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A/N: heyyy sorry i've been away so long, i'm so glad people have been enjoying my writing so far! i've been busy with my coursework, but i will be trying hard to get more chapters out regularly again from now on! please enjoy this new chapter and there is lots more to look forward to between dee and makane ;)

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That morning I'd woken up early and eaten well, Makane gave me some last minute pointers as I put my armour on. Now I was standing with him, waiting to get on a ship to a hunting planet, where my Chiva would be.

"You will do well today." Makane said softly as we walked onto the ship with a few other yautja. I was set for this; fully protected with my armour and weapons, and Makane kept a supportive hand on my back. "Come, we shall sit and meditate before your Chiva, and I will explain what will happen." he said, leading me to another room in the ship. It was mostly empty and quiet, obviously a room for praying or meditating. We sat down together quietly."When we land, you will go into the environment and a Xenomorph will be released. You will have as long as needed to kill it... if you fail... there are two options. Return but you cannot join normal society... or use the elimination device on your gauntlet." Makane said, speaking softer with the last part. By the tone of his voice, he didn't want me to fail. I didn't either.

"Elimination device?" I asked and he nodded.

"It is a bomb. It will kill the Xenomorph... and you." he explained and my blood ran slightly cold. Damn, yautja were brutal with this Chiva thing.

"Oh... right."

"Do not worry, Dee. I know it won't get to that. You are strong and capable." Makane said softly, patting my head. I sighed and nodded.

"I hope you're right."

We sat together the rest of the way to the hunting planet. I looked out the window as we approached it; a big sphere of green, obviously a lot of vegetation.

"This is the planet we use for some Chivas. It is mostly flat with lots of trees, an easy hunting ground." Makane said from behind me. We walked out the meditation room and I got ready to leave the ship. I got many good luck pats on the back and head from everyone on the ship, and soon enough the door hissed open for me to go out. I looked at Makane, slightly scared. He nodded, encouraging me to go.

When I stepped out the ship, I pressed a button to activate my invisibility setting on my armour, and jogged off into the trees to find the Xenomorph.

I was out there for what felt like hours before I heard a hiss. I froze and slowly moved behind a tree. I was invisible to the passing eye but if something looked closer, it would see my movement under the shield. I peeked behind the tree and dead in front of me was a pretty big Xenomorph. It was slowly walking around, looking for something to kill.

I knew this was my chance, and I drew my blades, ready to face the creature. When I stepped out from behind the tree, it looked up and spotted me, immediately hissing.

The fight started and it was pretty brutal; the Xenomorph snapping and scratching at me. I slashed back with my blades and landed a few good hits, but got jabbed once on the side with its acidic tail spike. I cried out in pain as my skin burned, but knew I couldn't stop or I'd die.

I kept slashing and slashing until finally the blade went through its neck. It let out a final screen before its head slowly peeled off its body with a sickening noise, and it slumped to the ground. I sighed in relief, clutching my burning side and slowly stumbling to a tree. I was sweating under my armour and had some of my own blood on myself from where it had splattered.

My side throbbed in pain, and I groaned as I rummaged in my small knapsack for the medkit I'd packed. I could still feel the acid burning my skin and muscle, and it was torturous. I finally found the medkit, and shakily pulled up my armour and shirt to apply some ointment to the wound. It burnt even more but I knew it was helping as the redness went down.

Once I'd wrapped my torso, I started heading back to the drop location, exhausted but proud that I'd survived such a huge Xenomorph. It was getting darker on the hunting planet, so I was treading carefully to avoid falling on tree roots or holes in the ground. The sounds of the alien wildlife started up as it got darker, and it felt eerie being alone in this strange place. I thought I was getting closer to where the ship was, but nothing was there. I walked further, in case I'd overestimated the distance, but after another 20 minutes of walking, I'd found nothing. I was starting to worry now, maybe they'd moved location and forgotten to tell me? Surely Makane would've said something.

I checked my gauntlet device, hoping to see a message but there wasn't anything. Now slightly panicked, I started walking back the way I came. Maybe if I retraced my steps, I'd find the ship again and everything would be okay.

There was a noise behind me, and I snapped my head to look at what was there. I spotted a figure in the trees, and squinted my eyes. "Makane?" I called out, hoping I'd been found. It wasn't Makane, it was another one of the yautjas I'd been on the ship with. I couldn't remember his name, but I knew he was a Young Blood doing his Chiva like I was. I felt relieved that I'd been found though, and smiled wearily."I'm so glad you found me, was the ship moved? I couldn't find it." I said, walking towards him. He stayed still and silent, staring at me from behind his bio-mask.

"Uh... I don't remember your name, but I'm Dee."

"You do not belong here, ooman." he growled, and I was startled. "What do you mean? I've trained enough, I passed." I replied but he snarled back at me.

"You are not one of us. You are weak. You are prey."

My heart sank at the way this was going. Clearly this guy wasn't as accepting of me as others had been. Before I could respond, he grabbed me by the cuff of my clothes, his claws digging into me as he picked me up like a piece of meat. "Put me down! Get off, we're on the same team-." I yelled, struggling. He threw me against a tree to shut me up, which winded me and I gasped for air. In the process, I dropped my weapons, putting me as an unequal opponent and therefore the yautja wasn't supposed to fight me. I was horrified when he raised his spear anyway, aiming it straight at me.I was at a disadvantage, and it looked like he was actually going to kill me. I didn't see a way out of this, I was actually going to die. I felt a wave of terror wash over me, I wouldn't get to go home, to see Makane again, to show him I'd passed my Chiva.

I looked up at the Young Blood once more, then closed my eyes to prepare for the pain, the blood, and my death.