Hello everyone::waves shyly at the readers:

I know, I know. You probably are VERY angry with me right now. And you have very good cause to be...VV

I can honestly say that I am SUPER sorry, though! Really, I am! I know that its been MONTHS since I've updated this fanfic (or any of my other ones). Yeah, I'm that wretched... :shakes her head, ashamed:

And I don't really have a good excuse, either.

I just...lost interest, I guess. Not in the marvelousness that is Preadtors and Aliens, just my own writing. I dunno. I got disgusted with how childish and inarticulate my stories were, and became deeply unmotivated.

I'm sorry :P I know that doesn't make it ok, by any means. But that's what happened...Yeah, I am the ultimate butt-munch!

...Forgive me?

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"No."

Trent glanced over at his sister across the floor, eyes clenched shut and knees pulled up to her chin. Her cheeks were pink and swollen and chapped. Lips curled in a grimace.

She had cried the entire night again.

No surprise there.

"Come on 'Lody! I'm hungry. Aren't you hungry?"

"No."

"Yes you are. You always eat in the morning."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do! And if you don't get up, I'll tell on you." A small smile crossed the little boy's lips.

He had seen her twitch slightly, arms loosening momentarily. She opened her eyes slowly. Clenched her hands tightly and rolled over. She glared at the ceiling.

Trent stood up and pulled on some socks, then scuffed on his shoes. He tossed feminine ones at the form on the floor.

It worked.

It always did.

She sprawled out a thin arm and grabbed the mint-colored jellies, still looking straight up. Extensively slowly, but resolutely flopping over, the little girl pushed herself to a sitting position and worked on the buckles. They snapped lightly in the silence of the cabin morning. Finished, the she stood up, hair glistening like cola in the sun slits streaking through the sheer panes to her right.

"Come on."

"Hmph."

Melody glowered at her brother as he bounded out the door. Swiping a hand beneath her nose with a motion half aggravation, half dread, she grudgingly followed her sibling into the warm caress of outside air.

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The man was shaking.

With fury or grief, Yet'rin didn't know. Probably both.

He watched, in silence, as the human lowered the female to the ground, cradling her lifeless body with a tenderness never before witnessed by the hunter. His actions and the suddenness of such unanticipated events kept him motionless.

He knew that he should kill the man. It was what he came here to do after all. What he WAS doing…Until the unexpected happened.

But that didn't change anything…Did it?

In his mind, Yet'rin knew that he had made a mistake. A serious error. There was even a tiny little voice deep within his head, that was calculating the retaliation factors of said error out loud. A minute nagging at the back of his thoughts, telling him that he was in deep, deep trouble. He had to get out of there!

But it was too late.

With a sudden loud cry, the man wrenched himself up and away from his fallen wife, spinning furiously to face the offender. He charged with all the fury of a father desperate and wild, instincts coating any fears or reproach with adrenalin drenched mindlessness.

Yet'rin staggered back from the force, swaying from more than his quickly severed reverie. Surprised beyond his own comprehension, he yanked wildly on his spear as the human heave-twisted it from his grasp. He gasped in shock as the sharpened tip was twirled swiftly in the human's suddenly too adept hands, and rammed against his side. A sharp twinge bolted up his rib cage, gnashing alloy with his bones.

It brought him back to his senses at least.

Yet-rin caught himself before completely losing his balance, using the white-hot pain as an advantage to navigate his body into retaliation. He struck out with his left fist in a swift half-turn, and caught the man directly across the face.

The spear fell from the human's grasp, skittering a few feet away into the crimson damp grass. There was a mass of the hot fluid on the ground. Dark pools coagulated in gruesome puddles around them; nothing stirring their surfaces. Even the wind seemed to have paused at that moment.

With renewed fervor, the hunter reached for the fallen man who was clutching his head, spitting blood from his mouth. He picked the smaller creature up by the front of its clothes and peered into its eyes.

Like the woman's, they did not stray from his face. They were wide with fear and comprehension of the moment, as hers had been. But they were also different. A ferocious loathing and bestial inclination for revenge swam within the reflective surfaces.

Not that Yet'rin could say he blamed the creature.

The human grit it's teeth viciously, and let out a low growl of hate. The yautja continued to study the man's face, but raised his right arm purposefully. His wrist blades were already extended.

CRACK!

With more surprise than pain, Yet'rin dropped the man, stepping back. He cupped a large palm to his shoulder, wincing. The neon fluid dripped lazily down his left arm, welling from beneath his armor. Taken aback, he stared down at the man, propped up with an elbow in the grass, rifle raised expertly.

"Melody! Trent! RUN NOW!"

Jacob shot his children a fearful look, crazed animosity quickly fading with the realization that the monster before him could not be taken down as easily as he thought. If at all. He repeated his command.

His offspring squealed in pure terror, but remained rooted to the spot.

Get out of here! He pleaded silently to their large, seeping eyes. He felt his throat constricting within his throat. You must! You must!

The monster advanced on him once more.

"PLEASE!"

They were shaking their small heads. Shrieking and trembling and holding their tiny arms out to him.

Go GO GO….!

Three more gigantic figures suddenly formed out of the darkening air. Liquid ripples that dropped from the branches that scratched the evening sky. Then, as if blinking into existence, the towering creatures were visible against the foliage.

His children gaped mutely up at the monsters for a mere second.

"NO!"

Before they could so much as scuffle backwards, the twins were scooped up from the leaves and muck as large, taloned hands grasped them quickly. They were instantaneously hidden from view behind the monstrous forms.

Jacob cried out again, in alarm. He couldn't see his children! Couldn't…

He made a wild sweep with the rifle, swinging the barrel into position. His sights locked onto the form that had engulfed his offspring.

He pulled the trigger.The shot crackled through the forest.

And bounced off the creature's chest.

A rapid clicking erupted from it, however. The two forms flocking it advanced. Jacob raised the gun again, palms slick with sweat or blood. Crazed now, he made to pull the trigger again.

He didn't get a chance to. A sharp blow to his abdomen sent him reeling back into the bloody muck, and he dropped the rifle in desperate pain. Clenching his arms around his ribs, he managed to look up, wheezing.

He could see the large creature that had murdered his wife raise its arm once more. The twin blades still shone scarlet in the night.

NO! TRENT MELODY…HAVE to get them…OUT….

His reasoning was getting more clouded by the second.

"…My…kids!..NO…DON'T TOU…"

The man fell still and silent as the blades were ripped from his chest. He was dead before his body touched the cool, grim ground.

Yet'rin turned away from the man's corpse. He didn't reach down to retrieve his trophy. Instead, he turned and faced Damat and Gherrnoh and Retshi'rk. His hunting companions stood, unmoving against the backdrop of tattered bark for a long while, in silence.

Finally, Gherrnoh shook his head disdainfully while Damat remained staring straight into Yet'rin's mask with an even glare.

Retshi'rk set down the now silent human children, and expected his armor with a distinctly unhappy expression.

Yet'rin hung his head in silence. He couldn't bring himself to return his companions' stares. He focused instead, on the two small creatures, frozen at Retshi'rk's feet. Only their large eyes possessed movement. Their vision danced from the alien beings surrounding them, to Yet'rin and their fallen parents.

Yet'rin knew there were dire consequences to be faced.

And he knew he deserved them.

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I hope you liked it!

Again, sincere apologies for the EXTREME delay.

And deep thanks to ScarletMoonlight!