I Dare You

By, Sonsasu

Chapter One

"Calling Them Out"

"I dare you to do it."

"No."

"I double dog dare you to do it."

"No…"

"Alright fine, I triple dog dare you to go looking for a Yautja. And if you don't, I'll call home and tell on you. I think mom would love hearing what you did to Uncle Bill when you were nine."

"You know, there are times when I honestly despise you Lily."

"No you don't."

"You're right. I just hate those big ears of yours that tend to conveniently listen in on private conversations."

"Hey!"

I offered my sibling a tense, but pleased smile in return. However, I released a sigh before nodding in defeat. Personally, hearing was a very good quality I would prefer to keep, for my mother would not only talk me deaf if she knew I had set firecrackers under Uncle Bill's lawn chair when he was still on it sound asleep. She would more than likely have a conniption fit of the likes I had never seen before via the phone.

"Give me the flashlight. It's too dark for me to see." My lips pulled to the side in annoyance. "And with the sixty percent chance of sleet that was meant for this weekend, the moon is more than likely going to have a play date with some clouds tonight."

My older sister, a very blond and slender creature any male would drool over, fished out a spare penlight from a clothing bag set in a corner of the tent.

"Of course, and remember you have to stay in the woods for at least thirty minutes calling out, Yautja."

I all but tore the blue colored steel item from her hand, indignant over the fact she was giving me the petty one, albeit better with its ultraviolet illumination brightness, but still. Dropping to my hands and knees, I unzipped the flap and exited our temporary fabric dwelling. Instantly the chilled air made my breath form in streams of mist across the beam of my hand-held light.

"My stuff too, I'm starting to feel like a fashionable Popsicle."

Easing naught but her torso out, I turned just as a shiver accosted her frame. She quickly placed my shoes on the ground, but darted back in to retrieve my jacket. In less then a few seconds, she handed me my heavy brown autumn coat, all the while smirking like the fat cat who ate the even fatter canary.

"Now the knives Lily, for all I know some nutcase with poison ivy could be waiting."

Disappearing once more, I could hear the hiss of her shifting our sleeping bags around.

"Found them!"

Her hands reappeared, cradling one blade in each palm. I reached for my Spyderco Endura first and clipped it onto my front belt loop. The second I went for was my Smith & Wesson H.R.T. I laced cold fingers into the chain then slid it around my neck, wincing when its equally frigid links touched my skin.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I already know Predators don't exist-"

On a moment's spur of insight, I hissed. "I bet you're just sending me away so you can get off or something."

"You wish. I have toys back at home to help me with that if I'm bored."

I did not need to know that.

She stuck her head out of the tent flap, her all knowing, smug little grin acting like a barb pricking at my already irritated temperament. I, on will alone, refrained from the violent impulse of kicking her. Instead, I hopped on one foot, dusted the dirt off, and then placed my shoe on, repeating the process with my other, warm blazer slung over my shoulder.

"So, exactly what do I do if I encounter one of the lobster heads?"

My sarcastic tone provoked a snort from Lily.

"Let's see… How about drop your weapons, refrain from eye contact, keep your head down, and once they're not looking, run as fast as you can. Oh, and pray you can avoid running into anything hard, and involving bark."

I swung around and aimed the bright ray directly into her eyes. She let out a satisfying noise of discomfort, and withdrew into the tent.

"Oh for the love of Pete, don't worry! From what I've read in a few books, you might get lucky and have one of them take you as a pet."

I sent a plea for patience toward the heavens.

"Now, that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, thinking I get to be a domesticated animal for some alien."

As I went to take a step in my intended direction, my dear sister decided I needed a parting comment.

"Correction, Sugar Plum." I despised that nickname. "Yautja prefer a certain kind of pet, if you get my meaning."

I huffed out a large plume of steamed air.

"How can I not? You're such a master of subtle wording I often forget you're just a halfwit with mosquito bites for tits."

I shrugged my coat on and walked away from our site without another word, barely dodging a thrown projectile aimed at my head.

Maybe twelve minutes have passed

I'm in the woods

I feel like an idiot

And I'm still looking for a Predator

"Yautja!"

My throat was starting to tighten up in protest just as I decided that this was officially an unusually creative low for my sister.

"When I get back to camp, I'm going to enjoy finding new methods of payback over this torture! My feet are numb because she forgot to give me my flipping socks, I can't feel my nose, my ass is equal to the temperature of frosty the snow man's backside, and my boobs are cold!"

Halting abruptly, I stuck the pen-sized flashlight into my mouth, and then grabbed my bottom, trying to warm the frozen mounds of flesh by stinging and rubbing them vigorously.

"This isn't fair…"

I continued to rub my abused buns while using my lips to swivel the shaft of light, illuminating the darkness of my surroundings.

"I don't really need to call the name out do I? Lily's back at the camp and I doubt her hearing is that good…so I suppose I'll just wait out the remaining minutes."

Removing tingling palms from a now slightly warmed butt, I spat the flashlight into my awaiting palm and started to turn back the way I came. A loud, breathy rattle caused me to pause in mid step. For several wretched seconds, my stomach did summersaults, right after my heart leapt into a swifter beat tempo. Stealing a deep inhale, I forced myself to transfer those unwanted sensations to the act of gritting my teeth.

"Calm down and smile."

Without a doubt, Lily had probably followed me, had a pair of dry old sticks and was banging them together.

"Two can play at this game old bean," I silently mouthed.

"Alright, you found me! Your hunt is over, come and claim your prize great and mighty Yautja!"

Turning around to face the towering Oak tree from which the clicking had originated, I spread my arms and cocked my head.

"Please don't be shy great hunter, I'm all yours!"

My expression morphed into the Cheshire cat's grin as I wiggled my fingers in an obvious beckoning. Louder clicking came as a result, this time in the thickness of the branches. My sister would have to emerge eventually and when she did, I was going to drag her with me then dump her screaming and kicking into the lake, consequences be damned.

"Aren't you going to come and claim your Ooman prize, Extraordinary One?"

A rumbling growl, like the rolling chariot wheels of oncoming thunder, came from the branch directly above me. Well, Lily always had been a wonderful climber, but the growl helped to erase my smirk. I lowered my arms and fingered the rough metal grip of my flashlight.

"Okay, enough games. Are you coming down or not? I'm seriously cold and could do with a good warm-"

Right after I said that in my subdued tone, a series of tree limbs swayed, and something much too large to be Lily dropped down. The immense weight shocked me with its unanticipated force. Literally bounced off the ground, and on some ridiculous reaction, I felt my legs curl slightly. It made landing impossible. Thus, I yelped, yes yelped, like a miniature dog when I slammed with a jarring blow onto the cold and rather moist ground.

Stunned, but not incapacitated, I blindly sought the fallen shape of my only source of light. When I found the object of my frantic search, I immediately aimed it in front of me, despite my flat and slightly awkward position. Expecting to find something solid, I encountered in lieu, a distorted image. I watched, in complete mutism, as the camouflage crackled away in rivets of vanishing blue lines.

"Holy crap… Well just call me Jonny and give me a fucking bag of apple seeds."

Although the white, bluish beam revealed a scantily clad creature I had once believed to exist only in books, comics, and movies, or more precisely, the junction of its legs, seeing as I still had failed to lift my trembling light any higher, it came as quite a mental tremor. The moon, in a wonderful, but annoying act of timing, chose at that moment to claim victory in a round of hide and seek with its foes of shadowy clouds.

"Not cool, not cool, not cool, oh my freaking God so not cool!"

I craned my head back, and back, and back some more, until it encountered my shoulders, where it could tilt no further. The flashlight slipped from my fingers, and onto my lap. If this was a prank, it was a damn good one. Utter silence, still and unwelcome, held me in its unmoving embrace. My thoughts on the other hand, were not so.

They buzzed like a furious beehive under attack. I stole a breath, and then another. The Predator cocked his head to the side. What the hell does a person do when confronted with something that should not have an existence? Ah right, babble like an idiot, what else…

"Wow…aren't you a tall one. A good ol' well fed…homeboy of eight feet, if my guess is correct."

My eyes, desperately seeking another topic, swept to the prizes hanging on his armored loincloth.

"Damn- I mean, what incredible trophies, oh God, human skulls, you have there, so f-fresh looking too."

Somehow, I honestly doubted one of them belonged to Lily. I would have heard something, that girl had a set of lungs on her. The Predator emitted a gentle rolling growl and used the tips of his talons to caress his treasures. This motion caused me to swallow from a mouth gone dry, as my heart cowered in my throat.

"You know, I bet you must be a hunter known throughout the galaxy for his grand hunts. Hell, I can't lie. Just by looking, I can feel an aura of power radiating off you. After all, you are a fine, no, the finest, example of your species. It's an honor simply to be in your presence. I'm…I'm humbled. See, look here, I'm on the ground, I'm very humbled."

His helmed head snapped to my face. Could he understand me? That clicking came again, but this time there was a difference. It was slower, thoughtful almost, if that was possible. Where perhaps three feet had kept us apart, he, for no apparent reason, decided to drop into a crouch, taking my personal space and filling it with his massive bulk.

Easing his helmed head forward until it was mere inches from mine, I could not help it as my eyes widened when I felt a painfully sharp talon tip tilt my chin up to look into the reflective eyes of his helmet.

"Mine…"

His deep gravelly voice should have made me piss my pants, but I think it was the one word he growled out that had my stomach twist in knots.

Maybe I should not have overdone it with the flattery...

-Disclaimer-

Sonsasu does not own Predator