What Makes A Warrior
Prologue: The Whisper.
====Story Start====
She could remember the exact moment her whole world changed. The exact instant that sent her sprinting across the cosmos, sent her running like a coward.
The exact words.
The words that destroyed her, wholly and completely, until there was nothing left but pain.
Horrible, horrible pain.
A pain that turned her mind into a smoldering darkness that the cold Earth could not soothe.
And so she'd turned to the marvel.
The mystery moon.
Pandora.
The whisper of it in the glittering dead society she was born to was almost disdainful, it was a wild place and that was looked upon like some kind of horror. Like it was the living place that was diseased, instead of the one on which they lived.
But it was on everyone's tongue nonetheless.
Pandora.
Her clouded mind had cleared like a sudden wind had ripped the fog away, like she had been dumped in a tub full of water so cold that it burned her skin. The images of Pandora, survey images that had been released for public circulation, the images of a truly wild place, had shown her just what she needed.
Somewhere to escape.
A place where no one could find her. Where no one could tell her that she'd grieved long enough and that it was time to move on. Where no one could look upon her with pity. Where no one could try to make her talk about it. Where no one could snap at her to act her station.
A place where she could remake herself.
Pandora.
The whisper of it was a promise. An enticement. A siren call pulling at her heart. She could feel it in every nerve. In every cell.
Pandora.
From the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair, she could feel the need to run, to get to the one place she needed as fast as she possibly could.
Pandora.
It became her heartbeat.
Pandora.
Her breath.
Pandora.
Her dream.
Pandora.
Her only thought.
Pandora!
And then it became her reality.
Terry (her real name was Terrafirma, her parents had a weird sense of humor) is from a wealthy family, a family wealthy enough to fund her own Avatar. Due to emotional distress she takes advantage of that wealth and pays her way to Pandora, where the artist, who sees beauty in all things, (officially) creates a visual catalogue of all forms of flora and fauna she can find. Her paintings, for she does those as well, sell for a high price back on Earth. She was finally satisfied with her life. Then Jake comes.
And somehow she ends up saddled with Tsu'tay as her teacher in the ways of the Na'vi? The hell? Can these two stubborn people learn to see beyond the flesh to the kindred spirits within? Or will they be forever at odds?