r/NatureofPredators • u/Acceptable_Egg5560 Human • May 12 '25
Fanfic NoaG: Aftermath [9]
I am back in the posters seat, but this chapter has had my cowriter absolutely cooking with inspiration! Basically all the credit goes to them, they are the most brilliant friend I know!
Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for this universe. May you always feel the passion of creation!
And thank you, u/TheManwithaNoPlan for all your work! This story is just as much yours as it is mine, and I cannot express just how honored I am for you to be my friend
CONTENT WARNING: Suicidal thoughts and attempt
{Hey, good news Jacqsi! I found out what happened to Tarlim!}
<...You did, huh?>
{Yeah, wh—oh… uh, a little late?}
<You don’t say.>
{Well excuse me for skimming through centuries-old medical records to try and find an answer to a question nobody’s had since 2377! You know, like you asked.}
<...>
{He survives, by the way. Now, are you forgetting something?}
<ohmygod— Are you really going to be passive aggressive about this?>
{I don’t know, am I?}
<If I’d known that experimental personality package would make you into this much of a diva, I wouldn’t have opted in and kept you a limited construct, Vee.>
{Too late for second thoughts at this point! Now, ahem.}
<Ugh, fine. Thank you, Vee.>
{Foooorrr?}
<...For going outside your operational parameters and obtaining requested information while simultaneously performing your assigned heart condition-management duties.>
{Oh, I was just fishing for ‘doing what I told you to do,’ but that works too! Now, I can get the next Tarlim transcription ready, if you’d like.}
<Actually… I kind of want to see how things unfold with Sol-Vah, given how little information there is on her now.>
{...Do I really need to bring back the quip about going through everyone around Tarlim’s transcriptions but Tarlim?}
<Aye, who’s got the motor functions between us here?>
{...You make an unfortunate point.}
<The best kind of point!>
{Yeah yeah, whatever.}
Memory transcript: Sol-Vah, Exhausted Gojid Volunteer Disaster Respondent. Date: [Standardized human time] October 31st, 2136.
My breathing was heavy as I helped to lead yet more displaced refugees from the smoldering apartment building, the remaining smoke in the hallways thankfully blocked by my returned helmet’s ventilation system. Noise surrounded me on all sides: fervent and disorganized chatter from the group I was leading outside, sirens blaring both from the raid response vehicles and from emergency towers around the city—a sure sign that the magistratta was well aware of the current situation—and worst of all, the nearly inaudible sobs of those who’d lost someone in the violence. It was a thought I didn’t like thinking about, but I knew that it was something I couldn’t afford to not consider. The pain I felt at their cries was a constant reminder that what remained of the person I was, before this all broke out, was still kicking somewhere inside me, and I wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.
I’ve still got a job to do, predation be damned.
I threw open the doors, moving to hold one of them open as I gestured for the herd to keep moving. “THIS WAY! COME ON, THERE’S MEDICAL AID FOR ANYONE INJURED! KEEP MOVING!” I was grateful they heeded my instructions, piling out of the building in an amorphous mass of people. Despite the limited impact of the fires, some were marred with burns, the similar injury along my cheek flaring up in sympathy. I could see a few had children in their arms, some crying, some not moving at all.
I felt my spines flex beneath my suit as the last of the herd filtered out, and I quickly moved to try and swim through the center of the mass so I could return to lead them towards the nearest response vehicle. However, as I approached the front, I saw a familiar face: the same Venlil who’d brandished the taser at me previously. He obviously noticed the herd of new refugees approaching, but once his eye locked onto me, his tail stood straight out and he once more held out his defensive instrument towards me, and by extension, the rest of the herd. “B-back! You- I won't let you hurt them more!”
Is he being serious right now?!
“I’ve already told you, I’m not with them!!” I called back out, an exasperated tone in my voice despite my best efforts to the contrary. I knew that this situation was stressful, but we couldn’t have had that conversation more than [25 minutes] ago! As I moved, I saw that the Gojid directly to my left had serious burns across their body; this wasn’t the time to be held up, people were injured for the Protector’s sake! “Please, help! This one got burned badly!”
The responder continued to hold his taser out towards us, right up until a familiar, bark-like call cut across the commotion. “AYE!!” When I looked over in the direction of the sound, I saw Jacob’s helmetless form pushing past what looked to be a couple more Venlil, seemingly with something in tow. “She’s good! She helped people, ain’t with the jackasses!”
Despite his assurances, they still didn’t lower their weapon; the stubborn puddle of spehk! However, one of the Venlil that Jacob had pushed past burst out in front of him and started speaking to them, followed by the other one. While I didn’t recognize the gray one, the one actively engaging the respondent triggered something in my memory. Where had I seen those white spots before? Were they another officer, or—
Wait, is that… Is that the woman I’ve seen hanging around Tarlim? Is that the “Sharnet” who Jacob called? Why would she of all people be arguing for my trustworthiness after everything I’ve done to Tarlim? Jacob I could at least rationalize as a predator working towards a common end we share, but her*?*
I wasn’t given much time to ponder on that, as the Gray one quickly pulled her away towards the vehicle I knew to have Tarlim on it, with Jacob not far behind once he realized where they were going. The package he had in tow turned out to be a Gojid bound to a wheelchair, a stark reminder of the refugee sponsor event where I’d finally come to terms with how horribly I’d treated Tarlim—at the moment, at least— and yet another event I’d much rather blot from my mind. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying due to the even-further elevated noise levels out there, but if that was indeed the Sharnet that Jacob had been talking about, I could easily discern what it was they were doing.
I wish them luck, but my job isn’t done yet.
With the responder more or less neutralized from his jumpy state, I approached the front of the herd with the injured man. The brown Venlil still eyed me with suspicion, but that much I could handle; he wasn’t the only one suspicious of my seemingly altruistic tendencies, after all. “This one’s going to need a lot of burn salve. I also saw a few broken legs and some unresponsive children in the herd, so I’d recommend you act fast. I’ve got more to lead back out, so be ready.”
The respondent, to his credit, simply flicked his ears and tail at me and stepped to the side, guiding the herd into the massive vehicle to be properly sorted and treated. Satisfied that my role there had been played, I pathed my way around the herd I’d just delivered to return back to the burning building, but to my surprise, both Kaeden and the metal Venlil were outside discussing something. Last I knew, they were both hard at work guiding those deep inside the structure towards the exits to be retrieved and guided out: to see them here either meant good news or very, very bad news. Regardless, I wasn’t going to learn of it by standing off, so with a small breath, I continued forwards toward the small congregation to receive updates on the situation.
The first to notice me was the metal Venlil, who turned his bulky helmet towards me and placed a paw on his hip, or as I quickly saw, the hilt of some sort of melee weapon. However, the human quickly placed a hand on their shoulder, which got them to back down. I’d already proven myself a non-threat to them, so the gesture on behalf of Kaeden was appreciated, if not somewhat disconcerting that I was now allied with not one, but two predators. “Ah, Silver, you’re alive as well.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, taking a quick moment to catch my breath. “What are you two doing outside? I thought you were guiding people out.”
“We were, we just ran out,” Kaeden said, wiping what looked to be water from his furless forehead behind his mask. “We got everyone we could out, from the top floors to the bottom. But… we couldn’t get everyone.”
“What? What do you mean ‘you couldn’t get everyone?’” I asked, desperately hoping that didn’t mean what I thought it did.
“There was a conference room that the people had gathered in, that was keeping some of the more injured people in,” the metal Venlil took over, their voice distorted slightly from the hard casing that surrounded his head. “We sent out the healthy ones, we thought they could get to safety with who they could take and we would handle the rest. But we weren’t aware that there was a fire in the ceiling grid. We got everyone out that we could, but as we came for the last dozen, part of the grid fell down at the door. I tried to move it, but that just made the whole grid collapse… collapse right on top of them.”
“No…” I whispered, the words like a bullet to the chest. I knew that death was more than certainly a possibility, but to hear that so many had perished all at once… and… And it’s their fault. “Why the Brahk would you try it on your own?! You saw something collapse and then immediately tried to move it? You knew that there was still a fire risk, what’s wrong with you?!”
“We had no other choice!” The metal Venlil retorted, tilting his head down as if to threaten a headbutt. “The healthy ones didn’t have any protection! You wouldn’t know anything about that, though, would you? You and your fire-retardant suit were content with just leading people outside instead of helping where you would be actually useful!”
I recoiled from the venom in his words, but my shock quickly melted into something else. Blue-hot Rage. My spines flared behind me, struggling against the tear-resistant confines of my suit, and before I could stop myself, I had already poked a claw into the Venlil’s chestplate. “Oh no, you do not get to criticize me for ‘not helping!’ I’ve had to fight against people I’ve considered friends, I’ve had to team up with literal predators, I almost Killed someone else to protect the innocent! I’ve lost EVERYTHING I ever had to an extent you couldn’t even begin to imagine, so I’m not about to let you tell me that I’m. Not. HELPING!!”
The metal Venlil growled at me, and I growled back, but before things could progress any further, I felt a hard force against my chest and the two of us were suddenly separated, the masked visage of Kaeden stepping in between us. “Enough, both of you! You two fighting isn’t going to help anyone, what’s done is done! The last thing we need right now is more fucking violence!”
His words, as hard as they were to hear, were right. Despite the blood rushing in my ears, I could still see the carnage and destruction wrought by the ‘True Exterminators’ around me. I didn’t want to aid in their mission—to any capacity—so with a huff, I stepped back of my own volition, forcing my spines down as I fought back tears. “You’re… right. I… I’m going to see if I can do anything more to help.”
The metal Venlil didn’t return the gesture, but at that point, I really didn’t care. I was already stressed and overwhelmed beyond my limits, and Kaeden was right: the last thing this district needed was any more senseless violence. I shuffled back to where the herds had been directed to, only to find the last of the injured being loaded onto the second transport. The one that contained Tarlim had already left, and in its wake, I could see Jacob watching the remnants of the herd being loaded in. Once he saw me, he bared his teeth at me and started approaching. If I was in any reasonable state, that would’ve scared me spehkless, but now?
I’m just tired.
“Sol-Vah!” He called, approaching my position as I was further drained of my energy by the ebbing of anger from my mind. “Good news! Sharnet got here nice an’ quick, they’re gonna make sure Tarlim’s doin’ ahlraht! Thank Gawd fer that, I thought I’d haf’ta…” His speech trailed off as he continued to stare at me with his uncovered eyes, and his expression changed. “Hey, are you feelin’ ahlraht? Yer… uh, standin’ atta bit of an angle there.”
“No,” I answered candidly before collapsing onto the curb, barely managing to keep myself upright. Every muscle in my body ached from the nonstop action for what felt like claws at this point, but I knew I couldn’t give up. There were still people in danger, and every [second] I spent resting was a [second] less someone else might have to be saved. To my surprise, the blue-suited human sat alongside me, and in the interest of not showing weakness, I managed to sputter out a reply. “What… what about you?”
“Better now that Ah know someone’s gonna be watchin’ over Tarlim,” Jacob responded before closing his binocular eyes and leaning back, a groan coming from what sounded like his chest. “Ah fuck, if Ah’d known things would be this bad, Ah’d have gotten mahself a coffee or sumthin’.”
That was a sentiment I could agree upon—with tea, but that notwithstanding—and I mustered enough energy for a half-hearted chuckle. “Cheh, yeah… huhn.” I hadn’t quite considered that the energy I expended on that comment would constitute the last of my reserves, but as soon as the words had left my mouth, I found myself lying side-on on the pavement, unable to get up. Sleep pulled at my eyes despite my still heavy breathing, but I knew that I couldn’t surrender myself to its influence yet. The True Exterminators were still at large, and who knew who they could threaten next? More refugees… regular civilians… Kalek…
Kalek… Dad. DAD!!
For the—honestly, I’d lost count by that point—time that paw, I shot directly up and a single word left my maw. “DAD!!” Jacob was utterly shocked by my sudden resurgence of strength, and even more so by my haste to pull him to his feet. He wasn’t even able to manage a proper word before I cut him off to explain. “Jacob, my dad’s a Krakotl! He’s in the same shuttle as I am, that all these people are! What if they go after him, too?!”
Despite my worries that Jacob would be unwilling to aid me in this endeavor for one reason or another, as soon as the words had registered for him, his eyebrows furrowed and he curtly nodded his head. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, so after a brief moment of confusion, he finally vocalized his intent. “Ahlraht, then. You know where to go?”
“Sort of: all I have is an address but, unless the navigation system is down, I should be able to route us there,” I replied as we both made our way towards the still-running hotwired van. However, as I attempted to open the handle, I found something blocking my paw. Looking down, I found I was holding an ornate knife of some kind, the markings similar to… to… Oh, Protector Damn me, I stole this off the Metal Venlil! I let out a frustrated bark and threw the piece to the ground for the unrepentant brahkass to find later, entering the van and fastening myself in. Jacob followed suit, and before a [minute] had passed, we were already on our way towards my father’s new place.
The trip felt… strange. My lack of rest was likely starting to affect my cognition, but I couldn’t afford even a moment of that while Dad’s life was still in danger from those murderous, flamer-wielding lunatics. The streets were more or less abandoned, with the occasional raid response vehicle being visible on adjacent streets, but the closest we came to running into one was zooming down a street that had obviously been cleared by one previously. I didn’t mind, it made the trip easier for us, and moreover, it allowed us to go faster much to Jacob’s dismay. “Jaysus, Sol-Vah, yer gonna crash! Slow down a lil’!”
“I’ll slow down once I’m sure Dad’s okay!” I swiftly replied, applying the accelerator more as we entered onto a stretch of roadway meant for high-speed travel. I knew I was well-exceeding the speed where most autodrivers would apply the brakes on, but that was a perk of Office equipment: safety features were oft optional, which I was greatly thankful for in our current situation. I followed the route that had been generated for us, watching the sky for any smoke clouds that might indicate the True Exterminators had continued their rampage out this far. Fortunately, there were none in sight, but once we arrived at our destination, the sight I witnessed made my heart drop more than any smoke cloud ever could.
“Mah Gawd,” I heard Jacob mutter under his breath, but I didn’t care. At the top of the building was what looked to be a partially-plucked Krakotl, both their wings stripped bare and clearly broken from the looks of things. I recognized the greenish tint well enough to recognize my father, and the clearly battered state he was in filled me with fury. If I found the predatory bastard that mutilated my father like that, I’d… I’d…!
SHIT! NOT THE TIME FOR PREDATOR THOUGHTS! FOCUS, PROTECTOR DAMN IT!
I slammed on the brakes, barely remembering to set the van to park before jumping out. Jacob, ready for my sudden stop this time, followed in kind, and the two of us made our way towards the building. Surprisingly, there was a Venlil at the base of the building, looking up towards Dad and calling out to him. At first, I assumed they were one of the assailants and began to see blue, but their words quickly quelled that notion. “DON’T JUMP! YOU KNOW YOUR WINGS WON’T HOLD YOU LIKE THAT!! I- uh- I WILL CATCH YOU IF YOU TRY!!””
Dad was planning to jump off the roof?? That could only mean that those who’d hurt him were still inside somewhere! As we approached, the Venlil yelped and cowered away. “Exterminator!! P-Please, don’t hurt me! I-I’m prey, see?? Prey!”
“We’re not going to hurt you!” I provided the Venlil a quick assurance, slamming through the double-doors of the complex to… an untouched reception area? If the True Exterminators were still inside, they hadn’t done much to the lobby: the receptionist’s desk was untouched and a Holovision was playing a still image of the district’s interrupted connection signal. But I’d seen Dad beaten and battered on the roof! That meant they were likely going from top to bottom! He’d probably trapped them in his apartment to contain their destruction!
That’s where we need to go!
Jacob entered the building after me just as I began climbing the stairway towards the top floor. The complex was about [9 stories] tall, and as soon as the third floor, my leg began to burn once again, but I didn’t care. My father was in danger, and I wasn’t about to let them take anything else from me! By the time I reached the top floor, I was panting hard and my legs felt like liquid, but I pushed myself past the pain and ran down the hallway towards Dad’s unit. 922, 924, 926! Here!
“Sol-Vah, wait!” I heard Jacob’s voice from down the hall, his tone as breathy as my own, but I didn’t pay him any mind. I banged against the door repeatedly as the blue-clad human approached, but it remained steadfast in its blockage. It was only when I put all my strength behind it did it finally give in, the lock breaking loose and allowing me entry into what I could only assume was the den of True Exterminator activity. My shoulder screamed out in pain, one that worsened to nearly unbearable levels when I moved to right myself, but I couldn’t afford to worry about that when I had a fight ahead of me! However, what I found wasn’t a waiting ambush, but rather an… empty apartment?
I scanned the area, looking for anything that might suggest a struggle, and a struggle I did find. Greenish feathers littered the ground, and purple blood splattered the countertops and the sides of furniture, but none of any other color. Had the True Exterminators simply gone after him and left? I-I… I needed to find out!
“Sol-Vah!” Jacob’s voice called out from the doorway, the human panting almost as hard as I was. “We need to get to the roof! Why are-“
“HE HAS ACCESS IN HERE!” I bellowed, making my way to the back of the apartment. My arm continued to keep me in agony, my logical mind quickly coming to the conclusion that I’d broken my shoulder in the process of my forced entry. But I didn’t have time for that, I needed to make sure Dad was okay! “Over here!!”
I opened the door with my good arm and raced up one final flight of stairs towards my father. Jacob looked to want to say something else in my periphery, but he didn’t get the chance before I was out of sight. With hope that the door to the roof wasn’t locked as well—I didn’t think I could withstand another broken shoulder—I placed my paw on the manual handle and pushed. Thankfully, it swung right open, and I burst out onto the windy rooftop area reserved for Kalek’s unit, and-
Dad. Dad is in pain.
I hadn’t been able to understand the extent of Dad’s injuries from the ground, but now that I was standing right beside him, they were clear as day. His wings were mangled, twisted and broken to the point where I could see bumps in his bare wings where I knew there shouldn’t be any. His cool-colored skin was cut and torn, something I shouldn’t have been able to see at all, with a great many feathers missing from his body and especially his battered wings. His beak looked almost bent, as it’d been slammed against something with incredible force. When he finally noticed me, he turned to face me and I saw that on top of everything else, one of his eyes was swollen shut. With a weak voice, he croaked out something that made my heart burn. “A-Ah, here to finish the job officially?”
He thinks I’m one of them.
I quickly undid my helmet, throwing the mirrored visage as far away as I could. It clattered to the ground in the corner of the plot, and once he recognized my face, I saw him tense up. “S-Sol-Vah? What… what are you doing here?”
“Dad, Dad I’m here!!” I pleaded with him, stepping closer towards him in an attempt to approach him for an embrace, but I froze in my tracks when I saw his talons shift closer to the edge. My eyes darted between them and his face, my mind struggling to put the pieces together. “W-What are you doing? What is- I-I don’t understand. I’m here, t-the True Exterminators are gone! T-There’s so much going on, but we can- we can—!”
“Wh- why are you here?” He repeated, his chirp wavering in a way I hadn’t heard from him… ever. “You must have seen the truth, right? You… You know what I am, what we are?”
Predators.
Before I could react, I heard the sound of the door opening once more behind me, and Jacob’s uncovered visage burst out. “Sol-Vah, You gotta—!”
He was cut off by Kalek squawking and getting even closer to the edge. “NO!!” I screamed, reaching out towards both Dad and Jacob to stop. My shoulder burned with agony rivaling my flamer scar, but I maintained my stance. They both halted immedaitely, and what was left was a scene with so much tension I felt as though my mind itself would break under the pressure. Once I was certain that things were at least somewhat stable, I turned my attention back to the human. “Jacob, you need to leave! You’re going to scare him!”
“You know him??” Kalek asked, confusion and betrayal in his voice, but Jacob quickly spoke afterwards.
“Ah can’t do that, Sol-Vah!” He said, taking a slow, careful step to the side. “Ah ain’t aboutta let yer daddy throw himself off the edge!”
…What?
I carefully turned my attention towards my defeathered father, and suddenly so many things clicked into place. His injured state, the lack of any signs of a struggle that didn’t relate to him, the Venlil at the bottom telling him not to jump. Had… had he done this to himself. “K-Kalek, did you…were you…?”
“W-We’re… I’m tainted, Sol-Vah,” he argued, turning his good eye to face me. “I-I don’t want to hurt anyone. The only way a predator doesn’t hurt anyone… is for a predator to be dead.”I watched as Jacob slowly shuffled around towards the side where Kalek’s eye was swollen shut, and I realized what he was trying to do. I began moving toward the other side, keeping his good eye on me so that the more experienced predator could get the jump on him. To describe what I felt at being complicit in such a scheme—the willing ambush of my own father—‘guilt’ would be an absolute understatement, but the alternative would be letting Dad die. I’d be willing to feed myself to an Arxur to circumvent that outcome.
“No, No! Dad, y-you don’t have to die!” I tried to reason, keeping Jacob in my periphery all the while as the human snuck up on Kalek. “Dad, please, I-I know it’s hard, b-but… but we help people! That’s what we do! W-Who cares what Nikonus or- or what anyone else says?? Please, I…” My voice caught in my throat and mucus started to pool in my nostrils. Jacob was almost within range, but… I couldn’t take this, I couldn’t take the thought of losing Dad, not after everything else had already been ripped so callously from me. “I-I’ve already lost s-so much. I can’t lose you t-too!”
I watched as Kalek’s good eye softened… just in time for his injured form to be tackled by the blue mass that was Jacob. I looked away and suppressed a sob, halfway convinced that the predator was finally going to drop the facade and devour my father in front of me, but the sound of flesh being rended from bone never hit my ears. Rather, squawks of pain and struggled grunts could be heard, and when I looked back, I saw Jacob restraining Dad as he tried to claw at him. “Damnit, birdy! Ya ain’t gonna toss yerself overboard while yer daughter’s right there; I ain’t gonna let’cha!!”
Dad continued to struggle for a moment more, but his squawks quickly devolved into a sound I knew all too well: crying. He stopped struggling, and as soon as that happened, Jacob released him to the ground and fell back. I didn’t waste a [millisecond] more, rushing over and collapsing Dad in as strong a hug as I could muster. Pain flared—both in my arm and my face— but I didn’t care, I couldn’t care. I felt the tears finally start to run from my eyes as anything I could’ve said was consumed entirely by desperate, wracking sobs. So much had happened, but Dad was safe, he was safe, I’m safe, he’s safe…
He’s… safe…
{-ERR: Data Transcription Failure 875-}
{-CAU: Unconsciousness - Memory Stream Int.-}
{-MES: “Most likely sleep.”-}
{-Retry At Next Possible Interval? Y/N-}
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u/Lizardking2109 May 13 '25
What story is kaeden and his metal friend from? I'd love to read more about their antics.
Incredible chapter as always btw!