Hunter: A New Home
I suppose I rode on the Predator's ship for at least three days before it finally landed. Hunter strode into his trophy room purposefully. I watched him as he skillfully began putting on his armor and rigging all the technicalities. After masking himself he began gathering and sheathing each of his lethal weapons: wrist blades, ornate daggers, razor bladed throwing disks, shoulder mounted shoulder cannon, periscope spear, and other devices of equal deadliness. Expertly he handled each weapon, as if regaining a feel for their use until at last he stood literally dressed to kill. He was indeed an impressive figure to behold.
He lifted his spear adorned with two human skulls and tapped it on the floor growling, "Jaj!" which meant "come".
Obediently I rose and stood before his towering stature. Reaching down he took my cable lead and using the lower end of the six foot long spear, he herded me behind him which indicated I was to follow behind him, right on his heels. So, following Hunter we proceeded to traverse the intricate corridors of the ship. Ever since the beginning of my journey I'd never left the trophy room so this was my first "tour" of the other areas of the ship. After a moment Hunter stopped and I noticed that the other Predators on the ship were falling in behind us, all dressed in full armament. Each alien's mask was different, giving them all a unique characteristic. But, they all looked menacing. I nearly jumped when suddenly the floor before Hunter hissed and lowered exposing a most striking scene.
Wherever this place was, it looked nothing like Earth. The sky glowed with a blood red haze, mixed with white streaks that faintly resembled clouds. Twin suns, nearly parallel to each other, burned in the crimson sky and a greenish tinted planet hovered immensely, looming forebodingly over our planet. The air, as hot and humid as a sauna, made it slightly hard to breath, but I managed to adapt quickly to its mugginess.
My eyes left the alien sky and lowered to the ground outside. The ship had landed on an intricate metal landing platform that soared hundreds of feet above the planet's surface, which was covered by thick jungle-like vegetation reminiscent of an Earth tropical forest except differently colored. On the immense landing platform I could see rows and rows of masked Predators, all lined up militaristic with their tall spears at attention. I guessed they must have been there for some kind of ritual "welcome back" for the returning hunters.
Hunter surveyed the sight and rattled in a content sort of way as if he felt pleased to return to his home world. As Hunter began to descend the ship's runway the masked sentries before us synchronously faced us and tapped their spears once on the ground. I followed Hunter closely and felt the ominous gaze of every other Predator upon me. Some of the sentries even snorted disdainfully behind their masks, as if my very appearance offended them somehow.
All at once Hunter halted the procession and I lightly bumped into the back of his leg. Peeking around his thick muscled leg I saw another Predator. This one had a long leather-like cape draped over his broad shoulders and a human skull held the cloak together in the front. His dreadlocks were mottled white, making him appear older and his flesh bore large brownish blotches that resembled alligator scales. Spikes of all sizes adorned the Elder's massive brow giving him a prickly appearance and his mouth mandibles jutted out farther than most of the other Predators I'd seen. A white scar ripped down the peak of his brow and across a filmy yellowish eye, blinded by the wound of old. His functioning orange eye slit when he noticed me hiding behind Hunter's leg.
Spreading his lower mandibles away from his face aggressively he growled something at Hunter, pointing a claw at me. I supposed he felt confused, offended, or otherwise by my presence.
Hunter's masked face peered down at me and he hissed, "Daught!"
Instantly I sat on my knees with my head lowered in a submissive position. Striding over to me the Elder Predator rattled and growled something else to Hunter. Hunter rumbled in response. Though I dared not look up at him, I could feel the Elder staring down at me. I gasped when suddenly the barbed tip of his spear poked the underside of my jaw. My whole body quaked in fear. A quick jab and my life would end. Toyingly he traced the edges of my neck and jaw with the deadly spear tip, never breaking the skin. Then, I remembered how Hunter himself had tested me in the jungle. Was this Elder doing the same? Sure enough after he'd determined my courage, the Elder used the spear to make me rise and turned my chin up so I could look upon his face. I tried not to seem too repulsed but I wasn't even sure if they knew what a human expression of repulsion looked like.
Retracting the deadly barb away from my creamy throat the Elder tapped his spear and said, "Fik-neh!" which meant "to go away" or "leave my sight".
Timidly I turned back to Hunter…which was a terrible error. Suddenly, with a bellowing roar the Elder Predator swiped his spear at my knees and flipped my little legs out from underneath me! I fell hard on my stomach, driving the wind from my lungs. The metal platform scraped red grids into my forearms and the blow from the spear was throbbing. Tears of pain filled my vision and I wanted to cry but before I knew it the Elder rolled me over onto my back and stood over me with his lower mandibles spread angrily. My mind raced. What had I done! His good eye slit and he hissed something I couldn't understand.
"Fik-neh!" he growled again.
Trembling in his immense shadow and staving the tears flooding my eyes I awkwardly and slowly rolled over onto my hands and knees. But this time I backed away from him until I was behind Hunter's leg for some kind of protection. Some of the Predators clicked softly with laughter. I wasn't sure if they laughed at my punishment or at my hiding behind Hunter but that was the least of my worries. Soon I realized what set the Elder off: I turned my back on him. Later I learned that the act of turning your back on a Predator was like spitting in his face. It was an ultimate insult. Predators turned their back on one another if they wanted to start a fight or insult their opponent; like saying "you're not worth my time" or "you're inferior to me" And no Predator took an insult like that lightly. So, I learned a valuable survival tip that day and didn't loose my life. Instead, I stepped into a new life.
Hunter, from what I could tell upon first impression, lived alone. Much later I learned he had many females and offspring but he was not attached to any of them in a 'family' sense. Females were his means of pleasure and continuing his line, nothing more. He did not live with his females, but I assumed his harem was somewhere where I was never permitted to be. I never met or encountered any of his mates or his offspring to my knowledge, but I knew he had them.
Hunter lived alone in a very dimly lit metal dwelling that was not a house. More like an earth-bound ship. From its meager furnishings I could tell design wasn't exactly important. But what was prominent were the dwelling's walls, covered in trophies of all kinds. Skulls of every monster a nightmare could conceive, skins and furs of varying size and texture, and even chains of huge teeth and bone hung on the wall.
Next to the trophies were Hunter's weapons and armor. Never had I seen such an assemblage of deadly devices; spears of all lengths and tips, throwing stars with outer blades nearly a foot long, razor sharp knives, daggers, jagged swords, wrist blades long and short, cannons of large and small caliber, several chilling masks and suits of armor, and even huge metal weapons that I had no clue how they were used. I surmised Hunter must be a prominent figure among his people if he possessed so many weapons and trophies. Cautiously I followed him into the creepy dwelling not sure exactly what to do.
Unceremoniously he undid his armor and put it in its case in the wall. One by one each piece and each weapon he removed until he was just in his essentials. A little unsure of what to do with myself I just stood by the entrance. Soon Hunter strode away from his armor case and sat in a very sinister looking chair that looked like it was made of metal and the bones of some creature.
His yellow eyes flicked over at me, "Jaj! "
Swallowing hard, I approached him. When I got to him he undid the cable binding my wrists and cast it aside. Rubbing my raw wrists I winced. Then, he pulled something out of his wrist cuff and took my hand in his mammoth one. Before I knew it he'd placed a small ornate dagger in my hand. I gripped the metal handle and stared at the beautiful swooping blade that was nearly as long as my whole arm. Staring at my child face in the blade I knew my life would never be the same again.