Disclaimer: Any character or theme or name and anything else from the movies/books I DO NOT OWN. The plot for this story I do own, as well as Veriea and the species Forenien and anything else that pertains to her world previous to her 'encounter' as well as the individual characters that are not from the afore mentioned areas. These characters are my creations and mine alone so NO TOUCHIE! If anyone rips off my characters or species I will send the real Veriea after them.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

A/N: Some of you will recognize the character anyway so I'll say it now; this is my second 'Veriea fic'. Thought she has the same name and much of the same personality and abilities, she has no relation to her counter part in my Animal Instincts story. She is essentially the same character but let's just say this is who she would become under different circumstances.

This is a cross-over with my original series 'Heritage'. Veriea and certain other characters are from my 'Heritage' universe which will be posted at some point after I finished writing them.

A/N 2: I am re-vamping this story, re-posting all chapters in preparation for more updates. I apologize for my long absence, life has gotten in the way for the last two years. I can't guarantee that updates will be regular but they should be more frequent, even if not up to my previous schedule. I strongly suggest a re-read as along with the re-posts I will be fixing up things and make some small changes. Thank you to every one for sticking with me this long.

Now that I've said my bit, some useful info;

Pronunciations:

Veriea: Verr-ree-ah

Forenien: For-en-ee-en

Vocabulary:

Kainde Amedha: hard meat/ xenomorph

Gaun-Thwei: night blood

Chiva: trial/test

Setg'in kwei: tricky/quick

Pyode Amedha: soft meat/ human (ooman)

Enjoy the story ; P

Chapter 1 – On the Run

Tre'e'cha'ka was very pleased with the hunt so far.

Of the 10 kainde amedha that had been seeded on the planet 7 had already fallen, each at the hands of one of the now Young Bloods and none of them had even been injured in the process. If they could return with the entire group after killing the remaining 3 it would be a great honor for the Gaun-Thwei Clan, for it was not often that not even one Un-Blood was lost on the Chiva.

The young bloods shifted restlessly on their chosen perches, eager to move on and prove themselves once more. Beside him his second and third in command, G'na'e'cha and K'ar'e'cha, trilled softly in amusement.

"We should get moving or these young bloods are going to explode from anticipation." G'na'e'cha chuckled.

"Soon enough." The clan leader replied. "They could stand to learn a little patience."

"Do you hear that?" K'ar'e'cha asked. "Listen."

The sounds were faint but distinct; something was crashing through the jungle, approaching their location fast.

"The hard meats wouldn't be that loud but tell the young bloods to be alert anyway." Tre'e'cha'ka instructed. As the crashing sounds drew closer everyone was tense and K'ar'e'cha was the fist to spot it enter the clearing beneath them.

The creature was running on two legs, stumbling every so often as if it were having trouble keeping balance and kept looking over its shoulder; the sounds of something larger approaching confirmed that it was running from something. Tre'e'cha'ka magnified the image with his hunting mask and observed that it resembled a creature he'd once seen while hunting on the ooman planet, though that creature had moved on four legs and had been far smaller that this one. It also seemed that its hands were bound together.

"I thought this planet didn't have any sentient life?" K'ar'e'cha asked.

"According to our scout reports, it doesn't" The older yautja answered.

Suddenly, a large hovering vehicle burst from the foliage, hot on the trail of the running creature. It accelerated until it was along side the creature, who then tried to escape by diving under the vehicle, rolling away on the opposite side, taking off in a different direction. This plan was foiled though when something shot from the vehicle and wrapped around the creature's legs, dragging it to the ground. With a roar of its engine the vehicle braked, skidding on air and then idled back towards the fallen form before stopping completely.

Several beings, similarly formed to the first though definitely a different species and quite a bit larger, exited from the vehicle and started to approach the fallen form, all carrying weapons and all clothed in what looked to be some sort of camouflage gear. Their voices drifted up to the watching hunting party as they laughed at the figure on the ground that looked to be in some pain.

"Seven armed against one unarmed, bound and possibly injured." G'na'e'cha snarled. "From the shape it looks to be female too." He added.

"What do you think?" K'ar'e'cha asked.

"We wait and observe." The clan leader said calmly.

(-_-)

She tried to pull her face out of the dirt but with both her hands tied it wasn't going to be easy. The laughter ringing all around her wasn't doing her any good either; it brought up too many memories of other times she was helpless. A booted foot connected with her side, rolling her onto her back and causing her to cry out.

"Oh, look! She has a voice after all! So she can do more than just bite and growl."

She looked up at her tormentor. Despite the long gash running down the side of his face, he was a deceptively hansom looking white feline; deceptive because she knew his soul was ugly, black and twisted. She had given him that gash herself in her bid for freedom. Another kick jabbed sharply into her ribs then one across her muzzle. She could taste the coppery blood flow into her mouth.

"Take it easy, Sethen…" One of the others warned.

"Don't worry, I'm just getting her back for biting me and not playing nice." He grabbed one of her feet and started dragging her over to the vehicle. She winced as a sharp stone scrapped along the full length of her back.

"Fuck!" She cursed. "You son of a bitch!" He just laughed, stopping and turned to her for a moment.

"Son of a she-cat actually. Get your races right. My mother ain't no dragon-loving dog."

She abruptly pulled her knees into her chest, dragging him down too so that for a second they were face to face. She grinned evilly.

"Kiss my furry red ass!" She snarled and then kicked with all her might, sending him flying for a few feet.

With a screech of rage he picked himself up and leapt on top of her, forgetting his gun, pummeling her with his fists and scratching with his claws until he felt someone trying to pull him away.

"HEY! Cut it out! He wants he is one piece, remember?" One of his subordinates reminded him. He looked at her scratched, blood from both her nose and mouth matting in her red, black and grey fur, her breath heavy and ragged, yet still she glared up at him defiantly.

"Bitch." He spat. The fur on his hands was tinged red from her blood and he had cut his knuckles on her teeth.

"That's vixen. Now who's mixing their races?" She growled, spitting blood. He hissed threateningly but then he got an idea.

"The boss said he wanted you in one piece; he didn't say anything about you being pristine."

He grinned as he saw the look of realization and fear cross her face and she started to kick and snarl. "Tie her to that tree." He ordered. The others hesitated. "NOW!"

Two of them dragged her up by the thin piece of wire between her cuffed hands after one had unwrapped the bolas from her legs and then it took 5 of them to drag her, continuing to kick and snarl, to the tree and tie her to it, the rest keeping their guns leveled at her. She continued to put up a fight but it was no use.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! I'll rip your heart out and shove it down your throat! If you so much as touch me you are dead!"

"Empty threat, vixen." He crooned smugly, running the back of one claw down her face then grabbing her tender muzzle roughly, causing her to wince, and forcing her to look at him, just to prove he could. "You, on the other hand, are going to learn to respect your betters."

He licked her cheek and she tried to bite him but he pulled back and just grinned at her, until he noticed that she had stopped struggling and was now staring at his chest. "What the-"

A soft, harsh sound issued from somewhere nearby and in a flash of blue light his chest exploded. A second later he dropped away, dead. The other felines had their guns up before he hit the ground, looking around franticly.

A clicking sound echoed around the clearing, making them all jump, fur prickling and standing on end.

"What the fuck is going on?" One of them hissed.

"Oh shit, I knew going after this bitch was a bad idea." Another whimpered.

"Fuck, I bet it's whatever's been nabbing people all week!"

"Don't say that man, don't fucking say that! I saw those bodies! I am not going to go like th-"

He didn't get to finish the sentence as his head suddenly departed from his body, spraying blood in the faces of his comrades.

From there it was quick, maybe a minute, before they all lay dead, mostly decapitated, what was left of the bodies strewn around the clearing. She watched it all happen quietly, continued to stay silent and still as their screams faded away into the jungle; she was satisfied that their deaths were befitting of the crimes they'd done against her, the others she'd seen and probably the ones she hadn't seen as well. She knew the killers were out there still, watching her. She could taste their scent on the air, only faintly though, over all of the blood.

There was also the fact that she had 3 red dots on her chest, the same ones she had seen on Sethen's before his chest had been blown up. If she died now she didn't really care. She'd been waiting to die for a while now and death held no fear for her. She was more afraid of what life held for her.

She felt something brush by her whiskers and a moment later the bindings holding her to the tree came free. Not expecting it, the stumbled forward a little and bumped into something solid. In front of her, only just visible even at such close range, was a slightly distorted area; it was the best cloaking she had ever seen. There was a crackling sound and the cloak dissipated, revealing something with orange skin and brown stripes. She then realized that she was staring at its neck and tipped her head back to see a shiny grey mask.

It was huge, at least a foot taller than her and she was just over 7 feet tall. It was wearing amour across its chest and shoulders, some on its legs and arms and she could see various weapons attached here and there. Underneath all of the amour it was wearing something that looked like fish net, which stretched across its muscles. Its form was definitely humanoid. Looking back up to the face she could see two lenses, which she assumed hid its eyes, in the silvery mask and a marking above where the brow would be. From underneath the mask sprouted many long, tentacle-like growths which reached down to its waist. Looking closer, she could see that they were actually coarse hairs that had been twisted into dreadlocks. Raising her eyes again to the face she realized that it was studying her in much the same manner.

So this was her rescuer. She'd never seen anything like it; except in science fiction. She took a step back and bowed her head in respect and thanks, hoping it would understand the gesture and ignoring the flash of pain it brought from her aching body.

"Thank you for saving me." She said with out thinking.

It seemed surprised to hear her speak and she hoped she hadn't blown it. It came closer to her but she stood her ground, though she was scared as it raised an arm and pointed at her.

"Speak…ooman?"

She had to squash a nervous giggle; its voice sounded very rough, as though it had trouble making the words.

She knew that all the Shift-born spoke dialects of Universal Standard and that the other races among the known universe that the Shift-born had had contact with had all adopted it as the common language. And yet here was a being that didn't speak Universal Standard anywhere near as fluently as a species in contact with the Shift-born should do – even those who were physically incapable of producing the language had been given translation devices. It seemed inconceivable that a being who seemed to know of humans (at least she guessed that 'ooman' meant 'human') wouldn't be in contact with the Shift-born and have an easy means of communication with them and from the way it (she was fairly sure it was a 'he' but she could be wrong) was observing her, she got the feeling it hadn't seen anything quite like her before.

Yay for her; communication with a previously undiscovered race.

"Yes, I speak human." She answered.

She sensed something behind her and quickly leapt away, landing crouched on all fours though slightly unbalanced because her hands were still cuffed.

It was another one, a little smaller than the first but still far larger than her and had tan skin mottled with green spots. It cocked its head to the side, as if confused, sending its dreadlocks cascading across its shoulders while the first made a trilling sound that gave her the distinct feeling that it was laughing at the one that had tried to sneak up on her. Orange skin then chirped and clicked at Tan who responded similarly.

She perked up her ears. Was this their language? Her curiosity peaked, she moved a little closer as they continued, managing to catch what sounded like individual words.

'Mmmmm….let's try a little something here…' She though.

(-_-)

"Blah" - Yautjan

"Blah" - Universal Standard

(-_-)

"Nice try, K'ar'e'cha. Setg'in kwei little thing isn't she?" T're'e'cha'ka chuckled.

"She moves fast, I wasn't expecting that." The other yautja replied.

"She's strong for such a small thing. Still fighting after the beating she took."

"And she speaks the Pyode Amedha tongue. So did the males." He observed. "I've never seen either of these species before. She'd make a good pet though, I think."

"Pyode Amedha?" A small voice spoke.

Both yautja looked down at the female. "Pyode Amedha?" She repeated.

The large triangles of flesh on either side of her head, which seemed to be her ears, perked up, expectantly. She seemed to be waiting for a response.

"She's trying to learn our language. Smarter than she looks." T're'e'cha'ka murmured, looking at K'ar'e'cha.

"Hey, where did she go?" K'ar'e'cha asked, looking around.

He spotted her a couple meters away, walking in a manner that suggested she was stalking something, her eyes staring forward, focused. Only a few feet ahead of her, backing away, was one of the cloaked young bloods. "She can see through the cloak?"

"I don't think so," The older male replied, thoughtfully. "But she knows that something is there; definitely smarter than she looks. Let's see what she does."

The female continued to stalk towards the young blood who wasn't sure what to do about it. She was nearly half a foot taller than him and had an intent look in her eyes but he was sure he wouldn't be permitted to harm her because the clan leader had just saved her. While he was distracted by his thoughts, she leapt at him, planting her hands on his chest and knocking him down. She stood there, grinning down at where she figured his head would be, hands still on his chest, feet planted on either side of his legs, tail wagging from side to side happily.

"Tag. You're it." She rumbled. The creature turned her head back to towards the clan leader. "This one of yours then?"

"What did it say? I don't understand ooman." K'ar'e'cha asked, chuckling.

"She asked if he's one of ours." T're'e'cha'ka laughed. "De-cloak, Ma'e'ka, you've been found." He called to the young blood. The female let out a surprised yip as the cloak dissipated and the let the young blood up.

Ma'e'ka grumbled and clicked, angry with himself.

He'd just had to come down and see what was happening, hadn't he? His friends had always said his curiosity would get him killed one day; they neglected to mention that it would get him humiliated too.

Suddenly he realized that the creature was growling at him. Great, what had he done now? Wait, it wasn't growling at him, it was growling at….

"KAINDE AMEDHA!" K'ar'e'cha roared, just as the young blood felt sharp talons rip into his back.

She dodged out of the way just in time to avoid being fallen on by the new being.

Looking around franticly she saw that the other two were each busy with one of the black beasts that had burst from the undergrowth. She looked back at the smaller one; it wasn't doing well, still trapped beneath the black beast that had attacked it. She looked down at her hands, the wire between the cuffs.

She hoped this beast needed air.

"HEY!" She yelled, trying to get its attention.

It looked up, just as she leapt at it, slipping her hands beneath its slavering jaws, twisting her body around to land on its back and pulling the wire tight around its throat. Unfortunately the momentum from her leap sent both her and the beast tumbling, ending with her underneath it- but the wire still circled its throat. The beast clawed at the wire and her hands, its tail lashing around trying to hit her but, being crushed as she was by the beast, she was safe from the tails reach and held on for all she was worth.

Choke already, damn you! She thought desperately. She was going to be squashed if this didn't end soon. With a heave the beast righted itself, taking her with it and leaving her an open target for its tail. It slashed across her belly, tearing open her stomach and she howled in pain.

She knew the wound would kill her but if she was going to die, she was taking this hell beast with her. When the tail next came down she trapped it between her legs and coiled them around it so that it couldn't move and grinned, hearing the beast's angry hiss. "See you in hell, fucker." She whispered to it, before pulling with every ounce of strength and functioning muscle she had left, using its own tail as leverage to pull against. The beast's nightmarish screams echoed in her skull, long after they started to fade, long after the sickening thwuck and the smell of something burning. Even as the world grew dark and she felt her damaged, blood deprived muscles go slack, she could still hear its screams.

End Ch1