Hunters of the Night

A/N: Goldenbrook: "Are they're two Kearal or was the part of him telling Jake about the seeds a flash back?" If you remember way back when in Chapter 2, Kearal is a title. So when I use "Tipani Kearal," "Omaticaya Kearal", et cetera, I am referring to the Kearal that protects that clan. I can't use names because well they have given up their names.

And thanks for the reviews guys.


"I envy those guys," said Norm rubbing his chin. He figured needed a shave soon as it was getting long. Though not as long at his colleague sitting next to him.

Max looked up from his counsel and to the link chamber monitors. He watched the drivers for a moment, watching how their eyes continued to move as if in REM stages of sleep. Max shrugged his shoulders. "Safer in here than out there."

"That's true," said Norm trying to convince even himself.

"Nice facial hair by the way," said Max complimenting Norm on his stubble.

"Thanks…" said Norm shaking his head.

"I'm gonna check up on those seed samples," said Max stretching for a bit before leaving the link room.

"Hey Max?" asked someone on the intercom.

"He just stepped out," answered Norm.

"Norm," said the voice, who he recognized to be Bryan. "Hey man, uh, you gotta come down here and see this."

"What's up?" asked Norm sitting up in his chair.

"Those seeds you gave us," said Bryan. "They're sprouting."

The pentagonal clearing stuck out of the forrest like a swore thumb. Amongst the randomness of the forrest was something very geometric and uniform in shape. Jake could tell his Ikran was tiring from having to travel such a long distance at so quick a speed.

"Almost there Little Brother," said Jake giving him a pat on the neck. "Almost there."

With several powerful burst of its wings Little Brother landed in the middle of VLT pad in the middle of the colony. The Ikrans' claws scrapped and scratched at the concrete obviously not caring much for the man made material.

Jake dismounted from the Ikran and began to frantically search around for any signs of life. It was always difficult to tell if any humans still lived here. The Ikran smelled them before Jake did. An avatar emerged from around the corner of the building.

"Lisa!" cried out Jake almost relieved to see her.

"Hi Jake," said LIsa but noticed the Ikran behind him and didn't take a step closer.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Um… they're…" she was paying attention to the Ikran more than Jake. "They're in the Avatar Compound."

Jake rushed off towards the compound not listening to Lisa's shouts. Running full sprint here probably wasn't a good idea, so Jake slowed it down a bit before having to come to a complete stop all together. A large metal door opened suddenly almost flying right into his face. He stared at it for a moment, noticing each rivet, each scratch, and each small patch of rust and wear. A small head poked around the corner of the door.

"Jake," said Norm realizing he had almost knocked out his blue friend. "What are you doing here?"

"The seeds where are they?" he asked remembering the reason why he was here. "What happened to them?"

"My Jake," called out a familiar voice. It was Neytiri running to catch up to him. She had followed him here.

"You guys have perfect timing," said Norm with a grin on his face. "The seeds are already sprouting."

"Norm, you need to give me those seeds. Right now," said Jake as he could feel the blood draining from his face.

"Okay…" said Norm almost hesitant at first. "They are in the Science labs, across the courtyard."

Jake began to run off in the direction but Norm called out to him.

"No wait," said Norm. "They are in the Avatar Compound. The guys were yelling at me to come see the seeds sprouting."

"Jake, txontiera," hissed Neytiri she readied her bow. Jake wishing he hadn't left his behind the rush.

Jake was off running again with the others following close behind and Norm taking the rear as he was nearly sprinting to keep up with their brisk pace. They reached the large metal door of the Avatar Compound. Jake carefully checked behind him to see Neytiri nod her head back as she notched an arrow. Jake took several deep breaths and unsheathed his own knife preparing for the worst.

The door swung inward quickly surprising Jake and Neytiri. They were looking into the eyes of another avatar who's yellow eyes moved from the arrow inches from his face to the knife pressed up against his neck.

"Nice to see you too," said Bryan trying to do his best not to move a muscle.

"Bryan where's the seeds we gave you?" asked Norm quickly.

Bryan continued to stare at both Jake and Neytiri even though their weapons were lowered. "They're in the garden."

Jake pushed aside Bryan and quickly moved forward. He watched as one after the other surged forward.

"What's going on?" he asked Norm who finally caught up to them.

"They… something… about… night… spirits…." said Norm huffing and puffing.

"Where are the seeds?" asked Jake to the other avatars in the compound.

"They're here," said Rene holding out her hand he seeds were beginning to sprout roots.

Jake quickly snatched them from her hand. He looked around. How would he dispose of them? Lisa let out a scream making most of the group jump. Neytiri still had her bow raised, she was already on edge and couldn't stand some human behaviors. She then noticed why Lisa had screamed. The seed's sprouting roots began to wriggle.

Jake dropped the seeds as more roots burst forth from the husk of the seed. The roots began to look less like roots of a plant and more like tendrils of a medusa. Jake began to cut the tendrils but more and more kept sprouting making his efforts to halt the growth fruitless.

The tendrils began to wrap around each other forming solid mass. An arm shot out of the mass and wrapped its fingers around Jake's neck squeezing the breath from his lungs.

Neytiri who was quick to act severed the arm of the sprouting txontiera but the arm was still wrapped around her mate's neck. She struggled to free Jake from the arm gripping his neck, dropping her bow in the process.

Finally ripping the arm from his neck she tossed it to the side only find a fully matured txontiera standing before them with both arms intact. The avatars backed away from the creature, they were scientists not soldier. They didn't know how to fight.

Jake still trying to catch his breath was keeled over and coughing harshly. He would be no help in this fight. Neytiri unsheathed her own knife and prepared for hand-to-hand combat. She hissed at the creature who glowered down at her. It gave her a toothy grin. Before she knew what had happened she had hit the ground hard. The creature's tail had wrapped around one of her legs and tossed her to the side.

It was going after Jake. It raised one of its muscular arms ready to end Jake's life once and for all. But Neytiri quickly recovered and use the creature's own strength against it. Neytiri severed the creature's arm just as it was about to strike. It howled in pain and turned towards Neytiri.

Even with only one arm he was still more than a match for Neytiri. But suddenly an arrow burst forth from the creature's chest. One of the avatars has picked up her bow and fired an arrow at the creature. Normally she would be furious at anyone who touched her father's bow but this time she was grateful. This female had saved her life.

The creature soon turned towards Rene. She was a greater threat than the Na'vi was. Rene backed away and notched another arrow firing it into its shoulder. Even with the poison running through its veins it still continued its march towards her.

"Go for the heart," Jake managed to say in-between coughs.

Rene forced herself to steady herself. She planted her feet firmly in place. She sucked in a lung full of air as she pulled back on the string. She held her breath taking aim until she found her target. Center of its chest. Exhaling she released the string.

The arrow ripped through the creature's chest making it howl in pain. She had just nicked its heart. The creature was already on top of her. Rene prepared herself, this would be her end.

Taking advantage of the opportunity Neytiri jumped up and swung her knife at its head. It howled in pain and began to thrash about as the knife had only cut halfway through its neck. It tried grabbing for her with its only hand but she held on tight. With her every ounce of strength she pulled her knife through, finishing the cut.

The body shuddered as it feel to its knees before falling completely. The head rolled a distance before finally resting on a patch of grass. Its red eyes faded to black. It was finally dead.

Jake walked over to Neytiri who was lying on the ground. She laughed up at Jake. It was the same laugh that she had when they had their first close encounter with the toruk. It was the laughter of relief. She sat up and looked to the avatar holding her father's bow.

"I am sorry," Rene apologized to Neytiri as she gently handed back her bow.

Neytiri shook her head and held up her hand. "There is no need for apology. You are skilled with bow."

Rene smiled brightly at her. It was the first time anyone said she was good at any sports in her life.

"Jake," yelled Norm realizing something. "We kept some of the seeds in the lab to study!"

They raced to the science labs. Rene scooped Norm up in her arms. It was almost comical and Jake would have laughed if under different circumstances. Jake peered into the window of the science lab. He called out Max's name but there wasn't any response.

"Put me down, put me down," said Norm anxious to see for himself. "Jake I'm gonna go in."

"Norm don't," pleaded Jake. "Its too dangerous."

"What about them?" asked Norm. "Their bodies are in there."

He had almost forgotten about the avatars. That they still had human bodies inside.

"This isn't safe," said Neytiri. She was right the safety of the colony was compromised. As if on cue a loud alarm went off which the Ikran didn't like much and screeched back. "That noise!"

"Its the alarm," said Mike. "Something's breached the outer perimeter."

Norm was running through the empty halls. It was little eerie running through such a large complex that was running on the bare minimum power settings which meant emergency lights only.

Norm finally made his way to the link room. Still no sign of Max but he had to get the others out of their avatar bodies first. He jumped into Max's chair and began working the controls. He wanted to run around the room pressing the big red eject button but that was only for the last resort.

Slowly the avatar drivers emerged from their deep slumber. First Viktor, then Mike, Bryan and Trisha. Just as soon as they regained their bearings they were out the door of the link room. Norm pulled up the screen for the cameras to the science lab, thankful that he and Max rerouted the feed from the security room to their own stations.

Realizing something as he watched Jake and Neytiri load comatose avatar bodies into Samsons. He wanted to get his own avatar body out to safety. Lisa and Rene were also helping load the bodies. The others could wait a couple of minutes.

Norm raced down to the science lab leaving the link room unattended.

"What's taking Norm so long?" asked Lisa as they loaded Mike's body into the Samson.

"We're gonna need two birds," said Jake loading Trisha's body into a second Samson. He was relieved to see the humans running towards them. "You know how to fly this thing?"

"We'll find out," said Mike jumping into the pilot's chair of the first Samson. The engine roared to life which eased Jake a little.

Trisha was doing the same with the first Samson. "What is our destination?" asked Viktor into Jake's ear nearly yelling over the sound of the rotter blades.

"To the closest mobile lab," answered Jake.

"There is only one lab. It is at Hallelujah Mountains," said Viktor. "There are only two link chambers per mobile lab."

"There's some extra mobile labs near the VLT pad," said Mike.

"Take Trisha and Bryan with you," said Jake. "Grab those labs and head to the mountains."

"Understood," said Mike nodding his head. Jake back away from the vehicle as it slowly lifted off the ground. It veered left then over corrected right but it soon straightened out. It wasn't the nicest take off he'd seen but at least it was flying.

"Jake what about the others?" asked Neytiri.

"We need pilots," said Jake looking over the group of five.

"I can fly," said an avatar stepping forward. "Not exactly certified but-."

She grabbed at her chest frantically before her body collapsed. Something wasn't right. Jake looked around to see others react the same way before their bodies collapsed. The txontiera was attacking their human bodies.

Norm returned to the link room shortly after having dealt with his avatar body. He froze in place. A black creature was standing on a link chamber clawing away at the lid. Several chambers were already smashed in. As if noticing someone watching, it turned around to face Norm. It growled at him before jumping from the link chamber.

Jake and Neytiri stood in silence and looked at each other. They agreed silently that these avatar's weren't safely going offline. Jake heard sobbing. He looked down to see Lisa sitting against the wall crying.

"You guys need to manually shutdown," said Jake. "Lisa you need to manually shutdown."

"I can't," said Lisa. "Jake I'm scared."

"Lisa you need to listen to me," said Jake trying to keep her calm. "You need to focus."

"Jake I'm scared," said Lisa. "I can't."

"You need to do this for me," said Jake holding her hands. "You have to try."

She nodded her head and closed her eyes but quickly opened them again. "I can't do this. Jake I can't!" she said and began to weep historically.

"Lisa you need to do this," said Rene putting a hand on her should.

"Rene I can't do it," said Lisa between sobs.

"Lisa," said Rene pulling Lisa's head into her chest almost motherly. "Its okay I'm right here. All you need to do is close your eyes."

Rene stroked Lisa' head as she continued to sob into her chest.

Norm used one of the chairs as a shield against the creature. It snarled at him and easily dodged Norm's prodding with the chair end. He couldn't hold back the creature much longer. Getting frustrated it knocked Norm away sending him flying across the room and into a wall.

"Lisa I'll be right behind you," said Rene stroking Lisa's head. She had stopped sobbing and nodded her head. She took a deep breath and they both closed their eyes.

Neytiri carefully pulled Rene's avatar body away from LIsa's and carefully laid it on the ground. They were running out of time.

"Take Lisa," said Jake. "I'll wait for the others."

Neytiri looked down at Rene's avatar body one last time before nodding her head and hoisting Lisa' body onto Mawey's back. As soon as Lisa came bursting through the door of the Avatar Compound they were up in the air.

It wasn't long before Jake saw Norm limping out of the door Lisa had just come from. He was bruised and beaten but still alive.

"Where's Max?" asked Jake.

"Max… Max got us out of there," said Norm as he was hoisted onto the Ikran's back. "Because of him we were able to get away."

"We need to get out of here," said Jake ordering his Ikran to take wing. Soon they were flying up in the air. They looked down to see a swarm of black bodies surging through the fences. They hit the buildings of the compound like waves crashing upon the rocks.

It was very solemn at the camp. Everyone sat in silence around the campfire they had just built. They all watched it flicker and crackle as it burned through the wood. No one had said anything for hours, just staring into the fire with glassy eyes.

"I'm sorry," said Norm finally braking the silence.

"It was you!" yelled Lisa jumping to her feet. "Its because you had to save that stupid body! That Rene and the others died! Its all your fault!"

"I didn't-."

"Max didn't have an avatar! Max didn't need and avatar! Yet he gave his life to save your stupid life!" yelled Lisa stomping her foot down sending her tears splash to the bottom of her mask. It was so painful to watch her trying to wipe away her tears yet unable touch her own eyes. Lisa stormed back to the mobile labs and slammed the door behind her.

Norm got up and walked to the edge of the camp to sit alone. Jake followed and sat down next to his friend.

"I messed up Jake," said Norm. "I messed up bad."

"It happens," replied Jake. He honestly didn't want to sitting next to him right now but he knew his friend needed him.

"I should have just left that dumb thing to rot in the woods," said Norm jerking his thumb to his naked avatar body sitting limp in the Samson. "You know what's funny? I always thought Max was just keeping it from me because he had no one else to talk to when we were in our avatars. But that wasn't it at all."

Jake looked over to Norm who was pulling up blades of grass with his fingers.

"Jake, when I went to go check up on my avatar body I saw him, Max. He already knew what was going on. He was carrying it out to the VLT pad. Jake, he knew he was going to die back there."

"Then you didn't do anything wrong," said Jake trying to comfort his friend.

"Then why do I feel like shit," said Norm turning away. He tried to hide it but he knew Norm was weeping.