Families
"All creatures form families. Some stronger than others."
He woke up in dark. He opened his eyes but still saw nothing. He felt something warm and hard under him. He remembered how he had hit something, and logically, the xenos had found him. Why wasn't he cocooned? That's what xenomorphs do to their hosts, right? He slowly stood up and tried to see in the dark. There was a faint glow coming from all around him, from the walls. He examined them closely; they were made of that weird dark substance what he had seen from the pictures. He had heard than that was how they made their nests. Oh good. He was in their nest. So he was pretty much dead. Except the fact that he wasn't cocooned. Still, why? He slowly began finding his way out.
In some point he noticed that his eyes got used to the darkness and he was able to see better. He was in some sort of tunnel web, which resembled a labyrinth. He saw no xenomorphs at all. Where were they all? Sure he would had been noticed already. Now he understood. They were playing with him. Making him get scared and then finally finishing him off. His heart began pounding wildly. Anytime he would hear hissing behind him. He was surprised to hear something else: tapping. Rhytmical tapping. He looked around, but saw nothing that would be able to do that voice. The voice was coming from his behind and front. Then, the sound ceased. What he did hear was a silent thud thud thud... Something was closing. Certainly a xenomorph coming to kill him in some brutal way. He stayed put. Maybe the xeno was not coming for him, and would pass. No. He saw the familiar head of a xenomorph appear at the other end of the tunnel. And it was looking straight at him. Anyone would had ran, but he knew it was futile. He didn't move at all, even when the xeno began walking towards him. Then it stopped right in front of him. It looked at him, studying. He swallowed. The xeno was bigger than he as, and surely could slaughter him. Then, with a swift movement, it pressed its hand on his forehead.
It didn't hurt. He had his his head badly, and still it didn't hurt. He looked at the xeno's face; it wasn't aggressive, more like... worried. It stepped closer and began examining him. He was puzzled: what was it doing? He should be already dead, impaled by its tail or his skull crushed. But no, it was looking him like it was looking for injuries! After some time, it seemed pleased and backed off. He looked at it some time, until it shook his head to the other end of the tunnel. Did it want him to follow it? He didn't have any options, and began walking. The xenomorph followed behind him.
After just some walking, they became to a clearing. It was a big room, with some oval things all over the ground. Eggs. So this was what they were going to do to him. Make him a host. He stopped, but was pushed forward by the xenomorph. So this wasn't their stop. They went to another tunnel, and soon emerged into another, even bigger room. First he thought that there was nothing inside the room, until the wall moved.
A huge xenomorph, which seemed to be stuck on the wall. A Queen. It had a huge armored chitin covering its head, forming a crown. It had four arms, like the xeno he had helped long ago. It rose so it was able to see him. Something like a smile crept on its face. It slowly made a bowing gesture, which was when his heart skipped a pulse: The queen had a faint scar on top of its head, forming a half circle. He stared at it. This was the same xenomorph he had saved a year ago. The Queen lifted its head and this time, it sure smiled. Not grinned, smiled. He looked around the chamber; There was a huge amount of xenomorphs around the room, some even hanging from the ceiling. All of the xenomorphs of this nest.
He looked back at the Queen. It was smiling to him and had tilted its head slightly. He stepped cautiously a bit closer. It didn't seem to protest. Then he took another step. And another. He was just couple of meters away from it when it suddenly reached at him and grabbed him from he waist. It pulled him towards it and then, hugged him. He didn't even understand what was happening. The Queen was hugging him. It was a lot bigger than he was, its smaller arms just as big as his. Not knowing what else to do, he returned the embrace. He heard it purr slowly. After a while, other xenos began purring too. He speechless.
Finally the Queen let him go and gently lowered him to the ground. He was too struck to stand so he immediately fell and just sat on the ground. The Queen was looking at him and he was looking at her. He wasn't going to be killed. The Queen then made a quick gesture with its hands and all the other xenos left the room. He was now alone with the Queen. He slowly stood up and walked towards it. He lifted his arm and continued walking. Then, just before his hand touched its forehead, it moved its head forwards and pushed against his arm. It was the same xeno. Somehow he just knew it. The Queen began purring loudly as it moved its head up and down. Then he began slowly stroking it, and its purring rose in pitch.
They stayed there for some time, him stroking it. At some point, it had began stroking him too, and had began playing with his hair. He didn't know why, but it felt safe in here, inside this room, with the Queen. Then he slowly backed off.
"Umm... Uhh... You're welcome. From that I saved you, I mean." He said to it. Stupid! It couldn't understand him! Or could it? Like it knew what he was thinking, it nodded. He looked at it amazed.
"You understand me?" He asked. It nodded again and smiled. He blinked few times just to make sure this was real. Still here. So he was with a xenomorph Queen, which didn't want him dead, was his friend and also understood his words. Okay. Check.
"Umm... I hope you really aren't going to kill me. Are you?" He asked. It made a voice resembling laughing and shook its head. He sighed relieved.
"What about the others? Like... those smaller ones?" He asked. It shook its head again. Then he remembered that it was a Queen.
"Are they your... umm... children?" He asked. It nodded.
He spent the rest of the day inside the nest, not even remembering the outer world. It was some place like a dream. All the other xenos acted very passively towards him except the Queen, which seemed to like him more than enything, except maybe her nest. He remembered his home though when he heard his stomach protest. How long had he been away? Rick was certainly wondering where he had gone. He tried to find the main chamber, and was lucky this time. The Queen was smiling, like always when he was close.
"I'm sorry, but I need to leave. I promise to come back tomorrow, though. I need to go and eat something. I haven't eaten anything since lunch." He explained to her. She shook her head.
"I need to go. I can come back-" She silenced him by pressing her index finger on his lips. Then she tried explaining something with her hands, but he didn't understand. It only looked comical.
"I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. You let me go home and then..?" He asked. She seemed to sigh and then tried again a little slower.
"Oh, you want me to stay here over night? Like, come back after I've eaten?" He asked as he thought to understand. She nodded looking relieved. He could almost swear her say "That's what I tried to tell you!". She let out a shriek and soon a xeno appeared. It looked at the Queen before setting off. Then the Queen pointed first at him and then at the xeno. He understood and left to follow the xenomorph.
After countless of turns and tunnels, they got outside. The xeno who had shown him the way left immediately. He looked around. He was again at the forest. He set off towards his home.
"Where have you been?" Rick asked him. He smiled knowingly and shrugged.
"At places." He didn't want to tell anyone about the hive, not even Rick. He wanted to keep it as a secret. Also, because Rick was an android, it wasn't going to get suspicious, and follow him. It would settle with the fact that he didn't want to tell and never ask about it again. When he was waiting for the meal to cook, his thoughts were at the hive. He knew he should loathe and be afraid of xenomorphs but for him, it felt like he had found his... family again. He was so in thoughts that when the meat of an animal he had shot yesterday was getting overcooked, he almost didn't notice. He took the pan from the stove and took the potatoes (Or something like that, they were almost identical to Earth's potatoes) from the oven. He ate fast and then began his way out.
"Are you going off again? May I ask you where you go?" Rick asked.
"No." He said and tried to leave again.
"Are you going to ever tell me?" It asked. He anted to get back already!
"Maybe." He said and shut the door. He ran to the forest and tried to remember the way to the nest. Of course he had to forget the tablet and its map home! He almost went back home, but then he saw a familiar dark, curved head upside down hanging from the tree. The xenomorph was looking at him and then jumped down. It seemed to be a little older than the other xenos, as it was a lot bigger than the others. It studied him for some time before setting off with enough slow speed for him to follow.
In no time they reached the nest. The xeno patted his shoulder and left back to the woods. That was a weird gesture. He shrugged and entered the nest. After a couple of times he found the main chamber. The Queen had fallen asleep, and was curled so that she looked like the walls of the hive. If one didn't know what to look for, he wasn't going to see her. He got an idea and slowly closed her. When he was close enough, he bent down and went under her. Then he patted her from her right shoulder and quickly went to her left side. She moved a little but didn't wake up. He tried again, but was grabbed by her smaller arms during he was trying to get to her other side. She gently lifted him to the level with hers.
"You knew I what I was doing, didn't you?" He said grinning. She nodded and hugged him maybe a little too hard.
"Could you... let me go? I can't... breathe." He said to her. She immediately ended the embrace and lowered him down looking apologetic.
"I missed you too. Just remember that I'm a bit more fragile, okay?" He said to her. When she didn't seem to answer, he began stroking her forehead, an act she seemed to like a lot. She began purring and smiled.
"I'm fine, you see? Now, I think we should talk, or do something similar. I want to know more about you." It was hard to understand her, but in the end, he managed to understand these parts of her story: After he had saved her, she had left to find a proper place to start a nest. By coincidence her nest was close to the place he chose to make his home. When her children found him, they told her about him, and she ordered him to be left out, he was not going to be food or a host. He still found out and began searching for them. She didn't want to interfere his life more, and tried to hide her nest from him. He had indeed been under a close watch all the time, and when he had ran away and hit a branch, she had chose to help him. She didn't tell him how she had healed him, which was weird. By her posture she made during that part of the talking, it was something a bit embarrassing, so he chose to not ask more about it.
He told her his story, how he had left Earth and tried to find another planet to live on. It was pure coincidence that he had landed on the same day that she had been close to be killed. She had no memory of her birth, but she remembered that she had in some point been noticed by that lion-like creature and it had began chasing her. After some time, he was able to read her sign language pretty well, at least well enough to understnd the basic meanings behind different gestures.
"You haven't told me your name. What is it?" She asked.
"William, but everybody who knew me called me Will." He said. She made a weird new sign.
"What was that?" He had never seen her do that sign before.
It's your name. I made it into my language." She answered. He repeated the sign. It was a mix of three moves, which were easy to learn.
"What about your name? Is there any way you can tell it to me?" He asked. She thought a moment before shaking her head.
"But I can tell you it in my language." She told him and made a new gesture. It was five moves, and a little harder than his name. When he got it, she smiled.
"You called me as a tree, rock and even a worm before you got it." She signed him. He apologized and then sat in front of her.
"Why are you stuck there? Why won't you move around?" He asked. She looked down before signing:
"I have to. I lay eggs, and the organ making those eggs makes it impossible to move. The wall here is only because it supports the organ." Oh. So that was why she hadn't moved at all. That was rough. He tried to lighten her up a little.
"I couldn't not notice that this sign language of yours seems to base on actual vocalizations. Should we try to get me know what each of those signs mean?" She seemed to like the idea, and let him start. Will had to say some words in English, and she translated. Then he cut the word in parts and said each one in order. The signs seemed to consist both syllables and letters. For example, word "Spaceship" was signed: Spa-ces-h-ip. She also told him that they had their real own language and that she was signing him in English. See couldn't answer how she understood English though. She tried briefly to teach him Xenomorph, but it was futile: it was far more complex that any other language. She also told him that xenomorphs use a mix or gestures, poses, voices and even telepathy to talk to each other.
In the end, he was able to change most of the signs she made into a voice. When they didn't talk, he spent time translating different words to their sign language. Then he remembered that he hadn't yet found out how to pronounce her name. He recalled her name in signs, and translated it.
"Celeste." He said. She looked at him surprised.
"Your name is Celeste, isn't it?" She nodded. He smiled.
"That's a beautiful name. Suits you." She was silent for a second before signing.
"Thank you. Nobody has ever told me that. Actually, you are the first one talk to me who isn't my child." She smiled and then seemed to remember something.
"I think we should go to sleep already. It's late." Will only now felt how tired he was. He already felt how his eyes began to shut.
"Yeah, I think you're right. Where do I sleep?" He asked. The nest was warm everywhere, how, he didn't know nor did he care right now. She giggled really, giggled which sounded very weird from a xenomorph, even more from a Queen.
"Here, of course. I want to know where you are at all times if possible. Come here." She said and patted next to her. Because of his sleepiness he didn't question her a bit too intimate offer and walked next her. She somehow lowered herself enough so she was able to lie next to him. He slowly lied down next to him, and she pulled him gently closer, not too close though. Then she put her both hands of this side over him and he fell asleep.
Author's notes: Ok, so that's Chapter 2 done! I'll finish my next chapter from Deep in Minds before starting the next one in this story, so there may be some time before the next chapter. Review, please. I like to read them. I'm going to rise the length of the chapters by time, so be prepared for a lot of reading!
Hergotzer