Predator is the property of 20^th Century Fox. Courtney and all the other characters are mine. This is my interpretation of what Predator life is all about and what happens when a human is forced to live as they do. This was begun over thirteen years ago… so it is not exactly the best grammar in the world, I have done little or no editing of it. I hope that you enjoy it. It is set as is told about four rotations (Approximately six years) after the end of Predator two…

Prologue: Gui'yata

Gui'yata lay in his bunk, feeling the dark close about him, listening to the rhythmic breathing of his room companion. He stared up at the rack above him, seeing the blurry image of the Souas body, his temperature told Gui'Yata that he was sleeping restfully. He snorted quietly, that was something that eluded him this sleep period.

He swung himself into a sitting position and stood up. He silently made his way to the door, looking back as the door slid open, allowing the pale light from the hall to enter. Sayka slept soundly, not waken by the stirring of his roommate.

He stepped into the corridor and made his way quietly, much too excited to sleep. The light in the wall followed his movement making an eerie silhouette out of his features. So, Quarta knew he was up, then again Quarta always did. Sometimes Gui'Yata wondered just how many functions the ship could perform at one moment. But, that was not the thought that plagued him now.

He walked up the slight incline in the floor and came out of the corridor into the central chamber, watching as the methane gas swirled before his eyes, seeming to cool the temperature of the objects beyond. This was the heart of the ship, a perfectly circular chamber set tangent to the ships entrance, positioned over the main drive section. The corridors all originated here, moving out from here like spokes. Those nearest the exit led down to the lower levels, where Taura quarters were located, as well as the training rooms, the soyasa, the dining room, and for the rare occasions when it was needed, the aft war-room. Those furthest from the entrance led to navigation rooms, the "bridge", and the library. The bridge was just a formality, Quarta was in full command of everything that went on, the bridge was used for conferring on destination plans, and course plotting. Most of the passages in between led to three man quarters, that were assigned to the Fausi aboard. Most of them were now empty, all but a very few had made Taura during this voyage, and they had moved downstairs to the privacy of single occupant quarters. There were none aboard this trip that were lower than Fausi.

Gui'Yata stopped at a section of the broken circular wall that dominated the center of the main chamber, waiting as Quarta increased circulation to the area, resulting in a brighter light. The light, however, was not necessary for a creature that saw heat. The wall slid silently apart to reveal a trophy case, and Gui'Yata stood a little straighter. His eyes took in the whole case quickly for he knew its contents well, his eyes came to rest instead on a symbol that dominated each section of trophy wall. It was the mark of the home world, with twin suns in perfect alignment of winter solstice... Soona.

His impressions of that world were vague, heavily forested, dangerous, treacherous for a Soua of less than two years. He had only traditional pride for the planet, kept alive by reinforced teachings about its greatness.

Since his second year, his life had been devoted to the pack, this pack, they were his only family. He was now fifteen rotations, (approximately twenty-one years on Earth), and was about to embark on the most important hunt, at least to him, the hunt for the status as Taura. He dearly wanted the title, wishing to be free of the tedious instructions, and restrictions placed on a Fausi. He understood the need for it, it was required to properly discipline the young. But he was more than ready to move on.

He was the youngest among this pack, chosen at an extremely early age for the pack ship, because he was considered exceptionally talented. Those on board had been training and hunting together since they were assembled, chosen from their different creches, there was often seven to ten years between the youngest and the oldest among the pack. It was its own little society, the pack and the Eesan, made up of instructors. Heading the Eesan was the Quona, their voice in all things. It had been thirteen long years of training, practicing, hunting, and waiting for this "Graduation" hunt. He wanted this, so why was he so scared?

The hunt for Taura set up by the elders, was the end game and the whole purpose of this particular ship. The game and planet were chosen according to the skill of the one to be tested. Gui'Yata already had a reputation for successfully completing difficult hunts.

Gui'Yata was not only the youngest but also the most diminutive of the pack, standing seven foot as compared to the average male height of seven foot four, making his testing all the harder. He could remember all of the times he was the brunt of their practice fights. A practice that stopped as soon as he proved he could fight back. He more than made up for his lack of stature in his ferocity and cunning as a hunter. His years of defending himself had given him a stocky build, which he used to good advantage on his hunts. He was more skilled than most of his brethren, his specialties being tracking and infighting. He preferred the challenge of having to take the fight to the prey. He had hunted beasts that most of his brethren refused to, unless accompanied by several others.

He was well scarred, testimony to the difficulty of his hunts. They were a matter of pride, indicators of bravery, each a signature mark of the creature that had inflicted it, each one received honorably, and lived through, heightened status. A Soua did not, however, take foolish chances just for a mark of honor, which usually led to needless death.

Gui'Yata scratched absently at his chin feeling the four parallel marks puckering his skin. It was a scar that had given him a much greater standing among his peers. It ran from just under his chin, down the length of his neck and onto the right side of his chest. Received from a hunt that, though several years past, was vivid in his mind.

It had been a hunt for Soan, his brother Koratan, two other Fausi and he were in the party. He had come across the beast while scouting ahead of the party, further ahead than he should have been.

They were impressive creatures, standing a little over ten feet tall, they were heavily furred, long brown green fur that hid most of their features. They had six arms, each ending in four deadly ten inch long claws. The head was nothing more than what looked like a lump, the eyes that rimmed the head just barely visible from under the heavy fur. Each each eye saw a different section of the light spectrum, making it very hard to sneak up upon.

Rather than call in the rest of the party, he had taken it upon himself to kill the creature, and found out the hard way just how tenacious the Soan were. He had heard stories that once the Soan was engaged there was no retreat, the creature would fight the antagonist until one or the other of them was dead. Previous parties had ended in disaster, very few coming away with success, a pool of iridescent blood testament to those lost.

It went bad quickly, he had taken the fight to the creature, which was his trademark, and soon saw his folly. The creature's first swing decimated the plasma cannon, leaving him without any real means to kill the creature quickly. The second swing was intended to kill, luckily Gui'Yata had been backpedalling, and the blow had only grazed him. It was enough though, leaving him at a disadvantage, his whole world centered on the pain, thinking only that he could not breathe, could not see. He had no recollection of how he had killed the creature, or how long he lay there, except that it had been a long time. He had regained consciousness shortly before his brother had found him, dizzy, blind, and unable to move, but coherent enough to know that the Soan was dead, and that he had killed it. The wound had almost killed Gui'Yata. There are no major veins in the forward portion of the Soua neck, however or he would have died before he had been found.

Koratan had told him later how fearful he had been coming on the scene. Seeing Gui'Yata slumped atop the dead beast, covered in both his own and the Soans blood.

Gui'Yata focused on the trophy wall again, studying the Soan skull that adorned the center of the case. It was not the only dangerous prey he had faced, and killed, there were many trophies in his case. It was an impressive display, he should have felt proud. But the sight gave him no comfort, he felt edgy.

He took a deep breath, clutching at the Soan claw dagger, thinking of his upcoming hunt...on Earth. That hunt would complete this training case. The council had chosen the planet, but the choice of where on the planet to hunt was left to him. He had chosen the city the natives called Los Angeles, as his brother, Koratan had four rotations earlier. He took certain pride in that choice, it honored Koratans unrewarded bravery. He was excited, and nervous; the last two decades had been bad ones for hunting the blue and green planet. He had heard stories of the Soua that had gone there almost thirteen rotations earlier. He had destroyed himself after being defeated by a human, in one of the planets native jungles. His own brother had been severely wounded in his hunt on Earth. What would his hunt be like? He slowly turned away from the trophy wall, disconcerted and headed back to his own quarters.

He kept seeing that scene from four rotations earlier. Kept seeing his brothers broken body, lying on the floor. His anger rising, desperately wanting to finish his brothers fight.

Gui'Yata and Koratan were unusually close, and family ties among Soua were not usually strong. Prestige was attained from the lineage of hunters a Soua had trained under, not familial ties. The brothers had known of their blood tie since Gui'Yata's first year though neither knew how. The brothers' relationship was very rare, and it was almost unheard of for siblings to serve together on a pack ship. They had trained in everything together. They had even hunted Raya, their 'coming of age', together, though Koratan was six rotations the elder. Their teacher had been Coysa, dead two rotations now, he had been the best of the best. With that kind of training, Koratan and Gui'Yata had both been told that they had great promise. And the elders had been greatly disappointed when Koratan had been defeated. More so for the fact that his had defeated him due to his own mistakes.

The human Koratan had chosen for the trophy case had beaten him, and Korotan had barely lived through the experience. He lost an arm in the fight, and bore a scar from sternum to navel, greatly limiting his mobility. A scar created from his own disa.

The fight was finished in the Quarta, and the Quona, had let the human live. Rights should have allowed them to finish the hunt for their fallen brother. As the Quona had explained later, the human had earned his right to live by beating Koratan. It showed the man to be a great warrior of the species, he had said, one deserving to pass his seed on. But it still enraged Gui'Yata. Just as much as it confused him that Koratan had not been required to take his own life for his defeat.

Koratan still assisted in the function of the group. Soua technology replacing his real limb with one of fantan, a lightweight yet tough substance, which would simulate any movement the natural limb could make, but marked the wearer with its pale green color. He would never be a full hunter though, the scar on his stomach prevented it, he had never been entitled Taura, and Gui'Yata often sympathized with his shame. Koratan had expressed his desire to accompany his younger sibling on the hunt, if only to kill the prey he was denied. The Quona refused him however, warning that it was Gui'Yata's turn to prove himself as a hunter.

This would be the first time Gui'Yata hunted without his brother at least being present. He knew, as much as he wanted to show the elders that he could hunt alone, his brothers company would be missed. Koratan had been with him on the Soan hunt, and was the only reason Gui'Yata still lived.

Even with the evidence of the last seventeen rotations as proof of human cunning, Soua did not hold the race, as a whole, in high regard, they were cattle for slaughter, clusu; the prey. They lived in warrens of high buildings, in close quarters at all times. It was no wonder that they were so violent, bound to the planet as they were. Unable to set their sights on anything more than petty fights among their own. The only reason that they were such prime quarry, was the fact that they were unpredictable and tenacious, an irresistible challenge for his race.

It was "mid-August" on this world, the hottest part of their seasons. It was the year 2003 planet time, and it was time for the hunt.