Author's Note: Thanks for sticking around for yet another chapter of total non-action. Sorry, but if I don't get a few things written here first, a few things won't make since later on, I don't like having to make my readers think "WTF, when did this happen?" or "Whoa dar, who iz dis an whad dey do to Lex?". My goal? Not have Lex become some macho super woman she-Pred in two chapters; sure she's going to have changed a lot when the story is over, but still recognizable as the same human to be taken onto the Predator ship and given the choice to become the hunter or hunted. Let me thank you all for understanding and appreciating.
Warning: Attempted English by Preds, the purpose of Scar's sister revealed, more of Scar's family introduced, Lex moves, figurative language is beyond the Yautja. More implied Lex/Scar at the end. I know, I'm always "implying", but the story wouldn't be half as intriguing if I suddenly stuck them in a room together and had them have sex, would it?
Disclaimer: I only own the OCs. Since stories where Lex joins Scar's clan have been done multiple times, I can't exactly say I own the idea, but all plot twists are my own inspirations, or ideas submitted by my twin.
Haven
The tests had been pretty simple really, the Yautja had her hearing checked, visual capacities tested, her sense smell analyzed, the Predators also lowered and raised the temperature in the room to see what heat conditions she could handle. They gave her several types of metal armor that was much too big and had her try them on; the human could only conclude this text was to see what kinds of material would be too heavy for her.
But Lex wasn't explained their purposes so she was escorted from the lab unsatisfied and confused. That had been several sleeps ago. She could now successfully walk on her own without aid or pain, and Crusade decided it was time for her to be moved to her new chambers. Before she did, however, the elder met her in the hospital dragging a container behind him.
Lex waved at Glaive as the little one ran to hug her legs, but before he reached her Crusade pulled back on a rope tied around his son's waist and pulled him back. She'd learned that Glaive was always running off and Crusade had been force to put him on this 'leash' so he could keep him out of trouble. Genius.
"What's that?" She asked indicating the box.
"Yewr per'sonl items." Crusade replied, opening the lid and pushing it towards her.
She was about to ask what he meant when she glanced into it, "Oh wow…" she breathed reaching in and pulling out the alien head shield Scar had fashioned for her in the pyramid back on Earth. Also in the box was the tail-spear, the harpoon she'd picked up and hurled at the queen she and Scar had faced, her tattered red clothes from before she had been taken aboard the Predator ship, and her backpack with its collection of miscellaneous items scattered across the bottom of the container, "You kept these for me?" she asked looking back up at him.
Crusade shrugged, "We didt nho what yew want'd to keip or not," he explained, "we left it fur yew to chuse."
Lex nodded in appreciation, "Thank you sir." She turned her attention to the things in the container. She was definitely keeping the weapons Scar had made for her; they had a subconscious special meaning for her that she would someday contemplate, but not now. Her clothes were dirty, torn, and melted, not worth keeping, she took them out and placed them on the counter. She had no idea what she would use the backpack for but thought she should keep it anyway.
As for the contents, she picked up one item after another. She'd barely used her flashlight in the pyramid so it was still useable if she ever found a need for it. Considering her compass probably wouldn't be as effective on other planets as it would be on Earth she decided to discard it as well.
Her hand brushed the Pepsi-Cola trinket that she had picked up after Sebastian had been taken by the aliens, she felt stupid suddenly for forgetting about it and not giving it back to the Italian when she'd had the chance. She closed her fingers around it; Crusade had explained to her that their scouts had not seen any other survivors before the humans had started approaching. It was possible that he was still alive on Earth, but she probably would never get the chance to return this to him.
Her heart all but stopped at the sight of her emergency rations. Lex had no idea how long ago she'd packed them or if they were still good, but even if she had grown a taste for the strange cuisine provided by the hospital it was still tempting to tear open a nutrient bar and chow down.
A sudden roar from another part of the hospital stole her attention, making her jump. Crusade looked in the direction the roar had come from, a doctor rushed toward them giving an urgent growl. Crusade gave a quick nod and dragged Glaive with him towards the source of the roaring.
The doctor continued towards the door and vanished into the halls, several minutes later he reappeared with several males following, Scar among them. All but one of them shared the distinctive flesh color and amber eyes. The other was a brown shade, with darker brown and orange markings and that reminded Lex of the stripes across the face of a tiger. They followed in the direction Crusade and Glaive had gone. The roars of pain continued for a while.
Then suddenly things were silent.
Lex stayed where she was, unsure at all of what was going on. Cautiously, she headed towards the group of Predators, her heart thudded in her chest. There was movement at the end of a hallway, following it Lex found the group with Scar. She'd never been in this part of the hospital. She stood in the doorway, not wanting to intrude if this was something personal.
Crusade noticed, his glance caught the attention of the others, Glaive clapped happily calling her name excitedly and attempted again to reach her for a hug, and again being pulled back by his father. Scar chirped and approached her, chittering enthusiastically. A bark turned the warriors' attentions away from her. Lex heard a very small clicking, and gentle purring. The males moved aside revealing what had drawn them here.
It was a Yautja female, notable by the breasts and a crest upon her brow unlike the males. She purred lovingly, holding a small bundle in her arms. The other male, the tiger faced one sat next to her, cooing with her, the clicking sound Lex heard appeared to be coming from the bundle. The female looked up, chirping and inviting the others to come see one at a time.
Lex stayed in the doorway. The warriors took turns looking at female and the little creature in her arms. At last they all moved away, Crusade's eyes sparkled with pride, he began growling, but was interrupted by the higher bark of the woman. She turned and looked directly at Lex, their eyes met, and she purred, beckoning her towards her. The human hesitated a moment, Scar took her wrist and pulled her forward. Lex approached, the Yautja women held the bundle out for her to see.
Lex's eyes softened fondly at the sight of the infant. A girl, from the looks of things, the pup opened her tiny eyes and squeaked. Her mother pushed her closer; Lex took hold of the baby. She was so light and small. Lex smiled, "She's beautiful." She said tenderly looking back at the parents. The little girl began squealing, and the human handed her gently back to her mother. She glanced around at the Predators around her, it was amazing, she thought, how such a tiny helpless thing could grow into such big and powerful creatures.
Life is full of wonders.
Scar touched her arm purring and pointed to the mother, "Dyce." He introduced, and then pointed to the father, "Phy'r"
"My dot'ur," Crusade clarified stepping forward, "and her mate."
"I'm an uncle!" Glaive chirped.
His siblings trilled, "You're not old enough to be anything." One teased Glaive crossed his arms and snarled in a pout.
Scar pointed to his two older brothers. "Rye'z, Sai-th," he growled, and then he clasped her shoulder, "Lehkz."
The family looked at her, clicking and purring, deciding what they thought of her. Dice chirped, her mate, Fire, growled for a moment, but gave a sort of approving nod. Rise snorted dismissively, and Scythe just ignored her Scar snarled at them angrily. Crusade translated.
"Dyce liiks yew." he told her, "She liiks evry'wun. Phy'r… sais 'e wil decide lat'r if yew ahrwor'th keipin'g. Rye'z thinkz yew wil die shortly, Sai-th won't evn ac-knowl'edge yewr exist'ince."
Boy, Scar has one heck of a supportive family… Lex thought. The only ones that immediately liked her were the proud mother who was a bit of an airhead that 'likes everyone', and the little brother who was fascinated by her. The other boys all seemed to think she was just a waste of space. Even Crusade seemed to doubt her abilities. Now more then ever, Lex wanted to learn the ways of the Yautja, if only to prove that she was more than a lucky soft meat.
Scar held her shoulder, he and Javelin were the only ones who appeared to truly believe she could amount to anything in their culture. At least she had them. Without thinking about it she leaned closer to Scar, thankful for his faith in her.
She felt him move closer as well.
Crusade snarled at his sons, "You should show some respect." He told them, "Sckeahr is not brainless, he knows that the mark is not to be used lightly." He eyed his son cautiously, "The ooman must have done something to earn it."
Scar's brother looked at him expectantly, he had not given full details on why he had blooded her, 'She saved my life." He confessed.
They stared at him, and then glanced at Lex and back to him. Their father grumbled something under his breath, and looked at Scar, "Saved your life?" he repeated.
The youngblood nodded, "If she had not knocked one of the hard meats off me, I would be dead."
The brothers all looked at each other. "Well…" Scythe said, acknowledging Lex for the first time, "That changes things…A little." The oldest still didn't think much of his younger brother's friend, but he understood that his father was right, especially now knowing that Scar could have been killed without her.
Rise snorted again, he still thought she would die, but made no further comment. Fire nodded again, but said nothing, his eyes showed a bit more respect. Dice chirped appreciatively and bowed her head towards the human who saved her little brother on the blue planet. Crusade also nodded toward her with a little more respect, but thought perhaps now would be a good time for them to leave. Lex still needed to get moved into her room, and the plans for her training to be discussed.
He escorted her out, Scar followed. Lex took hold of the container, telling Crusade that the things she removed were things she was not going to keep and asking what she should do with them. Crusade picked them up and dumped them into another container, informing her that they would be destroyed since they were of no use. Finally they set out towards the community level. They met Wrath and Javelin on the way, they asked about the hospital and congratulated Crusade on his first grandchild and asked for him to pass it on to the mother.
At last they reached Lex's room. She took a step in, still very grateful for it, the elders took a moment to decide who would tell her what the plans were. Wrath called to her. "Yor trane'ng begin tom-arow," he said, "Yoo wil be redie, yes?"
Lex nodded, "I guess." She said, but there was one question she needed to ask, "I don't have any idea how to use your weapons, will I have an instructor or something?"
Wrath and Javelin looked at Crusade with amused glimmers in their eyes. "Sckeahr haz…" he hesitated about saying this, as if the words were going to leave some horrible taste in his mouth, "…Vol'n'tear'd to trane yew." Scar chirped looking at Lex, she smiled. She hadn't been expecting that, but she was grateful to him, "'E also…" Crusade continued, and paused still not wanting to say what was next, "Wantz yew to lern yewr lan-gu-age."
Lex contemplated this. Scar was to teach her how to use their weapons, and in turn she would teach him how to speak English. "Want to kill two birds with one stone, eh?"
The elders looked at her as if she'd insulted them; Wrath grumbled menacingly at her, Javelin shook his head and Crusade said "There wil be no kil'ng ov birdz in'volv'd," He stressed, "An' we most cert'n'lee, would not uze stownz!"
Instantly Lex knew they'd misinterpreted her words, "No! That's not what that means!" She said, "Uh…Basically, I just said, we were going to do two things at the same time."
"Buht what doo birdz 'av to doo with dat?" Crusade asked.
"It's a metaphor," she explained, "Figurative language."
"Ahhh... I sie." Javelin purred, but it was clear from his expression that he did not see.
Lex decided that it was time to change the subject. "So…Are there any rules about the community level, or curfews I should know?" she asked
This was a good thing to bring up; the elders took turns explaining that there was no real night or day in space. If you were tired, you went to bed; if you get hungry you could go to the food storage and take some rations to prepare for yourself. The training arena was always open since there was somebody awake at all times. The only real rule was that the private chambers were private and no one could enter another warrior's room unless invited.
After this was explained the elders were approached by a younger Yautja, and asked for some help, the three of them left with him privately discussing the impossibility of being able to actually kill two birds with the same stone.
Lex was left in her room with Scar in the door way. "Lehkz." He beckoned her toward him and took her by the wrist. He led her down the hall to another room, his room, and opened the door, inviting her in. Lex's face warmed suddenly as she entered. Scar went over to his trophy case, which already had a few skulls in it, but he pushed a button below it which opened up a drawer in the wall. He reached inside and fished through it before pulling something out and returning to her. "Fu'r… yuo." He said using the little English he knew cautiously, trying his best to pronounce the foreign words correctly.
He placed it in her hands, it was a knife. The blade appeared to be made of bone, rather than metal, its hilt was black, decorated with gold designs and gems of multiple colors. It was beautiful. She examined it, it was heavy enough that she had to put a little strength in her grip to hold it up, but light enough that if she needed to use it she could make quick stabs and slices. "Thank you." She said.
They stood unmoving and unspeaking for a moment or two before Scar stepped for ward and put an arm around her and moved his face close to hers, brushing his mandibles gently across her forehead. Lex didn't have anytime to react before Scar stepped away again, and nodded towards the door, telling her she could leave anytime she wanted. She stayed a moment looking him in the eyes, noting the complete unconditional adoration in them.
Her face, already warmed, got hotter and she turned away, walking out, back to her room. The human didn't know what just happened, but she knew Scar had shown a lot of respect for her up to this point, friendship was undeniable. But was that all, he felt toward her? All she felt toward him?
Reaching her room Lex shut the door and took another look at the knife Scar had given her. Suddenly she was rather nervous about training with him.
Author's end note: I bet you are all wondering why I chose to suddenly drop the bomb of Scar's sister being pregnant, right. The same reason I put Glaive on board, to show Lex how small and weak Yautja start off, so she knows that even a smaller weaker creature such as herself can become a strong warrior. Also with the baby…There's a word you should look up, it's called "Foreshadowing" ^_~.
Editors note: I can't wait 'til they start trying to teach each other their languages, that's gonna be a bitch to edit -slinks off back to her lair with a few Tylenol-