CHAPTER 4:
Mud. A Prey's Only Friend
Iliana once again walked through the forest where she'd met Kantra. She loved that forest up until he tried to kill her; now, she just didn't want to be there. But she had her job for the day and that was to release another animal from the clinic. She had asked to release it another part of the city, like in the mountains, but no. Grumbling to herself, she kept walking down the sunlit path.
This time though, she had at least packed herself quicker tranquilizers in two guns. She brought a normal gun just in case he didn't get sedated quick enough. She had worn blue jeans with a thin green sweater over a white shirt. She'd tied her hair with a clip just in case she had to run from Kantra if he chased her over the whole place. That guy gave her the creeps, especially when he used his sarcasm.
Who ever heard of an alien having humor?, she thought. Creepy humor.
Carrying her animal cage in one hand, she reached a different clearing this time. It was rockier with looser dirt and less grass. There were more trees in the area but the sun still shone through somehow. Placing the cage down, she opened it up and grabbed the bird inside. Today, she was releasing a grown falcon that had broken its leg. It squirmed as usual, but she was used to it. Bringing it out into the sun, it gave a small cry and tried to flap its wings. He was strong but Iliana kept a firm grip and walked a few feet away from the cage.
Setting it down, she walked back to the cage and closed it. Looking back, she saw the bird already in the air and going upwards. She grinned at seeing its eagerness. Wiping dirt off from her knees, she got up and headed down the path. Feeling an eerie feeling, she knew it wasn't the usual cool wind in the forest.
"I really need to buy a metal detector" she mumbled to herself. "Then I'll know where he is."
"But that would give away the element of surprise" Kantra's voice called from the treetops. She growled at his sharp senses. "So, come out to play again, my dear?"
"I'm not your 'dear' and you're not playing, you're killing" Iliana pointed out. "I am doing my job like always, you just follow me like always."
"But I thought you wanted me to hunt you down" he said, faking disappointment.
"You haven't given me a choice! I asked and you still said 'you're still my prey'!" she said, irritated. "Besides, I'm not attacking you or armed."
"I can see you have the same weapons you used on me last time" Kantra said, simply. She opened her mouth in surprise. "Yes, my mask can see through anything you have or wear."
"Oh! Gross!" she said, quickly. "You pervert!"
She covered up her chest with her arms and stood as straight as she could. She did not want him seeing through her clothing or anything inside her body for that matter. Kantra grimaced on his branch at what she'd said. No, he was not that type of male at all and he would not be seeing her that way. He'd sooner shoot himself with his spear gun than see her!
"Oh, you sick ooman! I'd never think of that!" Kantra exclaimed. "I meant to find your weapons, fool!"
"Right, so you'd rather see through me than find out during a fight" Iliana scoffed. "And you say I cheat."
That insolent ooman!, he thought.
"It is in the hunter's code so I can!" he yelled.
"Uh huh, come find me when you stop using your gadgets" Iliana said, turning around.
Kantra growled and jumped from the branch he'd been on. He landed behind her but she ran behind a tree to stay away. He thrilled in amusement and watched her run down a path.
"What? You said for me to find you!" Kantra called after her. "Silly female."
Running after her, he reached back and grabbed his spear. Extending it, he threw it in the direction she ran and waited to see if it struck her. She looked back and jumped to the side to roll onto the ground. The spear got embedded into the ground making him irritated. She had avoided the spear just like the first time he met her.
Iliana saw the spear stuck in the ground giving her an idea. Setting her animal cage down, she came forward and took out her tranquilizer gun. She shot it in his direction and it hit his leg, but he took it out quickly. Going to the spear, Iliana tugged at it with all her strength until it came out from the ground. Looking quickly, she saw Kantra a few feet from her and he had his wrist blades ready to attack her. He brought them down at her but she placed her new spear horizontally under his blades and pushed them to the side with her strength. She then kicked him back by pushing her weight onto her right leg.
So far, so good, she thought.
Kantra growled at having her actually dodge his second attack. She was actually resisting him; most prey died when he impaled them with his spear, but she had it now. She ran to the tree she had hidden from him at which made him smirk. Maybe she wasn't so smart. Going after her, he chased her to the tree and saw her hiding behind it. While she looked to the left, he snuck up by her right side and brought his blades forward. She shrieked but ducked down inches from where his blades would've surely decapitated her. Rearing back to strike her again, she stood up and slammed the cage she had in her hands over his mask. His face went to the side and it got him off balance along with making his cheek hurt.
"Damn you!" he roared.
Iliana took her chance and ran down a path that would hopefully lose him. Carrying her spear in one hand and her cage in the other, she tried to balance them while running. She ran through the shrubs and felt some leaves strike her face. Turning to the left, she went down the sloped path and was careful not to fall. But when she reached flat ground, Kantra jumped out of the bushes as the tall giant he was. She screamed in surprise and smacked him over his mask with her cage again. She could hear by his roar that he didn't enjoy it. He went to the side while she ran down the path again. Hearing him roar, she tried to make herself run as fast as she could.
Damn this psycho!, she thought.
Seeing him after her already, she stopped and took a deep breath. Running in his direction, she saw him stop when he saw her. Most people would run away from an alien hunter, but sometimes Iliana even surprised herself. He charged at her and when his blades came down to her side, she blocked it with her spear and shoved his hand away. His other hand grabbed her hair roughly and brought her back against him. Pain shot into her scalp making her wince in pain, but she wouldn't make a sound to give him satisfaction.
"You can't defeat me, little weakling" Kantra hissed. "I am the ultimate hunter and you are just an easy picking."
"Weakling? Picking?" Iliana questioned angrily. "I'll show you weak."
Picking up her foot, she slammed it down on top of his roughly over and over. He growled in pain and released his hand that contained his blades over her spear. His hand pulled her head back further until it rested against his chest plate. Moving quickly, she picked up her spear horizontally by the side. Jabbing one sharp end on his skin menacingly, he stopped his movement but held onto her hair.
"One move and I will drive this through your stomach" Iliana threatened. "Blood and stomach acid can't be good for the skin, so be a good boy and let go."
Good tactic, he observed.
"I could just snap your neck, you know" Kantra countered.
"But I'll still drive this through you" she pointed out. "So I suggest you let me go."
He yanked her hair again roughly so she jabbed it into his stomach. It cut his skin shallowly but it was enough to make him bleed. He hissed and threw her away from him. She jumped away from him and gave him a quick glance. Wiping the blood off his cut, he looked at her and roared. She growled back in her own manner which made him come at her again. When he was close enough, she dodged him and smacked him with the cage again. This time though, he managed to knock it away after it hit him. Her hand hurt from his force while she looked at her battered cage feet away.
"I've grown tired of that contraption" he growled. He traced his hand down his mask. "And I grow tired of you."
"Then let me go, I won't fight you if you do!" Iliana demanded.
"No, I plan to have you as a trophy" Kantra said, roughly.
I've had enough of this, he thought.
He slammed into her with his entire weight throwing her across the dirt. She tried to scramble up but he grabbed her by her small foot. She turned to her side and kicked his hand off with her other foot. He growled and tried to grab her but she scrambled off of the ground. She took out her gun to tranquilize him but he knocked it away with one hand, then shoved her away with the other. Iliana fell into the bushes and groaned from the pain in her muscles that he'd caused. Standing up with all her strength, her arms hurt from the hits he'd given her. If he was that strong with one hand, how strong was he with his full strength? She didn't want to know so she ran down the path.
Stepping over bushes, rocks, and twigs, she tried to find a way out from the dense forest. Usually, she'd know the paths but her mind was caught up on Kantra and where he was. After running for a bit, she saw the trees thinning out until she was only in bushes. Shoving leaves away, she didn't hear Kantra or his footsteps but she still kept going. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this; from the forest and him. Slowing to a jog, she caught her breath while massaging the hand that held the spear with the other. Her clothes were dirty along with having many bruises from his throw that she wished that she was in a bath soaking, but she knew that wouldn't be coming true.
She stopped when she saw the path stop and loom over a fall. Looking down carefully, she noticed a river at the bottom. The fall was about thirty feet and she did not want to experience it. She looked around carefully for another path while wiping sweat off her forehead. Her body shook in an anguish of nervousness and fright.
"Oh god, where am I? What do I do?" she mumbled to herself.
"There you are, a frightened little girl" she heard Kantra say.
Her body tensed up involuntarily while she turned to see where his voice was. Seeing him to her right by the dense bushes, she gulped nervously. Why couldn't he leave her alone? Her body ached and wanted to rest already.
"I'm 25, you idiot" Iliana snapped.
He cloaked and went through the bushes in her direction. Iliana groaned in fear from him and falling over so she tried to find his outline. The bushes camouflaged him well making her on edge. Looking everywhere, she spotted him in a bit to her left and a few feet away.
"Kantra, don't!" she yelled.
"I've caught you and you've lost!" Kantra responded.
She couldn't run anywhere or else he'd catch and stab her somehow. But she didn't want to get tackled overboard. Seeing him come at her, she tried to think of something.
"There's a fall behind-" she started. "Kantra!"
He knocked into her before she could finish. Luckily, she dodged his blades but she felt a slight cut on her side from them. It burned slightly but she was focused on pushing him away. He realized his mistake when he saw there was no ground behind her while she tried to push him away. But his strength had already pushed her over along with him so all they could do was fall. They fell over the cliff and through the air to the awaiting river.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" they both screamed.
"You stupid hunter!" Iliana screamed at Kantra.
"Pauk!" Kantra cried out.
While she fell through the air, she managed to yank some of his dreads. He hissed and swiped her off so she kicked him on the side. He growled and swiped at her head grabbing some strands of her hair. She cried out and gave him a strong kick in the abdomen. He let go and they both hit the cold water of the river.
Iliana kicked her legs and tried to swim away from Kantra as quickly as she could. The current was strong so she had to push and bend her arms to bring herself forward. Surfacing quickly, she took in a deep breath and looked around to find the shore. Seeing it not to far away, she went back underwater and swam forward. She opened her eyes when she felt rocks under her legs and looked forward to see the shore underwater. Kicking her legs quickly, she swam until she felt dirt under her hands. Surfacing, she got out of the water and fell to her knees from her drenched clothes and gravity adjustment.
"Oh God, this is crazy" she sighed tiredly.
Scrambling up, her feet slid on the muddy banks making her fall. Her whole front got drenched in mud making her sigh in annoyance. Digging her fingers into the gooey dirt, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and glanced into the water. She sighed when she didn't see Kantra out of the water. Laying on her back on the mud, she was completely covered but she didn't care.
"Yay, a mud spa massage" she mumbled. "Better than having my head ripped off."
Relaxing on the bank, her muscles started to ache from her relaxing. She heard a loud splash all of a sudden making her sit up instantly. To her left, she saw Kantra surface out of the water and land on his side on the shore. He growled and sat up while shaking the water out of his hair and armor. Her eyes widened when he stood up in his full height easily unlike her who had to scramble and rest. He scanned the area with his mask while Iliana scrambled away.
She crawled through the mud and twigs away from where he stood. Looking at him when she rested against a boulder, she watched him carefully. He glanced everywhere carefully but she wondered why he wasn't able to spot her. She wasn't that far away! If he didn't slip while he ran, he could catch her in 20 steps. She heard him growl and crouch while water sprinkled off his body.
"C'jit Iliana" she heard him growl.
Looking at him, she saw that he couldn't spot her despite she was there. How was that possible? Going through her memories, she remembered her superior from her old job talking about how they saw different from humans. Something about light. . .spectrum. . . .heat. . . Pheromones?
C'mon remember!, she thought. Light. . .spectrum. . .light. .their sight is focused on a different light. What type of light spectrum though?
While thinking, she saw him look over into the river and tilt his head. He walked to the shore and picked up the spear she had stolen from him in the water. Getting back up, he scanned the water while she stood up warily. Walking back while still keeping an eye on him, she prayed that she'd get away safely. Iliana tried to find a way out and she saw a path next to him that went uphill and one behind her, but it needed climbing. She was muddy and slipping was inevitable.
Why me? But I'm glad the mud's with me, she thought. I hope to God he doesn't see me.
Walking next to the dirt wall, she stayed with it closely while taking a breath. She didn't want to be near that thing but she had to go through the path to escape. She walked quietly through the mud while trying not to slip. While halfway to the wall, a twig broke under her foot. She froze and rested back against the wall while looking at Kantra. His head cocked to the side and looked directly at her making her suck in her breath. She expected him to come at her or throw his spear but he looked away after a second.
"I may not see you, but I know you're out there" Kantra called out.
She would've laughed because he talked in the direction she had been at but no. No one in their right mind would laugh at a man who could slice you before you could even fight back. At that moment, Iliana decided to take a chance and run to the path with the remainder distance she had left. She took off at a run and jumped over any rocks or twigs that could make her trip. She balanced herself also in the slippery sludge so she wouldn't slip and be caught. While running, she looked at Kantra who was trying to decipher the noise and where she was.
Iliana speeded up when she saw the uphill path and practically sprinted to it. Hearing a growl, she noticed Kantra had spotted her location despite he couldn't see her. He ran after her which made her squeak in surprise. Stepping through the mud, she slipped in a watery pool right before the path opened up. Looking back, she saw the hunter with his spear extended stabbing at the air in front of him to hopefully stab her. Iliana looked around and grabbed a rock to throw at him. Throwing it, it hit him on his shoulder armor and bounced off.
"Not smart, now I can depict where you are" Kantra hissed.
He threw his spear making her gasp. Rolling through the mud, she heard it fly by and hit the area where the rocks had been at. Crouching on her feet, she grabbed two handfuls of mud. He had no mud his body but if she could strike his mask or hands, she could stop him somehow.
Throwing one mud ball, it hit him in his mask's optics directly. Her heart felt relieved when he stopped and tried to wipe it off. Throwing the next one, it hit him on his hands that were trying to clean his optics.
"Arrgghhh!" he roared in a fury.
Iliana took that chance to run the remainder of the mud path. Making a jump, she landed on the rocky floor on her knees. Biting her lip to stop any sound from coming out, she got up using her hands and ran to the top. At time she slid down by inches but she used her fingers to grip the dirt and rocks to get back up. When she finally saw grass, she wanted to cheer but she knew that would alert Kantra.
At least I'm out from that mud pit, she thought.
Looking back quickly, she ran off into the woods to freedom and safety.
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Kantra bathed in a nearby pool of water. He had been mudded by Iliana and while he kept on his search, he had slipped and fallen through the mud. That female was getting on his nerves but he was at least able to bruise and cut her somehow. He had given up trying to find her after he didn't hear anything for over 10 minutes and besides the fact that she'd been able to cloak herself from his sight.
Hopefully she doesn't know how to hide her heat, he thought.
He had decided to take a quick bath and dry off while he walked back to his ship. His whole body had mud and he had no intention of dirtying his ship with mud and then cleaning it up afterwards. He was starting to dislike the planet and his prey. She was getting very good at deflecting him and it made him wonder from where she'd gotten her information about his kind. No ooman knew of them so far and they made sure to leave none who did. He'd never fought a female before, except his previous mate in order to be her mate, which made him wonder if he needed to rethink his strategy.
He dipped his head back to soak his dreads to take out the mud. While he did that, he failed to notice a figure walk up to his armor on the grass. Iliana had gotten herself another mud treatment and tracked down Kantra at the pond. She had seen him get in, but looked away of course to give him privacy, and had been waiting until he was deep in the water. He'd been grinding her last nerve and since she found that mud was a weakness in his sight, she was going to use it.
Teach you to mess with me, she thought.
Coming out from the tree she was hiding, Iliana walked into the field. Going over to his armor cautiously, she noticed it was more muddy than when she'd last seen him. Her guess was he slipped and fell through the mud like she had. Studying his armor, she noticed the shiny black metal underneath the mud and his belt that contained weapons. She saw a pack of metal that looked like a day pack of sort and the mesh he wore under his armor. His sandals were much bigger than her feet which made hers look tiny. She liked the metal claw digits that covered the sandals. Looking over his weapons, she took the spear that she had gotten before and grabbed one of his gauntlets. It was much bigger in size than her arm but as long as she could take those blades from him, she'd be all right.
Putting them into her sweater that she'd made into a bag, she looked back at Kantra. He was cleaning his arms with the water to get the mud off. His face was just like another yautja's and was the same color as his body along with mottles on his head crest and his eyes were green. If he wasn't trying to kill her, she would've been drooling from his bulging muscles. Snapping out of her silly thoughts, she decided to taunt him.
"Hey Kantra! Guess who's here!" Iliana greeted.
She saw him splash everywhere to try to find where she was. He sunk lower into the water so she wouldn't see below his stomach which made her grin. No, she had no intention of seeing him nude either. His head turned practically everywhere trying to find her but of course, he couldn't. It seemed a bit comical to her now that he was vulnerable.
"Iliana, where are you!" Kantra growled in anger.
"Now, why am I going to tell you that?" Iliana mocked. "No, I'd rather take some of your armor."
"How dare you steal from me! That is unworthy of prey!" he roared while still looking around.
Where is she? Dammit!, he thought.
"Then stop hunting me if I am" she said, shrugging. "My, I do like this belt of yours."
"Iliana!" Kantra warned.
He could've gotten out and chased her down, but he couldn't see her. It was worse if he did because she'd already felt and tasted his blood and all she needed was to see him bare for her to be his mate. He felt like stabbing himself for being careless for letting her bite him and now for leaving his armor unwatched. How was he supposed to know she'd use her own cloaking idea to hide from him?
"What? Afraid to chase me?" Iliana smirked. "Oh right, you're naked in the water. So, I guess you wouldn't mind if I replaced your armor into another area."
She wouldn't! She couldn't!, he thought.
"Iliana, don't you dare!" Kantra roared. His whole body felt nervous for the first time. "If you do, I swear I'll-"
"What? Take my skull like you plan to?" she retorted. Then mischievously, "No, I plan to have some fun before you catch me."
Iliana picked up his armor, weapons, and clothes from the grass and walked off. She didn't plan on hiding them, just throwing them at random places. Walking around the forest's edge, she threw his belongings piece by piece into it. Kantra looked helplessly as his armor was thrown throughout the forest by an invisible being.
"I can see you, you know" Kantra pointed out.
"Yes, but you're not coming out after me so I don't care" Iliana said, simply.
When she finally finished, she walked back to the grassy field. Stopping feet away from the pool, she grinned.
"I'll be leaving so you can go find your armor" Iliana said, coldly. "I do hope you don't get muddy again that you will need another bath."
"I will get you, Iliana, I swear I'll-" Kantra threatened angrily.
"I know you will, so have fun in your naked treasure hunt" Iliana laughed mockingly. "I'd record it for you but as to seeing you're an alien, no. By the way, kudos on that body of yours."
Kantra ducked under the water and flared his mandibles at her. They were sharp along with his inner teeth making her wince at imagining being bitten.
"Jeez, you've really got a weird face" she commented.
"Yes, I could say the same of you, ooman" he growled. "Now leave me be, you've taunted me enough."
"Awww! Little Kantra's sad" Iliana grinned. "I'll leave you to wallow in your shame. Till tomorrow!"
Iliana walked away from Kantra while hearing him click and grumble to himself. She knew he was mad beyond belief but if he expected her to sit idly by while he hunted her, he was dead wrong. If she couldn't hurt him, she'd break down his ego and self-confidence. Carrying the weapons she kept, she giggled to herself.
"Iliana-5, Kantra- hmm . . . ½" she laughed.
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End of Chapter 4. Thanks to everybody who read and will review. Thanks to The Greatest Boba Fett Fan, Kae-she Katsumi, Chihiro Tsuki, and Predatordragonfreak for their Chap. 3 reviews! I love you guys! So everyone please read and review! Thanks!