Cloaked

Knowing

Juno POV

Scai'k wouldn't stop glancing backwards at me. About every sixteen seconds, he would whip his head around to peer back at me suspiciously. Every single time I would shrug at him nonchalantly and tell him that everything was fine.

"Why did you bring your bag?" he grumbled. "For all I know, you could have weapons hidden in there."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think that I could hurt you? You're, like, seven and a half feet tall! It would be like fighting a bear!"

Scai'k scrunched up his face in confusion. "Bear? That word is unfamiliar to me."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "A bear is a huge, furry predator on Earth with big claws and sharp teeth."

A look of disgust flashed across his face. "I don't appreciate being compared with an animal." I rolled my eyes behind his back. The fact that my new ally was carrying a deer corpse on my shoulder only proved my point.

The two of us continued silently through the desert. The air was getting significantly colder and my eyes were straining to see in the night. I hugged myself tightly with my arms to conserve heat.

Scai'k turned around. I skidded to a halt and looked up at his silhouette. His face was barely illuminated by the sunset.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, inwardly praying that the male would hurry up so that we could get to his ship as soon a possible.

He gave me a pitying expression. "You're obviously freezing cold, human. Do you want some furs from me?"

I bit my cheek, sincerely considering accepting his offer, but I shook my head. "I'm not cold," I lied. I didn't want any gift from him. "Also, my name is Juno, not 'human'".

He sighed as though dealing with an ignorant toddler, then he peeled a from his shoulder and tossed in onto the ground beside me. I didn't take my eyes off of him as I bent down to retrieve the fur.

My fingers fumbled slightly before closing around the pelt. It was very soft and thin, and it reminded me of husky fur for some reason. I slipped the dark brown covering over my backpack. It was extremely light, but I felt my body heat increasing. I sighed in relief.

Scai'k gazed down at me. He nodded in satisfaction before turning around and beginning to walk once again.

I trotted alongside the hunter like a loyal Border Collie. He glanced at me through the corner of his eye every once and awhile.

"So," I began, my quiet voice breaking the silence. "What is this 'Yautja' you were telling me about?"

My ally's face scrunched up in confusion. "That is my species," he grumbled matter-of-factly.

They are one ugly species, I muttered in my head. His mandibles were absolutely vile and his beady eyes resembled that of a lizard. Still, I decided against telling him my thoughts, instead sighing and remarking, "I know that is your species, but what are you?"

He glanced in my direction again before speaking, clearly picking up on my disgust. "We live on clans typically, on a mothership, but many clans live together on our homeworld, Yautja Prime. I was the son of a Arbitrator, or a very highly respected hunter, but I was exiled from my tribe. I came to X21 - Tegantu so that I could kill a xenomorph queen, the ultimate prey, and return to my clan. And my mother."

"Xenomorph?" I wondered aloud.

He nodded. "They're big, black serpents that would decapitate a pathetic creature like you in a heartbeat."