Disclaimer: I don't own Aliens or Predator, only my characters. Especially Asim, everyone likes him!

A/N: In answer to The Greatest Boba Fett Fan's question "Will Kaen'Dre and Kiara meet up again?", here's the answer to your question at the end of the chapter and it will keep progressing over time in the chapters.

CHAPTER 3:

Kiara stared at the tracks in the sand. Everyone else had told her they looked to be made from a bipedal creature or a four-legged one that jumped high enough to leave long stride distances in their prints. But there wasn't any creature she knew of that had two feet and was as tall as a human. . .unless it was a demon of sort. Could there be a demon wandering their lands? She gulped thinking that while she ran a hand over the loose untouched tracks in the sand. She did not need to deal with any demons right now.

She placed her hand over the tracks trying to sense any clues it may give her telepathically by touch, but nothing. Maybe the more experienced priests or oracles needed to decipher this. She needed to find out what had done this and quick, the kingdom didn't need more murders. Glancing over her shoulders, she noticed the officials and her brother investigating the area and sealing it off from the local civilians. Asim walked over to her and sniffed the sand.

"Anything interesting, Asim?" Kiara asked, patting his fur. He purred to her and kept sniffing the sand.

He patted the sand with his paw and raised his head to hiss in the direction the tracks headed, a low growl forming in his throat. He looked back at Kiara with his green-yellow eyes and nudged her.

"Smart aren't you, my friend?" Kiara said, smiling. She patted his head proudly. "You may have given me a good lead, despite it may be long to follow."

She traced her fingertips over the warm sand and looked over the landscape. The tracks led from the village all the way to the outskirts of the kingdom. So far, it seemed to be her only clue and she would follow it. Otherwise, the victims would die in vain without having all leads possible investigated. Getting up, she looked back at her brother, whom was busy looking over the outline of the being on the victims mud-brick wall.

"Find anything?" Kiara called.

"Nothing, but I'm going to try a more 'in-depth' method" Atem said, smiling slightly. She knew what he meant when it came to their powers. "If that fails, I will send for someone else."

"Go ahead, I'm going to check the area out" Kiara said, standing back up again. She pointed down the main path leaving the kingdom. "I'll be following that path."

"How far? You can't wander off, remember?" Atem said, quickly. He didn't want his sister wandering off and getting hurt, especially knowing how she was and the possible danger still running loose.

"I'll be fine, don't worry" Kiara scoffed, waving a hand. "I need to find who or what did this."

"You're not going to risk your life, sister" Atem said, firmly.

"Our people and the victims need to know, Atem" Kiara said, softly. "If I'd died, you'd do the same, we're all the same people."

"I know. . .arrgh, fine, go!" Atem said, reluctantly. He knew she had a point. "You'll owe me for this, especially if we get in trouble."

"We'll be fine with mother!" Kiara said, assuringly. "So will I and I'll return before sundown."

She kneeled down in front of Asim and ran her fingers through his short fur. He licked her cheek which made her smile immediately.

"I need you to stay here and help Atem" she said, caressing his ears. "You're a good clue finder, my friend, so help him. I will return as soon as I find something."

He whimpered softly like a cub which made her chuckle playfully. She pressed her forehead against his to assure him of his worry.

"I'll be fine, I always take care of myself" Kiara said, smiling. He purred. "That's my boy! Now, go help Atem in any way and I will be back before you know it."

She kissed her pet on the forehead and got up. Running to her brother, she hugged him quickly while he still protested with a frown. She poked him on the nose which made him stop and glare.

"I'll be fine, by being my brother you should know this about me by now" Kiara said, smiling. "I hope you find out something."

"I hope so too so you don't run into anything" Atem said, sighing. She gave him a look. "All right, I'll stop but be back before sundown or I'll send father's officials after you."

She nodded to her brother and started off down the path on foot. Looking back, she saw her brother with his arms crossed and Asim by his leg while he gave a short roar as a farewell. Kiara ran through the sand while feeling the warm breeze from the desert land. She traced the faint tracks over the sand carefully in order to not miss anything as she surveyed the area. Her brother stared at her from the mud-brick home while she disappeared over the never-ending sand dunes.

"Good luck, Kia" Atem said, sighing. He turned back to finish his search.

Kiara ran and sprinted at times over the hot sand. She panted softly while tracing the tracks and feeling the blazing heat from the sun above. She ran and ran for a while, which made her think she'd just chased a dead end track after not finding anything valuable. All she had were prints and they could be hours old by now. She slowed her pace and took a quick look over the horizon.

Besides the shimmering heat, she noticed a large green area coming up on her view. She smiled quickly remembering her old favorite spot from her childhood. The jungle! The memory of the strange being flickered into her mind, but the sudden heat made her fasten her pace yet again. She brought her eyes down again to trace them down on the tracks. She raised an eyebrow in wonder when she saw that the tracks led into the jungle. That jungle always seemed to be an oasis for people. . .or things unknown.

What is it with that jungle?, she thought, laughing nervously.

She kept her pace until she got into the cool, leaf covered sky. Sitting down on a rock, she cooled down for a bit and took a sip of water from her canteen. After a minute of rest, she got back up and raced through the jungle after the tracks. Following the soft dirt, the tracks seemed to get clearer since it wasn't like sand that could shift around by the wind. These were firmly planted and led a good trail without fail. She smiled, knowing that somehow she was close to the creature.

"Finally, the gods have shifted my luck" Kiara said, heading down the path of the tracks. "Help me find this being, Osiris, and bring justice to the innocent victims."

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Kaen'Dre ran through the dense jungle tracking down the prints of the hard meat. He had departed from his two friends to search for the creature individually. They had found different paths of its trails when they reached the inside of the jungle which they guessed the serpent had been using as a refuge since its escape. Hard meats hunted only at night, during the day, they stayed hidden. He had been on his own specific trail for a while but come up with nothing so far.

I never have any fun when I come to this planet, Kaen'Dre groaned in his mind.

"I wonder how the other two are doing" he sighed. "I hope somebody finds the damn thing quickly so we can start on our hunt!"

He slowed his pace when he approached thicker bushes of vegetation. Passing through them carefully and quietly to not alert any creatures, he kept scanning the jungle floor for the trail. The dirt seemed to be getting softer and wetter which easily annoyed him. He hated being unclean, especially when it came to his armor.

I better not come back filthy from this, he hissed. I need to be quiet or else my steps will start making sound.

Trailing down the muddy path, he noticed a familiar salivary secretion on the tracks. Croching down, he touched his fingertips over it and examined it up close. It belonged to a hard meat.

Perfect.

I think my trail got warmer, he thought excitedly.

Popping open his wrist computer, he tapped in Ani'Twei's connection. After a bit, his comlink lit up connecting both of them by voice only.

"Find anything?" Ani'Twei asked.

"I think my trail may be close but I'm not sure" Kaen'Dre said, examining the trail. "You?"

"Not a thing, I think my trail means nothing" Ani'Twei said, annoyed. "I passed this pool of water with cascading waters, but nothing. I think it may have been a previous watering hole for it."

Kaen'Dre's mind lit up when Ani'Twei said that. Had he been to the waterfall he saw as a boy? Maybe the hard meat could return there if it was a source for water. He had enjoyed it as a child, why wouldn't a hard meat relax there? Hopefully that foul creature hadn't ruined its natural beauty like it ruined all colonized environments. He snapped out of his thoughts quickly.

"Well, you could stay there a bit in case it comes back" Kaen'Dre said, thoughtfully. "My trail could be hours cold but who knows? What about Kwei'De?"

"He hasn't found anything, except he's now eating any fruit-like substance in this jungle" Ani'Twei laughed. "One day he's going to get food poisoning and I'm going to be there laughing."

"He's eating again? How he can eat anything on a foreign planet and stay well is beyond me" Kaen'Dre said, shaking his head. "Have you encountered any oomans?"

"No, should I be?" Ani'Twei asked, excitedly. "I'd love to catch my first one here if I can."

"I doubt it but you never know" Kaen'Dre said, shrugging. "I'll contact you later if I find anything."

"All right then" Ani'Twei said, simply. "Anything else?"

"Tell Kwei'De to stick to his search and stop eating everything in sight" Kaen'Dre said, laughing.

He heard his friend laugh and cut off their connection. Kaen'Dre closed his computer and wiped his slimy fingertips against a tree. Getting up, he followed the trail deeper into the bushes. Throwing the green shrubbery out of his way, he picked up his pace to get out of the annoying leaves raking over his mask and body.

Growling in annoyance, he shoved every plant away from him. He went through so many in the passing minutes, he thought they'd never end. Before he could finish though, the ground he was standing on started shifting under his weight. He looked down and noticed it crumbling.

"What the-" Kaen'Dre started but didn't finish.

The ground he stood on gave way and he fell down. He tried to grab a hold of something with his wrist blades but there was only soft dirt which disintegrated under them as he kept tumbling. He fell down the path along with the loose dirt and waited to hit the bottom, whatever it was. It was hard to see while he tumbled down with dirt falling over him.

Damn this!, he yelled mentally. Pauk!

He hit solid ground on his side while clumps of dirt fell over him. He shook his head to clear out any dizziness and to get a lock on his surroundings. He hated this moment, no hunter should ever be as clumsy as to fall down a path without locking onto something to stop descent. Good thing for him, there was solid ground under him.

Good thing the others weren't here to see me embarrass myself, he thought. What kind a warrior falls down a damn path without paying attention? My leader would be ashamed and I'd lose rank.

He sat up and wiped the dirt off his mask with his hand to see better. He wiped the rest off his armor and arms to not look filthy and uncomfortable. Being filthy after a kill was one thing, but filthy without catching anything? That was plain idiocy.

"I hate this planet!" Kaen'Dre roared. "I better find that damn hard meat after all I just went through! Now, I'm filthy."

He brushed off any more specs of dirt and got up. Sighing deeply, he relaxed from his angry thoughts and remarks. Making sure he hadn't lost any weapons, he turned around and stopped in his tracks. Before him stood a human who had probably come to see what had fallen over the cliff in curiosity and discovered him.

From his view, it was a human female. An adult human to be more precise that wore clothing that looked as if they belong to a ooman hunter, according to his teachings. Her body was slender but well-built to fight in ooman standards from the way it looked. She wore her hair in a form similar to his own but had its own tangled arrangement with small stones and thread instead. He almost trilled from the odd but amusing similarity.

She glanced at him with her full attention while he looked back in the same manner. Neither spoke as their staring contest continued.

What the hell did I get myself into now?, Kaen'Dre sighed mentally. This day just keeps getting worse and worse.

He tried to think of a quick plan to get the ooman away from him and stick to his pursuit over the hard meat. He didn't have time to indulge in human curiosities.

"Hello" she spoke to him. "Are you all right?"

Kaen'Dre didn't answer back instantly. Should he answer? What would this being do? What should he do? What if she didn't leave? Could he easily leave? And where the hell was that hard meat at?

I'm going to kill Kwei'De's brother for releasing that damn thing and causing me nothing but misery today, he thought irritably.

He looked back to the ooman and said, "Get away from here, ooman."

He saw her eyes widen in surprise and a second later, they narrowed. I guess she hadn't expected him to speak her language. Kaen'Dre had learned it while he had been studying to be a scientist when he was younger in case he needed it for hunting oomans, and in this case, he did.

"No, I'm not" she said, defiantly.

He did not have time for ooman ignorance. He couldn't hurt a weaker female of any race, but if he had to scare her away with his weapons, he would. He extracted his wrist blades and pointed them in her direction. She backed up slightly and unsheathed a curved sword from her side. This small, petite being was actually pointing a sword at him.

Oh great, she has a weapon! According to the rules, I can kill her now, he thought instantly. I do not have time to battle an insignificant ooman, but if I have to . . . . .

"You dare to fight me?" Kaen'Dre asked, amused.

"If it is my only choice, then I will" she said, bringing her sword closer to her in a defensive stance.

Yes, this was going to be long day, Kaen'Dre thought.

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End of Chapter 3. Hope everyone liked it and thanks for reading it! Especial thanks to my wonderful reviewers as always. This is my first story so thanks!