Morning light dawned over the Youngbloods. They had camped out up in the trees that night rather than heading back to their clan's settlement. They were far too excited in the upcoming hunt; the Adjudicators- Yautja who are the administrators and law enforcers of the clan and who also oversee the training of Youngbloods on occasion- wouldn't mind and would even expect that from them.

Sain'ja was among the first to wake, his goal already set to find the female human leader and end her before she regrouped with the others. He made his way back to the cadet's campsite. Not a soul could be found. The entire place had been abandoned. He found some equipment the humans had left behind; a blanket, some food, a knife, a couple matches. It wasn't long before he spotted a pile of mud and blood stained grass where one of the hounds had attacked the female.

She couldn't have left a clearer trail to follow and it was obvious she had left in a hurry. He followed the path of muck and blood, both of which were beginning to dry up in the approaching sunlight. Sometimes he found places where she must've have tripped and fallen, then had struggled to right herself again. Sain'ja began to worry that maybe the jungle's wildlife might've gotten to her first.

After walking for about two hours, he smelled the stench of vomit that was now heating up. He turned his face away, feeling a little nauseous, but knew she had to be nearby. He spotted the puke by a large rock ledge that was covered with leaves and had many large cracks running through the side of it. There was a large amount of blood coming from one of the crevices.

Bending down to look inside, he spotted her curled up form backed up all the way to the wall behind her. In sleep, she clutched her injured hand protectively, breathing shallowly. Most of the mud had fallen or had been rubbed off during her journey here. Her skin was paler than it had been before, due to the large amount of blood loss she had suffered. Occasionally, the female would stir from whatever dream haunted her or lick her chapped lips thirstily.

He sighed. He couldn't kill her like this, although perhaps it would be more merciful now than if she was awake and kicking. It would be like someone of bad-blood to do such a thing while their prey was too wounded and fatigued to fight back. There was no sport in that kind of kill. Sitting down, he wondered what he would do now. He had never had to deal with prey that was this meek and injured save for when he was hunting for food.

The female's pack was within arm's reach, and Sain'ja pulled it out of the crevice, examining its contents. Her canteen was pretty low, however she still had enough food and medical supplies to last her a few days, if she paced herself and was careful. He looked back at her and decided she might struggle with that, in the condition she had fallen to. He put the pack back where he found it and took her rifle next.

The gun was out of ammo. She must have used it all when she had been fighting the hounds. Sain'ja began busying himself by taking the female's ammo and reloading the weapon. Feeling she would notice the missing bullets from her pack, he replaced them with the ammo he had taken from the male's corpse yesterday. Maybe she could use it for her pistol, which he couldn't get to because it was holstered on her side.

He set he rifle back in place as well, now capable of being fired at a moment's notice. Maybe after she got her rest, she would be ready to put up a decent fight. He climbed up into the trees, camouflaging himself, and waited patiently for her to awaken.

Tessera, Don, and Colton moved exhaustingly, dragging their tired feet behind them. Although none of them had been injured by the hounds, they had kept running all night, wanting to make as much distance between them and the Predators as possible, and their mutated dogs. When they finally did stop, they questioned their ability to fight back if the Predators did come after them.

"Ok…" Don said, panting, "We need to make a new camp…and a new plan."

"But…but what about Nina...and the others?" Colton asked, just as short of breath.

"They're miles away from us by now…We're on our own…until we can turn around and regroup."

"I…I'll find food. I won't go far." Tessera offered helpfully.

Don nodded, working on starting a fire with a pile of tinder, some steel, and flint. Colton sat down by him.

Tessera stayed within a twenty-yard limit, just enough distance so she could race back to the safety of her trio. She looked around, begging with her eyes for there to be some sign of a familiar edible plant or root. About thirty minutes of searching later, she spotted some water vines hanging from a large tree. Her eyes lit up. She took out her knife and was about to cut one of the vines to be certain when she saw a very thick one move. Staying still, she took a closer look. It was a snake, the largest one she had ever seen. Its scales sparkled when they met a glint of light. Tessera's skin turned pale.

It had been awhile since the two boys had heard anything, and both began to grow worried. "Go check on her," Don ordered as he fed the fire to keep it going. Colton got up and headed in the direction of the last place he had seen Tessera.

He didn't come back. Don's heart pounded with fear for his friend and his girl. He stood up, leaving the fire to burn in its small pit. He saw the two standing perfectly still, and with a raised eyebrow started heading over to them.

"D-Don, don't," Tessera whispered. He spotted the snake and froze in place as well. Gulping, he decided to take initiative,

"Ok," he said, just as quiet, "One at a time, you two back up behind me, real slow. Tessera, you first."

At first she took one shaky step, then another. Soon, surely but carefully, she found herself able to move until she was about a yard behind him. Colton followed suit. The snake poked its head out of the vines, balancing itself by gripping onto the tree limb above. It stuck its tongue out at them repeatedly, taking in their scents.

Bravely, Don moved forward. "Don? Don! Get over here!" Tessera said softly, worried.

The snake lunged toward him. Don quickly side-stepped out of the way, drawing his sword and decapitating the thing with one downward swoop. Its body contorted and twisted around on the grass, before finally stopping. The three moved closer to examine the body. It jerked one final time, causing Tessera to shriek. The boys grinned at her, amused. She glared back.

A Youngblood, nicknamed Fox by his fellow Yautja, watched them, recording the event for later. The others had split off to find the other humans. He tried hard not to fall out of the tree laughing at the humans' fear. The snake wasn't poisonous, but could give several nasty nips to its prey or when it felt threatened. He had taken several strikes himself from the very same creature. This one had merely been curious of the trio.

He watched as the humans left and went back to their small fire, which was what had allowed him to find them so easily. He looked back at the snake's corpse, grinning. At least they had caught him breakfast.

Nina woke up, feeling painfully sore and stiff. She longed to fall back asleep and forget everything. To let herself die from starvation in this little crapped space rather than face the beasts that awaited her out there. Her crying out body refused. She pushed herself up a few inches and winced. The top of her head scraped the rock ceiling. Digging into her pack, she took a swig from her canteen, putting it back right after so she wouldn't have to see her pitifully low supply. Nina knew even though it would be difficult, she needed to keep moving. She reached for her rifle after putting on her pack.

It had been reloaded. Nina's eyes widened. Someone had been here. It couldn't be one of the other cadets; they would've revealed themselves by now. The only other sentient creatures she knew were the Predators themselves, but why would they help her? Trying hard not to tremble and fighting the urge to run- not that her body could stand the exertion anyway- she took the rifle and stayed still, trying to spot what might await her from outside.

Sain'ja had spotted her move, so he knew she had finally woken up. He could just see her face; spirited and ready to defend herself, but afraid and exhausted. She had bags under her eyes already. She seemed out of sorts as well, the loss of blood affecting her thinking and rationality as well as her health. It was clear the female didn't plan on going anywhere. She would die in that crevice if he didn't go ahead and kill her, which would be dishonorable. Unless…

He climbed down from the tree and headed back toward the crevice.

Nina could see a bit of space shaking in front of her. It took her awhile before she was able to tell what it was. Gasping, she aimed her rifle. Sain'ja took it by the barrel and jerked it out of her hands, then grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her out of the rocks. She tried squirming from his grip, to no avail, and her throat was too parched too scream.

He kept dragging her until he could hear the sound of rushing water. He loosened his grip on both the female and the gun. She fell for it easily, yanking herself free and taking her weapon back in the process. That's when she began rolling uncontrollably down a steep slope, only having time to click the gun on safety so she wouldn't wind up shooting herself while she tumbled down. Nina soon stopped feeling the solid earth and instead went flying in the air, landing in a river. The current pulled her and she latched onto a boulder jutting out in the middle, coughing and choking. Losing her grip, the river continued to take her away, until finally the current became much calmer and the water level dropped to shoulder height. It took the remainder of her strength to swim to shore. As quick as she could, she raised her waterlogged gun and pointed it around.

Sain'ja watched her, glad that she hadn't drowned. The sole purpose was to get her to a source of water, so she might be able to heal herself properly and then finally once more be called worthy game. He wound up what he had found at the humans' campsite into the blanket and dropped it from his perch, then went off to make his own camp for the day. He had waited for her so long that he had grown hungry. Besides, she'd never be able go far anyway, not unless she wanted to risk dehydration again.

Nina relaxed as there was no second attack. She allowed herself to fall onto the welcomed ground. Lifting her head, she spotted something…manmade? That couldn't be right. Squinting, she recognized it as her parachute material. The Predator must have dropped it when it left her there, but how come? She wasn't anything to be afraid of in comparison. To be honest, people would think she was as gentle and graceful as a butterfly compared to him, and that was saying something.

She limped over and collected the material, finding it heavier than normal. Opening it, she saw it had extra supplies all set in a small pile inside. She picked up the knife, which was small, but had a nice, sharp blade. It fit well in her palm. Not clumsily like her hunting knife was, which had groves instead of a smooth edge. Nina fell onto her back, confused and tired.

Night had fallen again. Colton was supposed to have been taking watch, but was slumped against a tree, sound asleep. A twig snapped and Tessera sat up, lifting her knife and pointing it in different directions. She saw nothing, but Colton's heaved over form. Frowning, she shook him, but he didn't wake up. Sound sleeper, she thought displeased. She guessed it was her turn by now anyway, so she sat up and held her revolver in her lap.

A few moments later, another twig snapped. Finding a deep source of courage within her, Tessera moved towards the noise, holding her gun in both hands in front of her. The fire cast her shadow over Don's face. When it vanished he woke up as well from the return of light to his eyes. Tessera was gone.

"Tessera," he whispered, "Tessera?" No answer.

He went in search of her, his sword slapping his leg as he walked. He gripped a GPMG in his hands. Her heard a stick snap and turned to his right, aiming his gun.

"Don?" A familiar voice asked softly.

"Tessera, it's me. What are you thinking? You shouldn't run off like that," he asked, relieved.

"Don, get over here!" her voice said worriedly.

"Tessera, what's wrong?" he said running toward her.

"Don!" she seemed to cry.

"I'm coming!" he raced for her now, but no matter how much he ran, he only heard her desperate calls for him.

"Tessera? Tessera!" he yelled. Then he heard her shriek. His body tensed up. Then he heard her voice again, much closer now.

"Don?"

He turned, only to face a Predator, who tilted his head and towered above him. Don swore he could feel him smiling at him under that mask. "What did you do to her?" he demanded angrily. In response, Fox mimicked Tessera's voice once more. Before Don could lift his weapon and fire, the Youngblood sliced at his neck with his Smart-Disc, providing a quick and efficient decapitation.

Don's corpse slumped to the ground.