Hello everyone and welcome to my brand new Evolve story! I really hope you guys enjoy it and please feel free to give any constructive criticism. Just so you know, I've never played the game before but I have seen playthroughs on youtube so I sort of get it. However, I'm not very good at science. It's actually my worst subject but I'll do my best. Also, I'm not too clear on the personalities of the hunters so they may be ooc in this story. Again, if a character is ooc then please feel free to let me know. With all that being said, enjoy chapter one!

Several trees crashed to the ground and a large creature at least twenty feet tall with a large and thickly muscled body stampeded through the environment. The light from the full moon glossed over his jet black and ruby red scales and plates. Tonight was the perfect night to hunt. The Stage-One Goliath took a deep breath and pinpointed the whereabouts of his prey by their scents. Saliva escaped the confines of his mouth and cascaded down his mandibles in anticipation of a potential feast. This Goliath wasn't hunting a pack of Trapjaws or any other kind of wildlife. No, he was hunting humans. He slowed his pace after awhile and slowly descended until he was stalking across the ground on all fours. This beast was no stranger to hunting humans. In fact, he had successfully devoured several of them and escaped before their hunters could arrive. He evaded the hunters that were on his trail yesterday by purposefully making tracks in one direction and sneaking off the opposite way.

The Goliath made sure not to startle the birds and lightly moved across the ground so he didn't make tracks. Krakens were incredibly lucky that they could glide. He could be spotted easily during the day and in snowy terrain but caves were his home, the night was his domain and fire was his affinity. He climbed up a cliff and his crimson red eyes scanned the colonists below him. There were five in total. His stomach growled and he licked his fangs but made no move to attack just yet. If there was one thing the Goliath learned from watching Wraiths, it was patience. His tail swayed slowly to temper his anxiousness as he continued to wait. Then he lowered his body even more into a crouch. It was almost time. There weren't any hunters around from what he could see and there were no Tyrants, Megamouths, or any other creatures around that would pose a problem either. Now! The Goliath made a powerful leap into the air and landed on the ground next to the colonists with a strong Leap Smash.

The colonists screamed as the beast seemed to appear out of nowhere. He grabbed a couple of them and immediately tore into them. Warm blood coated his jaws and splattered on the cold ground. His large fangs ripped the flesh off their bones and swallowed the chunks whole. He dropped the dead bodies and chased after the runners with delight. He wished he could roar his happiness as he let out a stream of fire at them. He devoured the fried corpses and spotted one last human covered in something long and white. What was that? Leaves? Feathers? The Goliath shook his head. It doesn't matter. What matters now is maybe taking the human back to his cave as a snack before daylight. The colonist ran in another direction and the fire beast gleefully chased after him but as much as he'd love to prolong this game, he couldn't. Time was short when hunting humans.

As a Stage-One Goliath, he couldn't risk getting spotted by those human hunters. He had seen what they could do and how successful they were at killing his kind. With that thought out the way, he pounced on the human after they had strayed quite far away. Without hesitation, he ripped into his prize. Then he paused after a few minutes of eating and his head suddenly started to throb in pain. What was this? The Goliath snarled as the pain started to spread down his body to the tip of his spiked tail. It washed over him like a waterfall. Waves of information flooded his brain like a tsunami and his vision started to blur.

'Too..much!' Those two were the only words that he could process as loads of knowledge continued their onslaught alongside flashes of memories. They weren't even his! He stood up and ran straight into a tree. He banged his head against it to make the pain go away but that only made it worse. He collapsed on the ground and whimpered. Where was all this coming from? Why him? Suddenly, hostile scents invaded his nose. There were a pack of Trapjaws nearby but the Goliath was in too much pain to even look at them, let alone defend himself. He closed his eyes and at this point he hoped his death would be made quick. He rolled over to his side and darkness consumed him in its gentle embrace.

'I'm gonna give that Kraken a face full of napalm for this!' Caira thought as she traversed the hostile territory while occasionally glancing at her digital mini-map. She got separated from the rest of her team after their encounter with a Stage-Two Kraken and she was currently making her way back by following the red, green, and yellow dots on her mini-map. The biggest problem right now was that she only had three napalm and two healing grenades left in her launcher and with each relatively quiet minute that she spent walking, her paranoia increased slightly. Once she forced her way through some large bushes, she came across a terrible sight. A small pack of Trapjaws were tearing into a weakened Stage-One Goliath and it didn't look like it was even trying to fight back. Was it dead then?

Now Caira was a bit conflicted. She could use the rest of her napalm grenades to get rid of the Trapjaws but if that Goliath was still alive then that meant she'd be an easy target and would only be able to use her acceleration field to get away. On the other hand, she could just leave and continue on to reunite with her team but with how weak the Goliath was-if it was even alive-she might be able to take it back to the ship and get so much biological data on it! Caira sighed and with her dangerous-and probably stupid-decision made, she aimed her grenade launcher and shot one of her napalm grenades at them. The Trapjaws panicked as the flames tore through their flesh. She shot the last two and the pack dropped dead on the ground. As soon as the flames died down, Caira rushed over to the badly injured Goliath and looked over his wounds. It was a savage-skinned one and the medic cursed her luck. He was still breathing, though it was pretty weak and his injuries were still bleeding.

The darkness slowly started to fade away as one of the Goliath's eyes weakly opened. Pain wracked his body from both the leftover ache in his head and the bites from the Trapjaws. Once his blurry vision cleared, he instantly felt as if he was seeing everything for the very first time again but with a clarity he never knew was possible. Physically, he felt stronger than before despite being injured and still in pain. Then, an unfamiliar scent entered his nose. It was a fresh and fruity smell that was oddly calming. He slowly lifted his head a little to see where the nice and pleasant scent was coming from. A crimson red eye locked on to a human female with long black hair looking over his wounds. He poured what very little strength he managed to recover into his arms and lifted his upper body.

Caira jumped back as she watched the Goliath move. She almost aimed her launcher at him until she remembered that it was out of napalm grenades. He turned his head to her and just...stared.

'That's..odd.' Caira thought. Why wasn't it attacking her or at least trying to? He was just warily watching her watch him. The strength suddenly left his body and the large beast collapsed back on his side. As soon as Caira moved closer, he growled at her and the medic put her launcher down. "Easy there big guy. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Somehow the Goliath understood what she said and stopped his growling. The soft and gentle tone of her voice helped as well. It wasn't like he had any strength left to resist anyway. He whined when he felt more pain from her hands moving too close to his wounds. Caira wasn't sure how to help him. Her healing grenades were modified to have no effect on his kind and she knew little to nothing about the physiology of a Goliath other than that they seem to be all male thanks to the lack of workable subjects. All she could do currently was let him rest and hope he won't die from his injuries. There had to be something she could do though. She thought for a moment and found her answer. It wasn't much and it probably wouldn't help at all but it was something.

Both the Goliath's eyes were open now and they widened when he felt something glide across the black and red scales and plates of his head and large neck with a gentleness that was equal to a feather. This was something he had never felt before! So much tension rocketed out of his body. His eyes slowly closed and he purred at the contact. Caira noticed the docile attitude the fire beast showed towards her and despite him being weak right now it still surprised her. He was definitely the perfect specimen for research! She continued to pet him and her eyes widened when she saw his wounds let out some steam as they started to close. This was very strange. She never saw a Goliath, Kraken, or Wraith heal before, let alone at such a somewhat fast rate!

The Goliath tensed slightly when he heard her heartbeat accelerate. What's happening? He opened both eyes again and looked at her. She was sitting down this time now and was facing him with one of her limbs moving down his head and neck with a motion that continued to repeat itself. Why was she still here anyway? She also didn't attack him which was something he knew the other hunters wouldn't hesitate to do. Why was she here by herself? Was she lost? The Goliath turned his attention to the sky. Thankfully it was still dark. He had a much easier time blending in despite half of his scales and plates being red. However, this human's jacket was white which was pretty easy for a predator to spot. Wait...jacket? The savage-skinned monster had never heard of that word before yet somehow..he knew what it meant and recognized how it looked.

The fire beast growled as a dull throb echoed in his brain and new words with pictures that he never heard of or have seen flashed in his mind. Pants, shoes, and clothes were those words that again, he knew the meaning of them and what they looked like. His eyes widened again as they made contact with the medic. White jacket, blue shirt underneath, navy blue jeans, black boots, brown fingerless gloves, brown bag, brown cap, and necklace. Where were all these words coming from? The Goliath swiftly shut his eyes and whined much louder than before. His wounds paused in their healing from the stress that suddenly appeared and his panicked movements threatened to reopen them; maybe even make them worse.

Caira was taken aback by what she was seeing. When the Goliath whined again she stopped petting him. Then she saw him look at her and he suddenly started to panic. What was wrong? Caira cursed her lack of knowledge on him but right now she needed to calm him down before his wounds grow worse. She'd be damned if she let a non-hostile Goliath die!

"Hey calm down. Everything's alright, just calm down. Relax." Caira said softly as her slender fingers caressed the warm scales on his head. She smiled once she saw him start to calm down. Her eyes widened again when she felt him nuzzle into her hand. The Goliath relaxed his body and his wounds resumed their healing process but he would need to eat for them to heal faster. The medic's touch was very comforting to him though another question popped into his head. What reason could this human have to make her remain here? Surely she should know how dangerous it was to be out here at night. It was even dangerous for him. He wasn't strong enough to take on any creature like a Tyrant by himself in his current state. She saw that he was easy pickings for a pack of Trapjaws a while ago. Speaking of Trapjaws, the Goliath finally noticed their corpses littered around them. Did she kill them? Great, now he was indebted to her for saving his life though that wasn't really a bad thing.

The Goliath learned a long time ago that humans were stronger than they looked. What was strange to the fire beast was that he didn't feel the need or urge to kill her. He could if he wanted to but that was the thing that also bothered him. He didn't want to. He mentally changed the subject. He didn't know how to repay her until he noticed the temperature drop even more and a slight shiver came from her. Was she cold? He knew what to do now as he often did it in the winter to keep warm anyway. Using what strength he managed to conserve, he lifted his entire body and moved closer to her. Caira was caught off guard when the Goliath started to move. The thought of running briefly came across her mind but she remained still.

'No, he didn't show any hostility towards me.' Caira thought as the Stage-One creature moved even closer. He softly growled when certain movements pulled at his wounds. Then he curled his body around her from behind her back like a cat and laid down. His long and heavy tail rested on her lap carefully so the spikes didn't touch her. The medic watched him start to slightly glow red. She felt heat start to radiate off his body and absorb into hers like her own personal heater. Realization washed over her. He was keeping her warm and sheltering her from the cool wind with his huge body. This was officially the weirdest night she had ever had. Caira was hesitant to lean against him since he was still injured but he nudged her into him. She smiled and petted his head again.

"You know, your glowing will act as a beacon big guy." Caira said and her answer from said 'big guy' was a snort. As if he wasn't the least bit concerned about drawing unwanted attention. At this point, the Goliath just wanted to sleep while his wounds finished healing and they were almost done. Caira looked at her mini-map and saw Abe's, Parnell's and Cabot's beacons move closer to her position. She briefly wondered if she could maybe convince them to spare this Goliath for research. Maybe being the key word here. There was also a good chance they would ignore her and kill him. The medic looked at the the sleeping Goliath but his eyes shot open and his head snapped up.

'More humans coming this way!' The Goliath thought and the red glow faded. This wasn't good. If there were humans this far out then they were most likely hunters. He wasn't strong enough to fight them even after he felt that unknown power boost earlier and he doubted that those hunters were as friendly as this one he was currently cuddled up with. He ignored the very slight protests from his wounds and stood up on his two legs. Caira stood up as well and patted his hand. He took a deep breath to figure out how far away they were by scent and started to back away a little. The Goliath made eye contact with Caira one last time before he leaped away.

"Wait!" Caira shouted but he ignored her and continued his retreat to who knows where. She sighed and put away her grenade launcher. It was probably better this way. She couldn't let her comrades kill him. Then Parnell, Abe, and Cabot appeared.

"Are you alright Caira?" Parnell asked and the medic nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Caira said. The assault could tell something was bothering her but decided not to press further. "I need to head back and reload my launcher."

"Alright, we'll continue our search for the Kraken later." Cabot said. Caira nodded again and looked back to where the Goliath ran off. Then she followed her team back to the Laurie Anne. In the shadows, The Goliath watched the hunters leave and he was once again indebted to that human that was called Caira. She had kept him a secret. The sun was starting to rise and right now he needed to sleep some more. He dropped down on all fours and returned to his cave that was deeply shrouded in thick foliage. It was more dangerous being out during the day than it was at night since humans would be able to see him much more easily. He could still listen out for danger while asleep but that didn't mean he was safe. After all, there were hunters out during the day too. Now that he thought about it, he should probably sleep at night instead.

The Goliath shook his head and laid down in the very back of his cave. Recovery was his top priority at the moment. He growled as that word popped up without warning. Before he could fall asleep, his hearing picked up a strange sound. Like static and he lifted his head up. He recognized that sound. It was the sound Krakens make when they're gliding. Their wings electrify the air to keep them hovering above ground. He laid his head back down. Whatever that Kraken was doing didn't concern him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"What are you people doing?! I didn't volunteer for this shit!" A lean blonde haired man shouted. He was tightly strapped to a medical table in a big laboratory. He was surrounded by four men and three women. One of those men was wearing a black suit while everyone else wore lab coats.

"You volunteered to help us create and perfect the super soldier program." The brown haired man in the suit said.

"Through ethical research! Not become a fucking lab rat!" The man in the suit sighed.

"You'll feel differently after you've received such great power. In fact, you'll graciously thank me."

"You fucking bastard! You'll pay for this!" The blonde haired man started struggling under his restraints. "I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"

The Stage-One Goliath awoke with shock. His red eyes scanned his surroundings but he sensed no danger within or around his cave. He was curled up with one arm crossed over the other and his tail resting at his side. He took a few moments to steady his breathing and hot black smoke eased out his nostrils with a smoothness similar to steam. What the fuck was that? It was such an unusual dream. Humans-who he never saw before-were turning on one of their own. The sun was still burning brightly outside and the Goliath let out a yawn. He stretched and was relieved to find that his wounds were fully healed. He shook his head and decided to go find some wildlife to eat. That was yet another word he never heard but somehow knew. He moved outside his cave and started to run.

The savage-skinned creature leaped onto a cliff and sniffed the air. There were a few mammoth birds around. It wouldn't be anywhere near enough to fill his large stomach but it would have to do for now. He was about to perform a Leap Smash on them when some faint noises gave him pause. The fire beast turned his attention in the direction where the sounds came from and noticed a few fireballs rain down from the sky. What the hell was that? Curiosity got the better of him and he leaped in that direction. Once he was close enough, he saw a Kraken shoot a lightning strike at something. The Goliath climbed up another cliff and once he reach the top, he saw that it was fighting a group of hunters. Hopefully this Kraken won't eat the corpses. His eyes glanced over the biggest threat of the group. The big human in red shooting flames at the Kraken.

'He uses fire like me.' The Goliath thought as he continued to watch them. The next human was in yellow with a cap and something sticking out of his mouth. The third one wore a hat and was dressed in green. This human had brown fur on his face. Mustache was the word that popped up and the Goliath shook his head. Then he noticed the fourth human and his eyes widened. It was that Caira human that saved his life! Now another thought crossed his mind.

'Should I help?'

Annnnd that's the end of chapter one! Let me know what you think and I'll see you next time! :)