A/N: Hello! As you can see this is my first story I am publishing on this site. I apologize if it is crappy, but I would appereciate reviews! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! I DO NOT own James Cameron's Avatar in any shape or form.
-Human Language-
-Na'vi Language-
Chapter 1: Come And Meet The Grunt
'One day, I will fly my own ikran.' I thought. I was on the porch of the avatar shack looking out towards the dense rainforest, watching banshees screech and cruise through the deadly sky. They were free, unlike me who's stuck as property in the RDA.
"What do you think your doing?" I recongnized the voice coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Grace Augustine's callow looking avatar smiling with her hands on her hips.
"Nothing." I responded. She glided next to me on the rail. "You're always doing nothing. Did you forget? We have two new avatar joining us today." I rolled my eyes.
"I heard one of them is a marine." I said with a matter-of-fact tone to my voice. Suddenly, Grace grew and flared with indignation.
"Max told me this morning. The marine's brother couldn't come out here and he happens to have a twin who happens to be a goddamn marine. The last thing I need is a trigger happy moron, especially one in an avatar body."
She suddenly stopped about to continue, but silenced herself and had an expression as though she just had gotten slapped. I realized what she was doing.
She tries very had to hide her temper in front of me as long as I've known her, but there's no question to that she has anger issues.
"You goin' to Selfridge?" I asked. She shifted her weight. "After we meet them." She put unnecessary emphasis on 'we'. I slipped out a casual heavy sigh.
I never really enjoyed meeting new humans. They always talked too much about Earth. I hate Earth.
"You'll live, Savannah." Grace said noticing my sigh. I turned my head to face her. "Fine."
We both stood there in silence for a minute or two, both of us following the soaring path of the mighty birds who created them. At the same time, we both angled off the wooden rail and entered the shack.
Grace and I both changed out of our day clothes, and into our 'sleep' clothes. I rested on the small bed and heard the last screech of the banshee that cried out to me not to leave.
"Where's my goddamn cigarette?" I timed her on when she would say it. You could consider it to be Grace's catch phrase.
It was a ritual of her's to get the tech team to get her a cancer stick after every link.
I exited out of my capsule and soon saw the fresh meat. I can easily tell which one was which. One was tall and thin. He looked as though he had never been outside, or picked up a weight. Obviously, the pHd.
The other, however, was in a wheelchair. But that didn't fool me. I saw that he had subtle muscles draped over his arms and had a farmer's tan.
Clearly, a marine vetran having the only opportunity he could have with the RDA. An avatar driver.
They were being escorted by Max towards Grace's pod who had finally gotten her cigarette.
"Grace, Savannah," He called my name with a gesture telling me to come and meet the two. "this is Norm Spellman and Jake Sully."
Grace began to talk to Norm in Na'vi knowing he was taught before on Earth. "Hello, Norm. How is your na'vi?"
He slightly paused before responding. Probably thinking of what to say. "May the Allmother smile upon our first meeting." I giggled.
Whenever new avatars came, they were very proper and tried their best to greet the splenetic woman Grace was. Norm glanced at me with a worried expression like he had said something wrong.
Grace ignored me. "Not bad, you do sound a bit formal." Jake looked very puzzled. Of course, he had no idea of what they were saying. He had probably had little to no training of any kind for this mission.
The only thing he probably had knowledge of was from the military on how to use a gun.
"I have been learning the language for five years, but there is still so much to learn," Max stopped Norm, noticing Jake's confusion.
"Grace, this is Jake Sully." Jake held out a hand towards her requesting a hand shake. Bad move.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know who you are and I don't need you. I mean, I thought we had a pHd. You know, the man who's been training for this mission for over 6 years." Thus, errupted the volcano, Mt. Augustine.
"He's dead," Jake spoke up. "I know it's a big inconvenience." For a short second, I was for sure Grace actually felt bad for Jake, but it soon flooded out of her system.
"How much lab training have you had?" I asked. He turned his head and attention towards me. "I disected a frog once." I closed my eyes waiting for the worst from Grace.
"You see. They're just pissing on us without having the courtesy of calling it rain." I heard Grace beginning to walk away with fluid footsteps.
"Im going to Selfridge." Max tried to stop her. "No man, this is such bullshit."
When I finally heard Grace had left, I opened my eyes. Max returned and faced Jake. "Be here oh-eight hundred tomorrow. Try and use big words." I bit my tongue as he walked away tensely, trying to hold in my laughter.
Jake rubbed his temples and looked up to me. "Is she always like this?" He was a very handsome man. "No, well not to me. She'll loosen up on you." He placed his huge hands in his lap.
"Are you sure?" He knew I was uncertain from my voice.
"Truthfully, I don't know. She doesn't really like military men. You're our first soldier avatar."
I looked around searching for Norm and saw that he was affixed on the monitors. What a geek.
"So, how long have you been on Pandora?" He asked. Ugh, here we go. "Awhile." I said through my teeth. He noticed my voice entering into a vexation state. I could tell he was afraid to cross me like Grace.
"Sorry that I asked." He said defensively. I shook off his question and started rambling through Grace's space.
I found a dictionary by a table next to her pod. "Read this." I said handing it to him. He laughed and took the book.
"See ya tomorrow." He released the brake on his wheelchair and wheeled off to the elevator.
"What did Selfridge say?" I asked Grace. We were in our small bunk room getting ready for bed after dinner. I pulled my perfectly straight bleach blonde hair into a bun.
"He's putting Jake on our team as a sercurity escort." Grace said while her eyes glowered on a trash can avoiding mine.
"I was expecting they would." Grace was still penetrating through the trash can.
"You know you have to try and get use to him sometime. I would try now." She finally released her intense stare and set her eyes to mine.
"I just can't stand the jar head dropouts they keep sending. Especially ones for the avatar program. What's next? A grunt avatar army? The RDA just wants my department to crash and burn by sending him here." She said.
I spoke up. "They are just as important as the scientists. Where would we be without them? Probably dead. Who knows? He might just get us back into the village."
Grace snickered. "Please. His first instinct would be to shoot them." She was sort of right about that.
The military dogs get so spooked that they decide that shooting it would be the best option. Avatar or not, I expect Jake will act like that, especially since he had no training at all.
"Just try and be nice. He seems friendly." She stood up from her bed.
"Well you are going to watch him. If he gets into any trouble, your going to supervene him. You can survive out there if something went wrong. He couldn't. Selfridge would practically think I murdered him if his avatar dies in the forest."
I threw my arm in defeat. "Okay, okay. I'll babysit him." She smiled.
I didn't really find Grace taking samples from tree roots and other plant life entertaining, so I would usually wander off and take photos of wildlife, or report any injured animals that would get sent to the animal an rehabilitation center.
I recalled the first day visiting there. I was 12 and I had been pestering Grace about wanting to go there. She finally gave in and took me there.
After that, I spent most of my time at the center. I learned a lot about Pandora's wildlife there and I had enough education that would probably equal up to a degree in xenozoology and veterinarian fields.
I could survive overnight in the wilderness if I wanted to. Strangely, it had always seemed like the planet was on my side, rather than against me.
But no avatar had ever spent the night outside in the open. No one in the RDA was allowed nights.
So I was excited to be able to watch the marine's curiosity take over him just like my first time on Grace's small expeditions.
"Well then, off to bed. Goodnight, Savannah." She kissed my cheek and gave me a hug. "Goodnight Grace."
I was for sure that this was a dream. It was night on Pandora, and I was alone on the brightly illuminated jungle floor. There were no noises or any form of life, except me.
"Grace?" I was caught off guard by my voice. It had a thick Na'vi accent. I looked down and happily saw that I was only wearing necklaces and a loincloth.
I had four fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot instead of the normal five that an avatar had, or human for that matter.
"Jake?" I called out the marine's name wondering what was going on and where everyone was. I looked up and saw a medusa slowly hovering through the sky a few feet above my head. My head was suddenly filled with tranquilty and was cleared of worries of finding out what was going on.
I smiled at the large harmless creature wondering where my camera was, I no longer had my pack.
A bright light appeared next to the medusa and I saw that it was a ATOKIRINA (seed of the great tree), float down and land on my nose. I laughed and accidentally blew away the peculiar creature, and saw that instead of the warbonnet plants that were surrounding me, was a sacred willow. Only one thought crossed my mind. Go towards the tree.
I got closer and once I touched the pink coil like branches with my hands, I woke up.
I pushed the dream aside, knowing I had other things to worry and to think about. I glanced at the clock. It was almost time for Jake and Norm to link for the first time.
I could squeeze in a few basketball games with the avatar drivers before Norm and Jake linked.
I glanced to the end of the room, Grace wasn't there. She must be in the main link room preparing Jake and Norm for the dream like experience.
Being an avatar, was like living in a dream. It gave you a chance, especially me, to escape human life and pressure. It was a great stress reliever.
I kept the secret to myself that I didn't want to be human. I was perfectly fine in my avatar body.
We had one link bed in the bunk. I decided to save myself the trip to the link room where others will stop and try to talk to me.
I fired up the pod and got in. I laid there for probably 2 seconds before I found myself on the bed where I left my avatar yesterday. I observed the room and saw that all the other beds were empty.
They probably got up early to laugh at the two new drivers clumsiness. Daniel, one of my fellow avatars, walked in.
"What gives? Did you decide to sleep in today?" He said, supporting himself on the wide door frame.
I got up and opened the bed's chest and dressed out of my night clothes and put on an athletic shirt and shorts.
I looked under my normal clothes, and saw the native beads and loincloth. I rubbed my finger tips over the clothing, remembering the dream. My heart urned for me to put them on.
Before the schoolhouse had burnt down, one of the native girls named Neytiri had weaved and founded the outfit for me to wear whenever I came to the village. Grace declined the offer.
I only had worn it once. After the schoolhouse burnt down, I kept it under my clothes in my chest to keep, hoping one day I could return to the village.
The cotton shirts and short made it stuffy and sometimes hard to breathe. Today felt like one of those days.
"It's days like this I feel like I could run around naked and not care if anyone saw me." I said ingnoring his question.
Most of the avatars were uncomfortable with nudity and usually winced at some of the comments I made. Must be an Earth thing.
"You'd get written up." He said making a motion that symbolized him writing on paper. "Yeah, yeah I know. Are you up for a one-on-one?" I asked trying to get off the subject of me getting in trouble.
"Yes! Finally someone wants to play. I asked Noah and Charlotte. They both said they were 'busy'," He said using two blue fingers on his hands to create quotation marks at the word busy.
"They probably just want to watch the grunt." I began walking out and down the steps out of the shack and into the large garden me and Grace had planted years ago.
"Don't call him that. He's a nice guy." I said defending my new friend. He just snickered like Grace did. I ignored him. Classic, snooty scientists.
As I lead myself to the basketball court near the entrance to the link room, I was greeted by most drivers and humans. Daniel and I both got into starting positions and checked off to each other.
He got the ball and began dribbling. I approached him waving my hands and tried blocking him from shooting. He tried to wheel past me, but I mangaged to snatch the ball and I got it through the hoop.
"That was just luck." He snapped back at me as I showed a satisfying grin. I shooed him away. "Check me in loser." I called out. He stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed at his childish manner.
He tossed the ball, then I bounced it back, he bounced it back once more, and I began to make my way towards the goal. My objective was to make myself smaller so he had a lesser chance of stealing the ball away.
"Come on you ain't got no skill." I said, crouched over taunting him. I looked up and shot. Apparently, my arrogence got the best of me as I watched the ball bounce off the rim.
He was about to go off on me, but suddenly the door to the link room flew opened. It was Jake. He didn't recognize me as he passed by. He meerly called out to us, "Hey guys." and waved. Daniel and I both stared in disbelief.
New avatars were never allowed outside right after linking the first time. I could then see that he shouldn't of been.
Another avatar, which was Norm, Allison and Greg were all shouting to Jake for him to come back. I dropped the ball and began running after Jake and Norm who were heading for the avatar shack.
They both ran very clumsily in till they finally got use to there new, and stronger legs. Suddnely Jake stopped outside the shack. He took a massive breath and looked down to his feet to as though to check that they were still there. I saw Grace coming out. "Hey marine!" I yelled out, pushing Norm. He saw me and realized who I was.
I heard him say under his breath, "Damn." I smiled. "Savannah?" he asked. I simply nodded my head as he analyzed me carefully up and down, which sort of made me feel uncomfortable.
He turned as he heard Grace approaching. She also yelled at him, "Hey marine!" which made him laugh since they had both created a new name for him. "Grace?" He asked.
"Who else you expect numb nuts?" She reached out and tossed him a small fruit. "Think fast." She said as it flew into mid air. "Motor controls looking good." She noted. He easily caught the treat and bit into the juiciy fruit.
He made a sound of bliss from the food. It was probably the most tasteful thing he's eaten since he left Earth. Grace and I both laughed. I looked behind and saw Norm staring at Jake eating the fruit, licking his lips.
I snapped one off and handed it to Norm. He also made the same sound. We again laughed, enjoying their expressions to the new, richer, world. I took a moment to thank my parents for giving me up on a dying planet for a living one.
For the rest of the day, I taught Norm and Jake the instincts of their avatar bodies and how to control them in a 'civilized' environment. That word disgusts me.
I also made them do rope and hurdle courses so that they could build up on they strength their bodies needed and consumed.
They were terrible at the beginning, but I knew Jake was more than willing to do his best. He probably missed his legs.
It became darker after a while, when it only felt like a few hours. I showed them their beds and gave them their pajamas. They both changed, and I saw Jake sitting on the bed playing with his queue. I quickly jumped in on his curiosity.
"Don't play with that! You'll go blind!" I cautioned him. He took a last look at the strange pink tendrils wiggling, begging for a bond, and set it back down his back. "It's freaky." I laughed. "What?" He said noticing me laughing.
"It's funny watching your curiosity." He thought about it and chuckled lightly. "Must be entertaining then, huh?" "Very." I admitted. He then caught something he hadn't before. His expression re-entered 'freaky' as he stared into my eyes. I knew what he was refering to.
"Your eyes. They're purple." I held up my hand to stop him. I got asked all the time about them. I probably had the most brightest purple eyes. "My human eyes are also purple." I thought about continuing my story or not to him. He looked interested.
"It's a designer baby thing." He created an O shape with his mouth understanding. "I remember that use to be a huge trend in Europe. Bleach blonde hair and bright purple eyes." He said.
I didn't want to hear about Earth, but I decided to tell my story anyways.
"Not just any normal hair." I undid one of my braids. Normally, you would see where the braid had been, but the hair was perfectly straight. "Oh yeah. That was some gene they discovered right?" He asked.
"Yeah. My mom spent a lot of money on how she wanted me to look. Grace told me she was a model from France who wanted a baby. She didn't want to lose her figure, so she hired someone to carry me to birth. She paid for some genes she found in a sickly lab."
I felt like I was telling him too much information. But he seemed interested in what I had to say. He began to move his mouth as if he was going to say something.
Grace interrupted our conversation. "Settle down guys. See you at dinner kitties." I found my bed and the lights went out.
I again heard the same cry of my banshee, and I woke up, finding myself trapped in my human body.
A/N: Whoo! That was long! I hope you liked it. Just to clear things up on the main character Savannah, she wasn't raised on Earth. She was born there, just didn't live there to be able to remember anything about it. I hope I didn't cause any confusion. Thank you and again, please review.