Hello again. This chapter took a while to come up becuase I was attempting to get permission from CassieKnight to use the names she used for the Preds, but as she never got back to me and I'm impatiant I decided to just make up my own and go with it. Oh, and it's my birthday today,so I wanted to give my reviewers something special!
Oh, and review replies!
Ranma Hibiki: (laughs) You're pretty funny XD Yeah, I'm sure that song was running through my head, too, but... not in quite so much "AHH! MY EYES!"-ness. Nice random words. They be fun and oh so random XD sugar...
TGBFF: wow, long name! You're like Jess, huh? That means you're like me! Hmmm... Anyway, there may or may not be continued relationships in this story, I'm not sure yet. I'm glad you liked the first Unreal, and pwease don't gouge out my eyes (stares pitifully) (yes, I spelled please wrong on purpose )
DarkXeno: Yeah, I know about that first line... the damn editor did it itself! (Gaaaaah!) Anyway, I'm glad you actually like my first person stuff, and yes that question may or may not come up in the course of the sotry, as it may or may not have been answered in the later chapters of 'Unreal' XD Broken spears can be useful, you know.
Thanks for informing me about the dragon special. Too bad I wasn't able to watch it, but they'll have it on tape soon enough...
Bsdisaster & OtakusVengeance: Hehe, thanks for the support, guys!
Raptorchick: Hehe, brainmeats... Wha? Oh, yeah! Thanks! I like you're sequel, too!
Brafisra: Wow, you really think I am? Sorry to tell you that I'm not planning that type of crossover yet. ItEoaPS is strictly a stand alone right now. A different crossover may surface in the third Unreal, however...
4-1-18-11 is one of the most simple codes out there, involving the normal alphabet and counting. I won't give it away, though.
Specialguy: wow, I have no idea what you just said... O.o must be because of the lateness...
Oh, well. Chapter, everyone!
I took up a cautious stance on the opposite side of the sandy pit, watching my opponent carefully for any sudden movements. Chopper growled lowly, feet shifting in the sand as he adjusted his position and muscles flexing ominously, causing his patterned flesh to ripple in an interesting yet slightly distracting effect. We were both in our casual armor, and thus carried no weapons. This was a simple –yeah, simple- hand to hand training exercise.
Suddenly, Chopper moved, his tall form moving at an incredible speed as he charged directly at me from across the room. The instincts of long training took over, then, and I crouched down, fingers brushing the sand as I waited for him to get close enough. It would only be a few seconds, now…
And then, much to my surprise, he jumped. I leapt back, using both my arms and my legs to propel me as I scrambled out of the area just before his heavy frame crashed onto the spot where I had been waiting, sand flying up from the impact and covering my hair and limbs with a gritty powder. With a growl I twirled and swung my legs out, feeling my sandaled feet connect hard with my shrouded opponent's leg with a force that made me grit my teeth. Damn! Even after living a month, I was still surprised at how solidly built these guys were!
But my effort did managed to make Chopper stumble, and I wasn't one to miss an opportunity when it came to me. Using the first technique that came to mind, I barreled forward, footsteps muffled by the soft sand underneath as I put all my power into my charge. Chopper turned his head just in time to see that he had been caught before my entire lithe frame had collided with his shoulder, sending him off balance yet again.
But this time I was at the disadvantage, and with a hard swing Chopper threw me off, knocking the breath out of me with his fist and sending a wave of pain through me as I was thrown into the sand at least twelve feet away. Ignoring the agony of my bruised ribs with the stubborn will that had been taught to me and was in fact a part of my nature, I rolled and sprang upwards, fingers spread wickedly to reveal the long, carefully grown nails that could easily rip through skin. Reluctantly, however, I closed my hands and balled them into fists; it wasn't right to draw blood in hand-to-hand combat unless it was by accident.
A sudden kick to the middle almost threw me into the air yet again, but this time I did something that was unexpected, even to Chopper, who had known me longer than any of the Yautja. Using all the strength in my arms to hold on and hooking my feet under his calf, I clung to the leg like a leech, preventing myself from being flung haphazardly. As soon as the forward momentum had reached its peak, I let go, flying backwards in a controlled leap through the air and landing in the sand with a spray of dirt, again settled into my crouching, almost animal pose.
Lucky for me, I saw Chopper's descending arm in time to roll out of the way, but I was starting to breath hard and the kick to the gut hadn't helped the situation any. Man, how I wished I was faster, just by a bit! Chopper could easily keep up with me, and I had to struggle to even see his movements in the swirling dirt that was kicked up by our actions. It was always the same, no matter how much I trained. Chopper told me that I was beginning to improve, but I couldn't see it all that well. I always lost, every time, no matter what I came up with.
I sprang upwards just as the Yautja's foot whistled through the air, attempting to trip me up. Almost before my feet had touched the ground after my leap I was moving forward, in plain sight, towards my opponent. Chopper let out a laughing growl as he easily evaded my strike, and I grinned slightly before I was forced to dodge his attack, retreated slightly in the process.
That got the cogs turning in my mind…
You might just have a chance, this time!
He stepped forward to throw another punch, and with a completely unheard of tactic I walked into it, the fist missing my skull by only a few millimeters before I had gotten close enough. Glad of my now athletic form, I sprang up, using Chopper's slightly bent leg as a prop to bring me to his level. Before he could react I had swung around his torso, clinging to his back while using both arms to put him in a chokehold. My legs, which had moved to hook about his midriff, also began to squeeze as I slowly turned the battle to my favor.
Well, in theory. I was counting more on the surprise factor of the move to knock him off kilter for the few seconds I needed to think up a better plan, considering that Chopper could easily pry me off if he really wanted to. The Yautja hissed in shock as my arms tightened more, the sound becoming slightly strangled at the end as the pressure on his windpipe and middle increased.
Ding! There we go with the idea factor!
"Come on, Chopper, you know you can get me off," I hissed venomously near the Yautja's head, increasing the pressure to almost as hard as I could squeeze as I did so.
That did it; time was up and I screeched involuntarily as Chopper gripped my leg, easily removing the limb from its constricting effort and simultaneously pulled forward, effectively ripping me from my perch with an unexpected jolt.
But the fight wasn't about to be over yet! Before he could throw me, like I was sure he was planning do, I grabbed his arm, using that as a support to twist my body in a powerful roundhouse kick that hit him right in the stomach. His iron grip on my leg weakened slightly, and I wrenched the extremity free with a lot of effort, leaping away as fast as I could and keeping on eye on the glaring Yautja. My kick may not have been powerful enough to knock him down, but I could tell that it had had some effect.
But then again, Chopper had taken the full force of a Xeno Queen's tail and hadn't shown any pain, so such a small shot didn't really matter in the big picture.
I dropped to the ground, swinging my leg around in another attempt to knock him off his feet, but Chopper retaliated by grabbing the leg in mid swing and flinging me into the air. I made a small sound of surprise as I felt myself floating in nothingness, reminding me of the several sessions of falling that I had endured in Antarctica in the course of my strange, first adventure.
I landed hard on my side, and went completely limp as I rolled to prevent any injuries. As soon as I could I sprang back up, my foot twitching with a sharp pain that threatened to turn into a liability if I fought too hard. Again, I had almost no time to react as Chopper attacked once more, his foot flying towards me as I attempted to remain standing. I gasped with both pain and shortness of breath as I dodged to the side, stopping my momentum as fast as I was able while I slid in the shifting sands before using all my strength to leap forward, succeeding in passing the Yautja and getting behind him once more.
I only had a millisecond of time, and I used it as best I could, throwing all of my weight to my side as I half leapt, half fell into the back of Chopper's knees. Somehow, all of my weight did what my feet couldn't, and the gigantic Yautja lost his balance.
Unfortunately, he happened to be falling back onto me.
"Fucking shit!" I squeaked out, not able to move fast enough to avoid being pinned under the heavy mass. I gasped as all the air was squeezed out of me, even though it was only his legs that had fallen on my back and not his torso. I wriggled frantically, managing to get out from under the limbs and rise again in a fighting position, though my leg was throbbing now and I was breathing heavily.
"Good job," Chopper rasped out, a chuckle escaping him in the form of a trilling sound. I snorted, staying in my fighting position and watching warily as the Yautja rose easily. He looked at me and nodded his head slowly, "That is enough training for today, Jess."
"Fine with me," I replied gratefully, standing straight and flexing the muscles in my back as I tried to ignore my foot. It would heal in time, the throw had just wrenched it out of shape and it would be sore for a few days, but that was all.
I looked around, becoming aware of more than the immediate surroundings for the first time since the exercise had begun. Several faces looked back at me from the far wall, and I sheepishly realized that we had had an audience. How long they had been there I had no idea, but I recognized many of them, including Lex, Scar, Celtic, and, most surprisingly, the Yautja elder. It made me wonder if this training session had been special in some way, or if the leader of this ship and its clan had just been curious about the 'ooman's' improving combat skills.
Improving, indeed. This had been the first time I had done more than score a lucky hit on Chopper, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride because of that fact. After so long, my training was finally beginning to pay off! But still, why did the other Yautja here seem to find it so interesting? It wasn't as if they couldn't have stood in at other training sessions or anything.
"Okay, give," I said, looking up at Chopper, "What's going on?"
He looked down at me, mandibles twitching sporadically in something that I had learned was nervousness mixed with pride.
"The elder wished to see how much you had improved in your training, Jes'ca," he said, his tone hushed enough so that we could not be overheard by the rapidly speaking Yautja by the wall. Many of the faces I recognized as being those that had violently repelled the idea of humans living on the ship, and suddenly I began to understand. This fight had been a type of test, engineered to show the other Yautja the worth of the human warriors that had come to live among them. I saw a varied range of emotions in those faces; many seemed to be shocked, and many looked angry or irritated.
Celtic and Scar flanked Lex protectively in the face of this discussion, keeping to the rear of the crowd to avoid notice. That was a smart move, considering that some of the more angered individuals were glaring at the woman with malice. In the face of this, Lex stood clam, her dark brown eyes glaring into those Yautja that tried to stare her down before being warned away by threatening growls from Scar. Heh, he had healed really well within the past month, considering that he had had a Xeno burst from his insides, and now only a thin pale line showed where he had been stitched up from the incident.
He would always have a slightly weak spot in his rib cage, but that was better than being dead.
"I hope I did okay," I whispered to myself.
"You did very well," Chopper replied. I cursed at myself for forgetting the amazing hearing powers of the other race, "I did not have to hold back this time."
"You didn't hold back?" That was surprising. I had thought he was holding back throughout every training session we had had.
"I have been steadily increasing the difficulty of the training, Jes'ca. You have not seemed to be improving because the work was getting harder at the same rate you were advancing."
Oh, well shit. No wonder I had seemed like I was never getting ahead in combat training!
"Awesome," I muttered dryly, wondering if maybe I could get out of this situation somehow. It was getting a little disconcerting to be stared at, gestured at, and talked about as if I was some showcase freak on exhibit. Chopper being there helped a bit, but I still didn't fell like staying around for much longer.
The Yautja seemed to be able to read my mind, or perhaps I was twitching as I tried to keep relaxed, because he spoke.
"You are prepared, Jess," He said reassuringly, "If one of them chooses to speak with you, use what Celtic has taught you about formalities. I trust you were listening?"
"Yeah, sure…"
There was no more time to talk as the Yautja elder silenced the entire discussion going on near the wall with a single, loud bark of command. All those present turned to him, faces masked into a semblance of attentive listening, even though I was certain many of them had other thoughts that were occupying their minds at the moment. The elder rumbled slightly, adjusting the billowing cape on his shoulders before deigning to speak.
I was just on the verge of giving him the nickname Drama, I really was.
"Here is what you had all been clamoring to see," he said, his voice rough but the words clear and commanding attention from even the most agitated of the other Yautja, "These humans has been the object of much of the unrest in the clan, having upset the normal balance of our society by living not as prey, but as warriors of the hunt. You're first objections were that they were not trained, not knowledgeable in the arts or language of our race. Once that was done, you spoke ill of their abilities, their weak 'ooman' strength. Now you see before you the obvious proof that that statement is false. What say you now? Will you find another excuse not to accept these humans, or will you do the honorable thing?"
There was a silent muttering within the group, and then someone, I didn't see who, spoke out.
"Respected elder, how can we be certain that Dei-shui wasn't holding back when he fought that ooman? We all know that he harbors a fondness for them!" snarled the individual, and I saw a clawed hand gesture to me angrily.
Gee, I feel loved, I mused to myself sarcastically.
"Setg'-in Nihkou'te, you are being a fool. I made certain long before that this fight would not be staged," replied the elder calmly, addressing the wayward Yautja by name, "Dei-shui gave me his word of honor before the battle that he would not hold back because of the human."
Nice to know, I thought dryly, feeling more and more that I just didn't want to be here at the moment. Things were getting a bit too much around here. I felt my agitation rising to dangerous levels as the argument burst out into several different voices at once, and I grit my teeth together hard. I had to accept that I wasn't on Earth anymore, and that though I was starting to have very murderous thoughts at the moment, blowing up or being snappish could easily get me challenged or killed. I had to keep calm. Very, very calm…
"I almost wish a Xeno would come in here just to break this argument," I whispered to myself in a voice so low that I doubted anyone but Chopper could have even detected it. By his sudden flinch, though, I saw that he had indeed heard my comment, "What?"
"Nothing, Jes'ca, I wa-"
He would have said more, but at that moment the elder chose to address us, and our attention snapped to the tall, cloaked figure that gestured for us to come forward.
Trepidation city if I ever saw it, I thought to myself as I made my way forward, running my tongue over my teeth as I tried very hard not to automatically lash out at those Yautja who twitched as I passed them. They were trying to get me to do something, I knew. Radicals like them always did.
But perhaps, just perhaps, what I said could make them see a more open viewpoint on things.
Just don't piss them off, 'kay? I told myself sternly.
Gods, I know I will (shakes head).
