Safiya
Lord knows why I came to Pandora. I'm a doctor, not an adrenalin junkie or an explorer, though they could be classified as the same type of personality if you thought about it. Even if it was an entirely new relationship treaty between humans and the Na'vi, it was still a dangerous, unexplored world where rumors swirled of savages and any kind of creature you could imagine, roamed free on the planet.
When word reached back to Earth about Jake Sully and his crazed actions, instead of angering the people, they were inspired. He had unknowingly sparked an unofficial revolution to change our world's mindless greed for wealth, destroying everything in its path. Back on Earth, I'd like to say Jake and I were friends but we were fit more for acquaintances.
I took a breath and looked at my current situation. No matter how many calculations I did/redid, I never was supposed to come. Yet here I stood on unsteady feet, planted on Pandora ground (technically cement, but whatever), breathing in air so clean it stung my lungs.
Seeing as the breathing mask was apt to many malfunctions and one slightly bent oxygen tube would result in suffocation after a few minutes, many scientists, surgeons, electrical technicians, and doctors figured out how to set a breathing mask installed by surgery into the nose cartilage and larynx so no mask would be required. The device was smaller than my pinkie fingernail but I felt like I was four again with a bean stuck up in my nose. And it was not the only thing to improve.
Na'vi avatars could be grown faster but they were way more expensive unless you were one of the chosen scientists. Space ship engines were constantly improved for more research of the unknown frontier. It now took three years to arrive here since the fuel intakes were replaced with plasma intakes.
"Move it already head case!" I snap back to attention to see two steroid ogres push aside a geek into the metal wall. I could tell this was a great start to this new adventure. An added bonus was losing my best friend and my brother when I got off the space ship. Currently, I was standing by a large wall window debating to look for them in this maze of steel.
"Are you okay?" I pick up his glasses off the ground, cleaning them with the edge of my shirt.
"I'm fine. Thank you." He awkwardly takes them from me to shout something over his shoulder, "Come again when you can't stay quite so long Scott."
"Sure thing Reid-tard!" I roll my eyes. Stereotypical, I knew about eight of the same kind of guys, ten times worse because they had god complexes from surgery.
"You boys have delusions of adequacy."
"Now he's getting help from a woman. Sorry baby, we meant no harm to sweet little head-case Chase. If you want to find a more suitable place than with him, I suggest you find the kitchen or my bedroom." The two grunts high five each other and walk off sniggering. We fall to the back of the group. I laugh at the ridiculous hired guns, "Just ignore them."
"Walter Kerr, right?"
"What?"
"What you said earlier. Delusions of…"
"Oh. Yeah. I'm surprised you know that. That was like, from a million years ago."
He shrugs irritably, putting himself down, "I don't only look smart, I act it too."
"If you're somehow referring to tweedle dee and tweedle dum's over there, don't even worry about it. They're the imbeciles. I'm Safira Hale."
"Ah, interesting choice by your parents. Your name is African. Means pure."
"Ah… Yeah… that's very true." Oblivious to my silence he plunges on, "I'm Chase Reid Richards the third. Everybody just calls me Reid since my full name is kind of a mouthful." He takes my proffered hand and gives it one limp shake with the tips of his fingers. I discreetly wipe my clammy hand after his grasp on my pant leg when his head is turned. "So what circumstances brought you to Pandora, Safira?"
"It's kind of a long story. Why did you come here?"
"I'm one of the avatar drivers. My friend from school, Norm Spellman, recommended me for the job."
"Wow. An avatar driver. That's a lot of responsibility."
"Nothing big." Though I can tell he's majorly proud. A leaf as big as my face tumbles by outside and I can't help being amazed at the vibrant colors that shimmered in such a simple thing, "I don't think I'll ever get used to this view." As far as the eye could see there was green in every horizon. The metal bunker stood out like a sore thumb amid the mysterious beauty of the forest surrounding us.
Oddly, it reminded me of Jurassic Park, an ancient movie you could download on a handheld touch screen. A strange new situation with unknown consequences and wonderful gifts. AMP suits clink past us, at least six feet taller than my miniature height and I can't help staring. Reid obliviously keeps speaking, not gawking like the tourist I felt like, "... after a while I hope to figure the area's plants and ecosystem so it won't hold as much curiosity."
"How…nice… Look out!" I shove him backward in an attempt to protect him from the fast approaching blue blurred creature jumping at the window. Stupidly, I realize that it's a Na'vi. A female Na'vi. She jumps gracefully over moving carts, chasing a basketball bouncing down the dirt path, disappearing just as fast as she appeared like a glowing blue spirit, making me question my sanity except for the perfectly round imprints left in the mud.
Chase tentatively pats my arm reassuringly where he stands behind me, "It's just an avatar woman."
"How can you tell she's an avatar?"
He wiggles his fingers in front of me, "Five digits. Not four."
"I didn't mean to freak out like that. It's just weird to see my first alien."
"If you want to get into technicalities-" "Oh look at the time. We should probably stop gawking and catch up to get you your avatar link room."
He smiles jauntily, "Excellent idea. Great Ewya of all that is holy!"
"What?" I question both his choice of words and the worshipful look in his eyes.
Reverently whispering while he unconsciously clutches my arm, he leans in close pointing at a tall, scowling red head walking alongside a tall brunette with purple and pink highlights deeply immersed in conversation together, "That's Bree Augustine. And I don't believe it! That's Vivian, her sister!"
"Um, who?"
"Does the author of Pandora's official plant life study guide ring any bells? Bree Augistine?!"
"…"
"Vivian initiated a study about the affects of the Na'vi Tsaheylu and the possible mental and physical healing powers?!"
"…What's a Say-hay-loo?"
"For Eywa sake! How can you not have heard of them! They're both Grace Augustine's nieces!"
"Oh. Them. Cool."
"Cool? Cool!? That's all you can say?!" Incredulously, he stares at me in horror-filled disbelief.
I shrug. "I'm a doctor and if you're such a big fan, go talk to them."
"Go –and-and talk to them?!"
"Is there an echo on Pandora?" I tease him with a gentle jab of my elbow.
His hands move subconsciously frantic in his motions as his words gather speed, "They're living legends in the scientific world. Prodigies of epic proportions. I can't just go up to them while they're brainstorming the next gigantic discovery in history and say 'Oh, hello, my name is Chase Reid-tard Richards. The doofus know-it-all.' I need to be smooth! Impress them with my scientific knowledge finely honed over the years. I can't go up and just talk to them!" The brunette looked more like a Goth situated for smoking outside a building than a scientist breaking ground in new information.
"Why not?" He reminded me too much of my little brother pretending to be someone he wasn't.
"She asks why not. Ha! Why not. Very funny. Here I thought you didn't have a sense of humor."
"I'm not trying to be funny." I decide to take a different path discussing the sisters in an attempt to ease him, "Which one is which?"
"Bree is the red-head. She's twenty-five. The other girl is Vivian."
"Who's older?"
"Vivian was born ten minutes before her sister. They're fraternal twins."
"Safira!" I turn to my best friend, Dee and my brother, Asher.
Enveloping both of them into a strong armed hug, I rock back and forth, "I'm so glad you're both okay. I couldn't find you guys on the ship."
"Sis, knock it off. You're killing my first impression to actually make any cool friends." Asher's words may have sounded flippant but his relieved face told a different story.
Dee smirks, ruffling his hair, "Oh, knock it off blunder boy. You were worried about her too."
Smacking her hands away he retouches his hair, "No way!"
"Guys, now isn't the time," They both pause and seem to finally notice the lanky man standing next to me, blinking owlishly behind his thick, black framed glasses. I gesture between them, "This is my brother, Asher and my best friend Dee."
"Charmed. Chase Reid Richards the third but you can call me Reid."
My brother and Dee send me silent looks of really? and how'd you find this clown? I glare at them to behave and tilt my head in his direction.
"Whoa. Who are the babes?" Bree and Vivian catch Asher's eye.
Reid jumps in, "You too!? They're Bree and-"
"Grace Augustine's nieces." I slice in, cutting off Reid and point to Asher, "Don't even think about it."
"Way out of your league little bro." Dee and I discouraged him all the time but we both knew it was only a matter of time before our little brother became a heartbreaker when he stopped being so full of himself and figured out the ladies swarmed all over him.
We share the same wide maelstrom of purple, gray, blue colored eyes and a spattering of light freckles (we could have had them removed but what's the point?). But that's where our similarities end because he has short brown hair and is six foot four, towering over me by a foot and a couple inches, a fact that he liked to gloatingly remind me of every day. Especially when I needed to get something off a tall shelf.
"Let's go find our rooms already. All this socializing has made me tired." Dee catches the attention of several men walking by when she arches her back in a stretch, her black cornrows glinting. Her mocha skin gleamed, Pandora suited her well. I, on the other hand, was probably getting sunburned as we spoke.
"I'm just getting started scoping out the potential girls Dee." Asher whines.
"Asher." We simultaneously groan, forgetting to act polite in Reid's presence until he pipes in,
"I could take him around after we find our quarters in the building."
"Please please please please? Don't make me use my puppy dog eyes on you." Asher gets down on both knees and pleads with me.
I sigh, "Would you mind terribly Reid?"
"I wouldn't have offered if otherwise." Pushing his glasses back up his hooked nose, he smiles shyly.
Pausing, I think it over, "Fine. But be back by seven Asher."
"Yes! Woo hoo! I have a feeling that this is a start of a beautiful relationship Reid. Thanks buddy." Asher leaps up and hugs Reid with overwhelming affection for the bookish genius.
We all start walking and my new life begins.
Ateyo
"Go for the clean shot and try again Talion." His arrow completely misses the mark and the younger Na'vi sighs in frustration, his concentration undoubtedly marred by his peers standing around us.
"Straighten your arm and when you release the string wait until the arrow is gone to relax your arm."
Again, he tries and again he fails.
"I cannot Ateyo. Can we finish for tonight?"
"We will be done when you get an arrow on that target. If the humans are to ever attack again, we must be strong." My words were harsh but he needed to learn the importance of focus while under pressure and nerves. One wrong move out in the forest, you were gone, done for, as were the others depending on you.
Another arrow flies haywire, "I can't Ateyo."
"You must do it until-"
"The humans won't come again Ateyo. They won't ever come again. My training can wait until tomorrow."
Anger flushes my body and the students surrounding us go completely silent. Lifting my bow off my back while retaining eye contact, I pull an arrow and breathe in… release. I repeat five times, walking down the range hitting each object's bullseye. Although my movements were rapid to them, it felt calmingly natural and slow, like a form of relaxation. The bow worked as an extension of my body, fluid and controlled, those arrows straight and smooth until impact.
"Once you control your arrogance and your bow, come find me." I slip my weapon onto my back and walk away.
…..
"Talion is not yet old enough to realize the impact of his words Ateyo."
I don't bother looking over my shoulder as the voice is familiar to me as my own.
"You remember this place Neytiri?" The entrance to the spot we used to play in was secluded by ferns and trees. As a child, we all went exploring and I fell through the ferns. Now as an adult, I came here for peace.
"This was our secret hide-out Ateyo. We grew up here. The four of us, you, Tsu'tey, Sylwanin, and I."
"That was a very long time ago and many things have changed. You are training to be the Tsahik, our siblings are gone, and I am our clan's best warrior. Your dream-walker is the Olo'eyktan, now the leader of us all."
"Your brother supported Jake. He is not like the rest of his people; you cannot blame him for the crimes they have committed. At least talk to him!"
"They don't belong here!" Shaking my head at her, I realize I was shouting and take a breath, "I have to check on everyone."
Standing, I leave her sitting on the ground in frustrated silence.