Wow! I never expected so much feedback! Especially not such positive ones...Thank you to all of my reviewers!
Sorry for the obnoxious delay :(
Here's the next chapter. Its in italics because its a flashback. Hope you like it!
Chapter 1
Yet'rin watched the human shuffle along the forest bed, the only sound a slight 'crich crich' of leaves crumpling beneath his body. He crawled over another moss bank, eyes unwavering in their skilled watchfullness.
There it was.
His prey stood not five meters away, sturdy and dark against the fragile shrubbery. Tall, sharp horns protruded from the soft area between its twitching ears. The faint slick sound of its grazing now penetrated the silence as well.
The human raised himself to his knees slowly.
Yet'rin hadn't thought another species capable of such stealth. Now the human was standing, shotgun cocked against his shoulder, one eye squinted in concentration. He aimed not at the burly, hooved creature, but a few feet in front of it.
He whistled.
Two seconds flashed by. The blink of a human eye.
It was enough.
Enough time for the creature to swivel its long neck in the human's direction. To look down the shiny-cold thin chrome tube and past it to the man holding it. A bolt to the right, anticipated gesture.
The stag was now shuddering on the ground.
Within a few moments the trembles ceased and the man walked over to his prey, dark and still warm on the crushed grass. He gave it a quick pat of recognition between its lifeless eyes, ran a respectful hand over the antlers. He set to work.
The predator above looked on with more than a little fascination. Even he couldn't have skinned the carcass that fast. The human's knife slid through the hide in fluid swipes, quickly seperating muscle from bone and skin from fatty-tissue. Ten minutes passed. Divvying up the vitals, the human placed them in neat piles to be carried home in separate trips. Packing the first load neatly into the sack he pulled down from his shoulders, he hoisted it, now full, and walked off into the trees.
Yet'rin eased himself into a more comfortable position and unsheathed his wrist blades. He ran a taloned figertip along the silver strip edges. As expected, they were already well sharpened and cleaned, crying for hot crimson blood to whet them. He let a soft chuckle drip from his throat. He knew the human would be back. One so skillful as he would leave nothing to expire in the dirt. He would return to claim the rest of the carcass, and waste nothing.
He was worthy prey.
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Jacob pressed a shoulder against the wooden doorframe as he fiddled with the knob. He could hear the soft patter of bare feet scrambling towards his position, a race to open the door first. Two clunks and a bell-chime chuckle later it swung open, and he entered the warm butter-light room with a grin.
Trent stepped aside to let his daddy pass beside him, lugging a bulging sack over one arm, rifle in the other hand. He set the bag on the shimmery tile countertop and turned to the woman standing in one corner. She returned the small grin, hazel eyes gleaming against the curling flames of the fireplace. She rocked a wide-eyed little girl with a red-smack bump on her tiny forehead in her arms.
"I didn't say we needed anything new to eat tonight."
Setting down her four-year-old daughter, she padded over to the sack to inspect its contents. With a slight 'hmph' she turned to face her husband, chin in hand, mock surprised eyebrows.
"You didn't say we didn't." He shrugged and grinned. "You going to help me carry the rest with shoes this time?"
"Maybe." Silly smile. "I liked being carried last time."
"Because you weren't doing the carrying."
"Boring monster..." She pouted and flicked the tip of his nose, but pulled on some rainboots.
"Indeed."
He bent to pick up Trent and swung him around before pointing to the tiny sneakers beside the door. "Shoes on, you two."
Trent sat down to snap on his shoes, Melody buckling her green glitter jellies across the room. The twins followed their parents outside and into the tang pine air of the forest.
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A soft crunch told Yet'rin of the human's approach. No longer on the offensive, it seemed he had given up his stealthiness, although the rifle still swung from his shoulder.
Probably to pick off any creatures interested in the quickly chilling mass of meat that was already gathering flies.
He wasn't expecting anything to desire his own weak hide. Good. Yet'rin appreciated the look of surprise in his prey's eyes. He watched the human kneel beside the neat piles, batting away the flies. He began to load another sack.
Now.
The predator let his hand grasp and crumple a patch of dead leaves, breaking off a small branch and dropping it to the ground. As expected, the man swiveled with trained speed, barrel of his gun following the rapid drop of the branch. Determining it's non-threatening presence, he raised his vision to where it had fallen from.
As the branch fell, Yet'rin utilized the sound-distraction to back step and drop from another branch to the ground behind the human. He walked up to the bewildered back preparing to strike.
"What is it honey?"
The yautja froze at the sound of the soft voice floating into his helmet from the left. He could hear the quiet muffled breaths of three more humans.
"Daddy?" A chirp of a voice.
A child?
Yet'rin turned his head to get a better look. Big mistake.
A female human and two tiny ones stood to the side. The woman's eyes went round as a water-ripple chunk of the forest moved. She took a step back, pushing the two little humans behind her slender frame protectively.
"Stay back!"
The man raised his gun to the clear gelatin distortion not two feet from him, arms wavering slightly with awe or fear.
Yet'rin pulled out his spear and decloaked. It was dishonorable to kill while poorly visible. The man was eyeing him wildly, unable to decide if he was imagining the towering form before him. The other humans were motionless.
Making an agitated clicking with his mandibles, the yautja took another step closer to the human and raised the spear. The faintest twinge of reproach striking him immobile for a meager moment, and he hesitated, rethinking the timing.
Would it be more appropriate to simply leave, under the circumstances?
For some reason it disturbed him that those which were probably this human's family would watch him die. He could hear the urgent squeals of one of the human children pierce the forest. He pressed the tiny release cache to unfold the spear. It snapped to its proper length and dexterity.
No, it was too late now...
It happened in a blur.
The man hesitated no longer. Swinging the rifle into position, he aimed at Yet'rin and fired. Being much faster in battle mannerisms the yautja merely knocked the barrel of the weapon to the side, averting its blast. A shrill shriek came from the woman behind, and the hunter and hunted alike turned in her direction for a second. She was cupping a palm against one side of her face, although a crimson well was seeping through the tapered fingertips. She stumbled back into the brush, children now screaming and tugging at her thin arms. Gracefully she caught herself and stood again, whispering something to the tots grasping her skirt.
"Trent, Melody. Run! Now..." She pushed them away from her with red-shimmer hands. They fell into the brush screaming and did not move.
"Pauk!" Yet'rin slashed at the man, who nimbly dodged, the serrated tip biting only a half an inch into his side. He swung his gun and met the force of another blow from the alloy spear, this time head on. The rifle skittered into the slimy grass beside the remains of the stag's carcass. Stumbling back, the man tripped over his half-filled sack, base of his skull connecting sharply with the ground.
Groaning, Jacob looked up to see the large creature toss aside the spear. Rapid-breath, he began scrambling back into the shrubbery as it released twin wrist blades, curved and wicked, preparing for a strike. His back at once came upon the rough surface of an ancient tree.
This was it...
He closed his eyes. He could hear the alien metal hissing through the air. Could almost feel the cold bite of twin tips piercing his chest.
He could feel it.
A sudden shock of force against his chest.
But it wasn't cold...
The man opened his eyes to the sensation of warm liquid rushing over his body. His shirt became thick with it. A strand of silk brushed against his neck and cheek, slipping across his lips. He could see red and pink and baby blue. For a few agonizing seconds he could hear nothing.
Then a muffled gasp.
It was a strange stangled, choking whimper.
No!
He wrenched his eyes wider, arms leaden with fear and realization. Nothing and everything was visible all at once. He screamed, silently, utter grief clenching his throat, rendering his vocals inept.
His wife now fell softly against him, a sickening slick shushhhh sound as she slid off the blades and onto his lap. His mouth ran dry as his eyes streamed.
"No..."
Yet'rin stood frozen in shock as he watched the woman's eyes widen and squeeze shut in silent pain. The side of her face still streamed, and a trickle of blood rolled lazily down her chin. In vain, she tried to pull herself off the blades, hands leaking from the sharp edges. It wasn't long before they fell limp at her sides and her head lolled back in weakness. Her temperature was dropping rapidly and she began to shudder. She kept her eyes locked on his face, however.
They alone were shockingly alight, unlike her perishing body, glazed with questions, accusations. The mildest speck of curiosity.
A liquid-lined realization and immense sorrow.
She blinked up at the hunter once more, the last strands of sentient thought unraveling behind her gaze.
Snapping to, the yautja retracted his wrist blades and watched her slide to the ground on top of the other human.
What had he done!
He watched the man sit up and lay the female to the side, muttering in his language. He was trying to get a response from her, trying to stop the blossoming pool from forming beneath her. Weakly, she flopped an arm up to touch his face, choking on fluid. The man cupped her head in his hands, cherry-coke tresses spilling from between his fingers. She finally relinquished her gaze at Yet'rin to give a feeble smile at the one holding her before long lashes fanned against placid panned cheeks and she shuddered no more.
She was dead.
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Don't worry. There's a lot more to come :)
Please review and tell me what you think. I'm always open to suggestions!
