Magnificent Desolation

The title comes from Buzz Aldrin's description of the moon…. But I am making it work for Pandora…

Summary: When he was little, all that Cyril Wainfleet wanted was to meet the blue people that were taking over the news. He wanted to talk to them, learn from them, and for a period of time, he wanted to be one. And that was why; he was going to Pandora, with his older brother… Just his luck.

Disclaimer: AVATAR is not mine, no matter how much I wish that it was…

Pairing: Either Norm/Cyril or Tsu'tey/Cyril not sure yet, either way… it is SLASH!

Warnings: This is SLASH! As in guy on guy sexiness happening… Also there will be violence, some language and if I think of anything else, I will let you know… But there will obviously be some character death, as it will be unavoidable.

Authors note: So, hi! I am Fran and this is my first fanfic like ever…. I haven't ever really written anything before to share with anyone, so this is a major first for me. I have a problem with writing actual characters, so that is why my main character is an OC. I know that this can bug some people, so any constructive criticism would be well appreciated. Thanks!

Chapter One: Channel 248

The living room was empty.

This was to be expected, as it was well past eleven at night and no one in their right mind would ever want to be awake, or watching the news at that time of day… And even with a family of six, nearly the entire house was silent. There was a faint hum from some of the appliances in the kitchen and the always comforting rumble from an out of date washing machine. But overall, the house was dead silent. Which, the owners of the house would have loved, a silent house, but it could never truly be silent, seeing as they had that washing machine. That was one thing that always had managed to make Mrs. Wainfleet ashamed of her house, which subsequently meant that they never had any company over. But there wasn't anything that she could do about it, short of robbing an electronics store, and she was far too good of a woman to do that. But it sometimes stung, being the only one in their neighborhood that didn't have the best, or even the good. She hated having to look into her children's eyes and tell them that they couldn't get new clothes, or worse, had to reuse and reuse, so much that it made Mrs. Wainfleet sick with envy at her neighbors who could simply afford to buy one of everything that they wanted.

But that was society had determined was the norm and even though Mrs. Wainfleet wanted to adhere to it, it was fundamentally impossible, seeing as how they barely had enough money to get by. Yet it still left a bitter taste in her mouth when she had to shop for bargains while everyone else shopped because they felt the need for something new. However, Mrs. Wainfleet had something that many of society lacked; a loving family. Four children, a husband and more than that, she had a good life. Something that someone should have been more than proud to admit. And she was proud of her family, but it is human nature to always want something more. Human nature to want what you didn't have, and human nature to take what it is you want by whatever means necessary.

But at that very moment, Mrs. Wainfleet didn't really matter, for she was in a deep sleep, possibly dreaming about getting a new washing machine. The only person who really did matter was her son, her youngest son. He was, at that very moment, sneaking out of the bedroom that he and his brothers shared and moving slowly towards the living room. It wasn't a common occurrence that this happened, seeing as how he was the most rule abiding of the lot of them, but the second his ginger head popped out of the doorway, it was clear that the boy was on a mission. He crept out of his room quietly, trying to avoid waking up any of his older brothers, which would surely cause a racket which would end in him getting caught.

A soft hum caught the young boy's attention, which caused him to startle and to press against the wall, his breath sped up and he glanced quickly around, and determined that there was no immediate danger that he was going to face. He peeled himself off of the wall, and continued down to the hallway, at a much slower pace than before. He hopped across the hallway as he came across one of the many creaky parts of the upstairs hallway. After carefully making his way down the stairs, at an almost painstakingly slow pace, he eventually arrived in the living room, his heart racing even more rapidly. He had made it… or at least he had gotten passed his parents room, and his dad was no heavy sleeper. The nine year old let out a very quiet whoop of joy and grabbed one of the blankets from the couch and laid out in front of the family's television set. It was relatively small, squat and it only had four hundred channels, unlike his best friends' television, which was 4D and had over one thousand channels. He frowned and pushed that thought aside, trying to stick to the matter at hand. He reached a bony finger out and pressed the on button to the television, praying that it was at a low volume, because if his sister had been watching it last, it would probably destroy his eardrums. Thankfully, it was a low whisper of volume, meaning it had been his dad; the man had ears like an elephant. Or what the young boy new about elephants before they had left. Gone… extinct, whatever the real word was, he didn't really know anyways.

When he realized it wasn't one of the news channels, he quickly started clicking down, hopefully reaching his destination within a matter of seconds. When he did finally land on channel two hundred and forty eight his face broke out into a wide grin and he backed away from the TV, sliding on his belly until he was a safe distance away from the screen. He placed his head in his hands and cricked his neck up so he could see the television clearly. It was an awkward angle, and it wasn't very comfortable, but he didn't really care, so long as he got to see the news about that new discovery. The one that they were sending people to, it was amazing just thinking about it. And the nine year old did, he thought about it a lot. His dark green eyes widened in wonder as he saw the shuttle, the massive hulking space shuttle that would be taking some of the first scientists to Pandora. The footage was minimized to the top right hand corner as the familiar face of Simon Polanski, one of the nation's most popular anchormen appeared, with a smile planted firmly on his tan face.

"Yes, for the first time in nearly five years, there has been another take off to the recently discovered Pandora. We here on Earth are wondering just what the foreign world is like, and we here at CNOX have received some photographs taken by some of the first humans to enter the new land. If you would like to see them, flip to channel 702 right now—"

There was a pause, obviously waiting for everyone to do it, the nine year old didn't even budge. For as long as he could remember, if anyone said to go passed channel 398, he wasn't supposed to touch the screen, because he would get nothing but static or some lady telling him to buy the channel. After a few moments of silence, Simon Polanski returned to what he had been saying.

"The pictures are breath taking, and from what we have heard about the planet, it is as well. When talking with those who have returned back from their stint on the small moon orbiting Polythemus, they described it as awe inspiring. And they have also said that it is inhabited, not only with creatures that are similar to our own. But also with a humanoid being called by those working on building the compound the blue people. Described as being nearly ten feet tall, it makes us wonder, are they friend or foe?"

The television was suddenly shut off and the boy was plunged into darkness, only the faint glow of the hallway light was visible. He immediately turned around and saw that his father was standing behind him, his face looking haggard and eyes tired, but there was no anger in them, so the child figured that he would not be in too deep of trouble.

"I think that it is a little past your bed time, don't you think so too squirt?" he said, his accent thick with sleep. He was from The United European Countries, specifically from Ireland, same with his wife. But they had moved the United States shortly after having three of their children, because they wanted him to get a better paying job, and he found one, even if the pay was still low, he made more money now than he had in his entire life working back home.

"No! Dad, please, they were talking about the aliens again…" He said, his lip quivering in hope that his father would give in. But it was no use. His father was strict, and that could be a good thing, but at times it could also be a bad thing. Such as that very moment in time.

"I don't care if they were about to introduce you to one of the bloody things. It's time for bed, son." The Irish man scooped up the young boy, taking his weight easily. "But, dad, I really want to see them…"

There are times when people change your life. Small things that don't seem important until you look back and realize that was the moment your entire life changed its path. And at that moment in time, it was when that young, nine year olds life changed. All because of something his father said to simply get his young son to quiet down and go to bed so he could go to bed himself. If the young father knew then just what his son was going to do, he probably would have never even mentioned it. He would have tucked it away and prayed that his youngest son would never even think about anything like that. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was about to instill into his youngest child's mind. And because of that it only took ten words to change Cyril Wainfleet's life forever. And those words were:

"You can see them all you want when you go."