Grave Danger

                                        

                                              
Aeryn had never been put into the position of having to plot a cold blooded murder before, but it was suddenly an undeniable need for the young Human to do so. Like dealing with pain that she could do nothing to stop, Aeryn accepted the screaming in her small, moral consciousness and then let it go out of immediate focus. The footsteps of the approaching scavenger had reached the door and it was suddenly time to strike. He’d been awfully careless thus far, too noisy and almost daring something to attack, but Aeryn wasn’t expecting him to just boldly walk into the alien spaceship. It was so blithely arrogant that she simply froze, astonished into inaction with Jakob sauntered on past her hiding position, completely unaware that he had swaggered past a quick death. Like all of the scavengers and those that ventured out of the safe places, Jakob was dressed for quick movements and adaptability, while still protecting himself from the toxic elements of their environment. His gas mask wasn't decorated like Aeryn's was, it was plainly servicable with a small sheild plate over hte back of the skull, and a vest he had was threaded through with metal, protecting his back. Attacking him from behind could be done but was not the most efficient target to aim for, she had missed her opportunity to make this end quickly.
                              
With an internal curse that no one but Aeryn was aware of, the younger Human let him slip further into the ship and used the opportunity to slink out of it, having to formulate a new plan. Aeryn could allow the man to come back out and try to reverse the attack; killing him when he was exiting instead of entering but the scavenger had no clue how long that could take. Another option would be to find some larger predator and lure it here to kill Jakob itself, and hte last option was to go in and kill Jakob after hunting him down, spilling blood inside a semi sentient space ship. None of those options were the best one to pick, or even as easy as they sounded at first concept. Luring a predator was just plain follhardy, and Aeryn couldn't wait Jakob out; if Daniel had sent a man to take care of Aeryn, chances were that he was going after Tavir and Sampson and the Pantharni next as well. She just had to hope that he hadn't already targeted them, on the off chance that Jakob had found absolutely nothing or came back unsuccessful. Daniel was a cautious man that way; he wouldn't provoke a war if it wasn't already given that he would win it. It was another reason that Aeryn had to eliminate Jakob completely and without trace; because if the younger scavenger came back with even a trace of the impending murder on her in any way, Daniel could use htat to hurt those she had to protect.
                              
Since rational thought had led Aeryn back around to the need to commit murder, it was the only option and she crept closer to the entrance. Jakob's heavy foot steps were stomping through the interior of the ship so it wasn't hard for Aeryn to locate where he was. Not only was he obnoxiously loud compared to Aeryn's ghosting, but the ship almost seemed to be eager to alert the stalking human where the oblivious prey was. It made it both easier and far more horrible for Aeryn to think Jakob into a creature instead of a Human; to mentally strip him of his true individuality only made her into a bigger monster than even Daniel could ever be. She wasn't going to do that to either Jakob or herself, so she had to accept that he was Human and she was still going to rip the life from his body, the only other option would be to lay her neck under his boot.
                              
The ship glimmered lights wherever Jakob came past but they dimmed into concealing darkness when Aeryn skirted by, as if the ship were acutely aware of what was occuring inside it's bio-metallic skin and had decided to assist. Acid churned through Aeryn's belly, guts clenching as adrenal system spiked into overdrive. The sour taste of adrenaline on Aeryn's tongue matched teh lactic acid burn in her muscles, and the damnable tail snuck free again, ths time safe inside the ship's atmosphere. And due to Aeryn's concentration being wholly focused on approaching Jakob silently, it felt entirely natural to have the tail swishing behind to assist in balance. Analytically Aeryn knew that many animals used a tail during high speed running to counter balance in turns, but right now she wasn't even aware of how it altered her movements.