Disclaimer: I do not own the Predator movie franchise. This chapter was not written by blacktalon117, it is completely original.

A/N: I have rewritten and replaced the previous chapter 37 for two reasons. 1.) I was displeased with how it turned out and how it measure up compared to blacktalon117's brilliant chapters. 2.) Someone from another site posted this story, including the original chapter 37, without my permission or any credit given to either blacktalon117 or myself.

Now, I am writing again and have decided on a course for this story that differs slightly to the original course I had planned. I hope you enjoy it as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Nova stretched her arms and legs out, eyeing up her newest opponent. Guan stood fifteen feet to her right, doing the same.

Twei'duh had commanded the distance between them, because this challenge was different and they each needed a lot of room. Duh had said, when they walked into the training room this morning, that they were graduating to the next level. Those weren't her exact words, but they were close enough.

Fuck. How the fuck-? Fuck Duh and her 'you will complete the challenge' and 'failure is not an option' bullshit.

She bared her teeth, glaring at the fifty foot wall she was supposed to climb. The fifty foot wall that was as smooth as a-you know what? She didn't know what to compare its smoothness to, but it was fucking smooth between gouged grooves that were placed at ten feet intervals on her section and fifteen feet intervals on Guans'. She didn't have claws on her hands or feet to help her.

Bitch.

Naturally Guan moved first, carving his own path and doing his thing, when something whistled through the air and landed on the wall less than a inch from his left hand. More bladed projectiles were randomly hurled at him as he proceeded to climb, forcing him to dodge and anticipate them as he climbed without falling. Duh wasn't going to let him off easy, apparently, and since he could carve his path she had to make it challenging in other ways.

Devious. Smart.

She grudgingly approved.

She glared at her wall. Now, how the hell was she supposed to-?

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

An'u. He adapted around his limitations, using strategy and elements of his surroundings. Maybe she could do the same? There had to be a way to succeed, she just had to find it.

Nova took stock of her surroundings and items she had on her person allowed for training. Training mats, a pair of dummies the size of a Yautja female, the pauking wall. She had the small knife Ti'kon had gifted her after their fight over Moby and two longer daggers that were made from the bone of one of Ti'kons' many trophies.

Wait. Maybe. . . ?

She took one of the daggers and approached the wall. She held the tip to the wall and pressed with all her strength, sliding her hand downward.

The dagger trembled and shook, but followed her lead. Grinning victoriously, she looked at the wall again.

Guan was carving his hand and footholds, evenly and quickly. Maybe too evenly.

There was no way she could replicate that and dodge any weapons Duh decided to lob at her.

This is probably going to backfire big time. . . but what the hell? Why not.

She carved her first handhold and a foothold quickly, then began to climb. She bunched her legs, stretched her arms at the appropriate angles and sprung up to the pre-made holds, holding her breath. . . She wheezed a breath when her chest and stomach collided with the wall, clenching her fingers on the holds and firmly lodging her feet into place.

That wasn't so bad. . .

She grinned. It also proved the theory that she didn't have to carve twenty holds to reach the pre-made holds, she just had to carefully strategize her movements and placement to avoid falling.

She made a total of four holds, each short leaping distance apart and at halfway points between pre-made holds.

Halfway up the wall, something changed. . . .

She cleared the handholds she carved and jumped straight to the pre-made holds, grazing the top of them with the tips of her fingers and scraping the pads roughly as she slid downward. A scream built in her throat, joined by her heart as fear slammed through her body and mind.

SHIT!

She kept sliding.

Her shins and knees were scratched, her thighs next. This was her last chance to save her neck. She focused, clenching her fingers on instinct, finding purchase in the grooves meant for her feet. She hugged the wall, her heart easily thumping three times harder than usual. The fall had been short, logically speaking, but in her mind it had simultaneously felt like seconds and years.

Nova's breath shuddered, along with her body, as she remained glued to the wall. Now that she wasn't falling, she was angry at herself for almost falling.

What the fuck was that?! I didn't mean to pounce at it like a damn spider monkey!

For half of her DNA supposed to be natural climbers, she now felt like a shitty watered down version of a black sheep or disappointing relative. That, also, really pissed her off. Fuck this stupid wall, she was going to finish it and deal with this shit later.

She was more precise and careful with her holds and movements, reaching the top and roaring happily. The scale back down, was equally a bitch, especially because she hadn't thought of what her gaps between holds meant since she was reversing her direction.

This sucked balls.

She dropped, her heart thudding like a damn bongo drum on crack every time, taking time to gauge her drops before executing them. It seemed she took twice as long to climb down than she did to climb up, thanks to her oversight.

Duh and Guan were waiting, one more patiently than the other, for her at the bottom.

Duh ripped into her. "Your choice to carve fewer nooks in your section was flawed and reckless. Once you succeeded in your task to touch the top of the wall, you had to use your faulty and inadequate system to climb down. I would expect such thoughtlessness from a Young Blood!"

Nova flinched at the reprimand, as well as the sting to her pride.

"When you overcame your fear to continue your lesson, you did your Mate and Father proud. You did not let fear weaken you, like a true warrior." Duh commented, inclining her head slightly. "Go to the training mats!"

The rest of the session was less exciting, but no less vigorous.

Leaving the training room, Nova was hungry and wanted company. Ti'kon would be busy for a few more hours, at least. So, she would have to seek company elsewhere.


Nova walked down the hallway to Little Knife's living quarters. She hadn't seen A'nu or his mother since she'd dropped him off at home after visiting the observatory, she missed the little guy. She could use some cuteness in her life right now.

She did their special knock, a piece of a jingle from Earth that she'd taught her. Three single knocks four double knocks and two raps with both hands.

Little Knife opened the door with a Yautja version of a smile, spread mandibles. "Come in, Aunt. A'nu will be so happy that you have come."

"How has his training been coming along?" Nova asked, truly curious. The last time she'd seen him, he'd done very well in her opinion. However, she was not a Yautja, nor was she his mother. Little Knife's opinion was the only one that counted until he was old enough for the training Nova received.

She was tempted to tell the mother that the little boy inspired her son had inspired her own training today, although it hadn't ended as well as his training session. She held her tongue, though, because she had asked the mother about her son and would listen to the answer. It would be rude not to.

"He has excelled, it will be a welcome treat for his Aunt to watch him today." Little Knife replied as they walked toward the living room.

A'nu sat in the middle of the floor playing with something she couldn't quite make out. His little hands aggressively smashing whatever they were together, twisting his hands every now and then. It actually reminded her a lot of how human boys would play with dinosaurs or cars on Earth, the similarity made her pause.

Little Knife frowned, as well as a mandibled mouth could that is, at her son. "A'nu. What are you doing with your toys?"

A'nu froze in mid strike at his mother's sharp tone. He turned his head, his big yellow eyes looking up at his mother. "A'nu playing. A'nu make them fight."

"A'nu, are you supposed to be playing roughly with your toys?" She questioned, pinning him with a stern stare.

He hung his little head. "No."

Aw, damn, but the little guy is adorable when he gets in trouble. Nova sighed in her mind, she clenched her hands and forced herself to stay put even though part of her wanted to hug the child.

"The next time I see you disrespect the toys your father gifts you with, you will give them to another child. Is that understood?" Little Knife stared the child down, firm and unmoved.

"Yes."

"Good, now say hello to your Aunt."

Suddenly, A'nu perked up, his entire body language shifting to excitement. His head jerked in Nova's direction and he heaved himself up so the rest of him followed soon after. She had her arms full of warm, happy child in an instant and hugged him to her.

"Hello, A'nu, I missed you." She greeted with a large smile.

A'nu trilled happily in response.

"I hear you've done very well with your training. Can I see?" She asked, glancing at Little Knife to check that it was alright. She needn't have worried, his mother gave her approval with a single nod.

Nova watched in amazement as he showed off his improvement in the water, wading in water three times his height to retrieve the piece of fruit in the middle and returning effortlessly. He even went so far as to do five laps around the pool!

Holy shit! What has Little Knife been feeding him?! Some kind of super serum or dosed up fruit? She thought, struggling to wrap her mind around it.

"He is showing off for you." Little Knife had said once A'nu had begun the laps.

She clapped, thoroughly impressed. "That was wonderful, A'nu! You did so well!"

A'nu trilled, ecstatic that she was so proud of him.

Shortly after, Little Knife lay him down for his daily rest.

Nova sat at the table in the kitchen, sipping a cup of some sort of beverage. It was delicious! Not too sweet, but not too bitter, either. The perfect fruity taste without the unnecessary, teeth rotting sweetness.

"What have you been doing with yourself, Aunt? We hardly saw you as is, but now you've grown more scarce." Little Knife commented as she sat across from me.

"Twei'duh has graciously agreed to train my father and I. We have been kept quite busy with her regimen, I've only got time now because she let us out early. I had a. . .close call in my training today." Nova confessed, taking another sip of the addictive drink.

The mother frowned. "What do you mean, Aunt?"

She sighed. Might as well admit the whole thing.

"We were tasked with climbing a wall, today. I scratched fewer handholds than I should have." She admitted, shaking her head at herself in frustration. "I was halfway up, halfway to reaching the top, and . . .I slipped up. I leapt further up than I meant to and missed the handhold. I fell. It was brief and it was terrifying. I managed to catch myself on what was supposed to be my foot hold and finished the task."

"Aunt!" Little Knife exclaimed as loudly as she dared, which was barely a whisper, really. "To do such a thing is dangerous!"

"I know. I learned that lesson." Nova sighed. "What bothers me, other than my miscalculation, is how far I was able to jump without meaning to. I mean, I get that you guys can jump high and are strong, but. . . .If I could do that this whole time, why did it happen in the middle of the task and not the beginning?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt. I cannot give you the answer you seek." The mother murmured apologetically. "Perhaps the answer lies in your past, in your genetics."

Nova hummed thoughtfully. Time for more cheerful topics.

"Aunt, have you ever thought about it?"

"Thought about what?"

"Having children of your own some day."

Nova choked on her tongue, sputtering and coughing at the suddenness of the question.

"I apologize, Aunt, I should not have asked such a personal question." Little Knife murmured quietly.

"No, no. I just really haven't thought about it recently, to be honest. Ti'kon would make an amazing father, for sure! But, I have training and the hard-meat hunt to worry about, so I kind of left it for chance. If I survive and I become pregnant, alright. If not, that's alright as well. These things happen when they are meant to happen." Nova explained, shrugging.

"You would make a wonderful mother." The soft voice broke through the quiet of the room.

Warmth flooded Nova' s chest. That was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to her, it meant a lot. More than the yautja knew. "Thank you, Little Knife."

The rest of the visit was fun and full of happy laughter. The human mate of Ti'kon felt light and loved by her yautja family. Children were a distant possibility, but for now, this was more than enough.