Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Alien/Predator series or any characters and may not follow all customs and cultures found in Alien/Predator movies.
Everything happened so fast. One minute, he was saved by one of the hunters, only to have two others come for them, unable to comprehend their exchange of speeches. Their language of grunts, clicks, and roars was too disoriented to follow but he got a bad vibe from the biggest female standing over them, anger radiated strongly around her and directed at him.
Ethan debated on escaping, using some distraction. That plan was dashed when the female, whom he thought was friendly, smacked his rifle out of range. He still had his handgun but realized too late that it was a big mistake to draw it out and point at the biggest and angriest alien he saw.
He couldn't handle the inhuman screech it let out, his ears almost blew themselves and forced him to drop the gun. The next thing he knew, the hunter charged at him, launching him into the air and then hit a solid object before the world turned dark.
Good job, Ethan. The right way to piss off an alien that can kill you.
He felt himself being lifted, something big wrapped around him before settling him down again. He tried to move his fingers and toes but there was no response in them. All Ethan could do was sleep until he was ready for whatever was coming. Definitely not going to be good though.
It seemed like forever before he could move again. His eyes were heavy but little by little, they opened. His vision was a little blurry for a few seconds until he got a clear view.
The first thing he noticed was the world was flipped upside down. What the fuck? He tried to move to no avail. He stretched his neck to look up and saw his legs and arms were bound to his sides by leather wrappings, worse is that he was hanging upside down by a black line.
Ethan's heart raced. This isn't happening!
He tried to wiggle his way out again but he got the same results. Maybe my knife . . . But it was gone from his side and when he looked to the ground, he saw his rifle, handgun and knife piled together by the base of the tree. What luck he thought he had.
But . . . where are the hunters?
There was no sign of them, silence and the occasional breeze whistling through branches. Still, he sensed something was off. He tried to look behind but his neck strained halfway. Frustrated, Ethan tried shaking one last time in the hope the bondage gave way.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
A hand turned him around, almost too forcibly. Ethan had to close his eyes to keep from passing out from the motion. It didn't stop him from dry-heaving, "Who's there?"
"You're looking at me."
A form materialized inches from him. Ethan froze, almost unable to process what he was seeing. It was the same hunter from before; the silent one that stood back while the others brawled but no mask this time. All he could describe her face was some sort of mutated crab, having two pairs of tusk mandibles on each side where her cheeks are, skin like mud but covered in scales and black stripes that went to tube-like hair, reminding him of dreadlocks. Ethan froze when those red eyes sunk into the darkness of her skull met his. He stayed quiet, unable to turn away.
"Huh. Not the reaction I was expecting from an ooman. Most would scream or fight . . . but you don't," The female went around to his back.
"What . . ." He hesitated, "What do you want? And . . . how can you speak English?"
The female grunted before he suddenly heard a cut and then a snap. Ethan fell hard, his injuries aggravated even more, but not as bad as his shoulder. He wanted to check it but when he attempted, he found another problem. His hands were bound by metal straps, tougher and thicker than any bound he ever experienced. He groaned and pressed his chin into the dirt,"Nice."
The female picked him up with such ease that it scared him inside, forcing him to sit down, "You'll have to thank A'sao for that. She helped me and Nai'stip to learn the ooman language and the one who spared your life."
Who's A'sao?
Vi'su tilted her head, curious, "I forgot you don't know the meaning. Flying Arrow is what you oomans would call her."
Ethan grunted, "Thanks for the talk but I would appreciate it if you let me go."
"I can't do that until my sister hunters return."
"Return from what?"
The female didn't say. She was too focused on the pile where his weapons and gear were, picking up a small object that he saw was his MP3 player. She fiddled with it until it began to play, making a purring noise and then speaking in her nonsense language, "Hey! Give it back!"
He didn't expect to have the female growl in his face. A sense of danger told him to back off. Ethan bit his lip and lowered his head, hoping he didn't just sign a death sentence but the female made no attempt to strike him. Instead, she paused to look at the device, "Is this so important?"
Ethan slowly looked up, "Yeah. It . . . helps me to calm down."
He watched as the female put it down next to him, kneeling in front of him. The unknown was pushing his heart almost to the brink of bursting. "Umm . . ."
"What is your name?"
Ethan tilted his head. What?
"I've read that oomans greet with their names or else it's considered rude."
He swallowed, "Ethan. Ethan Kenway."
The female's mandibles clattered, unnerving for to see them move, "Vi'su but Whispering Spear in ooman tongue."
"Vi . . . su. Whispering Spear . . . Right."
This was the craziest thing that was happening to him. Me talking to an alien that almost killed me, and even exchanging names. Great. Sign me up for the next movie if I make it out alive.
"But I don't understand why you attacked me."
"Excuse me?" The female— Vi'su— squinted her already small eyes.
"I mean. I don't know why you brought me here, hunting me. I didn't do anything to you. So why?"
She tilted her head, "You think we're with the Bad Bloods? That's absurd. We're not part of those barbarians."
"Then who—"
A roar bursted in the air, not far from where Ethan and Vi'su were. She checked towards the jungle and paused until she snorted, almost in annoyance. "Ki'dai-rin. Yin'su san'di ba'ku."
What?
No sooner did he see two more hunters coming after this little pep talk. They were the same ones from before with the bigger female taking the lead. Ethan scooted back in fear. The anger was still swarming around the big female, more so when she directed her masked face at him and growled. Vi'su's behavior suddenly changed. She went from confident and curious to submissive and quiet.
Ethan glanced at the last female, the one who saved him according to Vi'su. A'sao, was it? Her yellowish skin grazed over her tight abs and thick arms. Despite the size difference, she could take out the brute if she wanted to but he noticed A'sao was limping, head low in defeat and maybe a bit of embarrassment. Cuts covered over her body and green blood oozed to the ground in droplets. She took quite a beating and it didn't take long for Ethan to know what happened. The bloodied whip tied on the belt of the big female swung in movement with her stride.
"Hmph. The ooman is awake."
Vi'su opened her mandibles but closed them again. Ethan remained still as the big female removed her nomadic mask, the same face like Vi'su with dark green skin. Her amber eyes took a glare at him, "Have you told him anything?"
"Not much, Nai'stip. Only that I told our names and—"
The female, Nai'stip, hissed and Vi'su shut up right away. Ethan saw how much power this female had, beaten the one who spared him and then made Vi'su submit with an iron fist with no attempt of retaliation or question. He understood . . . This was their Leader.
"S'yuit-de. This ooman is pathetic. I'm starting to wonder why we spared him. Do you regret your decision yet?" She looked back to A'sao. The exchange was strained and cumbersome, both females were ready to brawl again. Ethan thought he was going to witness another bloody fight until A'sao backed off. The Leader was triumphant but he felt unease lingering inside still . . . and something else for the female that supposedly spared him, a pity as he watched her clean her wounds with a weird syringe while straining her facial appendages to hold back the pain.
"What are you looking at, ooman?"
A hiss brought his attention and almost gave Ethan a heart attack when he suddenly faced the Leader. She pinched his face between her massive hands. It shocked him how different they were, the strength behind her grasp was enough to squeeze his lower jaw to the point it was about to pop. Shit . . .
He strained to keep his breath calm, "You must be their Leader . . ."
"You're not as stupid as you look but disrespectful, not worthy of calling by my real name."
Ethan pulled his head instinctually in disgust, a decision he regretted a fraction of a second afterward as the female gripped his neck and raised him into the air like a ragged doll.
"Inferior creature! You should be lucky that you haven't become my trophy. I am called the Ruthless One for a reason!" The grip tightened like a vice, enough that Ethan's throat started to clamp, gagging reflexes kicked in but air refused to enter despite his attempts to pull free.
Fuck. She's going to kill me.
"Enough, Nai'stip!"
The wounded female rushed at the Leader despite the injuries and threw him out of the way, only to be met with a swipe across her face and crashing to Earth like a Boulder. Ethan barely had time to catch his breath as the Leader smashed her foot onto A'sao's throat, "K'itacha f'alk."
Ethan watched as Nai'stip kicked and beat A'sao like a dog, blocking the best as she could but unable to retaliate or even get up to her feet. Given the tremendous size difference, what chance did she have? Vi'su was practically useless,
shrinking back as he already expected given the previous interaction, more of a follower than a doer.
He clenched his teeth as one-sided fight continued with such brutality even he couldn't imagine his worst enemies doing. Still, the resistance in A'sao was clear enough. Whatever this female wanted from him, it didn't matter . . . only his pride did. The female that supposedly saved him already once, confirmed that it was true firsthand, he couldn't stand back any longer.
His fists tightened under tight bounds. No way am I going to be saved twice like a pathetic weakling!
Scrambling to his feet, he ran straight at Nai'stip, not hesitating in the slightest as he rammed at her side. He figured it wouldn't be easy to make a dent in her posture but the side of his body throbbed like he hit a concrete wall. Still, it did the job as Nai'stip roared in absolute rage, turning her attention from the shocked A'sao to him. Her mandibles sprayed like a trap ready to clamp down on his neck, red eyes burning like Hell itself. Big mistake, my ass.
Nai'stip raised her claws high above him. He wanted to shut his eyes and let death come but it would be cowardice to do so. Instead, he raised his chin, body trembling as he stood his ground as daggers rushed toward him.
But in a split second, everyone stopped moving and everything went deadly silent.
Ethan slowly opened his eyes and realized Nai'stip, A'sao, and Vi'su had their heads turned toward the direction of the jungle, grabbing their weapons in alarm . . . and for good reason.
The bushes below the trees shook softly, moving in a pattern like something lurking in the shadows, worse when Ethan counted more than all of his fingers combined followed by hisses and inhuman growls. He stood as the females unsheathed their weapons, Nai'stip speaking in her foreign tongue but he knew well enough of what she might have said and it wasn't good.
"M-di h'dlak. M-di h'chak." The bushes hustled violently, the anticipation of what was to come drove Ethan almost to the brink of a full-on panic attack but the females stood their ground, prepared for the inevitable.
"H'ka-se!"
The females roared in unison, charging with such ferocity just as the unknown beings swiftly lunged out of their hiding place, screeching in retaliation as weapons and claws came crashing down.
Hi everyone!
Took me forever but here's a new chapter and the first introductions between the female Yautjas and Ethan. But will things turn out
okay for him with angry females?
We'll see . . . ;)
Normal = Human speaking human language
Bold = Yautja speaking ooman(human) language
Bold and italics = Yautja speaking Yautja language
H'ka-se = Now
Ki'dai-rin. Yin'su san'di ba'ku = Great. This is going to be bad.
K'itacha f'alk = Incompetent fool
M-di h'dlak = No fear