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The Fighting Irish: To Hell and Back, With Love	By : girlyhero Category: M through R > Predator Views: 3343 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from Predator, Alien Vs. Predator, Alien franchises.

Chapter List
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As they approached the room, Naranarti caught the scent of Yautja blood. It smelled exactly like Mhrende, and this worried him. Had Ulij found them and done some disgusting horror to his student's body? He hissed, making the females stop. "Stay! Not safe!"

Jesse latched onto Rina who held her back. Rina reached down and pulled out a hunting knife from her leg, having lost her gun in the river. Jesse had nothing, and the alien didn't seem to have any weapon besides himself, teeth, claws and muscle-- maybe that would be enough since there was only one enemy alien left.

Naranarti cautiously stepped from the tunnel into the room. Sitting against the wall next to the lamp, attempting to close the wound in his stomach, Mhrende looked up at him and chirped cheerfully through his mask, glad to see him alive and well. "[Hello, Naranarti. I was hoping you were still here.]"

"[Mhrende! You live?!]"

Rina and Jesse stepped forward seeing Naranarti relax. "What the-- he's alive?" Rina said confused.

"[I am just as surprised--]" Mhrende paused when he saw the Oomans. "[Oh, they are alive too!]"

Naranarti turned and looked back at them. "Safe now," he told them.

Rina glared at him. "He's the one who killed some of our people," she spat. "How is this 'safe'?!" Jesse may be letting herself fall into a Stockholm Syndrome state, but she planned on keeping her head or fighting for it.

Mhrende made an awkward chirping noise and seemed to squirm a bit. He didn't fully understand what was going on. His knowledge of the Ooman language was limited. He felt the female was not pleased with him being there.

Naranarti glared back. This female was asking too much from them. He wasn't sure of the words to explain that they, the females, were never a target for trophy, so he put it into short words. "Has killed you? No? Then he will not." He turned and walked further into the room.

Jesse let Rina go, shrugging, considering they had little choice, so why argue. Rina took her shoulder and led her to the opposite side of the room. It felt mildly childish after she'd done it, but she wasn't going to stop herself at that point. She was angry about the second hunter-alien being there, especially after they just lost someone else.

"[What'd I do?]" Mhrende asked.

"[Existed,]" Naranarti replied. "[Don't worry about it. How are you alive? I saw you die-- you were lying there dead for such a long time, there was no question of it!]"

"[I don't really know-- I was shot in the neck by that dart, then everything just stopped working. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe. It was the most horrible experience of my life. I could see and feel everything-- that fucker stabbed me in the stomach... I saw what happened to Seliklei...]"

They fell silent for a moment. Jesse had been watching them talk, the red haired one motioning to his neck and out around him. She remembered a dart had hit him in the neck, so she knew what they were talking about, but the details were lost to her.

"[Were you followed?]" Naranarti finally spoke.

"[They hadn't returned from chasing you when I left. I traveled west of the camp and then circled down the cliffs. I knew you must be heading to the waterfall,]" he snapped to attention suddenly as though he'd just remembered something. It startled Rina and Jesse, but Naranarti put his hand out to assure them-- didn't do much. Mhrende's sudden jump had pulled alittle at his wound, so while clutching the slice, he pulled over a box and several items gathered in the net similar to what Samadi had been trapped in. "[I know it's wicked to steal, but I think Paya would forgive me. Most of it are our things anyway.]"

Mhrende dumped the net-bag out over the ground. A steel crate tumbled out and knocked against the other. Their masks and gauntlets rolled out, and another set of bags fell out. One of them Naranarti grabbed up. It smelled like his things, and he was right-- his armor was inside. He pulled out his shoulder armor and inspected it.

One of the masks had slid close to Jesse's feet. She knelt down and picked it up. Slowly, she put her face into it. It was not like the smaller one from earlier. This one was much larger, and the sights were much more crisp. She fiddled with the buttons on the inside, the sights changing into different views and a bar with symbols on the side disappearing and reappearing. As the two talked, she could see the symbols scrolling down in sync with their words. She was watching their language, and she was amazed beyond words. She wanted a way to translate them into English, but wasn't certain if there was a way to make it do so. The buttons didn't seem to do it unless there was a sequence. Maybe it had a verbal response. "English," she whispered. Nothing. "Human?"

The view changed and six bars appeared scrolling up and down. She looked from one to the other. She pressed a button shaped like a triangle, the point on it facing the right like a directional arrow. Each bar enlarged as she pressed the button. She smiled. When she stayed on the one written in English for the longest moment, the others disappeared, and it twisted horizontally for her to read.

She could understand them now.

"I know the one called Ulij is still alive," Naranarti said. "As for the other, one of the humans destroyed him."

"The armless one?"

"No, the tuskless one."

"The one who shot me," Mhrende hissed. "Fucking..." When he said the swear, several nouns and adjectives appeared to help replace it: asshole, bastard, dick, jerk, prick.

Jesse giggled. She was absolutely amazed at the technology they possessed. She knew that the leader could understand English without the mask, but still to have the technology that translated so well was a feat, at least for a human.

"Naranarti...your mask..." Mhrende nodded at Jesse. The two watched her for a moment. "What is she doing?"

"Let her be," he replied. "She's just curious."

Rina was watching her too. "Does that thing pick up cable or what?"

"Huh?" Jesse looked over at her. Rina's face looked strange in infrared. She looked very hot and flushed. The stream of words moved to the side. She looked back over to the aliens, "Naranarti" and the unnamed one. They were watching her. "I--" she said pulling of the mask. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to spy on your conversation."

"Someone needs to," Rina mumbled.

Naranarti had heard the snide remark but ignored her. He hated it when females talked passively-aggressive to him. It was easier to deal with a clawed smack across the face than challenging remarks. He reached over and took one of his gauntlets up. He was sure he had brought his tech-supply gauntlet on this trip. It had the proper attachments/detachments for him to work with his ship's computer systems from the camp. He thought he might not have when Ulij hadn't destroyed them and didn't attempt to hack their system there, but Hish are stupid beings.

Yes, this was the gauntlet. A metal rod came out from the side. He pulled the rod apart by its sides. It extended, still connected by smaller, extending rods at the tips. It looked like an outline of a rectangle, about the size of his hand. He gently pressed on small buttons at the side with his talons, and a holographic screen came up. It showed several options in his language. He waved a finger over one of the options, and the translator came into view. He chose more options here and there on the screen, and the translator was set to show the ooman language she spoke: In'gl'sh. He handed the device to Jesse, and she handed him his mask in return. He peered into it and smirked. Jesse looked at the holographic screen in awe, Rina kneeling down to see it in the same amazement.

"You are very intelligent," he said to her, the screen flashing the words for them to read. "Even my people must learn to use this technology."

"It was best guess," Jesse said in a light voice.

He didn't respond.

"What did she say?" Mhrende asked.

"Don't worry about it," he replied to him. He continued rummaging through the items Mhrende had brought back. Most of it was burners and loose darts. There was one net-gun, but in the journey to the cave, it must have been damaged. "This is only Hish junk," he said in irritation.

"But we have it, not Ulij," Mhrende reasoned.

"When I kill him," Naranarti commented, "I will kill him with Yautja weapons."

"They are two different races," Rina murmured as she read the dialogue over Jesse's shoulder. "Your clothes are dry," she whispered to her, "If you want to put them back on."

"Thank you," Jesse said handing the device to Rina. The lamps had warmed the room up to a more comfortable temperature, she had nearly forgotten she was walking about in her underwear. She got up and walked to her clothes.

The motion caught the attention of Mhrende and Naranarti. They stared at her in concern for a moment, then Naranarti realized she was redressing her self and returned to the equipment. Mhrende, though, continued to observe her, curious as to how Ooman attire functioned-- how they put it on and how they wore it.

Jesse could feel eyes on her back. She looked over her shoulder as she pulled her jeans up and saw Mhrende staring at her. She looked back around blushing in embarrassment. Most of the embarrassment was internal, as she realized she was hoping Naranarti was the one staring. This made her feel odd and confused.

Rina saw Jesse's pale body flush a hot red under the enlarged, brown freckles. She looked over and saw the red alien staring at her. She glared and cleared her throat in an "ahem" noise to get his attention. It didn't work so she tried louder.

Naranarti heard the strange, raspy noise Rina was making. Was she growling at them? He looked over at her in mild annoyance. She was staring at them, her eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed in what he'd recognized for her as irritation. She glanced over to Jesse then back at them. He looked over his shoulder at Jesse. Her skin had changed colors, the bloodvessels closer to the surface-- he knew the indication. He looked back at Rina quizzically. She nodded forward to the wall. Naranarti looked over and saw Mhrende staring at Jesse, his head tilted in curiosity and intrigue. Naranarti stared forward into the open space and rolled his eyes. He sighed, but the noise turned into a low growl. His arm launched out and slammed into Mhrende's mask, the open palm thwacking it and knocking Mhrende back into the wall. He yelped.

"Stop it, stupid!" Naranarti hissed.

"Sorry," Mhrende quickly apologized as a reflex. As he sat up, he looked about in confusion. "Though I don't understand what that was for..." he murmured.

Rina laughed out loud as she read the translation, having picked up the quiet sentence.

Jesse, once her shirt was on, walked back over to the group. She didn't retake her place next to Rina though. She stepped out in front of Naranarti and looked into the metal box the red alien had brought with him. Naranarti glanced up at her. She moved her hand over without touching, but acting as though she wanted to. The items were unknown to her though, and she didn't want to break them or herself, depending on what it was. Naranarti observed this. He clasped the edge of the box and tipped it over, the items spilling out over the sandy ground. Jesse was taken aback; even Mhrende was shocked-- his teacher was letting the Ooman study their language and weapons, unraveling their mysterious existence, something considered forbidden.

Jesse let herself smile a bit. She looked at the items but didn't touch. It looked mostly like broken pieces of weapons and darts. Still hiding in the box, she caught a glimpse of a red, sharp petal. She leaned over and peered inside. One of the poisonous flowers laid on its side, partly crushed, the poisonous ooze dripping from the center.

Naranarti saw she was interested in one of the blossoms that had sprung-up recently on the planet. He knew what she focused her studies and efforts on, biology and botany. He reached to retrieve the flower for her.

Jesse saw his hand move towards the flower. She didn't think about what she did, she only reacted. "No!" She reached out and slapped the back of his hand. The yell and smack were audible and startled everyone.

Naranarti retracted his hand and stared at her with wide eyes behind his mask. His head pulled back as he looked her over. She had hit him! Normally, he would have knocked a being across a room or broken a jaw for such a move, but she, his Jess'si'deinz, had hit him. He knew the meaning behind the hit. He'd been slapped in the hand-- and the arm and the back and head-- for grabbing something that was not his by his mother and older siblings in his adolescence.

Jesse bit her lip. "Sorry," she said. "Just don't touch that." She grabbed two of the darts and used them to ease the flower out of the box. Like a child using their first set of chopsticks, she lifted the flower up and onto the upper-side of the box. "These are, most likely, very poisonous. Considering their coloring, shape, and the sap, their natural design is meant as a warning to beings, telling them that they are dangerous..." she paused as she watched Naranarti.

He had watched her move the flower with the darts as she explained why she slapped him. The flower was poisonous. Seeing the darts near it made him think. He grabbed one of the darts and slid the business end through the poisonous sap. He held it up in the light. The sap stuck to the jagged edges of the dart rather than leak down to his fingers.

Jesse and Rina looked at the dart. Rina was confused, but Jesse knew what Naranarti had just discovered. She looked over at Mhrende. He was already clutching his neck where the dart had hit him earlier.

"Not poisonous," Jesse said, "Paralysis. It's a neurotoxin-- well, for them, that's certain. That is why he seemed like he was dead."

"What could it do to us?" Rina asked.

"Don't know, don't want to find out," she replied.

Naranarti and Mhrende looked at one another for a short second. Very suddenly, they reached out and scooped several darts up. One after the other, they dragged the dart-tips through the poisonous sap and loaded them into wrist launchers and small dart guns they'd retrieved. Rina was amazed at the rate in which they did this, military speed and precision. She imagined Donnelson would not have been able to beat their time.

Naranarti had loaded a third dart pistol, only holding three darts. He set a plain dart into the final space as a test shot. The pistol was small, a concealable piece. He looked at Jesse. Her arms were slightly muscular, but she couldn't be strong enough to pull the trigger. He reached out and gently squeezed her bicep. She squeaked at him.

"Hey!" Rina yelled at him and held her knife defensively. "The hell are you doing!?"

"It's fine, Rina!" Jesse replied. It had startled her, but the touch was almost ticklish. "Really."

Naranarti shook his head, ignoring them. He looked over at Rina. She could probably shoot it. He tossed the pistol to her.

She was barely prepared to catch it, but she managed to juggle it and her knife. She looked at them confused.

"Try shooting," he told her in English, pointing towards the far wall.

Rina inspected the gun. It looked like a basic air-soft and was as light as one. The trigger was embedded into the grip, guard-less. She was afraid to hold it but realized the trigger was not an easy press. She held up the gun with an extended arm and aimed. She heard the trilling from the red alien and a warning growl from Naranarti. Annoyed and mildly embarrassed, she realized she shouldn't take things for granted and took a stronger stance, holding the weapon with both hands. She squeezed...

And nothing.

Harder... her fingers started to hurt.

Pap! The dart shot out and hit the rock. Her arms buckled and she had to take a step back. It felt like the first time she'd shot a .45 when she was fifteen. "Fuck my life! The kick on this is insane! I don't even want to know what kind of range this gets..."

It wasn't efficient, but she could actually pull the trigger.

"One shot should put Ulij out, right?" Mhrende asked Naranarti.

Naranarti had to think about it. One put Mhrende to the ground very quickly, but he was small for a hunter. Ulij wasn't a big Hish, but he was much larger than most any Yautja male, especially Mhrende.

Rina had glanced at the translator. She seemed to read Naranarti's thoughts. "Maybe I better give him a good double-tap."

"Just shoot all three of them if you can manage," he finally said. "It cannot hurt to be certain. But that is for if he finds you here. I will leave a mask with you. His heat signature is much larger and hotter than ours."

"Wait," she looked at them as they stood. "Are you leaving?"

Naranarti nodded. He put on his armor and set up his weapons, Mhrende checking his items.

"What will we do?" Jesse asked quietly, nervous.

"Stay here," he ordered. "Mhrende will retrieve the ship and bring it here--" he looked at his student and spoke his language. "Land it under the waterfall; the water is shallow, and it is wide enough to fit. You crash my ship, I'll beat you to death with your own arms."

"Yes, [master] Naranarti," he said, a quick prefix not translating properly.

Jesse winced at the threat and the ease in which the red alien, Mhrende, took it. He must be used to it, being hounded drill-sergeant style.

"When he gets here," he continued speaking to her, the translator working overtime. "Get on board, and we'll go from there. We may have to put you back into cryostasis. Then again, you may want to stay awake for the ride and decide your story for when you get to your world. You are most likely reported dead, Jess'si'deinz, but I am sure there are ways around it. My people would appreciate if you not speak of this incident to your kind."

"And exactly what are we supposed to tell them," Rina hissed, "Being gone for these passed what weeks? Months?"

Naranarti stopped fidgeting with his weapons and stared out into space. He didn't say anything.

"How long have we been gone?" Jesse asked, her voice shaky.

"Rin'na had been in cryosleep for two or three of your months," he had trouble with the word but managed. "Before we picked up you. After readying my students, you were dropped here in almost the same amount of time. It takes two wi'iks to get here from your world... You have been gone for almost an entire planetary rotation..."

The math seemed wrong to Jesse, but in the end, he may not know exactly what a month or a week consisted of. To say a "planetary rotation" translated to a year, though. And Rina seemed to understand that half.

"A year..." Rina gritted her teeth as she spoke. "We've been gone a year... Do you have any idea who I was? Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to explain my disappearance for a whole fucking YEAR!!?"

The word was a shriek. It made Mhrende wince, and Naranarti's eye twitch. He wanted to smack her in the jaw; she should be happy she was going to live at all. She had prior knowledge of the Yautja anyway so her survival didn't matter, Jesse was a mistake, and the males were never intended to survive in the least (Naranarti had pondered on "accidentally" killing the males in their in cryo if he had to return them with Jesse given the new circumstances). A short silence steadied them.

"We could claim amnesia," Jesse suggested.

"Discuss this," Naranarti said. "We must leave." He motioned for Mhrende to head to the entry. As they started to the cave tunnel, Naranarti took a last glance at Jesse. She will be safe, he told himself. Ulij knows not of this place. If they stay inside, then she will be safe...
*****************************************************************************************

Naranarti had directed Mhrende to retrieve the ship. Once secured, Mhrende's first move would be to take Rina out of commission with a sleeper-dart from storage. Jesse wouldn't be an issue, but Naranarti did not trust Rina-- she would do something stupid like fight Mhrende on his return and try to take the ship herself. The damn thing would self-destruct once in their possession as it was programmed. Jesse would be very upset, he knew, but it was for her safety. Mhrende was told to explain that to her if it would help put her at ease. She was smart enough to understand; she found the logic behind everything that had taken place and everything that had been said. She could remove herself from a situation and see the different sides.

Like an Arbitrator.

He'd taken a hint from the Oomans and travelled through the canopy rather than the understory layer of the trees. He had to move swiftly and lightly, otherwise he'd break through and plummet, weighing almost as more than three of the Oomans combined. He had travelled with his cloak hooked to his last powercell. The extra power allowed his cloak to hide his heat signature. Unfortunately, his plasma castor was out of commission without a powercell. At this point, he didn't care.

He was an Arbitrator. For once, he could do his real job and pass judgment on Ulij. For crimes against the Yautja and the peace-agreement between them and Hish, he was found guilty and unfit to live in this life. This wasn't a hunt. This was going to be an execution. Naranarti, though it went against his personal ethics, was granted lenience from Paya to kill a guilty being by any means, honorably or not. It was considered the bad blood's responsibility to face their sentence; running was their own cowardice, not held against the Arbitrator's honor.

Naranarti would riddle that monstrosity with poisonous darts until the blood itself was solidified in the veins. Afterwords, it was a toss-up between ripping his head off and filleting him where he laid.

He and Mhrende had headed west to a cascade up river from the cave. It was a further distance from the encampment, but the slope was easier to run up cutting their time in half. Naranarti crawled from the canopy, digging his talons into the bark, and onto the sternum roof where Jesse had made her appearance earlier. Ulij would have returned to the encampment to retrieve his items-- whether to finish off Mhrende and call it a day or to rethink his game plan with Naranarti was anyone's guess-- but the Hish-bastard wasn't there. Even with the cloaking device cranked up to the level of Naranarti's, he would still be seen moving around. He would be heard, too. In the quiet and the closeness, Naranarti would have heard him breathing-- it was phsically impossible for Yautja and Hish to remain in absolute silence for more than ten minutes. A single exhale would start the chattering in the back of their throats (rarely did other beings recognize it, but Hish and Yautja always knew the noise).

Naranarti stopped holding his breath and scanned the area for possible anomalies that would point to possible traps. None. He leaped down and looked for any track or trace of Ulij. None. Had the cowardly Hish left, fearful of Naranarti and his clan? No, that's too easy...

Sudden dread rose from the pit of his stomach. Naranarti hit the communications button in his mask. If Mhrende was wearing his helmet, he'd hear him. "Mhrende," he called.

"Yes, Naranarti?" The reply was broken oddly, probably from sustained damage to their equipment.

"Were there tracking devices on any of the Hish junk you brought to the cave?"

There was a pause. Naranarti could easily imagine Mhrende sinking his head between his shoulders in mild shame and worry. His eyes narrowed in annoyance at this. "Y-Yes," Mhrende finally said, "But I found it before I went into the canyon. There was only one of them, I do know! On Paya, I swear there was only one device, and I--!"

"Ki'cte! Get the ship to the canyon!" Naranarti ended the transmission and started to run, the same path they had ran for their initial escape. He didn't slack on his speed either. Tracking devices or not, Ulij was a hunter. He was skilled enough to creep upon Naranarti's little hunting party undetected. He was definitely skilled enough to track Mhrende's steps from where the tracking device stopped. His Jesse was in extreme danger.
******************************************************************************

Ulij leaned over and sifted through the broken pieces of Hish technology with a talon. It wasn't uncommon for his Hish brothers to attempt a theft on his property as a joke. He hadn't thought it would come in handy to track the Yautja. He hadn't expected the disoriented runt to find it, though.

He was underestimating the Arbitrator; he was skilled beyond Ulij's understanding. The Arbitrator trained the small one well, a being whose stature would have had his head lopped off to keep genetics pure. He could also turn his own prey to allies. The Arbitrator's clever wisdom and charismatic feats were not something to test. On physical strength, however, Ulij had him beat, outside the rage he expressed in the camp. If he could get the Arbitrator in a Jehdin/Jehdin, "one-on-one" fist-to-cuffs fight, then he could defeat him and at least set himself on better terms with his own clan. If the Arbitrator's clan tracked Ulij to the Ress'ys, the attack may already be at hand-- killing the Yautja Arbitrator might keep him in the good graces of his own Arbitrator just enough to keep his hide. Yautja honor code would force the Arbitrator to face him unarmed if Ulij was; but Hish had only one true code: die or don't. He'd conceal a nice bone blade in his belt for the Yautja.

First, he had to find him.

Ulij approached the edge of the cliff and looked down. The river gave a chilling reading, and he secretly hoped he'd not have to go near it. But I must be thorough, he thought as he switched the scanner on inside his helmet. He had traded much and killed many to get his hands on the sophisticated equipment. He hated admitting it was Yautja technology, but both races stole from other beings-- who is to say it was really theirs either. He would scan the cliff side for anomalies, things not rock: blood, broken tech, maybe a snagged piece of thermal netting, or...

Claw marks!

A single ledge close to the bottom of the canyon bared five rivets with a small smear of blood at the edge. The little hunter must have slipped a bit on his way down.

Ulij climbed down the cliff side, ironically having issue with the same ledge the claw marks were on-- now, his own talons marred the rock also. Getting over his embarrassment, he traveled westward. He knew the ship was in that direction. The only reason he didn't go there is because he was certain on his own life the Arbitrator would not leave vengeance unsettled. With what Ulij did to his mei'hswei, the Arbitrator would stay and fight.

The canyon was a good trap, though, and this concerned Ulij. He started to look about for any heat signatures. His pause is when he heard something. Something odd and foreign. The noise was not Yautja. Was it the Oomans? They would not make bait for Ulij. He and his party came when they heard a group from the Neyen'ku Clan was present. If the Arbitrator were baiting him, then he would have used his student or the ship. Surely he would know the on-going hatred between their Clans; why else would Ulij be there, Hish Kv'vars were not for another two seasons? Did he leave the Oomans behind? Strange...

It hit him like an avalanche-- the small female he had assaulted at the camp. The pure rage running through the Arbitrator was more than when he'd watched his brother die. It was rare, but it still happened-- if Hish would abduct female Oomans for deviant purposes, why not Yautja? And an Arbitrator could do whatever the hell he wanted. Maybe the Arbitrator didn't leave the Oomans behind but left them in safety.

Not good enough, Ulij mused, Now, I have my bait...
************************************************************************************

Rina had been counting in her head to two-hundred. She was sure that would be enough time for the two aliens to get far enough away. "Come on," she said grabbing Jesse by the arm and pulling her to her feet. "Let's go."

"Go? What?!" Jesse found herself stumbling towards the exit of the cavern room.

"We need to leave," Rina said with stern command.

"Leave? He said to stay here--"

"I don't give a shit what he said!" She twisted Jesse in front of her and shoved her forward and out of the cave. "We have no reason to trust them!" They were out of the cave in front of the waterfall. Both of them felt exposed.

"He saved us," Jesse said. She started to climb up the rocks again to the cave mouth, but Rina grabbed her again.

"So he doesn't want you to die! It doesn't mean he won't hurt you!"

"That makes no sense!" Jesse stifled. She realized they were screaming. It was the last thing they needed to do. She lowered her voice to a hissing whisper. "So they hunt us-- hunt humans. We hunt each other. War? Sport? What's the fucking difference? And you know damn right he wouldn't hurt me!"

"Maybe not physically," Rina lowered her voice also. "But do you really believe they're going to send us home? These are a secret group of beings! We go into cryosleep-- we are not waking up!"

"Well, you know what," Jesse's lip started to tremble. "I know you think you're so fucking important and have something to go home to, but I don't even have a home left for me to miss. Wyoming is ash. My friends. Ash. My family was already ash."

"So you think this is going to turn into some kind adventurous field trip?! You know what I think is going to happen: we're going to go into cryo, we'll come out, and it's going to be a whole different time and a whole different place. We won't go to the Earth we know. Wyoming won't matter. Korea won't matter. We won't matter. Hell, we don't even know for sure what will happen!"

Jesse recoiled slightly. "That's what is bothering you... You don't know. You are so used to knowing everything. You know so much-- yet, you know nothing! You know more about them than I do... but you don't know a thing...You are terrified of directly discovering the truth of any sort. You just want to know things others know, like you want to be apart of the group! Is there in 'in-crowd' in the CIA, Rina? Did you get picked on in high school for not being one of the 'popular' kids?"

"This is ridiculous-- we need to leave!!"

"I'm not leaving!"

"So many-- so many died to help you. Do you get that? We tried so hard to protect you!"

Jesse knew a guilt-trip when she heard one, and she didn't appreciate them especially when it had to do with someone's death. "I didn't ask you to--"

"It doesn't matter! Would you let Rick die in vain?"

Jesse grit her teeth and straightened. "He told me to stay here-- Rick told me to stay here. He said Tresses would keep me safe--"

"He also kept calling you by his dead-daughter's name!"

Jesse winced at this.

"This," Rina motioned up and down Jesse's body, "Is Stockholm Syndrome! I don't blame you for it. It happens. You're scared. You feel alone. I get it! But I'm," she motioned at herself. "Trying to help you! We can get through this--"

"To what!?" Jesse threw her arms into the air. "We don't know where we are! We don't know where to go! What happens if we run into other hunters-- they're just gonna kill us! Or what about the big scary one? We've been out here long enough, it wouldn't shock me if he's standing right next to us!"

Rina's face relaxed and went blank. They had been there for a good long moment. Worse, they had been yelling and arguing with each other. She blinked and looked towards Jesse. Her line of sight went beyond the red-head. A large blur shifted like water along the bank, only in mid air.

"I'm going back into the cave," Jesse said with irritation. She was tired of trying to get Rina to see the choices in a rational manner. If she wanted to get lost in the forest, then she would have to do it by herself.

"Yeah," Rina replied softly. "Go back inside."

Jesse had made it to the mouth of the cave when she realized how fast Rina had became agreeable. She turned back around and looked at her. Rina was still staring out to the banks. Jesse lifted the mask Naranarti had given her and peered through it. Rina's heat signature bloomed in an array of colors, but less than three yards from her stood a large red and violet heat signature. "Oh, god! Rina!"

Rina hadn't been sure if the blur was just Tresses or the psycho-alien in a cloaked disguise; not until she heard Jesse scream. Rina drew the dart gun and aimed. She tried to squeeze the trigger, but she saw the laser sight on her chest. Rina closed her eyes and dropped the gun. Maybe the things were on the same honor system as the other hunters.

"Run, Jess--"

A blue plasma blast ripped through Rina's chest. Jesse let out a piercing shriek before running into the cave.
*************************************************************************************

Naranarti fell to his knees and clutched his head. The sound echoed through his helmet's speaker system. The pitch was so high his vision blurred, and he became dizzy. He pressed himself to stand and regain his composure. He had to get to the cave. Before the scream, he had heard Jess'si'deinz call out to Rin'na. She must have hit the communications button whether purposely or by accident.

Naranarti got to his feet and ran stumbling until he could get into a straight line. He reached to his wrist controls and rerouted the power for his cloaking device to his thermal netting. He was going to take another dive off the cliff and needed to reduce hypothermic injury if he was going to face Ulij. His mind was racing over the possibilities of Ulij alone with his Jess'si'deinz. What if he killed her? What if he did worse? All sorts of horrors ran through his mind from ripping her shreds to raping her unconscious. All possibilities, all fueling his rage and worry.

The cliff came into view, and within seconds, Naranarti was over it. He dropped like a missile into the freezing, choppy water, surrounded by the cold darkness of the river.
*************************************************************************************

Jesse stumbled into the cavern room. She looked about at all the items scattered over the ground and tried to think of a plan of defense. Most of the weapons she didn't know what to do with, but she grabbed up a couple of blades that looked as though they were extras or replacements to the gauntlet weapons. She decided her next move would best be to go deeper into the cave where they had taken Rick's body. When she started to head into the corridor, the mask's visual sensors changed and found light where there was none. She could see every texture and corner of the stone walls. At least, she will see before she falls off the edge of the cliff.

The room glowed as the mask pulled light from the distant waterfall and illuminated the distant flats and steps she had completely missed before. As far as hiding places went, there were far and none, except...

Jesse slowly approached the side of the black pit. The mask had no light to pull from, and thus, it remained a pit, but she could see a small ledge maybe four feet down. She tucked the daggers into her jeans and swung her body gently down, attempting swiftness. Once on the ledge she realized she was too tall. She pulled a dagger out and, with all her might, stabbed it into the rock face. Hoping it would hold, she clutched the end of the dagger and bent her knees. Slowly, she disappeared below the ledge. It hurt her legs, but she ignored the pain and waited, doing her best to steady her body and her breathing.

It seemed like she had been there for hours, but she finally heard movement over the main ledge. It was slight and consisted mostly of the strange clicking from his throat similar to that of Tresses' and his student. She knew the helmets let them see heat, but surely it couldn't see through solid rock. Unless, he looked over the edge.

She looked up and saw the being standing just above her. It hissed.

"Shit," she shrieked. It reached down and grabbed one of her forearms, pulling her up. She hung in the air above the pit, screaming and kicking. With her free hand she reached back and grabbed one of the other daggers. She lashed out with it and cut his chest, a spark flying over the metal of his armor and a string of small bones falling to the ground.

Ulij hissed at her and snatched the knife from her grasp and threw it to the ground. He wrapped his claws around her neck and let go of her arm. With his choking her, he didn't need to restrain her much. "I won't kill you," he said mostly to himself. "I need you alive to lure the Arbitrator. Now, he I will kill."

"Ar-Arbitrator?" The helmet translated what he had said, and he was shocked that she had a response. She choked. "Na-nara... if Nara is--an Arbitrator, then trash like y--you could never--!"

He pulled her closer, clashing the foreheads of their helmets. The jostle made her yelp. "When I'm done with him," he squeezed tighter around her neck, "I'll skin you slowly..."

The lack of oxygen to the brain made her vision blur, and Jesse lost consciousness.
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The Fighting Irish: To Hell and Back, With Love