Wow. I am so amazed that you guys are enjoying this. I am not worthy of your attention!

BTW, it was LynxbyLynx who gave me the idea of the poor Hunter getting into the apartment, though I don't think she meant it like that! The old lady was actually inspired by the one in Predator 2, where he goes into the old ladies bathroom to heal himself, then crashes through her door and through the wall. Lol! That was my favorite scene in the whole movie. ;D (Oh gawd I hope you all know what I'm talking about. D8)

CH. 10

Slowly, groggily... painfully... I opened my eyes. I was lying under a conopy of trees, surrounded by thick bushes. How did I get here? I had been hunting the Hard Meat and the ooman female, and I remembered breaking into the building they were hiding in...

Memories flooded back, and I remembered being attacked by the old ooman woman with the broom, and I was suddenly glad that none of my clan brothers had accompanied me on this hunt. They probably would've died laughing. And then the Hard Meat-

The Hard Meat!

I rolled backwards and onto my feet, coming up into a defensive crouch. I looked around for the beast. There was no sign of it.

I felt confused. Surely it would've shown itself by now. But then again, maybe not. The kainde amedha are tricky creatures. I have known them to lie in wait for hours, poised for the opportune moment to strike.

I checked the motion tracker built into my helmet. There were a few blips showing some small animals hiding around the area, but nothing else.

Part of me was a bit relieved. That Hard Meat was larger and much stronger than others I have encountered. I underestimated it, and I would do well to take the time to prepare better for our next encounter.

The other part of me, however, was still confused. As far as I knew, the Hard Meat hadn't harmed me, instead knocking me unconcious and apparently just leaving me here in the bushes. I remembered when it had me up against the wall. I hadn't thought about it much then; nearly suffocating tends to narrow your thought process, but now, I realized that the Hard Meat had shown emotion. Satifaction when I could do nothing to fend it off, and irritation just as the ooman showed herself.

Perhaps the experiments my father preformed had had an affect after all...

Gah! No! That was ludicrous. My father had nothing to do with this.

But then why hadn't it killed me?

Actually that was obvious. The ooman had simply told it not to.

Why, though?

Shaking my head in frustration, I turned and headed back in the direction of the tall building. Perhaps there I could pick up a trail. At least it wasn't raining-

Something caught my ankle and I stumbled. Now it chose to attack!

Catching myself, I whipped around to face my adversary. I let loose a challenging roar at...

My wrist gauntlets.

It was then that I realized I wasn't wearing any of my equipment, only my awu'asa. I stared dumbstruck at my guantlets, then at all the rest of my weapons and tools that were strewn across the ground around the area where I had awoken.

What!

Were they toying with me? I know the kainde amedha had stripped me of my weapons when it captured me, but why leave them with me? Why give them back? Were they suicidal? Of course, I was glad to have all my equipment, but it just didn't make any sense.

I moved to pick up my tools, but then hesitated. What if it was some kind of trap? Somehow I doubted it was. There was nothing on my motion tracker that was any larger than a small rodent, let alone anything the size of the Hard Meat. Besides, if they were going to attack me, they'd have done it already, while I was vulnerable.

Which only made this even more confusing. All my equipment seemed to be in perfect working condition, not sabotaged as I expected it to be. Strapping everything onto where it was meant to go, I then tested the funtion of my plasmacaster on a nearby tree, producing a small rather satisfying explosion. As I did this I wondered; what kind of madman would arm his enemy, and then leave him free to continue hunting?

The only reason I could think of for anyone to do such a thing was if the "enemy" wasn't considered an enemy.

That thought made me stop.

What if they didn't think of me as an enemy? Strange, I know, but it was the only explaination I could come up with. By letting me live and by returning my weapons to me, were they trying to tell me that they didn't wish to fight? It made sense, in a way.

Contemplating this, I extended one of my dah'kte. Absently, I stroked a claw down the sharp edge, wondering vaguely how the kainde amedha had managed to remove these so quickly.

Purring, I retracted my blades and turned.

I had never originally wanted anything to do with this hunt. By taking it I was forced to delay my chiva, and thus increasing time it took for me to become Blooded. I was not known for my patience.

So fine. I would give them an alternative to death. However, kindness isn't one of my virtues. Though I had been sent to hunt and kill the Hard Meat, my father did let on that he would much rather it be brought alive, saying it was a valuable specimen for his "research."

I would find the Hard Meat and the ooman female, and I would bring them back with me. Then my father could deal with them.

Finally, I ran back through the trees to the area I'd been attacked. It wasn't long until I discovered a path, marked by sensors in my helmet. Normally, the trail wouldn't have been this easy to find. Wether they left it on purpose or were simply being clumsy I didn't know. Either way I was cautious. I had learned the hard way that things were never as easy as they seemed.

Yay! I can't believe how fast I'm updating. I am on a ROLL this week! And guys, sorry if the chapters are short. They seem so much longer when I'm typing them! D8

New words, plus old ones in case you forgot and are too lazy to go back a chapter and look up their meanings here:

awu'asa- Armor
dah'kte- wristblades
chiva- trial/test
kainde amedha- Hard Meat

To LynxbyLynx: Yeah, thank for the idea. Lol, sorry I just love the idea of a big tough guy getting his butt creamed by an old lady. Expect more embarrassment for the big guy later. XD

To RubyDracoGirl: (X3) Lol, so glad you like Cerra! I think she gon' be hilarious! Also, loved that you find the last two chapters funny. They were fun but kinda hard to write XP I'm no good with that kind of thing. *giggles at image of broom to the face*

To Dalover: Yes, you were a big help. :D Lol, you pointed out a tiny flaw (Oh noes!) about the wristbaldes, so I added a bit of a cover-up. Not much, but I think it'll do. :) And yeah, I like to update fast. I hate keeping you lovely reviewers waiting! X)