"Forsaken Path of the Wolf"

Anger, loneliness, heart-brokenness, the paths of the canine are left with devastation, like a corruption, feeding a world of lies. High above the floors of the canine dweller, the domed head serpent pelted onto a rock, gripping his fierce claws around the hard material. The rare male serpent shoved his head back to a high pitched screech over the empty canyon.

The canine growled below the serpent, his wrist blades unsheathed, his eyes a flare of rage behind his bio-mask. He struggled to hide his rising snarl, for all the hate, all the suffering, all the lies, had driven the canine to this point.

But then again, the canine had always been an aggressive yautja.

The serpent, gone by the name of the humans as Desolation, wheeled around behind a Praetorian that stood nearly twice his size. The serpent noticed the canine, who had turned his thick gaze onto the black alien, and he hissed a warning sign.

The canine was a hunter, a prowler, a killer.

A Predator.

But this serpent was no dumber than the rest of them. Smarter, even. But then again, so was the Praetorian that stood by his side, probably teaching him all he knew. The canine lifted his left arm up and gazed down at his wrist gauntlet, before he clicked his massive hands on the keys, cloaking himself, and remaining invisible to the surrounding worlds.

No, this wasn't to hide from the serpents. They could certainly smell him from this distance. His plan was to move away from them, and to not draw more of their attention, stay cloaked so they wouldn't investigate this area.

The canine turned away from the high canyon cliffs, hearing the clicks of the serpent, who was lashing his tail impatiently as he noticed the canine crawl away on the cliff, making his way higher up the forsaken trail.

Looking up to the Praetorian, Desolation waited for orders. But the Praetorian, the royal guard of the Matriarch, remained silent, her head glued in the direction of the canine, who was slipping out of view.

"We should attack him now!" snarled Desolation, lashing his tail even more. To the canine, it sounded more of just the common serpent screeches, the Xenomorph every-day hiss. But this was not so to the rest of the Hive.

"No!" growled the Praetorian. "Not yet."

"Why not?" retorted the male serpent. "He's killed scores of us! He's outnumber and betrayed! We should take him while we have the chance. It could change everything!"

The Praetorian rose to her feet and lashed the Domed Headed Warrior across the head, making the Xenomorph tumble backwards in surprise, a slice of green, acid blood falling from his face. Drawling back to his legs, the serpent hissed in alarm.

"We will not attack yet! The hunter may be wounded and scarred, but we should not underestimate him. He has killed scores of us, yes, but we should not take this as a sign of another reason to kill him. It could mean that he could kill the score of us, too," warned the Praetorian.

"We don't show remorse!" snapped the warrior. "Why should we now?"

The Praetorian spun around and faced the smaller, weaker serpent with her inner jaw snapping and spitting out several times, as if threatening to tear the remaining part of the warrior's head off.

"Because we have a greater plan coming. You act like this is the last chance to kill the hunter! We will follow him, learn his plan, then we will kill him. Be patient."

Hissing but saying nothing more, the serpent crouched back over, glaring at the canine as it continued on his journey. The hunter, still cloaked, leapt onto the red, dusty colored canyon walls.

The betrayal, all of this had caused him to go down the forsaken path of the dishonorable. The same had happened to kin before him, and the gods before him, and some of them lived, and others were killed, but he didn't plan to be another wasted hunter, performing the Hunt. He was going to show all of them that he was the hunter they had planned on him to be. He was going to show them all.

The canine was no longer in the views of the haunting serpents, but he felt no less comfortable out here in the open. He could get ambushed any moment by sneaking Xenomorphs ready to tear him apart just as planned.

But he was a very skilled hunter, respected by his clan. He was only here because of Claw and Dark, his friends, who had accidently killed another yautja from their hunt and he was blamed for it.

But wolves are lone animals anyway.

And it should be his friends, his companions, his betrayers, the ones walking the path of the doomed. Not the respectable, honorable, Wolf, Elite Hunter of the Elite clan.

Wolf had been walking for hours on end now, feeling no more comfortable as he was when he had started. The path of the dishonorable was supposed to be angled towards the serpents' homes. You had to survive their wrath to make it to the end.

But if you made it to the end, you were a legend, an Ancient among Ancients, a hunter who should be praised for his deeds among the clan, even if you were blamed for a crime, you can gain your honor back.

And Wolf intended doing it this way.

Not far behind the hunter and his goal, Desolation swatted his claws at the rocks of the canyon, watching it tumble down into the deep ditch before shattering at the bottom. The Praetorian sat not too far away, her own tail twitching.

Desolation knew they were keeping a good distance from the yautja, but for a good reason. Even Desolation himself, a skilled, savage warrior of the Hive, would be beaten by an Elite Predator. He wasn't that skilled, he was afraid.

Starvation stung at the serpent, and he glanced backwards, not being able to see but sensing the human carcass that was rotting behind him. It had been killed by a normal Ridged Warrior four days ago, and they had been carrying it with them when they moved, but it didn't seem so fresh as it used to be. The Praetorian was the one who ate the most, so there was just scrap remains too. Nothing for feeding.

The Praetorian, the leader of the group, following the rules and orders of the Matriarch, stood to her legs when she sensed the hunter go out of her scent range. "Let's move," she hissed.

But no serpent moved.

"What is your problem?" she growled, impatiently.

"We're starving," retorted the Domed Warrior with a flick of his spiked tail. "You ate too much and you're ready to go, but we got scraps. We need to hunt."

The Praetorian could have argued further with the smaller Xenomorph, but with a pang of realization, she gave a low, warning hiss, with a further lash of her tail. "Make it quick," she snapped, as three warriors leaped to their legs to get ready. "There is a human civilization at the end of the canyon. Attack there and bring back as much as you can to feed."

"Oh, and bring Desolation with you," she added.

The experienced Domed Warrior also jumped to his legs and he padded over to the rest of the normal Ridged Warriors who were waiting for him to join them. Soon enough, as being dismissed by the Praetorian, the four Xenomorphs slipped off.

Racing through the canyon, the serpents quickly made their way to the civilization, to what appeared as a human complex, now used as a base for defense against the "Jungle Xenos" as the humans called them, but it had no defense for an actual Xenomorph attack.

Desolation, who always considered himself to be the leader of the group, even though they usually only followed orders by the Matriarch and no other, lifted his tail as a signal for the Xenomorphs to stop. The lesser serpents did so.

He hissed and lashed his inner jaw several times before he waved his tail towards a vent on the outside of the complex. A perfect route to getting inside, which was one thing. The rest of the serpents, eager to finish, noticed the vents and confirmed so by lashing and screeching.

To be silenced by Desolation, with a quick hiss.

Slipping off slowly, the Warrior Dome carefully made his way down the steep slope that he balanced perfectly on, followed by the rest of the Ridged Warriors. Leaping and giving a steady balance as he plopped onto the ground not far from the complex, the stealthy serpents crawled towards the vent, with Desolation in lead.

Jumping with claws and paws outstretched, the Xenomorph squished himself into the small vent, bending his neck backwards slightly so his long, narrow head wouldn't scrape the top of the tunnel. He flicked his tail, as sign for the rest of the serpents to follow.

They soon entered the walls of the complex, feeling the rapidly growing heat on their black, dark skin. Their hard, silver-black claws made silent, yet quick clangs against the metal as they scampered around, looking for prey. Desolation's inner jaw shot out and snapped with irritation.

"No prey here, but keep looking!" he hissed, lashing his tail. "We need to make this quick."

"Why should we listen to you?" growled a Warrior Ridged, her own tail slashing by her side. "No one put you in charge!"

"Because," snarled Desolation, "I'm better than all of you!"

An eerie silence followed the Xenomorphs as they sat there and gathered the information into their heads. Making a sound that sounded similar to a gulp but wasn't, the offensive serpent quit striking her tail and dipped her head.

"L-lead the way then," she whispered.

Snorting with approval, the Warrior Dome dipped off the vent and into a human sleeping chamber. He scrambled around, looking for a source of a human being here recently, but all he found was some cookie crumbs, which he endlessly ignored, due to the fact that it wasn't on his diet.

But then, he stuck his inner jaw out several times and he scented the air. Human scents filled his sharp smelling skills. He flicked his bladed tail with ease, before he turned around and he glanced his head back towards the other serpents who were awaiting his words.

"The humans moved in the inner barricades after they were attacked by two hunters just some days ago," he informed. "They haven't left, nor do they plan on leaving. We will find a vent system to sneak our way in, then they will never see us coming."

"But humans may think these hunters have crawling abilities like us," said the offensive Xenomorph. "Don't you think they would have covered the vents?"

"Humans are clever, but they don't know our skills," he retorted. "I want them to cover the entrance."

There was some exclamations shortly after that from the other serpents.

"What do you think you're-"

"That's the only way-"

"Who do you think you-"

"QUIET!" barked Desolation. "You haven't even heard the plan yet!"

"Why should we?" snarled another serpent. "We can beat you if we tried!"

"Oh, really?" questioned the Warrior Dome. "Go ahead and try."

The Warrior Ridged crouched over and lashed her tail several times, before she started to circle the Warrior Dome, snapping her inner jaw with a frightful cry before running forward at Desolation.

Desolation leapt, going on the wall, going behind the Warrior Ridged as she swung her sharp claws at him. He landed behind her, before turning around and struck his tail at her, causing her to fly across the room and land in a cloud of green blood.

Hissing with resent, she scrambled back to her legs and lashed her tail at the smaller Xenomorph, who rolled forward at her with a snarl and crashed into her, holding her down with his muscular arms and shrieked before piercing her face with his own claws, making blood fly everywhere, hacking at her head.

Now giving a cry of pain, the Warrior Ridged flew her arms up to her defense, and attempted to shove off the younger Xenomorph, but he remained still, continuing to slash at her head, and she bled more and more, before she finally growled. "Enough!"

Satisfied, Desolation crawled off the elder Xenomorph and swung his tail and the others, who were sitting there, seeming to glare at something. "You care to try?" he growled. Shaking their heads, they stepped backwards. "Good. Now we can hear the plan."

"After the humans know we are coming into the vents if they haven't covered it already, we are going to circle back into their sewage system. They will have their attention focused on the vents because the humans think us serpents as 'not smart' and don't have brains. But we will enter through their waste chambers and flee into their stronghold and throughout the complex. Kill as many as you can, then return to me."

Wolf looked at the human complex with his thermal vision activated, looking at marines as they scampered throughout the inside of the barricades. Narrowing his eyes, he slipped down the hallway and he turned on his Alien Vision.

Inside of a room, he saw four serpents crouched over, hissing and waving their tails. Wolf growled and clicked his mandibles together, before he unsheathed his wrist blades and he raised them together, making an "X" with his arms.

He waited to see if the Xenomorphs were going to attack him, but as far as he could tell, behind the isolated glass, they couldn't smell him… yet.

He took a few careful steps forward and he glared at the glass with his bright yellow and red remaining colored eye and he gave a warning growl. This caught the serpent's attention, however.

Desolation spun his head around, not being able to see, but sensing the presence of the hunter and gave a hiss of caution. The other Xenomorphs followed the same trick, and they lashed their tails together, some of them snarling.

Wolf could beat aliens pretty well by himself, even in numbers like this. He wasn't an Elite Predator for no reason at all. But he noticed a particular Xenomorph, a Warrior Dome, apart from the rest of the other serpents that had an authoritative look among the rest.

This was no weaker link. It was the strongest link.

And Wolf felt great power in this one.

Stepping backwards, the hunter turned and he cloaked again, not being able to hide from the aliens but the Marines, and he took cover inside of a human's closet. He gave a slight click again, due to the fact that these serpents ran everywhere he was.

But this wasn't going to be a problem. He had come into the human's complex looking for some things to steal and information to gather, no other reason but that. However, these serpents seemed to have something else in mind that the hunter could tell clearly.

Food.

This had the yautja at little concern, however. He didn't care about humans. They killed his kind and he would honor and praise those few humans for being able to slaughter one of his great brothers, but he hated them furthermore and further still. And that wasn't about to change.

Opening the closet again, he slipped out of it and he headed down the hallway again, leaving the serpents to their plan. Perhaps, their little scheme could allow Wolf to access the human's barricades and be able to gather information as his mission was to do.

He glanced behind him, before he sheathed his wrist blades and he headed down the stairs into the sewage waters. He felt the murky, green-blue liquid splash at his netted legs, but he ignored it and moved on.

However, human waste had a murk that he just couldn't stand.

But he's done it before, and he would do it again for the sake of himself. He didn't mind getting a little dirty if it was to prove his honor again. This was just like walking in another puddle of water, right? Just filled with waste. No problem.

He could tell, as he splashed through the water silently and effectively, he had entered underneath the human's barricades because when he glanced up at the grating above his head, he could see shadows and human footsteps in the open flooring.

He was rather surprised they hadn't looked down and seen him yet. Humans were very aware of their surroundings in places like this. After all, they risked getting attacked constantly, so being a little cautious would help… especially since Wolf breached the barricades.

After lurking his way through the filthy water, he found the exit, a direct trail into the complex that he could sneak into and find information.

But he had a better idea.

He was going to wait for the Xenomorphs to crawl in, then he would go inside.

So now, he sat down, and he readjusted his wrist gauntlet and unsheathed his wrist blades before he sharped it among his other one, and repeated the process. How boring.

It wasn't long at all when he heard silent, but sure, scampering in the vents above him. The serpents were on the move. He took the time to gather the rest of his strength and he splashed in the water a bit to cover his heavy Predator scent. Then, he cloaked and took cover in a small crack that barely held his size. But it worked.

Then the humans' sirens went off. A voice, a female one, something that had a panty feel to it, spoke over the intercom to address the marines who were inside the complex. "All marines, report to your firing stations after armor is put on! Get to your firing stations immediately!"

"Xenos have breached!" Wolf glanced up slightly, a rather short dread falling from his shoulder as he did so when he heard the voice coming from straight above him. "C'mon, get to your firin' ranges!"

Wolf gathered on his thermal energy and saw three humans trudging up ahead, weapons locked into their hands like a gate. They were moving through the halls, towards something on the other end of the walkway that Wolf took note of.

So that's the way to their firing stations. Good to know, but praise the Gods that the serpents don't smell me in here, Wolf thought as he huddled deeper in the corner. He couldn't tell the serpents' plan, but he was smart enough to know they would come to vents as well. After all, they've done it plenty times before.

But Wolf has also been wrong about plenty of things as well.

Then, he heard faint screeches in the end of the sewer. He was right! The serpents were coming. He narrowed his eyes and used his bio-mask to scroll in on the upcoming threat. At the head of the Xenomorph patrol, the Warrior Dome raced forward, faster and more lethal than the others, and he barked some commanding orders to the rest of the Hive that Wolf couldn't make out, but they didn't seem to smell him yet.

They rolled past the cloaked hunter, as the Warrior Dome slipped from view, followed by the rest of the serpents, and then it was followed by a chaos of screams and running human legs. The hunter took this as his chance, and he got up, smelling like sewage, and he darted into the human complex.

When he appeared over the top, there was a lot of blood. Human bodies spoiled on the ground, some being dragged away, by the smears of blood in several directions. The skinny ones got trashed, and that's all Wolf could tell. Now, to finding the information that he needed…

He entered one of the darker chambers that the room had to offer, and he saw a few video tapes, some notes, and an office signature. He decided to read them before taking them. He did have a translation device in his bio-mask after all!

He glanced downwards at his information sheets, and read the captions on them:

DAY 84 OF THE SUBJECT TESTS

The subject of the Marine Study Testing Affair has been running well. He has shown signs of improvement from his previous surgeries. He also is magnificent on his fighting skills and is well trained with the gun. I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to pass the remaining tests.

DAY 125 OF THE SUBJECT TESTS

The subject has moved into a coma over the past few weeks, pausing his tests and he may lose some of his memories. This poses a threat towards the men on my facility and I question his ability to listen when he awakes.

DAY 300 OF THE SUBJECT TESTS

The subject is out of control! We're all dead now! Help u-

Wolf glanced down at the pages before he stuffed them away in his own compartments. A subject? Where was it now? Running free? Perhaps that was something he would feel inclined to telling the Council of Yautja when he returned from his journey.

He heard the screams of the Marines from down the hall, but he had no clue to whether or not he should take this as his chance to kill the remaining serpents, depending on how many they even had left. Humans always managed to pluck off a few, depending on how strong the Hive was at this point.

He snatched the remaining stuff, figuring it would be better to have it than not, before he turned around and he headed back for the sewers, planning his escape. This was all the information he would be needing from the complex to tell how the humans have managed over the past few weeks.

Or possible, even years.

But the hunter was not going to let the simple things drag his mind down. He was hard at a goal, and to prove that his honor was just as irreplaceable as it was before, he was going to look for some clues on this subject. Perhaps it showed signs of a threat towards his plans.

He leapt down off the railing in the sewers and he managed to keep his feet out of the stinky human waste water for several minutes but he had to face it sooner than later. He heard the last human's ugly screech, but he was done with the complex.

But as always, he was in and out without a single soul, not a human, knowing he was there.

"Quickly!" hissed Desolation as he bounded back and forth across incoming gunfire, feeling the radiance of its heat and speed pressing on his tail as he got shot several times. Leaks of furious acid blood spilled from the wound, but Desolation would not submit to the humans. Never had, never will.

Two of the Xenomorphs had been killed in the battle, but over thirty humans took their place. Even though he knew that the Praetorian would not be happy with him, he had the courage to say that at least they had less mouths to fill.

But that wasn't going to cut it for sure.

"The humans are fleeing! Kill them before they can escape!" he roared, as he pounced on one of the Marine's back before he used his long, spiked tail and he shoved it into the Marine's head and he hissed over the night sky, the sound of his screech a warning to all others within the miles.

Humans, always so fragile and afraid, were turning to flee back all the way into the escape chambers, down near the sewers, but the Xenomorphs were smart enough to know not to follow them. The Marines would have their guns pointed at every entrance, and they would all die.

So he decided what they had was enough to feed the rest of the horde.

He rose his tail to tell the remaining Xenomorph that they were all good. She slowed down and he heard her hiss. It was the offensive warriors that had first questioned his authority over the rest of the serpents.

"How are two going to bring this all back?" she snarled, such hate in her voice that the words almost burned inn her throat. "Two of our kin are dead, thanks to you! And guess what you did? You sat and watched!"

He felt his own growl form in the back of his throat, but he forced it down with all means necessary. "We would have all died if we had tried to save them. We lose more than just two of our kind every day and you complain because it was at my claws!"

"You did this for yourself!" she snapped, lashing her tail with ignorance. "How does Suffer trust you?"

"Because I know what I'm doing!" he growled, zipping his tail like a whip in the wind. "And I don't suggest you know better ideas to get food for over fifty Xenomorphs? Sacrificing two is no big deal, especially," he said, looming over her, his shiny head gleaming in the light. "If they don't listen to orders."

"And I won't either!" she stated, gripping her claws around the hard concrete of the complex, flexing them with the eagerness to kill. "I won't stand by to listen to you ramble about how this was better for everyone! Clearly, it wasn't better for them!"

"They are Warriors in the face of combat!" he retorted, no longer be able to hold back the anger that darkened with every word that she said. "There are some that are too weak to survive! Only the strongest will awake to see a new morning! And clearly, you are among those ones, for now."

She twitched with envy, for what exactly, Desolation could not read. Power, perhaps? No heed now, for this serpent was just getting more rage in her words with every second going by. "I will not listen to you anymore, Desolation! I will kill you now, and say that you were smothered in the fight!"

Desolation gave out a sound that sounded like a mocking laugh. "Suffer knows I would not have died to simple humans, rat," he said, as he flicked his claws at her. "She would suspect something if you were to return empty-handed, being the last one standing. And what makes you think you can kill me?"

"Everything!" she roared.

Now it was his turn to really ramble. "I am Desolation of the Horde! I rise without mercy, and I kill without question! I listen to orders from the higher, and I dominate the lower! If you think you can kill me, you can't! Try, little one! I will see your failures!"

She leapt up onto her hind legs and she rocketed forward with such a power that it would break a human's jaw in seconds. Leaping from side to side, up and down, she pelted into the Warrior Dome, making him tumble backwards and fall to his side.

But he was quick to retaliate. He gushed to his legs, before dashing across the clearing, and using his large tail to bat the Warrior Ridged's head, and blood flushed out at him, but it was not going to penetrate the serpent's skin.

The Warrior Ridged let out a hiss of terror but she clearly was not finished yet. Leaping to her feet and rolling into action, she barreled across the plain and rammed Desolation, making him slam into a wall, and he let out a small but still aware hiss before he used his long front claws and sliced her belly.

She snarled, more blood pouring clean from her wounds and she tumbled to the ground, bleeding out now. He raced over to her in a flash of a second, trying to rip more and more at the enemy, but she was cleverer than he had given her. She lashed her tail at him, making him fall to the ground with a plop, before she raced to her legs and darted at him.

He lifted all of his four legs up, and his tail, and watched her as she landed down on all, claws, tail blades, then snapped with the inner jaw. This made her hiss and worm deeper into his grip, and her wormed and she tried but no success seemed possible.

Finally, she lifted her claws up into the sky, them twitching with her effort, but she slid her arm slowly down, and she hung loosely, and he pushed her off with a growl and a hiss. He turned and looked at her, before scarfing her body with a last tail strike to make sure she was dead for good.

He glanced down at the bodies of humans that he know had to eat. He made a motion with his lips that seemed like a grin, before he settled down next to one of the fatter ones and he made his fill. All those Xenomorphs died with honor except the last one that had tried to murder him in warm blood.

He sat up and he gripped the sides of a human and tossed the remains onto his back. How much could he carry to the Hive without it all falling off? The answer to his question was uncertain the not a question he was going to take heed with right now. Slipping about three more human bodies on his back, he knew it would last them a little while if they took a fair share.

Turning around and climbing up the barriers of the complex, the Warrior Dome lifted his head back and he let out a long, loud scream into the night, telling all of his great win against not only the humans but the betraying serpent itself. Then, he slipped down the wall and into the darkness.