Hey guys, thank you so much for the messages and comments! The support I feel in this fiction is amazing, you're all wonderful! I have chapter 7 already written, just waiting for my Beta reader to correct all of my many mistakes in order to make it more enjoyable.
A yawn escaped Eris' mouth as her arms raised above her to stretch. She didn't know what the animals she had been laying on all this time were, but they had given her the best sleep of her life. The fur that was most comfortable to her was a grey color with purple hues to it. She had to remember to ask Tichinde what animal this was and if he could gather more of them. Rolling around the furs, she didn't want to get up.
It had been a couple of weeks since Eris first boarded Tichinde's ship. In that time, she was surprised at how comfortable she had become after the shock of it all had subsided. It was a unique experience to be hunted by a Predator for hours on end every single day, but it had helped her learn a lot about them. They were definitely a superior species, in technique and technology. The way he was able to hunt her was absolutely terrifying and amazing all in one. The amazing part being that he didn't end up killing her at the end of the hunt.
It taught her a lot about herself, too. She was able to adapt to her new environment in ways she never imagined possible. Eris knew that when she left Nolan and became homeless she had adapted pretty well, but never thought that this would be on the spectrum of possibilities.
Her nervousness around Tichinde grew smaller by the day, too. She wasn't sure if it was because she knew he wasn't going to harm her or if she was truly getting used to being hunted. They hadn't gotten to the point where he could use his mask yet, and she was honestly dreading that, but she was improving on all levels.
To think that she could actually go 20 minutes without being detected by Tichinde would be a huge accomplishment that she really wanted to achieve, but knowing that would mean he could use his helmet and go invisible was terrifying. Right now, she could see where he was and choose which path to take from there to evade him. Not knowing where he was was a completely different ballgame. On one hand, she would be able to sense him with more than just her sight which would be a pretty cool trick. On the other hand, though, she would be on edge the whole time and the thought of him being down a hallway just watching her was a terrible thought. What if he just stood there and let her run into him? She would absolutely die.
Besides getting used to the hunting matches, there was a whole lot of other stuff that Eris had to get used to. For one, their bathrooms were nothing like she was used to. On the slave ship, she had a human looking bathroom where she could do her business in peace. An actual Predator bathroom was quite the sight. Being homeless, she was used to doing what she had to do, but there was something unnatural about the alien bathroom. Honestly, it was just a hole in the ground which wasn't a big deal, but it was still pretty unnatural for her. She remembered asking to use it for the first time and what her face must have looked like when she was looking straight into the depths of the unknown beneath her. Fortunately for her, she was used to the whole process now.
Customs played a big part in the unnaturalness she felt in the ship. Where she went to use the bathroom and where she showered were in completely different sectors of the ship. The showers though: amazing! It was like one of those fancy waterfall showers back on Earth, but way better. The pressure of the water falling down on her with its heavy weight was satisfying to say the least. The tile on the floor was gritty, which sounded horrible but was actually pretty nice. It kept her from falling over and didn't stab into her skin at all.
The weird oils that she used to wash herself were foreign, too, but she had never had softer skin in her life. The subtle bumps on her face were no longer there, completely free from any blemishes that she could tell of since there were no mirrors on the ship. She had never had softer hair, either. It had grown back some, no more than an inch or so, and felt healthier than back on Earth. Whatever these Predator creatures gathered to make such cleaning oils would sell for a pretty penny back home. For looking like such monstrous creatures, they were serious about their hygiene.
The biggest thing that Eris had to get used to was eating. Never in her life did she have problems eating food at all, even being homeless she ate some pretty questionable things, but this ship was different. The so called 'kitchen' consisted of an island counter that was just about as tall as she was. Stretching out beyond the length of her body, Eris knew that this counter had to be bigger than the cell she was kept in with two other women. The size made sense when Tichinde brought out a foreign animal the size of a grizzly bear to butcher it. Where he got the animal you ask? In a living room sized walk in freezer. He would walk in there, look through the animals as if he were to be picking out a shirt, grab it and slap it on the table before slicing it to pieces. The creatures that she had seen so far baffled her, the thought that they would soon be in her stomach didn't quite sit right.
Now, Eris had no problem with people who went hunting, but the way he kept them was pretty weird. She had to keep telling herself it was just a huge freezer, but it just reminded her that he was a brutal killing machine with a death fridge full of variously sized monstrosities. She had seen what was in that freezer and couldn't even begin to fathom having hunted those creatures. They varied in shape, size, texture, color, everything. They had no skin, which only made her wonder if she was sleeping on them in the hive-like bed. But the fact that he had killed them all was intimidating.
Once Tichinde had cut the animal to pieces, throwing away the parts that weren't meant for eating, he would ignite a stove-like counter top and begin to cook his meat. Eris was surprised when she saw him whip out what looked to be spices as if he were a huge Martha Stewart preparing a delicious roast. She had never in her life imagined an alien creature cooking, but if she had, it wouldn't have been like this.
Her first meal was interesting. After seeing what the creature had looked like before, minus the skin, she had absolutely no interest in eating it. Watching Tichinde butcher it, cook it, and serve it to her really didn't sit right with her. Normally, she would eat what was presented in front of her out of courtesy for the host, but not the blue-black slab of whatever the fuck that was in front of her. She would look over at Tichinde eating his with no problem, but all Eris could think of was how much she wanted that Naxa from the station. After getting a pretty intense glare from Tichinde, she finally took a bite and realized that it was probably the best meat-like substance she had ever tasted.
Now, this whole life was becoming normal to her. She was used to the way she had lived for a couple of weeks and realized that this life wasn't half bad. Sure, she was practically a slave, but she didn't feel like one. The only thing she was nervous about now was a planet that they would soon be landing on. Tichinde had talked about hunting and getting more meat for his freezer, which made her nervous. Would that mean she would have to stay on the ship by herself while he went off and killed things? What if he were to die? She wasn't ready to just die in space all helpless and such.
Lifting the upper half of her body from the skins she was buried in, she arched her neck upward to look into space. It was all out of her control and there was nothing she could do about it. Continuing to make the rest of her body get out of the bed, she was relieved that their sleep schedules were the complete opposite of each other. If it was up to sleeping on the floor or sleeping in the same bed with him, she would take the former. She wasn't disgusted with him or anything, the concept was just way out of her comfort zone.
Stepping out of the hive-like bed, Eris made her way through the hallways to the archway where she figured Tichinde would be since they were closing in on their new planet adventure. What was once a maze was now familiar ground for her as she easily made her way to the control room. As she passed the arch, she looked up to see Tichinde sitting in the control chair. Pressing button after button as he looked at the glass window where a galactic map stretched across, he seemed very focused on what he was doing.
"Are we almost there?" Eris asked softly, stepping closer to stand right next to the raised panel. She watched as the galactic map changed, zooming in on certain areas before zooming back out and repeating the process; the clicks from Tichinde matching the maps movement rhythm.
"Yes," Tichinde took his eyes off of the map to look down at the ooman. He was surprised with her, not knowing that he could ever have this kind of a relationship with her kind. When they were back at the Bad Blood Community Ship and he was auctioning her off, he wondered if he was going to regret his decision later on when he had decided to fight for her. He was pleased that he hadn't. "About an ooman hour."
"So, we have time to play a game of cat and mouse?" Taking her eyes off of the map, she looked up at Tichinde, who she caught looking at her.
Tichinde let out a laugh. He had never imagined that an ooman would ever ask him to hunt her, but here she was, wanting to play what she referred to as 'cat and mouse'. Pushing a couple more buttons to solidify their travels, Tichinde stood and left the room.
"Is it safe to take your silence as a yes?" Eris yelled after him, a laughing tone in her voice. He had a habit of just laughing at her and then leaving whenever she asked to play the game. She was surprised herself that she enjoyed it so much. The more she learned to evade the Predator, the more power she felt she would have under her belt. So far, Tichinde treated her with respect, but she didn't know if that would change or if something weird were to happen. He was a Bad Blood after all, which in human terms was a criminal. And who better to hunt a criminal than the police. Would that mean she was like his cocaine or something? Would she be taken into an evidence locker to just sit there the rest of her life for being illegal?
Shaking her thoughts from her head, Eris made her way down the twists and turns to find a room to start in. Once Tichinde's roar filled the hallway, she knew the game was on. She remembered him saying that they could smell fear, which no longer scared her because she wasn't scared of him anymore. Tip-toeing down the corridors to make her way through the ship, she kept her ears open to try to pinpoint where he was.
He was a stealthy creature so she had to stay hidden most of the time. She would hide behind a door frame or object until she could see where he was. A shadow, arm, foot, back, anything that would give her the ability to plan her next move. It was scarier when she didn't know where he was than when she did. When she could see him, she could just keep following him and stay hidden until the time was over or go the opposite direction. When she couldn't see him, she had no plans.
Catching a glimpse of him, Eris quietly entered the 'kitchen' area, ducking behind the island counter. Poking her head out from the corner of the island, she waited until she saw his foot pass the entrance of the room. Bringing her head back in slightly, she waited to see which direction he was going in so she could go the opposite.
Watching him from the counter, she couldn't even hear his movements. It was hard to believe that a creature that massive would leave no sound. Slowly taking her head all the way back, she began to slide to the other side of the counter. Peeking her head around it, she could see Tichinde's back moving away from her. As he walked towards one of the cabinets from across the room, Eris' breathing stopped when he did. As he quickly turned his head around, Eris brought her face back behind the counter. The sight of him whipping his dreads around, slapping his back with such force to try to sense where she was located was terrifying.
"Shit, he can smell fear and I just about lost it." She thought to herself as she went back to the other side of the counter, knowing all too well that he was heading towards where she was. Right when he was about to turn the corner to see where she was, she slipped passed the corner she once looked from and to a new side of the counter. His slow footsteps sent vibrations through the floor, helping her know how close he was before she had to turn another corner. She knew that he knew she was close.
As they played a merry-go-round game with the island counter, Eris knew she was going to be found soon. Trying to slow her heart while she continued to move around corners quietly, she noticed a small piece of bone on the floor. Grabbing it, she threw it across the room in hopes to distract the Predator. A quiet sigh of relief left her mouth when she heard him scurry to it. Taking the only chance she'd get, Eris quickly got out of the room.
Tip-toeing through the halls, she knew she had to form a plan now. Going into the shower room, Eris turned on the water to distract Tichinde into coming that way. Once the knob was turned, she began to make her way through conjoining rooms back to where she started. She could hear the water running from where she was and was happy to hear it shut off. Now she knew where he was.
Feeling like she had the upper hand, Eris relaxed a bit. Making her way back to the archway, she knew that at any moment he would call it and she will have won. She was only at the 14-minute mark in their agreement to go minute by minute and she knew that it had to be close. Waiting it out in the control room a roar finally filled the hallways. She had won and was now on to the 15-minute mark.
"I'm in the control room!" She yelled, making sure he could hear her throughout the hallways. When Tichinde entered the room, Eris couldn't help but give him a big, cheesy smile. "I got you."
"You're learning." Tichinde looked at Pike who was sitting next to the control panel. This was the first time she had used distractions. She was learning, which meant that their hunts were about to become more interesting. He wished that the hunt continued until he found her, but this way was best for her. If he played it his way, he didn't think that she would be willing to play it anymore since she would never get to win and have the satisfaction in trying again. With a win, he could see that she had fun and was more willing to keep it going. He was now able to hunt her longer, and she was willing to do multiple rounds in a row which kept his interest. It was a shame they couldn't play another right now.
"I thought you were going to find me at that counter." Just thinking about it made her adrenaline start again.
"I could smell you for a moment, but then you threw that bone. Smart move." He was genuinely surprised that she was able to think on her feet. She knew he was closing in on her, so she acted fast with her surroundings.
"Yep, then the shower!" She was so proud of herself.
"Next time, don't waste the water. Why the shower anyway?" He wasn't angry at her for wasting some of their water supply since they were about to be able to replenish.
"So I knew where you were in the ship since I knew you'd turn it off. Sorry about that, you talked about filling it back up on this planet, so I thought it would be fine." Eris knew that the water supply was limited so he would have to shut it off.
"Like I said, you're learning." Tichinde made his way back into the control chair, bringing the map back up to see how close they were. "We are almost there."
"Tichinde," Eris kept her eyes on the map on the glass, "What will I do when we're there?" This was the time to try to figure out what was about to happen.
"You'll stay in the ship." Tichinde could hear the worry in her voice. He wasn't sure why oomans worried so much.
"So, I will be in the ship while you go hunting?" She clarified.
"Yes." A quick reply.
"How long will you be gone for?" She was gauging how long she had to be alone.
"A couple of ooman days."
"Will the ship be on the planet or in space?"
"On the planet." Tichinde didn't know where this was going.
"What if one of those monsters you're hunting breaks into the ship?" Eris felt like her concern was valid. If a monster broke into the ship, she'd have no way in defending herself from it and the only thing that could save her would be far away.
Tichinde could understand why she was paranoid, but he'd never let something infiltrate his ship. "The creatures on this planet don't have the power to do that. I am not hunting for sport, I am hunting for food which means the prey is a lot weaker."
"So there is no way you can die?" Eris brought her right hand to her left elbow, playing with it as she waited for his answer.
"No, I will not be dying on this planet." It was moments like this that reminded Tichinde that oomans were fragile little creatures. If he were to die, he knew she would not be able to navigate the ship in any way, shape, or form. If she couldn't figure out how to open the door exiting the ship, she would be trapped inside until her dying breath.
He knew that she relied on him for her survival now. It was the responsibility that he took on when he went to battle for her. He knew that he would be her caretaker, making sure she had all of the essentials to stay alive. It would have been easier to just be alone and not have to deal with the emotions that oomans brought to the table, but he honestly didn't mind it. It was oddly satisfying to have this little creature rely on him so much. If he died, she would be screwed and she was fully aware of it. She wasn't acting like a lot of oomans he had encountered with other Bad Bloods who tried to escape at every cost. They were constantly trying to escape their Yautja masters and get away. If they were to ever escape, though, they would die shortly after. There was no way an ooman female, or male for that matter, would be able to survive in this realm.
"You promise?" Eris brought her eyes to look up at Tichinde in the chair. She didn't want to be alone and even though he claimed that he wasn't going to die, she wasn't sure of that. He was a superior being, yes, but she didn't know what he was going up against. All of the bodies she had seen in the freezer seemed like worthy foe for Tichinde, not some walk in the park.
Tichinde brought his eyes down to look at the female below him. He knew that 'Promise' was an ooman custom in asking the other party to keep their word. He didn't fully understand why she was asking him to keep his word since there was absolutely no way he was going to die on the planet, but if it would make her feel better, he would agree. "Promise."
A small smile formed on Eris' face as she took her eyes off of Tichinde. She was comforted that he promised he wouldn't go off and die, but she still had an uneasy feeling. She hadn't been alone since being sold off to the Predators, and even then it was only for a short time, she wasn't looking forward to days on end. "Whoa," without even thinking about it, her legs made her stand up. "Is that the planet?"
In front of her was a giant orb that grew bigger by the minute as they closed in on it. Besides more of an orange color, the scheme was similar to that of Earth. She could see where the lands broke up by what she assumed to be water. As they continued on, it wasn't long until they entered the planet's atmosphere and landed on the ground.
"This looks like a pretty creepy jungle." The feeling in her stomach wasn't any better once she saw what the planet looked like. Landing in an open area, what seemed to be a forest was all Eris could see in front of her. A light fog danced in between what looked to be haunted trees in a haunted forest with creepy looking branches that stretched out unnaturally across the sky above. She was back to feeling like Tichinde would absolutely die here, resulting in her death as well.
"There is nothing to be afraid of." Tichinde stood up from the control chair as he made his way to the exit of the ship. "There is plenty of food and water to last you until I get back."
"What?" Eris quickly turned around and ran to catch up to Tichinde, stopping herself right in front of him. "You're leaving right now?" She couldn't believe that they had just landed and he was already prepared to leave her. Did he not take a backpack or something with supplies?
"The sooner I leave, the sooner I return." Tichinde looked down at the female, noting the concerned look on her face and not being entirely sure why it was there.
"But we just landed. Aren't you going to go get some supplies to take with you?" She folded her arms in front of her chest.
"The only supplies I need are in my gauntlet and mask." One of his mandibles twitched at her actions, amused in whatever she was doing. She stood in front of him like she intended to stop him from going which he found comical.
"Well what about food?" She couldn't believe all he needed was just his hands and whatever he already had on him. It was so foreign. Everyone else she had seen who went on a hunting trip had some sort of equipment, not just a loin cloth and fishnet, this wasn't a goddamn rave!
"I am going on a hunt, that will be my food supply." Tichinde folded his arms in turn, waiting to see what else she had to say.
She narrowed her eyes at him, he was leaving now and there was nothing she could do about it. He was just going to go be gothic George of the Jungle in the haunted forest of death while she waited for days by herself in the ship. "Fine." She let her body shift to the side, opening up the hallway to him to pass through.
Unfolding his arms, Tichinde made his way to the exit of the ship, grabbing his helmet that he had set down before they played their game in the process. Pressing a numerical sequence so the door would open, he turned around to look back at the ooman who remained where she had stepped aside. "I'll be back in a couple of days. You will be fine." Leaving the ship, he typed in another sequence to close the door, keeping his sights on her until it was all the way shut.
"Fucking better." Eris let her back hit the cold metal behind her, arms still crossed. She had no idea what she was going to do for a couple of days. Did his couple mean 2 days like Earth or did it mean a couple of weeks?
"This really isn't the time to freak out about this." Pike popped up into her head.
"Yeah, well what the hell am I going to do if he dies?" Eris began to talk to herself as she took her back away from the wall and returned to control room to see more of the planet they were on. This was going to be her view for a couple of days, might as well get used to it.
"He's not going to die, and if he did, you can handle yourself. You're on a spaceship with a steady supply of water. If he dies, you'll just get one of his alien weapons and kill whatever is out there for food and bring it back to the ship."
"HA! Like I could really do something like that! You've got to be kidding me." She looked out into the haunted forest. "There is no way I can go out there."
"There was no way Nolan would ever hit you. No way you would ever be able to survive being homeless. There was also no way you could get abducted by aliens. No way you could survive at that marketplace. No way you could willingly get hunted by a fucking Predator. Whatever situation you have been put in, you have found a way to survive and this will be no different."
"Easy for you to say, you're just a persona."
"I've gotten you this far and I will continue to get you through whatever else needed. In a couple of days if he doesn't show up, then start to worry. If anything, treat these couple of days like a vacation. Collect yourself, refresh, relax, unwind. You can finally sing some songs like you've been wanting to."
Eris laughed at the battle going on in her head. It was true that she wasn't able to sing since she had been taken by the creatures. She wasn't good, but it was fun to do anyway and being with Tichinde didn't seem like a good time to start hollering away. Her voice of reason, Pike, was right. She shouldn't start to worry unless he doesn't show up in a couple of days. For now, she would just have to enjoy time to herself.
This was the first time Tichinde was alone since before his last voyage to Earth to collect more ooman females to sell. Having the ooman Pike in his company wasn't a chore to him, but it did take a lot of patience. He was used to controlling the beings and not putting too much time into them, so taking care of her was new to him. He would typically gather them up, train new members on his crew on how to take care of the oomans, then sell them off at the end of the day. This whole bonding with them thing was an eye opener on how they could operate. If he could find more oomans like her, he could get a lot more high-quality products in exchange for them.
Taking in a breath, he could feel his shoulders relax at the thought of finally being in his element. This wasn't the time to start thinking about business processes. Setting his eyes on the dto, or as the ooman called it: jungle, in front of him, Tichinde started his hunting journey.
This place, no matter how many times he came here, was his favorite of all the planets he had been to. There was a certain peace about it that he just didn't get from the others he had explored in his adventures. The prey here wasn't challenging anymore, but that didn't bother him in the slightest.
Trudging through the muck that spread itself between the trees, it wasn't long until Tichinde found himself on the other side of the dto. A field of orange tinted grass spread across a wide area, exposing a lot of what he was hunting. Activating his cloaking ability before fully exposing himself from the halkrath, shadow, that the trees provided him, he began to walk across the field towards the beasts to size them up.
Once a Yautja could talk, they were taught a code to live by consisting of 12 rules. The first: Hunt Worthy Game. When hunting, the hunter must be sure that his prey is considered game, and lawful to kill. Worthy game must fill the following criteria: Can defend itself and/or is able to kill the hunter himself, is of age, not linked to other lives, and not weakened by diseases.
Though Tichinde was a Bad Blood, he still lived by some of the rules. It was engrained in him and beaten into him at such a young age that it was hard to stray from all of it, especially when a lot of it made sense. The prey he hunted, whether for sport or for food, had to be worthy. The creatures he was inspecting could end up killing him, but since he was a seasoned hunter, he knew exactly what to do to defeat one of them, like he had done several times in the past. The planet they were on was his favorite, but the creatures on it weren't necessarily his favorite to hunt. Had it not been for the calmness that washed over him while being here, he wouldn't even bother to return to hunt unless in dire need to.
Looking at the six-legged, furry beasts, it wasn't long until Tichinde found one that would be worthy to fight. The creatures he was hunting stood taller than he did but despite having six legs, couldn't compare to the speed that he possessed. Watching the animal walk around while it chose which patch of grass to graze on, Tichinde uncloaked himself.
A loud, high pitched squeal filled the air as the giant beast spotted him, scaring off all of the other creatures alike. Running at him with all of its weight swishing from side to side with each step towards him, Tichinde knew that this one would produce a lot of meat. If anything, killing this beast would supply him and the ooman food for quite some time, but that didn't mean he was going to go back to the ship and leave. He was going to be out here for a couple of days regardless. If anything, it would also show him how the ooman female did when he wasn't around. Would the place be destroyed? He would find out and correct if needed.
With the creature closing in, Tichinde easily dodged when it swung its tough neck at him to try to knock him off his feet. The motion alone reminded him of when he first tried to kill one of these creatures. After everything that transpired on Ryushi left him labeled a Bad Blood, he obtained a much smaller ship from one of the ooman villages to escape with. He happened upon this very planet and decided to hide out, which was the ultimate reason for it being his favorite. His plans were to wait it out once the higher council got involved as they received word on what had transpired.
Landing on the planet, Tichinde knew that he would have to remain there until everything cooled down. With the crime he had committed, it would be a while before travel would be safe. Yautja never gave up on their searches, but something with more importance was bound to get the attention of the higher council, bumping his crime down on the list. Knowing he was going to be on the planet for some time until he felt everything had relaxed, this planet would be his home.
Disabling the ship's location device so it couldn't be detected, Tichinde made sure to cover the outside of it with foliage just in case one of the Blooded ships were to be flying around the area, spotting it from above. The ship he had taken from the oomans was inferior to Yautja technology, meaning that if it shot off any signals, they would be too weak to be detected by their ships.
Tichinde knew that the Blooded ships wouldn't be coming for him until after their own trip to Ryushi, taking this opportunity to hunt. Being one of the most superior races in the universe, the Yautja made sure to leave no trace of their existence behind. They would need to gather the bodies of their fallen, destroy the remains of the ship, exterminate the Kainde Amedha that still roamed the planet, and eliminate any ooman threat. If the oomans took any of their technology, or even a fallen Yautja body, then they needed to intervene and recover what was lost. It didn't bother his kind if oomans knew of their species, they just couldn't have proof.
He had walked the same path over and over, through the mucky dto to expose the orange field. The creatures that he saw there seemed docile as they ate their grass. Seeing their pelts for the first time, he knew it was something that he wanted as a trophy, not knowing that he would use it later to sleep on. Though the creatures were a lot taller than he was, he knew how to spot the one that would carry the most meat for him in his fugitive state. As he revealed himself to his chosen prey, that's where his journey in trying to kill one began.
At first, he went for the throat to try to kill the beast, thinking it was odd that the animal wasn't trying to protect itself there. When his dagger hit the skin for the first time, only barely piercing it, he knew that, despite the fur, it had very tough skin. The next place he tried was the animal's head and when nothing stopped the irate beast after he had stabbed there, Tichinde wasn't sure what would stop him. The creature had to have a weakness, since all living things did, but finding it was a challenge for him. It took stabbing just about everywhere to finally reveal where he needed to hit.
When he had first climbed the beast's back to try to find some sort of weakness to it while taking hit after hit from its mouth, he felt a soft spot near the 11th spine that grew out of its back. The skin there didn't look different, but it definitely felt different. Taking his dagger, he began to try to evade each quick attack from the head of the creature while stabbing diagonally right below the spine. That's when the animal finally slowed down until it ultimately collapsed.
Hauling the meat back to the ship and cleaning his deep wounds, Tichinde spent the next couple of days inside the hidden ship. Once he felt it was safe to get out, he found a peace within the planet that he hadn't felt before. His destiny was determined, he was a Bad Blood, and that was the path that he would have to walk.
Snapping back to reality as the beast swung its neck once more at him, Tichinde grabbed ahold of it after dodging it, he used the fur to begin to climb up the beast, making his way to its back. Knowing the anatomy of these animals from his prior hunts, Tichinde avoided the head and neck altogether and immediately went to that 11th spine on its back.
As the animal began to thrash around with him closing in on its back, Tichinde maintained his tight grip on its fur. Once on its back, he began to use the spine-like growths protruding out of its back as a way to travel across more efficiently, dodging the creature's mouth when it reached back for him. Counting as he did so, Tichinde stopped as soon as he made it to the 11th growth, continuing to dodge the beast's mouth. Using his right hand to steady himself before the next attack, he activated the wrist blades from the gauntlet on his left hand. Bringing it up, Tichinde began to stab diagonally downwards right below the growth, just like he had done several times before.
Howls echoed throughout the air as he continued to penetrate the beast's skin with his metal blades. Continuing the thrash around as a means to try to get Tichinde off of its back, it didn't take long until the thrashing slowed down until finally coming to a stop. All six legs buckled as the creature slowly fell to the ground. Filling the air with his own roar of success, Tichinde retracted his wrist blades before sizing the creature up.
The carcass laying in front of him was one of the bigger ones he had seen. This wasn't a typical Yautja hunting ground, these animals probably weren't hunted since the last time he was here, giving the species time to grow. Though plentiful in size, there was no way he could use all of the parts of this animal. A lot of it was completely useless to him nutritionally or just flat out didn't taste good no matter how many plants he seasoned it with. The core of this animal is what Tichinde looked at, which is why he wouldn't bring the entire animal back to his ship to put in his freezer like the others.
Deploying one of his nets so he would be able to carry the meat with him, Tichinde grabbed his knife from the sheath attached to his leg, bringing it to the belly of the creature before delicately inserting it into the tough skin. Though he had a lot of skins already and didn't need anymore, he thought this would be a good gift to give to the ooman.
She seemed to like the skins on his bed, occasionally bringing one out with her when she left it. She would claim to be cold as she walked towards him with a skin wrapped around her before sitting by him in the control room on the floor or in the meal room. It was always the same skin she would bring, too, the skin of the beast he had just killed. This pelt, though, would be a lot bigger than the one the ooman carried around with her.
Leaving the legs out of the skinning, Tichinde made sure to just get the circumference around the creature's middle. He didn't care for the legs, always tangled in his bed. The thought of the ooman with the skin and the legs flailing about did seem amusing to him, though.
Tichinde paused as he rolled up the hide. After a hunt was usually a time to think about the next hunt, and yet here he was thinking about the ooman female on the ship. Looking at the rolled skin in his hand, he knew it would make her happy, but why was he doing this? He had no desire to mate with the ooman, nor did he have any desire to court her. Placing the skin on his back, he shook his head and plunged the knife into the beast once more, this time to gather the meat to put into the net. He needed to think about something else, and this was the time to do it.
Taking the chunks of warm, bloody meat and tossing it into the net, it didn't take long until there were no more parts to be salvaged. Tichinde tied up the meat filled net before grabbing it and beginning to make his way back to the ship. Outside of where the ooman could see, he planned to hang the meat to dry, letting the natural juices from the animal exit the meat since it had a certain toxin in it that might kill the ooman.
Instead of trudging back through the muck, Tichinde slung the net over his back, making sure to avoid contact with the skin for the ooman, sinking his nails into the tree as he began to climb it. Once he found a solid enough branch, he began to jump from tree to tree until he made it back to his ship, being sure to avoid of the control room window he knew the female could look out of.
While passing the side of the ship to set up camp behind it to dry the meat, Tichinde stopped in his tracks when he heard a loud noise coming from inside the ship. Setting down the meat, knowing no creature would try to come for it, he activated his cloaking once more to look inside the front of his ship. Reaching the front and looking inside, a mandible raised inside of his mask in amusement at what he saw.
Inside of the ship was the ooman female spinning around while talking loudly. The rhythm in her voice was something he hadn't heard an ooman do before. When they spoke, it was soft or sharp noises, but this one lingered on, drawing out each one of her words. Not being able to hear what she was exactly saying, Tichinde didn't really know what was going on.
While she spun around and spoke loudly, Tichinde also noticed that she had grabbed all of his skins and placed them in the control area, making her own nest to sleep in. His bed was perfectly fine, so he was unsure why she had done this as well. Was this how oomans acted on Earth? It was interesting to him to say the least. He only ever got to see a frightened, sad ooman female, was this what a content one was like? Leaving her to her own activities since it didn't appear that she was in danger, Tichinde made his way back to his meat.
Using sticks from the dto, he began to pierce the meat before sticking them to stand in the ground. When he had a good ten sticks with a variety of meat on each one, Tichinde made his way back to one of the trees, climbing up top before finding a comfortable place to sit down, back against the tree. The sun on this planet was setting, darkening the sky.
Normally Tichinde wouldn't sleep this close to one of his ships when he was on a hunt. Even just for food, he would drop the meat off and then find another place to rest for the night. But this was his first time having the ooman on board and he was concerned for her. He saw the look on her face when he was leaving, it had fear written all over it. Though nothing on this planet would be able to penetrate the D'lex exterior of his ship, he wanted to make sure everything was good for her first night alone, plus she was providing some entertainment for him as well.
With the sky darkening it was easier to see inside the ship with no glare from the sun. The light from the control room lit up a bit of the field in front of it making it easy for him to look in. Using his helmet to zoom in and look at her, she was still dancing around and though he couldn't hear her anymore, which was nice, the movements of her mouth indicated that she was still at it.
It hadn't appeared that she had done anything malicious with his equipment in retaliation of him leaving, which was nice. He had heard several stories from Vex'ira about what would happen when he left an ooman female by herself, it was one of the reasons why he invented the collar. The worst one that Tichinde remembered was when Vex'ira was refilling his ship with water supply. The ooman had gone insane inside of the ship with freedom and began to destroy everything. Pouring liquids on his equipment, damaging the controls, making it near impossible to fix it all and get the ship back up and running. They were stranded on a planet that Vex'ira had only been to a handful of times, no materials that he could scavenge for or anything. Luckily, he had supply in his own ship that the female hadn't destroyed that he was able to get his ship to work once more, but had he not had the backup supply, he would still be stuck on that planet. After that incident, he invented the collar and programmed it to where the oomans could and couldn't go to on the ship.
Looking in on his ooman, he hadn't remembered to keep any room off limits when he had left, and so far, she was showing that he didn't have to. He wasn't sure how she would be in the future, but right now he was looking at something that wasn't a threat to their livelihood. Maybe the difference between the other oomans that Vex'ira had and his was a will to live.
The oomans Vex'ira owned had dead eyes, no sign of a soul in them. They followed his command because they had no other choice but to. The collars and Vex'ira's hand defined them. When Tichinde had gone to see him, the oomans that he had with him were fairly new. He knew this because they still flinched and had fear in their faces; it would only be a matter of time before they were blank, too.
Pike, on the other hand, had a will to live. Destroying any of the controls or mechanics of the ship would mean that we wouldn't be able to get off of this planet and he was sure that she knew that. Sure, she wasn't aware that Tichinde had spare parts and would most likely be able to fix the ship, but that wasn't a risk that he could see her taking.
Since meeting her on the slave ship for the first time, this ooman had done nothing but surprise him. He made the right decision in fighting and winning her. Taking his eyes from her, Tichinde let his head fall back and hit the tree. He would sleep for a couple of hours before hunting more beasts to replenish his food supply.
A couple days seemed to drag on for eternity as Eris rolled her way out of the pile of skins that she had brought to the control room. When Tichinde had first left her, she really didn't want to sleep in the hive-like bed while being on a new planet. She wanted to see what was going on, so she brought every single one of his skins out of the bed and into the control room. It took her several trips, but it was worth it. The haunted forest still scared her, but the sight was more bearable as time went on. She had no idea what he was hunting, though, since nothing popped up in view in front of the glass window.
Other than sightseeing, there really wasn't much for her to do. She was confined in a ship with no way to amuse herself besides singing and dancing around, and that was only entertaining for a limited time. Her first night was fun, she had to admit, since it had been what seemed like forever since she was able to be free to sing and dance. The last time she could remember doing that was far before she was homeless. It was sad when she thought about it, the fact that being on a foreign planet enslaved to some Alien race made her sing and dance more than when she was homeless on Earth.
The fact that she had been comparing her life now from the life she had on Earth concerned her a bit, not seeing how any of this was better. Maybe it was because she had lucked out and got a Predator that wasn't a raging asshole like the ones she saw at the market. She could have gotten it so much worse, but instead she was stuck with Tichinde. One of the biggest things she appreciated about him was the fact that he could understand and speak with her. Being on the slave ship, she was only able to fully communicate with him. She couldn't imagine what Alegra and Cara were going through.
Taking in a deep breath, Eris hadn't thought about Alegra and Cara for a while now. She missed them terribly, but there was nothing she was ever going to be able to do. She wished they had all stayed together, but that was never going to be the case. All she could do was hope that they had a Predator like Tichinde.
Standing up, Eris tried to shake the thought of her friends being in horrible places out of her head. The only thing she could think of at this time to distract her was a shower. Heading to the room that contained the waterfall, Eris stripped herself from her tunic before turning the knob that would allow the water to flow. The pressure from the water hitting her back was soothing, helping take her mind off of the horrors she was building up in her head about her friends. The shower was a definite way to successfully distract her, and the loud splashing of the water covered the sound of the ship door opening up.
Walking into his ship, Tichinde could hear the shower running so he knew exactly where the female was. Leaving the door open so he could bring the dry meat inside to place into his freezer, it took a couple of trips to get it all in. Once all of his equipment was inside and the door was shut, he began to make his way to the shower when he heard the ooman yelling again. As he got closer, he could make out her saying something like 'girls just want to have fun'. Confused, he moved closer until he was right outside the open doorway.
She seemed to really be wailing away in there, proclaiming her desire to have fun, which again made no sense to him. It wasn't until she started randomly yelling 'danger zone' that Tichinde entered the room. Now, this wasn't the first time he had seen this female naked, but this was the first time he had seen her dancing and naked. Looking around, he didn't know why she was screaming anything about a zone being dangerous, everything seemed up to code.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Eris screamed as she opened her eyes only to find a gigantic Predator looking right at her.
"You yelled about a danger zone so I came to help you." Tichinde kept his eyes on hers.
"It's a song, I am singing!" Turning the shower off, Eris grabbed her tunic and quickly covered herself with it as if it were a towel. Calming herself, she realized she was just more startled than anything. He had seen her naked before and nothing had come of it, but it was absolute habit to cover herself. She knew he wouldn't try anything, but she wasn't comfortable just being all super naked in front of him.
"That's what you call what you're doing, singing?" He knew a lot of words and terms that oomans used, but he had never heard one 'sing'.
"Well you don't need to insult me now." A laugh escaped her mouth as her heart began to calm down from the initial scare. "Also, thanks for not dying!" A feeling of relief hit her as soon as the initial scare was gone. He was back which meant they would be leaving this planet and she didn't have to die from hunger.
"I told you I wouldn't." Tichinde grabbed the skin hide that was on his back. "Here's another of the skin that you like so much." He tossed it over to her.
Without thinking, Eris let go of her tunic that was covering her to catch the object that was thrown at her. "God damnit!" She spoke as she crouched, still holding the bundle in her hand while her bent knees covered her breasts. Unwrapping it, a smile crept across her face once more as she saw the grey fur with purple hues. Stretching it out, she wrapped herself in it, covering up completely. "Wow, this one is so much bigger than the other one." She marveled in the skin.
"I thought you might like it." He couldn't take his eyes off of her, she seemed so appreciative. The Yautja weren't an emotive race, when a nice act was done it wasn't reacted to in the manner that she was.
"I do, I love it!" Eris noticed that he was looking at her. "Can I see what these animals look like alive?"
"No." Tichinde replied fast, not comfortable yet with her leaving the ship.
"Well, alright." The firm 'no' didn't dampen her mood at all. She wasn't sure she wanted to leave the ship, but that didn't stop her from being curious on the image of the animal that this skin once belonged to. "Are we heading out then?" She had no idea where they would be heading to from here.
"Once I fill the ship with its water supply, we'll be, as you say, heading out." Tichinde turned on his heel and moved back to the control room, hearing the female's steps behind him with a wet squish to each step. Sitting in his normal seat, he watched Pike make her way to the pile of skins on the floor to sit on, still wrapped in her new one. After they got water, he was going to make her put those all back.
Lifting the ship into the air, Tichinde casually flew until a giant body of water was beneath them. Pressing a button to release a hose that would suck the water up, it only took a couple moments until the ship's water capacity was full.
"Do you have a filter to make that water safe or is it already good to go?" Eris questioned as she looked at all of the water in her view, shifting her tunic back on in the process, using the skin for some privacy.
"The hose purifies it as it enters the ship, making it safe to use." He was pleased that she was curious. All of the technology that the Yautja race had was far superior than hers.
"That's pretty cool." She couldn't help but think about that sort of technology on Earth. They could make saltwater safe for everyone and no one would have to go thirsty. Too bad some sort of tycoon would keep it to themselves and charge out the ass for it. "So, where are we heading to now?"
"To my real hunt." Tichinde was excited to finally go on a challenging hunt. It had been a while since he had a challenge.
"But you just went hunting." Eris darted her head to look at him.
"That was for much needed food, this will be for sport." He kept his eyes on the map he pulled up as he began to ease the ship back into outer space. When it was just him consuming the food, everything seemed to last much longer. Now having a second mouth to feed, he noticed his supply run out quicker. It was nice in the beginning when the ooman wouldn't eat that much. Once she got used to it, though, she was a carnivorous machine.
A heavy sigh fell out of Eris' mouth as she fell back onto the skins. The next planet they went to, she would have to worry if he was going to die or not again. She didn't know why it was so ingrained into Predators that they had to hunt and hunt. She was confused.
"You can put those skins back where you found them now."
Another groan fell from her mouth as Eris stood up and began dragging skin after skin back to the hive-like bed. They were right back to where they started. Even though they had just left the planet, she felt as though they had never gone there. It was back to the same stuff, which she knew would happen. The only thing that kept reminding her that they were there was the skin that he had brought back for her. Another smile placed itself on her face as she looked down at the skin she was wrapped in. So far, she had it pretty darn good. After all the skins were back on the bed, Eris made her way back to the control room where Tichinde was, she couldn't believe something that looked like that had gotten her a gift, "So, wanna play Cat and Mouse?"
As usual, reviews are always appreciated, it fuels my writing! My Beta reader said it was hard to imagine the beast that Tichinde fights, so if you want to know what it looks like, feel free to PM me about it and I will send you a link to my 10 minute Paint drawing. Trust me, it is preeeeeettttyyyyy ggrrreeeeeaatttttttttttt. You'll all wonder why I write instead of draw with the artistic talent I possess.