Soul of a Warrior

Zirconia: I hope I did the disclaimer right...
Disclaimer: I don't own Predator and I make no money from it, this is just a fanfiction that was just for fun.

Ven-Ahn awoke, slightly drowsy from his sleep.

He shifted his gaze up and saw 'Drea with his hand over her heart.

Her shoulder wound was healed, thankfully. He was disappointed when he pulled the blanket down and saw that the bruises covering her lower stomach down to her thighs were healing very slowly. The blanket was pulled back up, over her chest before he noticed her staring at him.

"'Drea, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been in another hunting incident only this time with four of those creepy little things instead of one." She smiled at him then rolled over on her stomach, almost screaming in pain, "Oh my God! I thinking I'm bleeding on the inside!"

"Technically, you are. But it is not critical or life threatening." He ran his claws gently across her back as she closed her eyes, laying her head on the pillow.

He kneeled down on his knees beside the bed again when she opened her eyes. He was within her reach so she reached out her hand and traced her finger tips over the details on the mask, "Wouldn't it be more comfortable with the mask off?"

He looked down and she sat up, dizzy from the pain the bruises caused, she placed her fingers under his chin and lifted his head up.

Surprisingly, she knew how to take the mask off. Once she pulled the mask away she laid it on the table beside the bed and gazed into his eyes.

With a gentle smile, she pulled him into a loving embrace, resting his head against her chest.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?" She ran her fingers through his dreads as she held him close, feeling his arms wrap around her waist, "You have beautiful eyes!"

She thought nothing of the fact that the only thing covering her body was a blanket. She continued to hold him and began to hum a tune, the tune to the song her mother had always sang to her.

Ven-Ahn recognized the tune and spoke, "That song…”

Andrea look at him, with sadness, "My mother used to sing it to me. My father was the one that told her of it."

He knew that song.

"Your father, what was his name?"

"Victor." She said, laying her cheek on top of his head, "Why?"

"You said he was a hunter?" He had to know things about her father and she reply.

"Yes."

There had been a hunter back on his planet that went by the name "V'Ctor" and it sounded just like this human name 'Victor' but he was confirmed dead after…

'A hunting incident on Earth...' He thought to himself.

It was starting to become common for Yautjas to pair up with humans as mates but could this woman really be the daughter of V'Ctor?

He tried not to think about it after that last thought. He'd ask her once she felt better, once the rest of her injuries were gone.

Andrea, ignoring the pain, pulled Ven-Ahn onto the bed so that he was laying beside her. She had never been this close to another male before, not counting the hunters from the other day but that was forced and she didn't like it.

But she laid on her side and cuddled against his chest, her arms around his waist.

Ven-Ahn wasn't quite sure what to do so just held her close and continued to run his claws across her back, causing her to shiver from his touch.

When he awakened once more, he looked down at the female next to him. She really was truly beautiful to him. The sight of her laying next to him, skin bare and her long hair sprawled out beneath her, was breath taking.

He had fallen in love with a human… What would his brothers and sister say about this? He had already heard his father's opinion,

She was a hunter, in human terms and she was the daughter of Vi'Ctor! She had to be. Her memories of her father, the information she knew about him, it all fit together perfectly.

Vi'Ctor was famous to the clan but he was also a very close friend of his father's. The others had major respect for Vi'Ctor, maybe they would have the same amount of respect for 'Drea.

He looked down next to him and saw Andrea with her eyes half open, "'Drea?"

She gave no answer.

"'Drea… what's wrong?"

“…”

“Drea?”

She blinked slowly and looked up at him, "Sorry…"

He was confused as he brought a hand up to stroke her cheek with his fingers.

"I have moments of severe depression where I go into trances… Moments to where I can't do anything at all except lay here."

"To depressed to even move?"

She nodded.

He had seen this before, back on his planet. It was like their will to move or even speak was sucked out of them.

His sister had been like that before, once. After her mate was killed and after she had lost the pup she had been carrying, she was deeply depressed for the longest time. He was but a little one himself when that had happened. Ven-Ahn's presence always seemed to cheer her up for a little while, considering she helped raise him after his mother had passed away.

"'Drea, don't be sad." He helped her sit up, gently, careful as to not hurt the bruised areas on her lower body.

Before anything else could be said, there was a knock on the front door. Andrea stood up, once again ignoring the pain, and put on a pair of blue jean Capri pants and a green shirt that showed a bit of her stomach. She ran to the door and opened it to reveal her boss, Mama.

"Hello, honey! I was just stopping by to make sure you were ok! As clumsy as you are, I knew you'd get hurt somehow from the tornado that came through." She looked down and saw some of the bruises that started around her waist, "And it looks like I was right."

Andrea scratched the back of her head with a pout, looking to the far side at the corner of her eyes, silently saying, 'Yeah, I know I'm clumsy…don't rub it in.'

The old woman came in and sat down on the couch, "So nice of you to finally have a friend other than your little cat!"

"What?" The woman looked in the direction the older lady was looking and saw Ven-Ahn, "Ven-!"

"It's quite alright, my child." She said with a grin, "Hoho! You and your mother had the same taste in men!"

Andrea sat down beside Mama and the woman wrapped her arms around the younger one, hugging her to her chest, "You were always a strong one, child. I might not be around much longer so I had to come and tell you the truth."

Andrea, still against Mama's chest, looked up, "Truth? About what?"

"I held out until I thought you were old enough to tell you what your mother was never able to." She rested her cheek on top of Andrea's head, "My child, you take after your father more than you think. He was a very strong being. Even though he wasn't human, he had the purest of hearts."

Ven-Ahn's eyes became wide from across the room, "He was of the Yautja race?"

"Yes, he was."

Andrea began to cry in Mama's arms, "Is that why I've always been so different, Mama?"

"That may be one reason. After all, the strength of Victor inside you is what caused you to kill those creatures when they tried to attack your mother for all those years and when they tried to kill your kitten. Oh what did Victor call them again things again?" She looked as if she was in deep thought for a moment, "Oh! Kainde amedha! That's what he called those creatures."

The Yautja in the room took a double take at the two when he heard those words, "So she has already killed..?"

"Sweetheart, you're mother and father loved you so very much. Victor wanted you to live the life of a huntress. He was going to take you and your mother with him back to his home planet."

Andrea sniffled as Mama let her go. She took her necklace off and handed it to her. Andrea looked at it and recognized it as the golden cross pendant with a dark blue sun in the middle that had details of the night sky moving through it.

"Your father and mother made this for you. I finished the ending details for them since they could not. It is the pendant after the lullaby you loved so much. Your mother translated it from the Yautja language to English and she always sang it to you." She took it out of her hand and held it up, pointing to the sun that had the stars and moon in it and began to sing a part from the lullaby, "I wish for this night-time to last for a lifetime. The darkness around me, shores of a solar sea."

Mama reached over to hook the necklace around the younger woman's neck, "Where there is dark, there is always light."

"Thank you, Mama."

The older one stood and placed her hand under Andrea's chin, looking into her eyes, "You have the most beautiful eyes, the eyes of your father. Don't forget, my child. Never forget the love that your father, your mother, and I still have for you. We will always be watching over you." She walked to the door, turning again to say, "I wanted to tell you the truth before I was to pass on from this world."

Ven-Ahn held his mask on long enough to view the inside of her body.

She was dying. According to his readings she only had at least thirty more minutes to live.

Mama looked back to Ven-Ahn, "Take care of her, son."

"I will." He responded.

She turned back to Andrea, "I love you, my dear. I always will."

"I love you too, Mama. Never forget that."

Mama smiled then left to go back to her home.

After about thirty minutes to an hour, she walked outside with Ven-Ahn. Everything was still sinking in, it was so much all at once in her opinion.

Ven-Ahn placed a hand on her shoulder but she jerked out of his grasp when she heard an ambulance going down the road…towards Mama's house.

"Oh God! No!" She started running with Ven-Ahn behind her.

'Please, don't be going to Mama‘s house!'

She stopped in the woods outside of Mama's house and heard the EMTs as they carried out a body on a stretcher.

"She called just before she passed away."

"Are there any family members to be notified?"

"Yes, sir. But not around here."

Andrea turned with her back against one of the trees. This couldn't be happening! The one person she had left was gone!

'We still love you, child.' A voice said inside her head. She looked up at Ven-Ahn and he took her into his arms, "Nothing lasts forever, 'Drea. Do you wish to leave with me?"

She nodded as she sobbed, her father wanted her to leave this planet eventually, anyway.

Two days had passed and Andrea went to Mama's funeral, and Ven-Ahn was with her, cloaked. The humans were unaware of the Predator's presence.

When she went to her funeral, Ven-Ahn was apprehensive, but the girl said to him that she wanted to honor her late boss, go to this funeral and give her respects to the family. He agreed in going too, but cloaked.

Andrea was dressed in a black suit, and went to the church where all of Mama's family was, when one of their sons went to speak to her, "I am glad you came, Andrea!" and hugs the girl.

"I had to come. Is the least I can do for her, I am sorry for your lost!"

He was glad to have Mama's former employee with them.

"She was a great lady… helped me a lot when my parents died."

The car arrived to take the body to the cemetery, and everyone followed it, by foot… the cemetery was near the church. When they arrived to the grave sight the pallbearers took the coffin and put it on a platform in front of the grave. A priest approached and celebrated a mass, in memory of the old lady. The family was crying, while listening to the priest. Ven-Ahn, on the other hand, had been somewhat curious about death with humans. He had never seen a human funeral, before.

The body was buried, and the people left the cemetery, but Andrea stayed, "I just want to say goodbye." Ven-Ahn appeared beside her as she whispered softly, "I will go with him to know my father's planet. I'm not sure if they will accept me or not but…I can hope, right? Thank you so much for everything, Mama!" Then she put a hand on the stone, feeling Ven-Ahn's hand on her shoulder to support her, "Lets leave this place Ven-Ahn… the last thing I had in this world is gone… I have nothing left here!" Both left the cemetery, in direction to her house to rest before their trip. Her animals were gladly taken in by some of Mama's family members so she knew they would be ok. They understood she was leaving and helped her out with the animals, except for her beloved cat. He'd be going with them. Thankfully, no one asked where she would be going.