NOTE: Thank you, Sapphira. I consider what you wrote to be the definitive
H/R fanfic and I can never hope to rival it. But I do hope that I can put a
fresh twist on the story by making it AU and adding a lot of Howlyn's POV.
Get inside his skin, which may or may not be a good thing. Ladies, you'll
have to let me know. *wicked grin*
Obsidian Eyes Chapter 3
His claws dug into bark as he scaled the towering tree with ease.
Nearing its pinnacle, he stopped, looking out over the jungle floor. In the distance, he could see the faint lights of the human encampment; further still, he could see a glowing haze. His eyes honed in on it. The iris' opening wide until the surface of his eyes were filled with ebony.
"A large concentration of humans possibly even a city," he speculated.
Things had changed while he slumbered. Many things. But the old man had been informative. Drawing the human's lifeforce into himself, taking not only energy but also knowledge. Memories. Taking everything until there was nothing left. He had been so hungry.
The moment the seal on his stasis pod ruptured his instinct had taken hold. He couldn't have stopped himself even if he tried. It was as natural as breathing. But instinct alone would not serve him now. If he were to regain all that was rightfully his he would have to use cunning as well.
Humans were nothing more than livestock. Though, it now appeared that they had gained some measure of intelligence. Not to mention their sheer numbers. All this and more he had gained from his feeding. There would be much to do to bring the humans to heel once again. The good Doctor Greaves had been an excellent chess player. Interesting game of strategy, chess.
The Atavus smiled to himself stretching his lithe body along the thick branch, muscles rippling through his protective exosuit.
As he plotted his next move.
********************************************************************
The sun peeked through the tree trunks to announce the dawning of a new day.
Renee hadn't slept a wink. Her mind had been thrumming, rolling around all the events of the past few days, of everything that had happened. She knew soon when the grief over losing Ben hit she would bottom out hard. Truth to be told she was more than a little too tense to be sleeping after the "incident".
The "incident," she snorted softly.
Something had been outside her tent, plain and simple. Probably just an animal looking for scraps and had it not been for the death of Ben Greaves she might have been able to just leave it at that. But the marks on his chest said otherwise.
How did an apparent animal attack tie into the artifact in the cave? And had the object caused the damage to Greaves body? Could the animal attack have come after he died? Just some creature looking for a free meal perhaps. Sighing she pulled herself out of bed. "Coffee that's what I need to clear my head," she thought, a good cup of strong coffee.
Putting on her sunglasses, she stepped into the day.
"Morning everyone," Renee commented as she pulled the coffeepot away from the fire. The group of six looked much as she had seen them when she first arrived. Shell shocked, tired and scared. They hadn't signed on for anything like this. Looking around she noticed Peterson wasn't among them. "Peterson not awake yet?" she queried.
"I'm here," she heard a dull voice from behind her. Peterson shuffled towards the fire as if his feet were leaded. His eyes were red and ringed with dark circles. He looked horrible.
Renee looked him over with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, I'm fine," he said with little conviction. "I just had..a bad night."
"I can see that," Renee answered. There was a fine sheen of sweat on his face. He looked slightly fevered. Renee hoped to hell that contagion wasn't also going to be an issue. She hadn't mentioned it to the group as they had all been exposed to the artifact and to Ben. So if contagion was involved they all had long since been contaminated. No use starting a panic.
"Maybe you should take it easy, get some rest, Dan isn't it?, she offered.
"I'll be fine, Miss Palmer. I have things I must attend to before your people get here," he stated and with that walked away without another word.
"Ok that was odd," she thought. But hell she didn't know Peterson maybe he was always abrupt before coffee. The others looked slightly lost as well, but offered no opinions.
Sighing she looked towards the tent at the far end of the clearing. She'd been putting it off since she first seen Ben's body but she knew she had to go back for a closer look. She had to find some answers. She had a team arriving later and she needed to know that she wasn't putting more people in danger.
Walking into the tent slowly, she set the medical case on the small writing table her eyes never leaving Ben's body. Pulling out a scanner and a pair of latex gloves she took a deep breath and pulled back the blanket. Peterson had called it a husk. That was an accurate description. Renee ran the scanner up and down checking the readings for any anomalies that might tell her what had happened to her friend.
There was nothing. And that was strange in of itself. "There should be microorganisms of some sort still alive in his body or on it," she thought uncomfortably, "Some trace of electrical current".
Yet, there wasn't. Stranger still was all his organs and blood seemed to be intact. "Freeze dried for lack of a better description but intact," she puzzled.
There were four evenly spaced wounds trailing down his upper chest. Tentatively she reached out and ran her fingers along the gashes. The skin where she touched crumbled like leaves. Shaken, she pulled her hand back and just studied the marks instead.
They were fairly deep, centered right below the midline clavicle running downwards to stop between the ribcage. The top edge of the gashes were deeper as if the claws or talons had been driven forward like a knife. "Claws are normally more curved than that aren't they?" Renee questioned herself. They were meant to rip and tear flesh rather than penetrate.
She shook her head. Who was she kidding? She didn't know anything about animal attacks. She didn't know anything at the moment other than her friend was dead and there was what appeared to be an artifact of alien origin lodged in a cave wall. All she had was what she felt and her gut feeling was telling her that the slash marks on Ben's chest had more to do with the condition of his body and what was going on than anyone had so far been able to connect.
She knew it.
Call it instinct.
Obsidian Eyes Chapter 3
His claws dug into bark as he scaled the towering tree with ease.
Nearing its pinnacle, he stopped, looking out over the jungle floor. In the distance, he could see the faint lights of the human encampment; further still, he could see a glowing haze. His eyes honed in on it. The iris' opening wide until the surface of his eyes were filled with ebony.
"A large concentration of humans possibly even a city," he speculated.
Things had changed while he slumbered. Many things. But the old man had been informative. Drawing the human's lifeforce into himself, taking not only energy but also knowledge. Memories. Taking everything until there was nothing left. He had been so hungry.
The moment the seal on his stasis pod ruptured his instinct had taken hold. He couldn't have stopped himself even if he tried. It was as natural as breathing. But instinct alone would not serve him now. If he were to regain all that was rightfully his he would have to use cunning as well.
Humans were nothing more than livestock. Though, it now appeared that they had gained some measure of intelligence. Not to mention their sheer numbers. All this and more he had gained from his feeding. There would be much to do to bring the humans to heel once again. The good Doctor Greaves had been an excellent chess player. Interesting game of strategy, chess.
The Atavus smiled to himself stretching his lithe body along the thick branch, muscles rippling through his protective exosuit.
As he plotted his next move.
********************************************************************
The sun peeked through the tree trunks to announce the dawning of a new day.
Renee hadn't slept a wink. Her mind had been thrumming, rolling around all the events of the past few days, of everything that had happened. She knew soon when the grief over losing Ben hit she would bottom out hard. Truth to be told she was more than a little too tense to be sleeping after the "incident".
The "incident," she snorted softly.
Something had been outside her tent, plain and simple. Probably just an animal looking for scraps and had it not been for the death of Ben Greaves she might have been able to just leave it at that. But the marks on his chest said otherwise.
How did an apparent animal attack tie into the artifact in the cave? And had the object caused the damage to Greaves body? Could the animal attack have come after he died? Just some creature looking for a free meal perhaps. Sighing she pulled herself out of bed. "Coffee that's what I need to clear my head," she thought, a good cup of strong coffee.
Putting on her sunglasses, she stepped into the day.
"Morning everyone," Renee commented as she pulled the coffeepot away from the fire. The group of six looked much as she had seen them when she first arrived. Shell shocked, tired and scared. They hadn't signed on for anything like this. Looking around she noticed Peterson wasn't among them. "Peterson not awake yet?" she queried.
"I'm here," she heard a dull voice from behind her. Peterson shuffled towards the fire as if his feet were leaded. His eyes were red and ringed with dark circles. He looked horrible.
Renee looked him over with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, I'm fine," he said with little conviction. "I just had..a bad night."
"I can see that," Renee answered. There was a fine sheen of sweat on his face. He looked slightly fevered. Renee hoped to hell that contagion wasn't also going to be an issue. She hadn't mentioned it to the group as they had all been exposed to the artifact and to Ben. So if contagion was involved they all had long since been contaminated. No use starting a panic.
"Maybe you should take it easy, get some rest, Dan isn't it?, she offered.
"I'll be fine, Miss Palmer. I have things I must attend to before your people get here," he stated and with that walked away without another word.
"Ok that was odd," she thought. But hell she didn't know Peterson maybe he was always abrupt before coffee. The others looked slightly lost as well, but offered no opinions.
Sighing she looked towards the tent at the far end of the clearing. She'd been putting it off since she first seen Ben's body but she knew she had to go back for a closer look. She had to find some answers. She had a team arriving later and she needed to know that she wasn't putting more people in danger.
Walking into the tent slowly, she set the medical case on the small writing table her eyes never leaving Ben's body. Pulling out a scanner and a pair of latex gloves she took a deep breath and pulled back the blanket. Peterson had called it a husk. That was an accurate description. Renee ran the scanner up and down checking the readings for any anomalies that might tell her what had happened to her friend.
There was nothing. And that was strange in of itself. "There should be microorganisms of some sort still alive in his body or on it," she thought uncomfortably, "Some trace of electrical current".
Yet, there wasn't. Stranger still was all his organs and blood seemed to be intact. "Freeze dried for lack of a better description but intact," she puzzled.
There were four evenly spaced wounds trailing down his upper chest. Tentatively she reached out and ran her fingers along the gashes. The skin where she touched crumbled like leaves. Shaken, she pulled her hand back and just studied the marks instead.
They were fairly deep, centered right below the midline clavicle running downwards to stop between the ribcage. The top edge of the gashes were deeper as if the claws or talons had been driven forward like a knife. "Claws are normally more curved than that aren't they?" Renee questioned herself. They were meant to rip and tear flesh rather than penetrate.
She shook her head. Who was she kidding? She didn't know anything about animal attacks. She didn't know anything at the moment other than her friend was dead and there was what appeared to be an artifact of alien origin lodged in a cave wall. All she had was what she felt and her gut feeling was telling her that the slash marks on Ben's chest had more to do with the condition of his body and what was going on than anyone had so far been able to connect.
She knew it.
Call it instinct.