The Lost Chapters of Hunter

I've been completely stuck on my Striker story —Seriously considering stopping it and rewriting it since I can't come up with a decent ending that doesn't sound cheesy. So to help my writer block I'm writing some new chapters from my original Hunter story. Somehow I felt it wasn't good enough since I left out some key character development with Hunter and Garv. So here's a little more "meat" for my readers to gnaw on.

Hunter: Chapter 4.5

"My First Prey"

My first few weeks living on my new home world were long and full of frustration. Try as I might to forget about Earth, I found it difficult. I missed the familiarity I associated with my birth planet— the smells, the way the air tasted, the blue skies and green plants. On the Predator planet everything was scary to me—anything could hurt or kill me at any moment. I constantly felt insecure and dreading of what might happen to me. There were no comforting words, no gentle hugs, or smiles on this world to stave my fears. There was only Hunter, my…well, I couldn't identify what he was to me. My captor? My master? My caretaker? I honestly wasn't sure. In fact I wasn't even sure if Hunter liked me. He only spoke to me when teaching me his language or when giving me commands.

The language was so dissimilar to my own it was difficult to comprehend and pronounce. At least half of the language consisted of sounds: clicks, grunts, hisses, growls, rattles, shrieks, and many others I couldn't positively identify. Thankfully, Hunter was a patient teacher for me and I was young enough that my learning progressed quickly.

Other than the walk from the ship to Hunter's dwelling I was not allowed to venture outside. Hunter ordered me implicitly to stay inside and there was no way I was going to disobey him. Still, I felt a tad curious as to what lay beyond that air locked door.

Then, one day out of the blue Hunter tapped me on the head saying, "You will come with me. Now."

Doing as I was bid I followed at his heels as he led me out the door and into the densely vegetated jungle beyond his dwelling. Hunter confidently strode out ahead of me, swinging his shoulders in the way he always did. I meanwhile, felt increasingly nervous about the unfamiliar terrain all around me. My eyes darted over every funny colored leaf and ridged root as my ears took in the alien sounds all around me. Eerie calls and howls echoed somewhere deep within the jungle. My little frame was shaking, half expecting something horrible to leap out and eat me. Suddenly, my night gown, the only thing I'd worn that first week, tugged at my neckline. I gasped, spinning around quickly with little arms flailing. Something grabbed me! I cried out trying to free my hemline from whatever caught me. It was then I realized it was merely a thorny twig that had snagged my already fraying night gown. Sighing I reached down to unsnag the troublesome bramble. Then without warning, Hunter's huge hand engulfed mine pulling it back. I cowered, half expecting him to hurt me—for whatever transgression I didn't know. He rattled sharply and with his wrist blades he cut the edge of my gown to free me. Very slowly he got down on one knee and pointed to the thorny plant.

"Ve'nde," he hissed which meant 'bad'. He'd used that word several times at me, once for trying to go outside.

"Bad?" I questioned.

Carefully he scraped the side of his wrist blades against the thorns and in seconds a clear fluid dripped out onto the metal. He showed me the droplets, pointed to them, and then clenched his chest as if dying.

"Ve'nde grott," he uttered.

I guessed "grott" meant poison. Bad poison. I nodded in understanding. My cowered stance gradually relaxed. Hunter was merely trying to teach me the dangers of this new world.

He got up again and resumed his walk so I promptly followed him. After a few minutes he stopped in his tracks, head perked forward slightly. I blinked trying to follow his gaze. What was he looking at? Without moving very much, Hunter retracted a small dagger from his belt and flicked it into a patch of grass-like vegetation. A plaintive squeal and a brief rustle followed it. I instinctively shrunk back. I didn't like the sound. Hunter calmly strode to the grass plant, reached in, and pulled out a medium-sized, long tailed creature of brown and cream fur. He plucked out the dagger and turned back to me. I recoiled slightly when he thrust the dead, bleeding creature under my nose. At first I wanted nothing to do with the carcass but my child curiosity prompted me to get a good look.

It was weird looking, just like everything on this planet. It looked like a bizarre crossing between a lemur, a snake, and a gecko. The little thing's eyes were huge dark purple masses lined with whitish veins. It had dark slits between those large eyes that were seeping a dark fluid which I guessed to be blood coming from a "nose". On its head were a set of huge backward pointing ears and its lower jaw was small and broad. It had four two-fingered, spindly arms along its tubular body. The frame was more snake-like than mammalian since it had no back legs. But its fur looked so soft I had to touch it— still warm and as soft as silk.

"Ffre-nya," he hissed pointing to the animal.

"Fffre…nyya." I repeated unsure.

The big alien nodded and stretched the snaky animal in front of my body, tilting his head a bit. Hunter rattled gently and then stood up again, draping the carcass over his shoulder to continue the walk. I followed again, trying to avoid the droplets of blood that fell behind him. My eyes began to wander and very soon I spotted a pair of large purple eyes gazing back at me from a tree branch above.

"Ffre-nya!" I pointed.

Hunter gazed up too and in the blink of an eye he reached up and snatched the creature from its perch! I gasped when I saw the live ffre-nya. Coiling its furry snake-like body around Hunter's forearm it squealed baring a mouthful of needle teeth and flailed its four limbs at the Predator's mask. However, Hunter had a firm assured hold on the back of the animal's head and neck. The ffre-nya wasn't going anywhere. Using his free hand Hunter quite suddenly stabbed two of his claws into the creature's body causing the entire lower half to go limp and uncoil from his arm.

Then he did something I'll never forget. Once the ffre-nya's back half went limp he dropped it in front of me. Still very much alive the furry creature tried to flee but couldn't move very fast with its back end paralyzed. Before I knew it Hunter knelt down beside me and placed a little dagger in my hand. Then very gently he nudged me toward the injured ffre-nya. He…he wanted me to kill it?

I stammered, "I…I…I don't..."

Again Hunter nudged me toward the wounded creature. He wasn't going to listen to an excuse. I stared at the dagger, then at the ffre-nya.

"What do I do Hunter?" I asked, not even sure if he understood my question.

Somehow he seemed to. Gently, yet firmly, he closed his hand around mine and positioned my body in a correct "stabbing" pose. When he pulled away he purposely gripped the side of his neck and made a stabbing motion with his other hand. He was trying to show me how to kill the animal. Grab it by the neck and… I felt my little hands shaking. I didn't know if I could do such a thing! I'd never killed anything before!

Cautiously I stepped toward the escaping ffre-nya which still hadn't made much progress with its lower half debilitated. I stretched out my hand nervously to grab the creature's neck when all of a sudden it wheeled on me, hissing with wide eyes! I screamed in terror and without thinking chucked the dagger at the defensive animal. The weapon hit the ground no where near the ffre-nya. Like any young child I ran back to Hunter for protection. He watched me and clicked a quick laugh. Stretching out his long arm he snagged the ffre-nya's tail and dragged it back.

"Get your blade," he commanded.

I hesitated and he growled deeply, "Get it NOW."

Quickly, I rushed over to the dagger and picked it up.

Hunter seemed to be toying with the ffre-nya by tugging it back as it tried to escape. "Come here."

I came to him without hesitation. He made a fist, "Hold it right."

Awkward, I turned the knife in my hand to the correct position. Hunter nodded and quite abruptly his hand grabbed the creature by the back of the neck, pinning it to the ground. It squealed, trying to bite. Very gently he took my free hand and positioned it over his.

"Grab here," he instructed.

I stared at the little beast's razor sharp teeth. "I…I don't want it to bite me."

Hunter tipped his head, not seeming to understand. I pretended to bite my own hand to illustrate and pointed to the creature. He snorted.

"Do not show fear Little Fighter. Grab here," he repeated

Not seeing any other choice I gripped the fuzzy neck of the creature where Hunter's scaly hand didn't touch. Slowly, he edged his hand back, giving me more room to grip. Feeling the Predator's hold slacken the ffre-nya gave one final fighting squeal, raking its knobby fingers in the dirt. Instinct must've taken hold because I pushed down on the animal's neck, trying to keep it subdued as Hunter's hand released completely. I was the only one holding it down now. Raising my little dagger I tried to decide where and how to strike. I shook. I don't know if it was fear or apprehension but I was shaking. Suddenly, I plunged the dagger downward into the animal's head! I could feel the metal scraping against the bone and the final stiffening of the ffre-nya as death curled into its body and then relaxed.

It was dead. I'd killed it.

Hunter clicked, "Good. Next time keep your eyes open and your hand steady."

At first I didn't know what to think. I stared at the dead creature and then stroked its still warm fur. A thin smear of hot blood across my palm. But somehow I was proud. Hunter praised me…and it felt good.

Taking the dead ffre-nya Hunter placed it along side the other on his shoulder and stroked a claw against my scruffy night gown.

"These will make fine garments for you Little Fighter," he stated. "Come."