Chapter 1

An escape. That's what Pandora was. It was an escape from a dying planet, awful and cruel people, just away from everything. I had always dreamed of going there since I heard of it. I read about it when ever I could. My first escape was when I began to train for being an avatar driver. But, that escape only lasted as long as I needed to be there. Then it was back to pain. Of course I went back to the simulators every now and then so that I was kept up to speed, but it was only a few hours of escape. So when I heard about the next trip to Pandora, I jumped at the opportunity. I was 21 when I boarded the shuttle, it was quite large. I could easily tell who were the scientists and who were the soldiers. They were all acting crazy. I tuned out the man that was informing me about the sleep chamber. Saying that I was going to sleep for a while. Which is just another way of saying that they were going to freeze you for a while. When I say a while I mean like a little over five years. That's five years that I'm sure that I will not miss.

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I absolutely hate sleeping. When I sleep, I have horrifying nightmares, you could even call them night terrors. I woke up in a small chamber, I panicked for a little while, but I remembered where I was. I looked at my wrists and the cuts that I made were still there. I sighed, I wonder if my avatar body will have these marks. Suddenly, the bed I was 'sleeping' on was pulled out a door from the chamber. I looked up into the smiling face of a doctor.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?" He asked, I nodded, total lie but I will humor him. "Not much of a talker huh?" The doctor muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes. He then floated away.

"You have been in cryo for five years, five months and 22 days." I counted in my head, I was 26. Geez I'm old. "You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks..." Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Shut up, I am pretty sure a six year old would know what to do if they felt that way. Some of us here are not children. I floated up to my locker, it read 'Saran A.' it must have been hard for them to put my last name on there, much less my first initial. I opened it and grabbed my duffel bag that had what few belongings I had in there. I proceeded to float through doorways to try and find a window, by the time I found one, you could see Pandora. My eyes sparkled slightly. It was beautiful. It really did look like what our planet used to.

"Hey!" It was a beautiful moment, but of course some idiot has to screw it up. I turned around and looked at the person who yelled at me. "You need to board the ship that's heading down there now!" He yelled at me once more. I covered my ears and head toward the direction the ship was in.

"You know, you don't have to yell at me. I can hear you just fine." He glared at me. "See you're listening and I am talking in a normal voice. Funny how that works." I said as I passed him. The ship looked small compared to the shuttle we were previously on. My seat was stuck between two meat heads who couldn't keep their eyes off of me. Talk about annoying. There was that and the ride down was pretty bumpy. Guess that happens when you're entering an atmosphere. I found myself clutching the seat belt very hard, this is my first time going this fast in anything.

"Exo-packs on! C'mon let's go! Exo-packs on!" Some guy in a weird suit said and a guy behind him repeated it. "If you lose that mask, you're knocked out in 20 seconds, you're dead in four minutes!" That's quite the big vocabulary you have there. None the less, I put the mask on, it felt really weird. "Let's nobody be dead today! It looks very bad on my report." So you care more about your report than our well-being? Thanks, we feel great now. I twisted the nozzle on the mask to start pumping oxygen. I felt the ship starting to descend, so I assumed that we were about to land. "Harnesses off! Get your packs! Let's go, let's go!" Yeah, yeah, yeah. "When that door opens, go directly into the building. Don't stop!" He said it again, for good measure and we had to wait to leave until he said so. I feel like a child. When the door opened, you could see the air difference in waves. "Go, go, go ,go! Go on get out of here!" The man shouted again. He said it over, and over again. I am not a soldier like so many of them here were. So I took my sweet little time, but I ran into something. I looked down and saw a man in a wheel chair. He was looking at me as well, he had a confused look though.

"Sorry." Was all I said. I was about to turn back and start heading out again, but he grabbed a hold of my wrist. I raised my eyebrow.

"Hi there. My name is Jake Sully, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jake held out his hand for me to shake. I hesitantly reached out to shake it. He had a very firm hand shake. "You know, it is proper manners to give your name after someone tells you their own name."

"Of course. My name is Amaya Saran, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." I let go of his hand, he was still staring at me with curiosity. "What?" Jake motioned to his hair and I gave out an irritated sigh. "Yes, this is my natural hair color." My hair was a medium purple that was long, almost down to my knees in length. I had bangs that covered up the right side of my face and they came to the bottom of my right ear. He then motioned to his eyes. "They're natural as well." I closed my eyes and turned the other way and started to walk again. My eyes were a vibrant purple that shined when ever a light hit them the right way. They really stood out though because of the fact that I had long eyelashes that framed them perfectly. We started to walk side by side, well I walked, he rolled.

"So," he's one of the 'get to know you' types isn't he. "what are you doing here? I am a marine so it's kind of obvious what I am doing here." I groaned, he doesn't get that I want to be left alone does he? "Did I say something wrong?" I shook my head. Might as well tell him, it might keep him quiet for a bit.

"I am here to be an avatar driver. I will also be studying the different kinds of animals here. The docile, and the dangerous." We were behind the group that we came with because all the machines that waited for the group to pass had started moving once more. Some guy in a battle armor almost crushed us with his foot and then we almost got flattened by the biggest car thing I had ever seen. As we neared the doors I heard some soldiers that were obviously here for a while making comments about the incoming people.

"Look at all this fresh meat! Woo!" The man with light skin commented.

"I ain't lookin' at that. Look at her." This man had the same color of skin as me. His friend turned to look at me. He let out a low whistle.

"Damn, haven't seen a beaut like her in quite a while!" I rolled my eyes in annoyance. We passed them and the light skinned guy slapped my butt. I halted my movement. "Hey girl, how's it hanging?" I whirled around and punched him in the stomach so hard that he doubled over in pain. I picked him up by his vest collar and pulled him up.

"If you so much as do that again or even talk to me, I will end you." I whispered to him. He was staring at me and I shook him. "Do you understand?" He nodded. "Good." I let him drop back to the ground and Jake and I continued on our way. I turned to Jake and he was staring at me. "Don't you dare say anything." I told him he held up one hand signaling that he wouldn't. We finally made our way to the mess hall, when we walked in, we apparently interrupted some kind of meeting. The man that was talking stopped and turned to look at us. That's when I noticed the scar that was on his face.

"Well, look who decided to join us: the cripple and the beauty."Almost everyone in the room started to laugh, that was totally mature of him.

"Look," they all turned to look at me, "are you here to talk about us or are you going to go back to what you were saying Scar-face?" I asked him sweetly while giving him a hard glare which he returned. There were a bunch of 'ooo's in the room at the comment I made. I found a seat along with Jake and the man turned around again.

"You all aren't in Kansas anymore. You're on Pandora people. You need to know this fact every second of every day." What? We're on Pandora? I could have sworn that I on Europa. I thought for a second. With all the sarcastic things that I have been thinking or saying, I should totally get my ass locked up for it. "Now, if there is a hell, you just might want to go there for some R&R. That is, after a tour here." He pointed outside the window. "Out there, just beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you." I snorted softly, this guy is so full of him self. Almost everything that he is saying is a lie. "There is an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. They use arrows that are tipped with a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in a minute or less. They're bones are reinforced with a strong carbon fiber. They are very hard to kill." Why would you want to kill them? "Being the head of security, it's my job to ensure that you stay alive. I won't succeed, that is, with all of you. If you want to survive which I am sure that you want to, you need to have a strong mental attitude." Or a large ego. "You got to obey the rules." Right, because I am totally positive that you do. I felt someone tapping my arm to my left and saw that it was Jake.

"Nothing like an old-school safety briefing right?" He whispered while smiling.

"Sure." Was my response. We sat there for a good hour and a half listening to the completely pointless rules that I am sure no one will listen to. We were finally dismissed, I honestly don't know why I was even there. We were told which direction to go to for our areas of specialties. Which I don't understand why Jake was following me still.

"Pardon me! Excuse me! Jake!" Jake and I looked over our shoulders to look at a man in khaki and a red shirt come running towards us. Why did I turn around? My name wasn't called. "You are Jake right? As in Tom's brother?" At this point, we continued to move again. "Wow! You really were twins, you looked just like each other." That's kind of what twins share. "Sorry about jumping on you like that, I'm Norm. Spellman." He shook both of our hands in greeting. "I went through avatar training with Tom." We continued on our way in silence to the bio-lab. Well, I was silent, they were not. "Here is the bio-lab. We are going to spend quite a bit of time in here. So get use to it quickly. We passed a few scientists while we were moving. "Hey, Norm Spellman, avatar driver." Okay, you don't need to show it off to the rest of this place. The scientists greeted him in return. Jake was too busy to notice this though because he was looking around like a kid in a candy shop. "Ah ha! Here is the link room, it's where we connect to the avatar." I groaned, doesn't anybody here stop talking? Norm headed in one direction but he stopped when he saw that Jake was moving toward the avatars. Norm jumped over toward them and peered inside of one of the tubes

"Hey, welcome." I turned to a chubbyish man that had curly dark hair and a beard. "Welcome to Pandora. Nice to have you." He shook all of our hands. I turned to the avatars, damn they got big.

"Damn. They got big." I turned to Jake, did he read minds?

"Yep, they fully mature on the way out." Norm said. "Their proprioceptive sims seem to be working. They've got great muscle tone too."

"I know right? We should be able to let you guys take them out tomorrow. There's yours." The man directed his statement at Jake and he wheeled himself over. "And," he beckoned me to follow him, "here is yours." I stared at the avatar that was in there. She was female of course and her blue skin was darker than average because of my dark complexion. She was kind of tall and she had some curves that's for sure. She had slightly large hips and she had quite a large bust as well. Everything about her looks were the same as me; hair length and color, stature, body shape, everything. Except for the fact that she's blue, taller than me and everything. If she was so like me, I wonder. I positioned myself so that I could see the insides of her wrists. I sighed in relief. There were scars there, but they were very faint. I overheard Norm talking to the bearded man whose name was apparently Max Patel. I must have been standing there, admiring her for so long that Max came over and pulled me back with our little 'tour group'. We headed into the link room and there was a lot of talking when the doors slid open.

"Ugh, who has got my goddamn cigarette? People! What is wrong with this picture?" Some lady was yelling.

"Grace Augustine is a legend." Norm said in my ear and I jumped. I hate it when people do that! "She is the head of the avatar program. She wrote the book. I mean she literally wrote the book on Pandoran botany."

"Yeah, well, that's because she likes plants better than people." Max commented. I can't really blame her. "And here she is. It's Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I would like you to meet Norm Spellman, Jake Sully, and, uh..." He was staring at me, what, he didn't know my name.

"Amaya Saran." I said for him. She turned to look at us after handing something off to another scientist.

"Norm, I have heard good things about you. How's your Na'vi?" She inquired. He stopped to think for a second before replying back.

"May the All Mother...uh... smile upon our first meeting." He replied with a beaming and proud smile. Talk about formal.

"Not bad, you sound a little formal though." She practically read my mind. He wasn't that good though, but that's just me.

"I studied for about five years, there is so much to learn." I glanced at Jake who had a look of confusion plastered to his face. I would be the same, that is, if I didn't already know Na'vi. Grace then turned to me.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard that you know practically everything to do with the animal life here on Pandora." It almost seemed like she was testing me or something. I stepped closer to her.

"I see you Grace. It is true, I do know quite a lot." I spoke in perfect Na'vi, it was so good, you could think that I was raised with it. Her eyes widened slightly.

"That's quite the beautiful Na'vi you have there Amaya." She said, I could her her amazement, and I heard a scoff next to me which I assumed was Norm. Maybe you should have studied more. "It would be good to have you in the field, maybe you could try to communicate with the animals if we get into any trouble." I nodded my head, I have only read about the animals behaviors on Pandora. But there is quite a gap between book smart and field smart. I am still at book smart. Grace continued to stare at me for a minute before someone cleared their throat. Obviously to get her attention.

"Grace? This is Jake Sully." Max pointed out and Grace looked at Jake irritably.

"Ma'am." Jake said while holding out his hand in greeting. Well aren't you just the kind gentleman. She gave him another dirty look. I wonder if she is on her period...nope I don't think so, she looks like she is past menopause.

"Yeah, whatever. I know who you are and I don't need you. I needed your brother." Ouch, that one hurt me. Who am I kidding, it so did not. "You know, the PhD who trained for three years to come here."

"Yeah, well, he's dead." I looked at Jake, slight shock was written on my face. How was he able to say that with a straight face? Most people can't. But, if you are involved with the military, I suppose you get used to it after awhile. "It's a big inconvenience for everyone, I know that." Grace looked at him with a slight, a very slight look of sympathy.

"How much lab training do you have?" I am going to guess it was in Biology, and they had to label the parts of a pig heart. Now, watch me be partially right.

"I dissected a frog once, in Biology of course." Knew that I was going to be a little right, but that was the wrong choice of words for him. Grace looked absolutely pissed when he finished his statement. I was laughing, in my head of course.

"You see? What were they thinking? Obviously they weren't. I mean they're just pissing on us without even the courtesy of calling it rain." I snorted quietly, that was actually one of the cleverest things I have ever heard someone say. "I'm going to Selfridge." She stated while storming off into what ever direction she was going. Max got up from leaning against a railing.

"No, Grace, I don't think that that's such a good idea. C'mon, just let it be." He pleaded with her.

"No man, this is total bullshit! I am going to kick his corporate ass. He has no right to go sticking his nose in a department that he knows nothing about." Her voice faded with the distance between us and her. Max sighed and came and stood before us.

"Here tomorrow, 0800." Let's see, that's 8:00 in the morning, good thing I'm an early riser. He then turned to Jake and loudly whispered, "Try and us bigger words." I couldn't agree more. He then proceeded to walk away. I yawned and twisted my arms around each other to stretch them out. My left arm was suddenly yanked from the twist stretch by Jake. He was looking at the inside of my wrist. I didn't try to pull back, I was sure that it would have been pointless to.

"What are these?" His voice low, Norm looked over at my wrists as well and his eyes widened. "Did you do these your self?"

"They are cuts obviously, and yes, I did do them myself." I answered monotonously. "Now, can I have my limb back?" I asked, it was more of a statement than a question. He shoved it away from him like he was disgusted. Well that's too damn bad if he is. I began walking away, but before I left through the doors, I shouted over my shoulder. "Stay out of my business and we will be just fine." I left them to their own thoughts and I asked around as to where my room, cabin, dorm, thingy was. By the time I had located it I was exasperated. It took me this long to find this stupid room. How could it have taken five hours who knows. But when your body hasn't moved in five years, it gets tired quickly. Once I saw the bed, my body hit it so fast that I didn't know how I got on there. I flipped onto my back, and looked around the room. The main color was different shades of gray. Perfect, not as if I was depressed enough. About half way across the room, there was a door that was slightly ajar and I saw a toilet which lead me to believe that it was the bathroom. To the right of my twin bed, stood a night stand with a lamp and a alarm clock on top of it. To the right of the bathroom I saw my duffel bag, how did it end up in here? That was basically it, besides the ceiling fan in the center of the room.

I usually like to prep myself before falling asleep, I do it by brushing my hair, stretching, or singing a song. Tonight was a song kind of night. I drifted off to sleep singing the last note of the song, that was when the night terrors came to haunt me once more.