Chapter 2: Remembering the Past
Nrak'ytara stalked a gangster through the alleys hoping it'd lead him to more of them. The more the better and with luck the criminal did. There were a lot of them that was for sure. Which was perfect for the hunter it meant more training and trophies. The criminals were in some run down building that was pretty large and had a big lobby which was where most of them were. They were behaving like they were guarding the place which meant either someone or something important was in there. Nrak'ytara hoped it was a person then he'd have a very nice trophy.
Silently the invisible hunter leapt to a building next to it then onto the ledge outside the window. After easily forcing it open he slipped into the empty room. The walks were cracked and the paint was peeling off but that didn't matter to him the building would be colored red soon enough. The floors were luckily still solid and didn't creak as he walked across it. Opening the door that was above the lobby he saw a man was outside it. Before he could notice him the hunter pulled him into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
Startled the gangster didn't fight back as he was tossed clear across the room and against the wall. Gasping out of shock he looked up to see who did it and when he saw nothing he was confused. Soon he began to see a big tall silhouette that appeared to be human…but something was off. Fearfully he pulled out his gun, "Who are you!?" He yelled fearfully the metal weapon shaking in his hands.
"Your death," Nrak'ytara hissed smoothly striking fear into his prey's heart just before he stabbed the human in the heart with his wrist blade. Once his scanner confirmed his death the hunter stepped outside the room quite as silence itself. Look around he examined the humans in the room. All of them were on the first floor in a sitting area, guns at the ready. All twelve were alert but not alert enough.
The elite hunter pulled out his favorite weapon from off his back. A long metal blade edged whip with three claw like tips coming off then end slinked down to the floor and then a little more across it. Quietly Nrak'ytara walked down the stairs and stopped behind the men. With a lighting fast movement he lashed the whip at one of the thugs. The longest blade at the end stabbed the man in the head killing him instantly. With a hard tug the man's head was ripped off from the neck and landed in his hand. The Predator clicked happily upon catching his trophy.
"What the fuck!?" Another man yelled as he sprang up and aimed his gun where the beheaded man was. Suddenly a guy next to him looked like something wrapped around in him. In the next instant the man was sprayed with his blood when the thug instantaneously was cut to pieces. Out of fear man sprayed in blood along with the other nine guys turned fired their guns off at the area. When they finally stopped shooting after a minute.
A sudden quite fell onto the room, all the bullets hit nothing. Carefully the man covered in his comrades blood walked over to the base of the stairs and looked around for the attacker. Confused he turned back to the others, "Nothing here." He said plainly yet fearfully. Something had to of killed his comrade, but where was it?
Nrak'ytara, now at the top of the stairs pulled out one of his short blades from its holster and flung it at the human that had come over to the base of the stairs. The blade struck the man in the neck causing blood to pour out of his neck. With a bloody cough he fell to the floor grabbing at his neck trying to pull out whatever had stabbed him. Quickly the hunter turned on his heel to the next human that turned to his direction and tossed his other short blade at him stabbing him on the head. The dead human's finger still pulled the trigger making the gun he held fire off rounds as the body fell to the floor.
The bullets fired up at the roof making anyone near the dead guy scatter. The chain that held the chandelier onto the ceiling broke when various bullets hit it. The big glass fixture fell to the floor luckily none of the glass hit any of the gangsters. One man backed up towards the wall that was connected to the upstairs railing. The next thing he knew something quickly pulled him up the wall and through the railing, disconnecting one of his shoulders. He only got to scream before the invisible hunter stabbed his brain through on of his eyes.
Hearing gunfire Nrak'ytara ducked to the side and ran down the hall then jumped over the railing and onto the lobby floor where there wasn't any glass. With the flick of his arm the Elite hunter wrapped his whip around a human and with a strong jerk the bladed edged of the whip sliced right through him. That was half of the ones in the lobby only six more. Spotting another one the high ranking hunter lashed out his whip soon as he spotted another man catching him on the neck a quick tug resulted in decapitation. Passing by one of the men he killed Nrak'ytara pulled out his short blade and held it in his other hand. Then he carefully and quietly stalked to the other side of the chandelier till he spotted the other men.
One actually spotted him and aimed his gun at him but the trained hunter lashes his whip at him the three spikes at the end stuck into his hand which was then torn off. Screaming in pain he dropped his gun hand clenched his wound blood pouring out from the stump. The other humans quickly ran to his aid yelling asking what happened which was responded by, "I don't fucking know what fucking happened my fucking hand was just fucking chopped off!" He screamed frantically.
The Elite let out an annoyed tch the human was unarmed now killing him would be dishonorable. All he could hope was he'd pick up his gun while he took out the others. Going back quickly he pulled out his other short sword and put up his whip. Holding both blades Nrak'ytara jumps over the broken glass fixture and lands in front of the humans startling them by the noise of his landing. Not seeing the need for it anymore the hunter disables his cloaking leaving him visible to their eyes.
"W-what the FUCK are you!?" A man yelled as he raised his gun and pointed it at him.
Nrak'ytara wasn't threatened by the human's gun he'd been shot at so many times before it hardly fazed him anymore. He wasn't scared of death either as a hunter he faced death all the time it was something he had to be prepared to face. Instead he challenged the humans into fighting back by letting out a loud fearsome roar. Startled most of them stepped back a bit and raised their guns.
For a while they stared at the growling creature until one got the sense to open fire and shot at the large over seven foot tall creature. "S-shit," The human cursed fearfully.
Immediately the Yautja jumped to the side and rushed towards the human head low. Surprised by the large creatures shockingly fast movement the thug wasn't able to move out of the way and got his arm lopped off. Not stopping Nrak'ytara shoved his other blade into the human's chest then then twisted it inside him tearing up with inside of his chest. Pulling the blade out he dropped the human and let him bleed out onto the tile floor. Quickly he turned and lunged at another grabbing onto his arm he turned and tosses him at another goon. While they were on the ground he turned to the last armed human who was fleeing for the door growling angrily Nrak'ytara ran after him. Once he caught up to the runaway he rammed into his side the force of the impact knocked him off balance and onto the floor. Using his short sword he simply stabbed him in the heart killing him. Looking back towards the three remaining humans the Yautja saw the unarmed man running towards what he thought was the head man's room.
Seeing the other two humans left in the lobby he activates his Plasma Caster, which got into position and blasted a quick blast at them knocking them away and back onto the ground. One was killed in the blast the other wasn't so lucky and got away with some burn marks gashes from the shrapnel. The human watched fearfully as the demon of a monster stalked towards him. Nrak'ytara rushed over to him and pinned him down with his foot grabbed his head and with a sharp turn he snapped it then easily yanked it out with some of the spinal cord. Clicking pleased by the trophy he strokes the bloody exposed spinal cord before placing it into a trophy bag.
Heart pounding excitedly Nrak'ytara turned to where his main target was behind the door the disarmed human fled there was the leader of this small pack of criminals. Restraining his excitement the Elite carefully walked over to the door before kicking it down off of his hinges. Once the door hit the floor he saw the human with his hand cut off, now bandaged, cowering fearfully in the corner. The leader looked afraid too but he had his gun ready and pointed at the Predator. Nrak'ytara clicked interestedly the human wasn't going down without a fight that was impressive and made the hunter more eager to finish his hunt. He detached his bio helmets wires then removed the helmet tossing it aside, face revealed Nrak'ytara let out a challenging roar.
Shocked and horrified by the look of the monster's face that bared fangs, mandibles, big sloping forehead with a crest and small predatory eyes the gang leader smirked, "So you want to fight me one on one in a fair fight." He asked with a weak laugh, "Alright you got it." Dropping his gun the crime lord put on spiked brass knuckles, "If I'm going down, I'm not goin down like a pussy I'll fight you like a man so bring it on pussy face!" The human challenged angrily.
Impressed the Yautja clicked curiously and put away his swords then removed his chest and shoulder armor. After they dropped by his helmet he charged at the black haired human male with a high aimed swing. To his surprise the human was faster than he looked and duck down delivering a spiked punch to his chest. Biting back a yelp the hunter grabbed the humans shoulder and shoved him down then rammed his knee into the humans gut. His knee was covered in spiked armor so the hit also punctured into his skin leaving a painful wound. With the human stunned Nrak'ytara wasted no time in picking him up by the throat then tossing him out of the room and in the pallor.
The gang leader landed hard and skidded across the floor and onto the glass that was scattered across the tile floor. The shards that were once part of the chandelier dug painfully into his back. Cringing painfully the hardened criminal brought himself to his knees only to see the monster looming above him, "Dammit, I thought…I'd last longer than this…" He groaned painfully.
"You underestimated me huh? Big mistake human…" Nrak'ytara said dully, in English so the human would understand him. The downed human opened its mouth shocked the creature spoke but the Yautja didn't let him say what he wanted to and ended the hunt by jamming his wrist blades into the human's neck and wrenched it off the rest of the body. Examining his trophy Nrak'ytara clicked pleased with his work. The sound of gunfire made him turn around quickly and there he saw something he'd been hoping for. The human with his hand cut off had picked up a gun. His face was red from anger, sweat and pain but he was armed now and that's all that mattered to the hunter. Now he was an honorable kill.
"Die you mother fucking bastard!" The human yelled but his dominate hand must have been the one cut off because the shots were missing or hitting the Yautjas armor, that or he wasn't concentrating. It was kind of pathetic but if he turned around the human was likely to shoot him in the back of his head and Nrak'ytara wasn't about to let that happen. Nrak'ytara fired off a quick plasma bolt blast the human down onto the ground, badly wounding his leg. While he was on his ground the Elite shoved his clawed hand into his chest and crushed his heart inside his chest. The human shot him one last angry defiant look before letting out his dying breath.
With the hunt complete the Yautja Elite looked at the fallen humans then let out a triumphant roar that echoed throughout the lobby of the building. Calming down the hunter cleaned up the hunt by taking the human's skull or skinning them then hanging them upside down. After claiming his trophies the stratified hunter left the building behind him and headed back to his ship after putting back on his helmet and armor. The hunt was almost executed perfectly if it wasn't for the lead human getting a hit in. That meant he still had room for improvement which was fine he didn't mind training.
He was a few feet from his cloaked ship when he heard what sounded like howling. A second later he knew Sain'ja was calling for him so he opened the hatch to his ship. At first the scar covered dog stood startled by the hatch suddenly opening then he wagged excitedly and ran over to his master. He pranced around the Yautja barking a greeting to him. Nrak'ytara chuckled light heartedly at the dog's excitement. Walking back inside the ship the hunter had to admit it was very nice to have someone waiting for you to return home. Once they were both inside the Yautja closed the StarCraft's door and headed to a leisure area and sat down on the chair after getting some meat. Taking off his bio helmet again Nrak'ytara tossed a big chunk of meat to Sain'ja , who began to quickly consume it, then used his mandibles to tear and rip apart the meat that was then torn up more by his teeth and lastly swallowed.
Once he finished his meal he moved onto cleaning up his trophies during which Sain'ja laid on his lap like he did last time. During the cleaning Nrak'ytara would stroke the dogs back every so often making the dog wag its tail happily. Once he was finished with the cleaning process he gently nudged the dog off of his lap and placed the skulls onto his trophy wall. Stepping back he looked proudly at this growing collection. Looking down at his dog he smiled, "What do you think?" He asked the mutt.
Sain'ja looked up at his master's collections of skulls he knew what some of them were but others not so much. Some were strange others he feared to know what they looked like covered in living flesh. On the other hand the dog was impressed to know that his master was strong enough to kill each one he looked at. Impressed Sain'ja barked happily at his master.
Getting the feeling the dog was impressed Nrak'ytara chuckled to himself, "Glad you like it." Smiling again he knelt down to the dog and began to scratch it behind the ears. Nrak'ytara laughed when the dog wagged its tail and licked his face excited by the attention. The hunters usually stone cold and merciless heart warmed a little at the Yautja petted and played with the dog by grabbing a stray bone and playing tug a war with it. Naturally Nrak'ytara restrained his full strength so the dog could have fun not have his teeth yanked out.
While they were playing the dog found that his master was hurt in the chest. Concerned and instinct kicking in the dog climbed up onto his chest and began to lick the wound clean. The Nrak'ytara watched the dog allowing him to clean his wound. He didn't know what effect his blood would have on the dog but on humans it caused them to live longer and grow stronger. If it had the same effect on the dog that would be good since they live very short lives compared to Yautja. When the dog was done cleaning the wound it looked up and whined a little at him. With a chuckle the Yautja patted it on the head, "Thank you Sain'ja I feel much better now." He thanked truthfully as he scratched the dog behind the ear.
Smiling Nrak'ytara looked at the dog warmly, "You know," He started catching Sain'ja's attention, "I'm going to like having you around." With one last pat he nudged the dog off and walked down the hall to his bed room, "It's nice having someone waiting for you to come back." He commented warmly to his dog that was trotting behind him happily. After getting ready for bed he flopped lazily onto his bed Sain'ja close behind.
The dog crawled up to his master's side and let out a relax grunt. The Sain'ja closed his eye as his master stroked his head. Despite his master's intimidating appearance his instincts told him that he good hearted inside if you got close to him. After only a day under his care the former stray was feeling much healthier. He was clean, fed, a roof over his head and finally a pack mate to get much needed social interaction. When his pack leader started to speak the dog raised his head and listened carefully trying to understand what he was saying.
"I'm going to train you Sain'ja and together we'll go on some great hunts together." He said warmly to the dog the Yautja was aware that the canines humans kept as pets were decedents of wolves, effective hunters which survived in many kinds of environments. Nrak'ytara was sure with some training and proper care the dog would become a valuable hunting partner. "Sound good boy?" Nrak'ytara asked with a smile. He chuckled when Sain'ja barked at him like he was saying yes. With a few more pats on the head the Yautja lay down and turned off his ships lights, "Together we'll save my clan Sain'ja." He said with some sleepiness in his voice. Sensing his master's sadness Sain'ja licked him on the face reassuring him. With a half laugh Nrak'ytara wrapped his around the dog and brought him closer before falling asleep.
When Nrak'ytara awoke he wasn't in his ship he was in a big room with some carving on the walls and in a big bed. On one wall were his various bio helmets and weapons. On the other wall there was a door leading into his trophy room. Sitting up with a sleepy grumble he realized he'd been dreaming about when he was ranked as Elite…and his time with his dog. Sadness came over the Yautja briefly hating his race's longevity because of that his time with Sain'ja seemed short. Though because of his blood, he'd like off of him when he was hurt, let him live to be a whooping hundred and two years old. So their time together was about ten years to a Yautja. Still it seemed too short.
Moving on the now aged Nrak'ytara got out of his bed his dreads where now showing faint signs of greying. He was now five hundred and two years old. During the time when he had Sain'ja and now he'd become the leader of his clan Halkrath-Thwei or Shadow Blood. The previous leader didn't like the idea of sharing his power with someone that defied his wishes and attacked him upon his return to their planet Agaj'ya. This actually turned in his favor because when the Adjudicators, members of the Council of the Ancients heard about it he was finally named a bad blood and put to death for attempting to kill a Clan Leader. The dog lived for a good time while he was leader.
With a sad sigh he went over to a case on a wall and pressed a button opening it. Inside was a neck armor he made for his dog, in the center of the case, on it was his name inscribed in the Yautja alphabet. A sad smile came across his mandibles as he stroked the metal collar as he remembered all the good times he had with the canine and how he kept him company through most of his struggle to become clan leader. In the case was the rest of the dog's armor he made for him and the trophies the dog had earned during his stay among the living.
Moving on he went out onto a balcony connected to his room. The clan leader stayed in a large pyramid like temple building that was in the center of his clan's settlement the building taller than any other. Inhaling the fresh morning air he smiled proudly. Looking out at his clan he saw they were recovering from their bad past and moving back onto the honorable path of true hunters. Shadow Blood clan was small but it was thriving and growing strong again.
Looking down he spotted a young warrior of his clan with his friend. One had more reddish brown skin the other had red skin patterning. Both were blooded hunters though one showed more dedication than the other. The more mature on looked up showing a leaf like mark on his head where just above his brow was their clan mark showing he was a blooded hunter. When the hunter waved to him Nrak'ytara chuckled and waved back with a nod telling them to carry on.
"I did it Sain'ja…I saved my clan."