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I stared down at the human camp from a tree. Ripper and several drones were with me. Shouts and chatter rose from below. i strained my ears, but even if I could hear them I wouldn't have been able to understand them. I sighed. This was one of these times where it would've been great to remember English. I had been speaking Xenomorph for the past 10 years, so kinda forgotten everything. I watched as the humans voices raised, apparently arguing over something. They were guesting wildly. I hoped they hadn't found the Hive and were arguing over how to attack us. Ripper shifted beneath me.
"Sam can you-" I cut him off.
"No." Flicking my tail, I jumped down beside him. Walking forward, I peered over the bushes. I watched as the marines began shouting. They were cut short as a human male walked out. He barked something at them. They fell silent. I narrowed my eyes. So this man seemed to be there leader.
"We need to kill him first if they attack. Without him, order will fall." I told Ripper. He walked forward, ducking under the large branches. He nodded.
"Yes." I watched the camp again. Suddenly, a loud yell came from one of the tents. Every single human shut up and faced the tent. The Warriors hissed lightly and Ripper shushed them. I knew the Warriors were anxious being this close to humans. I leaned over and quietly whispered in his ear.
"Maybe we should send them home, I don't want them to launch an attack." Ripper nodded. He did that and the Warriors rapidly pelted away. I watched as the tent opened and another man walked out. But that wasn't what had my mouth falling open, shock flying through me and sending my heart pounding. A beautiful girl walked out behind him. She was about my age it seemed, with long brown hair, brown eyes and a body that could kill. My breath became shallow and my eyes widened. She was gorgeous. I watched as she walked, unaware of Rippers eyeless gaze boring into me like a drill. I was also unaware that I was starting to salivate. Suddenly, I was flying through the air, a Praetorians fist colliding with my face. I shrieked as I hit a tree but was instantly silenced by Rippers hand clapping over my mouth. I snarled. Ripper lashed his tail.
"Remember your allegiances boy!" Ripper spat. I squirmed. Telepathically, I asked him,
"Ripper, what the hell are you talking about?!" Ripper shook me.
"Concentrate! You are a Xenomorph, not a human!" I froze, startled. Anger sprang beneath my skin, causing me to snarl at the Praetorian.
"Your nuts. I haven't seen a single human in over 10 years and you expect me to not notice?!" I all but roared at him over the Hive link. He dropped me like a sack of potatoes. He turned and stalked away beneath the trees.
"Come on. We're going back to the Hive." I watched, anger boiling within me. How could he blame me?! I hadn't seen a human in 10 years so I think it was alright to stare. I returned my gaze to the camp, hoping for a last glimpse of the girl, but then squeaked when I saw the humans pointing up at the slope we were hiding on. I instantly crouched and ran after Ripper. He ignored me as I bounded to his side. The walk home was silent. Once we were in the darkness of the Hive I ran to the pool that I cleaned in. It was due for a visit.
An hour or so later, I padded into Mothers chamber, seeing her still talking with Ripper quietly. I curled my lip at the Praetorians back. He was probably talking to Mother about me. I hissed lightly and lashed my tail.
"Sam!" I heard my name being called. I turned to see Eren and Shade run up to me. I purred at them.
"Hi guys." I said. Eren slid to a stop in front of me.
"Is it true that you like a human?" She demanded. I froze, gawking at my friend. Shock kept me silent.
"What? Who told you this!?" I demanded. Shade pointed to Ripper. I spun with a snarl. That asshole! I hissed in fury.
"He has no right telling everyone." I snapped.
"And no it's not true." I lied. I turned and raced out of the chamber before I did something asinine, like tear Rippers head off. I ran back out of the Hive. Racing into the forest, the trees blurred around me as I headed for the compound. Tearing into the compound I lunged at one of the buildings and tore into the cement, digging my claws into the granite, clawing it over and over and stabbing with my tail. Soon, the wall was reduced to dust. I took a deep breath and sat down among the dust and rubble. I buried my face into my hands with a muffled screech. I sat there for a while, waiting as the anger burned off in me. Suddenly, glass crunched and my head shot up. I leaped into a half crouch, a low growl in my throat. I froze however, when I saw who and what had found me. My mouth dropped. The human female from before was standing in front of me, several feet away. I backed up and fell, sprawling onto the dirt. She giggled. I stood then, baring my teeth a low growl in my throat. I didn't want to hurt her, just intimidate her. I swiftly glanced around to make sure she was alone. My head snapped back to her when she spoke. I tilted my head at the sounds coming from her mouth. She spoke for a little before realizing I wasn't catching on. She stopped and smiled. I narrowed my eyes. She took a step forward and I raised my tail, snarling a warning.
"No closer." I growled. She stopped. I lowered my tail. She carefully sat down. I watched her warily. She looked at me. Her eyes travelled over me, taking in my black hair, blue eyes, bare chest and arms. Her eyes glanced to my tail when I twitched it. She blinked, then she smiled. She said something to me. Again I couldn't understand so I just shook my head. Her eyes flashed with sympathy. She brushed her hair out of her face. I sniffed the air as a wind blew her scent toward me and my eyes widened. She smelled beautiful, like the forest, grass and water. But I could smell underneath the scent of humans. She watched as I carefully sat down, still keeping my eyes on her. Again she spoke, making the same sounds over and over, whilst pointing to herself. I knew what she was trying to tell me. Her name. I bared my teeth snapping my jaws once. She paused and looked at me. I shook my head and pointed to myself and then at her. I was trying to tell her I knew she was telling me her name, I just couldn't understand her. She chuckled then pointed at me and titled her head. I groaned and dug my claws into the soil. I pointed to myself.
"Sam." I said, saying it in Xenomorph. To my utter surprise she tried to imitate the growls that formed my name. I laughed then, she had called me a seat. I shook my head and said it again. It took her another 3 tries to get it. I felt happiness well up inside me when she said it right. My tail wagged and I whipped it around my waist. I never wagged my tail. The girl laughed and her laugh was as beautiful as her. I blushed lightly. She began to repeat the sounds that I now knew was her name. She said it slower and I tried to imitate her. My first attempt was a colossal failure, even I knew it. She laughed harder. I snorted, blushing. She giggled and started to lean over. Instantly, I flipped backwards, landing in a crouch teeth bared at the hand that was stretched out towards me. She froze, and slowly retracted her hand. I slowly relaxed and eased back to a sitting position. I watched her quietly as she sat there watching me. For over an hour, we didn't move. Just looked at each other. Suddenly, the girl took out a device and I flinched, unsheathing my claws should it be dangerous. She looked at it, before exclaiming something and getting up. I watched as she began to head towards the exit, before pausing and turning back to wave at me. I blinked as she left. I sighed and lay back on the ground. A rustle made me sit up. I spotted a flash of black before Shade stalked out. I flinched at the anger that was radiating off my best friend. The furious Xenomorph walked up to me and stood there glaring at me. I blinked.
"What?" I said quietly. "She didn't harm me, or threaten me in any way." Shade lunged and slammed me into the ground. I screeched as my head smashed into the ground. Shade crouched over me, a furious hiss bubbling in his throat.
"You asshole, she knows you exist! Remember how you were afraid of how you would be experimented on?! Now she's probably going to tell all of them!" He snarled. I wriggled underneath him, hissing.
"She won't, she's not like that. I can tell." I replied. Shade stood with a screech of frustration.
"SAM SHES A HUMAN! THEY ONLY KILL AND BETRAY!" the warrior bellowed. I roared at that.
"AM I DEAD YOU MORON!? DID SHE HARM ME IN ANY WAY!? NO!" I hissed. Shade roared in frustration and lashed his tail. He spun and paced.
"Sam I swear to fucking god I will kill you if you get this Hive destroyed." He growled. I sprawled back onto the ground. Sighing I stood up and dusted my jeans off. I looked up then saw a black blur flying towards me. Shades fist slammed into my face and then everything went black.
Loud voices chattering woke me. I groaned and sat up, opening my eyes to see almost the entire Hive gathered in front of me. I looked around, seeing the backs of the Praetorians and looking up I saw Mother holding me. A buzz of chatter buzzed through my head and hisses and snarls rang through the chamber. I sat up.
"Mother, what-" I was silenced immediately. Mother growled.
"Is it true that you were with a human?" She demanded. I blinked. The Hive fell silent as they waited for my response. I paused.
"Well I was in the compound and was sitting there and she found me! I didn't go looking for her or anything!" I protested. The entire Hive hissed, resounding through the chamber. Mother growled and they fell silent.
"Sam, you have made a grave mistake. Now that she knows you exist, she could tell the humans and our entire Hive will be in danger!" she snapped. I bristled, but then had an idea.
"Mother, what if she could be our ally? If I could teach her our language, she could teach me English again and inform us of what they are planning. I know she won't tell the others, if she did, she would have brought me back with her." I explained. The Xenomorphs fell silent, considering. Mother paused, hissing lightly. She was silent for a while before she spoke.
"You have 10 days. If I don't have results by then we will have to kill her, she will know too much." she said. I swallowed the snarl that rose in my throat. Instead, I bowed my head. Even if my plan failed, I wouldn't let my family harm her. The girl was too important. Killing her would only antagonize the humans. I just nodded. Mother set me down and I stared out at my family. My tail twitched nervously. I wasn't too sure whether to stay where I was, safe by Mother, or risk walking through a sea of angry and disappointed Xenomorphs. I took a step forward, tense and worried. When no one moved, I kept walking, slowly moving through the crowd. The slowly parted to let me through. They watched me carefully, as I did in return. They were quiet. My nerves finally snapped and I fell to all fours and bounded out of them room quickly. I wanted to be away from their watchful, untrusting gazes. I leaped into my den quickly. I lay down in my den. Images flashed through my mind, me being hived and impregnated, driven out, hunted and killed, the list went on and on. I was scared, because my so called, betrayal, had led them to lose their trust in me. I groaned and shoved my face into the pelts. Curling up, I tucked my hands into my chest and curled my tail around me, tucking my legs into themselves. I lay in the position of the dormant Xenomorph. It was used when there was either no Queen or when it was extremely cold. Right now, there was no cold, just a lot of doubt and misery. An hour passed and I lay there. Abrubptly, I sat up. I could've been working on my plan, but then I remembered she had gone home. I sighed. Finally getting up, I walked out of my den. The Hive was back to work and things had gone back to normal for the moment. I decided to hunt, seeing as there was nothing to do. I headed out alone. I didn't want to be with anyone and have to deal with the accusing looks and silent treatment. I jogged out of the Hive. Heading into the forest, I climbed a tree and quickly scanned the area around me. I spotted a female deer with a fawn feeding in a bank of ferns. I crept down the trunk before jumping to another tree. I made my way around the pair until I was behind them. I crouched on a low hanging branch before leaping into the does back and driving my tail through her throat. She bucked and collapsed without a sound. The dawn was off and running. I jumped off the doe and ran after it, only on two legs I was able to keep up. I grabbed it's neck and squeezed. The deer fell and I broke its neck. dragging it back to the other carcass, I grabbed both and put them under a log so I could collect them later. Walking off, I looked for more. A bush rustled. I spun, lashing my tail. I crept towards the bush, but then froze as a head poked through the branches. It was the human female! I stared, shocked before leaping towards her. Ignoring her little yelp, I dragged her away in the opposite direction of the Hive. She grabbed my arm and tried to pull me off but I spun around with a snarl, and shook my head. I held my finger to my lips. She nodded and fell silent, eyes wide. I kept pulling her away until I knew she was safely away from the Hive. I released her and turned. She looked at me. I tilted my head and gestured at her. She pointed to herself, then her eyes and then at me. My eyes widened. She had wanted to see me. I nodded and tilted my head again. She took that as a why, and shrugged but then smiled. She sat down on a fallen log and patted the space next to her. I narrowed my eyes, and cautiously sat down, maintaining a bit of distance from her. I wrapped my tail around my waist and began to clean my claws, ignoring her. She seemed content to just sit and watch me. After a while, she suddenly reached out to run her hands through my hair and I jerked back, a startled hiss escaping me. She giggled but reached out again. I bared my teeth, but didn't move as her soft hand tangled through my black hair. She stroked and fingered the strands, threading it through her nimble fingers. I hissed lightly in content. Oh. It had been a while since I had truly dealt with my hair, and it felt heavenly as she combed through it, straightening it and working out the tangles. When she finally finished, I was a mess, purring and tail and limbs limp at my side. She laughed, and stroked my head again.
"Thank you." I mumbled, even though she wouldn't be able to understand me. She must have gotten the overlying tone, and nodded. We sat in the warm sunlight quietly, the only sound being the wind. I turned to the girl. I decided to show off a little, but before I could, Mothers voice sounded in my head.
"sam please return home." it was the tone that expected immediate obedience.
"Yes mother." I replied, before standing. the girl looked at me. I pointed to the west, where my Hive was and then to the east, where her camp was. She nodded and stood as well but before I could move away she leaned forward and hugged me. I froze, shock keeping me still. I catiously brought my arms around her. I breathed in her scent, which was like breathing in honeysuckle. I backed away, and before she could do anything more, I ran into the bushes. On the way home, I leaped into the river to clean off her scent. I entered the cool darkness of the Hive dripping wet and shivering. I quickly ran to my den to dry off.