Of Hunt and Change : 3

THE REBIRTH

I can feel her mind reach out and hold onto me. I return the quick embrace with my mind and encourage her to get out. I can see movement under the cocoon as her inner jaw strikes at the hard cover. It’s not easily break, but eventually a tear appear. She wiggles around inside the semi-translucent shell until her new claws poke out and start tearing the cocoon apart. Revealing her new sleek black chitin armored body. I watch her wicked boney tail as she seem to take upon herself to destroy the remaining of her ex-prison. Her back tubes are perfectly lined, she has smooth dome head and a deadly inner jaw. Her jaw dripping saliva as she growl lightly at me…  

She’s beautiful  

‘Hello again, Sarah,’ I greeted her happily, reaching her with my mind. But she push it aside and suddenly jump at me and pin me on the ground with her claws and tail. Snarl at me with her jaws inches from my face.  

‘Wha…? Sarah?!’ I’m worry now that maybe she’s lost her mind and become rogue… that’d be dangerous to both herself and the hive...  

She growl angrily and slash me on the side of my head. I yelp.  

‘OW! What’s that for Sarah? It’s me! Don’t you remember me?!’  

 ‘That, you bastard, was for dragging me out of my home, broke my bike, locked me up in those damned dreams and scared me shitless!’ She yell at me, before suddenly soften down and whisper with a lovely thought-tone ‘…but hello to you too, Narg. And thank you.’  

And she reach out to me, mentally, and I reach back and embrace her. Our mind open up to each others as she drinking in my scent, my mental-scent, and my body, while I’m drinking hers in return. Physically, I am still on the floor with her pin me down. But in our minds, it is a xenomorph’s equivalent of human’s ‘hug’. We reach out and embrace each other, mentally.  

Slowly, we retract. She give me a mental smile and pull away from me. I struggle onto my feet while she look at me and the wound she cause with a worry.  

‘I’m sorry for hurting you though. Does it hurt much?’  

‘Oh…not really, just a little scratch. It’ll heal soon,’ I reply as I watch her… Finally, she’s with me again. I had push aside the thought to be with her ever since I’ve become a xenomorph. Human and xenomorph can’t meant together. But now that she’s here as a xenomorph, maybe she will…  

‘Soo…’ Her thought-voice interrupt me, ‘Are we going somewhere or you just want to stand there glaring at me?’  

I brush slightly, not physically of course but mentally, as I snap myself back to attention again.  

‘Uh…sorry. Yes. Well…I’d offer you a scenic view of this hive. But we’ve got to hurry. The human troop is approaching this area and we are to retreat to the Empress’s hive.’ I say before launch off to the opposite tunnel. I sense her jump after me. Her mind clouded with confusion and uncertainty. Apparently the thought of having the humans as enemy has never crossed her mind before. Oh well.  

‘Wait. What you mean human troop is approaching?! They’re gonna kill us?!?’ Her thought in panic, ‘but what we gonna do!? They have guns and…and…’  

‘Calm down, Sarah.’ I reach out and take a grab on her mind as I physically running through long and dark tunnel. There are several other drones accompany us. ‘I’m bring you through the escape tunnel. We will emerge far away from this warzone and then we will head toward the more secured hive.’  

‘And beside,’ I continue, ‘Those human soldiers are nothing. We can easily deal with them. The Empress and the queens merely want them to think we are already weaken, and send in more group troops instead of choppers we can’t bite’  

She pause, drinking in the knowledge and seemingly ponder on her situation and her new position as a hive member. No one speak for a long moment, until I break the silence.  

‘So Sarah. How do you like your new body?’  

‘Ohh…Narg. I love it!’ She said dreamingly, ‘I mean…It does feel odd having a tail and able to see with my eyes ‘closed’…so to speak…and what’s with these acid blood and inner jaw and all. But still…I can’t explain why I like it, but I do a lots. And the mother-queen is lovely…though she doesn’t act like that much.‘ She add.  

I smile mentally, ‘Well, in that case, wait ‘till you meet the Empress. I love her more than anyone else, most of us do.’  

I turn to her, and yelp as she suddenly growl at me again, ‘Whaat…? You mean you love her more than ME as well?!’  

‘E…er…I didn’t mean like that! I mean…er…’ I stagger, unable to think of an excuse as I suddenly sense the Empress-mother in the back of my mind, watching. And I gulp. She glare at me intensely for a long moment, before suddenly burst out laughing.  

‘I ‘kid, I ‘kid. I feel the same way myself toward the queens. I’ve watched the Alien movies too, you know…anyway, that’s what we are, right?’ She ask.  

‘Seemingly so,’ I say.  

She just acknowledge. The exit is approaching now. We can see the light at the end of tunnel, literally of course. And we go through, found ourselves in the deep forest below the cliff. I look up and see hint of the hive structure on top of the cliff far away.  

Me, Sarah, and my temporary travel mates spread away from the exit and start searching for hint of where should we head next. And the mind of a praetorian touch me, and give us a mental map of how to get to the Empress’ secret hive. We thank her briefly and start heading through the forest, running through brushes and trees, couple of meters apart from each other.  

‘Narg?’ Sarah whisper me again.  

‘Hmm?’  

‘What does it feel like being a xenomorph?’  

I chuckles mentally at her, ‘Why don’t you ask yourself? You are one now.’  

‘I didn’t mean like that. I mean…how does it feel having to fight again your own…former species? To fight for the…creature you had once hatred and feared?’  

‘Ahhh…’ I ponder, ‘Well, I’m not sure really. I love the Empress and the queens, that much is obvious…and those humans are harming her. I can’t stand having her harmed in anyway. And denying her requests doesn’t feel right, either.’  

I chuckles lightly to her, ‘Well, I guess we have already fell completely under her control. So much that it feel more natural to serve her than helping the humans?’  

‘I guess so…’ She trail off. I turn to glare at her more intensely than before.  

‘Or you doesn’t feel the same way…?’  

She refuse hastily, ‘No. No. I do feel the same way you do, and I do like it. But that’s what make me feel bad. That I like her so much after what you and mother-queen do to me. So much that I would be willing to inflict the same things to those…soldiers...should she ask me to. The soldiers that supposedly sent in to rescue me…or former me.’  

We both fell quite for sometimes. I reach out and caress her mind lightly.  

‘Don’t worry too much. We are all family now, remember? And besides…we are already here.’  

And we all stop at the entrance of an innocent looking cave, hidden well behide trees and brushes. And we all sneak in, carefully make sure not to disturb the plants that camouflage the entrance. Heading into the familiar darkness of the Hive. I reach out, and feel the Empress’ mind embrace us all.  

‘Welcome, my children, to our new home.’  

And I can’t help but bow toward her will…her warm, loving, and powerful embrace.  

‘mother-Empress’