AVP ( c ) 20th century Fox

Chapter 12 : The Hunt Begins

Panic was rushing through her young mind, Tia'ja started to feel the air around her burn as the pod entered through the atmosphere and commenced a dive-bombing approach to the hard ground so very far below.

On instinct alone Tia'ja extended her wrist blades and jammed them into the pod's navigational console causing it to short out and forcing the pod to open prematurely. Cold air rushed into the pod with enough force to pin her to the rear wall of the flying coffin. Twisting and turning her head as best she is able the young predator spot's that she is approximately a half mile away from the ground and falling like a stone. The cold whips her breath away whenever she tries to look at anything and she wonders about things… 'Why I she open the pod prematurely?' And 'Oh shit hadn't I better jump?'

Through her wind distorted vision she spotted a skeletal tree standing on the edge of a precipice below her to her right. Deciding it's her only chance she launches herself toward it praying that all the training her uncle and grandfather made her do pays off. She very nearly misses the tree in her praying but at the last possible second she grips the top of the tree with the tips of her fingers and swings herself around the trunk using the large branches for stability. The pod suddenly crashes past her close enough to violently shake the tree causing her to further hug it.

The pod carries on down into the chasm slamming the sides as it goes. Tia'ja thanks the gods that she wasn't in the thing. She feels a twinge as she attempts to breath and looks down to see a smaller sharp looking branch sticking out from just below her breast and a sickly slightly luminous teal colored fluid, her blood, slowly pouring down her stomach. A flash of anger and of pain show in her eyes as she snaps the branch off from the tree leaving it impaling her. She can remove it later when she is not hanging over a giant abyss. She looks up to see the sky filling up with Yautja pods and knows the hunt is on.

Tia'ja climbs down from the huge tree and feels a few more quakes in the planet as more pods hit it's surface, "At least I won't be the only one those bastards will be hunting." She leans against the tree and takes a deep breath as she grips the stick impaling her. She rips it out and bites her lip to keep from screaming, quickly she bandages her wound and buries the stick.

Tia'ja examined her surroundings, she was near a deep chasm, which did her no good, she would have to move inland and try to find a good place for an ambush, she figured it would be better if she attacked her enemy than have them attack her. She had been on team hunts during her training with her uncle and she hated being the prey, running away wasn't something she liked doing.

Tia'ja had been in the tree's for over an hour now, stealthily jumping from branch to branch, she was tired and hungry and she hadn't seen a single living thing. She decided to stop and rest for a minute so she relaxed and leaned up against the tree. 'I wish I had my mask. At least then I could see if there are any animals near by.' Tia'ja got angry when she thought about Arrel, 'That bitch threw me out without all my gear!'

Just as Tia'ja glared she heard a twig break on the ground below, she looked down to see a predators cloak flicker off, she heard him laugh then speak, "I'll let you see me before I blow you to pieces." His shoulder cannon lifted and shot off a single blue blast at her.

Tia'ja barely got up in time, her toes just jumped off the branch as the blast hit and wood chunks flew everywhere. She was about to land in another tree when the branch she was going for was blown apart. Tia'ja's eyes widened in shock as she fell to the forest floor.

The instant her feet hit the ground she sprung to her right and rolled, avoiding another blast she quickly got behind a tree and yelled, "Why don't you stop shooting and fight me hand to hand?!

They yautja's spine chilling laugh echoed through the air, "I like my meat cooked!"

Tia'ja dived to the ground as the tree she was behind was completely destroyed. She rolled and pushed herself off the ground then sprinted through the unknown territory. Hse could hear blasts coming at her and the heavy footsteps of her pursuer, so she made sure to keep swerving as she moved forward. 'I have to turn this around, and fast.'

She stopped in her tracks and waited as she heard another blast go off, when the time was just right she dived to the ground, just barely missing the blue beam, she even felt the heat fly over her back. She instantly got back on her feet and turned to face the male Yautja coming at her at full speed. Tia'ja ran back at him. They were so close to each other now that he decided to eject his wrist blades.

Tia'ja leaped in the air and ejected her own wrist blades, falling toward her enemy at full force, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as she moved through the air, until they made contact, blade to blade. The yautja had placed his blades right before his face, blocking Tia'ja's attack, but the force of her assault was enough to knock him backwards.

Tia'ja pushed with all her force, trying to break his block, "DIE!"

Tia'ja felt the predator beginning to push her back, then heard his shoulder cannon moving. Her eyes went huge as she stopped her attack and quickly rolled off her attacker just as a blast flew past her arm, it had been so close that it actually burned her. In mid roll she reached for one of the kunai attached on her upper left thigh and threw it hard, she watched as glowing green blood began to spew from the yautja's throat..

Tia'ja got to her feet and loomed over the predator, he was grabbing his neck and gasping for air, she leaned beside him and looked at him almost sad. A smirk grew across her face, "Bastard…" She rose her wrist blades and brought then down hard, hacking through his throat, his blood began splattering everywhere, Tia'ja loved the warmth of it every time it hit her. Tia'ja soon cut his head completely off, she got to her feet and held the head high, letting the blood pour all over her face, she even opened her mouth to drink some of it. She threw the head to the ground and let out a roar of her victory, she had never felt so alive.

Tia'ja took a deep breath and knelt beside her defeated opponent, she looked him over, she removed his shoulder cannon and examined it, it only had about four more shots, he had wasted so many on her. Tia'ja didn't care, it was more than she had so she attacked it to herself and took the dead predators mask while she was at it. "At least now I can see you assholes coming…"

Tia'ja moved deeper into the forest, leaving the predators corpse in the open, a warning and invitation for the next yautja that comes her way. She had even left his head, it wasn't worth taking as a trophy, not to her. "Now the fun really starts, I'm going to find you Arrel and you too Kee'vek."

End of Chapter 12

By Tausha Monroe

Special Thanks to Peter Davis-Parker aka Highwaymanartist at totally helped with this chapter, it was him that wrote like the first 5 paragraphs.

Thank You sooooo much!!!