The Hybrid Hunter

Start writing here“So, how’s the Infested changed your life,” Xavier’s mom asked me.

“Quite a bit actually, I’ve got multiple injured creatures in that nest now which usually some of them are hunting for the nest but others are feeding off of my nutrients, sometimes the Infested reveals itself uncontrollably, and my bed is just covered in it. But anything that usually sleeps in the bed with me doesn’t mind” I replied.

“You mean ‘anything’ how exactly?” Xavier asked.

“Isabelle, her kids, the deathling, and the Xenomorpth that I regurgitated which now molted” I replied.

“That’s gotta be an unusual sleeping situation,” Xavier said to me.

“Not really, I tried sleeping in my human form but I sleep so much better in my serpent form. Isabelle and her kids with me under the Infested while the other 2 are on top of us. the Xenomorpth’s heat from its blood keeps all of us warm” I replied.

That’s when I heard multiple odd buzzing sounds in the restaurant. I look at my phone to find an Amber Alert on my phone that read: “6-year-old Xenomorpth hybrid girl kidnapped at 12:15 PM. She’s able to switch forms but preferably stays in her Xenomorpth form and is part of a hive in Glen Carbon. If you have any info on her disappearance please contact your local police department.”

“Xavier, do you often visit other hives?” I asked him.

“No, my girlfriend is pretty much on her own but she’s got Xenomorpth queen in her” he replied.

“And you’ve got what, drone in you?” I asked.

“No, this is going to be a shock considering my height but, I’ve got predatorian in me” he replied.

That made me swallow my drink down the wrong pipe and cough it up. “And you’re what 5ft 3?” I asked.

“5ft 6, the hard part about measuring my height is that I have to face the wall” he replied. That’s when the door swung open and Xavier’s girlfriend and her father walked in.

“Oh man, why now. She better not have a syringe on her” I said.

“Believe me if she tried to pull something like that it wouldn’t be in public” Xavier replied.

Xavier started to chat with her, but I couldn’t understand what either of them was saying.

“She’s wanting to know if you had to choose which Xenomorpth DNA would you rather be injected with. I think she’d personally rather it be predatorian,” Xavier said to me.

“Believe me if I would do that to you, not saying that I will anytime soon, it’d be what Xavier said” I heard his hive queen say to me.

I wasn’t even sure what to say. I was worried she had the syringe in her pocket as if she was trying to start her hive. But she’s likely got conflicting instincts like Xaviar.

“I’m not exactly sure how to answer that yet considering I don’t know how that would affect me with the Infested,” I said to her.

“What’s her problem?” I heard Isabelle say in my head. Ever since she injected me with maybe 5 centiliters of her venom she talked to me from far away without me being asleep.

“She seems like she’s got an interest in me for something” I replied.

“Does anyone else even know?” She asked.

“It’s not a matter of if they know, it’s a matter of if my world would allow it,” I replied.

“Ok, what if you didn’t have the Infested?” Xavier asked.

“It’s between the warrior and the predatorian” I replied.

“Nathan I feel like you’re going to regret saying that” I heard Xavier’s hive queen in my ear.

“Can we go now? I feel like she’s going to pull a syringe out on me,” I asked Xavier’s mom.

Once we paid she drove us to my home before heading home with Xavier. Once I got to my room I headed into the Infested nest to check on them. “You got the food ready?” One of them asked.

“Yeah let me get in the Infested so you can eat” I replied. I switched to my serpent form and laid in the Infested as it grew over me. I then felt my energy drain as they took some nutrients from me, something I got used to.

“Nathan, you in there?” I heard something say. I poked my head out to find a somewhat familiar face.

“You’re who exactly?” I asked.

“Don’t you recognize me? Xol brought you to my lab to grab some Infested to heal you” he replied.

“You know I was slightly out of it” I replied.

“Slightly is an understatement,” he replied.

“Could we talk later, please, I’m still feeding them,” I said to him. He went into a corner of the cave then laid in the Infested to wait on me as went back into it.

Once I was done he said: “I could mend your ribs. You would no longer have to depend on Infested to hold them together” he said to me.

“Mend me how? I have no connective tissues for my bones so I can’t get rid of it” I replied. He looked at me like he knew something I didn’t.

“The substance that transformed you into a shifter, then into Isabelle’s love can instantly mend bone and muscle. All I have to do is use it on your body and I can rid you of it” he said to me.

“It can mend my mass, but it can’t add anything and then leave my body, and even then there are multiple medical breakthroughs waiting to happen here. It’s something I can’t pass up” I replied as I held a child that looked like him but had his head covered in Infested. “Some of them here relies on me for survival as some of them can’t properly eat or swallow.”

“They could find a new leader or nest ya know,” he said to me.

“You don’t understand, there’s more than just me caring for them that keep me in the Infested’s grasp, it’s ethics. I don’t know about you, but a vast majority of scientists on Earth follow a code of ethics that recent events put to the test. That’s one reason I became Isabelle’s mate.

When trying to get info on how that universe works I try to Interfere as little as possible in their lives. But when she wanted me in her’s and her children and they looked up to me as their father. It was like 4 ducks who imprinted on me, 4 intelligent ducks,” I replied. “I think you should go now, I’ve still got some things to do.

“Ok then, I’ll get in touch with you in a few days then,” he said to me before leaving.

“Who was that?” The kid I was holding asked me.

“I’m not sure, he looked familiar to me” I replied. That’s when a few other children and 2 of their families came over to me.

“Don’t worry, I’m always there for you guys,” I said to them.

“You’re not leaving us, are you?” One of them asked.

“no my child, I just hope some of you aren’t permanently bound to the Infested like I am. You need the independence” I said to them.

“There are benefits to us” I heard something say to me. I was probably hearing the Infested.

That’s when I saw Daniel come in. I turned to my serpent form and retracted my Infested as he came over to me. “Come here Daniel, I’m glad you aren’t afraid of the Infested to be with me. You used to have the same fear I did but now we’re here without worry” I said to him as I hugged him.

“Let’s head to your captor, they’d be glad to see you as always,” he said to me.

“Yes, I bet they’d want to spend a good amount of their time with me” I replied.

I headed through the other door with him to see April and Draco. Once I got to them I turned to my dragon form and laid in-between them. Suddenly the Infested appeared over my eyes.

“Still having a hard time controlling it?” She said to me.

“Yeah, still haven’t figured it out, and I don’t know if I even can control it” I replied.

That’s when I felt someone get on my back. It was Xol, fitting my collar with a crystal rope. “I’ve been waiting to do this since we first met,” he said to me.

“Oh yeah, you were looking at me for that reason originally. I don’t know where you usually head so you better direct me” I replied.

“What’s going on... Oh, that explains it, you better keep him safe” Draco said to Xol.

“He’ll be fine I care for him as much as you do” Xol replied.

“Nathan how do you feel about... I guess for you it would be considered exotic fish” Xol asked me.

“Yeah, I’d be willing to try something new” I replied.

Once I took off Xol directed me south towards where I remember something pointing this way as it talked about a lab. Once we landed I noticed not only the lab but the river and the fish. I quickly caught one as Xol headed into the lab and as I was eating I felt a scaled hand on my wing.

“So, this is the dragon you choose, a shifter. That explains why you helped him” he said to Xol.

“Yeah, the Infested got on him after his ribs broke from a blast and even then he still needs it to add to the connective tissue” Xol replied.

“Blast? Like from an IED or was it from channeling crystal?” He asked.

“Channeling crystal, I haven’t seen that since I last sent a Void Spirit to check out someone. She died instantly but the energy of that blast was almost twice that of what Nathan can exert for crystal” Xol replied.

“He’s lucky, so I’m guessing he can’t make more than 12cuFT of it,” he asked.

“Ten, your close” he replied. They had just got done talking after I finished the fish I caught when he directed me inside. Though I wasn’t expecting to see what his kind was capable of.

…