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Thar'n-dha s'yin'tekai, nain-de me-jahdi. Strength and honor, hunt sisters.
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Lex gasped as if the tail had pierced her own chest. Scar lifted from the ground, being brought face to face with the Queen. Lex tugged as hard as she could but the chain wouldn't budge anymore.
Suddenly, Celtic and Miana were there pulling with her. One last tug and the chain wrapped around the water tank. Miana broke the last bolt holding the structure together.
A loud creak sounded before the structure toppled into the dark waters. The Queen let out a surprised shriek. She dug her feet into the ground but the snow provided no help and she followed the tank down.
Miana fell to her knees, breathing heavily from the exerted energy. Celtic helped her back to her feet, keeping a large hand on her shoulder before they followed Lex to where Scar laid. On arrival, Scar began to shout something at Celtic. They had a heated discussion before Celtic dragged his brother off to a house. The humans followed suit.
Lex ripped a portion of her shirt so she could soak it in cold water. Then she applied it to Miana's back to help with the burn.
"Lex, I'm freezing. I got a small jacket in my bag but I don't know where it is. Can you find it for me?" Lex nodded before leaving.
Celtic helped the chest plate off of Scar and move the mesh aside. He took a mean-looking knife and was ready to cut into the chest. Miana sat and watched, not wanting to intervene in the "medical operation". Scar roared in agony but soon clamped his mouth shut.
Lex came running back in, bag in hand to see Celtic in the middle of his "operation".
"I don't know what they're doing but I'm not intervening since they look like they know. Oh! My jacket, thanks. I'm freezing." Miana wrapped her bag and sat next to Lex as they waited for them to finish.
Celtic finished cutting open Scar's chest and stuck his hand inside. Scar had long ago passed out from the pain which made some of this easier. When Celtic pulled his hand back out, a small, strange creature squirmed in his grasp. He snapped its neck with a flick fo the wrist and threw it away.
"He got infected?!" Miana quickly jumped onto her feet. Her sudden movement displeased Celtic and he growled low in warning. She sat back down next to Lex.
"Well, at least he's no longer infected, right? Will he be alright?"
Celtic nodded as if understanding before he patched up the wound. The gash made by the Queen had indeed left some internal damage that could be cared for on their ship. It had barely missed his heart but it missed and that's all that matters.
Celtic's gauntlet flashed at an incoming message. He stepped outside and answered the call. It was one of the elders aboard the ship. He let them know about the situation, talking about the humans and the Queen but purposely left out Scar being a host.
After receiving orders, he headed back inside to find Lex helping Scar stand.
Miana scooted up beside him, "this is where we say goodbye, big buddy. Want some earthly advice?"
Celtic looked down at the human. With his gauntlet fixed, he clearly understood her. Some earthly advice didn't seem too bad, so he nodded.
"Have fun." Miana patted his arm almost sarcastically. "See ya later." She shuffled her feet, glancing back at Lex before heading out.
"Thank you, Scar." Lex patted his arm and left to follow her friend home.
They found a snowcat still capable of running and with enough gas to make it back to the ship. They were throwing in a few things from the surviving camp before they headed off.
A small chirp sounded behind the duo and they turned to find not only Scar and Celtic but more predators along with their ship.
"Where is MIB when you really need them?" Lex smacked Miana hard in the shoulder, wishing for two seconds of silence from her friend.
Lex backed away from the vehicle and took a few cautious steps towards them. Scar held his spear out to her, blades extended, said something in his own tongue before retracting the blades. Only then did he fully stretch out his arm to give it to her.
She gripped it tightly and nodded once before taking the spear.
Celtic motioned Miana forward and took off his gauntlet. Gently, he took Miana's wrist and strapped it on as tight as he could. Then, he pressed a few buttons before turning it off. He showed her the button to turn it on and off before backing away. Miana was too busy being fascinated by the new gift that Lex had to elbow her in the ribs to remind her of her manners.
"Oh! Thank you!" Miana bowed in thanks. A few predators stiffened by her action not understanding her reasons behind it, but Lex and she took no notice.
An elder predator walked up to them. They could tell is high ranking by how formal he looked in comparison as well as the salutes those he passed gave.
His English was slightly off but they understood him.
"Brave, oomans, take kare." He nodded to them and walked away.
As he walked, the others followed suit. Celtic and Scar shook each of their shoulders before leaving as well. The ship took flight.
Lex and Miana jumped into the snowcat, not wasting another second, to head back to their own ship. It took a few hours before they got there, but when they did, they were swarmed.
Members of the crew rushed them into the medical bay at their distraught sight. Miana's eyelids felt like lead as they drooped down. They began to treat the various wounds on the women while asking questions.
Lex kept her mouth shut and answered nothing.
What do I tell them? We got in the middle of a fight between two alien races? The mark wasn't just made by some debris flying around either so there's no way to cover that up. The acid on Miana's back along with the strange medical substance... This seems hopeless. How do we explain the technology? Unless we don't. Good thing they haven't checked Miana's bag.
On the way to the ship, Miana thought ahead and put everything in her bag. That way no one would touch anything they shouldn't be touching.
Lex relaxed on her bed and looked across to where Miana slept. Next to her, something flickered. A familiar shape. Large, bulky, and seemingly powerful. Her only guess was a predator cloaked by their technology.
Moving off the bed, Lex slowly approached. The form certainly looked like one of them and the sudden wall of heat wrapped around the creature only confirmed her suspicion.
Perhaps they changed their mind? Or testing us?
It didn't matter why they were here.
Lex sat on the edge of Miana's bed to stand between the unknown and her friend. She heard a huff before it moved off towards the other side of the room.
The door opened, shifting her attention away for only a moment. Weyland's son walked in.
"What are you staring at?"
Lex's eyes returned to the hidden predator. "I'm just thinking. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes. I have some questions that need to be answered. Are you willing to talk now?" The formality of his words felt off-putting.
"No. We'll talk as soon as we arrive back home." She returned his politeness with her own, morphing into a steady indifference as she continued, "I'll settle for no less."
He stiffened at her tone before nodding and leaving. There were voices outside the room for a moment before it became silent again.
"So... Mr. Weyland Jr. leaves a guard outside my door to keep us trapped in here and aliens have sent the execution on us. Miana, I really need you to wake up." It had only been a few hours but Lex needed Miana's funny attitude.
The way she took everything back at the temple had been absolutely amazing. Of course, reality finally began to crash onto her shoulders and she only hoped Miana would continue to take it with as much grace as she could muster.
Another flicker caught her eye. Another outline of a bulky form stood by her bed. She stiffened as he moved towards them. Low, clicking filled the air as the two aliens talked before they quieted down.
"Lex?"
Gasping, Lex turned her attention from the predators to her friend.
"Miana? Are you okay? What do you need?"
"Water. Please?"
"Of course, of course." Lex scanned the room looking for some but came up empty. "I'll be back with a glass, okay? Okay." Getting up, she headed for the door but stopped to look at the predators.
A bad feeling traveled down into her gut, but she walked out and found the two guards on either side of the door.
"I'm getting water, just FYI." They nodded and one of them moved to follow her down the hall. While in the kitchen, in the reflective metal of the fridge, she saw a flicker.
Oh god. Did one of them follow me or are there more than two on this ship? Shit...
Lex headed back tense and alert for anything to flicker. As soon as she cleared the room, she knew something had changed.
Miana signed to her, "tell me the temple had been a bad dream."
Lex's hand shook and water spilled as she took slow and shaky steps to the bed. She set the glass down and sat next to Miana to take her hand in comfort. Miana's eyes teared up and she leaned her head on Lex's shoulder.
She signed, "They're here... Why?"
"I don't know." Aloud, Lex spoke softly.
She laid Miana back down and left to her bed for a nap. She turned off the lamp beside her and closed her eyes, not wanting to know where the predators were.
Miana sat back up and watched her friend sleep. She reached down to her bag and looked inside to see the gauntlet and the spear.
Sebastian stuck on the wall flashed in her mind. Stafford's soulless eyes. Her breathing became heavier and heavier until she could barely draw breath.
Creaking filled the room as the door slowly opened. Miana assumed it to be a nurse or doctor by the Red Cross on the bag.
"Oh dear," the nurse took notice of Miana's frightened state. He grabbed some pills and helped her to swallow them before checking in with Lex and then left. The room began to swim and her head swelled. Dizzily, Miana fell back.
When she re-awoke, steel walls had been replaced with light blue wallpaper. A nice rectangular window let the sunshine stream in and the peach-colored curtains billowed below the air vent.
"Was it a dream?" Her hope shattered as a shimmer caught her eye and the outline of a large predator formed before her eyes.
He stood by the window, still as a statue. Groaning, Miana hit her head on the pillow.
"Go away~!" He didn't answer her, just continued to stand there and stare off into space.
Pouting now at the lack of response, Miana contemplated what would happen if she was to take the nearest object, hopefully, a cup or a vase, and throw it at him. However, new guests arrived and broke that train of thought.
Mr. Weyland Jr. and his bodyguards, along with a nurse and doctor, entered the room. He held her bag and along with it the gauntlet and spear.
"Ms. Woods refused to speak much about this but I'm hoping to get a reaction out of you. Please tell me where did you get these if some of the equipment malfunctioned and blew up causing the ground to be unstable and collapse, killing most of the crew but you two. Who so happened to be grabbing some last-minute stuff and managed to barely survive with your lives. Also, that story doesn't explain why you have acidic burns and the strange marking on your shoulder and her cheek. Please explain." His rush of words belittled the calm tone he tried hard to fake.
Miana looked at Mr. Weyland Jr., who had now moved to stand at the front of her bed, and at the predator who stood only a foot away from him. She secretly hoped he'd kill the man and solve her problem for her. But, that didn't look to be happening anytime soon.
"Well… you see…" Carefully, she slid from her spot and reached for the spear. "If I may?" He seemed hesitant but handed over the weapon.
She moved it around, giving the other occupants a clear view of the object. Like a magician would.
"Your point?"
"It's a magic trick." Weyland Jr. motioned for his guard to retrieve it, impatient.
Miana felt warmth radiate from her right in strong waves. She could barely hear him. Barely, but she heard the heavy breathing. Labored almost. Miana held still, unsure of what to do. The guard approaching from her left, the predator blocking her right.
She grinned, grabbing the bed sheet and flinging it high into the air. With their view blocked for only a second, she shoved it towards the predator.
"See?" Miana stood from the bed, gesturing to how the spear wasn't hidden under the pillow or behind her back. "A magic trick. Wanna give me the other one and I'll show you how its a prop?"
"A prop?" His impatience seeped into his tone.
"Yep." Miana snatched from his hand, but he grabbed her by her hair. Calmly, she spoke past the pain, "it doesn't work. An old prop I brought along for funsies." Randomly, she pressed buttons, avoiding its 'on' switch.
The others in the room were puzzled.
"Nonsense!" Weyland Jr. tugged hard and this time, Miana yelped.
"Mr. Weyland." Dr. Patters intervened, pushing the fuming young man back. "This is a hospital. Think of your reputation."
Straightening his suit, he tried to retrieve the gauntlet, but Miana had already done her magic trick once again. He shoved the doctor away, storming from the room after ordering the guards to quickly search the place. They came up empty.
Alone with the doctor, Miana tugged on his sleeve.
"When do I get released, Doc?"
"I was going to say tomorrow but perhaps this evening would be better." Miana smiled at that.
"Can I go see my friend?"
"Dinner is served around six." Miana nodded.
Dr. Patters left, leaving a strange stillness to the room. Then the heat that scorched her skin at one point, vanished. Huffing in the annoyance of all this bi-polar-ness, Miana let the predator keep the items safely tucked away as she freshened up a bit in the bathroom.
Before leaving the room, Miana walked to where she thought the predator was.
"Please say you're in front of me and I'm not talking to a wall here." Graciously, he answered with a click. "Okay, I'm going to leave for a bit, so can you keep those items safe? I don't want them to touch them again." A trill answered her before she felt a clawed hand shake her shoulder.
Taking it as a yes, Miana went in search for her friend. After a few wrong turns and poking her head into the wrong room, she found the room, as dull as her own, housing her friend. Lex sat drinking water with a large scowl on her face.
"So I got a stalker and you got a stalker..." Miana cocked her head in the familiar way she always did when being mischievous.
"Miana!" Lex glanced nervously at the new shimmering form in the corner. "Glad to see you're finally up. Did Mr. Weyland Jr. pay you a visit?"
"Yeah," Miana moved to sit on the bed, "I got our stuff back with a magic trick."
Lex stared for a moment before laughing.
"Nice. Just like the Miana I know. How are you doing? With the temple and everything?"
Miana fell silent for a while. Lex waited at first for a response but it was clear she didn't want to answer.
"So... Where's our stuff?"
"Oh, the pred following me around agreed to take them for a bit. You want your spear back?"
As soon as the question flew out of her mouth, their stuff appeared on the bed including Miana's bag. Miana gasped at the sight.
"I wonder what things this can do." She grabbed the gauntlet, inspecting its scratches. "The minute I'm home and alone I'm going to have a ball!" Lex let out a short laugh before quieting down. Her hyper friend always brought a smile to her face.
After a few minutes of silence, the predators appeared. Both tall and built to kill, they stood before the bed to address them.
Miana and Lex straightened at the sudden appearance but made no move to run or fight. The tension in the air held them immobile, unsure of what to expect or what would happen next.
The predators nodded, as if in respect, then one of them spoke up.
"You pazzed. Thar'n-dha s'yin'tekai, nain-de me-jahdi." Neither understood the last sentence, but the predators didn't stay to elaborate. They cloaked and vanished into the hallway.
"Well, we no longer have them... I'm leaving this evening what about you?"
"Yeah, this evening as well. I don't trust Mr. Weyland Jr. so keep on your toes and let's leave as fast as possible." Lex tucked the weapon safely away, grabbing her phone to prepare a ride home.
"Understood, ma'am!" Miana gave her a mock salute, earning a playful shove in response.