He's the 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, I'm the 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐲... (Predator x reader)

Chapter 21 - To Stay or to go

I have the Swedish Chef theme or whatever stuck in my head. It's kinda annoying but iconic at the same time. 

Na'lani = Comanche for "Alien" or "Aliens"

Nightin'ka came back with a skinned wolf. He looked to the fire to see Y/n sitting with her knees up to her chest, her head resting on top of them, and her hands extended out towards the fire. He trilled quietly, overjoyed that Y/n didn't move since he left. 

As Nightin'ka was as quiet as a church mouse, Y/n didn't notice him until he stepped into her line of sight. She looked up at him, and when she did, she gasped.

"Is... Is that a w-wolf?" She stuttered out.

The Yautja's mask processed the word 'wolf'.

"Yes."

"You-you got a wolf by yourself...?" Y/n asked in disbelief.

The tall huntsman was a wee bit confused. Of course, he got it by himself? Why would he need help?

"Should I have not been able to get it?" He asked, curiosity and calamity underlying his tone as he crouched down by the fire, taking several sticks he had found outside to hang bits of the dead animal over the fire. 

"W-well..." Y/n stammered, "It's just that wolves are hard to get... They're sometime more of a challenge than a lion... only every twenty years do my people go out and try to get one..." Y/n looked at Nightin'ka's blank metal mask.

"And you caught it like it was just a small rodent..." She shrugged as she added the point.

Nightin'ka nodded in understanding to show he was listening. Only every 20 years? he knew human's life spans were short, so that was considered a long time for them. Plus, he was an elite. He had fought much larger, and deadlier serpents and beasts in his life compared to these soft-bodied creatures.

Anddd he was as old as dirt.

The dark colored alien finished setting up the half of wolf over the fire for Y/n. He had decapitated her half into 3 smaller pieces, so it would cook nicer. He saved the other for himself but kept it out of Y/n's view behind a rock in case it was disturbing to look at for her.

Y/n yawned, causing Nightin'ka to look over at her. Another weird thing humans did. Yawning.

"What purpose does that have?" He asked out of the blue.

"Does what have?"

"What you just did."

"...Yawning...?"

Nightin'ka tilted his head to the side in question before nodding. 

"Oh..." Y/n answered, "I guess you just yawn when you're tired?"

Every little bit of information to Nightin'ka about humans was important now. Especially about his female. It was already easy enough to tell when she was physically tired, but now he could really monitor her.

The elite turned back to the fire, scanning over the roasting wolf meat. His thermals indicated that it was cooked, so he took it off of the fire. He started off by handing Y/n just one of the pieces of meat on a stick. She took it from him.

"Thank you..." She mumbled, before starting to eat the food. Y/n supposed she had been pretty hungry.

Nightin'ka watched her eat for a bit, watching as she became enticed with her food, and no longer paid attention to her surroundings. He took the time to get up, walk a few feet away, before taking off his mask and hastily feasting on his raw wolf. He scarfed it down maybe after 5 minutes and put his mask back on. Y/n never noticed.

He returned to Y/n's side, sitting closer to her right this time. Much closer. He sat with his right leg outstretched towards the fire, his other leg bent at the knee. He rested his left arm over his bent knee, and his right arm inched its way around Y/n's waist as she finished the cooked meat.

Y/n was nice and full once more. She threw the stick into the fire, fueling it further. Nightin'ka pulled her more into his side, pretty much taking her weight from her so she could conserve her energy for later rather than wasting it sitting up.

Y/n strained against him a bit before eventually again relaxing into him as she had done earlier. She sighed, involuntarily cuddling up to him. 

The two stayed like that for a while. Probably several hours. Then Y/n had actualized that she probably needed to see her people soon or otherwise they'd think she was dead, leading to a witch hunt of Nightin'ka.

Then as she thought about telling this to the creature she was cuddling with, she realized...

He had no name. At least, not that she knew.

"Na'lani..." She tested, seeing if he would respond to the name she gave.

He made the rapid, jungle forest-y, clicking noise in acknowledgement.

"I have to go back to my village..." Y/n said softly, keeping her eyes closed.

Nightin'ka made no sound or movement to Y/n's words. He thought them over. She did have others who worried and cared for her other than himself. He huffed out a breath, his chest heaving with the sigh of annoyance of other humans' existence.

He chuffed, "Yes," he begrudgingly agreed.

Although... They didn't actually get up for another 15 minutes. Eventually Y/n slowly got up, Nightin'ka following suit. The Yautja put out the fire. Y/n stood by the ledge, looking down at the far ground, swallowing a lump in her throat. 

She didn't get the chance to ask about getting down or stall, Nightin'ka wrapped his large arm around her, picking her up and bringing her close, holding her almost as if she was a small child. Without another second, he jumped down the 30-foot fall. He landed with a decent thud, the impact vibrating through Y/n's body, even. 

Y/n peeked her eyes open to see they were once again back on the normal ground. The hunter put her down, and Y/n stepped a few feet away from him. She shook off the feeling of falling, and looked around. 

Y/n didn't know where they were.

Nightin'ka trilled, before clicking, catching Y/n's attention. 

"It is this way," he told as he began walking in the direction that would lead them back to the ridge and towards her people.

Y/n thought consciously about following him for a split second before she decided to, jogging to catch up. She'd have to run or speed walk every now and then just to catch up with him. He could go fast.

Realizing Y/n couldn't walk as fast as he could within minutes, the hunter immediately slowed down to her pace. From there the two walked side by side.

Word count is 1095 words. I have student led conferences tomorrow and I am dying on the inside.