Chapter 5: Encounters part3

The hard meat warrior was angry he couldn't reach the being before it jumped. Quivering its lips it could see the hunter was distracted for the moment. Positioning its self so it could jump the hunter while he was unaware, it was too slow. The Predator turned to it suddenly and extended a spear. The beast instead jumped from the statue to the ground baring its smaller mouth to the hunter in an aggressive stance. Running directly for the large Yautja it jumped at the last second extending its claws forward and positioning its tail like a scorpion even though it was missing its tip. The acid blood was as deadly as the missing end.

Ke'varde bent his knees waiting for the hard meat to reach him. Seeing it jump he grabbed his combistick with both hands facing down and jumped at the same time leaning his massive upper body to the side he used it to avoid the tail. The beast raked its claws across his chest marking his armor and tearing four slashes across his stomach. At the same time he swiped the combistick with a roar connecting it with the beast's side as he was passing it in the air with such force it split the stone floor when it landed, himself landing in a crouch a few feet away.

The beast was dazed and in pain from the blow and landing, sporting a large gash on its side, but still it got up to fight hissing at him. Freezing suddenly the beast sensed its queen wanted it to find the other beings in the pyramid, more drones were needed. The queen gave an order and it was always obeyed.

The hunter was ready again even though his stomach was stinging. Ignoring the sensation he instead focused on the hard meat, expecting it to charge at him but instead it ran to the closest wall scrambling up and screeching at his direction before disappearing. Clicking he wasn't sure what to make of this. The hard meats weren't known to retreat for no reason. They always fought to the death. A twinge of worry assailed him for the ooman Cat. Cloaking he checked his holo-map where the airshaft she fell into leaded. Seeing that it was a different location from the drones path and on his path to the queens chamber he started on his way.

Ek'tan quietly followed the ooman. She was carefully looking at every direction and moved slowly but surely her burner up and ready. He saw that a hard meat was trailing her as well keeping to the upper walls, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

Mina was nervous she could tell that something was following her. Looking all around, she saw a shimmer of something move on a ledge next to a statue. Raising her gun and firing at it she saw it run and jump to another ledge slightly closer to her. Following it with her gun she didn't hear the black figure dropping down behind her until it swiped her legs from under her. Screaming "Why won't you just die you fucking monster!" she turned on her back and fired at the thing looming above.

The oomans burner didn't hurt him that much, but it did damage his pride a little. Growling "You will die for that bad blood" in his own language at her he jumped down uncloaking and threw his combistick at the hard meat while it was distracted by the ooman, spearing its head. The ooman scrambled away from it as it was falling down trying to avoid its body and acid blood.

What she saw when she looked at the direction from where the spear came from made her shudder. It was a huge creature like the one she glimpsed before in the chamber where her crew died. This one was brown with darker patches on its arms and legs while its front was a lighter cream color. Getting up slowly she kept her eyes on it speaking in a soothing voice "I'm just getting up big fella. No need to attack" thinking it wouldn't bother her if she acted submissively.

Roaring aggressively the hunter leaned forward raising his forearms and extending his wrist blades he swiped in her direction. Jumping back just in time she raised her gun to fire at him only to get the barrel sliced off rendering it useless. Thinking fast she threw the remainder at his helmet while running at him and throwing herself between his widespread legs, rolling behind him and taking off down the passage as fast as she could.

Turning swiftly Ek'tan unclasped his favorite weapon from his belt. It was a weapon his sire taught him how to use when he was a pup telling him that his own sire taught him the same and that it was a weapon he found interesting and affective to stop running prey. An ooman had given his grandsire a similar weapon, the oomans called Bolas many centuries ago. Swinging the three spiked orbs which were connected with a thin metal chain he released it after the ooman making her stop in her tracks and falling, hitting her head against the floor knocking her unconscious.

Clicking in satisfaction he was just about to walk over and finish the ooman off when a hard meat with a wound on its side leapt from an opening in the wall near his fallen prey and landed in front of her. Hissing it grabbed the ooman into its claws bolting away in the same direction it came from.

"It is taking the ooman to the nest for breeding Ek'tan" The hunter clicked acknowledging his friend. He was a little disappointed he couldn't finish the ooman bad blood himself. Sighing he said "Yes. How has your hunt been so far Ke'varde?" while walking to retrieve his trophy and combistick.

Uncloaking, Ke'varde hesitated a second before answering "Eventful" Watching as his friend cleaned his kill, he was oddly relieved the ooman female the hard meat took was not Cat. Not wanting to dwell on this he checked his holo-map, seeing that the sacrificial chamber was not so far away now.

Finishing and clipping the scull of the hard meat to his belt, the younger hunter was ready to get going. Nodding to his friend, they both cloaked and took off at a jog.

Staring blankly at what she collected from the dead bodies around the room. She couldn't help but wonder what did this to them. She'd never seen anything like it, "Their deaths must have been excruciating" Snapping out of her thoughts she had to help the hunter on the floor somehow.

Kneeling next to him she ran her hands at the edges of his armor looking for some way to take it off. Seeing that he didn't move she could tell he was just unconscious because he was still warm and breathing. Finding a clasp on each side she took the armor off slowly not wanting to rip it off if it was stuck to his skin because of the blood, which by the way was neon green. Smiling when the plate came off easily she prodded the wound gently, heaving a sigh of relief when only a little blood came out and no air bubbles in it. It meant the beast that did this to him didn't puncture his lungs. Grabbing the flask she found on one of the bodies she opened it smelling the liquor she crinkled her nose "Oh that's strong."

Holding it over his back she poured the contents over the wound rinsing it as best she could. Satisfied she reached for the strips of cloth she made out of a bandanna she found with the flask. Folding the strips she laid them over the wound and pressed down with her hand for a few minutes thinking of a way to bind it. Spotting her whip next to the body she landed on, she crawled over to it on her knees. Glancing at the leather in her hand and then her patient, she had no idea how she would tie it around his massive body. She'd never be able to lift him up, not even for a second. Thinking she mumbled "Well I guess I'll have to wake up the grouchy green prince from his nap"

Feeling slight vibrations she watched with fright as the slabs moved closing passages and opening others. She dearly hoped none of those beasts would come here while she was working on the hunter. Crawling to where his head was she was tempted to remove his helmet, but she didn't know if he could breathe without it. Discarding that option she pulled slightly on his dreads saying "Wake up big guy" and got a rumbling purr for her effort! Surprised she exclaimed "That's sooo cute!" silently and hopefully adding "You're just one big pussycat aren't you" but it still didn't wake him up so she yanked hard and almost landed on her ass from his roar.

Roaring from pain Hul'sin bolted upright to his knees and grabbed the thing pulling on his hair. Holding it by its arms his vision focused on a frightened ooman female looking at him with wide eyes whispering "S-sorry for w-waking you like that but I needed you to get up so I could bind the bandage on your back" Watching her he could see she wasn't any threat, even though he was holding her tightly she kept herself relaxed and calm, thinking "Bandage? She is helping me?"

Her voice interrupted his thoughts "can you let me go please, your grip is painful" Letting her go slowly he watched her every movement as she took the leather in her hands and slowly presented it to him "Hold this part to your chest under your plate so I can tie it in the back"

Moving behind him slowly to tie the leather Cat wanted to know his name "My name is Cat, what are you called?" Grunting he said nothing as she finished with placing his back armor plate on. As he felt her move away he sat down and regarded her silently while she plopped down in front of him and chatted wagging her finger in his direction "You're just as bad tempered as Ke'varde. I don't think he likes me either if all your growling, grunting and roaring is any indication. Is it me? I'm usually a very likeable person you know. Are you all green? Did your kind build this place?"

Hearing him growl at her again she quit chatting and huffed "Men!" offended crossing her arms. The hunter didn't know what to make of this ooman Cat, one minute she was afraid of him and the next she acted like she had known him since he was a pup. He didn't know why she helped him, but he was grateful. Watching her he clicked quietly "You are a handful ooman"

"Yes she is" Hearing that Hul'sin snapped his head towards two invisible rippling figures.

What happened next was a blur of motion. Ke'varde uncloaked first followed by Ek'tan, both of which scared the ooman half to death, since she was in her own world thinking and they were standing suddenly in her peripheral vision. Cat screamed jumping up and spinning around in one motion brandishing her knife thinking it was one of those black beasts. Roaring Ek'tan extended his wrist blades stepping towards her thinking she was dangerous and about to attack. Hul'sin growled and tried jumping up to protect the ooman who helped him, only to sway dizzily and land on his ass for his effort due to his blood loss. And Ke'varde instinctively jumping toward her, knocking the knife out of her hands, tucking her under his arm and putting his clawed hand over her mouth to stop the noise in one fluid motion growling loudly "ENOUGH!" Everyone froze. Hearing the familiar growl Cat stopped screaming even though she didn't understand what he was saying, knowing somehow what he meant. Leaning against him she thought "What a night"

Ek'tan was the first to snap out of it snapping his wrist blades back into place and relaxing slightly. He watched the ooman wearily. She didn't seem like a threat, but he would be cautious. He glanced at Hul'sin who was leaning against the wall composing himself asking him "What happened to you? Did the ooman do this?" tensing up slightly if the answer was yes. Ke'varde looked at his senior as well wanting to hear his answer.

Offended Hul'sin growled "Don't be ridicules pup. It was a hard meat warrior, not the little ooman female. She only bandaged the wound." Seeing the young one nod slightly and relax completely he then glanced at Cat. "She seems very comfortable in Ke'vardes arms" Smirking behind his mask he didn't think that Ke'varde disliked her as much as she thought. She was getting more interesting by the minute. He couldn't remember the last time the warrior holding her had more than a passing interest in females let alone act as protectively as he did just now. Trilling slightly he thought "This is going to be very amusing to watch".

Cat watched them talking to each other not understanding anything they were saying. She couldn't bring herself to be offended right now. Taking the opportunity since her heart slowed down and she could think clearly again, she examined each of them. Ke'varde was the tallest of the three, but not the oldest if the slight grey on the shortest one at about seven and a half feet was any indication. The new one had an interesting coloring being light and dark brown with black dreads. Chuckling silently she thought "He reminds me of chocolates" This one was probably the youngest of the three since he gave of more arrogance and cockiness in his stance.

Clearing her throat to get her their attention she figured it was time for them to do some explaining since she'd almost gotten killed. Taking Ke'vardes hand into hers she removed it from her mouth slowly fiddling with his claws "I hate to interrupt this reunion, but I'd like to know what's going on here? What those things are and how are we getting out of here?"

Looking down at her Ke'varde had almost forgotten she was there. Releasing her abruptly like she was on fire he took a step away from her. Cat just lifted an amused questioning eyebrow at him and looked expectantly at the others.

Clicking in thought Ek'tan remembered he had a new translator recently implemented into his wrist computer that could translate his language to some ooman languages. Turning it on he concluded this was a good time as any to try it out. Growling and clicking a computerized voice asked "Can you understand me human?" Not really expecting an answer Cats eyes almost popped out when she heard it. Nodding excitedly she motioned with her hand for him to continue. "This structure is our hunting ground, those things are our prey and we are leaving when the hunt is finished" snorting she thought "How literal" out loud she said "What do we have to do to finish this hunt?" Ek'tan looked at his superiors asking permission to tell her, when they both nodded he continued "We have to kill the hard meat queen and destroy this facility. Nothing is to survive" Frowning she asked "Hard meat? That's what you call those thing's isn't it?" getting a slight nod in response.

Looking around for a second she snapped her head back to him when the last part of what he said hit her "Wait you said nothing is to survive…including me?" She got her answer when he remained quiet and looked away. She didn't like this turn of events. Walking a few paces away she turned to them with her hands on her hips and a very stubborn glint in her emerald eyes. "You will not by any stretch of the imagination leave me in this place. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not". Ek'tan growled at her for her insolence in ordering them around "You are not going with us worthless ooman!" Cat was getting angry at this one and it took a lot to get her riled up. Stepping towards him she yelled jabbing her finger into his armor "Listen Brownie! I am tired and sore in places you can't imagine! I've gotten almost killed! Once for saving Stripes over there and I even helped patch up Spots! This is your mess and I refuse to pay for it with my life. So get it through your thick scull I AM GOING WITH YOU"

The Yautja were all standing still, speechless watching the little female shake with anger and cradle her finger to her chest. They all had the same thought in their heads "Didn't the ooman realize he could have killed her in a heartbeat?" She was either very brave or very stupid. One hunter thought she was the first, two thought she was the latter.

Hul'sin liked her already "The little one has a warriors spirit" thrilling with laughter he turned to his shocked friends "She has a point you know. We owe her." Ke'varde was still staring incredulously at the little spitfire when he answered "Yes. She will come with us. The Elder will understand" he hoped. Ek'tan sulked for a few moments then agreed with a nod thinking "Maybe she can be trusted… What is a brownie?"

Calming down Cat looked at each of them expectantly. When they all nodded she heaved a sigh of relief. Thinking clearly again she realized she just yelled at a very large aggressive male. She knew she couldn't take Brownie if he attacked her for her little outburst. Thankfully he hadn't. Looking at him he did seem a little ruffled though. Plastering a friendly smile on her face she asked "What is your name hunter? Or do you want me to keep calling you Brownie?" She smiled slyly at the last part.

Narrowing his eyes at her, he believed she would do it too. Not knowing what she was already calling him meant, he figured it was something he didn't want to know or be associated with. He answered "We are Yautja. My name is Ek'tan" motioning to the wounded Predator "He is Hul'sin and apparently you are acquainted with Ke'varde."

The hunter in question was just about to say something when some of the walls shifted. In the passage behind them two hard meats screeched grabbing their attention. The hunters positioned themselves in front of the female facing the beasts, shielding her and growling at the drones in unison. Cat was grateful for the protection, even though she could hold her own in a fight those things were more dangerous than anything she faced before this adventure. What none of them saw was the drone with a missing tail tip behind them silently dropping from a circular passage creeping to Cat.

Ek'tan and Ke'varde moved forward with Hul'sin staying a few paces back in the middle each brandishing a weapon ready for the hard meat attack. The drones retreated at each pace the hunters moved forward hissing, screeching as loudly as possible. The hunters were puzzled by their behavior. It didn't seem normal somehow. Ke'varde activated his plasmacaster shooting at the drones which successfully dodged each blast. The beasts sensed their success was imminent, their noise growing in volume.

The one behind the hunters grabbed Cat turning her in its claws before she could scream and pressing her face into its body muffling her sounds. She thrashed in its grip trying to make some kind of noise that could be heard over the loud screeches. Grabbing for her knife she didn't find it, remembering that Ke'varde knocked it away from her before. Panicking as the beast was starting to climb the wall behind the hunters she did the only thing she could think of. Slipping off her left shoe with her right foot she swung her leg back as far she could, flinging it hopefully at one of the hunters. Her last thought before blacking out due to lack of oxygen was "I hope it smacks one of them on their thick heads."