Predator - The Banished

Chapter 30 - part 1 of 2

The original plan was to capture the humans and feed them to the xenomorphs as bait...but that will have to wait. I lie here severely injured with...S...Sam at my side. This brings back old memories, old wounds.

I can remember a long time ago after a particularly nasty hunt, I again was bound to the medical ward. But instead of a young human, it was my mother and T'Nira sitting next to me. My mother would leave every now and then to take care of other business, but T'Nira...she stayed. Every second of every day until I could be discharged.

It unsettled me, but at the time my attraction to her blinded my thoughts and I thought nothing of it. I do regret ever having romantic feelings toward her now, but yet I cannot blame my past self for seeing her as my mate for life. 

All the right curves in all the right places, a masterful hunter, overall a fearsome Yautja. We both still bear the scars on our shoulders resulting from the mating process. 

My son...great Paya. My poor little son whom I never had the chance to raise...where is he now? 

What has become of him? 

For all I know he may be dead. Honorably annihilated by his own self destruct device after living a life of glorious victory. I fear that I will never know. The only thing I can do for him is pray to the gods that he is alive and well...

...and knows nothing of his parentage. 

If my elders have abided by the Honor Code, both my and his mother's names will have been erased from history a long time ago. I refuse to let my child learn what has become of his parents. Here on earth, one trying to kill the other who betrayed them, one trying to take back their former mate. 

When I have healed, I am going to rip T'Nira apart limb from limb for doing all of this to our family. There will be no self destruct. Her head will be thrown at the feet of the statue of my ancestor Kaail for her soul to beg him for forgiveness. But he will not show mercy, it is not in his nature. She will suffer eternally in hell for every single mistake she has ever made. 

I can hear her screams now...they are music to my ears. She's begging for me to come back, for me to save her from the fire...but I will not. I think that her ultimate punishment will be just that...forever existence but without me by her side. 

But her voice still whispers in my ear..."I love you Kyrum, come back to me..." Over and over and over again. It's like she's taunting me. I cannot stand it any longer. I'm going to-

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Samantha's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud and continuous beep. A scanner on Kyrum's left showed a flat line, and she felt his grip on her hand slacken. 

"Kyrum, are you alright? Can you hear me? What's wrong?" Tears began to pour down her face as she tugged on his muscular arm and various alarms began to wail throughout the ship as what Sam assumed to be a heart monitor continued to blare its horrible flatline. 

After a few moments, she hear the door hiss open and heavy, stomping footsteps behind her. She turned around so fast that she cricked her neck for a second to see Wolf reaching for her. He forcefully shoved Sam out of the way and began pressing several buttons on the heart monitor. He then walked backwards and dragged Sam by the arm with him, and the heart monitor glowed blue and shocked Kyrum's lifeless body. 

Samantha was now in desperation, struggling to free herself from the older hunter's grip. But Wolf was undeterred and silently held her back as Kyrum was shocked again. He did not stir. 

Wolf tossed her aside and extended his left arm, and his hand was rapidly encased in metal. It crackled with electricity and he roared as he placed his palm on Kyrum's chest and shocked his heart for a third time. 

Samantha closed her eyes as blinding light flooded the med bay and she slipped into an unconsciousness of her own, Wolf's roar still ringing in her ears...

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Her eyes fluttered open, and she felt the now-familiar sensation of warmth covering her whole body. She was once again laying on Kyrum's bed. 

Eyes still burning from crying, Samantha slowly sat up and blinked a few times to clear her vision. 

Wolf was standing before her. She blinked up at his massive form before speaking.

"Is...Kyrum alright?"

Wolf did not reply.

"Is he going to be okay?" Repeated Sam.

"He is dead." 

Sam could only sit there, trying to process the older hunter's words. And then it hit her. Her friend, her protector, her savior, had died. Right in front of her. 

She completely broke down now, sobbing into the bed covers. Wolf stood still, observing the human display her emotions. Witnessing the deaths of his fellow Yautja was not new to him, but he still felt a fraction of sadness. Kyrum had been a great warrior, who was determined to fix his mistakes at any cost. 

Thinking about this, Wolf slowly raised his hands and removed his biomask. Samantha slowly looked up from her hands, tears staining her face. She was slightly surprised at the old hunter's appearance; he was missing a mandible, seemingly blind in one eye, and the whole right side of his face had a scarred, burned look. 

"Was not you fault," he said after a moment, in his deep and menacing voice. 

Sam had cried all her tears, and simply laid back on the bed. She was too sad to cry anymore.

Wolf put his mask down and sat down on the bed next to her. 

"You need know this."

She looked up at the hunter's grizzled face, and waited.

"He care about you very much."

Sam turned away and started to weep once again, finally understanding the true reason that Kyrum had taken her in, saved her. 

And she finally realized that she cared about him too.