Chapter 15
Disclaimer: I do not own Alien/Predator series or any characters and may not follow all customs and cultures found in Alien/Predator movies.
The two stared at each other, processing what had happened in a frame of mere seconds with the utter silence filling the air, blocking the lyrics of the song playing on the MP3. It took a cough from Ethan to finally break A'sao's sight, twisting his torso to cover his head.
Oh, Lord. What monstrosity did you cause out of your stupidity!? Ethan punched into his temple, trying not to remind himself of what transpired. If you survive this, boy will no one believe you!
"Ethan . . ." He held his breath and dared to look past his shoulder at the concerned female, "Are you—"
"I'm fine!" He blurred out a bit too hastily and calmed himself down with timed breaths, grabbing the MP3 player and pressing stop, "I'm totally fine."
"You seemed stressed. Did I do something . . . inappropriate that you took offense?"
Offense? Ethan's demeanor changed, guilt and shame grew. More like the opposite. But explaining to a nine-foot female alien the mistake that occurred was not something he wanted to deal with right now so he signed to slow his heart rate, stuffing the MP3 into his pocket.
"Nothing you did was offensive . . . Just not expected," He kept his eyes to the ground as he gathered his things before having the courage to make eye contact with her, still with the worried expression or at least what he could transcribe.
"I . . ."
"What's going on?"
A'sao and Ethan barely saw the shadowy figure emerging from the jungle and both stood still at the sight of Vi'su and then Nai'stip walking to them. From the expression on their faces, full of confusion and a bit of anger from the Leader, he had a bad feeling. Did they see us? What happened here?
A'sao stepped forward with confidence and stride, chin raised with certainty. If there was any sign of nervousness, Ethan couldn't see it at all, "I was told to find the ooman and I did. What else did you think we were doing?"
Vi'su stood there silently while Nai'stip, on the other hand, had her glare at A'sao. Ethan lowered his sight and prepared for the raging lecture on her, using him as an excuse, but a moment passed and there was nothing, not even a hiss or a growl. She merely stood there and breathed a heavy sigh.
"Enough toying with the ooman. We're planning to move out in an hour. As much as I don't want to, we need your input."
A'sao tightened the muscles between the ridges where a nose would have been compared to a human, "Really? And so soon?"
Nai'stip tilted her head toward the jungle, "Go. Now."
A'sao hesitated, unsure of how to react to her Leader's sudden demeanor. The anger was still there but perhaps the time spent recovering from her injuries opened her mind to the reality that this mission would be more than what was expected of them. At least . . . that is what she hoped. No . . . Impossible for her.
She glanced to the side to see Ethan's reaction. Despite being ooman and unable to understand, his body trembled slightly and the worry was written in his facial expression, the way he bit his lip and . . .
A'sao's thoughts drifted. And . . . Her core temperature rose, the muscles of her thighs and biceps tightened as the memory of their recent 'contact' and the sensation of the soft flesh. She dug her claws into the palms, hiding her right arm behind as she felt warm liquid slipping through the scales, a familiar feeling from certain times of her life. Not now!
"A'sao," She stiffened, pulled back to reality by Nai'stip. If she found out about this . . .
She calmed herself and recovered her composure from before, "I understand. Come, Ethan."
A'sao walked cautiously but not in a way as to be too revealing, keeping her stance strong and back straight as she passed by her Leader and hoping she didn't notice. Vi'su saw through a little, her eyes keeping watch but said nothing. Of course, she wasn't the type of character to rat her out, especially due to her fear of Nai'stip if nothing else. No movement at all at that time was a sure sign, her Leader remained still. So far, so good.
But right as she was on the edge of the jungle's shadow, she heard Ethan stumble and she spun around to see Nai'stip had her arm blocking his path, "What are you doing?"
Nai'stip didn't respond, merely huffed without making eye contact, "I have something to discuss with the ooman."
A'sao growled and Nai'stip sighed, "I won't harm the ooman even if I wanted to. Remember?"
Her mandibles dug into the corners of her mouth, her gaze moving to Ethan's confused and worried expression. He tried so hard to keep his composure, hiding his fists and squeezing his body into the center to stop the trembling, from anger or fear she couldn't tell. It would be a risk to reach Ethan, one wrong move and everything can go wrong and the ooman would pay the ultimate price.
A'sao turned to Vi'su on her side and received a soft but firm nod, easing the anxiety eating inside her chest a bit. It'll be alright. She saw Ethan once more before biting down the anger and disappearing.
Ethan stood in disbelief and confusion as the female hunter left, his only chance to survive was gone like the flick of a candle with the darkness looming over him in the form of this brute holding him. Did she have no choice?
Vi'su was all that remained and he'd hoped she would stay just in case until Nai'stip raised her claws and motioned her to leave. In the small time observing them, there was no doubt she would obey her Leader and as expected, she lowered her head and slowly followed A'sao.
Oh great. I'm left alone with this bitch. What's next?
Nai'stip lowered her arm and watched to make sure A'sao and Vi'su were long gone. He leaned to the side to look past the female's massive body but right as he did, he felt claws scratching his scalp, not enough to bleed but the force brought him down on his ass. He hissed, holding his head as he got up in a fit of rage, "What the fuck was that for!?"
"Schemer."
Ethan paused, the word processing in his mind, "What did you say?"
Nai'stip stared back, her golden almost glowed with a silent emotion that he described as something more than any anger he'd seen, not even from the bitterest of enemies he faced on Earth, "What's your problem?"
Finally, she growled, "What are you plotting, Soft Meat?"
He narrowed his brows in a state of confusion, attempting to make sense of what the female was going at. Does it have to do with what occurred between me and A'sao? Was it frowned upon amongst their kind? A whole load of questions bombarded his mind, none could be simply answered, and getting them would prove difficult if not fatal in this special case.
His best course of action is to play ignorant, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Nai'stip seemed taken aback, her golden eyes opened wider for a brief period, "Getting a little cocky for prey, aren't you?"
Ethan didn't like the small ring of amusement in her full voice, almost like she was laughing, which made his anger only grow and harder to contain professionally, "I only speak the truth and even if I was 'plotting' as you said, I wouldn't tell you."
He waited for a reaction, a bloody tantrum to hit him, instead, she remained silent and still, not even a flinch of a muscle or a twitch of a finger, she was as frozen as a statue, at least for a few seconds. A disgusting grin barely formed on her crab-like face, hard to read and . . . scary.
"You better watch it. Never know what's coming to you."
Ethan raises his chin and huffed, smirking, "You know what they say. Karma is a bitch."
For that brief moment, he felt superior and rather brave against this alien that had killed beasts more terrifying than himself, and yet the dumbfounded look she had only made him smirk all the more. Take that home and eat it. Ethan began to move around Nai'stip, done with this one-way conversation and ready to head back and get some rest—
All of a sudden, something grabbed the back of his neck and gripped around his trachea, narrowing his airway. Instincts to survive kicked in and Ethan attempted to rip off whatever had him, a bad move because the next thing he knew, he was pinned to the ground on his stomach. The impact was enough to have two of his ribs crack under the pressure, opening his mouth to scream but nothing else.
Shit! He barely had the room to wiggle his head so his right eye could see Nai'stip had him down with an arm, glaring with all the hatred in the world. If looks could kill, he would have been long dead.
"Be careful what you wish, ooman," She leaned close enough that he felt her deep, hot breath burning her skin, "You have no idea how much in danger you're in."
He shuddered as two of her claws raked back and forth across his chin. Ethan tried once more to free himself but the hold on him grew, pressing his neck and head even harder to the uneven ground that cut into him. Is she going to kill me?
"I can easily break your neck in half a second, long before you can take another breath. One twist and pop!" He gasped in fear when she twisted his neck to the side slightly as a warning, the pain shot out through his right side, "You'll be dead before you can curse the poor mistake you made against me."
As fast as it happened, Nai'stip let him go and stepped back. Ethan coughed and hissed as a renewed wave of agony seeped into his vertebrae, a jolt of electricity sapped any strength he had as he held his shaking hand.
"The one reason I'm keeping you alive is that the status quo has changed. You're lucky the Bad Bloods are my priority, far more a dangerous threat than you . . . for now," Nai'stip turned her back toward him, standing there for a moment as he watched her.
Ethan struggled to speak, "Why?"
The word came out before he could stop himself, he didn't know why he said it without thinking of the consequences but in a surprise move, Nai'stip froze as if something hit her like a ton of bricks.
He swallowed, "Why do you hate oomans so much?"
For the longest of time, no one spoke and the eerie sound of a breeze flowed through the area they stood in. Ethan stiffened as she twitched her claws, waiting for another grueling punishment to unfold.
Finally, Nai'stip spoke, "Don't try anything with A'sao. I don't want history to repeat itself."
Nai'stip walked away before he could say anything more, leaving him alone. Ethan hissed as he moved to his knees and trembled, using all of his might to stand, every inch of himself aches and screamed for the pain to stop. She barely touched me and I feel like I'm on fire. Shit.
He waited for some of his strength to return, stretching his muscles as he headed back to the safety of the cave, biting his lip to keep his concentration despite the thought running through his mind about the last sentence Nai'stip said to him.
History repeating itself?
He shook his head. What did she mean by that?
Hola my fellow, loyal readers!
Been too long since I posted as lots of shit is happening but finally, I have posted this new chapter for Respect and it's got a lot of questions that have been left with no answers . . . at least not yet.
One thing's for sure, our main ooman is getting some bravery unless some consider it foolish. Maybe . . . maybe not. But then again, there is some tension between our characters that's shrouding something deeper. What could it be?
More to find out and the heat of love is not far off. You'll see . . . Hehehehe . . .
Good Hunting to all! ;)
Normal = Human speaking human language
Bold = Yautja speaking ooman (human) language
Bold and Italics = Yautja speaking Yautja language