I'll be watching.
Her father's final words kept echoing in her mind. Nina had vaguely remembered closing her eyes when he had kissed her. The world around her had disappeared, turning into one in which neither light nor sound could penetrate it. An ever flowing and surrounding darkness.
Sain'ja watched the human female, who was now asleep against a tree, her arms dangling from a rope hanging above her, breathing shallowly. He had almost lost her a couple of times; their fight earlier had zapped what little remainder of strength she had. He wondered why the female had helped him instead of just trying to escape in the first place. When he questioned her on it, she had only given a short, delaying response, perhaps unsure herself.
Maybe, I'm a bit more than what you give me credit for; more than just game, she had said before falling at his feet, unconscious. Sain'ja had gripped her neck too tightly, stopping the passage of air to her brain and lungs. A human being more than just game? It was a rare thing, and even then, if humans were accepted, it was just with tolerance mixed with a small ounce of respect. The only use those soft meats gave the Yautja other than sport was to be the hosts for Chestbusters whenever their reproduction was needed for Xenomorph hunts.
The only reason he had let the female live-or so he told himself- was because in the Yautja Honor Code, anytime a prey showed mercy to a hunter during a fight, they were supposed to be treated the same. And so far, considering he had hurt her throat, knocked her out, and tied her to a tree so she wouldn't try to go anywhere or harm herself further, he had been doing a poor job at obeying that rule. The female moaned hoarsely. She would wake up soon.
Sain'ja had all his armor and weapons on him again. After securing the human to the tree by nailing a stake into the bark where the ropes holding her were tied, he had gone back to the human's camp by the river and collected both of their items. He didn't think she would be thrilled sitting around with barely anything on.
When Nina finally did open her eyes, she had a severe headache. Shaking it off, she looked to find ropes tying her arms above her head. She couldn't break free. Then she noticed the Predator sitting on a fallen log about thirty yards away, staring at her. She opened her to insult him and found she couldn't speak. She glared at him for not only capturing her, but muting her as well.
He got up and walked to Nina, than sat down beside her. He reached over to feel her throat and see just how bad he had damaged it. Sain'ja noticed her flinch at his touch and froze. When she relaxed, he resumed carefully stroking her neck and about midway Nina cringed from pain. She glared at him and spat on his helmet in defiance. Before he could stop himself, he smacked her across the face, making her cough up a little blood in the process. Her cheek started turning red from the impact. So far, their relationship was going off at a rocky start. He would have to control his temper if she was going to listen.
He then gently checked the female's leg for where her bones might've gotten out of place or completely snapped. Nina didn't enjoy him doing this, feeling it was not only an invasion to her space, but weird. Why was he being so careful with her? He had tried to gut her alive that last time she had been conscious. Either way, she still didn't trust him. She never would. Seeing her father again made her know just how much she missed him. Now she had someone to blame for his and the other's deaths.
Sain'ja took out his own set of medical supplies, knowing hers wouldn't have a brace inside it. Seeing the foreign devices, her eyes widened and she tried to pull her leg away from him. He looked back at the set and noticed most of them were sharp and metallic, meant for prying bullets out of skin and other surgical needs. He could see why she was a bit nervous when he had gotten them out searching for a brace, but then again he was practically a walking arsenal already.
He tightened his grip around her leg so she wouldn't try to pull it away from him again. It seemed the human just couldn't grasp that he was trying to help her. Once he finally got the brace on her, the pair stared at one another. Nina, trying to read his thoughts behind that mask. Sain'ja wondering if maybe now she was beginning to understand.
He wiped away the blood that was drizzling out of her mouth and down her cheek. What now? The female was his responsibility, he knew that much, but it wasn't like he had been trained to take care of anyone. That was women's work. He especially didn't know how to that care of anything from another species.
He decided he should at least try to get some food into her first. He took out the human's canteen and opened the cap, holding it to her lips. Nina looked at it suspiciously. It had been refilled, but for all she knew he might have poisoned it. She turned her face away.
Seriously? He put the canteen down and tried that same thing with a piece of rations, and got the same reaction. Was she trying to starve herself? Seeing no way this would work otherwise, he shoved it in her mouth, force feeding her. Sain'ja covered her mouth with his hand until she chewed and swallowed. Then he tilted her head up and poured water down her throat, however a lot of it just ran down the sides of her face. He repeated this process until she finally gave up and obeyed whenever he offered her something to eat or drink.
Nina glared at him the entire time. This was humiliating as well as enraging. Her throat was feeling a little better, but she didn't know what she would say even if she could speak. She was tempted to asking him why he wanted to keep her alive so badly now, but figured she'd never get an answer.
Sain'ja felt defensive when he noted her glaring at him. She never took her eyes off of him, rarely even blinking. It was obvious the female hated him. Well, at least that was one mutual thing they had in common. Still, it was foolish of her to express it so when he held her right to live in his hands. The human would never know about the Honor Code, so he was still considered a threat in her eyes. Maybe he could scare her into cooperating.
He took the ropes holding her wrists and flipped her around so her back was facing him and she was pinned against the tree. The female yelped with pain as her broken leg was turned because of the movement, but he ignored it. Slowly, as though sealing an ideogram of a death sentence, he ran one hand down her shoulder blades down to the end of her spine, making clicking sounds which terrified most other prey. Sain'ja dug his claws not even a few millimeters through her skin, just so she knew what he was capable of doing.
Nina remained still, feeling his claws latched on her. She knew what he could do alright; he could use his claws like a bunch of knives and yank her spinal cord and connected skull out with very little effort. Whatever remained of her corpse would loosely hang there like a de-boned fish. Rather than showing any fear, however, she managed to hatefully choke out a few words, "Screw you."
Sain'ja was a bit taken aback by her response. Normally, anyone else would be begging for mercy by now. He let go of her and went back to the medical supplies. He had almost forgotten about the multiple, long scratches she had on her back from when he threw her across stone. Now she was bleeding again from where he had cut her just now. He cleansed the wounds then began to rub some strong smelling ointment onto them.
Nina bit down on her lower lip when she felt something wet and gooey being put on her, and then it began stinging like crazy. It was as if her entire back had been caught on fire. Eventually, the stinging began to dull and feel more icy and numb.
This particular ointment hadn't come from her pack. It was some of the medicine Yautja often carried for minor wounds. It would heal most cuts pretty quickly and within a few hours it would be like nothing ever happened to begin with. He could see it already working. After wrapping bandages around her torso and abdomen, he tried to make up for hurting her by this time gently turning her over and setting her in a comfortable sitting position. Carefully, so he knew she wouldn't try to escape or fight him, he began removing the ropes that held her.
Nina wondered what he was planning on doing to her now. She felt the ropes that bound her hands loosen slightly, than a bit more. She didn't move, afraid that he might change his mind about freeing her. Quietly sighing with relief, her arms slipped through and landed in her lap.
Sain'ja quickly took her arm. This was the calmest the human had been since he found her, other than when she was asleep. Some prey would act like that just to surprise their opponents with a sudden strike or blow. He wouldn't be shocked if she tried the same trick.
When she didn't do anything, he slowly reached out to take her injured hand and put the ointment on that as well. She jerked it away from him, holding it protectively. Gaining her gratitude and faith was no easy task. He gestured for her to let him see it instead of just grabbing it this time. After a moment, hesitatingly, she nodded and reached her hand back over to him.
He unwrapped the bandages around her hand and saw the infection in the deep cut. He would need to open it back up if it was to properly heal rather than give her blood poisoning. Sain'ja cleaned it, then took out a small, sterilized knife. Nina's eyes widened, but Sain'ja held on tighter, motioning for her to be still. He opened the wound up and cleaned away the puss and filth that had collected in it. Next he smoothed the ointment on and wrapped clean, new bandages around her hand.
Nina watched in awe as she saw how he healed her and how the medicine almost instantly took effect. For someone who was as destructive and murderous as he, it was amazing how well he had patched her up. Sain'ja saw the look on her face and took that as a good sign.
Standing back up, he leaned down and pulled her clothes out of the pile of her belongings, then tossed them to her. She caught the wad of balled up clothes and began slipping them on. It was a little bit difficult for her to put on her pants with one leg injured, but she eventually managed to do it. Sain'ja refused giving her her other shoe until her leg was healed enough.
Later that night, Nina had fallen asleep, as was to be expected by him. Sain'ja had left and returned with a large bird a bit smaller than a turkey, waking her up so she could pluck its feather's off while he got a fire going. Everything felt awkward and strange to both of them, and they ate their following meal in silence, but at least they weren't at each other's throats this time.
When they rested for the night, Sain'ja went on and on in his head on what to do with the female. He had seen the female bristle with anger when he had killed her friend. His hunting party had unleashed hounds on her and the other humans. He had attempted to kill her at least twice now. There's no way she would stay among them, and he didn't want to watch her anyway. He needed help on what to do. Tomorrow, he decided, he would take her to the clan leaders.