Lone Wolf
Chapter 2: Escape
Drag'lan's Sleep that night was fitful. While he had had recurring nightmares of his past and the horrors of it, this dream….this dream was different.
He was running for his life, unarmed, through the forest. A pack of Xenos were in hot pursuit behind him. As he was running, he saw a bright light in front of him. It was that bright light that drove him to run towards it. Just as he got near the light, one of the Xenos behind him leaped. As it got near him, h\a blue streak went past him and destroyed the Xeno. He watched as a figure came out of the light and started to fight the Xenos. After the Xenos were dead, the figure turned to Drag'lan. Drag'lan knew after looking at its armor that it was a high-ranking member of its race. It looked at him and said "Drag'lan, I know that you have lost much from the Yautja in the past, but it is time to put that behind you. You must put the hatred you feel towards them aside. The one traveling with you is the key. Soon, you will meet the man who, indirectly, caused your torment. Don't attack him for that reason. Remember this, because your future rests on how you decide to act when the event comes to pass."
The Figure then faded away. As it did so, so did the light, leaving Drag'lan in the darkness…
Drag'lan woke up with a start. The sun was beginning to rise. He just laid his head back against the tree and thought about the dream.
What it is trying to tell me? He thought Could it have something to do with the predator I rescued from the hive yesterday?
As he thought that over, he heard a slight purring sound. He looked down and smirked: The predator he had rescued had moved in her sleep. She was now laying across his lap, with her head resting on his left knee.
Heh…looks like someone moves in their sleep.
He lifted her gently, making sure to note her weight. She was somewhat heavy, but with some leverage, he thought he could easily flip her. As he lifted her up, she began to squirm a bit.
Well, might as well get this over as fast as possible. Drag'lan thought.
He slid out from under her and lowered her to the ground just as gently as he had lifted her. He un-latched his harness and set it against the tree. He then began stretching. His joints popped a little.
Aaaaaaaahhhh…that's better. He thought.
He looked at the fire pit the predator had made last night. Naturally, it had gone out, and he wanted to clean off his blades, which were most likely covered in muck and dirt; this planet had a lot of ambient dust, dirt and muck floating around. He also wanted to temper his combat knife.
He set off for more firewood, carrying one of his claymores and his combat knife. He took his claymore for chopping the wood due to the thickness of the wood, as well as defense, but his knife was for pure defense. He had seen what happened to those without knives and didn't want to suffer the same fate. This planet had a knack of producing assassin-prone predator animals. After about 10 minutes of walking, he found a tree sapling that would do nicely for firewood. He brought out his claymore from the sheath he had removed from his harness and attached to his shirt. With a few well-aimed strikes at the trunk, the sapling was brought down. With his combat knife, he hacked off some of the smaller branches for kindling. He then sheathed the knife and started chopping with his claymore. He chopped the wood into logs about 1.5 feet long. When that was done, he sheathed his claymore and picked up a few logs to take back to "Camp".
It took him 3 trips to get all the wood back to the camp, and the trip was un-eventful. After he had finished, he saw that his partner was still out.
She sleeps like a rock, he thought.
He put his claymore sheath back on his harness and took out the claymores and short-swords, which he set next to the fire pit. He then set up a few logs in the fire pit and put some kindling underneath it. He then brought out a box and took out a lighter from it. With the lighter, he lit the kindling and watched over the fire as it started. He added logs every now and then to increase the size. Once the fire was at a healthy size, he stuck his short-swords into the fire to clean off for about 3 seconds before taking them out. He felt them vibrate in his hand when he had stuck it in the fire. It creeped him out, but not too much. Might have been his own hand for all he knew. The same thing happened with his claymores. Now, that was what creeped him out the most. He then put his combat knife into fire. When it was red-hot, he pulled it out and poured water from his canteen over it. It really steamed after that. When it stopped, it was shimmering. He pulled out a box from his satchel and pulled out a stone from it.
One cool thing about this planet was that it had stones of unusual toughness and varying grinding capabilities. These stones were perfect for Whetstones, as they could withstand even a mono-molecular blade strike.
He started running the stone over the blade to sharpen it. His box had the 4 main types of whetstone-quality stones of the planet. He had chosen the one with the finest grain to sharpen his blade. The finest grain stones were the ones that could sharpen blades into a mono-molecular sharpness.
The predator slept soundly. She had been tired as it was, despite Drag'lan's thoughts yesterday. She went out like a light not soon after she had leaned against Drag'lan. Her dreams were pleasant as well. Since her family and clan had been wiped out, and she was an adopted by her current clan, she dreamed of seeing her adoptive mother, father and older and younger brothers. She had left home about 5 months ago and they always worried that she wouldn't return.
She didn't have a mate. That was because since she was shorter than the average female, she was overlooked as a potential mate. Why they did that, she'd never know, but in a way, she didn't care. She loved to hunt, and a mate would end that love. Hell, she already had a collection of trophies, which happened to be mostly Xeno skulls.
She felt very unsure about Drag'lan. Normally, around males, she was apprehensive and cautious. With Drag'lan, she didn't feel like that. She didn't know why, but she knew he was safe.
Her sleep was interrupted by warmth on her face. She woke up and opened her eyes, seeing a fire.
What the...? she thought, Is it still night?
She looked around and saw the sun was up. She looked at the fire and saw that her partner was sitting by the fire, running a stone over the knife in his hand. He looked like he was in his own world. She got up and went next to the fire, sitting down before she addressed her partner.
She said "So. What happened last night?"
Drag'lan didn't look up at her as he spoke. He said "Not much. Thought I wouldn't know, as I fell asleep shortly after you had."
Crap... The Predator thought, We're lucky just to be alive...
She looked at him and said "You fell ASLEEP? You were supposed to be on guard!"
Drag'lan stopped and looked up at her with a stern look in his eyes. He said "Okay, you leaned on my right shoulder, so there wouldn't have been much I could do with one hand."
He looked at the fire once before sheathing his knife and putting out the fire.
Well, time to get moving again Drag'lan thought
He started to move towards his harness, but the predator got in his way and said "Wait. I'm not done with you yet."
Yea, but I'm done with You He thought, but he said "I'd get out of my way if I were you."
She said "Oh REALLY? And what if I don't?"
Here we go. Time to see if I was right about her weight and how well I sized her up, Drag'lan thought.
He said "If you don't, I'll flip your sorry ass. Trust me, I can."
He's bluffing, the Predator thought, nobody has been able to flip me in a LONG time.
She said, in Yautja "Bullshit. There is no way you can flip me."
Too bad she doesn't know I can speak Pred language, Drag'lan thought.
Drag'lan smirked and, much to her surprise, said "Okay. Looks like you need a demonstration." in Yautja.
WHAT THE? the predator thought. This one knows Yautja?
She didn't have time for other thoughts, as Drag'lan grabbed her left leg, put his left hand against her abdomen and used it as leverage to flip her over his head. She landed on her back about a foot away from him.
Drag'lan turned to her and said "Told you so." before he grabbed and equipped his gear.
Well...didn't expect THAT to happen, she thought.
She picked herself up and said "Well done. You just did what nobody has been able to do in about 30 years."
Heh, should've figured that she would have to find out the hard way, Drag'lan thought.
He said "Now that THAT'S out of the way, you mind grabbing your gear? we need to get moving again."
WOW...That's what he was going after. I feel like a real bitch after that course of actions... The predator thought.
She just said "Okay" and got her gear. Once they were set, they set off running again. Drag'lan kept up with her easily this time. His adrenaline was still pumping after he had flipped her.
I have always had a knack for being able to size up people like that, he thought with a smirk.
Now, the predator had other thoughts.
Damn...the Regollen must be strong if he was able to flip me THAT easily...
She looked around and saw that she was near the ship.
Time to put my plan to action, she thought.
She stopped abruptly, and Drag'lan did the same. He saw her looking around and walked up to her. He tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at him.
He said "What's wrong? you seem on edge."
She turned away from him and said "I don't know, Something doesn't feel right..."
Here comes another alterior motive... Draglan thought.
Now, to a point, Drag'lan was right, as the predator took a step forward, but whirled around and hit his helmet with enough force to knock him out cold, just like the leader of the predators that had wiped out his Marine family had done before he had ended up in the hive.
The predator walked up to him and chuckled behind her mask.
Too easy, she thought.
She turned away to walk to her ship, but she stopped after a few paces and turned back. In her heart, she didn't have it in her to leave him lying there to die. Not after what he had done, and under the circumstances he freed her.
Damn it, she thought. I can't just leave him here. I'm not sure if he would be okay in the clan, though. Talk about having a conundrum...After what he did to me, I THINK he'll be okay with the clan, but will the elders allow it? Well, either way, I might as well take him aboard the ship. There are too many predators on this planet.
She hefted him up over her shoulder and carried him onto her ship. She went into the bedroom, took out his 4 swords that she saw in the harness-like thing he wore. She then took out the knife he had on one of the bands connected to the latch. It was a complex thing to work, as the sheath was curved. She got it out in the end, but the blade itself slid over her hand, making a thin slash through her skin. She yelped as her skin was cut, and dropped the knife. Her blood was on the blade where it had cut her, and her hand was somewhat bleeding. She wrapped it up in cloth from her medical kit and set the blades on the workbench in her bedroom. The large blades were much to big to sit on the workbench, so she set them against the wall.
She then turned her attention to the harness Drag'lan wore. No matter what she tried to undo the latch, it wouldn't come undone.
"Oh, PAUK this!" She said, "I might as well just leave the damn thing on him. I need to get the ship headed back home and clean out this wound anyway."
So, she left it on. She left the bedroom and headed to the cockpit. There, she set the navigation to send her back home, to Lai'Kairis. The ship took off, and she went to the restroom to clean the cut she had sustained.
While he was out, Drag'lan had another dream, just like the one he had had last night...
He was fighting wave after wave of Xenomorph. The bodies of the dead littered the ground, but they were relentless in their assault. Drag'lan felt the fatigue set in as he kept swining his blade. The blade was seeming to get slower after each swing. As it began to stop, the same figure that had shown up in the previous dream showed up and started fighting the Xenomorphs as well. After a few kills, the Xenos disappeared. The figure turned to Drag'lan and said, in the same voice "Drag'lan I have seen your actions. Althought they show honor and courage as well as compassion, they lack purpose. Remember what your father taught you about actions taken without purpose. They are actions not worth taking. You may not know me, but take heed of the messages i leave. They will show their meaning as time passes"
The figure faded out again. As it did, a Xeno snuck up behind Drag'lan and stabbed its tail through his heart...
