunter paused and stared at the crooked gaping door in the side of the sinking mountains. Shards of mirror resin hung from the entrance like the fangs of a great kainde-lou-dte'kalei. After learning all that he could, Kazai'sa abandoned the huntress's kill sight and started his hunt in earnest. And for the last three days, his prey led him through every festering mud hole, through every abandoned, crumbling settlement sinking into the earth, and every decaying forest on this rotten planet. It was obvious she was searching for something but had yet to find it. But to descend into the dark below the mountains was stupid. The vast stone channels, far older than even he, were now encased in soft, sticky ever-shifting earth. And the threat of collapse was imminent.
Of course, this would not stop him. His whole body tingled with the anticipation of added danger. For centuries the warrior longed for prey that would sate the wretched, ever-present beast living within him. Maybe then he could rest. Li'ki-de? The thought elicited a dark rumble of incredulity, but still, the unshakable need drove him ever onward. Kazai'sa could barely recall a time when he'd felt pride in a kill. It's as if every failed hunt took a piece of him to the afterlife, leaving only the madness of a song that would never play for him again... or so he thought.
Kazai'sa lifted a hand and removed his bio-mask, discarding the filter over his senses. Mandibles parting, the hunter breathed deeply. Beneath the foul stink of the mire and vermin, he could taste her. Faint though it was, the minuscule trace hit his system like the afterburn of a shot of aged cn'tlip. A pair of fierce green orbs flashed behind his eyelids, their defiance forever burning in his memory.
Possessed, the hunter shed all the ideologies of the Yautja that would otherwise cheapen the hunt. Foolish youngbloods often held fast and relied too heavily upon technology. And time and again that dependency has led to countless warriors dying before having reached their prime.
The predator stalked through the gaping jaws of the mountain, an eager readiness to his stride. Darkness greedily slipped over his skin, consuming him, and the beast felt right at home...
A/N: Thanks for those favs, follows and reviews. Predesaurus at the bottom. Remember to hit the pretty blue button and tell me the good, the bad, and the dirty deets of your thoughts ;)
angel897: Thanx sweets :)
KTCameleon: Thanx! I hate writing in 3rd person, so I'm really happy you liked it. I'm doing okay. Hope you're well :)
Tenfangirl: Lol, oh, yes! Lots of joy to look forward too XD
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Predesaurus
"...pauk-de, u'darahje! Dtai'k-de!" translation: "... fucking, abomination! Fight!"
Cn'tlip: Knock you on your ass alcohol.
Kainde-lou-dte'kalei: Hard Meat/Xenomorph queen
Li'ki-de: to rest (non canon, I made it up)