Kidnapped (Predator Fanfiction) -Major Editing-

Chapter Forty-Six

Skylars POV

Skylar watched the others peel off past the forest, their bodies morphing into the greenery and then nothing as they slunk away. She had known she needed to follow suit. The Chiva would not complete itself... no matter how much she wished it would. But she could not bring herself to move.

"Skylar?" Kweide placed a hand on her shoulder, simultaneously pushing her forward and asking her what was wrong. His hand didn't go away though and for that she felt grateful.

"I need a moment to remember how to cloak," she said once they reached the leaves. It was a lie but an obvious one. It was the first thing he had ingrained in her head. Her last line of defense was hiding. She turned her arm to get a better look at the gauntlet and hovered her hand over the buttons. It was simple, basic Yautja writing that she could read a bit better by now. Still she hesitated.

Kweide tilted his head before he reached for her wrist, gripping it delicately as he punched in the codes. She was invisible near instantly but she didn't dare to show her fear. The only one who needed to know was the Yautja feeling her pulse. His thumb stroked the back of her hand before he let go. An encouragement just for her.

When they reached the entrance to the cone shaped pyramid she felt her knees begin to tremble. They stared into the darkness awaiting her together. Her companion would be no more than an observer inside, unable to interfere unless dragged into the fray. An ally but not a savior. She pulled off her mask, holding her breath despite knowing the air was safe and stepped inside, waiting for Kweide to follow.

He did. His hands immediately went to her, attempting to recloak her by putting it back on. She shook her head, angling her mask's camera to the ground and motioned him to look ahead. When she was sure he had she leaned into him and pressed a soft kiss to his arm. A thank you and a final moment to steal comfort. She felt him react, a soft movement of the arm towards her, but he would not look at her she knew. If he did then the Yautja on the ship could see. It was unlikely since their feed was boring, but one could not be too safe.

Skylar put her mask back on, pulling her bow and walking down the slim entrance and out to the massive opening inside. The pyramid contained a massive jungle of its own, perfectly blocked off from the outside and lit by missing holes in the ceiling. This structure must have been older than Elder Luar'ke who was far older than she and yet barely middle aged for a Yautja. She glanced at Kweide, even he must have felt like an infant in comparison to the history in front of them.

The pair remained quiet and Skylar appreciated the silence as they walked. It was too hard to make herself speak when her blood was rushing so hard and her heart ached so much. She didn't want to die down there in the dark but somehow she didn't want to live either. God it would be so hard to go home when all she wanted was so close. Her father's watch rested heavy on her wrist.

She shook her head, focusing on the stairs she could see in infrared as they passed down the initial tunnel and into the open chamber. It was only seconds before the exit became blocked and a new path opened to them on the right. The chiva had begun and Skylar had no way out for at least ten minutes. That's what she reminded herself, count down to ten and then keep doing so until it was over. Until she had found and killed the odd parasite alien they kept mentioning to her.

As she stepped quietly across the old stone floors Kweide placed his hand out just barely and she stopped in her tracks. She looked at him and he pointed ahead, a small pink creature slithered along the grounds. It was a young Kiande Amedha, already free from some poor creature's chest cavity and molting like crazy to become the massive creature she would have to face. She tilted her head, should she kill it? She looked to Kweide but he said nothing and she remembered it was her chiva, she had to make her own decisions. She pulled a bolt from her back and locked it onto her bow, aiming without the laser sight and letting it fly quietly into the creature's throat. It thrashed for a moment but made no noise, its death was as quick as breathing. She lowered her bow and kept walking, knowing the young creature wasn't worth a trophy or even a blooding, it was practice at best to the Yautja. Still she couldn't help but feel proud of how accurate her aim had gotten over the time she had been training. Even before Kweide had made her pick a bow she had been pushed through a gauntlet of tests to improve it, now she knew why. A bow could be so quiet she noted as they passed the melting bolt and dead body.