Pandora – chapter 7

Hi guys... I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am that I took me this long to update :( it's just that I'm so busy with school. This chapter was written rather hastily so please forgive me for any typos but I just wanted to upload the chapter so you guys could read it, 'cause like I said: i feel really bad!

anyway, I hope the long break hasn't scared you away. please enjoy this chapter - and a special thanks to my reviewer, I love you guys!

oh, and the title for this chapter is taken from a song with the same name by the fray.

The arguing had been going on for much too long now – every minute I spent fighting with the elders was a minute I did not spend on tending to Clarissa. But even so my Father and H'onx did not give in.

"You cannot be serious Ta'kamun! If we let her stay here the skypeople will come after her, and they will destroy us in the process! They will destroy the land and kill the People! You know this as well as I, brother." H'onx yelled at me. I noticed the bleeding scratches on his throat that I had placed there when I attacked him, and it caused me to inwardly flinch. I felt bad about attacking my best friend, my brother. But I could not afford to seem weak so I stood tall and proud.

"She saved my life brother – I owe her this." I answered with a steadfast voice. I glimpsed back at Clarissa who was still lying unmoving on the ground and my heart ached. Kana'u – the submissive male who had found had – had placed himself beside her. I could not stop an involuntary growl from escaping my lips, but I knew that he would not harm her. Furthermore, his presence kept away the curious adolescent males who had been poking her with sticks. I forced myself to tear my gaze away from her so I could face my Father.

H'onx and my Mother stood beside him, but strangely she had not said anything for a while. Behind my father stood the elders – old warriors who now served as my Father's council. Most of them looked at me with disapproval, but I did not care. I had to finish this argument soon so I could tend to Clarissa.

"How can we be sure of this son?" my Father's deep rumble asked "How do we know she will not bring death to our clan?" The elders behind him nodded their heads and whispered low words of agreement.

"She won't bring us any harm Father!" I replied with a certainty I hadn't been aware I possessed about her. "You may trust her son, skypeople care neither for the People nor for promises and honour!" Said my Father with a grim expression.

"Excuse me for interrupting Olo'eyktan," we all turned to face Kana'u who still sat next to Clarissa and was speaking with his eyes looking at the ground as was expected when a lower-ranking male addressed the olo'eyktan. "But I don't think she is a bad person. I do not think she'll want to harm us." Though I agreed with him I couldn't help but wonder what made him think that. But my Father asked before me.

"On what grounds do you base this assumption Kana'u?" Kana'u looked towards me for a short moment, but lowered his eyes when we made eye contact. "Olo'eyktan... When I pulled the girl out of the river she looked at me and said your son's name... She seemed genuinely happy to see him" My heart skipped a few beats, but I was unable to determine whether it was because she had been happy to see me or because I had not been there to protect her in the first place. I barely noticed the entire tribe looking at me, as though outraged that she knew my name.

"How does she know your name son?" my Mother asked me. I answered her but kept my eyes on my Father. "I told her."This only seemed to make my Father angrier. H'onx looked at me with disgust.

"That changes nothing. She is still one of the skypeople; she will bring death with her. You may have a debt to repay to this female, but I will not let you risk the safety of our clan members!" My Father yelled.

"Then I won't. Just let the healers on her wounds, and then I will take her far away from here to a place where she can recover." I retorted.

Again my Mother spoke: "You would do this?" I nodded. "How will you provide her with food whilst still protecting her from Eywa's creatures?" I gave her a determined look and said: "Somehow, I will make it work."

For a moment no one said anything, and I began to hope that perhaps my wish would be granted. But then H'onx spoke up again.

"Even letting her get in contact with our healers might endanger our people! We do not know what methods they have of locating her, they could be on their way for her this very moment!"

Then the elders starting talking as well – this discussion was going to take a while longer to finish. I lips curled back to display my fangs and my ears lay flat along my face. My patience was wearing thin.

The first thing I noticed was the pain and the small trickles of warm blood flowing over my skin and coagulating to form crusts that I knew would be a brownish red. It did not feel like I had lost that much blood: I was still lucid (at least I assumed I was) and the blood I felt on me was not of a great volume and it flowed rather slowly indicating that the wounds would soon close up.

The pain was in every part of my body – a deep seated dull ache. I kept my eyes closed. Both to avoid having to see the state I was in, but also because I wasn't quite sure of how to open my eyes.

The second thing I noticed was the light that I could perceive through my closed eyelids. It seemed reddish – perhaps it was sunset?

I guess I wasn't dead then. First of all, because I did not believe in any gods and so to me dead was really dead. But even on the off-chance that some god existed and had allowed me into the afterlife I couldn't help but think that it was rather cruel of that divine creature to let me be in pain and bleeding.

It would have made more sense if I was dead though. I remembered falling through the sky, the lack of air that burned my lungs, and the current in the river trying to pull me apart. How could I still be alive?

Then I remembered a hand grabbing onto me and pulling me up; I remembered looking into a blue face. Ta'kamun. I wondered briefly where he was, where I was.

The third thing I noticed came when my ears became able to detect sound again. At first it was just the pumping of my heart. It seemed relatively stable and normal, though a bit fast. But I figured that might have been because of the blood loss. Then I heard voices; angry voices, though they seemed somewhat far away. Whoever was arguing wasn't standing right beside me.

I tried to find out who was arguing and what they were arguing about, but I couldn't seem to grasp onto the words much less get them to make sense. Then I realized that it was not English, but Na'vi that was being spoken. Once I realized this I was able to make out a few words that sounded familiar, but my brain wasn't exactly fit for fight at the moment so I still didn't understand a thing.

The fourth thing I noticed was movement near me; body heat flowing across my battered skin. Ta'kamun. A big calloused hand placed itself on my wrist – checking my pulse? There was no electric spark. Ta'kamun?

The fifth thing I noticed was that one of the angry voices sounded oddly familiar. It sent a shiver down my spine. It was definitely Ta'kamun.

But if Ta'kamun was fighting with someone far enough away for his voice to seem low, whose body heat was flowing over my torso and whose hand was on my wrist?

These questions were what prompted me to open my eyes.

It was harder than I had thought it would be. My eyelids were glued together with dried up blood – at least that's what it felt like – and I couldn't seem to take control of my body. The hand on my wrist went from being loosely placed to being wrapped around my wrist. It gave a small squeeze. I managed to open my eyes.

At first all I saw was the reddish light and I felt myself wince from the brightness of it. Wincing hurt.

When my eyes had adjusted I slowly became able to make out a face.

Blue skin that wasn't quite as dark as the skin I couldn't get out of my mind... Pale gold eyes, bordering on yellow. Nothing like the rich shinning gold I remembered... A nose that didn't have the shape I was unconsciously looking for...

When I was finally able to process what I was seeing (maybe I'd lost more blood than I'd initially thought) I realized that the face I was looking into was a male Na'vi, but it was definitely not Ta'kamun.

I swept my gaze over his body and noticed that he was sitting right next to my waist with only a few centimetres of space between our bodies. My eyes lingered on his hand holding onto my wrist which was on top of my stomach. He slowly removed his hand.

I looked into his face again. He had a warm smile and kind eyes. I couldn't help but smile back, even if it made the muscles in my face ache. But he was not Ta'kamun.

I did not mean to say it out loud, but apparently I did. Suddenly the arguing voices died down and everything became quiet. The mysterious Na'vi looked at something past me, towards where the argument had been.

I turned my head to follow his gaze and saw a whole bunch of Na'vi starring at me. But first of foremost I saw Ta'kamun racing towards me, I felt the other Na'vi at my side scramble away.

Ta'kamun arrived at my side and stared into my eyes with an intensity that made me uncomfortable. Then his gaze swept across my body – checking me for injuries? - before returning to my eyes again. He was frowning.

If there had been any movement or talking from the other Na'vi at that moment, I did not hear it. I stared back into Ta'kamun's eyes and lost my breath. The only thing I could hear was the rush of my own blood. I remember hoping that I had lost so much blood I could not blush.

I was broken out of my trance when an older Na'vi male and an equally old Na'vi female came up behind Ta'kamun. Ta'kamun's ears flicked in their direction but other than that he gave no indication that he knew they were there.

I started feeling rather silly just lying on the ground like that, and in an attempt to sit up I put some weight on my left elbow.

It felt like my elbow had been hit by lightening. I feel back down with a small scream and my eyes closed in pain. I felt a hand grab my head before it collided with the ground and the small sparks that emitted from the hand let me know that it was Ta'kamun.

I heard Na'vi talking and guessed that it was the pair behind Ta'kamun.

"She does not appear dangerous" a female voice said, but I did not understand it. Instead I focussed on breathing.

"It is not hear I fear; it is the warriors they will send after her" rumbled the man.

I opened my eyes and accidentally ended up staring into Ta'kamun's eyes again. He looked worried.

"Father, Mother... she is not well enough to travel. Please let the healers see her and allow her to stay... just until she is well enough for me to take her away. Please" I did not understand what he was saying, but it sounded like a plea.

The man looked at me with enough contempt to make me squirm. "We cannot son, she will endanger us all."

Ta'kamun bent his head, closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He seemed defeated and my heart ached for him. What were they arguing about?

The woman looked at me with a look I couldn't decipher. She bent down and took a needle out of her necklace which I hadn't even noticed before. Was my consciousness slipping?

She pricked me with the needle, but I did not feel it. All my limbs seemed to be getting heavier by the minute.

She licked the needle and stared disbelievingly at Ta'kamun. "Why did you not tell us she was touched by Eywa?" Eywa, their deity? What on earth were they talking about?

Ta'kamun's face shot up and he stared back at the woman "I... I did not think to mention it" either his voice was wavering or my hearing was failing. Perhaps both.

The woman with the weird necklace looked at the man standing next to her who wore a surprised face. "She has been touched by the spirits of the sacred tree and our son owes her a favour. Can you make yourself throw her into the forest and have our son die trying to protect her? "

The man looked down with a grim expression "Very well. She can stay" Ta'kamun's face lit up and it felt like a weight had just been taken off my shoulders. "But when she is well enough you must bring her back to her own people." Ta'kamun nodded.

Then the man with the scary eyes walked with stiff movements towards a group of Na'vi's, and the woman addressed Ta'kamun.

"Come son, we must get her to my hut so I can attend to her wounds."

Ta'kamun gently lifted me up from the ground and carried me bridal style while he follow the woman.

I seemed to be getting more and more tired, and it became difficult to think straight. My head lolled back a bit and I caught a glimpse of the mysterious Na'vi who had been beside me, he was still smiling. Then I noticed the large crowd of Na'vi people staring at me. Some gazes were friendly, some weren't. My sight was getting blurry.

Accidentally, I locked gazes with a Na'vi male. He was about the same age as Ta'kamun and stood near the man with the scary eyes.

But this guy... his eyes were the scariest thing I'd ever seen and I felt a shiver travel down my spine.

Ta'kamun hugged me tighter and whispered in my ear "It'll be alright, Clarissa." Hearing him say my name made me smile.

Then I slowly succumbed to the darkness, but unlike last time this felt rather pleasant.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait :) please review ;)

and before I forget: the whole dominant/submissive thing I introduced last chapter is mostly inspired by the Mercy Thompson series and I promise to explain it soon :)