Author Note: I do not own Predators. Hope you all liked the first chapter, even if nothing much happened in it. But it was the opening chapter. Thanks for supporting the sequel everyone! I'm really trying my best to update at least once a week, but if I don't update every week please bear with me. Requests and suggestions always welcome. Enjoy! Oh, and I'm using the Hish from Predator: Forever Midnight by John Shirley, but with my own tweaks.
~Chapter Two~
~Paya-sain'ja~
I gazed around at the unfamiliar ship, the design different from a yautja ship. It was a more tribal, simple-looking ship but still as mysterious and powerful as one built by a yautja. The being inside were the same as the ship: familiar yet strange. They closely resembled yautja, but with subtle differences. These not-yautja were slightly taller, their "dreadlocks" ending in bright red or deep purple tips.
There was a group of these strange yautja, standing in what was clearly a medical bay. Lying on the gurney before them were, to my shock, two dead pups.
"The sickness is spreading faster," said one of the not-yautja. He must have been a medic. "And it is still only affecting immature Hish." He shook his head, purple-tipped dreadlocks fanning out slightly behind him. "More are dying each day."
Even their language was familliar and strange. They spoke with a different dialect than the yautja I knew, understandable but barely so.
"Have you managed to find a cure yet?" asked another.
The medic sighed and shook his head again. "No, Leader. We are working as hard as we can. I wish we knew what to do."
The Leader turned to another of the strange yautja. "Have the gods responded to your prayers?" he asked.
"They assure me everything will be alright," the priest replied. "But they have not yet revealed the answer to our problem."
The Leader growled in frusteration. "What are we supposed to do? The gods have abandoned us!"
Suddenly, my vision was swept away and I felt the familiar presence of Cetanu, the god of death.
"Paya-sain'ja, do not concern yourself with what you've seen," said Cetanu. "Rest and do not worry."
With that, I slipped away into dreamless sleep.
...
I was confused when I awoke, feeling troubled. I felt...like there was something I should remember, something very wrong. And it involved the gods. But I couldn't recall what it was. I got up and started getting ready for the day, putting on my priestess armor and brushing out my brown hair, which was just past my shoulders. I made a mental note to cut it before heading out for my training with Kwei. I was so preoccupied with my strange feeling of dread I didn't notice the three priests standing outside the ship's temple until I ran into one of them.
The priest (whom I recognized as Dtai'k-de, one of the priests that most fervently opposed my new rank), snarled at me. "Watch were you are going, ooman," he spat.
"I apologize, Dtai'k-de," I said, doing my best to sound respectful. I tried to not let them affect me.
He glared at me with undisguised hatred. "You should go back to your own filthy planet," he said, which surprised me. Most of the priests didn't ever openly insult me.
I met his gaze with more bravery than I felt. "My place is here," I stated.
"So you say," Dtai'k-de said. "But you don't belong here. Not in our clan, and certainly not among the priests. Your very presence desecrates our temple."
My body stiffened with growing rage. I had as much right to be there as any of them. I spoke to the gods as clearly as they did, perhaps even more so.
Dtai'k-de shoved my shoulder before I could reply. The action stunned me. He was challenging me to jehdin/jehdin-hand-to-hand, one-on-one combat! I quickly weighed my options. Even without my crippled hip, I was no match for a fully-grown, trained yautja. With my hip, there was zero chance of me winning. Still, this challenge wasn't taken lightly among yautja. My honor in the clan was at stake. If I refused to fight, it would be worse than defeat. Worse than death, in yautja eyes.
Therefore, when Dtai'k-de came at me with a punch, I resonded. I sidestepped quickly and grabbed his fist, using his own momentum to throw him away. He didn't move far, though, and skillfully righted himself, snatching my arm and swinging me, chest-first, into the wall. I vaguely heard roars of approval but couldn't think straight. My armor had absorbed most of the shock but the impact forced the breath from my lungs. Gasping for air, I couldn't fight back as Dtai'k-de turned me around and wrapped his hand around my throat, squeezing so I couldn't draw air.
My vision blurred and black spots danced before my eyes. He was going to kill me.
I did the only thing I could: I opened my mouth and bit down on his wrist. Yautja had thick skin but in my desperation I managed to bite hard enough to break the skin and draw a rush of hot blood. I gagged on the bitter taste of the glowing green blood as Dtai'k-de howled with fury and dropped me. Still breathless from being strangled and from the blood, it took me several long moments to get my breath back. Dtai'k-de came at me again, yellow eyes burning with rage.
He threw another punch at me but I sidestepped again. However, this time I overextended my leg and I felt my damaged hip muscles tear. I gasped and went down, clutching my hip. My vision blurred with tears of pain.
Through the haze of tears, I saw Dtai'k-de come at me again, but he froze when a roar of anger filled the hall. Kwei went for Dtai'k-de and swiftly and mercilessly beat him into submission.
"How dare you!" she screeched. "How dare you attack Paya-sain'ja?! Of all the dishonorable things to do..."
"Dishonorable?" demanded Dtai'k-de. "Is it, really? I was merely challenging her right to the title of High Priestess. There is no dishonor in that."
"You attacked one weaker than you. A cripple," snarled Kwei. "Tell me, Dtai'k-de: is there now honor in defeating a cripple. One who has no chance of defeating you? I think not." She turned to me and pulled me to my feet, letting me lean my weight against her. My hip wouldn't take my own weight. "Come, Paya-sain'ja. Let's get you to the medical bay."
I nodded and let her take me away, feeling the burning gazes of the priests on my neck. They wouldn't forget this. This would surely be the last straw.
And next time, Kwei wouldn't be around to defend me. They would make sure of it.
...
Please review! So what did you think? I'm personally proud of how this chapter turned out. Hope you liked it! :3
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