The Nature of Predators - Wild West (5/?) (Patreon)

First | Prev | Next

Memory Transcription Subject: Nilrie, Takkan Smuggler

Date [standardized human time]: April 6, 1851

The predator located a rocky outcropping to take shelter beneath, as dusk took over the sky above us. Blake didn’t have much to say at all, taking inventory of what little supplies he had. The human had been gathering wood and scraps into a pile, before setting it alight to maintain warmth; beneath rock cover, the smoke wouldn’t rise to reveal our location. The creature seemed very deep in thought as he worked, and set up makeshift bedding using moss and leaves. I wondered what was going on in his bloodlust-addled mind, and imagined I didn’t want to know the whispers about me he was suppressing. 

The sheriff dusted off his hands, holding them over the fire. I scooted closer, beginning to feel a bit chilly as the planet’s sun was close to dipping. Blake’s sinister eyes reflected the light of the fire, and it was as if that rage was burning inside his very pupils; I didn’t dare to disturb the brooding hunter. As my own stomach began to feel empty, having not eaten since breakfast time, I knew the beast needed to feed even more. Maybe he should’ve snacked on Bourbon while he had a chance. Confirming my worst fears, the human’s empty belly issued a provocative growl, clamoring for depraved flesh. His appetite was roaring within, blood cravings driving him mad.

The hungrier Blake grows, the less he’ll be able to resist the urge to eat anything that moves. What happens when he decides I’ll suffice?

The human stood up, a taut scowl on his face. “I dunno about ye but blazes, I’m starvin’. Gonna find us some food, ‘cause this dried fruit and jerky ain’t much to go ‘tween us both.”

“Find f-food?” I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that line of thinking could’ve made an increasingly desperate Blake turn to me. “You s-should do that.”

“Step real careful, and don’t make a lotta noise. I don’t trust ye ‘nough to leave ya behind. If Marlow comes a’knockin’ when I ain’t ‘ere…”

“G-got it. Coming with you.”

“Good. Make sure that rune box of yers ain’t gonna be yappin’ up a storm neither. Awful lucky it don’t break in the fall from the horse—we landed real hard. Shit, I pract’ly need some laudanum to feel whole again.”

“Y-yeah. If I landed on the holopad…I’d h-have no way to talk to you.” More alarm bells rang in my head, realizing that the predator was not only emotional and hungry, but also injured. The strain on Blake’s faculties must be enormous, as the negative input increased his inherent aggression. “Are you…hurt?”

“I’m hurtin’, yeah. I think my side’s gonna be the color of yer skin tomorrow. Tryna walk it off and clear my head. Had a hell of a fucked up week, y’know?”

Clear his head, he said. Oh no, he’s losing it. “T-totally. It must’ve been h-hard on you. Just hold on. K-keep control, please!”

The human gave me a perplexed expression. “Control? Dunno what yer on ‘bout.”

“N-never mind. I don’t want to r-remind you.”

“Oh, I see.” Blake flashed his broken teeth, looking startlingly like Marlow—he was devolving into a snarling animal. If it could happen this quickly, I couldn’t stay with him if food was ever a question. “That’s kind of ya not to bring it up. Losin’ my head prolly scared ye silly. ‘Fraid I been hurtin’ on more than just the outside. My life’s gone to shit.”

The human thinks I meant the outburst with Bourbon. He isn’t even cognizant that his wild instincts aren’t normal, or that his need for blood will outweigh all emotions soon. What does he mean by…his life going to shit? I relate to that, crashing here of all places.

I flicked my ears, not wanting to wallow in self-pity. “W-what do you mean?”

“It don’t matter. We can talk later; let’s just be nice an’ quiet,” Sheriff Donovan murmured.

The human moved in shuffling footsteps, stalking through the forest in light motions; he kept low to the ground for visibility, perhaps so that we wouldn’t be seen if others were sweeping the forest. I kept an eye out for any berries to forage, knowing I’d need enough for both of us. Then again, the predator would know a lot more about local flora than I did. Those ghastly binocular eyes darted around, searching for something to lock onto. My legs became paralyzed as his pupils dilated, and his nostrils flared. He stood deadly still, and I followed his directional gaze to a small prey creature with ears like a Sivkit. Blake drew his sidearm from the crouched position, just like he did when he slaughtered Bourbon.

My entire body was paralyzed, as I realized what was playing out before my eyes. Regardless of whether this monster consumed plants alongside animal bits, or avoided eating Bourbon’s readily-available corpse, Blake Donovan was a predator. The only thing this human had showed any qualms about killing when it did was the horse; for all I knew, that was an act to manipulate me. This reprehensible being was hunting like it was bred to do, and it was right at home in its bestial savagery. It saw feeling, breathing creatures as its prey, and took their lives as meals whenever it desired.

What happens with the alien hunter when it looks at me in this state of mind? It’s not like it could have any emotions going through its primitive brain, and still do this heartless act.

I wanted to scare off the innocent herbivore, seeing all too plainly that Blake wanted to feast on its haunches; the predator was hungry, so it wasn’t like there were any moral concerns that trumped that. The alien’s binocular eyes were no longer troubled, now shining with focus and ruthlessness that petrified me. Perhaps it was better to let the mindless biped take this animal, instead of turning on me for interfering with its dastardly practice. The human shifted to a different angle, before pulling the trigger with the hint of a snarl—its true expression. The bullet penetrated the animal’s furry head, killing it with a shot right between the eyes. This was a killer, which I shouldn’t try to salvage or make excuses for.

“Alrighty.” Blake approached, admiring its handiwork. It picked up the lifeless corpse by the neck, carrying its “meal” by its side. I was no longer the least bit hungry; I turned and puked my stomach acid into the grass. “Everythin’ alright, Nilrie? I know ya don’t like no killin’, but a man’s gotta eat. I’ll take ya back to camp.”

I was a sobbing mess, collapsing next to my own vomit. “N-no camp. Just…eat, g-get it over with.”

The human’s eye fur strips knitted together. “Ya don’t like that I eat flesh, but I ain’t gonna eat yers. You sure love actin’ like I’m gonna just put ya on a plate and dig in.”

“T-tracker. Killer. It’s…what you are. I j-just watched you slaughter another helpless c-creature…and you want to talk to me?!”

“You don’t have t’look so closely. I’m doin’ what I gotta do to survive, and it’s not like I hurt no people by huntin’. Why’s this one thing hafta matter so much?”

“You t-took a life. You feel nothing.”

“Ya don’t know what I feel, ‘cause ye ain’t never asked or thought ‘bout it. Actin’ all high and mighty, like my purpose is shootin’ rabbits.” The human began walking, not seeming to care if I followed; not daring to incentivize him to chase after me, I trotted behind him. “Why should I hafta defend myself? Ain’t nothin’ good happened since you shown up. Why don’t I make you convince me that yer not a demon, Nilrie?”

“That’s r-ridiculous.”

“I know that, but so is bein’ treated like a monster for the slightest hint of anything you don’t like.”

“This isn’t j-just anything. It’s…the w-worst thing you can do. It shows your l-legacy, and ancestral path: it’s all about d-death.”

“Then why ain’t I up and killed ya? ‘Splain that to me.”

Blake let the question linger in the air, as we arrived back at the camp. He began slicing and dicing the innocent herbivore’s corpse, like he was merely scrapping a car for parts—that was the value an animal’s life had to a predator. I didn’t understand why someone who cared so little for beings down the food chain was still bothering with me, or what the sense in lamenting Bourbon’s fall was. By the same token, I was watching the creature’s hands get soaked with blood, which drew zero reaction. The human skewered cuts of meat onto a stick, and to increase my nauseating horror, began torching the catch. He seemed to enjoy the smell of burning flesh, sucking it in through his nostrils. The monster liked his blood helpings toasted.

“Want some?” the sheriff offered: how strange for a predator to be willing to share its cherished carcasses.

I shuddered at the disturbing ritual. “Ick. N-n-no.”

“Suit yerself. Ye can have whatever ya want from the satchel.”

I watched as the beast gorged himself on charred cutlets, crunching through tendons and sinew with fiendish canines. How the humans could think I was a demon compared to themselves was absurd. He sipped on water, which he’d gathered from a creek during our walk, to wash down the flavor of death. This was the monster I was staking all of my hopes on, and was stranded in a predator’s wilderness with. I watched as Blake settled down in one bed of moss, closing his disgusting eyes; even with the sockets sealed shut, it disturbed me knowing a predator’s orbs lay beneath a thin strip of skin. With the depraved meal complete, the hunter was lounging on his back, looking paradoxically peaceful as he began to snooze.

Any beast who was capable of slaughtering out of routine, and would partake in something so gruesome, belonged under the exterminators’ fire. I stared at the flames amid the camp, and knew this was my opportunity, while Blake was unaware. The human still had his fingers resting atop his sidearm, but the rifle was a few paces away from him; I had the option to grab that too. All I could feel through my trembling body was utter disgust. My paw wrapped around a stray branch, as I cast it into the blaze to light it. Out of my periphery, I could see the flesh-consuming terror slipping into a restful state. He was a blight on this world, siphoning life from it with cruel intelligence.

“Why ain’t I up and killed ya?” His words echoed in my ears, followed by his earlier proclamation that he wished I didn’t hate him. Nilrie, stop feeling sympathy for this thing. You saw what he just did. Whether he saved your life or not, he deserves to be cleansed from existence.

The branch slipped out of my grasp nonetheless, falling with the rest of the kindling in the firepit. I was a fool, because when Blake’s instincts got the better of him at the next meal, I wouldn’t have such a clear opportunity. For some reason, I didn’t have the heart to kill this predator, and it was more than just needing him to protect me from the worse ones. I’d seen a flicker of a true sapient with emotions. It was as if he was half-prey, half-monster, even though such a thing shouldn’t be possible. Cursing myself for my weak will, I laid down on my own makeshift bed, and tried not to think about what Sheriff Donovan could do while I was sleeping.

---

By the time I woke up, the human was already alert. He’d extinguished the fire, and his eyes looked oddly tired, like he hadn’t slept much at all. His lips curved upward in chilling fashion when he saw me, and I wondered why Blake was so quick to try to intimidate me. He couldn’t have known that I considered exterminating him, right? It might feel like those predatory pupils could see straight through me, but that wasn’t reality. The fear chemicals that followed from having him in my sight jolted me awake. I approached him warily, hesitating as he handed me some dried fruit.

“Here, eat. I ain’t seen ya eat since we started out into these woods,” Blake remarked. “Don’t need ya gettin’ all light-headed and faintin’. Don’t got a horse to carry ya no more.”

I forced down the plant food, not wanting to anger the snarling menace. “T-thanks.”

“No problem. An’ don’t worry, I made sure I ate ‘fore you been up. I really ain’t tryna get ya bent outta shape.”

“I thought y-you’d sleep more.”

“Couldn’t sleep much, ‘tween the nightmares and the mind racin’ in the waking parts.”

“That d-doesn’t sound good, Blake.” Nightmares: like what, being hungry and not able to find prey? “You said I n-never asked how you felt. W-want to talk about it?”

The human leaned back, staring at the treetops. “I dunno, star man. Ye ain’t been a good shoulder to cry on. My world’s turned upside-down, y’know. If this ain’t all frightenin’ and confusin’ enough, when yer somethin’ I don’t even know, and them big scaly Arxur could come for us next…”

I tilted my head at the predator, seeing the troubled glint in his eyes. “Go on.”

“Ever’one I wanna protect has turned on me ‘cause they think yer some demon and I been helping ya. It scares me shitless, the things the star folk are capable of, and not knowin’ anything about what a Takkan is. I can’t deal with all this; I dunno how to.”

“You…never told me t-that. You said you’d protect me.”

“I done tried. I plan to keep tryna help ‘cause ye got no one else in yer corner. Ye don’t make it easy to talk to ya, Nilrie. I can’t show any of how I feel, ‘cause I don’t wanna be scary to you. Ye think I’m a monster no matter what I do, and I been nothin’ but nice to ya.”

“I’m…sorry. I’ve just…seen more v-violence and awful things in my one day with you than I have in my whole life. It is scary, whether you mean it to be or not.”

Blake pursed his lips, before donning his beloved headgear. “Well, I’m ‘fraid yer gonna have to see a little more violence ‘fore this is through. I came up with a plan to put an end to Marlow’s hunt.”

The grim look in the human’s eyes was one of resignation and bitterness. I hesitated, before shifting closer to the hunter; if the creature was truly afraid, it might minimize the danger I was in to try to comfort him. However low my opinion of him might be, the sheriff had saved my life, and risked his own to do so. I could remember how rapid his heartbeat had been, suggesting that the ordeal had frightened him despite his stoic demeanor. It was natural that a primitive species wouldn’t understand a higher civilization, and would struggle to comprehend its basic tenets. I placed my tail atop his hand, the way I’d seen him do to comfort Cornelia, and couldn’t help but notice how much the contact startled him. 

Blake’s head snapped toward me like I electrocuted him. I remember how he told his wife I was dangerous; maybe he still hasn’t been convinced otherwise.

“What kind of predator are you?” I whispered, earning a disgruntled expression from Blake. “You eat plants. You mirror prey emotions. I, um, n-never meant to scare you either.”

The human sighed. “Yeah, I think I done figured out ye don’t wanna be here. Can’t help ya with that though.”

“Then what is your…plan?”

“The preacher’s right about one thing; yer ship is a whole lotta of temptation. Brings out the worst in folks. Mankind ain’t ready to have that sorta thing ‘ere for the takin’. Ya dangle the promise of riches in front of people’s noses and scruples go out the window. We gotta destroy yer flyin’ machine, ‘fore Marlow and his sort get their hands on it.”

Yes! Blake is just good enough to know humans can’t have access to our technology, and that they don’t belong in the stars; they’d be a danger to the entire Federation. If he wants to stop my ship from being weaponized by his own predatory kind, I have to help.

I tried not to look too eager. “Okay. I’m in. How are we going to…?”

“We need to steal some nitroglycerin from the mines to blow it all to bits,” Blake answered. “Marlow and Collins will come for us when they see the smoke. Without a horse, we won’t get far; we’ll hafta ambush whoever comes ‘round. Could get ugly…and end badly for us.”

“You mean that we could be k-killed.”

“Yup. I won’t sugarcoat it none, but ye don’t gotta come. I won’t force ya into danger, Nilrie, ‘specially with what they got planned for ye.”

“You can’t risk your life alone, Blake. You don’t have to do any of this either, not for me. It doesn’t seem fair to ask any more of you. You could just leave, go back to your wife, and forget any of this happened.”

“Wouldn’t I like to. But I ain’t doin’ this just for you. The only way to protect the good folk of Corvallis is to destroy any trace of yer crashed shit. Someone’s gotta do this.”

I drew a shaky breath, admiring the predator’s bravery. “Then we’re doing it together. What’s the plan in the event we…do survive?”

“Make sure this whole incident is forgotten. I’m gonna try an’ take ye somewhere no one’ll ever find ya, where it might be possible to live our yer days in peace. Gotta see to it that yer taken care of. Cornelia wants me to protect ya, so I ain’t plannin’ to quit ‘til I trust yer safe.”

“T-thanks. Really. I, um, have an idea, if you know somewhere you could hide me, and I wouldn’t need anything to keep going.”

The sheriff blinked in surprise. “Oh? Go on.”

“Well, I was, um, transporting medical goods to a different system when the accident happened. Before you blow up the ship wreckage, we could see if any of the cryopods I was transporting survived.”

“What’s a ‘cryopod?’”

“Of course. Right. It’s where you place a living creature in a…box that freezes them, you know, like ice, on the inside and out. It stops all of the functions and preserves the sapient’s body, so nothing progresses or breaks down until they’re unthawed…maybe even really far in the future.”

Blake squinted, puzzled pupils shifting back and forth. “Lemme get this straight. It makes ya cold as winter snow, which…are ye sayin’ this ice stops ya from aging?!”

“Yes. It more puts you to sleep and stops everything, keeping you the exact same as the moment you were put in there. This is highly expensive and complex technology, mind you, which most of the public doesn’t have access to.”

“Then why’d ya have more than one on yer star-sailer?”

“I…”

The worry in his eyes increased. “And if you been toting ‘round expensive shit, you musta had a known route. They gonna come lookin’ for ya? I gotta warn folks if more of y’all will be—”

“Nobody is going to look for me, Blake. Nobody even knows I was here, and that’s by design.”

The sheriff’s binocular eyes turned icy, almost accusatory, and he stared at me with a judgmental intensity. The human waited in silence, looking at me like I’d done something he deemed monstrous. I cleared my throat, scooting away from him. Well, this lawman enforced serious rules like murder, right? A predatory society had very different definitions of “order.” He wouldn’t care that much about a medical smuggling operation that was built on good intentions. It was a crime in the Federation, but who cared about things like permits on this blighted world?

I shriveled away under his withering gaze. “Blake, I was…s-smuggling those supplies.”

“Ye got to be fuckin’ joking.” The human bared his teeth in a hideous glare, and threw his hands in the air. “I been riskin’ my life for a blasted criminal? I should arrest ya here on the spot. I can clean up yer mess on my own.”

“Wait! Just…let me explain b-before you judge me? I’m not a monster, any m-more than you are!”

Blake crossed his arms, facial features having turned as hard as stone. “You have one minute. This better be a damn good explanation.”  

My mouth felt dry, as the authoritative enforcer returned, without a trace of warmth in his cold expression. I wasn’t sure whether it was worth it to appeal to a predator’s sense of compassion and empathy, but I didn’t have any other ideas but to tell Sheriff Donovan the truth about why I’d become a smuggler. Uncertain how the human would react to my tale, I braced myself to begin telling it to a hostile audience.

First | Prev | Next

A/N - Part 5! Nilrie witnesses Blake hunt a rabbit (the first instance of a Feddie actually seeing a human hunt in NOP canon!) and briefly considers exterminating him, but can’t bring himself to do it. The sheriff confides in Nilrie how much his world has turned upside-down and his own fears, before divulging his plan to deal with Marlow: by destroying our narrator’s ship once and for all with explosives. Our Takkan mentions the cryopods he was transporting, explaining their use and suggesting that he’s frozen in one to hide indefinitely; Blake catches on that something isn’t right, and Nilrie confesses that he’s a smuggler. Sheriff Donovan is none too happy, and barely willing to listen to the explanation.

What do you expect the reason to be behind Nilrie’s smuggling? What do you think of the sheriff’s plan, as well as our narrator’s crafty use for his cryopods?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! There will be a poll next week of the 3 top choices from Discord, for the next miniseries, which are the the Krev exchange program, Human Exterminators Season 3 (Fyron Trauma Edition), and a Krakotl child soldier prisoner that befriends a human. It’ll be entirely up to your votes!