Author's note: Once again, Xeira belongs to my sister, so this chapter was written by her
Disclaimer: Nope, still do not own it. Much to our chagrin.
Xeira lay in her cage, dreaming of days long past, which was the only thing she really could do on this ship. Once or twice the Yautja scientists had tried to bring her in for more tests, but without Javelin, it was simply impossible to get the giant queen to cooperate. Not that Xeira was really in the mood to cooperate, even if Javelin were present; the alien queen was still holding her grudge against the Yautja elder for his earlier stunt.
Heaving a soft hiss, Xeira curled tighter as she thought back on that incident. It had hurt her deeply that Javelin had done that to her, it had been an insult to her pride, to be ridden like some lowly beast of burden. Xeira was a queen, and though her main reason for living had been taken from her, she still had her royal pride.
However, this insulting incident had taken place weeks ago, even for her kind it seemed ridiculous to be angry for so long. Xeira knew that she was unlike any of her own kind, though she did not quite understand how or why. Perhaps her time in captivity had something to do with it? Even for a queen, Xeira was old, much older than her biological clock told her she should be. Had her time spent on the Yautja ship have changed her? She had lived longer than a wild hard-meat should have, but was that all?
Xeira thought back to the days when she had lain her eggs and lived free on a planet that had not been disturbed by the Yautja hunters. Back then, she lived by instinct alone, but now as Xeira sat in her cage the old queen thought beyond her instincts. How had that happened?
The doors opened suddenly and Xeira was ripped from her ponderings. She looked up and snapped her double jaws, sniffing the air for Javelin's musk. As angry as the old queen was with the Yautja elder, she also had to admit that she missed his company. The musk was not Javelin's however, it belonged to much younger Yautja. This particular young warrior had been coming down a lot recently, first to watch Xeira, but then the hunter turned his attention to the other queen in the facility.
Xeira's companion had off course protested mightily whenever any newcomer would arrive except for perhaps this one. Xeira sensed something in the young Yaujta that she recognized in the younger queen as well. Their bodies both seemed tense, Xeira could literally feel the anger inside both the young queen and the young warrior.
Something was different this time, even though she usually snarled and hissed lightly whenever this young warrior would arrive, the other queen simply did not snarl or hiss, or try to antagonize him in anyway. Xeira found this surprising, she twitched his spines to get a clearer image of what was transpiring over by her companion's cage.
The newcomer had sat down, in front of the cage and the other queen had simply lifted her head.
Nothing else.
Xeira observed the two stare each other down in silence. For a moment the old queen was reminded of when Javelin had started coming down to visit her. Was what had happened between her and Javelin happening again with the other queen and this young Yautja? Xeira hissed, she didn't like this. There was malevolence in the air between the two, what ever bond that was being created between them was nothing like her bond with Javelin.
Finally Xeira herself stood and rushed at the doors of her cage, snarling furiously at the Yautja. The trance that had been connecting the warrior and the other queen was suddenly broken and, to Xeira's satisfaction, her companion began to snarl and chase at the Yautja. The young warrior stood with a definite glare at Xeira and quickly vacated the premises. Xeira calmed immediately when he was gone, but her companion continued to roar for hours afterward.
It was then that Xeira realized that she was no longer angry with Javelin, now more than anything she wanted the Yautja elder to come to her. She needed to warn him somehow that bad things were afoot on this ship. Xeira lay back down in her cage and snarled once at her still howling companion, silencing the other queen at last.