A harsh rough sound assaulted his ears as he stepped off his ship. The world around was a mixture of shades of blue, from light to near black. He switched through a few visions that turned the world orange, then green, which he changed quickly to one that made it shades of gray before returning to the blue vision. He stepped down, turning to look at his ship as the ramp closed and small white lines of moved along it. Parts of the ship were nearly white in color, but were slowly fading to orange. He turned away from his ship, rattling in pleasure, then looking down at his wrist. He flipped open the shield of the blue wrist device and touched a couple of buttons with his bright orange finger. The same white lines moved along his skin and he flipped the device closed.
He faced the jungle again. The noises of the jungle sounded dulled, like under water, through a deep thrumming noise. He headed into the jungle at a brisk pace, moving quickly into the trees with a phenomenal leap. The branches creaked and cracked as he ran along them, his weight simply too much for them, as a few branches would fall from beneath him and force him to quickly move on. He paused and crouched, setting his bright hand against the blue branch he rested on. A creature of similar color was ahead. He zoomed up onto it, a small triangle appearing in his vision, locking onto the creature and he studied it. The dulled whirring of his gun added to the low thrum, then it whirled again and clicked, the triangle disappeared. The creature was a small quadruped, its head down in the blue brush beneath its colorful body.
He quietly moved through the branches towards it, keeping close to the thick trunks. Once he was above the animal, he studied it for a while, switching to a black and white vision for just a moment and zooming on the creature's belly. His vision returned to blue focused on the orange and red creature. He then descended onto it, a loud metallic sound slicing the air as his wristblades dug deep into the animal's back. It made a shrill painful cry, but it was short, and was soon silent. He removed his wristblades from the animal and swung them, the bright blood flying off of the blue weapons, before they retracted with the same metallic noise.
He lifted the animal up, the beast only about as large as his torso and looked it over. He tied it to a tree and cleaned it, then skinned it. There were two loud hisses, then he removed his mask, setting it down gently where it could see him as he cut a piece of meat from the animal and began to eat it, looking around, mandibles flicking out wildly as he feasted. One of these was shorter than its partners, and bent at an odd angle. He reached forward towards the animal's head, lifting it and turning it from side to side before letting it go. After another piece of meat, he reached for his mask, the bright orange hand obscuring the vision for a moment before it was neatly fit back on.
He looked over at the animal whose color was beginning to fade, then jumped up into the trees again. He moved deftly through the forest, pausing to investigate the bright orange colors he saw appear in his vision, but always moved on when it proved to just be another small animal. This lasted for several minutes, and the blue colors began to brighten slightly, and the noises died down for just a while, then started back up again with a vengeance.
He rattled his annoyance and shook his head, the mass of colors blending together blindingly before settling again. He heard loud crashes through the trees and moved towards them, jumping from branch to branch and finding another animal. This one was slightly larger than the ones he had previously been seeing, and behind it, many others of similar shape were wandering around the blue foliage. His vision switched to where the plants were purple rather than blue, and the many colors of the animals changed to just shades of orange, but he saw with much better detail.
A few of the animal had gently curved horns in a 'v' shape on its head, only about as long as his forearm. They all went stock still when he got closer to them, narrow heads lifted and looking around, but couldn't see him. These weren't worth his time, and he moved on, causing the group to scatter. He moved through the trees for a long time, pausing every now and then to survey the area and switch visions.
He rattled in frustration, moving through more trees, and then paused. In his vision, an orange bipedal figure stood up among the bushes, with several others like it crouched around. The triangle focused on the mass of color and he zoomed up to it, then zoomed back and turned away. The shape was a primate, but not the kind he was looking for. He grunted and moved through the trees again, changing directions, heading in a straight line. Eventually he stopped and turned, looking at the whole forest. He slid down to sit against the tree, breathing evenly.
He was still for a long while, just looking back and forth at sounds that changed around him. His rest soon ended and he was up again and moving. His search was futile; he found nearly every animal that could live in this place, but not the one he wanted. He was bored, killing a few animals here and there for pelts and skulls that looked decent enough for decoration.
While cleaning another kill such as this, with a small sharp-toothed creature, he heard a noise and turned suddenly, looking along the treeline for movement but saw none. He clicked curiously, activating his cloak again, and looking back to the trees. He moved slowly forward, silent as the still air around him. He inspected where the sound had come from, switching visions but finding nothing.
He stepped back, growling in disappointment, when suddenly his face hit the ground. He grunted and lifted up standing erect and turning, watching a receding body of orange go back into the blue foliage. He moved after it, crashing through the vegetation, wristblades extending. He caught up to the body quickly and swung at its head. It ducked down, whipping around with an extended pair of its own wristblades. He didn't even flinch as bright blood appeared on the weapon held in the hands of the long-bodied biped.
He swung his blades again, advancing as it retreated. His vision switched to the purple and orange, getting the human's features in detail and gave a half-second of pause. The female took that opportunity and lunged forward with the wristblades, slicing down at his stomach earning a small grunt as he retreated just a step. She then dashed back into the trees.
He moved forward after her, jumping into the trees, following the faded trail of footprints on the earth. These disappeared suddenly and he stopped, looking at the final set of prints as they faded from orange to purple. He went dead silent and looked around the bush, an orange line slowly flipping around his vision, waiting for a target. His vision lifted to the branches around him and looked for body heat. When he found nothing, he jumped down, moving to where the footprints had been and bending close, running his fingers along the depressed earth where he could barely see it.
He was suddenly struck in his chest by the long purple form of a ba, right beneath his collarbone, dangerously near his neck. He roared, stumbling back and grabbing the shaft, pulling it out and looking at the blood on the end and the small handprint on the shaft. He rattled in confusion and looked over his shoulder where his ba had been. He was holding it. He looked up at a flash of orange and retracted the ba, putting it back on his back and running after the female. He caught her form running in the opposite direction and turned on his toes to chase after her, but then she crossed behind him.
He stayed still, watching her move around him in a circle, rattling then roaring at her as she disappeared behind foliage again. He lifted up a disk, extending several arms of long sharp metal and he threw it. The weapon sliced easily through the trees in a wide arch, deep enough that a few of them began to fall and crash down to earth. He caught the weapon and threw it again, felling more trees, taking away her hiding spots. He caught it again, ready to throw it but roared in pain and turned. More of his blood was on her wristblades, and a heavy object fell to the ground. He glanced down at his necklace and back up at the female who was running into the bush again.
He lifted his arm and one of the wristblades shot from the bracer. A shrill cry broke the air as the figure faltered to the ground, holding her shoulder before continuing her retreat to the forest and vanishing again. She did not reappear, and he hurried over to look for blood. He found it easily. From the side of his vision, a small kit appeared and he opened it up. Rattling in satisfaction he removed a syringe and gathered the blood into it. He did this to the various spots he found until the syringe was half full. He inserted the needle into the side of his wrist device, then opened the shield and touched a few of the buttons as they flashed bright symbols at him.
He cycled through his visions to the new one he created, and found a bright trail of orange among a new entirely green background. He closed the shielding and followed. This time, where the prints disappeared, he found the trail again in the trees easily. He was close on her trail, though it wove and zigzagged erratically in no visible pattern.
He swung from a branch, landing on another then freezing. He heard voices through the hum of his mask. He cocked his head, a bar appearing in the side of his vision and a long red line flared and retracted with the words.
"Damn poachers," said the voice and he turned, changing his vision back to heat detection and zooming in to the direction the voices were coming from.
"I don't believe this is a poacher's doing," said the other voice. A small sliver of orange appeared through the blue foliage. He quietly moved to get a better angle on them. Two more humans, males, inspecting one of his earlier kills; a hooved animal whose tusked skull was on his belt. The two were looking over it carefully, pointing at where the head had been and the wounds from his weapon.
He zoomed in to the things he saw on their shoulders, and identified them as weapons. He looked to his side at where the trail of the female was. It would not go away so soon. He moved closer, slowly and silently. He bent low on the branch above the two men, looking down at them. He leaned forward, one hand securely on the branch as he lowered himself down. The two upside down men continued to speak to each other about what to do.
"We're not even supposed to be here anyway mate," said the one young man, moving his weapon from his shoulder and holding it in his hands, "this place belongs to that one tribe the others warned us about."
"A dying breed, there's only one woman left. She won't find us. Besides, the hunting here is good. I'm sure she'd appreciate if we took care of her poacher problem."
The other male looked over at his younger companion when he didn't respond, "Jones? Bloody-!" the young man dropped his gun, and fell, his blood on the wristblade. The Paya dropped down and the white lines of his cloak ran over his flesh. The older male's face focused suddenly on him, fumbling with his gun. The moment it was in his hands, a bright white light blew a hole through his chest. The male stood for a second before collapsing on the ground by his partner.
The Paya bent down, lifting the head of the older male, removing the circular helmet-like shape from his head to better inspect the skull. He dropped it with a sudden roar, looking at his side where deep wounds gushed bright yellow blood. He looked up to so see the female again, her wristblades now on her other arm, covered in his blood all the way to her hand. Something important was cut in him. The blades could not have gone that far into his body without severing something.
"Trespassers will die," she said, looking at the two fallen males. He roared and lunged forward, quickly correcting himself when she ducked out of view. He changed his vision back to the orange and looked around for her. She glowed brightly against the foliage, facing him, he reached back and grabbed his ba, extending and throwing it in the same fluid motion. The female moved only slightly to avoid the dangerous weapon, which crashed into the leaves and charged forward. He lifted his one wristblade and struck against hers, causing her to nearly fall to the ground, but she recovered and turned her falter into an upwards swing, drawing blood along his chest.
He swung his blade twice, back-handed and then forward again, and she hopped away with each movement. Once she was past one of the trees she vanished behind it. He rounded the tree, carving a deep trench in the wood and looking at her trail which went further into the forest. He chased after her again, realizing they were heading in the direction of his ship. He began to move faster, not so careful, making much noise as he went. Her path was straight compared to the other she had made previously. He stopped, looking at the trail and then back the direction he had come from. He backed up and got into the trees, staring at the trail before switching to his primary vision.
He took the moment to look at the wound in his stomach. He removed his mask again and turned it towards him. The vision switched to black and white, and stayed for a moment, looking at the Paya's body. There was a long line of darkness, and one large patch of it. He put his mask back on and symbols appeared all along the screen over various parts of the image he had taken. He growled, the kit appearing again, opening up in front of him on the branch. He used his wristblade to cut himself open, roaring in pain. More blood spilled out onto the branch and he heaved heavily. He reached for a small tube in the kit. It turned a bright color as it turned on and whirled. He looked down at his opened stomach, taking a heavy breath before pressing the device to where the internal bleeding was coming from. He roared again, several times as he closed the many wounds. He moved his hand and dropped the metal device into the kit, heaving, leaning heavily against his hand.
He then opened a metal dish, a ring of white appearing in the center of it. He looked around, tearing bark from the tree and putting it into the dish, he even sacrificed some of the ornaments from his dreads and a tiny skull from his necklace, crushing it to pieces. He removed a small cylinder from the kit and poured a green liquid into it that quickly heated up to orange, then red and moving up to white. He waited for a moment as it all turned into a white liquid, then cooled down to a pink jelly. He took a small metal stick and took some of the jelly. His roars were deafening as he put the jelly on the wound he had made on himself, then onto the entry wound of the wristblades.
His rattle expressed pain and anger, dropping the metal stick into the kit and lifting a large syringe full of black liquid. A small stream of this came from the tip of the needle. He took another heavy breath and placed the needle into the flesh of his chest above his heart. The entire liquid shot into his system, and his roar of pain echoed through the trees.
It took a moment for his hoarse breathing to go back to normal, inaudible to the mask, and he packed up the kit and it vanished from his vision. He looked at his hand, flexing his fingers and retracting the single wristblade. His vision changed immediately back to orange, and he looked down at the trail on the ground. Through the branches he followed it, moving to the side so that he was several feet away. They led him into a small space between thick growing trees. He did not enter, staying behind and surveying the area. He moved quietly around the space, keeping to the trees, keeping his eyes on the small clearing.
He paused when he saw a dully glowing orange. He crept towards it, seeing where it was crouched under some bushes. He moved overhead of it then he extended his blade and dropped down, raising his hand for a powerful swing. The blade stopped just short of the orange body. His vision tilted and changed to the purple. The bright orange body in front of him was small, standing against the tree looking up at him, hands held behind its back. It had no fear, even for one as young as it was.
He cycled back to the orange vision, seeing its dully glowing body. This young one was related to the one he sought. He clicked curiously, reaching for it and its hands moved suddenly, and his ba was pointed at his face. He stepped back, tilting his head again. Still, it showed no fear.
He held out his hand to receive the spear, but the young one did not move. He moved his hand to take it from her, but then a flash appeared in his vision and he drew back his arm, roaring in pain. The female pushed the young one down into the bushes, and fled again into the small clearing. He followed her, his left arm dripping with blood where the wristblades had cut clean through his wrist device. Bright light suddenly blinded him as fires rose forth out of the bushes around the clearing.
He extended his wristblade, swinging it, trying to find the woman. He roared and whirled, more and more of his blood spraying onto the ground. He flipped around, swinging his blade, roared in pain. The next time he flipped around he dropped to his knee and swung his blade where his front had been. A scream of pain was his reward. His hand grabbed at the air until he felt a warm body. He lifted and threw it at the bright light, then ran past it.
His vision suddenly cleared and he saw his target lying on the ground. She stood up, wristblades ready in one hand, the detached wristblade from his gauntlet held like a knife in the other. Heat vision showed that she was bleeding profusely from a stomach wound. He roared at her and she roared back. She charged at him, wristblades raised, aiming for his now unprotected neck. He parried the blow, using a backwards push to throw her to the ground. She scrambled up, dropping the wristblade and favoring her wound.
He picked up the blade and reattached it to his gauntlet, flexing then curling his fingers. She moved her arm and swung without hesitation, striking at him again and again. Her ferocity was enough that he moved backwards; she didn't even give him time to counter. He grunted and in the corner of his vision saw that she was herding him back into the flames. He took a risk, stepping forward and taking a hard cut across his chest, and grabbed her wrist. There was a crack and she cried out. His blades flashed in his vision, then she was silent. Her head rolled to the ground and he watched it come to a stop.
He removed the wristblades from her wrist and looked up at a movement. The small orange body of the young one was standing before him. It simply stared, and didn't move against him. He looked down at the body of its mother, then moved to retrieve his trophy. Grabbing it by the thick dreadlocked hair, he lifted it from the ground and turned his back to the young one.
A sudden spray of bright blood erupted in his vision and he roared, whipping around, his blades arching down. The young one fell backwards, scrambling back to its feet, hand covering its wounded face. He roared again and stepped forward, she took a few steps back but continued to face him, as passive as when he first saw it. He rattled, looking down at the ba sticking straight out of his chest where his heart was. His hand gripped the shaft, looking back at her. He slowly sank to his knees, catching his body on one hand, staring at the young one eye level.
"Good," she began, having difficult with the words in his language, "good—death. Honor—master."
He wheezed, a sorry and plaintive noise for a Paya to make, but then a rapid clicking noise cut through the hum. It turned into the sort of laughter that the humans made. The young one watched him, dropping her hand from her wounded face and knelt down to him in a warrior's pose. He continued to laugh, the sound overtaking all others as his vision fell to the ground and turned sideways. Slowly, he went silent, clicking still in amusement. This, too, eventually faded away, and in his vision, the bright light of his ship returning to the sky streaked behind the young face that looked down upon him.
His vision went black.