HUzzah! Reviews make me feel all warm and special inside.

Dear audience,

I know that this story is depressing, I get that and I am sorry. I am not trying to bum anyone out, but you cannot go through 'events' described here and still be a shining ball of optimism. I think, anyway.

I own nothing. Rated M.

OoOoOo

Kathy shrieked like a banshee, her head buried in Gk'yaun's chest as she trembled with fear. She tried not to panic, truly the attempt was made. However, it was not enough to keep her from reaching decibels that surely should have caused her 'guardian' some amount of hearing loss.

The sounds of countless wings flapping as the creatures swarmed around and past them were all Kathy could hear. Even her thundering pulse was undetectable under the sheer volume of the creatures.

As well as her ear-piercing scream, of course.

Gk'yaun seemed unaffected as the avian insects zipped through the air. He stood tall, ready to face on all challenges, even as Kathy howled like a certain species of monkey from her lost world. It was not exactly a charming litany she repeated.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, I hate this place, fuck!" She wailed, shaking her head into the armor that pressed against her forehead. She didn't even flinch, nor register the pain, when a few of her hairs became tangled in it. She didn't care. She wanted whatever those little beasts were, to leave.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the swarm left and Kathy stood trembling with her arms tightly clasped around Gk'yaun. Slowly she peeked open and eyes, waiting for one of the creatures to appear and terrify her. However, it never came.

Gingerly, she lifted her head, and looked around, still clinging to the only alien she felt somewhat assured would be able to kill mostly anything on this planet.

"It is safe." Gk'yaun rumbled deeply, and to Kathy the barest hints of a thought likened it to purring.

Kathy blinked, and shook as his words went in one ear and out the other. She could scarcely understand how the hell this planet would be considered safe. Had he not seen the swarm of freaky death? Her eyes watered as the adrenaline finished its surge and her mind registered no immediate threat.

Except... for the alien she was clinging to like a life raft.

Her body felt as if it seized up, and her higher thoughts nearly stopped entirely. Kathy's eyes widened and she managed to move her head to stare directly with the armor that still entangled some strands of her hair.

'Oh... I... oh...,' She thought, rather eloquently if she did say so herself, given the situation.

Heat surged to her cheeks, and she felt a flush of mixed emotions. Gk'yaun was an honorable Yuajta and the rest were simply Predators. He didn't frighten her the way that the others of his species had with their willingness to kill and hunt. However, she knew for a fact that Gk'yaun hunted. At one time, humans had been his trophies. Kathy knew that she was vulnerable in this state, ripped away from everything she had ever known in her rather short life, by comparison to the Predators.

Kathy should have been repulsed, angry even , if that made any sense. Yet, she wasn't. Something in her stomach coiled tightly and she swallowed at the surreal sensation of his skin upon hers. What the hell was she doing? She should have pulled away immediately.

Should have, yet she could not. There was a strange sort of comfort with being near another living creature so closely, but at the same time there was the keen understanding that he was not human. Her eyes rose slightly, taking in his mandibles and scaled skin.

When she had first seen them, the Predators, with their grotesque skin tones and bulky muscles. Their nearly spider-like mouths had caused her to want to empty her stomach while praying for the nightmare to end.

Now, she was more or less hugging him as tightly as her fragile human strength could manage.

Gk'yaun shifted, reminding Kathy of his limp in his left leg and how he was not like the others she had seen. His mask, still heavily damaged was something that Kathy had often wondered over. How had this happened to him?

Her eyes caught sight, as they lowered briefly in thought, over the difference in their sizes. She was nearly nothing compared to this hulking alien. The one that had protected her. The one that had saved her life. No, not only her life; but her sanity as well. She owed him more than she could ever being to put words to.

The negative feelings. The rage, disgust, and sheer loathing she felt toward all the Predators; she had never felt for him. There was only the soft feelings and the growing attachment she felt for a being so unlike her, that it unnerved her.

It was sick, and wrong.

To like any of what he was, when her people... when...

No. That wasn't fair to Gk'yaun. Her eyes rose, and she noted the visor briefly. Cracked and broken, like she was. Like he was. Only his was brokenness was not like hers. His, he had clearly come back from. Though she knew it was not the way of the Predators, for Gk'yaun was a bad blood.

Or had been.

Or... actually, Kathy did not even know what he was anymore. Not since the clearing with Deuub, when Gk'yaun had clicked at her about honor. Honor. A word said so often, even in her own head, that she was not certain what it meant anymore.

Her head throbbed, and she looked down. Finally, her arms dropped limply to her sides. Embarrassment, shame, and a bittersweet sort of giddy feeling filled her thoughts all at once. Good lord, this was awkward. To the point of adding 'painfully' in front.

Kathy willed her body to stop trembling as she took several deep breaths. She had to focus, and the urge to make some sort of sound to distract from the nearly overwhelming silence was potent. He wasn't human. She knew that, yet some part of her found some sort of fulfillment with being near him. It was dangerous, the slope she was heading down and instinct warned her against it.

However, a smaller part of her did not want to heed the warning. It hoped for even the tiniest speck of normalcy. Which, was exceedingly ironic when she recognized that nothing about this situation could be deemed 'normal'.

If she were wholly honesty with herself, as she was so often forced to be, Kathy did not know what to make of her swinging moods. The lightening fast fear and anger that was replaced by soft stirrings of care.

Quickly she tried to distract herself with the landscape, and she shivered at the thought of what other creatures were waiting in store for her to see. Or were hoping to catch a tasty carbon-based snack. Kathy swallowed heavily as her stomach lurched at even the poor attempt at internal humor.

And, where she could not find explanation, Kathy settled on allowing despair to fill the void of confusion.

OoOoOo

The human was acting in a manner that left Gk'yaun slightly intrigued. It had been many decades now since he chose to banish himself to the title of Bad blood. The hunt that had taken away his honor and forced him into this position was one that he reflected upon to learn from his mistake.

He had underestimated the opponent.

Yet, his warrior pride had been unable to subjugate itself to the young bloods that would be above him. Gk'yaun had been labeled to injured to hunt. To allow him one last final hunt to go out in an honorable fashion, was considered more of sending him to his death.

He had held his charred and damaged face mask in his hands as the elders of his clan, as well as the matriarch, decided his fate.

It had been evaluated that he would be unable to face the challenge of a hunt. Therefore, it was closer to suicide and the scale was unevenly balanced against him. Though he had respectfully sought to sway the elders from their decision, it had been so.

However, he was a warrior. Trained form his first moments for the thrill and danger of the hunt. To die in the servant class, mocked for being unfortunate enough to live was unacceptable. Gk'yaun, though highly respected previously with his clan, took his personal ship without permission. He left his hunt brothers behind to face the last hunt.

The final challenge.

With finality and purpose he had chosen the planet which was popular amongst a rival clan. It had been his firm intent to die by combat or during the pursuit of another trophy. Neither of which had come to pass. Other bad bloods, ones more disgraceful than he had also found it their right to challenge him in his crippled state. Without hesitation, he had cut them down.

There was part of him that still adhered faithfully to the teachings of his youth. Intelligence was his weapon, even when his body might fail him. Gk'yaun had found a species of hunting beast and used it as an extension of himself. Though his leg ached from the damaged delivered so long ago, he could still fight and collect what was his due.

In his many cycles, he had not expected that a ooman would have been kept as a living trophy. Nor, would he have expected to hear the admission of wrong doing against their species as a whole from an honorable blooded warrior from an even more prestigious clan.

HIs dark eyes took in the readings from the female ooman. Her heart rate spiking and the heat that lingered on her face. They were strange creatures to him, the oomans. However, he had devoted himself to restoring what had been taken from her so disgracefully.

He was a no longer bound by the status of 'bad blood' but he was still unworthy of mating with any female of honorable standing.

Initially, such a thing would not have applied to the ooman. In light of the grievous dishonor done to her and her species, she had gained the right of 'Honorable but untouchable.' The female was without a smear against her honor, for she had committed no crime.

Her standing was now higher than others. It gave Gk'yaun a bit of pause as the female was skittish around him. Trusting of his word

Yet, the ooman touched his body. A definitive sign of initiating intimate interaction. The female complimented his trophies, finding them worthy of praise. She did not shove him away in disgust, to show she was dissatisfied with him as a prospective partner. However, it never developed beyond that. In fact, the female had tried to express remorse for attempting to initiate mating.

That in and of itself was worth contemplation.

He would wait, and watch. He would learn and understand why the ooman did not pursue anything further, though it was her right. Gk'yaun would be honored to accept a mating, even though it would not produce offspring.

The warrior put such thoughts to the wayside for now. This planet was considered unworthy of hunting. No deserving prey inhabited the surface. However, he would not put his guard down with the female acting so upset.

It was unwise, irrespective of the female's species.

OoOoOo

Kathy turned around, looking at the expanse of densely grouped trees that surrounded the landing area with some misgivings and concern. There wouldn't be any more freaky crab things, would there?

And, why was Gk'yaun so silent? He did not even do his normal chittering. She felt a sense of nervousness pool in her stomach. This... Yuajta... was her only life line to the reserve planet she needed to get to. To the only other humans in existence somewhere in the deep darkness of never ending space.

It did not behoove her emotionally or physically to upset him. Touching the predators was a no-go. Even when Gk'yaun had told her not to apologize for it. Yet, for reasons she did not care to name, the thought of upsetting him distressed her. Kathy did not want him to dislike her.

Even though she should not give a single damn about what anyone thought.

Strangely, she felt rather shy and worried about what Gk'yaun was thinking.

What the hell was wrong with her?