Chapter 5: Young Ones
As the days went by, Emilia's egg sack grew at an alarming rate. In response her appetite also grew to overwhelming proportions. Amun was having to travel farther and farther everyday just to find anything to bring back for her. He did not like leaving her alone for such periods of time, but he knew that she had to keep up with a high calorie intake in order to start produce eggs.
One morning, after saying good bye, Amun exited their cave and took a quick look around. After a long drawn breath he was off again in a random direction in search for food. As he walked through the forest he could hear the warming sound of birds chatting back and forth with one another. The branches of the trees moving in the soft breeze and the calming sound of the river near by. It was a nice way to start the morning. Amun was only a little ways from the cave when he felt the mental excitement from Emilia, which was followed by her call.
"Amun! Amun! I...I can feel it! I think the first egg is ready! I can feel it ready to come out!" Her mental words can so fast that he hardly understood them. However he could easily understand what she had meant. His excitement grew just as much when she had finished!
" O! Ok ummm...we need a host! An animal of some kind!" He said as he frantically looked around, happy that this was all happening.
"How about a human? Ha ha." She joked.
"We agreed, no human will be used my Queen...except maybe Mark...he's always a pain." Emilia knew he was joking but laughed anyway. "What we need is anything that's left..." As he continued to look around for a close victim his thought were cut short by a loud roar from behind him. He mentally smiled as he turned to face an old friend. "O...hello Bob..."
As Amun entered the cave a short while later, a sleeping bear in his arms, he was happy to see Emilia buzzing with excitement. The teal cloud that surrounded her gave it away in an instant. Amun made his way towards her as she extended her hand out to greet him. He took it with his free one as she drew him in close so she could nuzzle her head against hers. it was short lived as she then started fidgeting.
"Hurry, hurry! Put it near the egg! And listen!" He remark was confusing as to why he should be listening, but he did as he was asked. Softly placing the sleeping Bob on the ground, Amun moved his head close to the freshly born egg and went quiet. What came next were not words, but a feeling. An excited feeling as well as a strong need to find something. As Amun focused, it then dawned upon him that he was listening to the thoughts of the small face hugger inside!
"That's...It's!" He lifted his head and looked back to his Queen as she nodded at him.
"Can you bring it in front of me, I would like to see her hatch when she comes out." Amun nodded and reached down to pick up the leathery egg. It was small in his hands and he knew he had to be careful, it had only been born an hour or so ago. He placed the egg down in front of its mother. Amun then turned and brought the snoring bear down beside it. "Little one...little one it is time to come out." Emilia spoke softly and as a mother would to a child.
"Can it even understand us?" His question was answered with the wet,creaking sound of the egg opening its fins wide. "Ooo...ok then."
"Shhhh! quiet for a minute." She preached. "Come little one, come on out." As she talked, Amun noticed movement from inside the egg. The slime covered center pulsed with movement as the facehugger inside came to life. Then, two long yellow fingers came forth from within and started feeling around, looking for something to grasp and pull itself up with. Emilia and Amun watched in silence as the small, yellow spider like creature pulled itself up and out of the slimy center.
"You know, they are kind of cute when they are not attempting to impregnate something." Amun commented. Without warning, the facehugger leapt towards the sleeping bear that was only a few feet away. It's spider like legs latching to the skull of the large predator quickly and professionally. The two Xenomorph's turned and looked at one another. "And like that...it's over."
"Huh...I thought it would have talked to us a bit. Maybe they are not exactly like us though." Emilia said as she watched as the facehugger begin to slid its impregnating tube down the bear's throat.
"You have a point there, we were once human where as this is pure xenomorph." As the two watched the small scene taking place at their feet, they both reached out mentally to the facehugger. However, the only thing they received back was a feeling of animalistic survival. A deep want to live and continue the species. That was when a thought came to Amun's mind. "Emilia, do you think we will be able to control the Xeno once it hatches?" He felt a wave of uncertainty from the Queen.
"We will have to wait and find out. If we cannot, this will get rather hard. I had not thought of that...I hope this does not turn into a nightmare." He sent her feeling of reassurance and happiness.
"We will find out soon enough." As the day went on, Emilia gave birth to more and more eggs which Amun took the pleasure in moving to new locations so they had room.
After twelve hours, Amun looked proudly upon eight more eggs lining the far wall of their cave. It was not soon after that when Amun was sitting outside near the river in the sun enjoying the quiet day. The cool breeze played its way across his ribbed chest and tail, almost tickling the large alien. He thought to himself how things would unfold from here on out.
He knew that he would need more hosts for the eggs, but because of the lack of wildlife he would have to travel far to find them. That means that he would have to leave Emilia alone, which scared him a bit. Perhaps he would be able to find enough creatures nearby to give birth to a few guards which he could leave behind to watch over he was deep in thought, he was snapped back to reality as a wave of concern flooded his mind. He knew it was from Emilia so he got to his feet and quickly made his way back to the cave.
"What is it Emilia?!" He asked as he started into the mouth of the cave.
"Come Amun! Don't miss it! I think the chest burster is coming!" An over whelming feeling of joy came over him and he moved through the twisted tunnel with speed. As he emerged into the larger section of their home, he meet the gaze from his Queen as she looked from him and then down at the moaning bear on the ground. He moved towards the event and came to sit beside the suspended Emilia, watching the animal the entire time. He wanted to make sure he did not miss it. As violent as a Xeno's birth was, it was something that both of them had come to accept as part of their lives. Something would have to die in order to give their children life.
Amun focused his mind towards the small creature that was now attempting to break through the bear's strong rib cage. He attempted to send feeling of encouragement, but knew that the Xeno might not know what the feelings meant. He sent them anyway, thinking that they were something that the little one would have to get use to eventually. As the two watched the first splatter of blood come forth, he felt a tail wrap wound his waist. He made a quick glance to Emilia who purred and looked at his crowned head. They both turned to watch as the final explosion of blood and bone gave way to the small worm like creature they had made.
"She is beautiful." Amun silently agreed. "O! We haven't even thought of a name!" Emilia said quickly, but Amun had been armed with a response for a while.
"Bob." He responded with. He kept his gaze forward as he felt the disagreeing stare from the Queen.
"No, we are not naming her Bob." Amun brought his head lower to watch as the chestburster slithered its way from the corpse of the bear and gave a soft hiss towards him.
"OK...Bobby it is."
"Amun...no." She attempted to send stern feeling his way, but he ignored them easily. He was too happy looking at Bobby, their small first born.
"To bad, Bob gave her life, so Bobby she shall be." Knowing that she would not win this fight, she shook her head and gave a small mental laugh.
"Fine, Bobby it is. But I still don't like it." Her and Amun both looked down at the small creature that was now looking up at them without eyes. He felt a very soft feeling of warmth in his mind that he knew was different from Emilia's.
"Emilia, do you feel it!?" He asked as he reached a hand down and placed it out for Bobby to climb onto which she gladly did.
"Yes, I do! Bring her close?" She politely asked of her King. As he brought Bobby close to his face, she let out another soft hiss, not in aggression, but in greeting. He then turned to show the new born to her mother, which she hissed at as well. "She is beautiful. Amun...thank you." He responded with a low thrum. All feelings of uncertainty in their future washed away as he watched the small snake curl up in his hand and begin to rest. He did not wish to disturb her so he gently handed her to the Queen who gentle took her with her smaller set of hands. They two shared a moment of pure happiness in silence before Amun moved towards the exit of the cave.
"Where are you going?" Emilia asked before he could get too far.
"I have a feeling that you and the little one will finish off Bob's body quickly as a snack. I will go find more animals, I know that you are rather hungry. We will also need more for hosts." He felt her feelings of agreement and continued on his way.
"Just don't be too long ok?"
"Yes, my Queen." His response was covered with love and care for his new life and his family. A family that he was happy he had agreed to. He had hesitated when she had first asked, but now that he had felt the warm mental connection to their first born, he knew they had made the right choice.
A while later as he walked through the forest, carefully searching for any large animals he could, he was surprised when he came upon the lake. A land mark that meant that he had travelled quite the ways with no luck in his search. He walked to the edge of the water and looked down at the shifting, gray surface. As he looked into the water, he noticed the soft colours that were hidden within the flowing, gray water. He smiled as he knew what he was looking at. He followed the many ribbons of colour until he came upon where a lot of them ended. He watched as the tip of the colour moved around in the water and he knew he had located a school of fish.
He moved as softly as he could to the edge of the water where he would be within range of grabbing some of the tasty snacks. Lowering himself close to the water's surface, he brought his clawed hand to hover right above the unsuspecting pray. He watched as he confirmed its location from above the water and then with speed that only an alien could do, drove his claws into the soft flesh of the fish. He brought his hand up out of the water to revile the squirming salmon that he had been hunting. Amun tossed the fish onto the bank and looked back towards the water, noticing the various locations of other ribbons of pheromones. He got to work, catching one after another after another of the tasty treats.
After a short while, he looked to the large pile of food he had collected and thought it was about time to get back. He gathered up his catch within his hands and started off home. Half way back, he felt the mental touch of Emilia.
"I am here Emilia. Is everything alright?" He asked out of kindness.
"Amun, you have to come play with your daughter! She is so cute! And learning fast, she is already learning to speak!" Amun paused. There was no way that something born only a few hours ago could begin to learn speech. Then again, this was not a human baby they were dealing with.
"Are you sure? That sounds like a bit of a stretch." He asked with doubt in his tone.
"You will have to get back and see for yourself, I can tell you are close already." He Smiled.
"Keeping tabs on me are we?" He asked and was meet with a warm feeling from his Queen.
"Just making sure you are not running off."
"I was tempted to stop in town and pick up a pizza for you, but had to settle with something else."Amun joked as he rounded a hill and saw their cave.
"Ooo, don't even joke about that. I do remember what pizza was like you know. That and coffee." He continued to walk and attempted not to lose any of the fish he had gathered as he moved through the cave. As he came to stand in front of Emilia and felt a small presence from somewhere upon her crown. He looked up and searched until he finally saw the small chestburster climbing over her large head. She looked to be having a fun time slithering over the ribs and spikes of Emilia's large crown.
"Bobby, come here." Emilia called. Amun was surprised when the small creature turned to look at the king and started to make her way towards him. That was when he heard it, a tiny innocent voice that sounded like a small human girl.
"Daddy!" He froze, in happiness or surprise he could not tell, but it was not a bad feeling. Something deep inside him was boiling over as the sound of their first born ran thought his head. A joy that he had never felt before. He was sure if he had eyes they would be glassed over in this moment. As the tiny creature came to the edge of the Queen's crown, she let out a soft hiss in greeting. "Daddy!"
"Told you! Say hello to your daughter Amun." He stood still for a few more moments until he felt a tail brush up against his side. The small gesture from Emilia snapped him back to reality. He offered the hand full of fish to Emilia, which she took gladly, before holding out a hand to take Bobby from atop her head. He brought his small daughter close to his face before reaching out to her.
"Hello little one." He was not sure what to say, but all thoughts were cut short as Bobby came forward to rub against the side of his head.
"Daddy!" Was all she said as she retracted and looked up at him.
Amun thrummed with joy and lowered his daughter down to where Emilia had placed some fish upon the ground. Bobby leapt from his hand and dove strait into the pile of meat which was a lot larger than she was. She started biting large mouth full of oily fish meat and happily swallowing them down. He and Emilia watched as she ate her own weight in fish and then kept going. He was surprise the little snake could eat that much. As he looked to Emilia who was finishing up the last of her own meal, he could feel her own happiness flooding into his mind.
"So I think it may take me a while to find more hosts. Perhaps I should take a while and stay here for a bit longer. Just until Bobby can watch over you while I'm gone, which might be for a while." Emilia's happiness turned to that of sadness as Amun explained his plan. She did not know what to say, she only cleaned her hands of fish scales and looked down to Bobby who was eating the inside of another fish.
"I know that it has to happen, but I still don't like it. I just...I'm afraid." He could tell that there was something she was not telling him, a secret that she was keeping. He moved to her side and took her one hand in his. Showing her that he was here for her. "I was hurt Amun, it's one of the things I remember from my life before this. I have had so many broken hearts I can't count them all. But I do remember watching too many people leave, just to have them never return. That is why I hate every time you go. I fear that if I am not beside you...that I will never see you again." She lowered her head and stared at the ground. Amun knew, that inside she was crying. "I know that my father left me with my mother when I was small. I know that I watched my first husband leave me. And so many other men after that. I...I think that is why I ended up being an experiment. I...I think I volunteered. I was so dead inside that I gave up on the life I had when I was given a promise of a new one. I just didn't know I was trading one prison for another."
As she told her story, Amun felt every feeling that she was having. He felt every broken heart that she has ever had, every time she had felt alone and abandoned. And he hated it, knowing that she had been so hurt in her past and he could do nothing about it. He oppressed her feelings of fear and sadness with his own of joy and happiness. He remembered all the wonderful times that he had spent with Jolene and how her smile and laughter had made him feel. He let his feelings flow into Emilia and replace her past with them.
"The past is past Emilia, and I am not them. I am your King and will be until time itself stops. I am not leaving you, and that is a promise. I would not do that to the new family that I have helped create. That I want to watch grow and prosper." He felt that Bobby was paying attention to him as he mention family.
"Family." Squeaked the little one from below. Emilia let out a huff of air as a small laugh. The queen let go of Amun's hand and reached down to pick up her first born. Bobby gladly slithered into her hand and curled up.
"Yes my little one, family." Emilia said as she rubbed her face up to the little chest burster and then looked to her king.
"Family."Amun repeated, wrapping his tail around his queen.