Heart of a Hunter
Chapter 4
About a week after the Xenomorph incident, life had almost returned to normal. Gahn' tha-cte (Still one hell of a mouthful) continued working on his damaged ship. He needed parts that none of the hardware stores had, so for now he was stuck here until another ship came. He called for help and told me (as best as he could in human language) that another ship was coming to get him.
The ship's cloaking ability still worked, but it lacked a few parts that were needed for the ship to use the engines. So for now, he decided to teach me some words. I learned that his name meant 'Ruthless' in his language. He had decided to give me a nickname.
R'ka.
It meant 'fire' in Yautja language. Funny, I didn't really see myself as that brave, or fiery.
On a Saturday night, I returned home from going out with a few friends. We had gone to dinner and just spent some time together as friends. "Gahn, I'm back!" I called out as I closed the door behind me, locking it. I went out to the back porch and turned the light on. "Gahn?" I called out, grabbing my flashlight. I walked outside and to the ship. There were lights on inside and the entrance was open. I turned my flashlight off and walked inside.
I looked around for Gahn and found him at the cockpit, typing on a strange keyboard. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked, coming up to stand next to him. "Communicating with the other ship?"
"Sei'i." Gahn nodded.
"How many hours until they get here?" I asked.
He held up three fingers. So three hours until the ship came here. I frowned a bit, I didn't want Gahn to leave so soon. I liked having the big guy around. Gahn stopped typing and got up, giving my shoulder a pat before walking past me. He was about to leave the cockpit before an alarm went off. He turned and quickly came back, sitting back down in the large seat.
I watched as he typed a few commands and the red hologram of another, but smaller ship came into view. It had entered Earth's atmosphere and was...heading right our way. "Is that them?" I asked.
Gahn let out a low growl and shook his head. "Thei-de, ic'jit." He spoke in an angry tone.
I'm guessing Thei-de was a name and ic'jit...that meant...Bad Blood. From what Gahn has told me, Bad Blood Yautjas were Yautjas that have turned against their own kind, intentionally or not. If the individual is found to have brought dishonor to his people and flees before accepting punishment, there could not be any forgiveness according to Yautja tradition. Other Yautjas were allowed to eliminate the outcast, or outcasts on sight. Bad Bloods were and could never be accepted back into the Yautja society.
"This...Thei-de, he's a Bad Blood. Why is he coming here?" I asked.
Gahn seemed to let out a sigh. "Enemy." He said in English.
Well, that wasn't good at all.
"Stay...here. Ship will...protect you." Gahn spoke, turning his head to look at me.
"Uh, no, you're not fighting that guy alone." I told him.
Gahn stood up and turned towards me fully. I sometimes forget how much bigger he was than me. He put a heavy hand on my shoulder and pushed me down to sit in the chair. "Stay." He said firmly and walked away. I watched as he disappeared around the corner and heard the bay close. He had closed the ship. There was a bit of a static charge and then I knew he made the ship invisible.
I sighed, sitting down. I didn't want to stay here and watch Gahn fight this guy himself. I settled back in the seat, listening and watching for anything. After an hour went by, I got up, frustrated and worried. I left the cockpit and went to the entrance, pushing the button to open it. As I exited the ship, I could hear the sounds of growls and roars echoing through the forest.
That didn't sound good. I hurried to the garage and shifted through, looking for anything that might help. I always kept a variety of things in my garage. I finally found a machete that I had used one time to cut branches from breaking a couple windows. I grabbed that and hurried off to get to the source of the sounds. I couldn't see very well, so I moved slowly to avoid accidentally getting blasted by something.
As the sounds drew closer, I heard Gahn's roar, but it sounded like he was in pain. My legs picked up the pace, trying to get to him quickly. As I finally reached them, I stopped behind a tree. The Bad Blood Yautja he was fighting was taller and bigger than him and wore a mask just like him, but it seemed to have bones on it, making his appearance much more terrifying and intimidating.
Gahn was bleeding bright, florescent green blood from his left arm. It looked like he had been stabbed deeply. They circled around each other, then charged. The Bad Blood Yautja used his bigger body to his advantage and slammed Gahn right into a tree. Gahn roared and clocked his fist into the bigger alien's masked face. Though it didn't seem to phase him much, the Bad Blood took a few steps back, then rammed his foot into Gahn's stomach, HARD.
I flinched as Gahn fell to the ground, holding his stomach. The Bad Blood slammed his fist over Gahn's head, then across his face. More green blood spilled onto the forest floor.
That was it. That bastard wasn't getting another chance. I waited for the perfect opportunity and then came out from my hiding spot, running at the Bad Blood with my machete raised high. "HEY, YOU UGLY FUCKER!" I shouted and as the Bad Blood whirled around to face me, I plunged my weapon into its shoulder deeply.
His green blood seeped from the wound and the Bad Blood roared out in pain. His hand clutched the sharp blade and he yanked it out, then to my surprise, broke it in half. He let out an angry growl and seemed to glare at me, his shoulders rising.
Shit. I thought and immediately turned to run. I heard the canon blast at me and I yelped as it hit the tree next to me as I ran past it. I remember something about Gahn saying that the masks allow Yautjas to see our heat signatures clearly.
That gave me an idea.
I went deeper into the forest, finding the nearby and very small river. I ducked down and then dove right into the mud, rolling around and getting as dirty as I could. Once I deemed myself invisible, I grabbed a thick branch and hid behind a tree. I heard the thudding footsteps as the Bad Blood got closer to me. I came out, intending to attack the Bad Blood, but was surprised to see Gahn.
"Gahn!" I wiped some of the mud off my face so he could see me.
"I told...you to stay..." He spoke to me, seemingly a bit annoyed that I didn't listen to him.
"You were getting your ass kicked by that fucker. Where'd he go?" I asked.
Gahn and I looked around for the Bad Blood. Next thing I knew, Gahn was blasted in the back and he stumbled to the ground. I saw his skin sizzle from the blast. The Bad Blood roared, probably only able to see my face. I ducked back behind the tree and quickly grabbed a handful of dirt, covering my face in it. I ran around the tree quietly, watching the Bad Blood coming right after me. I then rushed around and slammed the tree branch across his back. To my surprise, the tree branch broke in half.
I watched in shock as the Bad Blood turned to me, more pissed off than before. I dropped the half of the tree branch I had and didn't get time to back off as the Bad Blood rammed it's fist right into my cheek. I collapsed to the ground, clutching my face as agonizing pain erupted through my face. I looked up just in time to roll to the side before a foot slammed into my stomach. I scrambled up and bolted off before the Bad Blood could catch me.
I ran for my machete, panting heavily. I finally came across it and grabbed it up, hiding behind a tree again. I heard the Bad Blood arrive as soon as I hid, hearing him growl in rage. He was pretty pissed off. As he turned to look, I came at him from the back, slicing him in the back with the machete. He roared and went to swipe at me, but I dodged and ran around him again, slicing into his arm deeply. He roared even louder and swiped his sharp wrist blades at me.
I cried out as the blades caught my thigh, slicing into my thigh deeply. Bright, red blood began to seep from it. As I stumbled back, the Bad Blood smacked the machete out of my hands and slammed his fist across my face again. I fell to the floor this time, feeling blood trickle from my mouth. My vision was blurry as I attempted to get up and then a fist slammed into my chest, causing me to let out a raspy scream and fall to the forest floor. I clutched my chest as I gasped and wheezed. It was extremely difficult to breathe.
As I rolled onto my stomach to crawl, the Bad Blood pinned me down with his foot on my lower back. He pressed down hard and I swear it felt like he was trying to break my spine. He reached down and grabbed the back of my neck with a large hand, then tossed me away, letting me hit the floor again. I groaned in pain and got up as quickly as I could, then gasped as the blades cut across my torso, cutting down diagonally. I was shoved to the ground and a foot pressed down hard on my left leg. I struggled to get loose, trying to get away from him.
A loud scream tore from my throat as the foot pressed down all the way, breaking the bones underneath his weight. I coughed up blood and gagged when a hand wrapped around my throat tightly, lifting me up with ease. I dangled off the ground quite a few inches, my hands weakly clutching his wrist. I glared at the Bad Blood in front of me, seething.
He brought his right arm back, determined to kill me for good when Gahn came from out of nowhere and slammed into the Bad Blood with a furious roar. I was dropped to the ground and I coughed harshly as air flowed into my lungs.
Gahn slammed his fists into the Bad Blood's face and chest, not giving the bigger alien time to react or fight back. I crawled over to the machete, determined to help. As my fingers curled around the handle, I heard Gahn let out a mixture of a scream and a roar of agony. I whipped my head to see that the blades had gone through his side deeply, very close to his stomach.
The Bad Blood pulled his wrist blades out quickly and grabbed onto Gahn's neck, determined to finish the fight once and for all.
I jumped up, ignoring my broken leg and slammed my small body into the Bad Blood's, then plunged my weapon into his leg. He roared and let go of Gahn, dropping him to the ground. I yanked my machete out and he collasped to the forest floor.
"You like pain, motherfucker?!" I growled and brought the machete down, cutting into his thigh deeply. Hearing his roar meant it hurt badly. "I'll give you pain!"
I slammed the weapon right against his mask and it flew off. The Bad Blood's face was covered in green blood. Thei-de glared up at me with hatred and I sneered at him. I slammed the machete over his head, cutting into the thick skull. He went down and I kept bringing the machete down, over and over again.
I stopped for a moment, panting heavily. The Bad Blood looked up at me, growling weakly. "Rot in whatever hell you believe in." I snarled and brought the machete across his neck as hard as I could. The Bad Blood's head leaned back more and more until it fell off completely and toppled to the ground. The body followed as well.
I panted heavily, shaking as well. I dropped the machete and hurried over to Gahn. "Gahn?! Gahn!" I fell to his side as he laid there, wounded. Gahn glanced up at me, his hazel eyes locking with my own. I smiled, happy that he was alright. I checked his wound and was even more happy when I saw it was only in his side and not his stomach. "You're alright...we're alright."
I helped him stand up and then coughed up blood. I had forgotten about my injuries. I glanced up at Gahn with blurry eyes, watching as his own widened. I stumbled back, then collapsed, finding it hard to stay awake. Gahn knelt beside me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder and shaking me. I struggled to keep my focus on him, but with blurry vision, it was difficult.
"I'm okay...I'm...al...right..." I mumbled, hearing the sound of engines getting close. I glanced up weakly, seeing the sparking of the cloaking device show the Yautja ship closing in. I smiled a bit. "Took their sweet ass time..."
My eyes slowly closed as I heard Gahn call out my name. That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.