You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Thirty Seven

"Hey Ghost, I'm not trying to be a whiny bitch...but I think I prefer the jungle." The large male shook his head as his dreads arched through the air with the motion. Some clicking sounds echoed around Brielle, and O'kaor finally stepped forward from the tall, brown grass.

"Your body is not yet ready for the stress of the heat and humidity of our jungles."

Brielle wiped a streak of sweat from her forehead, neck, and chest as she continued to move towards the alien. "I don't know how much you know about the human body, but prolonged exposure to extreme dry heat is bad for humans as well. I don't know how Dhadtoudi has survived this long if your entire planet is plagued with these weather conditions."

"Dhadtoudi has conquered her own dance with death. You must learn to adjust your body to tolerate the different climates."

"Funny you would say that considering you nearly died any time my office dropped below ninety degrees..." Rolling, clicking laughter filled her ears now and O'kaor let loose a warning growl. "But it's comforting knowing that there's another girl that couldn't handle your planets extremes when she first got here."

"It was not weather that tried to claim her life, Brielle Ronaldi." The irritation was still clear in O'kaor's voice but a resounding growl, likely from Dhadtoudi, filled the seemingly empty air around them. "Regardless of your conditions and limitations, you must learn to hunt if you wish to survive."

Brielle sighed as she placed her hands on her hips and titled her head back to look at the sky. "I know how to hunt. That's kind of the point of-"

"You know how to kill. You do not know how to hunt. Not well. You will learn."

"How do you plan on teaching me if you don't know anything about humans, let alone how we learn and retain information?"

O'kaor folded his arms over his chest now, and a slight rustling in the nearby brush reached Brielle's ears. "You will track Dhadtoudi. When you find her, you will kill her."

"What the fuck did you just say?!"

"If you hesitate, she will retaliate and take your life instead." Before Brielle could argue further, O'kaor made his way back to the tall grass and activated his cloaking system. "You begin now." Light rustling sounds could be heard from her right.

Brielle took chase after the sound and pushed her way through the high grass that easily reached her shoulder. Seconds later the area fell silent save for her own off-kilter footfalls. She slowed to a stop as she tried to catch her breath, looking around for any sign of movement. Look for changes in the growth pattern. She would be pushing the grass down as she runs.

Her thoughts held little relevance when she realize that no matter which direction she looked the grass stood upright and just as tall as ever. Even the path that she had taken herself and knew that she'd crushed down several lumbering stalks remained in damaged. She pressed a foot down hard on the stalk of grass in front of her, held it firmly against the ground for several seconds, and then released the bent foliage. It snapped right back into place and she cursed inwardly to herself. Brielle knew her plan would be useless.

It was then that something caught her attention: light rustling coming from behind and to the left a bit. Brielle looked all around and the sound stopped. She took a few steps and moved deeper into the dense foliage until the sound started again. She grinned to herself and kept up a slow, careful pace as she waited for the sound to move closer.

Several seconds passed until the hair on the back of Brielle's neck stood on end. She turned quickly only to find nothing there. As a precaution she reached for the blade on her hip that O'kaor had given her before they left the dwelling, but it was nowhere to be found. Brielle took a careful step back as her eyes scanned the immediate area. She tried to look for the telltale mirage of their cloaking systems, but the heat was too great; everywhere she looked, mirages surrounded her.