I have returned! With an insanely long chapter! Go me

Now, as to many of you assumptions that Screetee was a drone? Well, I have a theory that I'm sure you'll think is interesting. You see, Screetee was originally a drone, but in my threory a drone can metomorphisis into a Queen if the right conditions are met, namely having no other Xenomorphs around and being female. Interesing, ne? That explains the fact that the crest was still developing when Kewi saw her, and the fact that she's so very small for a Queen.

As for other questions and comments: Yes, I will be adding another Xenomorph, but it won't be born from a human, sorry. It'll be... different, that's allI can say. But not different like Screetee!

Space Jockey will be added later in the fic, and I will be taking DarkXeno's sugesstion for a major storm scene. Speaking of DarkXeno; no, I'm afraid I don't know anywhere where you can get that chestburster stuff... although I have heard of shirts like that that you can get in a store... I'm sure you can find something on google image search, that's where I find most of the stuffI look at.

Humans are protrayed better in this chapter, though many still die, yes. Sorry, it's just my choice to hate human characters XD.

I want to dedicate this chapter to the two who were most influential in it's creation, DarkXeno and RaptorChick. I recently read X13 (should've a long time ago) and it inspired me to write pretty much this wholechapter in about three hours.

I also thank my new reviewers! (glomps reviwers and hands out hybrid chestbursters) Thanks for coming and commenting, I appreciate it. It helps me a lot to know your opinions!

Translations!

Chiva: Test, Trial
H'sai-de: A scythe-like sword
Ki its-pa: Spear
Ki cti-pa: Wristblades
C'jit: Damn
Ell-osde' pauk: Fuck you
Pauk: Fuck
Pauk-de: Fucker/fucking
M-di H'chak: No Mercy
M-di H'dlak: No Fear
Ell-osde: You
Thei-de: Death, die, kill
Kainde Amedha: Hard meat (referring to Xenomorph)
Ooman: Human

"Pauk-de Oomans!" snarled Kwei as he checked the room for his missing weapons. He remembered now where he had left them, where they would remain only if he was lucky. The elders would be furious! Humans were not to have Yautja technology under any circumstances, and his case would not be taken lightly at all.

(You need your weapons?) Screetee asked lightly. Kwei growled in assent before going back to his furious and futile pacing. The Kainde Amedha stood from her sitting position on the floor and stretched, yawning hugely in a grotesque display of teeth.

"C-jit!" Kwei barked, kicking a barrel so hard that it flew through the air to smash against the concrete wall. He'd go himself to get the weapons back, but his cloaking device was in need of repair and the Yautja warrior did not have the time or patience to fix it in his mood. All he could do was take his anger out on the room around him.

(I can go and get them for you, if you so wish,) offered the Queen, surprising Kwei so completely that he stopped in mid pace and slowly turned to her. The Kainde Amedha trilled quietly and lashed her tail, amused; (It will not be much work for me. I know the lay of the Slaughterhouse and can escape if need be.)

"Ell-osde don't even know what they look like," growled the Yautja dismissively and condescendingly, returning to his pacing. Screetee let out a fast paced series of high-pitched clicks; it was her version of extreme annoyance, and leapt in front of Kwei. The warrior stopped and glared down at her, noting her peculiar, defiant posture and slightly arched back before being slammed into the ground. He groaned, anger flaring up in the back of his mind.

(Don't you dare think so dismissively of me, Yautja!) hissed Screetee, the fury in her voice shocking, (I offer to do a favor and yet you act this way? My race may be monsters, but yours has no sense of honor!)

Kwei roared, throwing her off from him and standing in one fluid movement. Screetee's words had struck a dormant nerve within him, and now the conflict exploded tenfold. He slashed at her with his Ki cti-pa, the gleaming blades coming to a stop merely a hairsbreadth from her skull. She stood still and stiff-legged, growling and unfazed by the Yautja's actions. Kwei rumbled threateningly.

"Honor and glory is the life of a warrior," he snarled quietly, "M-di h'chak, m-di h'dlak. I should thei-de ell-osde for that remark."

(Honor is only gained by self-sacrifice,) snorted the Queen, ( Kill me if you will, Yautja, but my offer still stands.)

Kwei tensed, his arm ready to slam forward and drive the twin blades into the head of this frustrating creature that he had been forced to ally himself with, but suddenly he sighed and withdrew, the wristblades shooting back into their sheaths with a sharp, metallic snick. He wanted to fight this Kainde Amedha, he wanted very much to take it's head as a trophy, but somehow he could not bring himself to kill a beast that he knew would not fight for its own life. Screetee was different; she knew how to play this game of minds.

Most frighteningly, she knew how to win.

(You have lost your Ki its-pa and H'sai-de, am I correct?)

"How the pauk do you know those names?" demanded Kwei, almost ready to run the creature through. Screetee trilled her laughter, her bladed tail connecting lightly with the concrete floor and ripping a shallow chunk out of the stone.

(You have been repeating them much lately through your thoughts, Yautja,) she replied casually, (I know more than you think, Kwei.)

"C'jit Kainde Amedha," grumbled the warrior, sitting painfully on an overturned barrel. The wood groaned beneath him, threatening to collapse before finally springing back lightly. Kwei winced slightly as his muscles throbbed yet again; how he wished he could kill that scientist once more!

(Without the wires, this time, I hope) muttered Screetee. Kwei glared at her, and she cocked her head quizzically before springing off through the door, (I will return soon, Yautja. Wish me luck on this Chiva.)

"Stop listening to my thoughts, Screetee," growled Kwei angrily, taking a small human utensil from the nearby table and studying it before slowly crushing the silver object in his hands. He let it fall to the floor with a clatter, staring down at the slightly glowing blue shape before switching his mask back to thermal vision and relaxing against the wall behind him. He would have enough time to sleep in safety before the Kainde Amedha returned, hopefully with his weapons in tow.

Damn Yautja, I growled, my thoughts wide and angry, Does everything I do have to end up in a confrontation? I only wish to help… how is that so hard to accept?

I dashed through the alleyway, throwing snow in every direction as I barreled through the cold, white crystals. Normally, I might have taken the time to investigate the unique design of each flake, but this time I had a mission. I knew that the humans had probably taken the weapons I had agreed to find, and that they wouldn't let them out of their possession without a fight. The thought made me sigh, for I knew that any confrontation would end in either my death or that of the human that fought me.

It was late evening, judging by the sound of the land around me as I ran. Everywhere things were getting colder, creaking and groaning as the weight of the chill settled upon them and made the substance of their being withdraw into itself. My armor was beginning to form a slight frost on the outside edges, the usually moist substance that coated it starting to freeze in the below zero weather. There was no time to shake it off, especially if I wished to get to the slaughterhouse and back to the lair before the true cold of midnight shrouded the land.

I slowed as I neared the spot where I had been shot at, the painful, circular slash in my shoulder armor testament to my first trouble of the previous morning. Had it truly been just three short days since I had been, in effect, born unto this world? It seemed like a lifetime ago that I had been safe and warm within my host, feeding of his thoughts and emotions and basking in the love of our family…

His family, not mine. I whimpered slightly, slinking through the space that I had dodged the bullet in as if it held some hidden punishment. It did, in a way, for the space held not only unpleasant memories, but unpleasant truths as well. My family was not mine, it was, and had always been, my host's. I had merely been an observer; one that hadn't belonged and would never belong.

They would kill me if they saw me, now.

I ran, leaving behind my troubles in the rush of the freezing wind and the nip of the now night air. It was unfortunate that I couldn't see in colors as my host had, for I missed the comfort of the stars above after the sky had turned dark and mysterious. It was one of the many things I had left behind since my birth, one of the many things I missed and longed to feel again. I doubted that the girl would ever hug a creature like myself, though, as she had done for the cat.

The battered door of the slaughterhouse came into view, jogging me out of my thoughts. It was a relief to see that there was no signs of humans near the complex, but I wanted to be certain. I pulsed sound through the ground, letting all the walls vibrate and show me what lay inside. It was an easy way to see if the weapons were there, as well. The sound returned to me in the form of thin, spidery silver outlines in my black world.

I screeched, loudly and vehemently, as I saw that all the bodies and even the animals were gone. The frozen meat had disappeared, as well, adding insult to the clearing. I growled; this mission was unlikely to be easy.

Now I had to rely on smell alone to track those that had taken the weapons. I trotted to the rutted and torn up snow outside the building, sniffing deeply to gain a good knowledge of the bitter and polluted scent of burning gas and rubber. I had a feeling that those scents alone would be unable to guide me on my way, however, and rooted about in the flaky white fluff until I had identified the tangy scent of blood.

I shook violently, feeling my stiff and uncomfortable armor creak slightly in protest, and trotted off in the direction of the scents. They were at least eleven hours old, but the snow and cold had preserved them so that they were as if they had just been made an hour ago. Though I had never before tracked anything in my short yet adventurous life, this seemed to be a fairly good foundation for the already instinctual talents that I had.

As I looked toward the direction of the tracks, however, I felt my spirits fall.

The trail was headed directly towards the heart of the city.

The sounds as I neared the city was tenfold that of the quiet, lonely alleys I was used to, and I kept to the shadows as much as possible as I tried to make sense of the conflicting images that spidered their way through my head, the lines forming and being almost immediately overthrown by louder, fresher sounds. The scents assailed my nostrils, hundreds of unidentified substances each giving off their own unique fragrance that, for the most part, were not at all pleasant.

After a few blind, terrified moments of clinging to the shadowed side of a brick house, I learned quite by accident that if I made loud, high-pitched sounds, I could drown out the deafening noise of the metropolis and find my way more confidently. The only catch to that was to make the sounds pitched above normal human hearing, as I had done before my escapade at the slaughterhouse, to avoid the unwanted attention of the swarming creatures. As it was, I knew that I would be hard pressed to avoid notice, for some areas were crawling with humans and I had almost no place to go but above, where my claws gouged into the walls. Though I felt safer out of the humans line of sight, traveling above them was impractical, for the scents would be lost before I had proper time to track them.

With an uncharacteristic sigh, I dropped to the ground. This place was cleared of snow, and water was melted along with a tangy substance that reminded me of blood, though was as clear as the water itself and seemed to burn into the frozen stuff like my own blood did with most other substances. This scent was enough to make following the trail difficult, and I struggled to keep the track. It didn't help at all that, every few moments, I had to leap away and hide within the darkness to avoid either a group of humans or a large, rolling creature that I remembered only from television. They were 'cars', if I had heard the name correctly, and humans placed a great deal of value on owning one. I had also learned from my host exactly how dangerous they could be, for we had often come close to being killed by one while crossing the concrete paths that humans set down for them to run on.

I snarled as one passed, its loud rumble shaking my vision before I cleared it with a strong pulse of sound. Avoiding these was beginning to become annoying, for there were far too many in this city. I debated just dashing through the street and to my destination, wherever it happened to be, but my better judgment was against it. Being seen now would be foolish, not to mention possibly fatal. I had no wish to repeat the incident at the slaughterhouse.

The trail, though faint, was beginning to get stronger, goading me into a faint feeling of hopefulness. Perhaps I would be able to find the weapons without too much trouble, after all? I sent out a series of sound waves, letting the long distance pulses reveal to me the layout of my surroundings.

There were more cars than I had thought, all roaring down the street in a long line and moving faster than I had thought possible. It was much faster than I could run, I knew that much; I felt with a cold dread that if I was pursued by one of these machines, my only hope would be my agility. Nothing else would save me. With a shudder, I forced my attention from the cars and focused on the large building before me. Based on the scents, I guessed that the vehicles carrying Kwei's weapons had gone there. I had only to cross the street in front of the speeding cars to arrive and complete my mission.

I growled, crouching down on my legs and lashing my long tail. The sound let me see the wicked, devilish blade, and somehow I was comforted; at least I was not defenseless. With a cautious tread I inched my way out of the shadows, flinching at a loud, metallic clatter as my shaking legs connected with a large, hollow container filled with garbage. I curled my lip, my teeth bared at the noisy thing, before sensing a break in traffic and leaping across the street.

There was instant chaos.

Tires screeched as the vehicles screamed to a halt, their owners opening doors and screaming garbles words at me. I cringed, frozen, in the middle of the street. The noise was blinding me, and the screeching had filled my vision with a blurry silver much like that of the gun blast at the slaughterhouse. Before I could lose any more of my vision, I screamed out in anger, the sound instantly solidifying my tenuous hold on my sight. The humans cried out, flinching at the sound, and I took my chance and dashed across the remaining distance, stumbling in surprise when another car slammed on its brakes to avoid colliding with me. It stopped bare inches from my nose, and I took no time in putting as much distance as I could between it and me.

The sight of the cold, blank brick wall of the building filled me with a sort of dull relief, and I scaled it with little difficulty. As I leapt over the top, landing rather painfully on the roof, I heard the confused and angry sounds of the humans below me. Apparently, they didn't believe that they had seen me, which was a good thing. In some cases, I supposed, it was fortunate to be a monster…

I stalked to the other side of the roof, glad to see the high walls of other buildings on all sides and the dark, damp alleyways between. No human would see me, here. I climbed down carefully, searching for a window that would allow me access into the mysterious structure. Luckily, there was one large enough for me near the bottom, and I was able to remove it with no problem. I had hoped that there would be an outside latch, but seeing as the window was near ground level, the humans had decided on safety and had an inside latch. Well, it was safe against other humans…

The inside of the building was tightly compacted, built of several small rooms with walls that reached just above my head when I was standing. I had to crane my neck to send sound waves above them without rearing back on my hind legs, but for my mission, I decided that this type of environment was better to hide in case any trouble arose.

I scented the floor, wrinkling my lips at the heavy human musk that pervaded everything. It was a type of smell that reminded me of both animals and machines, somehow, as if humans were a mix of both. I wondered idly how this was possible while trying to identify the scent that had brought me here.

The scent wasn't in this area, but as I pulsed sound through the corridors, I hit upon something familiar. Well, it wasn't familiar to me, exactly, but Kwei had often sent this image to me without realizing it. I thrummed happily, trotting forward easily to sniff the compacted weapon. It was the Ki its-pa, and next to it was a device that I had no idea what it was for. Both were lying in plain sight on a table set in the middle of the room, almost as if they were asking to be taken.

I leaned forward, about to close my jaws around the weapon, before a thought struck me. I sent concentrated pulses of sound through the entire building, feeling the floor under me shake slightly with the supersonic vibrations. Slowly, an entire blueprint of the lay of the building revealed itself to me, melting through my mind and only fading when the vibrations began to slow. I mentally frowned, keeping the sound up as I studied the corridors and hidden passages. There were no humans present at all, a fact that slightly surprised me, and through all I could sense a slight interference with my vision.

It all seemed a bit suspicious, to me. And where was the H'sai-de? I needed that, as well, before I would return. With a snarl of annoyance, I fine-tuned my pulses, quickening the pace and making them stronger so that they would be able to penetrate thick walls.

I found it, and I saw the trap that had been set for me.

With a feral snarl, I turned from the Ki its-pa and tore down the corridor, making a beeline for the weakest point of the trap. I could already hear and see the humans as they moved about in shock, surprised by my actions. They had been watching me, I realized, watching me with the device set on the table next to the spear. It was what had been interfering with my sight, in however small a manner, but it had also first made me aware of the unusual atmosphere, and for that I was thankful.

Humans were too foolish for their own good.

The scythe-like sword was in another room, the one with the humans and also the one I was headed for. I knew they were armed, but I was too angered to care. They had tried to trap me, they had tried again to make me into some animal, some beast that was only there for their own use! My claws tensed, ripping through the short-fibered carpet as I ran.

I slammed into the door before I could slow, but the impact fazed me not. With a sound somewhere between a ripping shriek and a agonized scream, I clawed at the handle, managing to open it slightly before it was slammed back on my talons, making me screech loudly in pain before wrenching my feet out of the steadily increasing grip.

I leapt into the door once more, hearing the panicked cried of the humans as they tried to keep it closed. They had made me angry, and it was easy for me to forget myself in my bloodlust, to forget who I was and my mission. I was merely the hunter, now, the bloodthirsty beast.

"Goddammit all to hell! Keep that fuckin' Xeno back!"

"The damn thing's strong, sir, we can't keep it at bay for long!"

Yes, I was strong! I purred slightly at the praise before renewing my vicious attack on the infuriating door. It would be so much easier to just blow it away…

"I never thought the fucker would be smart enough to figure it out!" snarled one of the humans, grunting with effort as I clawed at the door, "The trap was perfect!"

"Wasn't this supposed to be a Pred?"

"Monstrosities always have something up their sleeves," growled a calmer voice. I snarled all my anger condensing into something that was as tangible as daylight. It pervaded my silvery vision, turning it white and stark before bleeding down, a shocking mass of wispy red lines that showed all of the room within without sound. I saw the terrified faces of the humans, all except one. He stood in the middle of the room, looking impassively as the others struggled with the lurching and bucking door. It was strange to see it from this perspective, though the thought was at the back of my fogged mind.

He had the weapon. He was the one I was after.

The red disappeared, and the white slowly collapsed in on itself to form a single, brilliant point of light that fed my anger, fed my soul with its power. I felt the rush, laughing mentally with glee as the door before me ripped in two as if a giant, white-hot blade had sliced across it. The humans within jumped back, some screaming as they saw their missing fingers or arms. I chuckled as I stalked into the room, tail lashing forward and connecting with the chest of one human.

I lifted him easily, studying his terrified face that was contorted with agony. He struggled feebly, clawing with his weak human fingernails at my hard chitin in an attempt to remove my blade. I threw him across the room with contempt; he was dead anyway, though he hadn't realized it yet.

It was then that the others gained their senses, and started firing.

I reared back as a dozen bullets penetrated my body, punching through the hard black exoskeleton and damaging the tissue within. My acidic blood spilled out over the floor as I thrashed, burning irregular holes all across the room and sometimes connecting with human skin. They screamed and threw their affected clothing to the ground, limbs trembling as the blood stuck to their bare skin and ate through in seconds, leaving them with horrible burns.

It was little compared to my agony, and I screamed with a fury to match that of any creature on the planet, still dripping blood as the ones able to fired once more. The pain matched that of before, but I somehow broke through the cloud of anguish to leap upon my enemies.

They may have had a chance against me, but their fear was their downfall. Instead of standing to fight, they crawled and gibbered madly on the acid eaten floor, trying desperately to escape. I brought them down one by one, always aware of the captain and the calm man standing near the opposite wall. They made no move, and so had not gained my attention as of yet.

I dispatched the last human with a well-aimed lash of my second maw, breaking through the back of his skull as he fell to the floor. They had been no easy prey, by any means, but now that my anger was slightly sated, I felt some pity for them. They had had no idea of what they were facing…

"Well done, Xenomorph," came the monotonous drone of the calm man. I whirled, my blood-coated muzzle curling back to show my sharp, silver teeth. The man laughed, surprising his partner into taking his attention from me for a moment.

I dashed forward, my claws skittering on the pitted floor. The captain turned back just quickly enough to get a shot off before I barreled into him, but the damage was done. I felt my left leg explode in pain as I slumped to the floor, the bone snapped and hanging limply from the well-aimed shot. The captain struggled and managed to escape my grasp, reaching the wall and gasping with relief only to turn and meet the blade of my hovering tail. His mouth opened, eyes going blank, before that tail sliced neatly across his neck.

Hot blood gushed to the floor, and I didn't bother to send out any sound to see if the captain had been killed or not. The wet thump as he struck the ground was enough to reassure me of that fact. No, my attention was on the calm man, who hadn't moved at all through this entire scene.

"A pity, really," he said, looking at my injured leg before sighing, "You should really be more careful, Xenomorph. It would be unfortunate to lose a specimen such as you to foolish injuries."

You call me Xenomorph, I hissed, Is it just another term for monster? Is that all I am to you humans?

"Intelligent… more so than I would have guessed," said the calm man, looking me over as if I was some sort of trophy. Suddenly, he extended a hand and smiled warmly, "Xenomorph is your species name, young one. And I have come with an offer."

I stared at the hand blankly, my lip curling.

"Come with me," said the human, still smiling, "I can give you a home, a place where you will never be thought of as a monster. I can see you've been through a lot, and I don't want you in pain, young one. I can help you, if you'll let me."

I hesitated, suddenly torn. A home… did he mean like the family? Could he give me a family? Did he truly want to help me?

"A place where you'll be loved for what you are," pressured the calm man, "A… a family."

I winced, backing up slightly as they very words I had been thinking came into being. I had longed for this type of opportunity since my birth, since I had learned of my nature… The man looked at me, his eyes bright and understanding. His arm was still extended, still beckoning me. I trilled softly, sending a soft sound wave across the room.

The bodies reappeared, and I frowned slightly upon seeing them. Hadn't those humans had families? Hadn't they once had happiness?

Hadn't I taken it away?

And the calm man stood among it all as if nothing had happened, offering me a home… Didn't he care about his own? He knew about my kind, why hadn't he warned them?

"My name is Gareth, "said the man softly, sensing that my attention was elsewhere and trying to get my focus back on him, "Do you have a name?"

He was the first living being that had ever asked me that, the first that had ever though enough of me to assume I might have one. I cautiously extended my muzzle forward, coming close to touching his hand before I answered.

"Screetee Scraa," I hissed quietly.

"Screetee Scraa?" he asked lightly. His smiled widened when I nodded very, very slightly, "A fine name for a fine person, Screetee. Do you want me to help you? Do you want a family?"

I pulled back slightly, sending another sound wave over him. Gareth didn't move, just kept his arm out, hand offered to me. I felt like a lost creature, drowning in a sea of suspicion and longing. I wanted to believe him, I really did. With a small mewl, I leaned forward and touched my carapace against his hand, leaning into it as he stepped forward and stoked my skull, by no means revolted by my appearance.

I leapt back in surprise as images and visions flashed confusedly through my mind. Gareth cried out in sudden fear as I screamed in pain, my injured limb cracking against he floor because of my movement. I saw things, horrible things.

Eggs, Xenomoprh eggs. Humans… Testing. Horrible mutants…. Dead chestbursters stacked in piles. Experiments…. Cold, sterile rooms… My own kind being ripped apart as savagely as I had done to any human in my anger by huge, expressionless machines.

I shook my head violently, and new images came to the fore. These, however, had sound…

"These! These are the ones I want,"

"They're the ones most opposed to Xenomorph testing, am I correct?"

"Yes, they are. They've been making trouble for me, I want them eradicated!"

Papers… images… humans….

"I want a trap…"

The building I was in… A massacre of humans… A cold, disgusting feeling of accomplishment…

Me…

I growled slightly, backing up, and saw myself doing the same in my mental image. I looked like a wreck, with my leg broken and oozing acidic blood on the floor, dozens of holes in my black armor dripping the green liquid. My tail, the blade chipped in three places from glancing bullets, was covered in steadily hardening red blood.

But I noticed one thing about myself that was surprising; I had blue stripes streaking down my muzzle, originating where eyes would have been and ending at the edges of my slightly open and panting mouth. More lines glided along my spine, glowing slightly under florescent lights above.

It was then that I realized that I was seeing through the human's eyes, and that the memories and thoughts I saw were none other than his own.

A loud and steady screeching starting, the sound conveying without words a deep, painful betrayal that consumed the soul. I snapped back to myself, the sound painting the image of the surprised and frightened human before me. For a moment, I wondered where the sound was coming from. Finally, I knew that it was my own cry I was hearing, my own pain and anger that was pouring from me in the wash of powerful sound.

Gareth screamed, falling to his knees with his hands pressed against his ears. I could hear the sound of thick blood flowing from the sides of his head. With a snort, I suppressed my cry and glared eyelessly at the human, He thought me gullible? He thought to use my own foolish dreams against me?

Ell-osde pauk! I growled at him, using the creative vocabulary I had learned from Kwei. At least the Yautja had accepted me for what I was, no matter how much he made it known that he didn't trust me. At least he was honest. I had no fear of lies with him. With this human, I would never be sure of my place. He was lying to me even now, his false smile still placed, albeit rather uncertainly and painfully, on his lying face, You think me a fool? I will be no test subject for you, human!

"I don't want to test you, I want to give you a home!"

Liar! I screamed, making the human wince and more blood trickle from his ears, Truth speaks more powerfully than the false dreams you have presented me with! Die!

I slashed, but suddenly found my claws blocked by the sharp blade of the H'sai-de. A snarling scream escaped me as more of my blood splashed onto the human's face, making him yowl and fall to the floor, uselessly scrabbling as the pain overtook him. I looked at my severed claw. It was only one, but it was a loss that made my anger boil. I whipped my blade forward, hitting the human's back with all of my strength with the blunt side. The sound of his spine snapping and his head cracking against the hard floor from the force filled me with an irrational glee, and I decided to leave him crippled for the rest of his life instead of killing him. He deserved no pity from me, or any other.

I wanted him to suffer.

I took the H'sai-de in my teeth, relishing my victory, and limped painfully to the door. I couldn't put any pressure on my broken leg, but I could walk if I was careful. I hoped I had enough strength left to make it back to the lair.

Getting this far only to be killed by some car would be a waste, anyway.

Kwei woke with a start at a loud, clattering and scrabbling noise coming from the other room. The Yautja tensed, the Ki cti-pa extending from the device on his forearm and gleaming in the low light of morning that filtered through the small, inadequate window. A snarling hiss from the doorway made him start in recognition, and he stepped forward carefully, still untrusting of the creature that had assigned itself as his caretaker.

As he opened the door, Kwei hissed in surprise. Screetee dropped the two weapons at his feet, limping away angrily and plopping down next to her prized possession; her book. The acid blood that was running in rivulets down her body sizzled as it hit the floor, burning more holes into the already pitted and gouged concrete.

"What happened!" the Yautja demanded, withdrawing his wristblades and bending to pick up his other weapons, inspecting them quickly to make sure they were intact before turning to the Queen, "Screetee?"

(Leave me be, Yautja) Screetee said quietly, her mental voice weary. Kwei furrowed his brow behind the mask; the Kainde Amedha seemed to have gone through seven layers of hell to have gotten his weapons, and he felt, distantly, as if he owed her a favor or, at the very least, treatment for her wounds.

Kwei took an attachment off from his armor, enlarging the device to reveal a medical kit with several tools. He winced as he looked at them; many would not stand up against the corrosive blood of the creature. With a shrug, he prepared a small, metal disk that burned with a potent green flame, crushing several strange materials in it to create a gel-like, bluish substance. Screetee looked at him eyelessly, seeming only distantly curious, before lying completely onto the floor. Kwei glanced up worriedly; her breath was short and coming in quick, pained gasps.

"Screetee, I will help ell-osde," he said, coming towards her with the filled disk.

(I said leave me be, Kwei!) snarled the Queen, her lips curling feebly as she struggled upright, (I don't need your help, I only need rest.)

"Stay still!" The Yautja barked, trying to keep the bladed tail from connecting with him as the Kainde Amedha thrashed about. Her pained gasps increased as she put weight on her obviously broken limb, trying vainly to stand a put on an uninjured façade, "Do not be a fool, Screetee! Let me help ell-osde as ell-osde helped me!"

(I don't need help!)

Kwei growled and gripped the creature's face in his hands, looking her straight where her eyes would have been if she had had any. She struggled weakly, but finally ceased, her tail thrashing in annoyance. After the Yautja was certain that she wouldn't move, he released her.

"I never said letting me help ell-osde was a question," he said firmly, taking some of the blue substance from the disk with a long flat piece of metal, "Brace yourself; this will hurt."

Screetee tensed, taking the warning to heart, as the blue gel connected with her wounds. Her mouth opened in an agonized scream, body contorting in pain as she writhed in the Yautja's strong grip. Kwei placed one strong foot firmly on her thrashing tail, and the screaming continued as he treated the other wounds. When he had finally arrived at the broken leg, Screetee was doing little more than whimpering.

The splint took less time than treating the bullet wounds, but the last scream that escaped the Kainde Amedha was worse than any other that Kwei had ever before heard. He winced, wrapping the resilient material around the splints as the whimpering faded into a shuddering shiver. Screetee was strong, he knew, but the wounds she had gained were serious and she was probably in a state of shock.

Kwei gently took the creature's head in his hands, stroking her skull before carrying her to the table in the other room. In her state, Screetee would need to be away from the cold of the floor. He only hoped that the blue gel worked as fast for her species as it did for his.

"Ell-osde are a brave creature," he whispered softly, "Ell-osde said this was your Chiva. You have truly become a warrior, Kainde Amedha."

Whoa, what a twist, eh? (chuckles) Edited this chapter bunches... now tis better.