Haunted Wood This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off

The sun had not yet stretched above the rocky peaks of the mountains.
 
The world was blanketed in an eerie fog that rolled through the woods in a lazy, unhurried way. From the palest corners of that haze lurked a ravenous hunter. The willowed frame moved with just as much urgency as the fog. Each bob of his skull brought new scents that lingered on the xenomorph’s tongue. There were wolves there and judging by the smell of them… there were many to be found.
 
Nostromo was breathless by the time he was in the heart of the wood. The chill of autumn had already changed the leaves to a shade of burning yellow and red. The forest floor was painted in colors of the very same. When the xenomorph paused near a den site, fragrances of fox and badger hovered near the entrance. He drank in this until his mouth watered and continued to prowl.

this could go a number of interesting ways, soooo... time for a shakeup

Maia had drifted south.  She didn't mean to go as far as the Caldera, but she'd been following mountains on the horizon, skirting a handful of packs along the way.  One was familiar to her - Neverwinter Forest - but two she'd never seen nor scented before.  She hadn't paused to say hello.  For some reason, this trip she was enjoying alone.

Maybe on the way back.  It'd be good to know a couple of them.  Maia strode through the darkened wood to the Caldera's southern rim, looking at it's impressive heights.  So this was the place Eljay had talked about loving so much.  She didn't remember it overly well from her visit, and she was suddenly curious of what was inside.  Wraen would be expecting her back.... but if she climbed it....

She hadn't noticed the familiar scents yet, or the wolf prowling nearby.   Her ranging stilled as she paused to debate the drawbacks to making the trek into the territory, maybe to check out some of what her friend had spoken so highly of.

I just get so happy when u take my threads ;-; <333

The aroma of her fresh body found him immediately. The xenomorph blinked before the dimlight glow of his eyes turned and scoured the area, hungering in their need to find where that smell was coming from. The reaper did not slow his pace. Instead, Nostromo hurried through the brush and undergrowth with frightening urgency. The blood coursed through his frame with electricity and fire, and he wanted only the satisfaction of the release. 

Passing through a bramble bush and tearing at his skin, the storm hound finally saw her. 

Nostromo lifted his narrow muzzle and drank in the air. The taste of her was mingled with a few other scents - wolf but they were distant. He did not believe that she was traveling with another. The xenomorph was sure to have been seen and heard by the noise he'd made in his approach. It did not stop him from standing boldly across from her. The glow of his eyes danced along her frame while the reaper stood as a silent observer.

;.; <3

It took her a moment to feel eyes on her.  She turned and blinked, wondering how the heck he'd snuck up on her like that.  She must have spaced off, thinking about her last trip through here.  Oh, hey!  She cocked her head, appraising him curiously.  Usually when wolves approached, they were the first to greet her, but perhaps he was shy.  I was just looking at the caldera.  I had a friend who lived there, once.  He told me a lot about it.  She began conversationally, though she felt herself grow a little uncomfortable under his attention.  This guy had a stare.

Do you.. live here?  She asked, not quite stepping back, but definitely shifting in place.

She spoke to him as though he were a friend. 

Nostromo almost believed it. For a second, his tail wavered back and forth. It was a light airy movement, as though the air were doing it instead of it being an extension of the storm hound. The look on his face was void. His eyelashes fluttered over the glow of yellow-orange before he spoke, "yes."

The voice from the xenomorph was alien. A hollowed rasping thing from the bottom of his throat. Nostromo lived there, or he would for the next while. The forest was a great stretch that would house and feed him for weeks still. And with visitors like her... Nostromo prowled toward her, closing much of the gap that separated the stormy male from the friendly woman.

Oh, okay!  Her voice pitched up a bit at the rasp in his voice.  Was he sick?  She reaallly wasn't feeling picking anything up, but he seemed intent on coming closer.  Now she did take a step back.  Cool, I won't bother you.  I'm just passing through.  Manners dictated that she stay in place and at least say goodbye, and it was too programmed into her to let her leave and risk insulting him.

The tail movement told her he was at least friendly, so her rush wasn't based on fear of danger.  She just remembered the last time she'd encountered the sick man in the cave... and the fever that had followed.  She had zero interest in repeating that.

So friendly!
 
The girl was willing to take immediate fault and offer her leave. Nostromo felt giddy at the thought that she was this polite. A smile stretched along his face. Crooked snaggled fangs were revealed in a strange and comical smile that did not reach the lamplight glow of his eyes.
 
The airy waver of his tail slowed until it stopped. The smile remained stretched onto his lips.
 
As she raised her paw to leave, Nostromo dove toward her and aimed a hungry snap for her frame.

Her thoughts were the same, yet the intentions so different.

So friendly!  Her tail gave a small wave, and she felt worse leaving, but grateful at the same time that he didn't seem to mind.  She was turning, completely at ease, when he lunged to strike; she wasn't even remotely prepared.  In Maia's experience, a smile was a smile; she hadn't bothered to read his eyes.

He bowled her sideways... her balance had been forward and it continued that way, knocking her into the ground.  She was stunned for an instant, but then as her breath returned, a realization came too.  He was biting her and it hurt.  She kicked out, wriggling to get free, but completely silent in her panic.

The xenomorph was vile in his snaps – teeth aiming for various portions of her body. He wanted a taste; he wanted to know the flavor of her blood on his tongue. All the while, the dark storm of a beast longed for the sound of her cries for help. Those cries never sounded, though. While he thrashed against her frame and dug at her flesh with his wicked fangs, Nostromo hungered for the delight of the noise that a trapped animal made.
 
The girl kicked sharply, her foot slamming against his groin and causing him to buckle with pain. The alien beast growled violently and reeled back, angering against the pain, and reveling in it all the same. It was not often that his targets were able to react to his figure so quickly and to cause an immediate jolt in the killer. When there had been a foot of space between them, Nostromo grinned again and waited to see if she would try to run.
 
There was nothing more thrilling than a chase.

Her kick connected and he was thrust off of her.  Now her mind was empty save for one thing and that single concept was 'run'.  Maia scrambled to get to her feet with a low wine and took off blindly into the trees.  She wasn't a sprinter like Wraen... even with panic driving her, he'd likely have the advantage.

She began to sob as her breathing grew heavy.  No, please, no.

WC: 71

I'm doing a real piss poor job of replying to this <33 I'm gonna vague his way out and close it up so you don't have to worry about it ;-;

Chase and chase, the beast followed her until she had vanished from his sights and left the stormcloud figure with a lurching sensation in his gut. 

Nostromo was hungry and he turned toward the outer edges of the wood in search of something that would satisfy the wicked starvation that had made a home in his belly. The figure forgot about his victim a short time after she had disappeared from his view. She had been an unremarkable blip on his radar, and he had probably scarred her for some time to come. 

She had still tasted sweet.