Falling to her knees, her face was met with the planks of her family's old hunting cabin. The fine black dust falling to the ground around her as she heaved heavily, in an attempt to catch her breath in the frigid air filling the small home. She had spent what little energy she had left to flee up into the mountains, and by the Gods, she was exhausted.

A growl from her stomach roared with hunger as she looked around the ransacked cabin. Halfdan's men managed to track her to where she had been staying while the king was being poisoned. His goal seemed as though it was to remove her bloodline from this realm entirely. Something she had thought to be impossible, yet here she was completely and utterly alone.

Her noble Father, a God Slayer, fell to the hands of a poisonous meal. The rest of his house, whether it be warriors or the help, had either conformed to the new reign or would have been slaughtered. Weeping silently at first, for never really having the chance to grieve, she presses her skull against the freezing and shabby floorboards, letting it all out. Her hands clenching tightly as she does, no doubt carving blood crescents into her palms.

The death of her father, her brothers' absence, the beatings she took, the blood she had shed, the feel of hands palming and grasping her most sacred places - all of it, in raw emotion. Tears streaked her face as she wept, leaving frigid rivers in their path. Never again would she be able to feel the embrace of her father, and quite possibly, the rest of her remaining blood. She had tried reaching out, to see if they were near the castle and had felt nothing. This meant one of two things, they were either dead, or they were very, very far away fleeing with their families. Praying to the Gods, and even the Nornir Sisters, that they hadn't met their end. By the gods, what had happened to her youngest brother Einar? He was a mere boy of hardly 12 summers.

As if taking back the stronghold and finding her family wasn't bad enough, the beasts from the sky had returned. Her father had warned her, and had tried his best to make sure that they were prepared for what to expect when they returned.

What in the fuck was she going to do?

"Well" Naomi Underhill states standing up with the results from the sample she had taken from the cell "She's definitely not human"

Dakarai stands tall with his arms crossed as he watches the small doctor flit around the lab pushing various buttons, running random tests. She, along with Nagwa, a Yautja female, were the lead scientists on his planet of Uan'keip. She may be an Ooman, but she was brilliant at her job. Nagwa had chosen her personally when she had stumbled across her DNA and RNA splicing reports through the Echonet, she just lacked the technology to do so.

After making her an offer she couldn't refuse her and her mate had moved to Uan'keip. Often enough, Naomi will join them on their hunts to find new, or unfamiliar planets to conduct research. He even went as far as adding the lab they were standing in on the ship to aid her in doing so. As far as Humans went, she was tolerable. It was her mouthy opinions on issues that bothered him - But he could appreciate bluntness, and most of the time, respected her opinion. Though the King did admire her passion for her work as well, and she was one of the best scientists he had the pleasure of stumbling across.

"She said she was of Vanaheim?" She asks, her dark eyes meeting his in question. He gives a singular nod. His heavy dreads, decorated with small skulls, bones and golden cusps, moved with him.

"And of Alfheim" His english came out more broken without the help of his golden mask that hung from his waist.

"I've gathered what information that was available from the Echonet, and to be honest, there isn't all that much" Dr. Underhill states, pushing the information from her device to the 3D thermal display in the center of the room so that he could view it. The King snorts at the few files listed before him. With all of the resources available, how is this all?

"What I did manage to correlate the information collected is that this is an old religion, and the only other place we've managed to find mention of a race as such, is on Earth"

"Any of her abilities?" The alpha hunter quizzes, needing more information than what he possessed.

"That came up short too" she says flatly causing Dakarai to let out a low and long growl "I can only study so much with the old blood in the cell, we would need a fresh sample - one that isn't tainted with the dirt and various debris"

"You have nothing for me, other than this?" he asks, leaning against the control panel, filtering through the information in front of him.

"Not necessarily" she picks up the tablet, and syncing more information "Good news or bad news first?"

He cocks his head, still not used to her phrasings. Did it matter to him how he received the information? No, just as long as he got it. Growing uncomfortable underneath his unblinking, fiery gaze, she nervously flings the information to the 3D monitor.

"Right, so I'm not going to get all sciency with terminology" she pauses the first and only time she fully explained something to the king, using proper terms and never missing detail, he was more than unhappy. You definitely didn't want a Yautja feeling stupid - Especially the King. "Basically, her DNA is compatible with Yautja, but this teeny tiny protein means that it can not be generated synthetically"

"Meaning?" he was quick to ask, nearly startling the dark skinned girl. In her few short years she had known the King, she quite liked him. He was good to his people, and the beings who sought refuge on his planet. He liked to stay well informed on nearly all aspects, however when he demanded her presence back at the castle, he was more than impatient. A trait that isn't like him.

Running several scenarios through her mind, she could only narrow it down to three. The girl had made the king nervous with her abilities that she had shown. He wanted to be fully prepared for what she could possibly do, the whole 'knowledge is power thing.' Or he had a use for her.

"That if we were to splice Yautja DNA with hers to produce a supergene, such as the ones in process on Uan'keip, it would have to be achieved through the natural reproduction process"

"Naturally" he reiterates, a sickening pop coming from his neck as he rolled his shoulders. Naomi nods her head as she observes the distraught Predator before her. He was tense, something was up and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

"My king, and forgive me for this but what aren't you-" He cuts her off, already sensing the question. He deliberately withheld the information, because honestly he almost didn't believe it had happened. If it wasn't for his brother's eyes seeing the same anomaly, he would have thought he was going mad.

"In the moments I had to observe her, she healed deadly injuries in seconds'' he replayed it in his biomask multiple times since the encounter. Yautja healed fast, but that just wasn't natural.

"She disappeared in a black sand, and seconds later appeared in a different location entirely. A weapon materialized on her back, not being there just seconds before. With the axe came the power of ice, freezing a man's skull in seconds." Even the Doctor seemed weary of what he was telling her as dark brows pinched together in confusion.

Figuring it was easier to show, rather than explain he unclips his mask from his belt and places it on the dock. Once hitting a few buttons on his wrist, the screen lit up above the 3D monitor - one that was better suited for human eyes. Dakarai waited patiently as he observed the doctor before him. Shock hit her quite a few times before the tape had ended.

"Uh I-" she stops herself, clearly lacking the words "What the fuck?"

"Agreed" He states firmly, and if Naomi had not witnessed what she just had, she would have laughed. But she couldn't. Technology could do some pretty amazing things and the Yautja are extremely technologically advanced, so what the fuck was this?

Magic?

She nearly laughed at herself at the thought, but honestly what else could this be?

'No, no' She thought 'Everything has a scientific explanation. I just don't have an answer for it yet'

"What's the plan?" Naomi asks while walking towards the towering blue hunter. She could see the gears turning in his mind, wanting to know more than ever what was running through it.

"Find out if her blood could be used for a cure" he grovels, looking at her, determined to help his people.

The plague, and sadly the entire race was coming up with a drawl. It was killing off welps left and right. It was to the point where the Females were refusing to bear pups, for fear of a terrible death. His planet had been lucky for they had been the last to have been hit. With early warning, he was able to close off trade and all space travel from any planets. But somehow, it started and he was determined to find a way to end it. The number of infected on his planet were low, for now, and they were quarantined to reduce the spread. It helped, yet only slightly.

It was the other planets of his kind, Yautja Prime, Yen'ikva, Thuwathu, and Nod'tei that were hit particularly hard. With Infirmaries full of ones they're healing, there isn't any room for new, or the resources available. They were dying quicker than they could heal, and it was sad. This was the first time in many centuries that something like this had happened. Even the council of the Ancients were at a loss.

Skadi wasn't entirely sure how long she had laid on the marred floorboards, but it was long enough that the night had come. Raising her frost-bound body from the floor, she moves through the glacial temperatures to the hearth to start a fire. Cursing her stiff, red fingers she managed to quickly get a fire started. She had been surprised to have awoken at all, with all that had just happened, plus sleeping for hours in the freezing temperatures. She did have a fire of survival within her, as her father used to say.

With the hearth fire started, she looked down at what was left of her woolen dress. She needed her hunting garb and by the gods, she couldn't remember where she had placed it. Dropping her gaze to the floor and bringing her hand to her chin in thought. Looking at the old wood beneath her bare feet a smile snakes its way across her face, and gives a small wiggle of her toes.

'Duh' she thinks to herself.

Lifting up the floorboards, she was met by a cool gust of dry air before searching for the bundle. Finding the hide of the white bear, she brought it out and laid it in front of the fire to warm since the hide was stiff with ice. Every year, for the better part of 9 months, the snow is a permanent piece of the landscape and usually with the snow comes frigid temperatures.

But this winter was something entirely unreal with how cold it has been. Even the creatures from the mountains were coming down for warmer temperatures. That's why Skadi had been up here when Halfdan's men attacked her while she slept. She had been making sure that none of the monsters made it down to the trading villages at the base of the mountain.

Dropping herself down on the many pelts on her bed, she tried to relax herself, relishing in the fire across from her as she came up with her next move. She was practically useless until she could restore her power, and of course the Waters of Helgivmir were on the other side of the mountain, and that's if she was worthy to stumble upon it. The gods chose who and what could bathe in the seidr fueling waters of the Yggdrasil itself. Everytime she asked to be shown the way, she had been blessed with their gratitude. There is no telling that that will be what happens in the morning when she sets out. And now was the time she needed it most.

A solemn howl cuts through the quiet of the night, bringing a wide smile to Skadi's face. Throwing her thick messy and matted hair over her shoulder, she stands, darting for the door. Undoing the latch, she howls back, awaiting her friend to come find her. She had wondered what had happened to him, hoping he hadn't met his fate as well. Hearing heavy paws running through the tall snow she squints in the dark, feeling his presence before her.

"Kaldr!" She exclaimed as the giant wolf bound to her, nearly knocking her over with his massive size as he stopped in front of her. Happy and ecstatic to see her. As eager as she was to see him, she knew they couldn't be loud, not with those hunters with reptilian-like skin wandering about. Dragging his gigantic body into the cabin and shutting and securing the door, she drops to her knees, relishing in his kisses and yips of excitement. Thanking the Nornir Sisters that they hadn't let him meet his fate. Pressing her head to his to calm him, she whispers softly.

"I need your help more than ever, friend" she pauses and continues "My Father has fallen, my brothers have vanished, and there is a new predator in these woods now. I cannot do this alone. Will you help me?"

As if the wolf had understood every melancholy word that came out of her mouth, he remained still, before placing a soft lick on her chin. A giggle escapes her before throwing her arms around the now sitting wolf and burying her face in the thick white fur of his neck, whispering her thanks to her dear friend.

He was old, much older than she, but for whatever reason, he hasn't aged a day in the last 50 some years, much like herself. It was her lineage that gave her a long life. Her mother had been nearly 800 when she had passed, still lots of life within her though, for her eyes started to gather the crows feet when she smiled. Her father had been much older than her mother by quite a few hundred years. His skin had been weathered, from years of being a warrior and training his armies, but you wouldn't have been able to tell by watching him spar.

Sitting in the lonely cabin made her miss them terribly, but she knew she would see them again once she entered the halls of Valhalla. She will make them proud and remember her training, whether it be fighting as a shieldmaiden or by ruling the lands, she would restore the honor of their name.

No man, or beast, would take that from her.

So this chapter isn't the best, though it was necessary to post.

I have up to 7 chapters of this written out so far, and I'm absolutely thrilled to share it with you guys!

The next chapter has Skadi being her badass self (to an extent) and kicking some monster tail.

Please be patient, Skadi and Dakarai will not have another encounter for at least 3-4 more chapters.

But after that it is NONE stop adventures and smut ;) between the two!