The Air Is Getting Thicker Pt 1

by stanley9875

A teenagers life is suddenly altered drastically when an accident almost leaves him dead

The Air Is Getting Thicker Pt. 1

I awoke with a start as I started coughing. I stared at my ceiling fan, feeling the wind of the blades brush away the beads of sweat on my face. I cleared my throat and quickly sat up in my bed and used the covers to wipe away the sweat on my face and neck. Is there a window open? I asked myself. I got up and walked over to the kitchen which was only a couple feet from my bed. Yup, that's all I got. A kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, and I'm lucky. At least I got a bed and a decent job to support my living here.

My bare feet hit the cold kitchen tile floor as I walked over to the window above the sink. I pushed back the curtains and saw that the window was open slightly. Slightly or not this window was open. I slid the sliding glass window shut. I coughed a couple times again and turned back around to look at the rest of my kitchen. To my right there was a cabinet, and a counter that led across the wall and connects with the counter behind me. In front of me was the front door, and a table with two chairs in front of it, and then to my left was the door that led to my room. And it was covered in smoke from the outside air. I took a deep breath of the polluted "air," as some would call it, and coughed. I considered grabbing my exopack as I pictured my lungs filling up with the intoxicated "air," and it cutting my life short. Actually dying sooner didn't seem too bad of an idea. I'm not suicidal I just want to die soon, but not of my own accord. Because really, if I think about it, what have I got to live for? I hardly got enough money to live in my apartment, both my parents died from smog intoxication about 2 years ago; right there in the factory they worked in, my mom then my dad the next day. Since high school I've only been able to see some of my friends about once or twice a month, if I was lucky. I found a job as a filer, so all I do is organize paperwork, then file it away in the cabinets. Three of my friends worked on the moon at a station, unfortunately, two of my friends died when replacing a pipe outside the station. It exploded, shrapnel from the pipe shattered the masks of their exopacks and they both suffocated before anyone could get to them. The third is stationed there another three months before visiting home for about a week then being shipped right back out for another 5 months. My two other friends are working at a factory, making ammunition for the RDA, or the Resources Development Administration. You want to talk about big corporation, this is as big as it gets. This corporation has millions of shareholders, and is the oldest and largest of the quasi-governmental administrative entities, or QGAEs if you will. Basically it has monopoly rights to any products delivered to or developed from any place off Earth. That's about as much as I know on it, and to be quite frank… I don't care. I find it corrupt and greed filled, and if it was up to me, I'd have it shut down. Moving on, as for my two brothers, I haven't a clue. I haven't seen my two brothers in twelve or thirteen years. My sister is probably using every penny she has to buy booze and drugs, only to pass out on the street or be taken advantage of. The thought of that made my stomach churn. As for college; that's out of the question. I cannot and will not be able to afford college so I could get a better job. What better jobs are out there anyways? A job that will turn me into another greedy corrupted sack of… never mind. Really the only thing I've got to look forward to is mountain boarding whenever I get the chance. It's probably the only thing I'm actually good at, well that and filing.

I just now noticed how dark it was still outside. I glanced at my watch, which read 4:08am. I looked at the ceiling and released a deep breath as I thought. Well, work starts at 7:00am, so maybe I could go for a couple runs on my mountain board before work. The thought brought a smile onto my face. I haven't been in about a month. When they've got you working Monday through Saturday and on call Sunday, so you could earn extra money to pay for rent and buy spirulina, which is about the only source of food a lot of us can afford.

So, a shower, clothes, breakfast, boarding, and work, I thought to myself, making a mental plan. Sounded good, so let's get started.

I walked back into my room and turned on a second fan that was in the middle of the room to blow all the killer air away that crept into my room while I was sleeping like a murderer. Those damn factories produce so much smog and heat it's unbelievable. Every year, thousands if not millions of people die just because of them breathing in this air. Some people are so poor they can't even afford a working exopack. On really bad days I have to wear an exopack just to cross the street, and today looks like it's going to be one of those days. Out world is at an all time low, and we've really done our grave. It's only a matter of time before we die out altogether, and when that day comes I'll be on the frontlines praising that it finally came. Overpopulation, greed and corruption from the corporations stealing the money from innocent people… it makes me sick.

I turned on my laptop and pulled up my music player. My laptop is probably the most expensive thing I have. It's a nice touch screen with a wireless keyboard if I need to type anything. I got it as a gift from my parents 3 years back. They left me a good amount of money, because they knew I was the only one who was going to be responsible with it, which is how I'm able to afford this apartment.

I have my laptop hooked up to my amp, which runs a speaker into the kitchen and one into the bathroom, and from my bedroom I can hear both just fine. On top of mountain boarding, I am in love with music. My favorite genre is old school techno, trance, electronic, happy hardcore, the list goes on.

The music player pulled up and I touched the play button on my Relaxing Playlist. The first song was AM Sunday performed live by D:FUSE on his CD People_3: Both Sides of the Picture, which was a perfect song to start off with. I walked into the bathroom and turned the knobs on for the shower. I hoped that they didn't turn off the heated water again. I put my hand under the water, and it was the perfect temperature. I stripped down and stepped into the tiled shower space, then closed the shower curtain. I could feel the steam from the warm water engulf my lungs as I took a deep breath. The water pounded on my skin, and I could feel the stench from my sweat wash off my body. I grabbed the soap and wash cloth and scrubbed my body, then washed my hair. I turned off the shower, and pushed back the hair that was in my eyes so I could see. Pulling back the curtain I reached over and grabbed the towel in the sink. Quickly I dried off, hung the towel over the curtain, and walked into my room. Shivering from the fans, I walked over to my dresser and grabbed a pair of boxers, a shirt, jacket, jeans, and my shoes and socks. Slipping them on I walked into the kitchen to serve myself some spirulina.

Quickly I finished, and rushed into my room to grab my mountain board that was leaning against the far wall. I glanced at my helmet, wrist, elbow and knee pads lying by the board. Forget that, I told myself. Whatever happens. I turned off my music and walked out the front door. After locking the door, I turned around and examined the hallway. People were crowding the floor, fast asleep. This economy has this country in shambles I thought. Major corporations like the RDA dealing with millions of dollars a day and here thousands if not millions of people are jobless on the streets, focusing on nothing else than trying to stay alive.

With my mountain board under my arm, I stepped carefully over the sleeping people, making my way to the stairs. I finally made it outside, and as I thought, today was one of the bad days. I could feel death in the air, just making his rounds. Quickly I reached for my exopack and put the mask on my face and turned it on. Almost immediately I could feel and taste the difference in the air… if you would even call it that anymore. A passer-by was accidently pushed into my board, causing me to lose my balance. I regained my balance, only to hear the guy cuss me out. You too sir, I thought, not actually meaning anything he said to me. No matter what time it is, people are everywhere… people either going to or coming home from work. And then there are those who have nothing to do and nowhere else to go, so they wander the streets. I call this "the city that never sleeps," because, well, the streets are just as crowded at night as they are in the day.

I readjusted the board under my arm and began to walk down the sidewalk. I knew a site that had a monstrous pile of dirt that I've used for a while. The company, SKM, ran across a snag with their most used vehicle; the one that digs up all the dirt and piles it. There was a major breakdown and they don't have the money to fix it, and they're using a lot of their money just to keep the property. How do I know this? I talk to a guy who works at the company. He caught me riding down the mound once, and said that as long as I wasn't messing up anything he wouldn't tell anybody I boarded there. He frequently stops by to see if anyone is messing around at the yard or doing something suspicious.

I glanced at my watch. 4:32am. It was still fairly dark, except for the flames that shot out from the factories smokestacks and advertisements from giant screens placed all over the city light up the night sky. One advertisement caught my eye; Simusex. Shaking my head I continued walking. I've heard about Simusex. It's a fast growing real and virtual strip club. Sex and pornography is a multi-billion dollar business, earning their money from horney men who scrounge around of the street, finding and stealing money just to get a glimpse of a woman's flesh. It makes me sick. Men who don't know how to respect woman and women who don't know how to respect themselves.

I continued walking. Luckily the site wasn't too far from my apartment, I thought as I reached the intersection I'm supposed to cross. It's a three way intersection, but really it's a four way because the way I'm going is a dirt road, and no one usually goes down there except for the occasional SKM personnel. They have the whole area.

The light turned green for me to cross. No one else crossed because, well, no one else had business on the other side of the street. I was about halfway across when I heard the sound of a rumbling motor and honking horn that drowned out the rest of the world around me. Looking up, I saw a large truck heading straight for me, and by the way he was driving he wasn't planning on stopping. I jumped out of the way, and lost my balance, hitting the ground hard. I rolled over to see the second, third and fourth truck barrel by, their trucks marked by the all-too familiar words that read Riot Control.

"Hey!" I yelled. I picked up a rock that was a little bigger than the size of my fist that was lying by the drainage line on the side of the street, and threw it at the last truck. The rock nailed the rear door of the fourth truck, but it kept driving. I stood there for a second, looking after the trucks, then turned my head only to notice quite a number people were watching the whole performance.

"What?" I yelled. This was it, I've had it, I thought as I continued, "You thought you were going to witness a splatter fest? Just another form of entertainment? Just so you could go home and joke, 'I saw a teenage kid get his brains smashed all over the road by the Riot Control trucks." Fuming, I picked up my board and put it back under my arm. "Is that it?" I yelled again as I started walking down the dirt road. I felt good after that. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to get all that I felt out, but I think they got my point at least.

That whole near death experience got me flowing with adrenaline, and I was ready to use it. I walked for about a mile before I reached the chain linked fence that had a sign posted that read "Property of SKM." And behind that fence was the mound of dirt. With my mountain board under my arm, I began climbing the fence. I reached the top and carefully maneuvered around the sharp rusted barbed wire spines, then jumped down on the other side.

I began to wonder how long SKM will be able to keep hold of this property before another corporation takes it over. SKM even had to sell the security cameras that used to be posted everywhere here, although I found them pointless when they moved everything out; there was nothing here besides a chain linked fence, a massive pile of dirt, and solar lights going all the way up the "mountain," as I like to call it. They had to sell all the cameras to afford to finish off another project somewhere else, and once they do that, use the massive paycheck to fix the vehicle so they can finish this project and get an even bigger paycheck. Then I began to wonder to myself, how is it I know all that, but I don't know what they're doing here? I know what they do, I just don't know for what is the point I'm trying to get at. I know this…. They have this pile of dirt that peaks at a couple hundred feet in the air, and is shaped like a pyramid. Yea, it's that big. But the important part is the roads that spiral all the way up to the top, used for trucks driving to the top and driving back down, and wide enough for one truck to pass another, with solar powered lights spiraling around the road all the way to the top, so I can see clearly all the way down. And another thing; the road is steep, so when I get moving, I haul. The side of the mound is even steeper, about a fifty degree slope, so if you fall off the road, that's it. I get the biggest adrenaline rush when I hit those corners, and I hit those corners hard.

Well better get started, I thought to myself. I only had time for a couple of runs. My watch read 5:25am. It takes about ten, maybe 15 minutes to get up to the very top, and it's always worth the walk. This is probably the most exciting thing I do in my life. The thrill of toying with death, putting it all in on the table.

I began to walk up the "mountain," as I liked to call it, because for how big it is, it might as well have been a mountain. Taking long strong steps, I climbed the mountain, and sure enough thirteen minutes later I made it to the top. It was very wide, obviously wide enough for trucks to maneuver around and to go back down the mountain. Looking around, I got a bizarre feeling in my stomach, like a mixture of adrenaline and hopelessness. Everywhere I look, smokestacks were spilling out smoke and fire, and giant TV screens illuminated the sky. From up here these city lights burn like a thousand miles of fire.

I back to the road, where it begins the journey back down to the bottom, and set my board down. Looking over the side I could see the road and lights as it circled around, leading all the way to the bottom. It always feels like it's so much bigger when I'm at the top than the bottom. I put my left foot into the rear strap, and looked into the smoggy night sky. I remember reading in some books that on some nights you could see the stars in the sky. I've always wanted to see that, but the chances of that happening? Never.

You're wasting time, let's go! I looked at the road in front of me, and felt a smile creep across my face. I made sure my exopack mask was firm on my face, and using my right foot I pushed off, beginning my descent down the mountain. My jaw was clamped shut in sheer adrenaline, knees bent for aerodynamics and flexibility. Continuing down the mountain I went faster and faster, the mask shielded my face from the wind. The first turn came up quickly, a sharp ninety degree turn. That's how all turns are on this road. I maneuvered the board to the left side of the road, closest to the drop off. Taking a quick glance over the side, I stared death directly in his eyes. I looked back to the road, just in time for me to make the turn. I leaned back, and executed the apex of the right turn perfectly. Exiting the turn I leveled my body out and continued down the center of the road. I couldn't believe how fast I was going already; this has to be my fastest run on this mountain. The thought made me smile even bigger, my insides were overflowing with excitement.

The rest of my decent seemed like someone put my life on fast forward; faster and faster I went, taking turn after turn by the throat. Lucky for me, the farther I went down, the bigger the turns were, otherwise I'd have no chance of making them.

I lost count of what turn I just came out of. I must be somewhere near the bottom, I thought. Again, I maneuvered the board to the edge and looked over, counting how many roads I saw beneath me. There were three roads, and then the bottom, so it wasn't too much longer, then I could go back up to the top again…

I glanced back at the road, and saw the turn came up faster than I thought. I threw my weight back hard so I could make the corner. The board did exactly as I wanted it too, but it was going to be close.

Suddenly there was a loud boom that sounded like a gunshot or explosion. It caused me to lose focus, and the tires slid out from under me and I hit my back hard. I continued to slide, the rough dirt tearing up my back. The edge got closer and closer with each passing second, and no matter what I did I was going over.

This is it… I'm gone.

I shot over the side, but luckily sliding in the dirt caused me to slow down. I hit the side of the mountain on my back, and my feet came down, and the side of the tires grabbed the firm dirt. I was flung forward and did a full front flip before hitting the side again and continued to roll down. My body slammed into the road, and a sharp pain went through my head, and everything went black.

I awoke in complete darkness. I didn't know where I was, or who I was for that matter. I felt weak and weightless. I think I have my eyes open, but I couldn't see anything. I decided to let my eyes adjust to the darkness, but they never did. I was too weak to move, so I just laid there, not knowing what to do.

Well, who am I? I thought. Maybe answering some questions will speed up the process of me possibly getting some answers. Name, let's start with the name…Tristan? I believe that sounded familiar; Tristan Mieras?

Just from the name I started to remember more and more.

I remember seeing my name on my I.D. tag at work; I work at LLM Distribution filing paperwork. I live in a one bedroom one bathroom apartment, large city… what was it called?

For some reason this question seemed really hard for me to answer.

… City that never sleeps! That's familiar. So now that I got the basic, what was the last thing I was doing?

Obviously I wanted answers, but I had a pounding headache that prevented me from thinking clearly.

Construction site, there was a construction site, I thought, remembering the chain linked fence with the posted sign that read SKM. SKM, they dropped the project because their vehicle had major damage, they couldn't afford to fix it, so I went boarding, and then…

Then what? I didn't know. I honestly didn't know what happened after that, or how I got here or… was I floating? With the strength I had I moved my right hand under my body. There was a smooth surface, and my legs, and about an inch or two of space between them. I was floating! My mind kicked into an even higher gear, thinking about all the questions I had and all the new ones that came up.

I don't know how long I've been laying here. For all I know it could've been a couple of minutes to a whole day. I had no strength to check my watch, I had no light, I had no idea.

My stomach rumbled. I must be hungry… real hungry. That's probably why I'm so weak. I tried to relax, just to go back to sleep. This right here was definitely reality; there was no doubt about that. If I could just get rid of this headache I should be able to think clearly about what to do.

I awoke to the sound of a rhythm tic beating. Were those drums? Again, I tried to open my eyes, and again all I saw was darkness. Why couldn't I see? I felt so weak, so hungry, and having no idea where I was didn't make me feel any better. Was I moving? Was I being carried? The feeling in my body started to return, and I could feel a pair of arms carrying me. From what I could tell I was just in my boxers, but I didn't care, I just wanted answers. I heard feet as they walked, and it sounded like more than one pair. I Put all my brainpower I had into trying to define my surroundings. I could feel a warm gentle breeze, so I was outside.

Should I say something? I didn't know if I was in mortal danger or what. Well it didn't matter. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for air. I closed my mouth, and realized it was as dry as if the inside of my mouth was made of cotton balls. I moistened my mouth, and tried again.

"Hello?" I croaked, "Where am I?"

My voice was so dry I could hardly hear myself. I felt a hand gently rest on my head; at least I think it was a hand. It seemed too big to be a hand. It was soft and warm, not sweaty or clammy as I would have expected, but almost immediately I felt comforted.

"Hello?" I croaked again, and then a soft "Shhhh" immediately followed my questioned. It sounded female. I couldn't tell if I should be afraid or not, but the hand on my forehead made me feel a lot better.

As soon as I had that thought the person removed their hand, and once again I felt alone. I just wanted some comfort, something to hold onto; telling me it's going to be alright.

We continued moving. The sound of the drums got louder, and through the volume of the drums I heard singing. I didn't know what to think, but the singing sounded so beautiful. I did try to focus on what they were saying, but they weren't loud enough to understand, sort of like when you can hear people whispering but it's not audible enough to understand.

The song sounded almost tribal-ish, if you will, and it gave me a weird feeling. I felt goose bumps on my arms and I got a chill down my back. It sounded like there were hundreds of people all singing in harmony, it was so incredible, so beautiful, I haven't heard anything like it, and I didn't know how to explain it.

The next thing I know the drums and singing stopped. Almost as soon as everyone quieted down, the crowd erupted in excited cheers.

Did they see us? Who were they anyways?

We continued to walk and the cheers grew louder as we neared them, and then they were all around me. I couldn't help but smile, and for what reason I don't know why. We finally stopped, and so did everything else.

A man's voice that was very close spoke, but what he was speaking didn't even sound like English, or any other language I've heard, and from what I could tell he was the one holding me. Right after he said his short statement, another voice said the same phrase, but this time it was a woman's. I believe she was the one who put her hand on my forehead. Her voice was like glass, so soft and fragile. Once again, another person spoke, but she sounded elderly, and once again said the same phrase. Then the elderly woman and man started to have a conversation, and they both sounded very excited. Afterward they both fell silent, then after a couple seconds, the elderly woman spoke, although it was more like a yell, as if she was making an announcement. While she was speaking the person holding me began to move forward and gently set me down on my back on what felt like dirt. I still couldn't move, my body was getting weaker with each passing moment. Then I heard chanting from the crowd, each time the elderly woman paused. At that time I got the weirdest feeling, something I have never felt before. It felt like little pieces of string was snaking its way onto my body. I felt myself start to zone out, like that moment right before you fall asleep. The darkness was overwhelming, and I could feel it engulf my body, wrapping around me like a pitch black blanket. Then, ever so slightly I could see it… a little light. It was very dim and seemed so far away, but I felt attracted to it, and felt like I should go to it. Just like a dream, everything felt so unreal, but at the same time seemed vitally important. Using all the energy that I had left, I struggled to go to it. I didn't know what I was exactly doing, but I was getting closer to it, but each time I got closer I felt the energy drain from my body. I wanted it so badly, but I felt so fragile, everything ached, and I felt destroyed, my body wiped out. The light was so close now, and I felt almost completely gone, my body was at the lowest working point, but I was so close, I had to give it my all. I used the last of my energy, and my entire vision was engulfed in white. After a couple seconds, it faded it black again.

What was that all about? I wondered to myself. I began to notice my feeling had come back, and I was still lying on the dirt. Should I even attempt to open my eyes again? I also noticed it was silent, no chanting, no elderly woman yelling, nothing except for the sound of a slight breeze. I decided to open my eyes. Slowly I did, and I saw light! I couldn't believe it! I could see again! I opened them a little bit more, but everything was blurry. I blinked a couple times to get my eyes into focus, and found myself starting at a bunch of purple pinkish streamers. It was dark, but those neon streamers glowed pretty brightly. I continued to lie there, not knowing what to think.

"Tristan?" Came a voice, a voice that sounded exactly like the one who was carrying me. The next thing I know I'm staring into the face of a blue man. I stared at him, unsure of what to do. He had, like I mentioned, a blue face, with these big glassy yellow eyes, and darkish designs all over his face, almost like a tigers stripes. He had a pushed in nose, almost like a cats, and these two ears that also reminded me of a cats. "Tristan?" He repeated.

"Yes?" I replied. I didn't know how to respond to him… I didn't even know who he was or how he knew my name, but I decided to play along. He smiled and gave an excited laugh.

"Tristan!" He repeated again, and slapped his hand on my shoulder. "Can you sit up?" He asked, still smiling.

"I think so," I answered, not taking my eyes off him. Now I began to question my sanity, because this feels so real, but how can it be real?

"Here, let me help," he said, positioning himself so support me up. I struggled to sit up, and when I did I nearly fell back down. I was looking at a huge crowd of people, hundreds if not thousands of people, all sitting cross legged, all looking at me. Okay, now this is getting me really freaked out. I raised my arm to put it on my head, but when my arm crossed my face, I saw that it wasn't my arm. It was blue as well! I examined my arm, looking it over closely. Just like the 'thing' who I was just looking at, it had odd little dark tiger stripe designs going up and down my arm. I moved my arm to look at my hand, and I brought up my other hand next to it. Next I looked down at my legs, and saw that they too had the same blue color with the dark tiger striped designs, and covering my genitals was a brown cloth… weird.

I began to look at my surroundings. I turned my upper body to look at the weird neon streamers and saw that it was a tree that looked like a weeping willow ( I have never actually seen one in person, only in books) and where the willows leaves hang down, on this tree they're replaced with purple pinkish neon "leaves." I was sitting on a little dirt platform, with the tree behind me and the crowd sitting around the tree, all in rows. I looked to my right where the blue man maneuvered to help me up. He was still kneeling next to me, and behind him was a blue woman, blue elderly woman, and another blue man. And everyone was still staring at me.

"Where the hell am I?" I asked. I wanted answers, and now.

"You're on the moon Pandora," The first man said.

"And who are you?" I asked him.

"My name is Jake," he replied, still smiling as big as ever.

"Jake?" I repeated. He nodded his head.

"Don't you know who I am?" He asked. I shook my head. "Tristan," he started, "I'm your brother."

That last statement made my heart stop for a second. Did I just hear him right? He's the Jake I haven't seen in thirteen years, and here he is, in this blue body on this moon called Pandora? This isn't making any sense.

He could tell by the way I wasn't answering him I was trying to digest it all.

"Would you like me to explain everything to you?" He asked. I didn't really have a choice. I wanted answers and he's offering to give them to me. I nodded my head. "The year was 2149, and Tommy was going to be shipped out to Pandora, but a guy ends his life, just for the paper in his wallet. The RDA gave me a call and offered me to take over Tommy's contract, so I agreed and a couple days later I'm on the ISV Venture Star. On there they put you in cyro, and cyro basically causes you to sleep for the long trip from Earth to here."

"How long is the flight?" I asked, thinking it would be a couple days or something.

"Well," Jake started, "Pandora is 4.37 light years away from Earth, and takes approximately five years and nine months."

"So is that how I got here?"

"I'll get to that in a second." He continued, "RDA's whole mission while they were here is to mine a unique rock called unobtanium. There's a lot of detail as to what it is and why it was so important to them that I'm not going to explain now, but that rock sells for about twenty million dollars a kilo on Earth, so you can see why the RDA wanted it.

"While they're mining this rock, Dr. Grace Augustine, who is a scientist, wanted to learn more about the indigenous that lived here, called the Na'vi, which is basically us. The Omaticaya Clan, who is again us, was the closest clan, so she developed a relationship with the people, opening a school, learning their language, so on. When I get here I was assigned to work with Dr. Augustine and Norm Spellman, who is the other guy behind me."

I looked over Jakes shoulder and the other man smiled and waved. I attempted to smile back, but I don't think it turned out too well.

"Basically what we did to interact with the Na'vi was, "become one of them," and what I mean by that is to look like them. There are these things called Avatars, and what they are are Na'vi people mixed with human DNA. They are created in vitro on Earth, and during the five year nine month trip to Pandora, they grow and mature fully. How the humans used them was by having a mental link with them, and, as much as Dr. Augustine hated it, my mission was to find out what the Omaticaya clan wanted from us, because where they lived was called Hometree, and directly beneath it was a huge stash of unobtanium, and the RDA wanted it. I was accepted to learn from the clan, and for three months I was learning new things and giving all my information about the people to Dr. Augustine and Norm, and all the updates on where to hit Hometree if they won't cooperate with the RDA. Eventually I become so involved with the people, I forget what I was sent to do, so the RDA has had enough and wanted to start mining immediately. They come and destroy Hometree, so me and a few other humans decide to start a war with the humans, and in the end we win the war, and sent the humans back to Earth. Me and a few others wanted to stay on Pandora and live with the Omaticaya forever, so I had my soul permanently transferred from my human body to my Avatar body, just like what we did to you.

"After a day, one of the spokesmen for RDA who was stationed on the ISV Venture Star asked to speak with me. He wanted to speak on behalf of the presidents of the RDA, and was apologizing for the way they treated us and this moon, and asked if I wanted to come back to Earth to make an agreement. I agreed, so, Norm, Neytiri, a few others and I traveled back to Earth with the humans. We arrived on the year 2160, and talked with the presidents of the RDA, and made a written agreement that if they were able to take back a lot of the vehicles that were left on Pandora and able to keep the ISV Venture Star, they would never travel within a light year of this planet ever again, if they keep that agreement, we'll see, but if they do return, we have all the weapons they left here so we can use it against them.

And while we were on Earth, I thought about my family, and decided to find you, so I asked the RDA if they were able to find you and our parents. They found you, and notified me of where you were, and they informed me that our parents died. I also asked another favor, for them to make you an Avatar in vitro, so by the time we find you, get everyone back on the shuttle; your Avatar would be ready to begin the growing process. By the time we got to you, you already screwed something up and nearly killed yourself. So we took you and everyone we traveled with traveled back to Pandora; the Na'vi because that's obviously where we live and the humans to grab all that they could carry. I left you in the cyro chamber while we monitored the humans, and on their last trip down here, they dropped you off, and so here you are."

I sat there dumbfounded. I didn't know what to think of any of this! This was crazy! I can remember things from my previous life up to a certain point, then next thing I know I'm an alien?

"So wait a minute," I began, although I didn't know where to start. "So let me get this straight, I nearly kill myself, which I still don't remember, you pick me up, put me in cyro so I sleep for six years-"

"Five years and nine months." Jake said.

"Yes, I know that but rounded off is six years."

"But five years and nine months is more technical." Jake replied, and a smile crept across his face to show he was joking around.

"Yea yea yea we can joke around later, so I sleep for six… five years and nine months. I wake up in cyro when the Venture what-ever made it to Pandora, but you guys are transferring the shuttle to Pandora and back to the Venture, leaving me in there still clueless, so I go back to sleep. And now when I wake up I'm being carried and next thing I know I'm in the middle of a religious ceremony so my human soul could be transferred to my Avatar body, and now here I am?"

Jake nodded his head. "That's pretty much it."

"Wow… so this isn't a dream huh?"

Jake shook his head. "Nope."

I had to gather my thoughts. I got what I wanted, I got answers, but it was all unfolded so quickly I'm still partially left confused. I looked around at the environment around me and thought. Here are hundreds of people, all who gave up their time, just so my human soul could be brought to my Avatar body, and my brother who cared enough to bring me to Pandora when he visited Earth for the last time. Looking around some more I also noticed the plantation… it was glowing!

"So do all plants glow on Pandora?" I asked Jake.

"Mmm, not all but a lot do."

"Is there a lot of plants?"

"Oh yea, there are millions of plants."

"And no factories, T.V.s, overpopulation, smog, greedy humans anywhere on here?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, no working factories," he said with a little snicker. "Where the humans were stationed they had lots of equipment and such, but since they're not here now, they aren't running… besides they're miles away from here."

I smiled for the first time in, well, a very long time.

"Would you like to stay?" Jake asked with anticipation.

Again I looked around at all the Na'vi, Jake, the visible glowing brush, and even examined myself before looking back at Jake again.

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

Jake laughed a laugh of relief, and he stood up to face the Na'vi people, and with a strong voice yelled, "Oeri tsmukan 'ì'ayawn!"

The crowd of Na'vi all stood up and again erupted in an excited cheer. I stood up and took a step to my brother.

"What did you tell them?" I asked.

"I told them you will stay with us." He replied. I noticed everyone in the crowd turned and all started walking. Jake slapped his hand onto my shoulder and faced me. "It's good to see you again tsmukan."

"Good to see you too… tsmukan," I struggled to say what he just said, but I think it didn't sound half bad. Jake laughed again and pulled me in for a hug.

"Oh," Jake started, "I want you to meet some people personally. Tristan I want you to meet my mate."

He motioned with his hand to the young woman who stood behind him with his hand. She stepped forward and took his hand and stood next to him. "This is Neytiri." She smiled.

"Oel ngati kameie." She said.

"O-oel ngati, kam… what?" I gave up attempting to repeat what she said and laughed, and she and Jake laughed too. I stuck out my hand for a handshake. "You look beautiful." I told her.

"Irayo." She responded.

"I would also like you to meet Norm Spellman, one of my partners who worked with me in the Avatar world."

Norm stepped forward and stuck out his hand. "Hey, Norm, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I replied. He seemed like a cool guy.

"And last," Jake continued, "this is Mo'at, the one who led the whole party to transfer your soul." He motioned to the elderly woman.

Mo'at stepped forward, and I listened carefully to see if she says something I could repeat.

"Tristan, welcome to Pandora and the Omaticaya clan. I am Mo'at, interpreter of Eywa," she said.

"Hi, I'm Tristan, but you just said that." I said, catching myself on my stupid mistake. She smiled.

"Again welcome, and while you are here learn well."

"Thank you, I will do my best." I replied, and then she smiled again, nodded, turned around and walked away.

"So," Jake said, "are you hungry?"

Actually considering my condition before I'm surprised I'm actually standing. I guess Na'vi can take more abuse than the human body.

"Definitely, I haven't eaten in 5 years!"

"Great then! The clan prepared a feast when we arrived here earlier today, so we have plenty of food!" He said.

I smiled. The whole thought of food made my stomach rumble again. "Let's go!" I said, and pushed Jake. He laughed as he jogged to catch up to his step, and began walking and I followed him. Neytiri ran up beside me and joined Jake, taking his hand. After a minute or two of walking we arrived at a giant fire pit, where everyone was sitting around it. Jake and Neytiri walked to an open space in the front row of the circle, and he motioned for me to take a seat. I walked to where they stood and took a seat to the right of Jake, and he and Neytiri took a seat as well. The circle was filled with talk and laughter.

Jake leaned forward to the fire pit and grabbed a leaf plate that was by the fire. He sat back down and handed me the plate.

"You take something and pass it down," he said. I took the plate from him and examined the food on it. It looked like a type of meat, but to be honest at that point I didn't care. I grabbed a pretty big slice and passed it onto Jake. I took a bite into the meat, and it tasted amazing! I can't remember having anything other than spirulina for months! The meat was mouthwatering, and I couldn't get enough of it. Jake looked at me and laughed.

"Are you enjoying that?" He joked, and I nodded my head in approval. I noticed Neytiri talking to someone on her left, and then she looked up at me.

"Tristan," she started, and I looked at her and swallowed. She leaned back to reveal a beautiful Na'vi girl. From what I could tell she was about twenty (in my years). "This is Kinirah. I asked her if she would like to teach you the ways of the Na'vi people."

I smiled at her. "Hello."

Kinirah stood up and walked in front of Neytiri, Jake, and then me and sat down in an empty space to my right. "Oel ngati kameie," she said, beaming. Her voice was smooth and gentle, and I couldn't get enough of it.

"Oel ngati kam… kame…" I don't know what was so hard about that word, but I just couldn't say it. She laughed, and I laughed as well.

"So your name is Tristan?" She asked. I nodded, and noticed a second leaf plate making its rounds in the front row, getting closer and closer to me. It looked good, like a type of fruit. It was passed to Kinirah, and she took the plate, grabbed a plump purple piece of fruit, and passed it to me. I too grabbed a purple piece of fruit and passed the plate to Jake.

"So how do you think you'll like it here?" She asked with interest.

I took a bite of the fruit. The taste was explosive! My taste buds were overflowing with the tangy sensation. The juices dribbled down my chin, and I swallowed the piece I had in my mouth and wiped my chin with my arm. Once again she laughed and took a bite of the fruit as well. I laughed as well, and looked up into the sky. It was incredible! I could actually see stars!

"You know, back on Earth, you couldn't even see stars, and to be honest I thought I'd never get the chance. I thought that my life would've been cut short by the fumes of the air clogging my lungs, and following an everyday routine with self serving greedy people every day. But now I know I don't have to deal with that anymore." I looked back to her and into her large glassy yellow eyes. "Because I've been looking for a place to call home, and I found it now."

She smiled and took my hand. I couldn't help but smile either as I looked back up into the sky.

"Yea," I began, "I'm going to like it here."