Author Note: I probably should have done some research before writing this...I have no idea what the names of towns are in Peru, and I don't know if there are rainforests there, either. But it's South America, and I have one brain cell working right now.

Night had finally set over the rain forest. The only light came from Melony's canvas tent. She was sitting on her cot, observing the picture. Life taken so quickly. She prayed Marie would make it through in the hospital. She had been in a coma for so long…Beep. Melony snapped her head up and glanced around. Beep. The sound came from her compact dresser. Beep. Her cell phone. Who knew how she got reception out here…She opened the phone to receive her voice mail.

"Melony? You there? Why you no answer?"

"She's not there, you dumb ass. Leave a message."

"Ooooh. Ja, Melony? Is Haan. You need to meet me and Millings at…in one week, in ze town. Need to talk about what school for you to visit." Melony gave a small laugh. Working with a dense foreigner may not have been helpful, but it brightened her up. Hmmm… One week? She would need to do some heavy hiking. "These kids must be worse than I thought," she joked to herself. Ever since the accident, she had become more involved with her job in educating students on crime. She sighed again. It was so hard to forget…Needing some air, she stepped outside.

The air wasn't very refreshing. It felt like breathing in air from a gym in the summer. She gagged. Even in her camisole and shorts she was sweating. A small amount of light was emitted from the crescent moon above her, so thin it looked like a grinning mouth. Melony suddenly felt a presence behind her. She spun around. No one. Spinning back around, she yelped. An enormous, scaly hand covered her mouth. A hand with only four fingers. When Melony calmed down, the hand left her mouth. Standing before her was Four Claw, as she called him. And standing rather close, too. Melony was forced to crane her head to see Four Claw's masked face.

"Mae'lon'ee," he clicked, placing his hand on Melony's shoulder.

"So…why did you come back?" Melony asked, looking at the alien that was sitting on the floor of her tent. She wasn't even sure if he understood anything she said. Four Claw did not answer, instead he looked at a picture on the dresser.

"Jawn," he rumbled.

"Like hearing yourself talk?"

Four Claw gave a low click in reply, almost like a purr.

"Alright…Why are you here?"

Four Claw cocked his head, possibly in thought.

"Hunt," he muttered.

"Hunting what?" Melony wasn't sure if she liked where this was going. Four Claw paused. He then pointed at Melony and spread out his arms. When Melony didn't respond, he repeated the sign.

"Humans?"

The alien nodded slowly. Melony backed up on her cot. Trying to comfort her, Four Claw pointed to her again and shook his head, clinking the metal bands that held his dreadlocks together. Melony didn't feel much safer, but relaxed a bit.

"Then…why did you come back?"

Unsure, the alien lowered his head in thought. "Learn," he said at last. I have gone mad, he thought, asking to learn of ooman ways. What has come over me? But even he could not answer that.

Melony's eyelids fluttered. She blinked a few times, trying to focus on what was right in front of her face. "Oh my!" she jolted up, but was pushed back down into a laying position. "Oh, it's you," she muttered, seeing the metal mask of Four Claw. Slowing her breathing, Melony sat up. Four Claw was kneeling on the floor, still eye level with Melony. Still as inquisitive as before, Four Claw reached out to look at the locket around Melony's neck. Melony hesitated, but opened the locket. Recognizing the picture inside, Four Claw spoke: "Maw-ree."

"She's such a pretty girl…" Melony whispered, closing the locket.

"Pritty grrl…"

Being lazy, and not particularly wanting to undress in front of the alien, Melony had simply put a tee-shirt over her camisole and wore her sleep shorts outside. Four Claw seemedintrigued with everything Melony did. His purrs and clicks were frequent; Melony assumed it was curiosity. Stepping outside, she grumbled. She would have to take down the tent again and repack everything.

"Rrr…" a rumble came from Four Claw. He was busy unwrapping the candy in Melony's knapsack.

"Stop that," Melony said firmly, taking the bag. She felt like she was scolding a child. A big, growling child. "I need to pack up camp. You aren't helping." Putting the bag down next to her duffel bags. That reminded her. She still had to pick up the rest of her bags. "No way. I'm not carrying one more thing. I can get to Haan and Millings without all my crap."

With that, Melony dragged her cot and dresser outside with some help from Four Claw. Actually a lot of help. He could easily lift both things. After collapsing them into more portable forms, she worked on taking down the tent. She pried out the stakes and watched the canvas float down into the muddy ground. It was only ten in the morning, and she already felt tired. A grand way to start off a day of hiking.

"Slow…down!" Melony called between panting breaths. She had nearly been running the whole of the afternoon trying to keep up with Four Claw's gait. And dragging along about a million bags wasn't helping. A growl came from Four Claw. He was obviously annoyed, but halted to let Melony catch up.

"Let's just take a break," Melony breathed, dropping her bags and herself on the ground. Four Claw also set down what he had been carrying. Trying to slow her breathing, Melony closed her eyes and leaned back against the duffel bags. A short nap wouldn't hurt...

Melony yawned. Rubbing at her eyes, she examined her watch. "Oh, shit!" She had overslept. She glanced around frantically. Four Claw was not there. She jumped to her feet. Too quickly. They collapsed under her. Cursing, she scrambled up and ran off in search of the alien.

Starting to sob and gasp for breath in anxiety, Melony sunk down. Not only had she lost a human-hunting giant, she had managed to lose herself in a neverending maze of jungle.

"Rrr..."

"You jerk! You just ran off and-" Melony had spun around to face the source of the growl. Before her crouched a golden figure, peppered in black spots. Huge fangs were bared at her, a clawed paw reached forward. The jaguar folded his legs to prepare his leap. He had eaten nothing in days, and right before him stood a harmless, fresh meal. Watching the petrified thing back up, the jaguar's rump rose up and his shoulders hunched, ready to kill. The human could go nowhere. Jaws slavering, the jaguar leapt. Melony shrieked, raising her arms instinctivly as the killer launched itself into the air. In midair, the large cat was blasted in the chest. Screaming again, Melony ducked. Another blast of blue energy hit the jaguar, sending the cat to writhing and screaming. The jungle seemed to come to life, dragging the jaguar away. Still shivering, Melony looked around. Nothing. She stood up shakily. She had nearly been killed...Twice!

"Mae'lon'ee."

Melony, her strength suddenly back, whipped around to find Four Claw. She found nothing. "Stop hiding, you jack ass!"

She was suddenly grabbed from behind and lifted up. There was a hiss, and Four Claw became visible. Melony was dropped swiftly onto the ground, knocking the windout of her. She glared at the monster towering over her. "Where were you, huh? Why didn't you help me?"

Four Claw simply gave a click and turned to leave. Not wanting to be lost again, Melony quickly jumped up and followed him. Hopefully back to where the bags were.

Another Author Note: Alright. So, I just noticed that unless Melony is from somewhere foriegn, I've been spelling the name wrong. However, I think it will be confusing to change it after two chapters of using it, so too bad for me. My head was filled with like, dead fish at the time I wrote this. Oh, and before I forget...Predators and Aliens are not copyright me, but Melony and Va'Nat'San are. Alright, I'll have chapter three next.