Great to hear all your reviews, and I have a longer chapter for youthis time! (gasp)

Ranma Hibiki: NO BEES! (runs off screaming, but comes back with chapter offering) See? Chapter good! Chapter good!
Yeah, somethimes I do go into some pretty dramatic scenes... meh.

Genome Soldier and OtakusVengeance: Thank you both, and yup, power to all those authors out there! Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

DarkXeno: no need for apologies, I'm sure I would do the same thing in your position. Deja Vu, huh? ... I don't have that line in another story, do I? (runs off to look) well, I don't think so... Hehe.Yeah, I'm aware of the easy way, but that would involve getting close enough to slash off the head of the Queen without getting impaled XD Possible, but not easy unless you happen to be the Newborn.
I just looked up a pic and saw that the Queen
does have high-heel feet XD That's so... well, in a way it's awsome O.o
Mornin' to you too! Xeno's sleepwalking? Hmmm... that would make for a funny scene, if anything, though it depends on if the ones that aren't 'different' sleep or not...

RaptorChick: Story's not over yet! You're seventeen, too? Heh, that's cool! Teenagers of the world unite in their obsessed fandom! Take over the earth!
I have tried finding it in used bookstores, but its always out. I'll get it eventually, though. To answer your question, there should be about two more chapters left in this... maybe three if I get a big ending inspiration scene. Meeting the elder is possible, but I'm not saying quite yet.

Bsdisaster: very poetic, and pretty true as well. The Xeno's and Yautja have no perceived fear of losing their lifes, and so have nothing to lose. If humans had that... well, I can't say I do, 'cause I, for one, am absolutely terrified of the concept of death... blarg.
Very insightful review, you must be in a philosophical mood today! Thanks a bunch.


Third Person POV:

Lex cried out and stepped futilely towards the conflict behind her as the water tower exploded in a spray of frozen liquid, obscuring the view of the entire scene that she had been watching so fearfully as she had tried to get the hunters to move away from the battle. One hand came up slightly as tears began to form on her face, dripping down only a few millimeters before freezing solid on her weathered cheeks. She thought of the girl, the one that she had never seen before but had somehow appeared here and fought with a ferocity that Lex had only seen in the hunters that stood beside her. The one that had somehow known her name…

She had been so young… why hadn't Lex refused to do as she asked? Why had she gone along with that insane plan?

One of the hunters standing nearby roared angrily, and Lex shrank back fearfully as the creature tried to run towards the watery explosion. The unfamiliar creature only stopped because of the threatening bark of the largest and most intimidating hunter, which put a firm hand on its shoulder. This scene was interesting to the human, but her eyes were driven inexorably back towards the now barren ice, the place where there had once been both terror and a very brave individual.

With a sigh, she began walking towards that place, ignoring the curious growl of her own hunter ally. She had already had more than enough of them; they had brought the serpents to this place, and because of them so many who hadn't deserved it had died under the ice! Lex was too burnt out to feel any anger, though; besides, Sebastian had told her that the hunters had been doing this for hundreds of years, and they probably didn't even know that what they had done was a terrible thing. Humans were like cattle to them, easily replaceable and useful only for the hunt.

She knew that her own species were really no better when it came down to it.

The snow under her boots slowly became slick and slippery, and her feet began to slide slightly as she made her way towards the scene of the final struggle. Lex was expecting this, though, and seven seasons on the ice made this type of thing pretty standard. The woman merely adjusted her balance accordingly and continued on, her course taking her straight towards the cliff edge, where the world seemed to drop away into a dark pit. This was where the two had fallen, and a small part of her feared the worst, feared that when she looked below she would find herself face to face with that monstrosity that had nearly killed them all.

Lex jumped at the growl of the hunter that was now standing beside her. Looking up into that plain mask that told her that this hunter was the one she had known, she suddenly felt slightly reassured even despite her earlier disgust. This creature wouldn't harm her or allow the others to; it had accepted her and they had gone through far too much together to want to kill one another now, when there was no reason for conflict. Behind it came the two other hunters, their expressionless masks set as they waited tensely. Lex nodded slightly as she understood; they wanted her to look over the ledge and see what was below.

She did so, wondering if they were allowing her to do this as a sign of acceptance or merely because of the fact that she had been the one to approach this place first. Her eyes strained as she attempted to see into the darkness, and she sighed as she noted the recently broken ice covering the ocean below. The Queen serpent was gone for good, and the strange girl, the one that Lex suddenly realized hadn't even given her name, was nowhere to be found.

It was over.

Lex turned away, heart heavy with regret and guilt from not just the girl that had given her life, but the dozens of others that had perished two thousand feet under the ice, never to see their families or loved ones again. She was the only survivor, the only one left from that mission. She had failed her job, she had told them that she would keep them alive on the ice, but she hadn't been prepared at all for what was there.

She had closed her eyes in a silent homage to those that had died when a slight, almost unnoticeable sound made her turn back and look over the edge curiously once again, a tiny fluttering of hope rising up in her as she looked down, straining her eyes to their limits. Suddenly, she saw what she was looking for, and she gave a strangled gasp that was half laugh, half cry of surprise.

Seeing her reaction, the other hunters gazed down into the abyss, their frantic clicks and growls signaling their surprise at the figure far, far below. Without a thought Lex began to unhook the meager yet possibly lifesaving gear that was on her belt, hurriedly attaching it to whatever solid surface presented itself first before attempting this rescue mission.

Before she did so, however, she took the time to yell down at the girl that clutched the grip of the hunter's spear, which was embedded into the ice of the sheer wall almost halfway up its length.

"Hold on," Lex called, "I'm coming down to get you!"


"What does she think I'm doing, having tea and crumpets?" I growled irritably to myself, teeth chattering and fingers no longer feeling as if they were a part of my body as I clutched the spear with a death-grip, feet wedged as well as I could get them into small cracks on the cliff face. Now I knew full well that I had come nowhere near freezing to death on that night at my friend's house, no matter how uncomfortable it had been at the time. Hell, I would take seventy nights like that in a row if I could just get out of this situation!

Actually, hot tea wouldn't be too bad right now, I thought, looking down slightly and wincing as a small piece of ice dislodged from the cliff below, tumbling down into the darkness until finally splashing into the water that I knew would kill me within seconds, as it was in a liquid state far beyond the freezing point.

I was never, ever, going to the artic again.

Trying to get my mind off the cold and the waiting while Lex prepared her ice gear to save me, I began going through every song I knew, and even some I made up, looking for a tune that fit my situation. Unfortunately, I didn't have any songs in my extensive mental library that involved getting dropped into a different world and attacked by highly lethal creatures. Perhaps I would have to find one later, or make one up while I was down here. Well, scratch the making one up; my teeth were chattering too hard to keep a tune for long and I knew I'd forget it after a minute or two, anyway.

I felt a spasm in my arm, and craned my neck over so that I could see my right shoulder, where the Xeno near the ice tunnel had managed to slash me with its tail. The material of my shirt was covered in a good amount of frozen red liquid, and I made a face as I realized that the wound must have been bleeding pretty badly since I had gotten it. I just hadn't noticed before, probably because of the running for my life followed by the big fight that had resulted in me being stuck down here.

But even after all that, and even after nearly being killed, I found that I wouldn't have changed it for the world. For once in my life, I felt like I had really achieved something important, something worthwhile and that would change history in this place, this dimension. It was a heady feeling, indeed, and I felt my lips pulling slightly as I grinned, forcing myself not to lick my lips because I knew that the moisture would freeze and split my lips open. I didn't really need any more injuries to add to the ones I already had, thank you very much.

"How're you doing down here?" I looked up at the refreshingly warm voice, the relief in my face plain as I saw Lex making her way slowly but surely down with a smile on her lips. She was barely six feet above me, now, and soon I would be safe.

"M'okay," I replied, knowing that my eyes were starting to glitter with that mischievous giddiness that I always got when I had accomplished a particularly difficult task, "Just hangin' out."

"I can see," she said wryly, dropping down the last few feet to sit parallel to me. Gratefully I allowed her to help me into the extra harness she had, clipping onto the rope that I felt could be the most blessed thing in the world at that particular moment, barring my coat. As soon as I was sure I was safe, I began working on getting the spear out of the ice, wrenching it with as much strength as I could while I struggled with it.

"Just leave it," Lex said, her logic good but not good enough for me, "It'll only get in the way."

"Can't," I grunted stubbornly, setting one foot against the wall and ripping back, feeling the spear come fee in a spray of ice and snow. I grinned slightly and retracted it, watching Lex look at the weapon strangely as I gripped it tightly in my numb fingers, "Chopper gave it to me, and I have to return it in one piece, you know."

"Chopper?" she looked confused she tried to show me how to climb. I admit, I was having a bit of trouble with it, but my feet and arms were getting tired, and I felt as if I was on my last leg as it was. But I tried as well as I could, and she seemed to accept that, "You mean-?"

"The Pred," I answered, gesturing upwards with a free hand, and then wincing as I remembered that this woman knew absolutely nothing about what I was saying, "Uh… I mean, the 'hunter' I was traveling with. That's what I call him."

"And what do people call you?" she asked with slight humor in her voice, even from the grim situation. In that moment I realized that she seemed to be enjoying herself as she climbed; it was what she did, after all. I wondered if that was what I looked like when I was drawing, or writing. I wondered if that was what anyone looked like when they were doing something they loved to do.

"My name's Jessica," I said truthfully. I would have extended a hand to shake if I had had a free limb at the moment, but as I didn't, I couldn't, "Though most call me Jess or Jessie."

"Well, Jessica, my name is Lex, but I know you already know that," she said, her dark eyes turning curiously to me as she finally asked the questions I knew that she was burning to hear the answers of, "How did you get here, anyway? You weren't on the ship or at the base, and with that hair I know I'd see someone like you anywhere. And how do you know my name?"

I winced slightly, trying to come up with a good excuse or reason. Turns out, anything I thought up I knew she would recognize as a lie. Lex was a smart one; she had to be, to have survived. But if I told the truth, how would she react to hearing that her whole ordeal was just a form of entertainment to those in my dimension? What type of monster would she think I was?

"Uh…" I began with a bit of hesitation, "Really, I'm not sure if you'd wanna know. I mean, you might think you do now, but if you hear it I think you may regret it or end up not believing me…"

"After all that you're worried about me not believing you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, stopping in her tracks as she turned to stare at me, "You know, right now I'd believe almost anything."

"Good," I said, "'Cause you're gonna need to if you really want to know…"

At her nod, I proceeded to tell her all of what had happened to me in my own dimension; who and what she was, what the Preds and Aliens were. Through all of it she remained ominously silent, and we climbed further and further up the steep cliff. Finally, I felt my voice fade, for I had no more to tell, and the silence stretched between us uncomfortably.

"Well?" I asked nervously, dreading the reply that might come.

"This is a little overwhelming…" she began, teeth grit as she dug her heel into a good sized chunk of ice, propelling herself upwards another hard-earned foot, "So you say that you're arrival in this dimension changed the events slightly? How?"

"Well," I began, "For one, killing the Grid alien… uh, don't bother trying to figure that one out… but killing it allowed both Chopper and Celtic –the big arrogant Pred up there- to survive. I don't think I changed anything else in the movie, other than that and the fact that the Queen was so damn hard to kill. Oh, and Scar survived the Queen's attack, too…"

"And Scar is the hunter I was traveling with?" Lex still seemed more comfortable referring to the Yautja as 'hunters', and I didn't bother trying to correct her. She could call them whatever she wanted to, really; I know I didn't care. She was looking back at me, so I nodded and kept my breath to climb, wondering if the top was ever gonna come or if I really had died and this was my punishment for being such a dumbass.

"So he died in the movie?" Oh, I could tell that she was uncomfortable with that sentence, although I couldn't tell if she was more uncomfortable about the fact that Scar had died or the fact that it had been in a movie from my dimension.

Suddenly, I remembered one verrrry important little fact about Scar that I had forgotten in the course of my adventure.

"Oh, shit," I said blankly, completely forgetting the question she had asked me.

"What?" Lex's voice was slightly panicked, and I hurriedly gave her as reassuring a smile as I could muster at the moment, seeing her face harden into a disbelieving mask that made me want to run almost more than the visage of a full-grown Xeno would have.

"Uh… nothing much," I replied evenly, trying to sound casual, "Nothing that'll kill you, anyway…"

At least I don't think so…

"If something happened in the movie, tell me!" Lex demanded, "I deserve to know!"

"Nothing happened in the movie," I lied, "Don't worry about it. How far are we to the top?"

She glared, but I gave her a look that said plainly that I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. Finally, she sighed and looked ahead, eyes narrowing as she gauged the distance between the ledge and us. In a way, I wished I had that talent, but as I wasn't about to continue climbing sheer cliff faces it would be useless to waste it on me.

She seemed to have given up getting answers out of me, but somehow I knew better.

"About thirty feet, give or take," she answered finally, and I sighed as I doggedly pulled myself up with fingers that I knew I couldn't trust, the spear helping only slightly as I repeatedly jabbed it into the wall like a pick, sending small showers of ice down on me with every movement. This was ridiculous! I had only ever climbed anything even remotely like this once in my life, and that was in summer with a full harness set and mats about ten feet below me!

So close, yet so far away.

"I am never climbing another damn cliff in my life," I muttered darkly, "Heh, yeah, it would be just my luck if I got right to the top, and then fell all the way to my impending doom at the bottom. Yup, the gods would be laughing it up then, I'm sure… right before I marched my ghostly ass up there and tore 'em a new one!"

"You know," Lex commented from above me, "You're either pretty crazy or pretty funny…"

"That has been said," I replied with a small grin.


It has, too. Complete and utter truth, there.