Thank you so much to everyone who is reading. I feel all warm and fuzzy that people are peeking their heads in to take a look. Here's chapter two, it's very long I'm afraid.. I found I started writing and it just kept flowing. I don't own Avatar, Pandora, James Cameron's brain, James Cameron's left foot, James Cameron's left nostril, or anything to do with him.
Norm stared very hard at a spot on the infirmary wall as Granger applied the ECG pads to his chest. Looking at the readings on the machine she frowned slightly.
"Blood pressure is a little high, Doctor Spellman.. Temperature too. Though given the climate I can forgive you both, providing neither increase." She made a few notes on the clipboard she was holding, then reached to a tray, picking up a reflex hammer. "Relax, if you would please, Doctor Spellman." With short, sharp taps she checked his knees, elbows, shoulders and thighs, before picking up a small torch and checking his pupillary response. "Reflexes are good, well done. If you could just come and stand on the digi-scales now please."
Norm got to his feet, hitching up his shorts protectively as he stepped onto the scales. Granger flicked an image across a glass computer screen, a set of blue numbers appearing and flickering up and down for a few moments before settling.
"One hundred and thirty eight pounds.. Hm. Hang on a moment." The doctor got to her feet, picking up a small plastic tube and linking it up to the screen. "If you could just blow into this please." Norm obediently did so, feeling slightly light headed as he finished. Granger looked up at the screen as the results racked up and shakes her head.
"Ketosis.. You're malnourished, I'm afraid Doctor Spellman. Not drastically, but we need to up your protein intake. We're going to have to throw in a few packs a day." Norm made a disdainful face.
"I hate those things.." he mumbled.
"I hear you. But it's the quickest way to get your weight up. You can step off the scales now." Granger got to her feet, pulling the ECG pads off of his chest gently. "You're not the healthiest individual I've seen but there's nothing to stop you linking up. I want to do weekly checkups with you though." She grabbed Norm's shirt off of the bench he'd been sat on before, handing it to him. "Head on down to the lab, Max will get you settled." Norm nodded eagerly, tugging the shirt over his head and sprinting out of the infirmary and down to the link lab, to find Max standing by an open unit.
"You good to go?" he asked, looking as excited as Norm felt himself.
"Just got the all clear. How is it looking?"
"Really healthy, it's almost a duplicate of the one you had before. A little heavier, maybe. She did a good job." Max grinned, patting the unit bed.
"Good luck!" Norm eagerly leapt into the bed, noticing there was a bit more room around him than before.
"See you on the other side," he beamed, closing his eyes as Max closed the lid. As he settled on the bed he could hear a light ticking sound, and the low hum of the unit communicating with his Avatar. Trying to keep his breathing steady he saw the first few flashes of light and next thing he knew he was being launched through a flurry of colour at a million minds an hour, before slamming into his new body.
Opening his eyes Norm saw Cohen looking down at him, shining a light and clicking his fingers next to his new sensitive ears. In what felt like a blur he helped him to sit up, doing all the motor control tests that they'd been subjected to a thousand times in Avatar training. Norm found himself feeling entirely comfortable, as though he'd just woken up after the best night's sleep of his life. When he was finally allowed to stand he was handed a packet of super-size clothes, and informed by Cohen that Granger would be meeting him out on the old basketball court. He dressed carefully, swaying a little. It was going to take him a while to get used to these long limbs again.
When he had buttoned up his cotton pants and pulled on the new, loose fitting t-shirt and over-sized sandals, he went out of the airlock adjacent to the medical room where he'd woken, and took a deep breath of the gloriously clean air. Unable to resist the temptation he jogged a few laps around the court, feeling himself settle into the new muscles and bones. It had been so long since he'd had this liberation, this strength. He felt as though he could run a thousand miles.
Finally, when he could feel the first unpleasant strains of exertion, he sat in the middle of the court and gazed longingly at the forests of Pandora that sprawled before him, just a few hundred yards from the abandoned Samsons and mech suits. The Omaticaya were running free out there somewhere, almost naked with the sun on their backs, riding the wind to hunt...
"Oel ngati kameie, Toktor Spellman!"
Norm jumped at the greeting and skittered to his feet, turning around to make the long practised reply flourish to the owner of the voice.
"Oel ngati kameie." When he looked up he took a long, self-indulgent moment to stare at the being before him. The unfamiliar Na'vi, which within a split second he realised was an Avatar by its billowy white cotton human pants and beaded shirt tied into a knot under the bust, stood looking at him with large gold eyes, her lips parting in a smile to reveal larger than average teeth.
"Doctor Granger," he breathed. And as he looked at her now, she was unmistakeable. Her freckles replaced with the pale markings that would light up as the sun fell, the thick hair with the natural wave at the bottom that approached a full curl at the tips. In the glare of the sun he could even see a slight sheen of auburn shot through the glossy black mane. She laughed, pulling a blue band off of her wrist and deftly looped her hair into a messy bun with it, her thick braid tipped with the queue languishing down her back.
"I did say we would be linking up today," she chuckled. "Or did you forget?"
"It didn't really sink in," Norm replied with a shy grin. "Not a lot of the last twenty four hours has yet."
"Well, I hope that you come back down to Earth fast, because you and I are going to the Omaticaya today, and I need you to act as guide." Norm felt his eyes widen as he habitually hitched his pants.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. I came here to work, Doctor Spellman, and work I shall. Xavier is off to warm up a Samson as we speak." She crossed over the court to Norm, swinging a pack off of her shoulder as she did. "In here I have basic medical supplies. Nothing fancy. For now I am hoping they will just let me close enough to treat them. I daren't even think about administering drugs. I need your help Norm. My Na'vi is good but yours is better and they know your face." Norm nodded slowly, hearing a set of engines sputter into life in the vehicle yard.
"We're better to land well outside the area and start walking.. If they see the ship they'll attack it." Granger smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"See? This is why I need you." With that she shouldered her pack again and walked purposefully towards the Samson that was bursting into life over in the yard. "Try to keep up, Doctor Spellman!" The anthropologist blinked then burst into a run after her, and as they reached the hover ship he helped her load in her kit bag. He waved to Xavier as he climbed in with the doctor, and as he strapped himself into his seat he jittered with excitement. Granger looked at him with a laugh, leaning over to put his headphones on as the Samson lifted smoothly off of the ground. As she clipped on her own, Norm tugged down his mic and said into it,
"Can this guy do anything?"
"He's ex marine corps," the woman replied. "Ask him nicely and he'll show you how to press your pant suits properly too!" Xavier looked back from the cockpit with a thumb up and Norm smiled, leaning out of the open side of the vehicle to look down at the tree tops as they passed over them. The yellow sun reflected back off of the canopy, warming his face. Far beneath if he knew there was damp, lush ground with flowers the size of men and lean bodied creatures flourishing. As the Samson followed a river and burst out into the open into the wake of a great waterfall, Norm began to recognise the territory. Beneath the aircraft a flock of bright green, tiny, featherless bird-like creatures swelled and rode the air currents it produced. As they looped over the top of the Samson, narrowly missing the wind shield, Norm hung further and further out of the open side, gazing at the water rushing away beneath them. Many of the little viridian creatures were darting down and snapping up glimmering silver fish from the surface, tossing them up into the air before swooping back down again to catch them and eat them, as though playing a game. He twisted to look up into the sky and saw more of them whirling in the wind, flecks of jade in the sky. Eventually they dived at a dramatic speed and stopped just short of the water, their wings skimming the surface as they beat them frantically to speed along above it. Norm felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back to see he was being offered a pair of binoculars by Granger. With an appreciative nod he took them, peering down at the birds until they were wiped out of sight by a rapidly thickening fog.
Norm straightened himself in his seat again, peering upwards and felt his chest tighten as the familiar shadows of the Hallelujah Mountains came into vision. He glanced at Granger who was simply sat gazing at them in awe.
"The pictures just don't do them justice," she breathed into her mic. Norm felt himself smiling and replied,
"Imagine the view from an Ikran." Granger flashed him a smile, brushing a few strands of wind buffeted hair out of her eyes.
"Sully is a lucky bastard."
"I couldn't agree more!"
Finally the Samson began to descend and touched down upon the thick vegetation of the forest undergrowth. Granger swung herself out of the craft eagerly, hefting her pack onto her pack. With a nod to Xavier he shut of the engines, and Norm shuffled out behind her, seizing a pair of com straps. Passing one to the woman he clipped the other around his own throat and looked back at Xavier, who said
"Test," crisply into his mic a few times. Granger and Norm both nodded that they could hear him, then she turned to the anthropologist.
"What now, Doctor Spellman?"
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to be distracted by the birdcalls he could hear emitting from the vegetation.
"Grace used to say they were watching us. I guess we just... walk. The Tree of Souls is this way, to the north east."
"Well, if we head that way we'll certainly attract their attention. Off we go then." Norm blinked in surprise as she broke into a brisk jog, her sandaled feet light upon the ground. Taking a second to collect himself he ran after her, feeling under kitted and soon enough, unfit. It appeared even a Na'vi body could struggle when not used to a rigorous exercise regime. As they ran through the dense undergrowth he found himself panting for breath, and slowly losing ground on Granger as he indulged in stopping to look at fungi, fallen feathers, strangely pigmented vegetation. Eventually she dropped back, standing upon a large raised root, her hands on her hips with an expression of both amusement and disdain upon her face.
"Having fun, are we?" she called jibingly down to him, though there was no malice in it. He ran up the roots to her, something encased within his hands.
"Look," he breathed, opening his fingers just a fraction. Granger brought her face close to peer into them and with a smile Norm cautiously opened his hands. With a sudden hum a tiny lizard burst from his palms, a large fan on its back whirling around and lifting it into the air. Norm let out a laugh, looking at the female. "Neat, huh?" She nodded with a smile, then reached for his arm, pulling him up to stand beside her.
"We've been walking for nearly three hours now, Doctor Spellman. Wouldn't we normally have been jumped upon by now?" He frowned slightly, looking up into the forest canopy.
"I could try something.. I don't know what good it will do but.." Granger cocked her head.
"What?"
Norm took a deep breath. Feeling very foolish, he tipped his head back and let out a few short, sharp shrieks, like the ones he had heard Neytiri and Jake make when riding their Ikrans. The doctor stared at him in anticipation, then up at the trees above, waiting for a response. After a minute or so Norm lowered his face, sighing.
"I dunno what I expected to happen," he admitted, looking at Granger with shame. She patted his shoulder with a friendly smile.
"It was wor-"
The doctor was cut off by an almighty, primal roar, quickly echoed by a second voice, as a pair of Ikran burst through the forest canopy and landed expertly on the forest floor. An agitated voice shouted;
"Who confuse my Kanoi? He try to throw me from his back!"
Norm let out a triumphant whoop, bursting into a run down from the roots and at the Ikran with the rider who spoke.
"Neytiri!" he shouted, leaping onto the rider as she dismounted with a bear hug. There was the sound of hissing and a few moments later he was on the ground, pinned by the lithe blue figure of the Omaticaya princess, her tail swishing side to side dangerously. The second Ikran rider dismounted and gave a sharp shout in Na'vi, then offered a hand to the felled Norm. Neytiri reluctantly climbed off of him and stared at him with her ears flat against her head for a few moments, before something dawned on her and her eyes widened.
"Jake! It is our Normspellman!"
Granger watched from her spot upon the roots, mouth open slightly, as she witnessed two of the Omaticaya clan leaders embraced Norm like family. As the male of the pair broke away, laughing and inspecting Norm with curiosity, picking up his tail and turning him around, she realised that she was staring at Tom Sully's Avatar. No. Jake Sully. His brother. And an Avatar no longer...
She gradually became aware that Norm was calling to her, the other two looking up at her with a feral intensity, as though trying to look under her skin at what intentions lay beneath. The anthropologist was waving her over with a lop-sided smile, looking like a goofy kid between the two regal figures. Lydia Granger found herself feeling very small and lacking in confidence.
Taking small, cautious steps, she shuffled down from the safety of her roots and bowed her head low, touching her forehead and saying quietly,
"Oel ngati kameie," before bring her hand away with a little flourish to Neytiri and Jake in turn. After a few moments she nervously lifted her face, making eye contact with the princess, who looked back at her coolly.
"You are a sky person," she said, a sharp edge to her voice. Granger glanced at Jake, who gave her a small, encouraging smile. The features, where once they had been so familiar from spending years of her life with his brother Tom, now seemed perfectly Na'vi, his braided hair and sun-weathered face making him look every part Omaticaya. She looked back to Neytiri and said in as humble as voice as she could;
"I am not one of those who came before. I come with two more men. We came to learn from the People. To offer medicine to you." Neytiri let out a derisive snort.
"We have medicine." Norm looked between the two women, then piped up;
"She wants to learn Na'vi medicine to help her People, Neytiri. She's trying to save them."
"From what?" The Princess looked sharply at Norm, who cleared his throat and replied;
"From their insanity. She wants to teach all Sky People the lessons you gave Jake, and the others you have brought into the Omaticaya."
Neytiri looked long and hard at Granger, who looked back at her as assertively as she dared.
"You will come to settlement with us. Tsahik will decide what to do with you." She turned to Norm, who just smiled admiringly back at her. "You will come also. She will be glad to see you. You will eat with us." Norm beamed up at the princess, then at Granger, who mouthed 'thank you' to him. Neytiri meanwhile looked to her mate.
"I will take the female. You can carry Norm, yes?" Jake nodded with a wicked smile, and looked at his friend.
"I hope you don't have issue with heights?"
"Why?" Norm's eyes widened slightly as he watched the clan leader jump up onto his banshee and offer an arm down.
"Get on. We're not gonna leave you to walk. There are viper wolves out here, you know."
That was persuasion enough for Norm, who lumbered up onto the obedient beast, clinging onto the end of its antennae for dear life. Neytiri took Granger's arm, steering onto the back of her own Ikran and looping her arms in securely.
"Do not let go," she said simply, pulling down her goggles. Granger looked across at Norm, a flash of terror in her eyes. She let out a shriek as the beasts beat their wings and lumbered off of the ground. She gripped Neytiri's waist tightly, her fingers squeezing on Kanoi's antennae, her eyes rammed shout. As the wind beat her face and she fought with all her strength to stop herself from falling off the Ikran's back as it rippled with muscular strain underneath her, she could hear Norm's exhilarated shouts. At least someone was having a good time.
After what seemed like an agonizingly long flight, though it could only have been a few minutes at most, Granger felt the heavy thud of the landing shake her thighs. As Neytiri peeled herself out of the doctor's grasp, she cautiously opened her eyes to find Norm running towards her.
"That was better than a Pa'li!" he cried with delight as he skittered to a stop. Granger pulled a grim smile, and slid off of the Ikran's back, feeling her legs shake underneath her. Norm saw the look on her face and gently took off her pack, swinging it over his own shoulder.
"Come on," he said softly, "Come meet them." Carefully he put a hand on the small of her back, steering her into the new Omaticaya village.