Yay! I've started a new story. This one is more supernatural than my other stories. Hope youguys like it!
Chapter 1: Hunter of the Stars, Hunter of Earth
Tarn'se lay on his bed in his quarters, imaging the hunt that approached as quickly as the ship he resided on flew through space. His yellow eyes lit up in excitement as he thought of the particular species that was to be his prey: humans.
Like any other Yautja hunter, Tarn'se loved a challenge. But, unlike other hunters, he truly loved surprises; he didn't know why, but having your prey turn to do something completely unexpected was just a greater thrill to him, not an annoyance or danger that others thought them to be. And if one thing was to be certain about humans was they were full of surprises.
Tarn'se began to put on the warming, metal mesh suit as an alarm set though the ship, announcing that the departure for the hunt upon the human home world, Earth, would begin in an hour. Although it did not take that long to prepare for the hunt, it never hurt to be ready early.
Glancing up at the few trophies that he had brought along on this hunt, Tarn'se locked his eyes with the empty sockets of a human skull. With a fierce smile, Tarn'se recalled the grand chase that human had given him a few years ago. Although the actual fight was quite short, he had to give the human credit for its skills; though they failed miserably when tested against his training as a warrior.
Strapping on the durable metal plates, Tarn'se recalled the thrill he got from hunting those humans for the first time. He didn't understand why he had gotten such a rush at hunting that particular species, but he could not wait to try hunting the creatures again.
He walked over to the storage space which he placed his weapons and grabbed his net gun, shoulder-mounted plasma caster, spear and gauntlets. He hesitated as he reached for his disc; he had used it a bit much out of all of he weapons recently. Instead he selected the shrunken, the bladed discs instead; he wanted to see how these worked out against the humans.
Finally, he grabbed his helmet, classical in design, he preferred function over fashion. Strapping it on securely, Tarn'se closed the storage space and made sure he had not forgotten anything.
After shifting around his armor a bit more to make the entire suit more comfortable, Tarn'se left his room to head towards the docking bay, grinning all the while.
Jaelre greeted him at the entrance of the docking chamber. After greeting each other with the customary shaking of another's shoulder, Jaelre said with a smile, "How is the short one feeling about the upcoming hunt."
Tarn'se glared at his comrade and jabbed his fist at him jokingly. To Jaelre's eight feet, everyone was short. He was so tall that at a quick glance some thought him to be female! Luckily, none but the stupidest of warriors wanted to get Jar'lede truly angry, so he rarely got much taunting.
Tarn'se on the other hand, was short for a Yautja, no way around it. However, his agility and strength made up for his smaller statue, making him just as deadly as any other, as some warriors learned painfully.
After glaring at his friend for a moment more, Tarn'se answered the question, "As excited as any other hunt."
"Oh? I would have thought that you were a bit more interested, being you have not shut up about it for the past week!" Tarn'se tried for another swat at Jar'lede who jumped out of the way. Jar'lede was always the sarcastic one, ready to make a joke or annoying comment out of any statement.
"Perhaps I am a little more intrigued in this hunt," Tarn'se admitted, "What are your feelings of it? In my own excitements, I do not believe I had gotten your view on the coming hunt."
Jaelre paused to think about it, his face going slack and somewhat blank.
Tarn'se watched his friend's reaction carefully. Jaelre for some reason always seemed to be able to almost predict how a hunt would go; right down to if any hunters would die.
Jaelre seemed to snap out of a trance, and with a shake of his head, his usual twisting smile was on his face. "This hunt will be much different from any other I feel, though it could be my mind wandering off on me."
"That's no the first time it's happened," Tarn'se laughed as Jaelre laughed along; begin how often he joked at others, Jaelre had come to expect barbs such as those at his expense.
Jaelre opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by an announcement stating that the hunters that were departing to the planet to prepare their pods for departure. With a rough shoulder shake as a farewell, the two left to enter their pods.
Tarn'se winced as his pod was jettisoned from the main hull of the starship. The thrusters on either side of his pods began to propel him to the correct coordinates his hunt would take place at.
Tarn'se smiled broadly at the rotating blue-green orb that hung in front of his view screen. Vaguely remembering Jaelre's word, Tarn'se felt this hunt would be unlike any other he had experienced.
The hunter sat on the edge of the roof, watching the empty streets as if waiting for something. A passerby may have mistaken the crouching figure for some sort of tacky gargoyle the owner of the house had bought in an attempt to make the rundown old building look like some sort of haunted mansion; when in reality, there was no owner of the building, it was merely a storehouse for the city's current 'occupants' to use at will.
Suddenly, the still figure's head turned to watch a lone figure turn the corner and walk down the sidewalk. By simply watching the woman's stride and small movements, the hunter knew this particular person was lost, though not a threat; the true threat lay in the shadows, also watching the lone woman.
Seeing a form move within the darkness across the street, the hunter knew it was time to act. Abandoning its' perch, the hunter dropped silent and catlike onto the windowsill below her and then down to the sidewalk, following the shadow.
The hunter now watched from the shadows behind a dumpster, purposely choosing the area to disguise any scent that might give her away to her quarry. The hunter watched the woman turn around, glancing at a piece of paper in her hand, obviously trying to find some sort of sign of where to go.
The hunter tensed when she saw the shadowy form appear directly behind the woman without a sound. A more powerful quarry than expected, but the hunter didn't falter; too late to go back now.
The woman, her instincts alerting her to danger, spun, but saw nothing but empty air. The shadow-form appeared at that moment behind her.
"Stop playing with your food," the hunter thought in disgust at the shadow-form. As if in response to her mental thoughts, the shadow took the woman's confused moment to lunge, grabbing her hair in one hand and pinning the woman's two arms behind her with the other. The woman struggled for a moment, then became limp as a rag doll, her head falling back to expose her neck.
The hunter quickly pulled out a small hand-held crossbow, already loading with a silver tipped dart. The hunter smiled slightly and stroked the devise as a child would to a beloved toy. These old-time weapons were much more proficient than the guns and tasers modern humans used these days; so much more quiet, not to mention they got the job done just as well.
Aiming the tiny crossbow at the heart of the shadow, the hunter waited just until she saw a flash of white fangs gazing the woman neck. With complete silence, the crossbow shot the tiny dart directly at the creature, which recoiled at the feel of the dart puncture and enter its body.
The hunter cursed as the shadow dropped its prey and hissed angrily as it dug underneath its' clothes, trying to pull out the dart. She had missed; missing a target for her was rare, but it still happened; it seemed she was going to have to be rid of this creature the old fashioned way.
The creature looked up as the dagger flashed by its' face. Dodging aside, it hissed its' fury at the approaching form, which had drawn a small sword and a lethal looking dagger. The shadow looked for a quick exit, knowing it needed time to get the blasted dart out of its' body, the silver tip burning painfully and not allowing the wound to close. But looking at how close the approaching hunter was, it could not flee; it had to fight.
"Prepare for your death hunter!" the creature snarled, lunging at the hunter, claws swiping.
The hunter dodged nimbly to the side, slashing the charging creature's back with the sword. The hunter watched the creature stumble and the wound on its' back close so quickly, it didn't even bleed. The creature whirled and dove for the hunter again. This time the hunter dropped and stabbed the creature in the leg with her dagger pulling the creature to the ground with a grunt.
The creature spun and swiped at the hunter's arm, cutting open the tough leather arm straps and scoring three small cuts on her upper arm. The hunter didn't flinch.
Instead, the hunter swung her short sword down, effectively pinning the creature to the ground by the neck. Now seeing the creature up close, it turned out to be a guy, looking about only twenty years old, though the hunter knew he could be centuries old.
The creature stopped its' struggles and narrowed its eyes at the hunter, "What do you want?"
"What make you think I want something?" the hunter asked.
The pinned creature laughed, showing its' fangs, "You would have killed me by now, Ravyn, should you not have wanted something."
The hunter quickly through up the mental shields hours of meditation had helped her create, angry that this vampire could have entered her mind and found her name so easily without her notice. Using her left hand which was not holding the sword, the hunter slammed her fist down on the location of the dart, shoving it deeper into the creature's body. He gave a yelp of pain, and then fixed her with a hateful glare.
"You obviously are more skilled with your kinds' parlor tricks than actual combat," the hunter said smoothly, happy to see the angry look flare in the creature's eyes. Most of their kind, once at the top of the food chain, didn't bother keeping up fighting skills. Instead, they perfected their other innate abilities, such as teleportation and telepathy.
"What do you want?" he snarled angrily.
The hunter smiled, "Well there are lots of things I want. A million dollars, world peace, a pony… but I doubt you'd be able to supply me with any of that. There is something I do believe you could help me with though. How about the location of your master, Nacht?"
"I know no one of that name," he replied quickly.
"Please, spare me the lies. You are one of her generals; you know exactly who she is."
"I have not seen her for a very long time," the creature rectified, speaking more slowly, contemplating the chances of a bargain. "But I can tell you where that was, if you let me go."
"Alright, you first," the hunter said smiling, pulling her dagger out of the creature's leg, causing him to wince.
The creature sighed, "It was deep in Tristel's territory, some old packing plant, near the river." Clearly finished, the creature waited expectantly.
With a smile, the hunter patted the creature's cheek, "Good boy. Now run along." Jumping up, the hunter saw the creature turn and begin to jog back to the end of the road.
With a smile the hunter called out to the creature, "Oh, yes, I almost forgot to tell you!" The creature stopped and turned to hear out what the hunter had to say.
"I don't deal with vampires," the hunter said simply, her hand flashing up, holding a reloaded crossbow. With a tiny twang, the crossbow shot the dart straight into the confused vampire's heart. With a shriek of agony, the vampire fell to the ground, his body convulsing, eventually turning into ash.
With a coy smiled still on her face, Ravyn pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed in a number. A feminine voice picked up on the other end.
"Ivy, mission completed. I'm ready for my limo."
The voice on the other end chuckled, "I'll send Nathaniel out for you."
After giving out her location, Ravyn ended the call and stepped back into the shadows and awaited the arrival of her ride.
I hope you guys liked the beginning of this story! Please review!