No real homework again even though I should be reading Jane Eyre right now.

I'll do it later.

--Phanny

Mosyk had always hated running. It made his lungs burn, it made his breath short, and it made his legs throb. But, he thought, if there was ever a time to start liking it, it would be when he was being chased by a pack of angry nantang.

He could practically feel their warm breath on his heels, but he couldn't run any faster than his current pace. At least, he didn't think he could.

Mosyk saw Endyna far ahead of him, and he seethed at the fact that a girl was so much faster than he was -- not that he was sexist or anything like that, but he didn't think it was very fair. He had to catch up!

'Faster…' He thought, determined. He pushed his legs to move faster, to leap and cover more ground with each step while still being able to weave through the trees. 'Come on, faster!'

He noticed the plants now rushing past him so that they were nothing but multi-colored blurs. With more agility than he thought he could possess he leaped around the trees surrounding him.

'FASTER!' He could no longer hear the pack of viper wolves tailing them, only the wind rushing around him, whistling in his ears. He didn't notice how fast he was going until he collided with Endyna, and it was right then that he noticed one flaw in his newfound speed.

…He couldn't stop. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his legs to stop moving. He was somehow dragging Endyna along with him in his incredible sprint. Well, maybe they had gotten away…

"Mosyk, stop!" Endyna said, sounding distressed.

"I'm trying!" Mosyk said, equally panicked, but not for the same reason.

"I mean it!" Endyna said, "stop before we--"

Mosyk didn't need to hear the end of her sentence -- he was experiencing firsthand what had worried her so badly.

He hadn't noticed that they were running along the river until it was too late. They both felt the ground disappear beneath them as Mosyk dragged them both off of the edge of the largest waterfall in the entire forest.

Neither Mosyk or Endyna let go of each other's hands until they hit the water with a loud splash.

Mosyk knew how to swim, so why couldn't he get out? He couldn't tell which way was up, and his muscles froze up in shock of hitting the water so suddenly. When he regained control of his body, he managed to drag himself onto a rock in the center of the river, and right then he realized that he was dragging Endyna up too, his hand still clasped to hers when he was holding on for dear life. Finally they both were up out of the water, coughing and shaking, spitting out copious amounts of water. Mosyk realized that the nantang had retreated when they fell, assuming that they were dead and that there was no point in chasing them anymore.

"You okay?" Mosyk rasped when he stopped coughing.

Endyna panted heavily before answering. She checked herself over. "Yeah, I think so," she said, and she gasped as she looked at Mosyk, "Mosyk, you're bleeding!"

Mosyk's eyes widened, "wha--where?!" He asked in a panic. When he looked down at himself and discovered a long gash running from his shoulder to a little above his elbow, dripping red blood onto the stone beneath them. "Ack! No, no, I hate blood, oh, I'm gonna be sick…" Mosyk had always been squeamish, and he looked almost green.

"Here," today Endyna had worn one ribbon in her hair, which was more like a red piece of dull fabric that the shiny ribbon that other girls often wore. She undid her hair and wrapped it around his long cut. "That won't do forever, but when we get home Ha'ni will fix it."

Mosyk nodded before looking around, his eyes going even wider. "Uh, Endyna?"

"Yeah?"

"Which way is home?"

"I can't believe we're lost," Mosyk said for what seemed like the fiftieth time in one hour, "I've never been lost before! I don't know how to get…un-lost!"

Though Endyna understood Mosyk's fear, she couldn't help but be annoyed by his overreacting. "I heard you the twelfth time. We're not lost, we just…"

"Have no idea where we are!" Mosyk sounded panicky again.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Endyna hissed at the shaking young Na'vi, "we won't get home any faster if you go insane on the way there!"

"Oh yeah, I'm insane," Mosyk growled under his breath, "well I wasn't the one who decided to fall for Ou'tan's stupid trick!"

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"I'm saying that our current situation was influenced by your stupidity!"

They were facing each other now, eyes burning as they resisted the urge to maul each other out of rage. Endyna crouched down and hissed dangerously and Mosyk looked ready to jump at her, baring his teeth.

It was when thunder rumbled in the sky above him that the two tore their angry gazes away from each other.

"Perfect," Endyna groaned, "just perfect."

Neither of them spoke as they searched for shelter from the rain that had started to drizzle down from the sky. When Endyna spotted a hollow beneath the roots of a large tree, Mosyk followed her inside silently, and they made sure that, even in that small space, they were as far away from each other as possible.

"No matter how much you insist on it," Endyna muttered quietly at last, "this wasn't my fault." She didn't know why she said it -- she didn't want another argument, but her need to defend herself was strong.

Mosyk for silent for a long moment before replying. He sighed in defeat.

"I know," he murmured, "well, it's not all your fault, I kinda pushed us off of a waterfall and everything…"

Endyna looked up at him, "how did you do that, anyway?"

"Do what?"

"Run as fast as you did?" Endyna clarified, "like a pa'li at full gallop -- that fast."

Mosyk shook his head, "don't tease me, Endyna."

"I'm not teasing you," Endyna told him, "for Eywa's sake, can you take a compliment when you're given one once in awhile?"

"I stink at running!" Mosyk said, sound defensive, "I-I mean, I felt like I was going really fast, and it seemed like it, but the more I think about it the more I think I'm just being stupid."

"Well maybe I'm being stupid too," Endyna said, "because if you weren't going fast you wouldn't have been able to drag me over a waterfall. And you would've been able to stop when I warned you."

Mosyk couldn't hide a small smile -- he really had done it!

"So, wait…" Mosyk began, "does this mean I'm better at something than you?"

"Don't push it," Endyna frowned, and Mosyk shrank in front of her glare, "but when we get home, if we're allowed to go out ever again after this whole mess, we'll see if you can do it again."

When the sky grew darker the forest seemed to come to life with color. As much as both Endyna and Mosyk wanted to go out and explore, it was still raining, and they had always been warned that the forest was much more dangerous at night than in the daylight.

Endyna and Mosyk had never expected to talk to each other as long as they did, about so many things. Even as it grew later, and he knew most of their clan mates had gone to bed, Mosyk stayed up as long as possible -- of course, maybe he just didn't want go to sleep out in the forest.

"Do you think they're looking for us?" Mosyk asked, his voice sounding hopeless.

"Maybe," Endyna mused, "for all we know Ou'tan and Udrau told them we were dead when they got back."

"Sounds like something they'd do," Mosyk sighed, "but I don't think my parents would give up that easily."

"I'm not sure if mine would bother."

Mosyk's head snapped around, his gaze resting on Endyna. "Why would you say that?"

"It's just…I know they love me, I know that, but…" Endyna trailed off, pausing for a moment, "my mother, Ninat, is the best singer in the clan, my father is one of the best hunters, my entire family is full of bests, my grandmother was one of the best weavers before she died…everybody is the best at something. I'm not the best at anything, and my mother says I'll find it soon, but I've been trying to find it but there's nothing I like enough to want to be the best at."

Mosyk looked at her in surprise. The irritable, skillful Endyna he'd come to know and occasionally get along with never seemed to have any problems, but now that he looked at her more closely he realized that she had been showing it all along, and he hadn't been paying enough attention to notice.

"And I always seem to complain about it and, I don't know, maybe they're tired of me by now and wouldn't be too heartbroken if I didn't come back."

"Stop that," Mosyk suddenly spoke up, "you're good at a lot of things, and I'm not. Even though I stink at a bunch of stuff, my parents never stop caring, and yours won't stop caring so stop saying stuff like that!"

Endyna seemed to think over his words for a long time, and Mosyk readied himself for a sharp comeback as she opened her mouth.

"Can we make a deal?" She asked.

"Uh…sure?" Mosyk's answer came out sounding like a question.

"I'll try harder to help you getter better at things you want to do…if you could maybe help me figure out what I want to do. I'm not the best hunter, I can't sing, I don't like weaving, I make horrible jewelry…help me and I'll help you."

Mosyk nodded. It sounded like a good idea -- plus, once in awhile she'd have to listen to what he said! And, deep down, he really did want to help. Just a little.

"Okay."

Rain continued to fall, thunder continued to roar, but neither Endyna nor Mosyk noticed, finally letting sleep wash over them like a soft black wave.

OMG Endyna and Mosyk...I think they're becoming...*dundundun* friends.

Yes, Endyna has issues of her own. She's not completely horrible at anything (that's Mosyk's job right there), she can be good if she tries, but that's the problem, kay? Nothing really captures her interest enough to make her stick with it instead of getting bored and moving on.

And yes -- I did give Mosyk a special talent. He's not the fastest Na'vi there's ever been, but he's pretty damn close. Oh come on, I dreaded giving it to him seeing as I'm afraid of him being Sueish, but he'd be pretty friggin' boring if he didn't have something going for him.