Hello again, readers! It is I, your favorite authoress! (ducks from random thrown objects)

Hehe, I've been writing a lot lately. Got two more chapters done already! But this is the only one I'm revealing for now, so Phhhttt!

In my opinion, it's kinda disjointed and not exactly the best one I've done, but I don't have inspiration like I did for the last chapter every day now, do I? (winks) Inspirational stories like that don't come along often.

(cracks knuckles) Okay, onto question time! As to the question as to whether I liked DarkXeno's strom idea? Heck, just read down and you'll seee... (nice story with the Cheeto's, too. I'd love to see a chestburster Cheeto, you could have sold it on Ebay) But I'm not putting in any giant man eating plants or the like from 'little shop of horror's', sorry. That would make this a crossover... and I don't want a crossover... yet. If I make a sequal (it's possible) I 'might' make a small crossover with different sci-fi movies like... well, can't think of any but it probably won't happen anyway.

As for Genome Soildier's questions: Yes, this story does take place somewhere in America, Military is keeping the entire subject of Xeno/Preds very hushhush... so hushhush that most military opratives don't even know about it. Finally, the mercs that Screetee killed were (of course) mercs. They were also military type task forces, though, involved in the Xeno projects but highly opposed to them and making trouble for Gareth... okay, if I say anymore I'll ruin some of the rest of the story...

As for Crista's question about the Yautja's name (looks sheepish) it's Kwei. (sigh) I always do something like that... messing up names and such. I wouldn't even of relaized it if you hadn't seen it. I'm fixing a bunch of chapters now to correct it.

Since I'm dedicating chapters now... This chapter is dedicated to Ranma Hibiki and Skuld's Sentaro3, who have been with the story since the very beginning and reviewed and pretty much every chapter. Thanks, guys, you helped a lot.

I woke slowly, my dazed and throbbing mind drifting through half-formed and strange dreams of loneliness and pain. Where was I? What had happened? I couldn't remember anything past my voyage into the strange building. Was I still there? Why did I feel so numb?

Was I dead?

Suddenly, the memories of the horrific events rushed back to me, making me gasp and shoot upwards. I hissed as my movements jarred my broken forelimb, lifting it so that it rested tightly against my chest before biting down my pain and investigating the room. The quiet sound pulses showed me that I was back in my own lair, more surprisingly, I was in the room I had given the Yautja. I didn't remember coming in here…

As I was thinking this, Kwei himself walked in the door, cleaning one of the weapons that I had retrieved for him. He stopped suddenly as he saw that I was awake, his hiss of surprise loud in the relatively silent room. I winced at the loud metallic clang of the H'sai-de as it hit the floor, the sound sharp and cutting against my already oversensitive and hurting senses. The Yautja bent to receive it quickly, looking rather sheepish in his movements, and I began trilling in a chuckle before I had even realized it.

The sound brought his attention back to me, and he growled lightly before attaching the scythe-like sword onto his belt. I saw before he had put it away, however, that the blade had an almost perfectly circular shape burned into it. With a slight snarl, I was reminded of my missing claw.

That damn human bastard.

"You have been sleeping for a long time, Screetee," said Kwei conversationally as he moved about the room, investigating random things that I was sure he had looked at many times before. I winced; realizing that staying here must be very boring to his kind. He was supposed to be out on a hunt, after all, that much I had learned from his mind when he had been thinking particularly loudly, "What happened?"

What had happened? The images flashed through my mind, confused and disorderly as I tired to make sense of them. A better question would be to ask what hadn't happened, I supposed. Then, before I answered, I was struck by a sudden thought…

Why do you want to know? I asked, suddenly suspicious as I slowly sat down on the wood. The Yautja had never cared about what I had done before, why did he care now?

He shrugged and sat on the overturned barrel. I could hear already that he was almost healed, and that his muscles no longer protested to movement as vehemently as they had done before. Soon, he would be able to leave and hunt again. Though I now hated most humans, the thought of them dying just for trophies was still unpleasant.

Perhaps Yautja measured it differently.

"You left healthy, and you came back severely wounded... I am curious," Kwei said finally, his gaze locked on me. I squirmed slightly under the scrutiny, my lip curling up before I could stop it. Why did the creature always wear that expressionless mask? More than ever I wished to know what was behind that smooth piece of metal, if only to see what type of beings felt that they needed to be hidden behind such an object.

Perhaps there was a way I could find out?

If you wish to know, I chuckled quietly, Then you must first let me see your face.

Kwei stiffened indignantly.

"What does that have to do with what happened?" he demanded, "Why should I do as you ask?"

I am curious, also, I responded, hearing the Yautja rumble uncertainly, It will also show a mutual trust, for if you can show me who and what you really are, then I can do the same and tell you of what occurred while I was looking for your weapons.

He growled, but I could already see that he saw the logic in my reasoning. Reluctantly, he brought his clawed hands up to his face, slowly unfastening the small wires that connected to the intricately designed plate of metal. Small hisses accompanied this action, and I could faintly see minuscule puffs of vapor coming from each wire as it was taken from its moorings. I began to thrum, forming a constant and clear picture of the unmasking and the room around me.

After what seemed like forever, Kwei moved one hand to grasped the front of his mask, gently taking it off from his face. As the metal was removed from my field of vision, I cocked my head in stunned regard, for he looked nothing like I had anticipated.

Four mandibles protruded, two on each side, from where cheeks would be on a normal human, making his mouth seem larger than it truly was. He had teeth, yes, but they were much like the teeth of a carnivore, small and very sharp, and set in the center of his mouth in a way that resembled a type of beak. Two small, deep-set, and yet bright eyes regarded me with both doubt and apprehension, the large, flat brow above furrowed as he studied my reaction.

I noted with some surprise that the thick dreadlocks framing his face, those that I had thought to be a part of his mask, were actually a part of him. They seemed to be a type of hair, originating from the top of his slightly crested head and flowing gracefully downwards. Interesting...

Even more interesting was the fact that my instincts were no longer screaming at me to leap and rend. In fact, the deep-set intuition had been suspiciously silent since I had woken. Noticing that Kwei seemed to be waiting for some sort of signal from me, I nodded with a satisfied series of clicks. He seemed relieved, and put the mask back on. I waited politely while he reattached the many wires on the side.

"Now are you ready to tell what happened?" Kwei asked shortly, the eyes of his mask seeming hard and cold compared to what I had just seen.

Of course, I said, my tail curling lazily around my limbs and twitching up and down in a contented fashion. I racked my brain as to how I was going to begin, however. It seemed the best place would be at the tracking… but I had no words for many things that had happened to me. Then, an idea occurred to me, Come closer, Kwei. This will take less time than me explaining it to you.

"What are you going to do?" asked the Yautja, tilting his head as he stood.

I am going to try to transfer my memories to you, I replied quietly, not certain if it was a good idea. I had never tried to do something like this before; I wasn't even certain that it would work or that I wouldn't accidentally kill one or both of us My abilities were untested, untried, and I barely knew how to use them at all. But I had to try…

"Very well," said Kwei, his voice strong. Somehow, his strength reassured me that I would succeed, and I beckoned him closer. Soon, he was standing so that our faces were less than a foot apart. I could smell the sharp, almost overpowering scent of Yautja on him, hanging in the air almost like musk. I was suddenly glad of my silent instincts; I may not have been able to control them if they were still strong.

I brought my head forward, lightly touching the forehead of the mask.

It was as if the nightmare was real again.

We both cried out, trying but somehow unable to pull away and break the connection. The events flashed by us, beginning from the moment that I had left the lair. I could hear the echo of every thought, every feeling, that I had had as I made my way to the slaughterhouse. I saw everything as I had seen it, knowing at the same time that Kwei did also. I wondered briefly what he made of it as my memories shifted to bring us on the journey to the city, the fear, the uncertainty, the sheer power of my instincts as I crawled from building to street to building once more.

We felt as one the terror of the trip across the street, climbed as one to the top of the building.

We saw, as one, the trap that had been set for us.

And, as one, we sought our revenge.

I felt my anger once more as I saw my mad rush into the human room, felt the power of both human and alien screams as we killed them all within the span of no more than three minutes. I lost myself in my anger and pain, felt the present me snarling yet unmoving as I relived attacking the human captain, gaining the wound on my leg and again feeling the phantom of the overpowering agony that it put me through.

I heard Kwei snarl, also.

We turned to face the calm man, by name of Gareth, again talking to him. Again feeling torn between the promise of a home and the reality of being a monster. We felt the indecision as one, felt the longing to be a part of something and accepted as we were, instead of being pushed away on false stereotypes.

We felt the final, faint feeling of hope as we walked towards that promise.

We felt the burning betrayal as we saw the truth.

And, as one, we crippled the man and staggered out into the night, bleeding, injured, but successful in our mission, the two weapons gripped tightly in out teeth. We no longer cared about cars, or humans, or anything else as we slipped into the shadows, the cold snow a welcome reminder of the only home we ever knew, the abandoned building that was our only recourse for safety.

I pulled back finally, screeching loudly in surprise and remembered pain, as the connection was broken as suddenly as it had been formed. Dimly I noticed Kwei doing the same, his roar surprisingly like my own as we retreated back into our own minds. I hadn't meant for this to happen, I hadn't wanted the Yautja to see so much of my thoughts, my true feelings about myself and about what had happened. I had only wanted him to see the humans, how they had shot at me and how they had given me the injuries that I had gained.

But it was too late to go back on it, now.

Kwei reeled, his mind overwhelmed by what he had just seen. With a gasp, he somehow found the overturned barrel and sat heavily on it, feeling the wood creak threateningly under his weight. He growled at it, and set about trying to make sense of the recent occurrence. As the images slowly and painfully sorted themselves out, he came to a conclusion.

Screetee was indeed different. More so than he had first believed when he had named her. He had had no idea of exactly how unique she was. Her thoughts and feelings, ones that he was certain she hadn't intended to give to him, gave him an insight onto the life of a Kainde Amedha that he had never before thought about.

Was he really the only one she trusted?

He remembered her thoughts as she faced the human, right after the betrayal. She had remembered him, thought of him as the only one that had not lied to her in some way. Kwei suddenly felt slightly guilty about keeping from her all the information he had about her kind; she trusted him to tell her the truth.

And he hadn't trusted her at all. Even after seeing with his own eyes so many times that she wanted to help him.

Kwei shook his head violently, thick dreadlocks flaring gracefully out behind him and settling back down upon his back, before finally looking up towards the object of his thoughts. Screetee was backed up against the far wall, her tail unusually motionless and her posture rigid. As the Yautja looked closer, he was surprised to see that her legs were trembling, but whether it was from pain or fright he couldn't tell. She still held her broken limb tight against her chest, as a wounded animal would do, and she seemed uncertain as to whether she should be snarling or whimpering.

"Screetee?"

Her head snapped up at the sound, but she refused to look at him. Her skull was angled fixedly in front of her, pointing towards the wall, and she finally backed up slightly, her claws scrabbling as she attempted to become one with the stone wall. Kwei inwardly winced at the trauma she was exhibiting; reliving those moments must have been a great strain on her already delicate mind.

He tried again.

"Screetee," still no change. Kwei decided to do something drastic, "I trust you, Screetee."

She tensed, muscles turning to solid iron under the hard chitin armor, and for a moment Kwei thought she was going to run or attack him. Then, agonizingly slowly, she relaxed. Inch by inch, her body moved away from it's flattened position near the wall, her legs stopping their trembling and her tail slackening from it's stiff pose. She was sitting normally now, her head swinging around slowly to face him.

(It took you long enough,) she said dryly, her quiet words barely brushing his mind enough for him to hear them. Kwei sat back with relief, taken aback to find that he had become so tense as he waited for the Kainde Amedha to come to herself. A thought suddenly came to mind as he felt the distant rumbling of his gut.

"Are ell-osde hungry?" he asked, politely ignoring the events that had recently occurred, "It has been many days since we have eaten."

Screetee shook her head to clear it, wincing slightly, and then nodded, (I am…)

Kwei rose smoothly, unhooking his spear from its place on his belt and clicking the hidden button on its side. It extended with a sharp whooshing sound, the ends sharp and gleaming wickedly. The weapon seemed as if it had never even come in contact with humans or anything else in the time it was lost, so perfectly did it work.

"I will go and hunt, then," Kwei said with a brisk nod, walking resolutely to the door. Screetee struggled upright as if to either stop him or accompany him; which she meant to do the Yautja wasn't certain. He rose a hand commandingly, stopping her, "No, Screetee. We need food to survive, and I am able to hunt better than ell-osde. Rest now, Kainde Amedha. In a short while I will return."

The Queen grumbled, but settled back down on the floor. Kwei got the distinct impression that she was glaring at him, even with the absence of eyes, and he clicked with amusement. Even injured, she didn't want to be left out of the hunt. She was a fine warrior, indeed.

Slightly disturbed by his thoughts, Kwei switched his mask to thermal vision, taking it out of the ultraviolet setting that he had gotten used to using within the walls of the lair. The surroundings changed to a cold, biting blue, showing that the outside temperature must be many degrees below zero. Kwei shuddered slightly; glad of the thermal-regulating netting that was a part of every warrior's armor. Without it, he probably would have frozen to death long ago.

He exited the abandoned building through the open window that Screetee had claimed as the exit, grunting slightly as his almost healed muscles twinged threateningly. He had hoped that they had healed completely…

It wasn't as if this hunt was going to be difficult, anyway.

I growled as Kwei left, angry that I was not healed enough to go out and hunt for my own food. I felt as if I were a burden, now, instead of the powerful creature that I was. I wanted to hunt, to seek out my prey and rip it to shreds. I needed that relief from thinking, and the nourishment that would result…

Not to mention that I needed to get away from the turmoil that resulted from the recent memories that I had relived.

With a snort, I limped to my own room, angrily bashing the half-open door out of the way. It cracked and fell with a sharp groan, and I winced. Now I had no door…

But it wasn't as if I reallyneeded one.

I hopped into my room tiredly, my broken leg jarring repeatedly and the bullet wounds on my side beginning to burn painfully through the numbness that had covered them previously. My sound waves caught the shape of the book I had found on my travels, and I lay down next to it with a grunt, carefully opening the pages and sending gentle sounds to encompass it.

Again, I felt frustration bubble up in the back of my mind. This was hopeless! I could see nothing on the pages; they were all blank from my perspective. The silvery lines created by my echolocation showed me general shapes and details, but changes in color were impossible to perceive.

I snarled, tossing the book into a corner with my good forelimb. My injured leg was resting lightly against the floor, kept from weight by my useful extra arms that held my torso off from the cold ground. Still snarling, I turned and nuzzled the most irritating wounds on my hide, getting a face-full of strange gel in the process.

This only served to annoy me more, and I shook my head with a growl, clawing at the gel substance that adhered to my muzzle with my good limb. It stuck fast, refusing to come off, and my efforts only served top make it smear over a larger area. I finally gave up, setting down to glare in no particular direction as I listened for any sign of Kwei's arrival.

It may have been only a half hour since he had left, but I had no idea how efficient Yautja were while hunting.

My breathing slowed as I began to calm, and a soft purring sound shortly began to emerge from me as I studied nothing in particular. I was merely comforted to see the room around me, not having to concentrate on any specific detail, and the wounds that had been throbbing previously finally stopped hurting.

I had no idea how long I sat there, motionless and thrumming. Perhaps I fell asleep. Nonetheless, strange images began to form in my dormant mind, twisting around one another as I lay in an almost hypnotized state. Slowly, I came to myself and began paying attention to the images, surprised as they began to become clearer and more pronounced.

The creature woke slowly, agonizingly slowly. Its eyes were blurry with the length of its sleep, but as they cleared, it saw above it the masses of wires, the smooth curve of thick glass that held just a hint of frost on the edges. The glass shone with highlights and bright points of light, reflecting the beauty of the surroundings that lay past its glorious arc. Beyond that glass, however, was a bright, almost blinding light that made the creature squint.

Suddenly, the light was blocked out by the gigantic curve of some large mass. The creature gurgled, unable to speak, as it saw the fiery reds and oranges of the celestial body disappear into the dark curve. It liked the light; light meant life. Life meant… something….

The view slowly turned, giving better sight of the cosmos to the creature in its strange world. It coughed and jerked, unable to remember what had happened before. It knew there was something that had happened to make it come here. It knew it didn't belong here. It wanted to go back…

The strong, lengthened arms of the creature twitched as it struggled, flashes of memories assailing its garbled and dazed mind. There had been terror, anger, and fear. Understanding was there, also, as well as sadness and a touch of regret mingled with victory. What had happened?

Whatever had happened, the creature knew with a disturbing certainty that it was alone. No others had come with it.

It gazed upon the planet. Yes, it was a planet it was seeing, and the bright light before had been a star… a sun. Suddenly, on the glass above it, several strange green characters flashed on and off in a series of lights. The creature looked at them blankly, still too dazed to make sense of the situation, and a loud and urgent beeping began within the world it lay in. It grunted and looked out to the blue and green planet, seeing a large white and gray shape shift across the atmosphere in a slow and languid way.

Was this the cause of the beeping? It didn't look dangerous….

The beeping was suddenly accompanied by a voice.

"Life support system malfunction. Attempting to automatically reconnect… Reconnect failed."

Life support system? More memories flashed in the creatures mind, confusing it all the more.

"Searching present system for habitable planets… One found. Altering course to land on planet T-7 of star 930982-B. Estimating time of arrival."

Planet T-7? The name sounded familiar…

"Time of arrival estimated at Barcupp 1257.6, planet terms seven hours."

Seven hours? That was a long time… would the life support systems hold? The creature grunted again and brought a weary hand up, punching something into a nearby panel.

"Life support systems holding. Time of failure estimated at six hours, seventeen minutes."

Could the computer make the arrival time faster? The creature punched more buttons.

"Negative. Faster ETA would result in drop of survival percentage. Percentage already at 60 and dropping."

The creature growled and punched another button, its anger at the computer only stopped by the fact that it had to get to a safe area before the support systems went out. It hadn't gotten this far just to die, after all.

It didn't want to die, not when the memories had begun to string together into a coherent whole.

"Survival percentage dropping to 30, ETA now five hours, fifty-four minutes. Crash landing unavoidable."

The creature settled back, preparing itself for the trail that it would endure. All the while, it stared out in wonder at the blue planet, watching the swirling white as it formed into a deep circle. It had never seen anything like it before that it could remember…

I shook my head, amazed. A creature… and I had been able to see through its eyes…

What was it, and why was it out in space? I had never before imagined that the stars I had seen from my host could have been such systems as the creature had known, but…

Had it all been a dream?

Suddenly, my head snapped up. There was something wrong in the air, something that hadn't been present before. It felt as if every molecule around me was charged with a powerful energy, and the air smelled sharp and clean. I stood, my limbs protesting vehemently as I shifted my weight, but I ignored the sharp pain and trotted to the window, sending out a high-pitched series of hypersonic waves that spread out for miles before finally beginning to reverberate back.

Something was coming. Something big, and something dangerous.

I leapt out of the building, wincing as I landed hard in the snow outside the window and stumbled, barely catching myself from falling into a wooden crate. My injured leg screamed as I moved it, nearly having to put weight on it to avoid the collision before my smaller arms shot out automatically. I sighed, relieved, and limped into a more open space, this time sending my sound waves directly into the sky.

What I saw there made me quail.

It was huge, a dark mass of roiling weather that was already threatening to overtake the city. I stepped back fearfully, amazed at how fast the storm was moving. The metropolis in the distance was being smothered by the hellish storm; it's rumbling so loud and deep that my legs shook from the vibrations it gave off.

And above all, I could smell the gathering electricity that was generated in that far off cloud.

With sudden, irrational fear, I looked longingly at the lair. It would be relatively safe, I knew, and shielded from the storm that approached…

But I couldn't hide in the shadows while Kwei was out hunting, unawares of what was approaching. With a snarl, I dug my snout into the snow, searching out his scent among the many conflicting animal smells. It was easy to find it, after having the scent present so strongly in the lair, and I limped after it as quickly as I was able. Kwei had been headed for the end of the neighborhood that I had never explored by myself. I remembered it only dimly.

It was a bad side of town, one where people were few, but those that were present were liable to kick or kill any animal that came near them. My host had never gone there more than once with me, and it wasn't a memory that I enjoyed. I still felt the phantom pain of the vicious kick that a human had delivered to the cat.

With a growl of irritation, I set my pace and gathered my courage. If any humans wanted to kill me, they were going to get quite a surprise. I was no longer a weak creature trapped within another.

I was a monster, and they were my prey.

Oooooo-kaaaay. Well, I still like it, even if it is kinda weird. Chapter eight is better, though. MUCH better.