THE MARKET

-"That dream was strange," she licked her lips, her eyes staring at her companion intently, "It felt so real," she paused as she recalled the vivid details, "I can still hear the sounds of the forest, but i can't remember my own name..." she trailed off, lost in the recesses of her mind. She was telling Roarr about the dream she had last night, but the warrior seemed uninterested.

He was polishing a round, domed skull he took from his trophy display. It was similar to those of the Va'Nara or her own but larger. Roarr had told her it belonged to a creature called a Deva.

-"Where did you find me? You know where I am from, right?" she asked, curiosity was killing her. The old warrior completely ignored her question as he ran a talon deliberately along the brow bone of his trophy. It was a few moments before he turned his large head in her direction.

-"Come with me, there are pieces to sell." He pointed to a pile of animal skins, some covered in thick black wool, while others seemed familiar. She came closer to see it in detail: It was tan, very similar to her own, in the center it wore a tribal tattoo, the stylized shape of a four-legged animal and a long tail with a thick mane on its head. It took her only a moment to realize that it was human skin, stretched out and placed in a rack.

-"Does this belong to my people?!" She snarled, her face twisted angrily as Roarr grabbed the pelts and left in silence, "Answer me!" N'vara followed him.

Roarr stepped out into the light of the suns, he circled the whitish stone façade, and headed for the platform at the top of the hill. Before going upstairs, he waited for N'vara to catch up and signaled to the small woman to stop.

He took out a metal device and locked it around N'vara's neck. She recognized it. After her little adventure in the jungle, Roarr had put the collar on and explained that it was to know its location, also if she went too long the necklace would kill her, N'vara did not want to test it. It had taken her a whole moon cycle to regain Roarr's trust and now he only used the device when they traveled outside his island.

-"We're are we going?" she asked.

- "Uu... No... going away," he said, his tusks clicking together.

Parked on the platform was Roarr's ship. To her eyes it looked like one of those huge pink fish that lived in the rivers near the camp... She felt her head throb again as details about her world came to mind. Her fingers moved of their own volition, rubbing at her temple, easing a forming headache.

Unwillingly, she was drawn back to the first time, she had boarded this thing, conscious. Roarr had sat in front of some strange artifacts that N'vara hadn't known what they were for. There had been lights like that of the luminous insects that plagued the night, and a great thunderous roar as though Vasri was angry, shaking the very walls. The ground had shifted, and she had made her way unsteadily to a small window. Her jaw dropped and so did her stomach. She had felt within the realm of Belu, the great Eagle. "For Isya!" she had exclaimed, with a mixture of awe and fear at the same time.

She was drawn back from her memories by the rumble of the ship's thrusters. It took off and headed for the rising suns, the house, the jungle and the mountain where she had seen the young Nara became smaller and soon they were left behind.

The journey did not last long, a blessing and a curse for both fear and exhilaration pulsed in her body in flight, and they were soon descending on a large settlement, in the middle of tall mountains. N'vara looked out the window at the huge buildings of the Citadel, in the center there was a great mass of stone as big as a rounded hill. The stench assaulted her as soon as she went down the ramp. Her nose stung, it was like Roarr's strong aroma, but ten times worse.

She saw that it was full of other beings like Roarr, although with different skin colorations and ornaments. There were yellowish-green with black spots, reddish brown and although some seemed small, they easily surpassed N'vara by one head. His attention was drawn to a huge specimen with skin and dreadlocks red as ocher, iron rings dangled from his jaws.

-"Grrrrooar" The humanoid growled at the small woman staring at him. Roarr noticed and dragged N'vara away from him.

-"Keep your face down and don't stare at them, it's an insult," he ordered.

She looked at Roarr hesitantly, but the seriousness on the Hunter's face made her look down. In fact, across the street, she saw two of the beasts lying at the feet of their master, a yellow skinned hunter with black stripes who was selling blood-dripping meat from carcasses hung from hooks on his shop. He stroked the head of one of the animals that corresponded with a slight purr. The humanoid offered him a piece of greenish meat and the animal gulped it down. "No, I am less than an animal to them"

She followed Roarr's steps through the streets. Even though he walked slowly, he had the largest stride, N'vara had trouble keeping up with him and often lagged behind, Roarr stopped and rushed her.

-"Hurry up. This place is dangerous for you," he clicked.

N'vara wondered why he had brought her to this place. Why hadn't he left her at home? This had to be a test of some kind. Their culture, she had noticed, were all about testing themselves and others constantly.

-"I have some skins here," Roarr said to a large humanoid with long spines on his chin very similar to a beard that was in front of the hut they had stopped at. There were numerous artifacts made of leather and the same shiny material that covered Roarr's clothing.

The elder examined the pile of furs, stopping to admire some of the tattoos on them.

-"As usual, your pelts are of excellent quality, Kau'tika," he remarked, pronouncing the last syllables with a click of his jaws.

N'vara had heard that word before, and not in reference to her hunter, so she knew it wasn't his name. She assumed it was either his title or his profession, something attributed to others like him in general. He had never minded her calling him Roarr, which was good for she did not know his real name. She understood she would never be able to pronounce it even if she knew it, she lacked the necessary mouthpieces.

Roarr and the old man from the store engaged in an exchange of anecdotes as they examined the merchandise. The heat and humidity inside the establishment began to be unbearable for the woman. She was drenched in sweat and she had the feeling that the old man disliked her smell, he kept huffing and snorting when he glanced her way subtlety.

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry and she looked for a source of water. She had seen a small waterfall that fell into a stone pool at the other edge of the plaza, obviously it was where the Ka'Dghas and Z'van drank, but she didn't mind. She calculated the distance and deduced that it was within the range of the necklace, at about twenty times her own height.

She headed there and dipped her head into the crystal clear water and as she pulled it out, the water splashed onto her shoulders and back, refreshing her. After this she clasped her hands together like a vessel, collected the liquid, and drank it.

A clicking sound behind her made her turn. One of the warriors stood there, his skin was a dark brown with black mottling, his armor was reddish in color, and a tannish leather loincloth covered his genital area. On one side of his belt fell a mesh with two Nara skulls, and on the other a strange dagger that at first seemed to be yellowish stone, but she quickly recognized that it was bone.

-"Look at me!" he growled when she averted the gaze, as Roarr had instructed her.

N'vara kept her stare down, so as not to insult him. The skulls on his belt and the jaw piece that decorated his mask told her that it wasn't a good idea to piss off the fierce-looking humanoid.

She made the submission sign, raising her right arm with her outstretched palm. The giant slapped her hand away.

-"I said: Look at me!" he repeated, "You don't look like a M'Rkata."

Had he just called her an ape? She was offended, though she did not show it. She could have guessed that Roarr's people had a very low opinion of her kind, the Naras, she hadn't needed it to be confirmed

N'vara looked sideways, Roarr was not around to protect her. The dark skinned warrior came even closer, took her chin in one hand, and lifted her face roughly to get a better look at her.

-"Fine features," he said, and stroked her hair, tied in dreadlocks. He took off his mask and sniffed them, "You don't even stink anymore."

N'vara took a good look at him, instead of his lower left jaw he had a stump of burned skin, his eyes were bright yellow and his flat face was lined with four diagonal scars. It reminded N'vara of something terrible…

The memory of yellow eyes and claws, blood and pain came to her mind, she pushed the giant's claw away from her face and hit him unsuccessfully with her fists.

-"Noooo! Nadanu!" a name formed in her mouth, deep from her consciousness.

N'vara scratched the face of her attacker, and he gave her a tremendous slap that threw her to the ground.

- "K'sitra, Aham'tustah!" he exclaimed, pleased.

He approached once more, this time ripping off her robe, exposing her breasts. The giant held her wrists with one hand while with the other he reached his crotch. She squirmed to escape but it was useless.

At that moment, the attacker fell to the side, thanks to a strong punch from Roarr, who had just come out onto the plaza.

-"She belongs to me," Roarr warned him, pointing to N'vara.

-"Do you want to fight for her? I don't see your brand on her" the other replied with a growl and prepared for combat.

-"Murk'ha Har'Sati," Roarr exclaimed, "Only thinking about mating, would you do it with an animal?"

This infuriated the warrior who, like many others in his clan, didn't see the Nara as animals, at least not in matters of pleasure.

It wasn't uncommon for younglings to train with young Nara before mating with females of their own species, as females were stronger and they could be injured without mastering the technique first. But this one, clearly only wanted to do it to feel himself dominant.

Roarr pushed the larger male on his shoulder, this was the proper way to start a fight, the other roared, stretching his arms out and flared his jaws, agreeing the challenge. This attracted bystanders' attention, who stopped doing what they were doing and formed a circle around them. The hunters always enjoyed a good fight. They circled each other for a moment, then the unknown male attacked.

He thrusted himself and tried to hit Roarr's belly with his elbow. Roarr caught him, and smashed his skull into his opponent's face with a sickening crunch, the burned mouthpiece he had fell loose, he had clearly dislodged it.

The larger male was momentarily stunned and Roarr took the opportunity to throw him to the ground. He attempted to trip Roarr by sweeping his leg, but he jumped and landed on the fallen male, straddling and pinning him to the ground with his talons. Finally, a devastating punch to the flat face sent phosphorescent blood splashing across the stone tiles of the plaza.

- "Leave!" Roarr growled, getting off the larger male and standing to his feet. The other wiped the blood from his jaws and spat on the ground, he glared balefully at both N'vara and Roarr before he ran out of there, bumping shoulders with everyone in his path.

Roarr watched him flee and chuffed before he collect N'vara, who was still on the ground trembling, and repeating just one word: Nadanu

- o -

Hello readers, First, I want to thank elven_prophecy for her extensive editing, whitout her, this chapter would be very different and lackluster. Second, I corrected chapter two as the main story take place two months after N'vara's kidnapping, not a whole year, this is because it fit better to the story and what I have in mind.

As usual, here is the glossary for the two languages.

Yaksa:
Kau'tika - Poacher, sport hunter
Ka'Dgha - Burden beast, cattle?
Z'van - Dog, Hound.
M'Rkata - Monkey, ape-like (insult)
K'sitra - Female warrior, m. K'setra
Aham'tustah - I am pleased (expression)
Murk'ha - Useless
Har'Sati - Sexually excited, horny?

Ancient Human language:
Belu - Great Eagle, God of Sky
Nadanu - Cave Lion, also Leo constellation.

Next chapter soon, don't forget to comment! Meanwhile there are other stories you can read. Predator: The Ritual is near it's end, just two more chapters, after that I'll put all my efforts in Prometheus and a re-issue of Predator: The last Hunt, with new scenes, fixed dialog and backstories for the human characters.