Chapter 9: Beast part 2.


Someone slapped her - hard. Shooting up to a sitting position, Cat glared fuzzily at Im'ra "Goddammit, OW!" That really hurt! "What the hell was that for?" Her left cheek felt like it was on fire. Im'ra obviously had no concept of the words gentle tap.

The huntress shrugged "You were taking too long to wake up."

Cat gave her a scorching look. "Gee, thanks."

The sarcasm went right over the Predators head; she trilled "You are most welcome, ooman."

Shaking her head with a sigh, Cat got to her feet, noticing they were no longer up in the walls opening, but down in a humongous chamber behind a crumbling wall. Turning to the huntress, she asked while looking around "Where's Fo – Heeey!" Her words were cut off when Im'ra grabbed her arm and tugged her aside, just as green glob sailed past her head.

Surprised, Cat immediately righted herself and whipped her head around, staring incredulously over the five-foot wall shielding them from something that looked remarkably like a mixture between a hard meat and a predator preparing to heave another loogie at her from across the chamber.

She blinked. "Did that thing just spit at me?" Cat ducked when another slime ball flew in her direction. This one splattered on the wall in front of her, smelling as rank as week old compost. Her nose wrinkled in disgust "What is that thing? And why in the world does it keep spitting at me!" That was something she just couldn't get past.

They both crouched lower. Im'ra reached up and scraped a bit of the substance with the blade of her shuriken, watching as the tip got eaten away. "Be careful, ooman. Most of its saliva is composed of very concentrated acid. "

Staring at the sizzling goop and then at Im'ra, Cat gave her a "ya' think?" look. If she hated anything, it was people that ejected their bodily fluids in public. There was nothing worse than a jackass expectorating his slobber on the sidewalk. Gross. To realize that that particular habit extended Earths reach, drastically lowered her opinion on space travel and meeting other races.

A beep on Im'ras comm. went off. Pushing a button on her wrist, she opened the line "What have you found Fo'lix? Is she still alive?"

Cat's ears perked up. Found who? Where? She could only hear Im'ras side of the conversation and curiously wondered what was going on. Had he found Sha'rra?

"Are you certain? ... Yes, I understand…" Closing the connection, Im'ra turned to Cat "While you were recovering from your faint- "

Cat crossed her arms, grumbling "I did not faint!" amending "I got knocked out." She glowered "And it wasn't even my fault if you'd remember."

The large female trilled with laughter and shrugged "Call it what you will. As I was saying…Fo'lix detected a life signal close by and went on to investigate. He requested that we wait for him here. He will send a signal and we are to distract the beast when they are close enough. The female he discovered is injured and will need assistance."

Cat desperately wanted to ask if he told her who it was, but was stopped from speaking by a earsplitting shriek followed by a roar. Both hunter and human whirled around, peeking over the wall.

The black alien-mix monstrosity had cornered one of those insectoid creatures. Cat gaped as the monster jumped on the insect, managed to flip it on its back and thrust its sharp claws into its boned underbelly, tearing the creature open. Blue-ish blood spattered everywhere and the victor howled a triumphant screech that had Cat covering her ears.

She couldn't take tear her eyes of the sight, whispering "What is it doing?"

What happened next gave her the answer. It was as nauseating as it was fascinating; the black monster practically dived into the insect's guts. Sounds of bones crunching and flesh tearing, followed by occasional slurping noises reverberated around the whole chamber. It was like watching a starving lion tear into a gazelle, only far gorier, if that was even possible.

Im'ras clicking drew Cat out of her disturbed daze "When the seals were broken by the hunting party, the protectors were released from stasis and it would seem that the insectoids are a food source for the guardians."

"Stasis?"

The huntress gave her an amused look "Of course. Or did you think the creatures could survive here unaided for millennia?" She turned her attention back on the feeding "Most of the beings we hunt don't have long life spans. Stasis is a way to keeping our hunting grounds fertile and challenging for long periods of time, and for newer generations. A practice that has been in use for longer than anyone can remember anymore."

"How industrious of you." Cat murmured. One had to admire their almost fanatical dedication. God forbid they ever run out of deadly prey. She just couldn't see the proud and mighty Yautjas becoming domesticated couch potatoes, hunting nothing more threatening than a field mouse. Cat grinned. They'd probably annihilate themselves before they'd let that happen.

Noticing the smile, the huntress clicked "What has you so amused?" Three long beeps sounded from Im'ras wrist "Never mind. It is time." Popping her wrist blades and shuriken, Im'ra rose to her feet, giving Cat a pointed look "Prepare your bow, I wan't you to stay as far away from the beast as possible. Take a higher position and keep a wall or stone in front of you at all times in case of projectiles. Understood?"

Talk about insulting! Did they all think she was incapable of logic or common sense? She had no delusions of grandeur and was certainly no Rambo, but jeez, they could at least give her a little bit of credit. Cat rolled her eyes, giving her a mock salute "Yes ma'am!"


Meanwhile, Torr'en was having trouble keeping Rinia'a from drowning. It was a fine time to discover the huntress couldn't swim! Thank the Goddess, they had the good sense to get out of their armor and weapons. The only thing they had kept were the trophies. The frigid water had quickly overwhelmed them; taking only scant minutes to rise dangerously high, and by now it was almost to the top of the chamber.

They needed to get out, quickly. Where was the c'jit opening in the ceiling? He shook water from his eyes, trying to remember where they fell in. It was so dark in here he could barely make out the female he was holding up. He knew it was only a matter of time until they suffered terminal effects of hypothermia. His strength was already wanning and his thoughts were getting alarmingly sluggish.

Rinia'a shook in his grip, gasping and clicking shakily "Y-y-you need to go T-Torr'en, i-if you don't save y-yourself, we w-will both die here."

"You are r-right…" he shook his head, panting out a growl "H-however, I w-will not leave you!" But he would have to ease his hold so he could move more freely. Getting a firm grip on her arm, he maneuvered them slowly, hopefully in the right direction. Feeling the ceiling scrape his dreads, Torr'en redoubled his efforts, praying that they could make it out in time.

Pauk his stubborn hide! He was set on getting them both killed! Rinia'a could barely breathe. Broken ribs and fear had her almost hyperventilating. Terror struck her as she felt his grip on her arm slip slightly and her claws automatically tightened on his forearm. She really didn't wish to die in such an undignified manner, but she even less wanted to bestow the same fate on him.

Torr'en cursed as his grip slipped again, completely shocked when Rinia'a slid from his reach. "RINIA'A!" There was no answer, not even a splash. Pauk! Pauk! Pauk! He was going to kill her! No, first he was going to save her, then he was going to torture her, and then he was going to kill her! Taking a deep breath, Torr'en dove under the surface.

Alarm spread when he couldn't find her right away. After a few tense minutes, his lungs started to burn under the strain, but he couldn't give up. Going deeper, Torr'en was almost ready to give up when he felt his foot brush something soft. There! Reaching down, his fingers came into contact with something round. Realizing it was a dread, he pulled, brining her body up to his reach. Wrapping an arm around her middle, he kicked his legs, now desperate to reach the surface.

He almost panicked when his hand touched nothing but stone. The water had reached its limit. They were completely trapped. Frantically running his free hand around as far as he could reach without dropping the heavy female, he hoped he'd feel the edge of an opening. He had to! His lungs were ready to explode, he knew couldn't hold on anymore.

A hand grabbed his wrist, and a moment later both hunters were hauled to the edge of the opening they'd been searching for. Torr'enn gasped a lung-full of warm air, coughing up water. He barely had strength left to push Rinia'as body out of the water. Thankfully he didn't have to as someone else pulled her out before him.

"Still drowning in impulsiveness I see."

Looking up, he met the concerned gaze of an honored hunter he remembered from his youth. Shivering, he trilled "I r-recall you t-telling me no one w-would save my hide if I d-didn't save it m-myself, Ek'tan."

The Chief Guard shook his head "I also remember telling that young blood he needed to stay out of trouble." Clapping him on the shoulder, he trilled "I am glad that some things remain unchanged Torr'en. It is good to see you!"

"It would probably better if the circumstances were different. I still owe you a drink, if memory serves. Now I believe it is two." he trilled. Hearing coughing and heaving, he instantly turned his attention to Rinia'a and the warrior tending to her. "How is she, Elder?"

Ke'varde had the female turned on her side, patting her back so she'd get all the water out of her lungs "She will live."

Rinia'a sputtered out more water "I can speak-" a fit of dry heaves interrupted her "-for myself." Well, she would in another minute or two anyway.

The Elder sighed, but kept up the motions on her back. It seemed his oomans influence reached far. The female almost sounded as stubborn as Cat. The closer he got to her, the more his need to see her again grew. He wondered if she'd changed much in the last year, if she was still as infuriating as ever, if she still… He cut that thought short, not in the mood to examine that particular area yet. Getting up, he helped Rinia'a to her feet and growled "We need to go and you two need to get moving to circulate your blood, build up your core temperature."

Glancing over the practically naked hunters, Ek'tan unclipped a spear and whip from his belt "Here, you might need this." He gave the first to the female and the other to Torr'en.

Both hunters nodded gratefully. Torr'en clicked after a few minutes of walking "I hadn't been informed you would be joining us honored ones, we would have waited for your arrival had we known."

Stealing a glance at Ke'varde, Ek'tan trilled "It was a last minute decision. There is someone very important here we have come to retrieve."

Rinia'a gave him a confused look, rasping past her sore throat "Don't you mean something important?" patting the ancient spear piece she had clipped to her belt.

He shrugged, amusement glinting in his eyes "I mean what I say."


It took them just under half an hour of following the four life signals until they reached the correct chamber. The first thing most of them noticed was the mixed breed and the two hunters engaged in battling with it. It was, as yet an undecided match.

Ke'varde on the other hand, only noticed the goddess precariously perched on a crumbling ledge, holding a bow and arrow and wearing so little it made his blood boil. He vowed to murder the pauk-de bastard that gave her that armor. He roared before he thought "GET DOWN FROM THERE BEFORE YOU BREAK YOUR FOOL NECK!"

Cat almost fell off the ledge with heart palpitations. She knew that voice! Whirling around, she lost her grip on the bow. Cat gawked, totally floored "Ke'varde?" For a moment there, she was certain she was seeing things!

The arrow whizzed through the air and impaled itself right between Ke'varde's feet. The hunter crossed his arms over his chest and locked his stony yellow gaze to her wide emerald one, daring her to disobey.

Everyone froze at the issued challenge and six pairs of eyes stared at the Elder. Even the beast seemed confused. Ek'tan leaned closer to Rinia'a, whispering "You wished to know who we have come for…" he nodded toward the ooman "We came to retrieve the Elders lifemate." He could barely suppress his roar of laughter as her mandibles dropped open and she gaped at him…