Hunter: On the Ship
When I finally awoke, I found myself no longer in the jungle. Instead I lay in a very warm, red-lit room with fog billowing across the floor. The monotonous thrum of machinery filled the air and sent minor vibrations through the floor.
Where…where was I?
My hands felt something coarse and furry beneath me. A skin rug? I couldn't identify the animal it had once belonged to, but it bore jagged silver blotches atop a black base color and felt like a horse's mane. Definitely not an Earth creature. My wrists remained bound so I couldn't move very far away from the skin rug.
The air felt humid like a sauna and didn't smell very pleasant either. I glanced about the room and noticed the metal walls bore elaborate, exotic designs; creepy, yet beautiful too. As my eyes roved around I glanced behind me and screamed! Backing up as far as my cable would allow I stared into the vicious jaws of the most horrible monster my imagination could conceive! Only after a moment of screaming I suddenly realized that it wasn't alive, merely a skull mounted on the wall behind me. The pale skull of the monstrosity was elongated and pitted, with a set of nasty jaws at the bottom. Next to it hung an even more gruesome skull, which looked like some hideous, sharp-toothed dinosaur with multiple eye sockets and spikes sticking out everywhere! And there were more all around the room, silent ghastly specters of monsters staring at me blankly. That's when I spotted a more familiar set of skulls dotting the walls. Human skulls and spinal columns! The black eye sockets of the skulls gazed back at me, grinning with clenched jaws. There were dozens of them!
Staring dumbly at the skulls I noticed something familiar about the way they were hung. Yes…it reminded me of a place I was once in, a taxidermy shop. Heads and skulls of various game animals suspended on every wall, their fake glass eyes staring into oblivion. This resembled that place except the trophy heads looked much different. I then came to the conclusion that this was some sort of trophy room and my captor was a hunter; a very good one too to kill such monstrosities. But if he killed all of these humans and beasts, what would he do with me? Why had he brought me here? Was he saving me for later?
At that moment a metal door slid open behind me and I swallowed in fear as my masked captor entered, big as anything. I turned to him at the end of my cable and stood shaking a little. Rattling behind his mask he pointed back to the skin rug and growled something in his language. Guessing I was supposed to remain on the fur I quickly ran to it and sat down, still keeping my distance from the horrific monster skulls and him at the same time. He cocked his head and then strode over to a metal pedestal near the skull wall. I watched him silently.
Reaching up to his face he grabbed a few little hoses attached to his mask and pulled them. They hissed and spewed white vapor. Methodically, he grabbed a gun-like device on his shoulder and took it off, gently placing it on the metal stand. Then, he tugged a couple more hoses free and a seal broke behind the mask. When he pulled the visor away from his face I gasped in terror! He was a monster!
His huge rounded forehead was encircled with spikes and speckled with black markings that resembled the ones on his body; very reptilian. But his mouth gave him the more hideous appearance. Four claw-like mandibles jutted out of his face and converged together in the front. As I watched him, I noted that each mandible could move independently and the two larger lower mandibles were able to spread completely away from his face exposing another set of fanged, more human-like jaws.
His eyes, set deep in his skull and shadowed by his prominent brow, were yellow and flecked with red. They were the eyes of a Predator. Though they appeared quite sinister, they gave him a faint glimmer of humanity belied by his other alien features. As if sensing my aghast stare, his predatory eyes flicked over at me. Quickly, I averted my gaze to the floor. I don't know what kept me from screaming, crying, or otherwise, but I remained silent. I didn't want to make him mad. Out of the corner of my eye I watched him. He for his part didn't seem offended by my disgusted look and continued to remove more of his armor and weaponry. I wished he had just left the mask on! Still, I wondered if perhaps I appeared equally unattractive to him.
At last he finished removing most of his armaments, leaving him clothed in only his fishnet body suit, his belt, his loincloth, his wristbands and calf bands, and leather-looking shoulder pads. Then, without a sound he turned and left me alone again, but not for long. A few minutes later he returned with some friends. There were seven of them not including my captor. Some wore masks of varying design and others stood barefaced. Oddly enough, I could identify my captor and to be truthful, he looked the best of the bunch! He stood a little taller than the others and appeared more muscular as well. I felt trapped as the gigantic hunters towered over me staring intently. My captor said something in his deep guttural voice and his gestures seemed to convey that he was talking about me.
As he spoke one of the unmasked Predators knelt down in front of me, staring at me with a pair of very scary orange eyes. I shrank back from him against the wall. Then, he slit his eyes and his two lower mandibles spread away from his face abruptly giving him a terrifying aggressive expression. He growled deeply at me and then it happened. I still don't know to this day what made me do it, but it's something I'll never forget. For some reason that Predator's fierceness sparked my own aggression instead of my fear.
So, slitting my own eyes I clenched my bound hands into fists and slugged him right across his right lower mandible with a quick shout! Though it was a feeble hit and he probably scarcely felt it, it shocked him…and me! I gasped at what I'd done and stared at my hands as if it weren't my own.
"Oh! Now I've done it! He's going to kill me!" I thought to myself.
Terrified of retaliation I shrunk back against the wall again, waiting for him to react. Much to my astonishment all the Predators began clicking very rapidly, their upper mandibles twitching. Even the one I'd hit! It took me a moment to finally realize that they were laughing at me! I guess my little act of aggression seemed very funny to them, probably because I was so small and helpless. Still clicking the Predator I hit turned to my captor and growled something boisterously which made them click even faster and louder. I sighed in relief. That could've been my last moment alive, but a bizarre twist of fate spared me. Eventually, the other Predators left me alone, still "laughing".
……
Several hours later on the ship I awoke from a nap when something tapped my back. I sat up quickly and saw that it was my captor with…something… in his hand. He knelt down, placing a metal canister of water and some kind of meat before me. I felt starving because I hadn't eaten in about a day, but whatever he'd just given to me seemed raw and furry. It looked like a chunk of mangled squirrel or maybe a dead cat. Nervously I grit my teeth at the "food" and glanced up at him.
"Reck-vet" he clicked pointing to the meat, which I assumed meant, "eat".
I took a breath and gingerly picked up the hunk of flesh and blackish fur. It felt warm, very fresh, as if it might've been alive a few minutes ago! Unable to handle the thought of eating the raw tissue I dropped it cringing.
Quietly I stated, "No thank you."
He cocked his head and nudged the meat back at me repeating, "Reck-vet"
I was very hungry, but it made my stomach lurch to even look at the raw hunk of meat, much less eat it. However, I didn't want to insult him; I feared him too much to do that. So, again I picked up the meat, took a deep breath and sank my teeth into it. My mouth filled with salty blood as I bit off a piece and I could feel my gag reflex jerk in my throat. Somehow, I managed to swallow the meat and found that despite the disconcerting feeling of consuming the uncooked flesh, the flavor was not that bad. Looking back on it, I'm amazed the very rare meal didn't make me sick afterward. Hunger finally pushed me over the edge of desperation and I continued to devour the raw meat without hesitation. He grunted lightly and rose; satisfied that he'd done his part to keep me alive. With blood covering my lips, I finally put down the fur and flesh that remained and chugged the canister of water greedily.
When my captor noticed I'd finished he began stepping around me, pacing from side to side as if he were contemplating something.
I stared back at him, though I tried to avoid looking at his face; I still hadn't gotten used to his hideous features. Rattling in his unique way my captor knelt down in front of me. Very slowly, he took my cable and with a 'gentle' tug pulled me closer to him. I tried to pull back and dig my heels into the fur rug to avoid getting much closer to him. But my strength was infinitesimal compared to his. His eyes narrowed at my resistance and with a loud rattle, he lifted me right off my feet by my cable before setting me down right next to him. I cringed, not liking the close proximity, but I had no choice.
He raised his hand toward me, but I lashed out, trying to slap his hand away from me. I didn't want to be touched. However, what I wanted didn't matter to him. His yellow eyes slit in anger which scared me. Then, without warning he pushed me down with one claw. I fell on my bottom, shocked at the strength he put in such a tiny touch. My captor's head tipped, eyes conveying a look that told me I'd better behave or he'd do something more 'memorable'.
Then he spoke in his very deep guttural voice, "Chress-taugh."
I blinked at him in confusion, frightened tears filling my eyes. I was scared and he knew it. Abruptly he took my cable, stood me up, and repeated the alien word slowly. Understanding dawned on me at the word's meaning: "Chress-taugh" meant "stand up". I nodded nervously.
His upper left mandible flicked outward a bit when he none too gently pushed me back down to the ground saying, "Daught."
"Daught" meant "sit". He was training me… like a puppy!
Expectantly I stared up at him until he made a motion with his clawed hand and growled, "Chress-taugh!"
Quickly, I jumped to my feet.
"Daught!" he barked. I sat instantly. He cocked his head in a pleased sort of manner giving me a sharp Click! which I assumed was praise. He could tell I was a quick learner and eager to please…or at least scared enough to not disobey.
This time he gently tapped my sternum with a claw and made a quick hissing sound that went from low to high sounding. He tapped me again making the strange sound until I pointed to myself and feebly made the sound. He nodded. My name? That hissing sound was to be…my name? Avidly I wondered just what it meant and as I learned his language later I learned my name meant "Little Fighter".
Then, he pointed to himself and made the deepest growling sound I'd ever heard. His name? I tried to make the noise but he shook his head with each of my attempts. Apparently, I couldn't say it right in my little higher pitched girl voice.
Finally, I decided to give him a name myself. Pointing to him I said, "Hunter."
His yellow Predator eyes squinted and he completely surprised me when he mimicked my voice exactly repeating, "Hunter."
Stunned at his imitation I nodded and pointed at him, "Hunter. You're Hunter."
He responded by pointing at me and hissing my new name and then tapping himself and saying "Hunter."
From then on our communication progressed. Gestures, mimicry, and pantomiming stabilized our language barrier until we formed a basic system of commands and words. He rarely used any of my human words, but I was expected to learn his language in order to obey his every command. I, the subservient, complied with any and every demand he presented me. Nothing he decreed taxed my ability at all; I simply had to come to him when he called, sit, stand, hold this, bring that, and so forth. Predators, Hunter in particular, prided themselves in self sufficiency, so I was not exactly a slave to him. My true purpose to him wouldn't present itself until many years later.