Eyes Of A Predator

AN: The idea for the story is mine, but the setting belongs to Tomoe and her wonderful fic Parttime Job. Other characters belong to Karen Traviss and George Lucas. Not mine, just borrowing them. I promise to put them back when I'm done. ;)

---

With one glance and a faint nod from my master, I gave a short bark of acknowledgement of his command and took off. My sensitive nose was filled with the many familiar scents of the compound, but only one held my hunter's attention. The little aruetii female had attempted to assassinate my master's master, the Mand'alor, and there was only one punishment for that sort of crime.

Her scent was easy to find and follow. She didn't smell of fish and disinfectant like the kaminiise, nor did she smell of sweat, blaster fire, and weapons lubricant like my fellow Mando'ade. She smelled clean like a fresh rain on Manda'yaim, natural and not artificially so like this compound.

I followed the faint scent of grass, wood incense, and some other predatory animal I couldn't identify. It stood out like a beacon amongst the familiar scents of other Cuy'vul that I knew, allowing me to follow her trail easily. There were other scents, too. She was tinged with the sharp smell of adrenaline and the metallic scent of fresh blood.

She had killed in a haste. If this woman had been any other aruetyc female my master's master had brought home, I would have thought her to be in a panic. But not this one. No, this one had a warrior's spirit beneath that polite, gentle exterior. She was in a hurry to escape, but she was certainly not in a panic.

Ignoring the occasional rush of Cuy'val running through the corridors in their own search of their master's killer, I honed in on that female scent. The night she had spent in my master's company, she had politely offered her scent to me in an attempt to get acquainted, leaving no doubt in my mind that she knew quite well how to deal with unfamiliar creatures like myself. I had quickly committed it to memory once I realized that she could not be intimidated and decided to play the part of a family pet, instead of my master's equal.

Aruetiise expected that of creatures like me and my master was certainly not the only one in this compound who was capable of doing discreet recon.

The female's scent led me to my master's master's apartment, where it soon mingled with the scent of the Mand'alor's son. I covered every inch of the apartment meticulously, wanting to be certain that she had indeed come here and that I hadn't been smelling her scent from when she had actually lived there. No, that scent of adrenaline and blood told me I was right where I was supposed to be.

I gave a low growl when I realized that she had not only come here, but she had taken the boy with her when she left. I could not be entirely certain if the child had gone with her willingly or if she had resorted to kidnapping Mand'alor's heir on top of assassination. There didn't seem to be any panic or fear mixed with the boy's scent- perhaps given the hour and her time spent with him before, he was too tired and had no reason to mistrust her.

Just what sort of woman had my master's master brought into our mix and what exactly had he been thinking when he had done so?

There was another scent there at the doorway. There were many scents there as always, but this one was fresh and belonged to the medic that was now working on my master's master. He must have stopped there first to ensure the child's safety before hurrying to look after his own master. Given that there was no scent of fear or concern from him, he, too, must have been fooled by the beautiful female and unknowingly allowed her to escape.

I sniffed around in the hallway for a moment before picking up the scent again, this time in another direction from where I had come. This one led me further down the hallway until I came to the apartment belonging to the psychotic soldier in the sandy gold armor. I gave another low growl as I tried to figure out what this woman was thinking and just where she was heading when there was no escape for any of us from this watery world.

As much as I despised the sandy armored soldier, I knew he was no more of a fool than my master. He was a tough old veteran and while the woman had managed to slip past the medic-soldier, I knew that the sandy one would know better. He wouldn't be fooled for a minute by the aruetii woman's act. If anyone could contain her before she found a way to escape, it was him.

The apartment, however, was completely empty. The six little clone boys were no doubt off causing their own special sort of chaos in the compound while the adult Cuy'vul were occupied, but where was their father? I hadn't smelled him near any of the other soldiers and I could still smell the fresh scent of sharp knives and blaster discharge in the air near the doorway.

Ah, now that would explain it. I could smell the faintest hint of nervousness mixed with the sandy soldier's familiar scent. The little female was a very clever and dangerous aruetii to manage to force him to help her as well. No doubt, she had manipulated his concern for his sons and his master's son into coercing him to help her or perhaps even take part in her escape.

Beneath that polite, refined exterior lay a dangerous predator. If she was capable of assassinating the Mand'alor, then there was nothing to stop her from murdering his heir and the sandy armored soldier if she so chose. I knew that scent well, the scent of a person desperate enough to escape that they would do whatever it took to do it. If she had managed to persuade the sandy soldier, then nobody else would be able to stop her before she found a way offworld.

I snarled in frustration and anger at the situation, realizing that there were two hostages now. Technically three, when one counted the defenseless, unborn child that lay within her womb. She must have been desperate indeed to put not only the Mand'alor's heir and the sandy soldier at risk, but her own child. I knew she was not the sort to be threatened by her own death, but even I hadn't taken her to be the sort of person who would go quite that far.

I may have hated the sandy soldier for his frequent throwing of knives in my direction whenever he saw me, but he was too good a warrior to end up some aruetyc woman's hostage.

Focusing on the scent of the female, the child, and the nervous sandy armored soldier, I followed them back out the door and down the corridor. The scents were getting fainter now, reduced only to that of my master's master and his son. They were mixed with the occasional fish scent of a passing Kaminoan, but the scents were so old that I could follow the little female easily.

I was getting further and further away from the rest of the compound and the rest of the Cuy'vul. I could no longer hear the activity coming from the residential area, the hurried bootsteps and the shouts calling to hunt the aruetii female down. This was a completely unfamiliar part of the compound to me and I soon understood why.

I could smell ozone, lubricants, and jet fuel. This was my master's master's private landing pad, where he kept his personal ship. Out of all of us that lived here on this stormy world, he was the only one permitted to come and go as he pleased. I had never bothered this particular platform even on flight patrols because I knew that it was so well secured and the ship perfectly maintained. No Mandalorian would ever dream of doing otherwise.

Stepping outside, I bristled and howled at the pounding rain and flashing lightning when I saw that the ship was gone. Judging by the scent of scorched metal and saltwater, I realized that I had been only seconds too late. I paced about the empty platform, pawing uselessly at the spot where their scents had ended and they had no doubt boarded the ship.

I didn't know how, but that clever little female had managed to get around whatever security measures my master's master had aboard his personal craft. Perhaps that was why she had taken the child as well as the sandy armored soldier with her. She needed the boy to get aboard his father's ship and the old sandy veteran as a pilot to take her wherever she came from.

Not caring that nobody but the endless storms of this world would hear me, I barked and yowled in frustration until I could howl no more. I had very little hope that anyone would see any of them again. The female would go back to where she had come from and likely take the boy with her. As for the sandy armored soldier, if he didn't manage to kill or subdue her in transit, she would likely kill him just to keep him silent forever about where she had gone.

Knowing that I could do no more, I turned around and hurried back to find my master as fast as I could. So much blood had been spilled tonight and I knew that more Mando blood would be spilled before it was over, all because of the aruetyc female my master's master had brought home. She had escaped, but in doing so, she had made enemies out of a people that few people in the galaxy were foolish enough to make enemies of.

If my master's master died of his wounds, then there was nothing in this galaxy, no contract, decree, or any amount of credits that would keep the rest of the Cuy'vul from hunting her down and taking their revenge on her for their master's murder.