She was being held down tightly by a rope. Her arms, legs, torso, and neck were unable to move. Any attempt at movement brought pain. The ropes tore at her skin when she tried to move. What was going to happen to her now? The basement door opened with a bang sending chills down her spine.

"Mommy, Daddy?" Her voice was raw from her screaming. Recently they had thrown both of her arms on revolving blades that had cut deeply into her hand and part of her forearms. The flesh had hung apart showing the bone, blood, tendons, and muscles. Her parents had reluctantly rushed her to the hospital and told the paramedics that she was playing in the workshop when this happened. They did immediate surgery saving both of her arms, and they healed miraculously, not even a scar formed.

She had tried to tell the doctors and surgeons what had really happened, but none of them would believe her. They thought it was the drugs making her hallucinate. After her release this is where she wound up, on her old bed tied down.

"You rotten little bitch! You tried to get us in trouble!" Her mother's eyes were filled with pure rage. "You see how well that worked, now don't you? You know you deserve every last bit of this." She stood up straight putting on one of the smuggest smiles Lilith had ever seen. "Well, we'll fix that won't we dear?" Her father side stepped the women holding in his hands a brand new roll of duct tape. "Indeed we will."

Lilith tried to scream, she tried to beg, but her father forced her mouth closed and wrapped the tape many times from the bottom of her jaw to the top of her head and back around. Her teeth were pressed tightly together and held that way by the thick layers of tape that she couldn't move. Now terrified of what else they might do, she tried to beg once more, but her pleas might well have been made to a brick wall, as her father began putting the tape over her mouth and taking it around the back of her head.

She had no idea how long they had left the tape on her like that, but the pain that she felt when they finally tore it off was unreal. Lilith screamed as she felt her hair being torn roughly out of her scalp by the sticky tape. She cried and wanted to beg for them to stop, but they didn't. Her mother kept ripping the tape off, and laughed whenever bloody hair came off with it.

Her eyes snapped open. The last thing she remembered was trying to jump off the cliff and then Celtic carrying her back to the ship, after that she had blocked everything out. Lilith lifted her eyes to a see ceiling of tan stone. She felt a little lightheaded, but she wasn't cold. In fact she was little on the hot side, and it felt like the air was thin or something because she had to breathe a little faster to get enough air. She sat up and looked around, because she didn't have the slightest idea how she'd gotten here. The first thing she noticed about her surroundings was that she was in a shallow hole of some kind. It was a really weird thing because the hole was lined and filled with lots of furs, skins, and things. Looking down at herself she saw that she still had on the heavily insulated arctic pants, but was only wearing the black T-shirt she'd taken from her mother's dresser as far as a top went. She frowned in irritation when she saw that only scars were left on her forearms and wrists.

'What gave them any right to interfere? Why couldn't they just let me die so I won't have to hurt anymore? Maybe I should just try to stop caring about anything… all they're going to do is make me feel even worse than I did when they caught me.' Lilith thought in a mixture of anger and sadness.

Lilith looked out of the shallow hole that she was in, and realized that could get out of it with no problem, but what she saw on the walls of the room was pretty weird. There were lots of things scattered around that looked like stuffed animals, but she could tell that these were reallystuffed animals! All of them had been living things at one time, but were now stuffed like toys or something. These weren't at all like that deer head, or large mouthed bass that her father had kept hanging in the living room. Instead, these things were floppy looking, like they were meant to be like the teddy bears she used to have on her bed before she'd been put in the basement. She wanted to take a closer look at them, but realized just how hot she was getting. She reached down and slid off the over sized boots that she'd taken from her mother's closet, and got up to pull off the insulated snow pants, she'd been given by one of Weyland's assistants. She got the pants off easily enough, and was left in the jeans that were two sizes too large in the waist, along with a couple of inches too long. Sitting back down, she quickly pulled the boots back on over the three pair of socks that she had to wear to fill in the extra space.

As soon as she got her boots on, Lilith stood up, and took another look around the strange room. There were a lot of the animal looking things, but there were also a lot of small skulls lying around as well. It was really weird. She stepped out of the hole easily because the edge was only half way up her shin. She started towards what she thought was a door, and nearly jumped in surprise when it slid open.

Lilith looked up and saw Old Bruce coming in the door, but the Predator that followed him was even bigger than Celtic! Her first reaction was one of fear, but then she got angry at herself before she even took a step back. She clamped down on her feelings and tried to force them from her mind. She didn't want to feel anything, and she didn't want to care about anything any more, because all that had ever done was cause more trouble for her to end up in. She stood there staring up at the two Predators as they entered the room. The big one that came in second was a woman Predator and it was pretty obvious the humongous breasts on her. The Predator woman knelt down in front of her, but was still taller than she was.

Guan-kv'var-de looked at the tiny ooman female standing in front of her, and knelt down to not only get a better look at the little thing, but also to seem less imposing and threatening to the tiny pup. Even when she was kneeling on the floor, the top of the female pup's head didn't quite reach the height of her shoulders. She had easily caught the scent of fear, and that scent was quickly overpowered by anger before both scents began to fade entirely. She knew that both had come from the pup in front of her, but she wasn't sure why.

"This is Guan-kv'var-de, (Night Hunter) and she is my lifemate. We are what you oomans would call married. This room is to be yours for now. This is where we raised all three of our sons. I have brought you to our world, and to our home. Whether or not it also becomes your home will be a decision for you and Guan to make. My sons and I have already given our opinions in the matter, but we would like to know what you think as well. Before you ask… you will not be returned to the world where we found you. This room was built with an audio feed to our room so we would know immediately if there was a problem with the pup who was in here at the time. Other than that, this room is sound proof, so no one else will overhear, should you wish to speak with one of us." Kwei-vor'mekta said before he let out a breath of frustration.

"I… we are hoping that you will choose to speak now. I don't know why someone chose to hurt you in the ways they so obviously have, but we know that they did. You do not need to fear that you will be hurt here, Little One. Because we do not allow such things to happen to pups. I know Guan wishes to speak to you, so I will leave now so that the two of may get to know each other." Kwei-vor'mekta told her seriously before he left.

Guan studied the ooman pup in front of her for a moment. She could see that the female was apparently studying her as well. She thought that was a good sign. Since it showed that the pup was intelligent, or at least curious about things. Then, thinking that perhaps things might go a little better, she gestured towards the sunken nest for pups.

"Why don't we both sit down for a while? Kwei said that he gave you an injection to make you sleep during the journey here, so it may not be completely out of your system yet. I know you haven't been awake for very long, because I checked on you a short while ago." She said as she moved to sit in the middle of the fur lined hole in the floor.

Lilith moved cautiously to the edge of the shallow pit or hole, whatever it was, and slowly sat down. She studied the Predator while she did. The Predator woman was tall enough that the top of Celtic's head probably only reached those rich gold colored eyes. Much like Scar, the woman also had a dark grey green skin with some tan areas on her stomach.

"Will you tell me who it was that hurt you so much?" Guan asked softly when the female pup was seated.

While she had hoped for the pup to tell her, she hadn't expected it. The quick negative shake of the pup's head was exactly the reaction she'd thought she would receive. What she hadn't expected, was the shocked expression and the suddenly overpowering scent of fear from the pup.

Lilith knew that she was going to be asked that question sooner or later, and she had even believed that she was prepared for it. She wasn't. As soon as she heard it, she had been unable to keep from thinking about how these Predators would react once they knew the truth. Thoughts of how much she would be made to suffer, and memories of countless beatings flew through her mind in an instant. As much as she didn't want to care, she couldn't help but feel afraid of what the Predators would do to her. She tried to back away to get a little more distance between her and the Predator woman.

The moment she realized just how scared the pup had become from hearing that one question, Guan knew that she had to act. Having raised three pups of her own, she knew exactly how to purr in a way that would quickly sooth and comfort a frightened pup. Faster than the tiny female would have thought possible, she was beside the little thing. The purr that she was creating was strong and powerful, but also very soft, almost barely heard. It was the kind of sound that was no more than a loud whisper, but would vibrate the entire body of the ooman that she quickly pulled into her lap.

She had avoided touching the female's back, and had pulled the ooman into her lap by the shoulders instead. Guan didn't know if that horrible mass of scar tissue on the pup would still hurt or not, but she wasn't going to take any chances. Sitting on the edge of the nest, she had the ooman sitting sideways in her lap while facing to her right. There was a startled reaction from the pup at first, but then she was pretty sure that she'd surprised that little thing by moving so fast. A few heartbeats after she started purring though, the ooman pup began to calm down.

Lilith had no idea what it was about the noise that this Predator was making, but for some reason she couldn't explain, it made her feel safe. The feeling of being held by two powerful arms that weren't hurting her was something she hardly remembered any more, but at the same time, was something that she had subconsciously craved for a very long time.

Once the female pup started to relax in her arms, Guan knew that her purr was effective on ooman as well as Yautja pups. It was something that was only mildly surprising to her. She stroked the pup's upper left arms gently, while maintaining her soft intense purr to continue offering what comfort she could. The tension that she could feel in the ooman pup was not a pleasant thing to sense. The small body that was literally quivering and trembling in her lap seemed to under a tremendous amount of stress for reasons she didn't know.

Lilith wasn't having an easy time of things. She felt safe for some reason, but at the same time, she knew that she shouldn't feel safe. She remembered the way her father had once held her. She remembered how her mother had once protected her, and made her feel that everything as fine. But that was before. That was before they had proven how much of a worthless mistake she was. A mistake that wasn't wanted, and certainly wasn't loved. She didn't have to ask or wonder why her parents had started hating her, because she knew why. She knew that these Predators would soon feel the same way.

She didn't want that! She didn't want that to happen at all! If only… if only there was some way that she could always feel the way she felt right now… But she knew that it would never happen. Tears rolled slowly down her face as she thought about how these Predators wouldn't want her either. This one who was holding her was making her feel like everything would be okay, and she knew that it wouldn't. She fervently wished that she could stay like this for a long time. She was shaking from the force of her emotions and thoughts, and she never even realized what she was doing as she leaned into the huge Predator and cried softly. She hated feeling this way, and more… she hated herself for not being able to stop caring about anything. She knew that if she could just stop caring, then nothing would matter anymore, but it wasn't that simple.

Guan-kv'var-de could smell the stress coming off the pup in her lap, as the tiny thing began to cry. Although she didn't know what the fluid running down the little one's face meant, she did know what those shuddering sobs were. They were indications of pain. She didn't think they were being caused by physical pain because of the pain blocker that Kwei had given the little pup. So that left emotional pain as the cause of this pup's current despair. She pulled the crying pup more firmly against her, and felt the rising anger towards the cause of this ooman pup's suffering. It was only when she thought about how this particular situation had come about, that she realized she had actually caused it by asking if the pup would say who had hurt her so badly. The mere idea that just thinking of the cause of such suffering could cause a reaction like this enraged the Yautja female. She knew that there were no laws which were actually written regarding the care of a pup. Such things were so obvious that they didn't, or shouldn't need to be written as laws! The loving care that a pup needed to be given was such basic and fundamental knowledge that no Yautja would ever think to with hold it.

She held the ooman pup until both the tremors, and the sobs had ceased. Then, she lifted the pup in her arms and carried her out to the main room. Holding the ooman so that the pup was actually sitting in her left arms, Guan used the small computer console to send a message to her friend, and was delighted to receive an immediate response.

"I'm taking the Little One with me to visit Than-guan. We will return later. In the mean time, you three Young Bloods need to clean your armor." Guan announced as she turned to head towards the exit.

Guan couldn't help the smug set to her mandibles as she noticed the instant change in her sons. All three of the young warriors immediately assumed a more powerful and confident stance and bearing as they acknowledged their mother's instructions, and the fact that she had addressed them by their new rank.

Guan-kv'var-de's stride was unhurried, but full of purpose as she strode towards her friend's home. She had expressed some dismay at the fact that the Center for Healing was closed today, and had informed Than-guan a bit about why she needed the skills of a healer. She smiled as she recalled how eager her friend had been to meet an ooman pup who would now be living on their world. Her smile disappeared though when she remembered the reaction after telling of the pup's half starved condition. She decided then, that it would perhaps be best to allow the healer to see for herself just what the true extent of the pup's condition really was. 'I wonder why she refuses to speak. The atrocity that was committed upon her needs to be avenged, and we achieve justice for her dishonorable treatment if we don't know who to execute.' Guan thought with a slight growl of anger.

The pup seated in her left arm went very stiff at the sound of her growl, and Guan knew right away that the ooman pup thought it was directed at her. "Be at ease Little One. It is not you that I am angry at. We do not have much further to go, so just relax." She said in a soothing purr.

Lilith wasn't at all happy. In fact she was quickly becoming fed up! A few seconds after the Predator woman said that she wasn't angry at her, Lilith began to struggle to get down. She didn't want to be carried around like a baby anymore, and she was not going to allow it.

There were only a few hundred nok left in the trip to Than-guan's home when the pup started trying to get free. Guan-kv'var-de knew right away that the ooman wanted down, but she was not about to allow the little thing to be placed in any type of danger. "If I let you down to walk on your own then you will hold my hand. I will not allow you to run off and get hurt by something you wouldn't recognize as dangerous."

Lilith gaped up at the Predator in stark disbelief! Was this thing seriously going to treat her like… like a baby? Oh, no! Not no, but hell no! That just was notgoing to happen! She flung herself to her left and out of the Predator's arms. Landing on her hands and knees, she quickly scrambled to her feet and backed away from the woman who was more than twice her height, while shaking her head with an angry scowl.

Guan was no mere Young Blood, and she was certainly no fool. She had felt the muscles of the pup tense in preparation for the move, and though she could easily have stopped it, she didn't. She knew there was no way that the little pup could be fatally hurt by such a short fall, and if the pup was hurt in any way that her friend would be more than able to tend to he injury. But the only reason that she had allowed the intended escape to begin with; was that she knew this ooman pup was more mature than a Yautja pup of the same size. When the female pup backed a short distance away, and made a face at her, the slight shift of the wind brought her the scent of anger from the pup. She knelt down, and looked the ooman pup straight in her eyes.

"I am aware that you can understand me, or at leas much of what I say. How much you understand is something that I don't know, and can't know until you speak to me. Therefore, I have no choice but to assume that you can not fend for yourself yet, and I will have to treat you that way. You do not appear to enjoy that prospect, and if that's true, then you can easily change this by simply speaking. I realize that you are young Little One, but how young, I don't know, and won't unless you speak to me. By choosing not to speak, you are leaving me no other choice but to guess and assume many things about you. I will admit that Hulij-bpe's birthing was very hard on me, because he was much larger than he should have been at birth." Guan said seriously. "So large in fact, that I was told not to expect to become pregnant again, because even though female are almost always larger than males, he was even larger than a female pup. Getting pregnant with Setg'in was like a gift from Paya, but giving birth to him rendered me unable to ever get pregnant again! So I never expected to be raising another pup. Especially an ooman pup like yourself! I am only telling you this, so that you can know what to expect from me. I will treat you with the same level of respect that you show to me." She added firmly.

Lilith stared at the Predator woman with pure rage in her eyes. This thing was flat out telling her that since she was acting like a baby, she was going to be treated like one! She positively hated the fact that she was now stuck on some strange world she didn't even know the name of, and there was no way that she could ever talk the way these Predators did, so why had they brought her here? It was a question that she wanted answered, but at the same time, she was horribly afraid of what that answer would be