Hunter: Garv's Respect
However not all the young Predators were like Algar. One young Predator, with whom I became warrior friends, was named Garv…at least that's what his name sounded like to me. Standing a shade over 6'3 and flesh lined with bold reddish brown stripes, he didn't look nearly as imposing as the fully grown Predators. I guessed he was my age or close to it, still in adolescence and reaching the point of teen-hood.
Garv was a very skilled hunter for his age and unusually intelligent as well, but a lot of the other young Predators didn't seem to like him much. I never understood why, but it seemed like every time there was a fight, Garv was in the thick of it. Mostly he'd win the fights, but the victories were hollow. He was an outcast like me. Garv developed a respect for me when he witnessed a battle I fought against a horrible alien beast.
It happened when I was 15 out on my own in the jungle. Hunter taught me all about hunting and the like since it was the very core of all Predator culture. He would allow me to go out by myself to hunt with the special spear and wrist-blades he'd given to me. They were special due to their smaller size and lighter weight. An average Predator spear or wrist blade weighed too much for me to wield efficiently. I'd never killed anything dangerous or sizable, just smallish lemur creatures and reptiles. But on this occasion I ran into something far larger and more terrifying than I'd ever encountered.
I turned fast when a twig snapped nearby, brandishing my spear in a warrior stance. Then the monster appeared. It looked like a demon wolf-lizard from Hell! Its sizable head filled with dagger fangs and dripping with saliva was set low to the ground while it's spiked back arched high into the air. Its fur was black and had intermittent patches of white reptilian scales and the long lizard tail bore a mace-like tip. Snarling viciously its four glowing green eyes burned into me. I'd never seen a live creature like this before, though Hunter had a couple of these furs on his wall. That frightened me because Hunter was the best warrior in the clan and if he deemed these beasts worthy of a trophy then I knew they possessed deadly attributes!
I held my barb tipped spear in front of me as the horse sized monster began to circle, its back spikes rattling. My heart pounded thunderously in my ears, but I maintained my composure. I learned early in life to harness my fear and choke it but still the fear crept in the shadows of my mind. The beast growled, waiting for an opening, and finally it leaped baring its slavering jaws wide! If I'd been a Predator I would have skewered the brute on the end of my spear, but since I hadn't the strength or size to bear such a blow and survive I managed to launch off the ground with my spear and flip over its high shoulder, landing gracefully behind it. Flustered by the move the animal whirled around and prepared for another assault. I hissed through my bared teeth aggressively. Swinging its mace-like tail over its head it swatted at me. The ball's spikes managed to rake several gashes across my thighs which burned like fire! I growled, clenching my teeth from the pain. Smelling the drawn blood it lunged in frenzy, but this time I anticipated it.
At the last second, when the beast's jaws nearly clamped onto my throat, I fell to the ground and as it flew over I jammed the opposite tip of my spear into the ground for security and the spear pierced up into its thick scaled throat! Impaled, the monster staggered away from me, gurgling and lashing out at nothing. Pink blood spurted from its neck, soaking the jungle floor, but the beast refused to die.
Standing nearby I clenched my fists, making my wrist blades shoot out of their sheaths. I would end this like a Predator. I reared back and stabbed both sets of duel blades into its furry side, making the beast wheel on me in a blind fury. Its wolfish, crocodile head turned to the side; it seemed to barely be aware of where I stood. All it knew was pain. Death wanted it and I would help it claim this monstrosity! Shrieking a warrior's cry I slashed my blades down into the beast's thick neck causing a fountain of the hot pick blood to arc through the air! The beast reared and as it did the wound opened wider. With furious thrashing the monster reared up on its back legs convulsing until all life flittered away in pink pools of hot blood. Sweat poured from my skin and blood ran down my gashed thigh as I stood over my kill. Never had I imagined taking down such a large animal but I'd done it. I'd killed something worthy of a trophy and I did it all on my own!
Suddenly a large dark figure dropped down from above and landed before me. Reacting instinctually I raised my wrist blades in defense, but then realized it was Garv. I vaguely recognized him because of his unique jagged skin patterning and instantly withdrew my blades, lowering my head submissively. I did this to all Predators, no matter what their age because I remained lowest in the hierarchical clan. I had no idea what this young Predator wanted or why he was out here.
He cocked his large head at me and viewed my kill for a minute. Then he said in his guttural language, "This is a good kill Little Fighter."
I lifted my head. A…compliment? And he called me by my name instead of calling me "Ooman" like the other Predators did? He must've seen the whole thing. Gripping my spear in the carcass he yanked it out and held it a moment. Then he rolled the dead monster over exposing its underbelly and slit it open with my spear. I watched as the young hunter reached into the body and ripped out a purplish organ, his clawed hand dripping with pink blood. Turning he held the gory organ out to me with a soft rattle. I viewed the nasty thing until he insisted again that I take it.
I took the hot organ in my hand and he said, "Reck-vet."
Eat it? Swallowing, I readied myself and bit a mouthful of hot bloody flesh. Unlike the first raw meat I had this didn't taste good at all. I nearly puked. Garv clicked with laughter as I gagged.
Still holding the organ I asked, "So what do I do now?"
Garv seemed to understand and handed me my spear. "Remove the head. Keep it. Present it to Hunter." From that simple encounter we developed a warrior friendship.
I took the trophy to Hunter later on. Laying the severed head on his kill altar before the trophy wall I knelt, waiting for him to react. He viewed the beast's head. "You…killed this? With what weapon did you use?" he rumbled in his language.
"Spear, blades, and… myself." I replied strongly.
He glanced at me and the response seemed to amuse him, "You…a weapon? You think yourself a weapon?"
Still kneeling before him I nodded, "Do you not consider your body a weapon?"
He clicked softly with laughter. "Your talk is clever Little Fighter. This hyek-va is your first true kill. Honorable for an Ooman."
My head dipped in thanks. "You honor me Hunter."
Nodding in return he stroked the furry severed head, "I will teach you how to clean this and preserve it. You may keep it in your quarter."
As the new lesson commenced my chest was swelling with barely contained pride at my achievement and Hunter's generous compliment. For once in my life I felt honored.
Seven years later……
My heart pounded with exhilaration and my eyes flicked around the vegetation for my stalker. He was out there, hunting me. Crouched on the thick trunk of a 'tree' I kept a wary eye on all around me. Where is he? I looked for movement—a blur of some kind—the sound of a twig snapping—anything to give away his position. My ears became fine tuned to all around me. The slightest rustle made my heart leap and my adrenaline surge. Hugging the moss-like bark of the 'tree' I held perfectly still. With any luck my trick would work. I grimaced slightly as the mud covering my body began to harden and itch. Don't move. If you move then he'll see you.
Then he appeared to me but only as a transparent outline. That high tech camouflage was perfect, but not good enough to trick me. He moved slowly, his head turning from side to side, searching for me. I dared not breathe though a triumphant laugh stuck in my chest and threatened to burst from me. The mud made me invisible to him, but only for a short amount of time. Eventually my own body heat would seep through the mud and make me stick out like a light in the darkness. But it would give me an advantage for as long as I needed.
I discovered long ago the visual limits of Predators. Hunter had taken me into the jungle-like forest beyond the dwelling to show me the terrain and I wanted to know what he called a certain plant. He wasn't wearing his mask at the time and squinted funnily like he thought I might be crazy. I pointed to the plant, but still he couldn't see it and left my question unanswered. Later I figured out that they could see heat, light, and few other spectrums, but they couldn't make out true color or fine detail of non living objects without the assistance of their masks. They didn't see as I did and that almost made me feel good. Finally! Something I could do that they couldn't do or do better than me! Of course being able to see heat was incredibly handy if your prey was warm blooded.
'Go on look. You won't see me until it's too late.' I thought cockily as my opponent scanned the trees.
Cautiously, he crept through the vegetation, barely making a sound despite his obvious bulk. That's when I struck. Taking hold of a 'vine' I swung from my perch and slammed my feet into his invisible metal mask. The metal rung and a bellow of surprise erupted from the ghostly silhouette as I swung by! Quickly I let go of the vine and ran with all haste through the jungle!
Roaring thunderously I could hear him crashing through the brush behind me. He was fast. He'd catch me in no time unless I hid again when he couldn't see me. Finally I dove underneath a bluish colored mass of leafy brush and held perfectly still, hoping he'd lost track of me. I waited. No sound. My brow furrowed with confusion, wasn't he just behind me?
Nervous, I glanced about until I decided I should find a better spot to hide. Very slowly I stood, backed up very carefully, and hit something warm and solid. Oh crap! Turning with all haste I dropped to the ground and somersaulted away from him immediately brandishing my spear and dropping into a defensive crouch.
The gigantic ghostly figure suddenly materialized with a spear of its own. My opponent rattled in anticipation behind his pewter mask. I slit my eyes aggressively and spun, twirling my spear and driving straight at my opponent's mask! He raised his spear and easily parried my blow. I growled and swung again, but he blocked that move too. Becoming frustrated that nothing was working I decided to try something different.
I backed up slightly and then ran at him, feinting as if to hit him in the gut and he readied to block it. As my spear shaft contacted his I leaped upward, using his bent knee to launch. I flipped backward slammed my sharp knee into the underside of his mask, popping his head back! When I came out of the fancy attack I landed like a cat before my shocked opponent. Honestly I was shocked myself that the crazy move had worked!
After a moment my opponent decided he'd had enough. Rumbling aggressively he swirled his spear and hit mine, sending massive shocks of pain through my arms! JEEZ he was strong! I tried to block again but in the blink of an eye he had knocked the spear out of my hands and used the rod of his to flip my feet out from under me! I gasped and tried to crawl quickly to my spear, but he reached down and firmly took my ankle in his fist. I tried to kick him off but his grip remained resilient as he effortlessly lifted me upside down from the ground and held me at arm's length like I weighed nothing.
Sighing in defeat I knew there would be no escape no matter how much I struggled. I turned my head and stared way up at Garv from my helpless position. His mask tilted in a cocky sort of way.
"Alright, you caught me big guy. Brek-ank," which meant "you win" or "I surrender".
He rattled behind his mask and put me down. Basically unhurt, I stood scratching the flakey mud on my body. Garv chattered and scraped some of my mud coating off with a claw.
"[Click!-Ve-nejin," translated means "good trick" or something to that effect.
This game, if you could call it that, had become a tradition for me and Garv. It tested both our skills as Predator and prey and it fine tuned Garv's hunting ability. While kind of morbid in nature it was actually a lot of fun and Garv never harmed me…much. There were times when his incredible strength would get the best of me and I'd get bruised or scraped, but that was minor. He could snap me like a twig if he wanted, but he restrained himself for my sake.
We both were now in early adulthood, I being about twenty two and Garv being somewhere around that mark. Actually he was probably older…Predator's seemed to age differently than humans. Over the years growing up together we'd both changed, I was now a young woman with a lean, curvy, muscled body, full bosom, medium toned skin, leather and fur lined bikini style armor, long auburn hair beaded into tight bands to resemble Predator dreadlocks, deep green eyes, and an exotic look about me like an Amazon Warrior. I'd grown to a fair height of 5'9…Garv however had grown lethally from 6'3 to a whopping 7'8! Once the young Predators reached a certain age they went through a psychotically fast growth spurt as well as a very moody and aggressive stage. Luckily I missed out on that with Garv.
From what I heard, he'd gone through numerous rituals and grueling challenges to acquire his status as a warrior hunter and now he was a very prominent young warrior with much promise. I could see him leading the Clan someday. Since he'd achieved such an honorable reputation he was no longer shunned so much as in childhood. I still never knew why he was such an outcast back then. Perhaps his family line had a past or something? Maybe it was simple child jealousy of the others since he was so good at fighting? Who knew? I never asked him about it because it was none of my business even if we were friends.
As we grew up Garv gained more status and honor and surprisingly, he remained my friend. It was kind of an odd relationship considering I was merely a little Ooman female and he was this huge hulking warrior who could snap me in half with one hand. Nearly every day Garv would show up at Hunter's dwelling and we'd do our usual activities of hunting and sparring which I enjoyed even though I got beat every single time. But I improved.
Garv may have liked me but not all Predators did. Some did like me to an extent, most simply tolerated my presence or ignored me, but Algar hadn't changed his view of me. He hated me with passion. I really had to watch myself if I left the dwelling alone. If Algar saw me alone there's no telling what he'd do to me. Luckily for me Garv usually accompanied me and was actually protective. If we came across Algar, my friend would position himself between us and give the vengeful warrior a hard glare to warn him off. Garv was bigger than Algar but Algar had a very volatile, unpredictable nature. One minute wouldn't pay you any mind and suddenly he'd whirl around, ready to hand you your own heart! I'd almost judge him to be in the realm of psychotic. However, he was a powerful fighter and not a Bad Blood, but he could be damn close to it. He was a Predator I avoided at all costs.
Shaking my head at Garv I began making my way to a pool I knew of nearby. There I could wash off the mud covering my body. Garv eventually tromped after me. When I got there I scanned the water for shadows. Sometimes, ferocious creatures that looked like crocodiles from Hell lived in the waters of the planet and one had to be careful. I couldn't see anything so, kneeling down I began washing off my mud camouflage.
As I was washing, Garv placed his foot against my back and pushed me into the water! I came up angry cursing him, but he only clicked with laughter. He knew if I tried to fight him he'd win. Every time we went out like this he'd do something 'mean' like that to get me mad.
"Damn you Garv!" I cursed in annoyance at my drenched state.
He kept clicking until his head jerked with interest. I climbed out and stared at the water too. Garv could see something I couldn't. A pleased rattle escaped him as he raised his spear and forcefully jabbed it into the murky depths. When he pulled it out I laughed because he'd just speared a fish-like creature with bony horns jutting from its wide head. I must've scared it out of hiding. He glanced over at me and held the struggling creature out to me on the spear tip. Obliging him I gripped the flopping 'fish' by its long head spikes and pulled it off. It was heavy and probably over four feet in length. I knew Predators liked to eat these things raw. They did taste good, but I cooked mine with fire instead of cutting off a hunk and eating it. The only weapon I had on me at the time was a dagger so I used that to begin cutting up the 'fish' for Garv. He watched with interest.
Hunter had taught me extensively how to clean prey. In particular he taught me what parts to save, which to eat, and avoid touching certain parts; some creatures on the planet had poisonous innards or spines that would kill if it got into your skin. I was never sure if Predators were susceptible to such things but Hunter made sure I knew these dangers. He was an excellent and patient teacher.
All at once my Predator friend looked at his wrist band and took off into the jungle.
"Garv! Where are you going?" I called after him but he didn't respond. Forgetting the
'fish cleaning' I sheathed my dagger I raced after him. Something must be going on with the clan or else Garv wouldn't have left like that. After running at Garv's brutal pace we finally came into the clearing where we could see the clan's dwellings and landing platforms beyond. The ships on the platforms were hissing and spewing white clouds. That meant one thing…a hunt was brewing.
Garv and I split up and I raced back to Hunter's dwelling. If there was a hunt then Hunter would undoubtedly be leading it. I was nearly out of breath when I reached the dwelling. Hunter was out front sharpening his wrist blades with a very high tech device.
"Hunter! What's happening?" I called.
He acted as if he didn't hear me and kept sharpening his weapon. Sometimes he wouldn't answer me right away and I learned to wait patiently for an answer. Finally, after admiring his handiwork, he growled, "Did you not see the ships?"
"Yes. I did." I replied.
"You're coming with me."
My head pulled back in confusion, "I am?"
He squinted at me and hissed threateningly, "Do you question my decision?"
I lowered my head quickly, "No Hunter. I did not know I was allowed to go with the warriors on a hunt."
His wrist blades slid back in their sheath and he stood, "You will not hunt…but you will help." I nodded even though I wanted to know how I'd assist the hunters. Hunter would tell me in good time. "Well, don't just stand there! Go and bring my spear," he commanded. Bowing I backed away from him and did as he bid.