Rivers Run Deep

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters related to Predator El, other unrelated human characters, and the character names of the predators Imade up, the concept of predator do not belong to me.



Authors Notes: This is a work of Fan fiction. please read on and enjoy.



WARNING: The following work of fiction contains, extream violence, course language (at times), sexual sudgestions, nudety, and explicit sex. If you are
under 18 (or whatever age is appropriate for your location), HIT YOUR
BACK BROWSER BUTTON NOW. If you find explicit sex offensive, please
don't offend yourself by reading further.



Author: Charlotte (jemstone5)

Email: jemstone5

Feedback: Please, yes lots.

Forward to others: would be flattered if you did.




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Rivers Run Deep





Chapter 30



Lee’tha lay crying, even before anyone said anything to her. She’d lived, only to be faced with the continued threats of Kire’Baa, the suspicions of Ver’On, the mistrust of El, and everyone else’s complete indifference. No one would help her sisters, no one would help her. Why couldn’t they let her die?!


“Lee’tha, hush,” El eased, wiping her tears. “Its ok, everything’s gona be ok.”


“No…its not!” she choked, and turned away from her.


“Lee’tha,” Ver’On began. “Who did this to you?” She said nothing, just continued to cry into her blanket. “Lee’tha?!” she shrank away from his gruff voice. Ver’On growled.


“Oh would you stop,” El demanded. All three males looked at her. “Honestly, you guys haven’t got a clue! Can’t you see she’s terrified!? Go over there and sit down.” She pointed to the waiting seats nearest the door. Ver’On stared at her, utterly bewildered. What did she hope to accomplish? Did she think for one second that she was taking over the investigation? “GO!!” Yup, at least as far as Lee’tha was concerned she was.


Sol pulled Ver’On’s arm, gently, urging him to move, directing the complaining Ter’Oth with him. Once they were seated and quiet, El turned her attention back to Lee'tha. El didn’t say anything. She knew her words would fall on deaf ears. Gently El leaned down, and wrapped her arms around Lee’tha, holding her as she cried.


She wondered if this would have helped her the night her family was killed. If it had, she would not be where she was now. Perhaps all things happened for a reason. Her family died, so that she could meet Ver’On and heal his emotional trauma, as well as her own. She arrived here to heal Lee’tha, perhaps not as a Yautja would, but as a human would, gently, without judgment or question. She only hoped she was up to the task.


“He’s going to go after my sisters,” Lee’tha finally cried. El held her tighter.


“No he won’t,” she gently whispered. “Your sisters are safe. In the custody of friends of Ter’Oth’s. Not even Ver’On knows who.”


“He can get to them,” Lee’tha gasped through her tears. “I saw him, with both of them, a few days ago. He wanted me to know he could get close to them.”


“Well, he can’t get close to them now. No one knows were they are.”


“You can’t hide them!” she screamed. “He will find them! He will hurt them!! He will do to them…”


“What?” El asked, when Lee’tha ceased to speak. “What will he do?”


Lee’tha looked back at her, then turned away. “You wouldn’t understand.”


“Try me.” Lee’tha did nothing. “Don’t you dare think you can stay quiet with me. If I have too, I’ll put you over my knee, as spank you like an unruly child. If all you Yautja know is a sound thrashing to gain respect, or to respect another, I’ll do it. Look,” she made Lee’tha turn over to look at her, as she flexed her small arms. “I’m strong enough, I can take you.” Lee’tha couldn’t help but giggle. Heck she just out right laughed. “Hey, don’t laugh. I kicked his but!” she pointed to Ver’On, who puffed up like a proud peacock. He was very proud that he’d battled her, though he wanted to make sure everyone knew, he won in the end. “And I can kick HIS too.”


Lee’tha turned her attention to El, her eyes small and dark. “He’ll kill you.”


“Not if I kill him first.”


“No, please El, understand me please. What I did, I’ll be put to death for. please.”


“What did you do?” Lee’tha opened her mouth to answer but the words would not come. “Whatever you did, you did because your sisters were threatened. I’d probably do the same if my family were threatened.”


“Would you kill?”


El brushed her hair back from Lee’tha’s face, gently rubbing her broken left arm. “Is that what he wanted you to do? Kill me, to protect your sisters?” Lee’tha couldn’t help but nod. “How? How did he want you to kill me?” She looked over to Ver’On, if he knew the whole truth, he’d skin her alive and hang her out for Kainde Amedha to infest for sure. “He won’t hurt you,” El eased, moving her body between her line of sight and Ver’On. “How did he want you to kill me?”


Lee’tha’s breath was quick. How could she tell the object of her assassination attempt, the details of how she was to die? And how could she live once the story was known? “I…”


“Lee’tha, are you scared of me?”


Lee’tha shook her head no. “But I don’t trust you. As you do not trust me.”


“It is not that I don’t trust you Lee’tha. I made promises to my mate, promises I intend to keep to make him happy, so that…” she turned to be sure he wasn’t listening. He may be, but he did not appear that he paid them any mind. He was in a quiet huddle with Ter’Oth and Sol. She turned back to Lee’tha. “…so that he does not send me away.”


“Send you away? Why would he do that?”


“Because I can’t live up to his memory of Uni. She was everything to him, she had his baby and everything. We can’t even mate! How am I supposed to be his mate, if we can’t even do that?”


Lee’tha tried to move her arms, but the pain was just too great. “Do not think of yourself as competing for Ver’On’s attentions. You have that. More so. It is his grand sire that is keeping you apart. Ver’On doles out more attention on you than he ever did on Uni. Because he believes he must, just to keep you interested in him, and not seek the company of others. There are very few of the Hur family left on this ship. Did Ver’On tell you he had an older brother?”


“No.”


“He did, Za’Kire. We were to mate, my first mating, just after Uni and Ver’On had bonded. But his grand sire denied our ritual. He went on a hunt, told me to be kind to his grand sire, that something was bothering him and that he would see reason in time.”


“What happened?”


“Za’Kire returned, badly wounded, he didn’t survive. And I ended up like this.”


“But who did this to you?”


“Kire’Baa – ” it was too late. Lee’tha’s eyes went wide with horror, the males across the room began to growl menacingly. El at once threw her arms around the frightened female, trying to calm her, and to shield her from a fury she knew was going to come from Ver’On. “YOU TRICKED ME!!!”


“No,” El eased. “You needed to say it. You needed to say his name! Now that you’ve said it, we can work to get through this.”


“HOW DARE YOU!!!” Ver’On was over El’s shoulder, shouting inches from Lee’tha’s face. “How dare you accuse my family!!!”


“VER’ON!!!” It was El, she not only shouted at him, but she’d reached up and pulled his mandible so hard, he ended up on his knees to avoid it being broken. He wanted to crush her hand, she could see it in his eyes, but her own eyes held a warning, a warning he read very well. Ver’On nodded, and slumped further to the floor, giving El control of the situation again. She turned to Lee’tha as she cried, terrified of what Ver’On would do. “It’s ok Lee’tha. I won’t let him hurt you either.” Lee’tha didn’t stop crying. She only allowed the ooman to gather her in her arms, and let her cry.






Later, Ter’Oth gave Lee’tha a glass of water, encouraging her to drink it. El let them be as she retreated to the lab, where Ver’On paced, with rage in every step. Sol stood back next to the door, prepared to block it, but out of the way of his ill tempered mentor. He nodded to El as she came in, and stepped out of the room, closing the lab door behind him. Ver’On shot her a look as she slowly made her way across the floor. “If you were Yautja, I would have beaten you for what you did.”


“Then do it,” she said. “Cause if you threaten her like that again, I swear I will pull more than your tusk!”


“YOU OOMAN BI – ” he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. El just stood there, looking at him, waiting for him to finish his train of thought. He turned away.


“You finished?” Ver’On just rested his arms on a table, sighing to try and calm himself. “Ver’On, listen. Why would she say it was your grandfather, of how many generations back I don’t know, who raped her, if it wasn’t true? Do you really think her that vindictive? And if so, Why? What did you do to her to make her that way? Or was she also interested in you, when you bonded with Uni?”


“Lee’tha was only ever interested in my brother. Za was an accomplished warrior, he stood in at my ritual with Uni. He was the only male member of our line left, aside from grand sire and myself. Za wanted Lee’tha, but he would never say that to her. Lee’tha wanted Za, but she was too…how do you say it…when the words will not form when you are face to face with what you desire most?”


“Awe inspired, admirable?”


“Yes, she had such admiration of Za, that she could not even speak around him. He thought her to be an idiot, even though he wanted her in his bed. After Uni and I mated, she began to see Lee’tha mooning over my brother. Uni put me up to introducing them, and had Uni there to help the conversation. Once they started talking, they began to kiss. Had I not entered the room, I believe my brother would have mated with her, without ritual, and without grand sire’s permission. It took all I had to separate them.


“I could not understand why grand sire denied them their ritual. Za thought he was in must, which is not uncommon for older males his age, and went on his preplanned hunt to let it pass. Lee’tha was assigned to serve our grand sire’s table in the main hall. Shortly before my brother’s return, Lee’tha didn’t show up anymore. Then the roomers began, of the male’s she’d have in her room, when she’d promised herself to my brother. I hated her for that.


“When Za returned, he was so wounded, he barely lived a day. He died not knowing the shame that Lee’tha had taken on. But Uni refused to let her go as a friend. She even helped her secure clothing, and other essentials to survive. Because of her new reputation, she was forbidden to enter the common areas of the ship. Her movements were highly restricted, and soon, Uni could not see her as often.


“Lee’tha was on hand, when Uni died, she seemed shocked, but I did not believe her. I did not believe anyone understood me. And that was when my rage began to truly build. I’d lost my life mate, my child, and no one understood. I fought, I nearly killed, and all the elders could do was send me into exile, till I had come to my senses.”


“Why would your grand father go after Lee’tha? Doesn’t he have a mate?”


“Yes. But older males, those at my grand sire’s age, have flashes of insane must. It comes on without warning, and whoever is nearest, is often the target. It is possible that such a situation happened, and Lee’tha was the one to bare the brunt of my grand sire’s desires. If it had been truly unintentional, they would have gone before the council to beg forgiveness of the family and the elders. But such did not happen.”


“Then it could not have been the flashes. Because I doubt that Lee’tha wanted your grand sire.”


“It had to have been planned. But by who?”


“Certainly not Lee’tha. What would she have to gain? She had the Yautja of her dreams returning to her, one who knew she was untouched. She wouldn’t risk loosing him.”


“Are you suggesting my grand sire planned her rape?”


“It’s possible.”


“What reason would he have to do that?”


“I don’t know. But Lee’tha would. We just have to get her to tell us.”


“Like you got her to tell you about Kire’Baa? I don’t think she will be that careless again.”


“She’s afraid.”


“Then we force her fear. We use her sisters.”


“ARE YOU NUTS!!! We would then be no better than who hurt her this time! NO!!! And if you even try to make that threat, I’ll sleep on the couch in a parka, before I let you touch me.”


“El!!”


“I MEAN IT!!!”


“Alright…alright. I promise, her sisters will not enter into my conversations.”


“Good.”


“El, Ver’On?” The pair turned to Sol, as he smiled gently. “You should see this.” The three stood in the door way to the lab, looking down the hall, as Ter’Oth leaned over Lee’tha, showing her a cloth. “He pulled it out of a box,” Sol continued, “and she just started to cry.”


“What is it?” Ver’On asked.


El gently elbowed him in his ribs. “It’s a dress silly, he had a dress made for her. She’d need a new one to replace the one her attacker tore up.”


“Why would he give her a dress?” Ver’On asked.


El looked at him shaking her head. “Clueless,” she sighed. “He gave her the dress, because he’s interested in her. Did you ever wonder why he’s the only one who escorts her to our quarters? Why he watches her, more than the sparing matches we attend?”


“Ter’Oth wants Lee’tha?” Sol asked. “Why?”


El slapped his arm. “Love has no reasons.”


“What?”


“You must forgive Sol,” Ver’On whispered. “There is no translation for the word you just used.”


“You don’t have that word in your vocabulary?”


“No, well we do, just not in that form. Sol, she means that he desires her with all his heart, without any reason to it.”


“Oh. I see…I think.”


“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Ver’On assured.


“Ver’On, it just occurred to me, if she doesn’t tell us soon who her attacker was, and he comes in, and sees that she lived, he could threaten her, just by being here, she’s that scared.”


“What do you suggest?”


“We move her, to private quarters. Thing is, how do we do that, when there’s Yautja all over the place.”


“The gathering…” Sol offered. “No, that won’t work.”


“Why not?” El asked.


“Because there will still be Yautja in the halls.”


“Isn’t’ there any way that we can make sure, EVERYBODY goes to the gathering?” asked El, looking between the two males.


“No,” Sol answered. “Not unless there is something extraordinary going on that all would want to see.”


“That hasn’t happened sense the great drum master visited, and that was three hundred years ago.”


El crossed her arms over her chest. “El?” Sol asked, “What are you thinking?”


“Oh no…” Ver’On stated.


“It would get everyone there,” she said.


“No!”


“The halls would be empty,” she continued.


“I ABSOLUTLY…”


“And I do believe that the gathering would over rule the decision of the head of the family…” she thought.


Ver’On stopped. Where had she learned that little bit of information anyway? “Do you think you can do it?”


“Do what?” Sol asked.


“I’d need to practice. Thing is, would the drum master here, allow it?”


“I think he would. He was impressed with your visit. He hadn’t had a room that full in a long time.”


“El, are you thinking you’d play the drums, AT THE GATHERING!!?”


“Yes, Sol. It would be the perfect time. Only thing is, the incense would have to be removed.”


“No one will like that,” Ver’On stated, “and without the incense no one will go.”


“What if she wore the breathing mask?” Sol offered. “She could breathe the air from a tank. She’d be safe then.”


Ver’On nodded. “Yes, that would work. Do you think you can do it with a tank and a mask?”


“Like I said, I’d have to practice. We can hide the tank under my dress, and the hose can go up through my clothing. The rest would be of little consequence.”


“Ok, I will speak with the Drum Master, see if I can get you some time to practice. Sol, you’ll have to go with her. I will spread the word that she’s going to be performing. The prideful male, boasting of his mate, while the Kadji is at her side, to ensure her safety for the event.”


“It would be an honor,” Sol said, bowing to the pair, as Ver’On licked his tongue along El’s ear lobe.


She gave them both a gentle shove. “Stop,” she laughed, “you’re both very bad.” Both males looked at her, thoroughly confused. “But I like it,” she smiled, and kissed Ver’On.






“Can you believe that Ter’Oth?” Lee’tha said. El had left the female to rest comfortably the rest of the night. Ter’Oth had secured the doors to the medical bay, with him inside. No one was getting in to see her till morning. The other medical centers on the ship would have to deal with any injuries on this level, for tonight anyway.


El had arrived early the next morning, with Sol right beside her, carrying a tray for breakfast, only one, but with ample helpings, and stacked plates under some clothes that Sol carried for her. This way, if anyone saw them, they would think she was taking a tray for herself, stopping off to get a check up, after collecting her laundry. Sol marveled at her dubious behavior, and wondered what she may have done to sneak away from her family as a child.


“Do you like it?” she asked the female, as she managed to move her arms with little pain this time.


“I love it. It is revealing yes, but in a respectable way. You had this cloth did you not?”


“I did, but I traded it to Ter’Oth.”


“For what?”


“The medicine.”


Lee’tha put her arms down. How could she tell her about the medicine? “El? I need to ask you something.”


“Sure.”


“What…did you do with the medicine?”


“Well, Ver’On and Ter’Oth thought it best to hold off giving me any more till I got over the first dose. I think Ter’Oth put it in storage. Why?”


“If I tell you to do something, will you do it…without question?”


“Is it about the medicine?” Lee’tha nodded. “Destroy it?” Lee’tha’s eyes abruptly began tear as she nodded again. “Ok.”


“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “My sisters…they are all I have…”


“It’s ok. I couldn’t have gotten much.”


“It was only in the untouched ones. I couldn’t get at the one in the injector.”


“Ok.” El smoothed her hand over her casts. They casts were surprisingly thin compared to the size of the Yautja bones. “I won’t say anything to anyone, Lee’tha. But I need something form you.”


“I can’t El, I know what you want…please, I can’t. I’ll die for what I was going to do to you, I accept that, but please, I can’t.”


“I am not using what you told me just now, as leverage over you. When I say I won’t say anything, I won’t. If you want to tell me who hurt you, I won’t tell anyone either.”


“You can do nothing, even if you did know.”


“Lee’tha, please. Tell me, and only me. No one else, I swear.”


“I can’t…you would think ill of Ver’O – ” she never finished. She didn’t have too.


“Is that really who hurt you?” El asked quietly, “Kire’Baa?” Lee’tha never made a move, she only let her tears fall, speaking more volumes than her words ever could. El nodded. “Not a word Lee’tha. I promise.” And she gathered the terrified female in her arms.


Sol came from around the corner, with breakfast for the women. “Females,” he scoffed. “Is that all you ever do? Cry?” Lee’tha laughed gently as El let her go.


“Only when we confide in…” Lee’tha looked to the ooman. “…in good friends.” El patted her cheek.


“Sol, can you make sure we’re not disturbed. Lee’tha and I need to talk.”


“If you must.” Sol patted El’s shoulder, and then took up a post near the door to the lab, where Ter’Oth had moved Lee’tha to. The lab was relatively secure. Only those who had business being in the lab would come here, which left the main medical area for its intended purpose. Ter’Oth had secured a privacy screen at the end of the hall, so that no passers by would notice a young Yautja standing guard outside an empty lab.


Ver’On was off securing the time El needed to practice on the drums, so that left El time to talk to Lee’tha. El needed answers. All she had so far were suspicions, suppositions, and no facts. She knew that Lee’tha would tell her, all she needed, was time, and patients. Lee’tha would tell her everything, when she did, and if it confirmed what El suspected, Ver’On, was going to hit the roof if he ever found out. There would be blood for sure. Hur blood, all over the deck. El was bound and determined to make sure none of that blood was Ver’On’s.