Author's note: As the end of the school year steadily approaches I regret to say I may lose access to a computer with internet and may only be able to fit in three or four chapters before summer. I'm looking at buying a laptop over the summer, but I have no idea how long that could take since I'm unemployed and living off odd jobs for family, friends, and neighbors. For sure Haven will be up in September, and I have been told over the years that my fics are worth the wait. Anyway enjoy these next chapters 'cause they may be the last for a while.
Warning: Zaerith has no idea what she's doing today because her mind is on going to a friend's at noon to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street marathon.
Disclaimer: Sure I own AVP! This is totally canon! I'm not just making up ideas about how the Yautja society works! I'm make a fortune off this fic...Let me point out to any law enforcement agents that might be reading this that I wasn't even born when the first Alien movie came out, heck I was barely alive when the Alien 3 came out so there's no way I could own the franchises.
Haven
The advantage Lex discovered about menses was a way to measure time. It wasn't exactly accurate, but she knew that since she'd gotten her last period a week before the fateful trip to Antarctica, meaning that it she had been on the Predator ship about a month when she had begun her training with Scar, and that it had been more or less three months since then.
Luckily for her, she'd always been a quick learner, and in that time had made a lot of progress with the training she received. Learning weapons and how to use them was a little frightening at first, but she got used to it and by now she could hold her own against Scar in a mock battle. She wasn't even close to being able to defeat him, but their sparring matches certainly attracted crowds of other Yautja, some of which Lex thought she had grown admirers in. Even Scar's hard ass brothers seemed to think there was hope for her after all.
For weaponry, she refused to use any of the boomerang-type gadgets, Lex just didn't want to risk losing her fingers like that. She primarily used light close-combat weapons, like the Ki'cte-pa, Dah'kte, T'gou Bhrak-chei, Taun'dcha Kv', and she sort of looked forward to learning how to use the Sivk'va-tai. Lex's personal favorite was the alien-tail whip, it was a pain in the neck (and face if she messed up), but it was awesome, she felt like Indiana Jones, or Catwoman, when she used it.
Lex excelled at the language though. It wasn't like a High School foreign language course where she was given an hour lesson a day and expected to know the vocabulary for an upcoming test. This was real, Scar taught her the words, and she heard them everywhere she went, making it a heck of a lot easier for her to really learn and understand it. And the language itself had more gestures than actual words. Implications, rather than full sentences, almost like American Sign Language
Scar wasn't quite as fortunate since there were near as many English speaking Yautja. Pretty much just the Elders and she had recently learned the archivist, Rock, spoke a little English as well. Scar practiced his English with them and even tried to teach what he knew to Glaive, plus he had a few cheat sheets, the vocabulary downloaded into his sat-com, and his father's dictionary, which Lex had heard had been a gift from Fisher.
Despite the progress she made however, Lex still felt like a stranger when she went anywhere besides the Kehrite, she still felt their eyes on her, and thanks to her developing language skills she heard them whisper to each other about what she would look like as a trophy. The only friends the human had among the Yautja were Scar and his friends, she didn't feel comfortable enough, even in the time she had spent with them to try and socialize.
Especially after one strange incident where she had been cornered by a group of large males, she hadn't been any good at recognizing vocabulary at the time so she had no idea what they were saying as they advanced on her. A few of them grabbed her limps and held her as she flailed, not understanding what was happening nor what they were doing. Lex thought she was going to be raped the way the group handled her, but no, to her surprise they merely moved some sort of rope-like thing across her body, grumbled to each other and left. When she told this story to Javelin, the elder laughed and told her it was a surprise.
Somehow she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what the surprise was.
Now, Lex sparred with Scar, Dodge and Burn. It was two on two, the twins on one team, Lex and Scar on the other. Scar was bigger and stronger than she was, but she had the advantage of speed and lighter weight. The human and her partner fought together like they'd been doing so for years. Lex ducked to avoid being 'hit' with Dodge's practice weapon. She shouted to Scar, warning him that Burn was behind him. The twins dashed around their opponents, landing side by side. They gestured to one another, purring at a low frequency so Lex and Scar couldn't hear their attack plan.
"Staa loee," Scar instructed, he used english for the same reason Dodge and Burn spoke quietly, to prevent the other team from eavesdropping "Dod'j alwaiz at'actz widt 'iz left cide un-gar-d'd. Wayt fur myie sig'nil."
"Right." Lex replied, "Just be careful, I don't like the look in Burn's eye."
The teams rushed each other. Lex dropped and rolled beneath Dodge, the Yautja roared in surprise and confusion, twirling around to try and see where she went. Scar barked to get the attention of both twins, they growled and each came running hoping to take him down from both sides. At the last possible moment Scar dived forward, causing them to run headlong into each other.
"Now?" Lex asked.
Scar nodded, and they moved on the offensive. The still confused twins barely had time to get their guards up, and like Scar said, when Dodge tried to attack, his left side remained unprotected. The human took full advantage of that, Dodge yelped with pain as the blunted weapon struck him in the side, wrenching the breath out of him. Burn roared furiously when he noticed his brother had been injured.
His attack strength seemed to double as he charged Scar, pushing Lex's partner toward the wall. This was something the two of them had noticed about Dodge and Burn. If one of them got hurt, the other one got angry, which may have made them stronger for a while, but it also made them stupid. Scar easily turned his part of the battle around, and Lex let herself relax, and returned her attention to Dodge who was recovering from his surprise. She didn't give him time to properly regain himself, that wasn't how the game was played. They parried for a few minutes before Dodge's grip on his weapon slipped just the slightest and it went flying out of his hands.
At the same time, Scar disarmed Burn, and the twins glanced helplessly at each other before throwing up their arms in surrender. Lex smiled and lowered her weapon, glad that Dodge had lost his grip, a few more minutes and she wouldn't have been able to continue like that. She was satisfied with the victory between her and Scar, but exhausted. The sound of applause made her turn around. Once again a crowd had gathered to watch the fight. Lex gave a small bow and noticed the three elders among the cheering warriors.
Wrath approached his two sons, scolding them lightly for losing, but mostly praising them for their valiant fight. The twins beamed, battling was not really something they enjoyed, Dodge was a doctor, and Burn a metal worker, but any compliment for their father was welcome.
Crusade approached Scar congratulating him on his victory and impressive fighting, while Javelin did the same for Lex. The human panted heavily and thanked him, wiping sweat off her brow, thinking to herself that she needed to take a shower, get something to eat and get some rest. Crusade nodded to her as well, Lex looked him in the eye. Sometime ago he'd been acting sort of different, she couldn't place it, but he treated her differently. Less like a friend, perhaps and more like family. Glaive, after his little escape a while ago, was back strapped to his father's side, still looking for another way around it, but happy to see Lex and always trying to play, even with his limitations.
She was contemplating why when she caught sight of Scar. Their gazes locked for a moment before they looked away again. Lex felt her heart thump wildly and the blood rush to her face. She couldn't deny it even if she wanted, Scar was more than her friend, but that wasn't what was awkward. She knew the feeling was mutual, Scar knew as well, but neither of them was really sure what to do from that. Thankfully Lex's attention was taken from her feelings for Scar by the approach of Dodge and Burn.
"We have something for you." Dodge said after they congratulated her for winning and thanked her for the great fight. "Come with us."
Lex nodded and followed them to the edge of the arena, where before the duel had begun the two had each left a case. One at a time the twins presented them to her, Lex opened them in surprise. One was a medicomp, with all the tools and medicines used by the Yautja, with the addition of extra supplies of the stuff Dice had given her when she'd first gotten her period.
The other, left her absolutely speechless. It was a set of armor, perfectly sized for her. The metal was light, but hard, covering her most vulnerable parts. She looked at the twins in amazement as the explained that they'd made and organized these gifts themselves.
"The fitters told me what happened when they tried to get your measurements," Burn said, "Plenty of fight in you, no doubt."
Fitters? Lex thought. "Oh! Those guys that…well I guess they weren't attacking me then." She laughed, "Thank you." The woman said, she embraced the both, "Thank you so much!"
The twins didn't know English, but recognized the meaning of a hug, "Go try it on!" Burn insisted, "I want to see how I did!"
Lex nodded, turning and heading back to her private chambers. Inside she pulled off the clothes she already wore and dropped them to the floor. She looked carefully at the armor in the case. A sudden unexplained noise made her jump and turn around. Lex scanned the room, saw nothing, but a tingling feeling up her spine made her feel like she was being watched.
Unable to determine any sort of threat, Lex turned back to the armor and put it on as quickly as she could; starting with the mesh and skirt, quickly followed by a belt, which already included several supplies, and the hip guards. Next came the torso armor, properly rafted for a woman which fit perfectly over her breasts. She clicked a few belts into place, attaching the shoulder pads, and finally slipped on the gloves (The self destruct bomb built in) and boots that -were also made for her; they weren't high-heeled so she reminded herself to thank Burn properly for that when she got back to the Kehrite. Lex strapped the Medicomp to her back, and reached down for the final to items, a Bio helm and a wire-like sash, that she had seen worn by other Yautja that were decorated with fingers, claws, and skulls from smaller prey.
Lex glanced over at her empty trophy case. Beneath it was a drawer filled with bones from animals she'd killed on this ship as it was expected of her to learn to kill without mercy. She stepped over to it, surprised and relieved at how easy it was to move in this armor. It wasn't weightless, but light enough not to drag her movement. Opening the drawer she picked up every bone she could hold and after a few minutes of fiddling she attached them to the sash and pulled it over her body. She made a split decision to grab the dagger Scar had given her and hid it on her person.
That left the Bio helm. A mark had already been burned onto it for her. She lifted it to her face and pulled on a strap made of a similar material to elastic and put it on. The moment it was attached to her face properly a preprogrammed system started up, displaying information on the screen before her eyes which someone had the foresight to translate into English for her- sort of, there were spelling errors here and there, but it was the thought that counted. She giggled, and pushed a button on her wrist console to change the vision modes.
Finally Lex set it back to a mode close to human vision. She turned and was ready to leave she heard the unexplained noise again, she twirled, hoping to see what it was that caused the noise. This time she swore she saw movement, but as she looked on she saw nothing, freaked out she turned out into the hall, and was half way to the elevator when she realized that she probably could have used thermal vision to determine if she had an intruder. Turning on her heels she marched back to her room, but again found nothing. The human tried to calm her racing hear and tell herself it was just her imagination.
Unless they already left. A little voice whispered in the back of her head.
Lex left again, locking the door behind her. She remembered what she was told when she'd first been given this place; no one was supposed to enter another warrior's room without permission. Scar and Lex had given each other permission to come and go, but Scar was still at the Kehrite and no one else had been given her consent, so that meant someone would be in trouble if they got caught in her private quarters again. But who would be in her room and why?
Yautja stood in marveling silence when she reached the Kehrite again. She heard a few whispers of her 'finally looking like a real warrior', and praises about Burn's craftsmanship. She was asked to quickly demonstrate how it she could move in it so she did a practice round fighting dummies. The Predators seemed more impressed with her now that she was in armor. Scar and Crusade fussed over her a few minutes showing her the best way to store her weapons, she admitted, the whip hanging from her belt, the Ki'cte-pa, Dah'kte, T'gou Bhrak-chei, and Taun'dcha Kv' made her feel very dangerous and sexy. Crusade growled informing her that Scar would teach her how to use the Sivk'va-tai later. He then turned to the crowd of Yautja.
"Attention!" He announced, "Spread the word, all Youngbloods have been marked! The Kainde Amedha Chiva are over, the final trial shall begin soon!"
Thrilled mummers began; Scar beamed and shook Lex's shoulder. She flushed and returned the gesture, but politely excused herself back to her rooms, all this excitement was making her dizzy. One her way back to her room Lex thought back on her earlier plan to shower, eat and sleep, that proposal still seemed valid. Halfway back she ran afoul of the one thing that would make her change her mind.
Well, four things really. Dart, Thug, Tool and Strike blocked her path. The skinny albino took one look at her and began to laugh, Dart did the same, Thug took a moment as if trying to figure out what was so funny but started up as well. As usual, Strike hung back behind the others which Lex knew he did to keep them from seeing him rolling his eyes at them all the time
"Still playing dress-up, I see." Dart barked, "Make believe, hmm? Pretending to be a warrior!"
"I'm not pretending." Lex scowled, even though she knew none of them could speak a word of English.
"Just wait 'till the final trial starts!" Tool piped, "You'll be helpless!"
Strike reached forward and clasped a hand on the other Yautja's shoulder, "T'uul don't." He warned.
Lex bristled and forced herself to continue walking, even as they teased her from behind.
"Hey!" Dart called after her, "I'll tell Scar I hope you last more than ten minutes on the big hunt! Its nice, even though I know you won't last more than two!"
The human did not say anything but simply through her hand over her shoulder with and extended middle finger, Dart shut up, and a few of his goons chuckled quietly at their leader's expense. Dart barked at them, he didn't like being reminded of his humiliation.
For the most part Lex was still proud of what she had done the day they'd first met, but she had to feel a little guilty for spreading a bad habit around. Not long after she'd flipped off the Yautja, the middle finger became permanently associated with the term, "Ell-osde' pauk" and she'd been seeing the bird everywhere since.
Finally back at her quarters, Lex decided she wasn't in the mood to shower or eat and just flopped down on her bed. She closed her eyes, she was exhausted, but too angry to sleep. She thought about Dart. What did she do to make him hate her so much? Scar, right, she was friends with Scar, that made automatically made her the enemy, didn't it? As far as she could tell, Thug was a brainless lackey who did anything and everything that Dart told him to. Tool wasn't much better; he had some brains, but not enough if he listened to Dart. But Strike was different, he was an outsider, Scar had told her that he and Strike were 'almost friends' if it weren't for Strike's devotion to protecting Tool and Tool's choice to follow Dart. She had a lot of respect for the green Yautja of he could put up with Dart.
Her thoughts dwelled back to Scar. She curled in closer to herself. God, She thought, I never would of thought something like this could happen to me. Her heart bounded against her rib cage and her face burned. She wondered if he was thinking about her now, like she was thinking about him.
Knock, knock.
"Huh? Wha-" Lex sat up again, and then strode back to the door, "Who could that be?"
She opened the door and was greeted by a hurling body that grabbed her legs. "Mei-jadhi!"
"Glaive!" Lex gasped returning the over enthusiastic embrace. When did the little Yautja get off his leash? Or did Crusade let him off?
Glaive purred happily and attempted English like his brother, "Sis'tah! Yoo fite goot tu-dae! Wanna be juz liiek yoo!"
Lex laughed, "Thank you!" She said, leave it to Glaive to fix a bad mood, "Why don't you let go of me for a second and come in?" Glaive chirped and complied racing to the bed and jumping up on it.
"Sis'tah! Pulae wit' me?"
"Sure!" Lex answered, "I know a great game, my sister and I played it when I was a little girl." She crawled under the bed, and shouted so Glaive could hear her from the top. "Don't let the monster catch you!"
She moved around under the bed and randomly came up giving off a fake roar and reaching for Scar's brother as if to drag him under. Glaive squealed and leapt to different sides of the bed to avoid her. This when on for a while before Glaive chirped that he wanted to be the monster and they switched. This lasted just as long before:
"GLUH'AVE!" Crusade's voice was loud and angry coming from the halls, "GLU'AVE!"
The aforementioned child popped his head out from under the bed with a guilty look on his face, Lex stared at him. "Your dad didn't let you off, did he?" she concluded. Instead of answering, Glaive ducked back under the bed to hide.
A furious knock came at the door, but the Predator did not wait for an answer before opening it. Crusade was ticked off enough that Glaive had snuck off again as it was, Lex didn't want to get herself in trouble for lying to him, or get Glaive in more than he already was, and simply pointed under the bed to inform the fuming father of his son's whereabouts. Crusade nodded his thanks and silently asked for permission to enter and retrieve him. Lex approved, wondering how Glaive had managed to get away this time.
Her question was answered as Crusade stepped lightly into the room, followed by Javelin who had Glaive's leash tied to his boot with and exasperated, but a mused twinkle in his eyes. Apparently while the two elders were talking, Glaive had not only figured out how to get the thing off him, but he'd tied it to the other elder while they weren't looking.
Glaive shrieked it terror, pain and protest as Crusade yanked him out, Lex spoke up, "I'm sorry, I thought you'd let him go." She said.
"Not your fault." Crusade grumbled pick up his son and slinging him over his shoulder angrily as Javelin untied himself, "Don't think you can keep this up, Gluh'ave." He warned, "I helped bring you into this universe, I can take you out of it." He continued to growl subtle parental threats to his son as he took him out, all the while Glaive whined for Lex to help him.
As soon as they were out of sight Javelin finally let out his bottled laugh. "Ah those boys will be the death of him." He said.
"Yeah, little Hell Raisers, but Scar turned out alright in the end," Lex added, "And after what Glaive just pulled, I have to admit, I've got high hopes for him."
Javelin's thrill-like laugh grew louder. Yeah, that was a stroke of evil genius; Lex couldn't have pulled off anything better herself. Calming himself the elder straightened and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's a good thing he came here though," he said, "Kru'saad and I had something we needed to talk to you about…"
"What?" Lex asked.
"Scar will not be able to show you how to use the Sivk'va-tai." He answered, "He is under house arrest."
"House arrest!" Lex repeated, "For what!"
"Theft." Javelin replied.
Lex thought for a moment, among the Yautja it was pretty common for the Predators to steal things from each other, a sort of game to see how long it takes the victim to A) find out somethings missing. B) Figure out who did it. And C) get it back. The only reason anyone would be in trouble for it was if they thief refused to return the stolen item or if it were something really important. Immediately she knew what Scar had done.
"The dictionary." She said. Javelin nodded. It was the most precious thing Crusade had; he overreacted a little bit to Scar borrowing it without permission. Suddenly Lex broke out in a smile, Scar wasn't under house arrest… he was grounded. "So how long is he…ah... in for?"
Javelin's mandibles twitched, "Until 'he learns his lesson', is how Kru'saad put it."
Lex laughed, "So…Who's going to-"
"I will," Javelin said, "I will be in the Kehrite after I finish helping with Xeira and my other duties, meet me anytime you are ready."
"Thank you."
He nodded and left, Lex returned to her bed and lied down again. She smirked at the mental image of Scar in his room, bored out of his mind and grumbling about how unfair such treatment was. She giggled to herself once again and slowly let dreams take her, forgetting all about the unexplained presence in her room earlier.
Author's end note: Ahh…I love Glaive, and I know Ya'all love him too, but he and Dice are leaving next chapter so be prepared for good-byes. The thing in her room may not be explained for a while so contemplate and worry to your hearts content.
Editor's note: And yes, we are finally getting ready for the Final Trial. For those who don't remember, Lex needs to take this test to prove herself worthy of her mark, but she's not going to be alone. We have the idea that at least some of the warriors will need to prove themselves as well, some of them may be accused of cheating, others just because the elders are not entirely convinced that they deserve the mark. That's it for now, tell me if you catch any mistakes I may have made.
Ki'cte-pa - Combi Stick
Dah'kte- Wrist Blades
T'gou Bhrak-chei - Spear Gun
Taun'dcha Kv' - EMP Pistol
Sivk'va-tai - Plasma Caster (Burner)
Kehrite - Training area
Ell-osde' pauk -Fuck you