I ran as fast as I could through the jungle. Just a few hundred yards to the ship, and I'd be off this planet with a good few trophies to add to my wall. I could hear the oomans close behind me, running blindly after me in the dark of night. Beside me, was another Yautja. He, too, had trophies hanging at his side, lightly cracking against one another as we ran.

I checked my wrist tracker, ten feet to the ship! I activated the door. Two more steps!

Suddenly, a bright flash of light, and pain! I flew through the door of the ship, landing face first into the ship's hard floor. I turn around. Blasted Oomans and their weapons, shooting blindly into the night, dishonorable little…

I notice that the other is no longer with me…. but where..?

Ooomans, getting closer. I look back out the door, and call out his name. Only a groan. Then I see him, lying in the brush not ten feet away. He's missing a chunk from his lower chest, bright green blood is everywhere. He reaches to his wrist computer and taps some buttons. I hear the countdown begin as he lays back. He looks at me then.

"Leave, I am for the dark warrior now. I hunt the final hunt tonight."

"N-No!" I stammer, only then noticing the pain in my left leg, likely broken from the impact. "I will not leave you behind!"

"Go!" He yells, and with the last of his strength raises his hand to his computer once more.

The door to the ship slams shut, and the engines whirr to life. I feel the ship lift off the ground as a mechanical voice points out blankly "auto pilot engaged."

"NO!" I scream as I pound the door.

"FAR'THAK……"

- - - - - - -

I wake up screaming.

"Far'thak! No, I won't leave you behind!!"

I'm staring into "Far'thak's face…. No, wait. Jar'rok's face. I look around, still breathing hard. I was back in the medical room, lying on a table under bright lights.

"What happened?" I asked groggily. The last thing I remembered was walking down the hall, and Jar'rok telling me that I creep him out.

"I gave you a drug that would put you into a comma while I ran some tests on your biology. You've been in this room for about two weeks." It was Kar'nan who spoke this.

I sat up slowly and looked down at myself. Well, I wasn't naked, but I might as well have been. The spandex-like suit I was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. But I seemed to be in one piece, and still alive. That was all I cared about.

It was then that I noticed Jar'rok. He was starring at me in what I had guessed was shock.

"What?" I asked him.

"When you awoke… you said…. 'Far'thak! No, I won't leave you behind!!'"

I looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare. I thought I'd have grown out of them by now. Human children sometimes have them. I was running, in a jungle. There were people running after me. We tried to reach the ship in time but…" I looked up at him again.

"..but there was an explosion." He finished for me. "That was the last time I hunted on earth. The last time I saw my brother." Jar'rok said the last part quietly. I could tell that it had brought back old memories. Painful memories.

"Excuse me doctor, I take my leave" Jar'rok said as he got up and walked out the door.

"Very interesting. Do all humans have these 'sleep scenarios'?" Asked Kar'nan.

"Mostly, yes, they are called dreams."

"Dreams? Exquisite! I may have to postpone the autopsy to make time to study these dreams as well! Humans are so fascinating!"

"So uh, what have you been doing to me these past to weeks?" I asked, trying to take my mind off how I had upset Jar'rok. I don't know why, but it bothered me that he was so upset. I knew I shouldn't care, after all, him and his kind were using me like some sort of lab frog. But I felt a connection of some sort with him. Maybe it was just the fact that I shared his memories, but maybe it was something more.

"Well, we mapped the entire human brain, researched tissue regeneration, opened the chest cavity and mapped all major organs, took samples of.."

"WHAT!?" I screamed. "You opened my WHAT!?!"

My hands flew to my chest. Sure enough, through the thin spandex material, I could feel the scarring from the incision.

"It was necessary to find out what was the most lethal area to an Ooman, and how to injure them without killing them, not to mention the best way to gut them." He said simply. He continued cleaning the instruments.

"Oh, we also found the reason you knew all the words of our people, and memories of Jar'rok. When we were putting the chip in your head, you came to. Since the chip wasn't quite functioning properly yet, it flooded your brain with all Jar'rok's memories. But, now that the chip is fully on-line, you will only be able to access memories at will. Since you know nothing of our kind's way of life, that will be unlikely." He paused for a second and turned back towards me.

"However, it seems that these 'dreams' you have trigger some memories to come forth when you are sleeping. Since the last step of bringing you out of a coma includes deep sleep, the memory of Jar'rok's brother came forth. So Fascinating!"

I thought about all this for a minute. So I had his memories, but only had access to them if I tried to recall them. Okay. But when I dream, then just sort of come forth and throw me into some alien hunter's nightmares. Perfect.

"So, what now?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh, you will be taken back to your quarters to rest. Tomorrow I will be looking into the physical capabilities of your kind."

"Will it hurt?"

"No, just a few physical tests to see what the limit is of your species."

He finished cleaning the instruments and turned to lead me back to my quarters. As we walked, I touched my hand to my chest. Surprisingly, there was no pain around the incision. I reached to the neck of the outfit I was wearing and pulled it open, peering down the front. There was a long line down my front, barely visible, only slightly raised.

We reached the room I had been in yesterday….no, two weeks ago. I entered and turned to ask the doctor another question, but he had already turned and the door whooshed shut. I collapsed on my bed.

I had to think of a way out of here. Time was running out. Two weeks had already gone by. I had to be more careful. Next time they put me out, I might not wake up. Ever.

I turned onto my side and stared at the wall. How would I escape?

Suddenly I heard the door fwoosh open behind me. I turned, expecting to see the doctor, but instead found Jar'rok.

"My brother was brave. A true warrior. He was a better hunter than me. It was our last trip to earth together before he was to become a teacher. He had many skills. Patience was one of them, not normally found amongst our kind. The elders loved him for that. It should have been me who died on that planet. I should have done more." He clenched his fist while he said the last part.

He put his head down. "I felt you should know that. If you are going to carry the memory of my brother, then you needed to know that. He died brave." His voice was full of bitterness. I couldn't help but feel that most of it was aimed at me. He turned to leave.

"Things happen, and we can't look back and dwell on them" I said. He stopped in the doorway and looked back. "If we dwell, it consumes us, leaving no room for here and now. Don't dwell on the past, Jar'rok, you cannot change it. Instead, live your life, and remember and honor your brother for who he was."

I got up and walked over to his towering figure. "I am honored to carry you're brother's memory."

He stood still for a minute, and then slowly cocked his head to one side.

"Such wise words, for an Ooman." He said darkly. "One of the elders spoke similar words to me upon my arrival home." He lowered his head. "I just…I don't know how to look at you anymore. When you woke up, screaming my brother's name, and described my memories….it's like…" he paused, searching for the right words. "It's like you are a part of me."

I could tell by the look on his strange face that he really didn't like the idea. From what I could gather, this race was an arrogant bunch of hunters that took trophies of different species. From the strange memories I had already experienced, it seemed that their entire being revolved around hunting. And I was one of their 'prey", a lowly human, I was what a deer is to a human hunter. I could see why he was so angry.

I needed to change the subject, fast. He looked so unhappy.

"Hey, well, um… are you busy right now?"

He looked at me with his golden eyes.

"What?" He looked so confused.

"Well, I was just wondering, you know, if you had some extra time, maybe you could tell me about your species a bit. You seem like great warriors." He puffed out his chest a little at this.

"You know," I continued, " back home I learned to fight as well. Granted I'm no where near as strong as you but.."

"YOU!? FIGHT!?!" He practically yelled in surprise. Then, a roar of laughter filled the entire room, and probably the entire ship.

I glared at him and crossed my arms. He continued to laugh, tears practically streaming from his face.

"AND JUST WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?" I yelled over his laughter.

He quieted down a bit, but continued to chuckle as he spoke.

"Oomans are one of the easiest pray, their soft meat and small bones make them very fragile." His face grew dark and his voice changed slightly. "It's when they are armed with their weapons that they are a worthy opponent. They are tricksters and cowardly when cornered. They have no honor." I could tell his thoughts had trailed back to his brother.

"Well, yes, maybe, but not all humans are like that. I'm not like that." I said, trying once again to cheer him up. "Hey, maybe I could teach you some of my moves, and you could show me some of yours!"

He looked up at my face again, and after a short pause, erupted into an even louder wave of laughter. Great, well at least he found me funny. I stomped over to my bed and plopped down, arms and legs crossed, with what probably looked like the most extreme poutyface anyone's ever seen. I didn't care. He thought I was pathetic. I was furious. It was just like back home, when the other kids at school would harass me. I hated it.

I let my gaze trail back to him. Why did I care so much what he thought of me? He was my kidnaper, my captor, and now my tormentor. But still, underneath it all, there was some sort of….feeling….

He noticed that I was staring at him. He stopped laughing.

"What are you staring at?" he asked.

I snapped out of it.

"Uh….nothing! I was just thinking about…um...how I could totally kick your butt in a hand to hand fight." I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

Between more laughter he managed to get out "Well, I do have some time to kill before my next bridge shift. Okay Ooman, let's go, this will be very entertaining."

I couldn't help but laugh at the Ooman girl and her ridiculous challenge. She was crazy, the doctor must have done something to her brain. She was so small and flimsy looking, and she wanted to take on a full grown warrior? The thought! I decided to honor her request, she would be dead within the next few days anyways. No harm in humoring her for a while, I thought.

I paused in my thinking for a second. She would be dead within the next few days. Something about that bothered me somewhere deep. I looked at her face, staring up at me with the most amusing color of green eyes I had ever seen. Her strange hair was long and a color I had never seen on an Ooman before, a kind of burnt orange color, intense and unique. There was something about her… No. No, no, no! I shook my head to clear my mind.

"Let's go to the training bay, I should be empty, there will be lots of room in there for you to 'kick my butt' as you say" I said to her. She smiled a weird Ooman smile at me. I turned to lead the way.

Maybe it was just because she shared my memories, maybe it was more, but I could feel…something….for her beginning to take over my thoughts. She was fearless, that's for sure, taking on a full grown Yautja male. That was a trait well honored by my kind.

"Jar-rok?" I heard her voice behind me.

"What?"

"I just realized that you don't know my name."

I paused for a second. I never really thought about that before.

"We don't give prey names" I replied without thinking. Stupid! I turned to look at her. Her head was down, I had obviously hurt her. Why did I care? "…but since you are not prey technically, I suppose.." her head snapped back up, a smile on her face once more.

"My name is Kimara." She blurted.

"Ki'mar'a" I echoed.

"Uh, well, the pronunciation is a bit off, but yeah."

I thought a moment. She should have a better name than 'slow rock" which was what Ki'mar'a was in our language.

"I will call you Tar'lain" I said. What was I doing?

"Tar'lain? What is that?"

"It's a Yautja name. It means….." I couldn't believe what I was doing. Naming her 'little beauty'? I must be out of my mind.

"It means 'easy prey'" I lied. She did not seem to like it.

"Oh...um, okay. Thank you." She said in a low voice. Then she perked up a bit.

"Jar-rok, what does your name mean?"

"I'll tell you if you win" I said as I shot her a grin. Oh Paya, I was flirting with her! What has come over me?!

"Deal" she said, as she followed behind me.

I lead the way to the training bay, my thoughts now turned to the spar ahead. This would be interesting.