Surviving The Jungle

Badblood (Part Two)

A/N: Well, here's the second part! I hope you like this ending half of the chapter as well!! :D

~ Tamak's POV ~

I was perched on one of the topmost branches jutting out of a massive tree. The familiar musk of the soaked jungle was almost overwhelming. The monsoon-like storm roared on with no end in sight. Because I was so high in the air, I was bombarded by a never ending downfall of pelting rain. Each individual droplet made quick pinging noises as they bounced off my metal armor. The water made it difficult to see and hear. In fact, it seemed to dull all of my senses.

Through the thick downpour, I made out the two figures of my brother and his dying prey. The wounded Yautja was splayed on all four limbs while he lay bleeding out across the dirt. His mutilated intestines were strewn across the muddy ground. A large, ever-growing puddle of glowing blood greatly contrasted with the pitch black earth. From the amount of thwei present, I knew AngKor's game would be dead shortly.

...Hmm...
Now that I had a good view of the figure, I recognized exactly who he was. I remembered him from many seasons ago. He was the lucky little wretch who barely managed to escape me. Now look at him! He was fading in and out of his impending thei-de (death). His bones would soon be a prized trophy.

Although, I had to admit, the fight put up by AngKor's prey astonishingly impressed me. However, I knew he would lose to my brother in the end. My sibling and I were on a perfect hunting streak. Not once had we returned from the kv'var (hunt) empty handed.

From the tree, I watched as AngKor circled around his prey and waited for him to grow weaker. This was something my brother would normally do. He always paced around his game and waited to kill them in their final moments. Maybe it was to maximize their suffering. I observed as he crept in closer and took out his favorite knife. He yanked his prey's tresses upwards and forced his victim's head to look at the sky. My brother knelt down on one knee and began to scalp the doomed game item.
At this point, I knew the prey was dead meat for certain.

After trophies were collected, AngKor and I could then proceed to round two of the epic battle. I could hardly wait to hunt down the elder and his little human pet. Such a long time had passed since I had killed an individual of high rank or even the soft meat. It would be a task finally worthy of my skills.

Suddenly, my enthusiasm was changed in a single moment. The sound of the rain was interrupted by a deep, electronic clamor. With every passing beat of my heart, the throbbing blare continued to beep more rapidly and higher in pitch. For the first time in quite a while, I was consumed by a feeling of panic. I instantly realized what was happening. AngKor's prey was about to blow himself up, along with my brother! This couldn't be true!!

I cried out at the top of my lungs, "M-di! Mei'hswei!! (No! Brother!!)"

Before I could finish my statement completely, the entire night sky was illuminated by a blinding light. My hearing was drowned out by an ear-splitting BOOM! The sheer force of the explosion slammed into me and almost blew me from the branch. An arm flew up to protect my face. My other hand kept an iron grip on the tree limb.The intense, hellish heat from the blast painfully scorched my skin. My flesh itself felt as if it was melting right off my bones. The tree I crouched on trembled violently. After several tormenting seconds, I was beginning to wonder if I was still alive.

After what seemed like an millennia, the thunderous roar and white light of the explosion began to cease. The earth stopped vibrating. Everything was once again occupied by the sound of falling rain. It was if the entire detonation never occurred. My ears were filled with a loud ringing, and my vision was occluded by multicolored spots. When I was finally able to see properly, I swiftly leapt from the branch and landed on the muddy ground. A wave of reddish, brown ooze splashed onto me, but I didn't care.