Author's Note: I'd like to dedicate this and the next two chapters to my wonderful friend Sol, who was soooo kind in somehow reading my mind across the continent before saying anything else by cheering me up with the best thing in the world. If you'd like to see it, go to If you love Scar/Inu…you'll adore this XD

Ah, and TheMadPuppy asked in her review how the predators already had trophies if this was their "first" hunt. My answer to that is that, seeing that each predator had only small little skulls hanging from their armor, that they had learned to hunt using really small prey—they have to learn somehow, right? The kainde ameda, or aliens, are "the" kill that they're supposed to go after to prove that they did learn something. Hope that answers your question!

Onto the chapter!

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5. The Human

Inu wondered around the new path, eyes and ears open to the slightest bit of movement. He whipped his head around, dreadlocks swinging up and down, as he once again heard a screeching. For a long moment he stood dead still, waiting for something to jump at him. When it didn't come, his fingers flexed and he moved on.

He came to a forked path, one hall splitting into two. A small puddle on the stone-blocked floor caught his eyes. He looked around the hall—no signs of life. Above, nothing hung except tons of webs from native insects. Kneeling down, he ran one finger through the sticky substance; it was still warm.

As he stood up he happened to catch wing of footprints; and they were fresh. The humans must have met up with a kainde ameda, for the prints were lined in parts of two, grouped, then turned back. The pattern seemed to get wider, indicating that they were running. Knowing the nature of both creatures his legs broke out into a jog; hopefully the humans hadn't been caught.

"C'mon Lex!"

The foreign language voice modulator equipped in his helmet picked up words from on of the humans. Inu paused and listened carefully. The voice sounded panic-stricken. That couldn't be good. Thankfully, though, he knew he was close if the voice modulator picked up something. An echoed yell made him move quicker.

His heart stopped, though, when he came to an open area and a very wide opening in the floor. The way stones were broken on both sides made the wall structure look like it pulled apart. The gap between the split floors was massive and the darkness gave it a seemingly endless bottom.

Listening carefully for any more human words or even yells, Inu glanced around for an alternate route. His infrared saw a very faint blob of kainde ameda saliva on the other side. If the humans were still alive, they might've just made it to the other side.

Inu walked back the way he came. Turning back to face his destination, the Yautja cracked his neck and once again flexed his long mottled fingers. Letting out a huffed sigh, he dodged forward and ran towards the split floor. His foot met the edge of the stone and he used every muscle in that leg to push his weight up and over the pit. The Yautja landed on the opposite food and had to take a few steps forward to maintain his balance.

The floor and dust told the story as he studied the drags and prints that now lay before him. One of the humans had been dragged away, a thin line of hot saliva marking a trail up a wall. A trail of more footprints is what the hunter chose to follow. An inner gut instinct told him these prints belonged to the female human that was carrying his gun. Whoever it was, the prints twisted around several times every so many yards, indicating uncertainty.

Then, sooner than expected, Inu saw a shadow slowly moving towards light. The infrared adjusted to get a better view, and sure enough his prize found herself trapped at the end of where he stalked.

He quietly removed his spear and held it in its compact form. With perfect stealth, he approached the human female, seeing his gun mounted on her back.

He could've easily thrown his spear at her, hitting her from behind in the leg. This would stop her from moving away without killing her—the only crime she committed was running away with his weapon.

Though he chose to hold the spear as it was. He stopped at the edge of the shadows while she looked over the wall that ended the trail. He waited patiently while she did this, but finally she started to slowly turn around and face him. The sensors in his equipment picked up her ragged breathing.

The time had come for him to claim was rightfully his. Slowly, purposely intimidating her, he squeezed the handle and both ends burst out in a metallic ring. He growled and shifted his weight, positioning himself as if about to attack.

"Wait! Wait!" The female yelled out. She slowly started to kneel down, arms reaching behind her back. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend…"

Her words were stiff and hushed. She was scared shitless, for lack of better words. Inu knew exactly what she was saying, having almost fluent knowledge and understanding of several human languages. Hunters, such as he, were required to know anything that might be proven useful during a hunt—the languages were a big factor.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the human repeated. From behind her back she pulled out the plasma gun.

Inu watched silently as she slid the metal cannon over to him. But before h could do anything about it, something made him turn around only to be shoved back against the wall, spear flying from his hand.

The kainde ameda pinned him, tail swinging and double-jaws snapping violently. It hissed at him as his hand held its head away to prevent having its inner set of jaws fly out and smash through his skull.

Using all the force he had under the large beast, Inu shoved it off and away from him. He half expected the alien-creature to come back for seconds, but it had caught sight of a new target—the human. Inu wasn't much worried about this—he had what he wanted now; the human meant nothing to him.

Inu took this window of opportunity to snatch up his cannon and mount it where it belonged on his left shoulder. The gun and pack locked together automatically and immediately it responded to his brain waves. The tri-laser scope activated itself and the high-tech Yautja weapon came to life.

Inu was surprised at the fairly-decent struggle the human was putting up. Although he loathed the fact she had his spear to ram the kainde ameda, he was impressed she held it away long enough until it gave up and feel limp. She shoved it to the floor and seemed to be trying to figure out what had just happened.

Inu thought he'd remind her. Using the mental impulses the sensors in his mask picked up, he aimed the tri-laser scope at her forehead. She looked up at him, fear making her tremble. She remembered, now, where she was.

He would've loved to taunt her more, but the loud screeches filled the dead-end and bodies scurried along from behind. Inu spun around on his heels to see half a dozen kainde ameda crawling on the walls and ceiling towards him.

The infrared switched over to aiming mode, the figures of the beasts turning green to differentiate them from everything else. The scope locked on one, a triangle sticking on the moving green image. In a flash, the plasma cannon fired a marvelous blue ball of gases and liquids. Inu held his ground without the slightest jerk from the gun's force of firing. The moment the target was hit, the scope went to the next closest life form and fired again. The kainde ameda split its numbers and began to feel, but Inu's cannon hit a third—a fourth—a fifth.

A loud high-pitched roar echoed through the passages of the temple, as if calling the rest of them back. As fast as they had appeared, the survivors retreated and they were gone.

Inu looked around, making sure no stragglers remained. Guts from all the kills poured out onto the floor, melting the stone beneath it. When he was sure the threat was out of sight, he quickly turned around towards the body in which his spear was lodged in. Gripping the handle lightly, the ends jumped together, the one end pulling itself out of the kainde ameda's ribcage. Making no effort to put the spear in its place on his back, Inu started to head away.

"Hey!" The human was calling after him. "I'm coming with you! You hear me, you ugly son-of-a-bitch?"

Inu snarled ferociously, spinning around to face her, causing her to jump back in alarm. He heard her—including her low and insulting use of words. Just for that, he walked towards her, forcing her back until she hit the wall. His fingers flexed over the spear handle just to point out that he was more powerful than she, not to mention it was a terrible habit he had acquired somewhere during his short life.

A human at his side? His people would laugh at the though. Humans only served one purpose—to grow the seeds of the kainde ameda until it burst out of their abdomen.

Then again…she wasn't just an ordinary human, now was she? True, she had taken his weapon—but up until this point, none of the three Yautjas could get it back. She was the only human left, which had accounted for something; not to mention she did kill what his people considered a great achievement…an honor.

Inu looked down at the fallen beast, then quickly back to her. She had killed it, and if anything was worth his acknowledgment, this was. Finally making up his mind he picked up the rigid, razor-sharp-tipped tail and yanked the body to his feet.

He knelt down on one knee and removed the ceremonial blade from its resting place on his leg. With that, he dug the blade into the under portion of its head, slicing it through rough tissues. Only having cut apart one side, he dropped the blade and tugged at the outer shell of the head. The piece instantly broke free and slime clung to the portion that he removed.

"What are you doing?" Came the human's timid and fairly-grossed out words.

Inu figured she had no idea about his monster's true nature and form. He placed the outer skull of the monster on the floor, then reached over and snapped off one of its fingers. Squeezing the appendage over the head, little drops of green blood spattered onto the heard, black skin. After a few spots were made, his hand moved over and allowed a few more drops to spit on the stone floor. From the moment of impact, the spots sizzled, a bit of smoke rising, as it burned a hole in the floor.

He looked up at the human and nodded his head to the side. Get it? He asked silently to himself. She bowed her head and he continued with his work

A thought struck Inu just then and he couldn't resist the opportunity. He'd teach her not to take his weapon, and then expect him to let her tag along for the journey. He ran his hand over the slimy, sticky substance that surrounded the alien's brain, pulling it away. Then he used the sharp tip of his knife's blade to lightly skim the surface of the long brain of her kill. It pulsated in several spots. He smirked behind the mask when the female knelt down to get a better look. At her approach of mild curiosity, he shoved the blade into a crevice and the narrow inner mouth of the creature lunged out. The human jumped up and back, Inu letting out a clicking-purr. She was the type that was only brave if her life depended on it.

He tried to push the further thoughts of tormenting her with his antics and focus on the matter at hand.

His hands picked up the tip of the kainde ameda's tail and sliced the last thirteen inches or so off. As his hand squeezed the blood out, he stood up and reached for a pole that was held captive in an ancient human skeleton's hand. Next he unraveled a long piece of wire from the belt-case, using it to die the tail-tip and pole together, creating a primitive, but useful spear.

Weapon and shield created, Inu shoved the empty kainde ameda head into the human's hands. She seemed smart enough to understand its purpose and held it over her left arm as a shield. He held out the makeshift spear and she gingerly took it from him. For a moment he waited as she looked everything over—including him.

With a slight nod of his head in approval of her company, he turned and began a steady jog back out of the dead-ended hall.

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AN: I was asked by a friend of mine that read this off-site why I kept saying Scar…Inu…kept flexing his fingers. I explained it up there, but if you missed it, I see it as a "nervous" habit or something. If you watch the movie, you do see that he's constantly doing it. I told you…I watched it SOOOO much Oo

And please forgive me for taking so long to post. I've got SO much work for school right now that its killing me; that and I've been putting in a lot of hours at my job. I'll have chapters six and seven up as soon as I can! 3