Chapter 3: Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Alien/Predator series or any characters and may not follow all customs and cultures found in Alien/Predator movies.

With a steady hand from Xen'ork, we managed to land the ship without causing any disturbance around the area. I had to admit that Xen'ork is a good if not great pilot if he managed to get the entire ship landed in the middle of a forest with all the trees growing in random patterns. The landing was even smooth, which is unusual since there's always a huge bump that follows.

I waited for the engines to slow down just enough that I could only hear a faint humming, indicating that the ship was powering down. Using it as my signal, I punched in the code on the panel and the ramp begins to move. The first cracks brought in so much light that I had to close my eyes behind the mask for a moment. The ramp lowers itself to slowly for my taste, and I was starting to get ticked off from it. My anxiety to get this mission over with so that I could return to Yautja Prime was starting to tingle all over my scale skin, and I growled at myself for feeling this way.

It was a few more seconds before the ramp finally hits the ground underneath, and I begin my descent down it. When my feet touch the land of the ooman planet, it was dirty and wet and nothing like my homeworld. In fact, the temperature in the area was much colder than even in my clan's building, and I wanted nothing more but to return back to the warmth I missed so much. Although my mask covered my face, it didn't deter my track of smell, and in some ways, I just wanted to close my mouth tightly. The air was utterly filthy like someone had allowed a pile of dirt to spread into dust all over to mix with the wind. I had to hold in a cough before I turned on the filter in my mask to keep it away from my face. This ooman planet was much worse than I thought and it only made my desire to get rid of it even higher.

But my attention diverts a little when I hear Xen'ork coming down the ramp, and my annoyance for him grew as well when I listen to him shrill in excitement upon reaching the planet, opposite to my reaction of it.

"Looks like nothing has changed since I was last here. But at least we're not in the city and in the forest. However, it will be harder to look for trophies."

I turned my head to see him looking all around him. Although I couldn't exactly see his face, I could feel the smirk through his mask, and I became very irritated. Noticing that he was paying more attention to his surroundings, I looked further back to make sure that he cloaked the ship. It would be a pain in the pauk (fuck) if it wasn't and oomans caught sight of it. And if they do, there would be more trouble for me to deal with. I grunted and shook my head a bit, letting my dreadlocks slap on my shoulders a bit.

"I will never understand your obsession with this planet. At this point, I'm thinking of leaving you here for good."

Xen'ork turns his head fast to me, chuckling a little and not the reaction I was expecting.

"I may have some interest to this planet . . . But not enough to permanently stay here. Only to visit and get some trophies."

I puffed in reaction as I turned back to face forward. I was expecting that Xen'ork wouldn't stay here. Despite some interest in it, I knew he wouldn't want to remain in this disgusting planet or any other Yautja. It would take a miracle in me to find some interest in this place. But the only thing that makes my priority is the mission at hand. I needed to track down the oomans who dare try to use our DNA for their own personal gain. I activated my mask, and the heat vision turns on, showing mostly dark blue color with specks of green and yellow. I expected that no life would be around, but this vision will help me in seeing better through the thick bushes surrounding us. I started walking in the direction of the oomans that Xen'ork mentioned earlier, but just as I was about to take another step, he cuts into my concentration.

"Do you think it better to find food first instead of going into our mission right away?"

My body froze in disbelief. I couldn't fathom why Xen'ork would ask such a question at this very moment. I stomped my foot hard onto the ground before turning back to him, growling that made his step back in caution a bit. I kept my voice down so as not to alarm anything near us, but it was hard to keep all my anger down as I hissed.

"Are you pauking (fucking) serious right now? Have you already forgotten about why we are here?"

I stepped a bit forward as Xen'ork took another back step to keep our distance the same, putting his hands up a bit like a show of submission but it didn't stop him from smiling a bit, which almost made me want to vomit just from looking at such a facial expression on a Yautja.

"I'm just suggesting. We need to keep our strength since the oomans we are hunting have knowledge of our existence and will most likely be prepared for anything. Plus, they won't go anywhere for a while, according to the reports I've been given."

I growled once more, and Xen'ork lifted his hands up in the air a little higher. But then my mind began to work, and some of his words made sense. The oomans did know of us and might just be well equipped since they are unique in the field of intelligence. I didn't want to admit that out loud since I believed it would mean that I have to acknowledge them as more significant than what I've told other Yautja about. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but his words were not to be ignored. I huffed a little as my body relaxed a bit.

"They're not smart enough to be well prepared for what is coming to them."

This time, Xen'ork's expression became serious as he stood tall and dropped his hands to the sides.

"Trust me. I've dealt with oomans before, and if given the right tools or weapons, they can become dangerous prey to hunt . . . And dangerous. Please consider what I said."

I opened my inner mouth and mandibles a bit to say something of the contrary, but the rumbles in my stomach began. It was so loud that Xen'ork heard them too and his expression changed back to him having a smirk on his face. I growled a bit, knowing that he got me in a corner and I have no choice but to admit defeat. Something a Yautja would never do unless in last resort if all else fails. I swatted my clawed hand at him, turning my back at the same time.

"Fine. Something quick to eat and then we will do as we were sent to do."

I refused to turn around, knowing that he's doing some victory expression on his face. It made me sick once more, but I just ignored it, focusing on potential prey to eat. I lifted my wrist gauntlet and pressed on it, activating the mask to scan the surrounding area. With luck, it picks up some signals of life that weren't too far from where they were. He couldn't tell what it was but knew that there was four of them, making it easier to spot their heat signature when they were close.

"Found something. Keep up, pup."

I pressed on the gauntlet once more and activated my cloaking shield, covering me from prying eyes as I dashed forward into the thick forest, tracking the signals that beeped in my mask as Xen'ork follows suit.

. . . . . . . . . .

It wasn't long before we were a few feet close to our targets. I was hoping for something quick to eat, but upon arriving, it was not going to be that easy.

Both of us climbed up a tree that gave the perfect view from up high, leaning on a branch as I turned off the heat vision to allow my own to take over through the mask. When I got a closer inspection, four oomans were surrounding a kill that they made, which was no more than a large, brown animal that I recalled that some oomans called a bear. I grunted as the little size of it, not something to be proud of but the oomans around them was cheering with excitement and exchanging hand gestures to each other. I shook my head at the dirty way these inferior creatures did with their prey. Nothing more than wild animals themselves, making me wonder how they had survived so long.

"Four oomans and a fresh kill? It looks like we can kill two birds with one stone."

Xen'ork's voice echoes quietly by my side on the branch. I could see the gleam in his eye, and I had to look away in annoyance. But I had to remind him of the Code of Honor that all Yautja must uphold or else become Bad Bloods themselves.

"Quiet, Xen'ork. You know that we can't steal a kill from another hunter. It's against the Code."

"But they aren't Yautja, and they have weapons with them. Not to mention the fact that they are all healthy males. Our Code doesn't cover them, and they look like their skulls are worthy enough to be trophies."

Again, I grunted in annoyance, knowing that Xen'ork had a good point. I was getting confused with him since at times he acts like a pup but then gives a good argument when it is called for. I couldn't keep up with his strange behavior. I looked back to the oomans as they started to carry off their kill. I huffed a little in acceptance. We were already here and since we need quick food to eat and oomans are around for us to get some trophies, we might as well as long as it didn't go against the Code of Honor.

"Fine. But we have to be silent and take the oomans out quickly before they can create any noise that could alert others to them."

Xen'ork looks at me and nods his head, and I could tell that he was gleaming with excitement under his mask, extending his wrist blades and sharpening them by the trunk of the tree. I mentally rolled my eyes at the scene, spreading my own while watching for the right moment to strike. The oomans were walking right to them, oblivious of the danger they were getting themselves into.

"As soon as they are under us, you take the two in the front, and I'll take the two in the back."

I whispered to Xen'ork as he nods to tell me that he got the message. I looked back down at the oomans, carefully observing their hands that held the weapons they carried. Some simple gun but it's never too much to be careful in this situation. The oomans were just a few steps to the mark, and once they were in place, both of us jumped down from the branch, landing right in the middle of their group.

The oomans began to panic as they couldn't see us but heard something, talking fearfully among themselves. Their guns lifted to point at anything that they could find. However, we didn't give them the chance to do more as I cut through the first ooman to my right, slicing his throat with my blades. I watched as he gurgled out blood from his mouth as more sprayed from his severed throat. The other oomans began to panic, even more, seeing their dead comrade fall to the ground but I did quick work on my next target as I plunged my wrist blades into his chest, lifting him high into the air so I could see the last specks of life disappear from his eyes.

I didn't even bother with the remaining oomans as Xen'ork sliced them in the same manner as me, making quick work without making any sound at all. I retracted the blades, letting the ooman fall to the ground. I looked back to Xen'ork who was just finishing off another ooman by stomping his foot into its chest, ending it for good. He pulls his foot out and wipes it across the ground.

"That was fun. Didn't even put up a fight. Easy work for getting new trophies and a free meal."

I grunted and looked back at him. "Don't get too cocky every time you hunt. It might end your life someday."

He chuckled in response, and I was just about to reprimand him for that until I heard a gasp from behind. Both of us turned immediately and saw the ooman I had pierced in the chest crawling away from us and moaning in pain. I was shocked beyond reason. I thought that I had killed it when I didn't see its heartbeat moving anymore from my mask. He should have been dead, but I knew that this wasn't a trick. My mask picked up that the ooman's heart was beating faintly. It was only a matter of time before it died from its wounds. But I didn't want it having the chance to call out for help. That would make things worse for us.

I pulled out my wrist blades once more and walked towards it weak form. The ooman must have sensed that its death was coming as it turned onto its back and raised its hands out for protection. I stopped a bit as it cried out to me.

"Please . . . don't . . . kill me."

If I hadn't had my mask on to translate what it was saying, I would have thought that it was something stupid. Instead, it was praying for mercy, and I had to hold in laughter. This creature doesn't deserve any sympathy and should be shown like that from any Yautja. I came closer to it, and the ooman kept weeping the same words over and over again. I used the recording from him and repeated the words I wanted to use.

". . . kill me."

And without hesitation, I plunge down my wrist blades at him, and the last thing I heard was the ooman's screams that echoed throughout the quiet forest.

. . . . . . . . .

"Well . . . that didn't go the way we planned."

"I know that!"

I growled at Xen'ork who had to state the obvious as I was cleaning the flesh off the skull that I took as a trophy from the ooman that begged for its life. But the downside is that it screamed before I could have a chance to silence him once and for all. Now, anything that was within earshot could have easily heard it. He just prays to Paya that no other oomans caught it.

We scattered out of the nearby area just in case, but my heart was dreading about something else. I assumed that it must be because I was concerned that something was going to come and I had to deal with the cleanup. For now, I kept my work on the skull that was finished, shining brightly from the evening sun that glowed in the sky. I looked back at how Xen'ork was doing, and I had to admit that he was rather good in doing so. I put my new trophy to hook on the side of my belt when another sound jolted me up from the branch we sat on. Xen'ork noticed immediately.

"My lord. What is it?"

I didn't answer him. I was too focused on figuring out what it was until it was becoming more familiar to me. I knew right away that more oomans have come and this is what I feared would happen. I gather my things back into my kit as fast as I could, placing my mask back on and calling out to Xen'ork.

"More oomans have come. This is pauking (fucking) great. Just what I wanted to avoid. Come on!"

Without giving Xen'ork any time to ask more questions, I leaped from tree to tree and into the direction of where the voices were coming from with him following closely behind. I cursed myself for being so sloppy and not making sure that the ooman was killed when I had the chance. I shook those thoughts away as I kept my eyes forward, zipping past like the speed of light. That is until we made a quick stop when I found what I was looking for through my heat vision.

Right where we made our kills, about a dozen oomans were roaming throughout the area. I saw that they also carried weapons, but these ones were different. The flashlights that they carried became too much for my heat vision so I turned it off so I can get a better look. They had some kind of special armor that I've rarely seen before and usually reserved for the most dangerous of oomans. Definitely different than the ones we killed earlier and much more alert to everything around them.

I watched as they checked the area that was covered in dead bodies and blood splatter from our hunt. We didn't leave any trails of our existence, but it didn't matter as I heard two oomans talking to each other.

"Looks like it might be those things again. What were they called?"

"Predators. They are hunters that keep appearing on this planet, and it's becoming more frequent. Keep your eyes out for anything."

They break up and spread their search around the area. Although the oomans were too far to see us, I activated my cloaking device just in case. I didn't want to mess up again like before, but it didn't take long before they gave up.

"Nothing here, sir. Might as well go back and report this."

"Fine . . . Everyone! Gather to me. We are heading back to the research facility."

My head perks up when I heard them talking about a 'research facility.' I recalled that our mission was to find oomans that were experimenting on our DNA and I had a funny feeling that these are the oomans that we were looking for. I glanced at Xen'ork and called out to him.

"I think we found our targets for the mission."

He nods in agreement as he looks back at the oomans. "So what do we do from here?"

"We track them and find their facility. I'm sure they will lead us to it but stay quiet and don't let them see you."

With that, Xen'ork and I moved silently, keeping the oomans insight as they walked together throughout the evening until darkness takes over.

. . . . . . . . . .

After what seemed like forever, the oomans stopped at a deserted location, and there was no facility to be found. They were talking about meeting someone here, but it was getting ridiculous. My patience was wearing thin as this mission becomes more complicated than it should be. Xen'ork comes to my side as we sit in yet another branch just across from the oomans.

"My lord. Do you think that they are just stalling on purpose? Maybe they—"

"Shut up."

I didn't want to hear any more from Xen'ork who was just making up more excuses for the oomans. I was so close to just going in there and finishing every one of them off just to be done with them. However, my memories of training told me not to do so and wait until the right moment, but it was becoming more difficult to do so.

Just when I thought I was going to lose my mind, the oomans suddenly stood up and back together as before. I looked in the direction of where they were facing as saw two vehicles pulling up from an invisible road. They stopped just in front of the oomans and soon, more of them came out of the cars, but these ones were different. Only one of them wore similar armor like the previous oomans, but the rest were in some sort of white coats that didn't make sense to me. They were poor in camouflage and held little to no protection at all. These oomans were becoming more strange by the minute.

I watched as the white-coated oomans gathered in front of the others, conversing with one that I assumed was their leader. I couldn't accurately pick up what they were saying since they talked so low that even my mask couldn't catch it. As I was observing the white-coated oomans that just came, my eyes stopped at a peculiar one that stood out. Unlike the others, this one was a little smaller in height and body size and not quite what I was expecting. But just as I was about to try and get a little closer, all of the oomans began to walk off in a particular direction. I grunted in frustration and decided to make a new plan.

"Xen'ork. I want you to stay here and keep an eye out. I'm going to take care of this."

I could sense the hesitation within him as he tried to form his words to me in a transparent way.

"But . . . Are you just going to charge in there and kill them all? By yourself?"

I growled at him, and Xen'ork backed up once again, looking more concern than before, but I made it very clear to him.

"I'm one of the best hunters in our clan. I can take on a few dozen of those pathetic oomans or do you still doubt me?"

I leered right into his eyes, and he definitely got the message as his gaze lowers down submissively. I snorted after that.

"I thought so."

And with that, I took a great leap from one branch to another until I was in the right position to strike . . . in front of them so I can get the ones with the weapons first and then deal with the rest quickly. I waited until they were just close enough and then . . . I dropped down with a hard thump on the ground, startling the oomans in the front even though they couldn't see me. Like before, some began to panic but then their leader began to bark orders to keep calm or something. They listened perfectly, and I knew it's going to be more interesting than I thought.

Without any hesitation, I took my wrist blades out once more and rushed towards the leader. In one quick motion, I sliced the head off clean from the ooman's shoulders. But what I didn't expect is that the others started to fire upon me and somehow, one of them gets me right on my wrist gauntlet. I brought it up as it begins to smoke and then, my mask detected that my cloaking device was down. Before I could correct it, my invisible cloak disappeared, and I was now exposed to the oomans in front of me.

All of them gasped in horror as they saw my form for probably the first time. I growled in frustration at the thought that this is wasn't what I had in mind. I couldn't believe that nothing was going right for me! But I had no chance to dwell on it further as the oomans began to shout and scream, pointing their weapons in my direction. My instinct kicked in, and I jumped just in time as the ray of bullets comes flying at me. In mid-air, I took out my spear and extended it, bringing it down and through the head of an unlucky ooman. The blood sprayed all over the ground as I growled at the others that had terror written all over their faces.

After that . . . everything was mostly blurred since it went so fast. All I knew was anytime I saw an ooman that was ready to fire, I cut them down without a single thought. And it kept going for who knows how long until none remained, leaving a whole field of dead bodies and blood around me. All that was left were the white-coated ones that kneeled in fear when I expected them to run. However, this makes things a whole lot easier for me.

I retracted my spear and placed it in the strap on my back, thinking that I didn't need it for just a cleanup. I extended my wrist blades and held it to my side, strolling to the white coats as they began to cower and whimper with some even hiding behind others. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit, and that just made them cringe even more.

All I could think about was that this was it. I can finally finish this mission and get the pauk (fuck) out of here as soon as possible. I didn't care about anything else. I walked even closer to the oomans and held my blades up as soon as I was by the nearest ooman. I raised it high up in the air, and the ooman cowered, begging for mercy.

But just as I was bringing my blades down, another white-coated ooman comes in between, raising its hands to the side in a protective shield and crying out to me.

"Please! Let them go!"

My hand just froze in mid-air along with my entire body when I locked eyes with the ooman. It was the same one that I saw earlier, but I had a closer look this time as we both stood still in front of each other.

This ooman had long, brown hair that had some strands of grey forming in between while her skin was almost pale in comparison to the others. Her form was quite smaller as I expected, but when I saw that it had breasts and more of a feminine body structure, I put the pieces together and realized that this was a female. I've never seen one up close in any of my ooman hunts, but something about her drew me in.

When I looked back into her eyes once more, my heart began to race, and my breath was caught in my throat as I was lost in a sea of deep blue that shined even in the darkness. But I could also tell that she was petrified. Her hands and arms were visibly shaking, and my mask could see her heart racing frantically but what caught me by surprise is when she speaks out.

"Just let them go . . . They have done nothing wrong to you. Please . . ."

I couldn't understand it. The female's body language was showing visible signs of fear, but her voice was full of conviction. Despite knowing that she might die by my hand, she remains strong and undeterred . . . just to protect the others behind her. A quality that I couldn't help but notice as we stayed still in front of each other for who knows how long.

Eventually, my will to kill that was burning inside was gone. I didn't know how this female ooman can affect me so much like this. All I could do was stare into those blue eyes that I found so beautiful. With that, I slowly lowered my arm and retracted the blades back into my gauntlet. She did the same as well with her arms, dropping them slowly until they were at her sides. The fear in her was still somewhat there but was being replaced by something else . . . Something I couldn't figure out but all I knew was that I wanted to see more. The urge to get closer was becoming too overpowering as I make one step to her.

But then, I was brought back to reality, looking back as I heard more shouts behind me. More of the oomans were coming, and I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. I turned to face towards the thick forest but not before looking back at the female ooman, seeing those blue eyes once more that was staring right into my soul. However, the shouts were becoming louder, and I turned away from her, jumping into the high branches of the trees and disappearing from sight.

When I knew that I was far away enough, I stopped on a branch and jumped down to the ground. When my feet settled, I kneeled down in an attempt to calm down my heart that was beating so fast that I thought it would come out of my chest. I gripped it tightly and tried to imagine why this was happening. It had to be because of that female. She did something to me that I couldn't even explain to myself. I was getting frustrated about this, but when I closed my eyes and remembered those blue eyes, my mind began to calm down a bit.

Right at that moment, I wanted to know more about her and what power she had that could do this to me. But for now, I needed to regroup with Xen'ork and explain what had just happened. No doubt he's going to have a field day with this.

After a few moments, my heart was just calm enough that I got back on my feet and took off in the direction back to the ship, still wondering about that ooman female as the morning sun slowly rose from the horizon.

Hi Readers!

Our Blood Assassin has made his move, but it doesn't end as he expects. The encounter with the ooman female did something to him but what could it be? What had stopped him from finishing his mission? Was it predestined or something more?

So many questions and more chapters to come. Find out when Chapter 4 comes along as Metamorphosis develops. I hope that all of you can wait.

Also, since I just got an account for Grammarly, I'm going to be posting another chapter for Metamorphosis and Endurance but I might be able to update once a week (Nexus being the exception), and I can't hold in all the excitement! :)))

Enjoy! :)))

Reading notes:

Normal = Human speaking English (ooman language)

Bold = Any Yautja speaking English (ooman language)

Bold and Italic = Any Yautja speaking Yautja language