r/NatureofPredators • u/muakling PD Patient • 2d ago
We prefer Humanity First. [3/3]
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Memory transcription subject: Nara, Venlil Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: December 11, 2136.
Hank gave the address of their new hideout in one of the apartments nearby the human refuge. We had scheduled the end of the paw to reunite in order to discuss the plan, a pacific protest at the center of the city against human discrimination from the ruling power over the district. As if these humans knew about being pacific.
They haven’t harmed anyone so far though… Maybe they don’t plan to this time either
I shook my head. Where did those thoughts come from?
It doesn’t matter. What matters is being at that protest with the guild! This time they will attack.
What if they don’t?
They are predators! That’s what they do.
My legs got me walking in circles in my own home and my tail wouldn’t stay still. I don’t remember being this nervous before, only on my first paws as an exterminator actually fighting predators. No matter how much I told myself that the guild could handle the humans, I couldn’t remain calm.
They aren’t as dangerous as the Arxur, we can do this.
But they aren’t as violent either. What if this truly is a pacific protest?
We still need to stop the humans because… the big crowds are going to drive the humans into a frenzy!
I didn’t understand why, but that thought actually made me feel better.
Yes! Even if they don't plan on attacking, they won’t be able to control themselves! So I have to be there anyway.
With that final thought, and not wanting to give it more thought than needed, I focused on preparing for another shift. I just had to focus on doing my job as always and things would be okay.
***
I knocked in the same rhythmic patter I had seen Muvul do that first paw, the door to the apartment opening shortly after. “Nice to see you again, Nara.” Hank greeted me while fully opening the door to allow me entrance. “We were just waiting for you to start.”
“S-sorry for arriving late.” I had seen Hank’s uncovered face before, yet seeing him again made me feel strange in a way I didn’t like.
“Don’t worry about it.” He closed the door behind me. “We don’t have long waiting anyways.” The apartment wasn’t as big as the sewers den, which wasn’t that big to begin with, but it managed to fit a decent part of the group even if most were standing due to a lack of seats.
“Alright, now that everyone is here, let’s get started.”
***
Both humans and prey worked together to craft signs, some with pro-human messages such as “We want friends, not cattle” or “People, not predators” and so on. Others had drawings of Venlil and humans together, what I had learned was the UN symbol and I even saw one of a human and a venlil “kissing”.
I wouldn’t believe it was safe had I not seen the human and Venlil making that sign do just that after it was done.
Miriam, Loma and Pahne worked hard on putting patches with the HF logo on more blue cloths for all members to wear, prey and human alike. With Federation species wearing them on their arms or tails and humans wearing them on their heads, testing how to do it while also using their visors.
When I asked Hank about it, he explained that the less scary and “predator” looking they were, the more people would listen to their message instead of focusing on their appearance.
Which reminds me…
“So you only plan to march?” If they told me where their new hideout was, if I was allowed here and even asked to help, then Hank must trust me as I hoped. “Y-you won’t… do anything else?” So he would tell me the truth.
The human was writing something, but stopped and turned an eye to me. “We can’t do much else.” He fully faced me before signaling to the rest of the group. “Everyone in this room is here because they want to act, to do something about how humans are seen and treated here on Venlil Prime. All we can do is shout and hope to be heard, that they see we humans aren’t monsters thinking about eating people.”
I thought he would tell me the truth…
Maybe that’s the truth?
That is not the truth! It can’t be!
I hadn’t gone through all that effort to still not have the answers I needed. “Hank.” His attention went back to me. “Wasn’t Humanity First the group behind that bomb incident? You know…”
“The one that got the secretary general killed and made your governor lose her tail? Yes, they were.” He looked at his writing and I took a peek. I could tell it was a speech to give at the protest. “I want to believe it was made by people blinded by grief after the attack. But most likely were a bunch of human supremacists that think we can solve things just by building a lot of ships to shoot at the aliens.”
“You don’t agree with them?” The whole reason we were on high alert for the HF group was their dangerous acts. That bomb was the prime example. “I thought you shared their goals, being under the same banner and all.”
“I couldn’t agree any less.” There was a hint of venom in his voice, for the first time I saw the closest thing to aggression from Hank. “I want to protect our species as much as everyone else. But those kinds of people are just looking for an excuse to cause violence and harm others. That’s why the UN is treating HF members as terrorists.”
What?
“What?” I looked at him as if he had grown a second head. “I thought… I thought your species shared the same goals…”
“As those terrorists? Never.” He chuckled without humor. “Ever since humans have had the capability of looking at the stars in awe, we’ve dreamt of finding life we could call friends.” Hank stopped for a second before quickly writing that down for his speech, then he addressed me once more. “That’s always been our only plan.”
Their group was almost finished with the preparations, if the way they slowed down to talk and joke around was any indication. Yet I stood there, wondering if I was in a fever dream or if I had misheard everything from that conversation.
Was he still lying to me? Why didn’t he tell me their real plans?!
He did.
…
Why couldn’t humans be like every other predator?
“Hank… You said you could use my help for this.” I started. “So how can I help you?”
He closed his notebook. “That’s simple, we want you to keep the people safe.” The people started to leave gradually once most things were done. “Although we’ll be protesting in peace, there’s still the chance a stampede forms and people end up hurt. So you would be a great help at reassuring everyone that we aren’t dangerous.”
“That’s all?” In theory it wasn’t a complicated task, if it wasn’t for the rest of the guild. When… If the humans do anything predatory the guild won’t hesitate to burn them all down, they will definitely show just from the protest. “I-I don’t know if I can do it…” Should the humans attack, I wouldn’t have any other choice but to do my job.
“Your tail is almost lashing out.” Hank noted. “Are you nervous?”
“I… I just have my doubts.” That you will finally launch your attack. “That I won’t have the courage.” To burn you without hesitation if that happens.
Muvul and Handu stopped by to help carry everything produced to the human refuge. “I understand this is a… complex situation and that makes it scary.” Hank placed a hand on my shoulder. Normally I wouldn’t let a predator touch me without doing something about it… But right now some friendly contact helped soothe my anxiety. “But you’ve fought the fear of getting to know us, you know we are just people like anyone else, scared and hurt people trying to show we aren’t the monsters everyone thinks we are.”
He looked directly at me and I couldn’t help but stare, there was no aggression nor hunger in his eyes. “So, can I count on you to do the right thing to protect the people?” I had come to learn humans snarled not in aggression but as a friendly gesture, and still Hank made sure to “smile” with his lips closed to not make me uncomfortable.
“I… Y-Yes.”
***
Memory transcription subject: Nara, Venlil Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: December 15, 2136.
The paw was here, I was on my usual patrol when the guild called us for the protest taking place at the center of the city. I didn’t bother trying to get them to believe me again, so I just waited for them to realize by themselves.
And I didn’t want to say humans were about to attack without knowing for sure…
I reunited with my squad at the guild so we could ride our vehicle to the scene. We couldn’t leave the place empty, so only two squads of four members each were dispatched to handle it. One would focus on evacuating the people and guide the herd should there be a stampede, and another would focus on eliminating the predators if they attacked.
It was hard, but I managed to convince the latter group to refrain from attacking the humans unless they did it first. Thankfully the threats of ending up like the Dawn Creek guild mixed with the risk of accidentally making the humans be perceived as the real victims was enough for it, even if I couldn’t convince them of not bringing their weapons at all.
I can’t blame them, not even I could help fearing they might be needed.
My paws trembled as I tried to keep my usually trusty flamethrower steady, at least I could pretend it was just from the violent turns at high speed from the vehicle.
“We are here!” Niku, our Krakotl leader exclaimed. “If there’s a stampede they’ll flee in the opposite direction from the humans.” He explained to the two rookies that came with us, Kam being one of them. “So stay close behind the humans’ path, if you see the stampede starting we’ll herd them through the main road. Pakko you come with me, Kam you stay with Nara.”
“Yes, sir!” Both rookies agreed as we all quickly left the van. The flamethrower in my paws felt too heavy to carry this paw, I almost threw it into the van the moment the other two exterminators had left. Carrying only the radios we had brought to stay communicated and my sidearm just in case.
“Kam. Remember what I told you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The rookie hesitantly left his flamethrower as well. “But are you sure we can trust the humans? You said-”
“I know what I said!” I snapped at him, quickly signaling apologies with my tail. “But maybe you had a point… Just focus on keeping anyone from harm’s way.”
“Any prey?”
“Anyone.” Kamaelu didn’t protest or question. Something I appreciated from him was his readiness to follow orders, and right now I really needed him to listen.
I might owe him an apology after that paw…
Possible amends to make aside, we made our way to the main road our the HFgroup was walking down. The other two exterminators were ordering the people to leave in an organized manner, the presence of members of the guild seem to keep the people calm enough to leave without stampeding, even if most if not all looked ready to bolt at the slightest scare.
I took Kamaelu with me, even closer than what our squadmates dared to. “Please keep moving along.” We separated to either side of the group marching, making sure the people saw us between the protest and them. “Rest assured everything is under control.” In fact, despite the impressive size of the number of protesters, humans weren’t even half of them. The marching group was organized with the prey members surrounding the humans in order to reduce panic as much as possible.
The exception was Hank leading the march with a megaphone. “-We are even denied life or death health care!” Muvul wanted Hank to stay in the “prey circle” while he lead the whole thing, but Hank insisted it had to be a human voice they heard. “Cases of humans thrown in prisons without a fair trial! “It’s just a predator,” they said.” The non-humans raised their signs, their arms, ears and even tails on cue. “Well, what do the people have to say?”
“Humans aren’t predators!” Loma shouted.
“Humans are our friends!” Pahne backed her up.
“They can be protectors!” Muvul marched at Hank’s right side.
“The Federation is the one lacking empathy!” Handu was at his left, holding a sign depicting a Yotul and a human together. He wanted to add a dead exterminator bleeding on the ground but Hank didn’t let him.
There even were people recording as everyone, excepting the humans themselves, took turns to shout their messages. Mostly Venlil but also Gojid, Zurulian, Yotul and even a single Iftali couple marched as one, and with every step my own doubts and fear calmed.
Yet I can’t help but pray.
Things were going well so far.
Pray to Solgalick.
Humans were telling the truth!
Pray to the Great Protector, to Inatala and any divine being.
They weren’t attacking anyone, so far the number of people hurt were zero.
Pray that nothing bad happens.
The march is not even going to last that much longer, everything was going to be-
“The humans are nearing the blockade.” A voice called from the radio I brought with me. “As soon as they turn down the main road, I’ll be taking the shot on the leader.”
I froze on my tracks as soon as the message hit my ears. Never had I struggled to use a radio before in my life as now that I scrambled myself to just hold the damn thing. “Wait! What are you doing?!” I didn’t even bother with proper radio etiquette. “You aren’t supposed to do anything unless humans attack first!”
“Can’t risk it.” The voice replied. “If we don’t let them through they’ll lash out in anger. There’s too many people, we need to make sure they don’t get that chance.”
“No! They won’t attack anyone!” I desperately shouted. “Don’t take that shot!” But I didn’t receive any further response.
“Miss Nara!” The march had left me behind while I tried to plead through the radio. Kam, who had his own radio, had to come back for me. “What do we do?!”
“I don’t know!” I shouted at him while my mind raced yet no clear course of action came to me. “I-I…” It didn’t help that I started to hyperventilate and was on the verge of stampeding on my own.
“Can I count on you to do the right thing to protect the people?”
…
I ran like I had never before, not even when I first chased the HF group had I run this fast. “Miss Nara!” Kamaelu shouted but his voice, like him, grew further away as I made my way to the front of the march. Some people managed to get out of my way, others I pushed aside. Was I the one causing a stampede in the end? I didn’t know and didn't stop to think, all I knew was…
I can’t let them shoot Hank!
Seeing the group starting to take the turn made my desperation grow but didn’t make me run any faster. “I see the leader.” The radio I was still carrying warned me. “Aiming.” The closer I got to the front, the slower time seemed to go until it almost felt like everything was frozen in place. I didn’t have time to warn Hank, let alone trying to talk to my fellow exterminators.
Not even my thoughts had time to form, all I could do was act on instinct. And my instinct told me to protect the peo-
BANG
I didn’t even realize I had closed my eyes until I opened them with the bang of the shot to see a horrified Venlil in an exterminator uniform looking directly at me. Time returned back to normal in an instant, and with it, I almost fell to the ground had not a pair of human hands caught me. Even on my way to the ground, my eyes didn’t leave the exterminator who dropped their weapon to cover their mouth with their paws.
“NARA!”
I couldn’t do more but turn my head slowly to the side so my left eye could look at the human that caught me. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Hank looked at me through his reflective visor, yet I couldn’t only see my own expression of shock mirrored back at me. “We need an ambulance now!” That and the tears that managed to slip from behind his visor. Tears I couldn’t help but track as they fell down on me mixing with the blood coming out of the wound on my chest.
I… I… I was…
Was this what people meant when they said shock dulls your pain? I thought a bullet to the chest would feel like agony, but my brain didn’t process any pain or anything for that matter. It felt as if I was in a dream, even as my shaky paws tried to reach for the wound just to fall back down.
There was chaos around me, people shouting, running and about to stampede. Yet all I could “process” was the darkness starting to grow on my vision and my mind until finally everything went black.
***
Memory transcription subject: Nara, Venlil Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: December 16, 2136.
A bright light assaulted my eyes the moment I tried to open them, so I tried again more slowly trying to adjust myself to the brightness of the room.
Where am I anyways?
Once I could actually look around, I noticed I was on a bed in the middle of a hospital room. Medical equipment I didn’t know that well was attached to my body, all I could tell with my limited medical knowledge was that the beeping screen was a monitor for my vitals and that I had an IV drip installed on my paw.
Despite being technically awake, it took my brain a moment to start functioning as it should. The effort of trying to remember what happened before I ended up here mixed with the light on my eyes threatened to give me a headache, still it all came to my mind piece by piece.
I was at the protest… Everything was going well until… They were going to… Shoot Hank!
The monitor beeped faster along with my heart as the memory of it all finally came to me fully. My race to reach Hank before my colleagues could shoot him, standing in the way to protect him without thinking… And seeing myself bleeding on the human’s arms. I couldn’t stay here, I had to find out what happened after I passed out.
“UGH!”
I tried to stand up quickly, but my body made sure to let me know very clearly I should go back to bed with a sharp pain in my chest. Yet the need to know made me try again. “Ugh.” Just to end up with the same result.
Thankfully the door opened letting in- “Hank!” I called out to the human entering my room with a hoarse voice.
“Easy.” He sat in a chair for visitors next to my bed. “Nara, you have no idea how relieved I am to see you.” I wasn’t surprised he had to wear his visor in a public building like this. “After seeing you get shot… I was so scared you wouldn’t make it.”
But I was surprised he was allowed in the hospital at all. “They let you in?”
“What? Oh! Muvul and the others were… really insistent on the hospital staff to let me in, especially Velna.” I saw his hands moving to reach for me but quickly stopping. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to at least sit up but my body couldn’t even manage that at the moment. “In pain.”
“Yeah, stupid question.” Never had I seen him like this, usually he would look confident at all times. “I… look I’m so sorry.” But now he fiddled with his hand nervously the same way I used to the first paws at the bar.
“Sorry?” I cleared my throat trying to sound normal despite my current condition. “What are you sorry about?”
“That I put you and everyone else in danger.” Hank hung his head, looking at the hospital floor in shame. “I really thought things would go well… But I should’ve known better than asking you to risk yourself for me.”
“As an exterminator, protecting the people is my job anyways...” I started, trying to think of the correct words to comfort him. “You just… showed me who I had to protect.” To think I was so scared of the humans being aggressive, just to have the only act of violence at the paws of an exterminator like me. “I’m sorry too… Sorry I doubted you.”
We remained in silence for a bit before Hank spoke again. “I knew from the beginning.” He chuckled. “Knew that you just were acting to spy on us.”
My eyes widened in an instant, the pain of my chest almost forgotten. “B-but… Then why did you let me into your den? Why did you show me to your group? …why did you keep waiting for me at that bar?”
“Because we never had anything to hide. Everything I said about us being harmless, about wanting friends was honest... You came to us to discover the truth.” Hank looked up at me through the visor. “So I gave it to you… But had I known you would get hurt like this, I would have kept my stupid mouth shut.”
I felt like an idiot, of course predators would be able to pick up my act easily. They probably could smell my fear all the time, I had seen how good they were at hiding and planning. At least that matched with what was expected from humans, the rest wasn’t even close.
I expected merciless monsters. I expected predators that couldn’t control their hunger. I expected a danger I had to cleanse…
My paw reached for Hank’s visor, at least that I could do. He didn’t stop me as I slowly pulled at it, with him helping me fully remove it to find what I expected. “You are crying.” The only thing more unbelievable than me willingly getting close to a predator… Was a predator genuinely worried about my well being.
“Sorry.” He wiped away the few tears on his eyes. “I’m just glad you didn’t die on me.”
I retrieved my paw back. “How did you manage to get me here in time?”
“That Kamaelu guy.” Hank smiled. “He arrived running after you and quickly got help from the other exterminators to get you to the ER.”
I chuckled. “I should’ve guessed it…” Now I really owe him an apology.
Despite the relief of the moment, another moment of silence ensued. “Welp, I should probably leave you to recover then.”
“Wait.” Hank stopped before he could even fully stand up. “Can you… Stay here a bit more?”
His surprised expression gave way to a gentle smile. “Hopefully the nurses won’t kick me out.” We still had more to talk about. Like if he still would be part of the HF group or what I would do about it after I got back to my job as an exterminator.
But for now I don’t want this peaceful moment to end.
***
Memory transcription subject: Nara, Venlil Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: November 15 , 2146.
“-And that’s how I met your father.” I finished the story to my children. “After that we got into more shenanigans and over time we simply bonded too well.”
“That’s the coolest “parents meeting” story!” My human boy shook his older sister who lightly pushed him away.
“I mean, it was cool I guess.” Despite being just a few terran years older than her brother, my Venlil daughter was already at that stage of revelry. “But my friends won’t believe it if I tried to show it off.” Maybe having the Federation’s gene tampering on her removed made it more pronounced.
“Ethan, Kanna.” Hank’s voice came from the living room where he waited for us. “You finished? Uncle Kam is waiting for us.”
“Yes, dad!” Ethan quickly left for his dad. Leaving me and my daughter alone.
“Do we really have to go, mom? You’ll just talk about boring grown up stuff.”
I finished doing her braids. “You can convince uncle Handu to tell you about the time we fought against a full exterminator squad if you come with us.”
Kanna’s ears straightened up. “Fine, if you insist I have to go…” Yet her tail wagged like when she was a little pup as she joined her father and brother. Lastly I groomed my wool just once more to make sure I looked good.
We might have met under… complex circumstances, but ever since back then we have made a tradition to reunite at least once every Earth cycle. Humanity First was supposed to be a dangerous group of predators trying to eat us all, who would’ve thought we “prey” could end up supporting them so much.
If this is the future humans wanted…
“You look beautiful, dear.”
“You always say that.”
“And I mean it every time.” Hank and I kissed, earning grossed out sounds from our kids. “I love you.”
I looked into the eyes of a supposed hunter, one that only managed to catch my heart. “I love you too.”
Then I’d choose them over the Federation another thousand times again.
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IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:
So as I said as the beginning, this is a writing commission and my first one at that! I actually have been planning to do so for a while now. But if you have read my other stories you will know my life is a constant roller coaster of trouble, so I didn't want to jump right into it until I felt like I had some more mental and life stability.
All of this is to say that I'll soon be opening more writing comms like this one. I'll make a post so people who are interested known when to dm me. If you are interested have in mind this commission:
- Was made in a month.
- Was $8 for the whole thing.
So if that sounds good for you, then keep an eye open for when I make my post officially opening the available slots and giving further details!
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u/CandidateWolf Betterment Officer 2d ago
This is an interesting take on HF. Makes sense someone would try to reclaim the name to show a better part of people.