Chapter 24 – Dancing with Shadows
A few days later…
I recalled once asking myself how many times could I rely on luck and cleverness to survive. Apparently the answer is on a daily basis. It had become a part of my daily routine to find myself laid out prone in the dim Pandoran darkness hugging the limb of a tall tree. Thankfully the Na'vi come equipped with natural camouflage. Silently, I watched a pack of viperwolves move along the forest floor beneath me. The bioluminescence of the forest glowed all around me as a warm, humid breeze blew through the trees.
I knew they had caught my scent earlier in the night, but finding me now was another story. As I waited, I thought to myself, I may not have grown up in these forests, but at least I was a good student. Niysia's training has paid off for me dozens of times since I was exiled from Hometree. I don't think anything in this forest was meant to go solo for long. The question is how long can I get away with it.
After a while the pack moved on and as I started to get up, my ears perked up again as I detected a rustling noise coming from the forest. I ducked back down and my eyes focused into the distance as I scanned the forest high and low. There it was. The silhouette of a thanator perched up in a tree about 50 meters away. I don't know how long it'd been there, but I'm sure I was visible the whole time from its vantage point. I hoped that it was hunting the viperwolves. If not, then I'm in trouble.
I pulled my bow around slowly and nocked a poison-tipped arrow into place. I noticed the thanator turned to look straight at me. As he stared at me, his eyes seemed to glow in the Pandoran night. My heart raced. I took aim, and drew back my bow ready to shoot. I thought, it must be a neck shot, because I won't get a second chance. I sat there on my knees, bow pulled back, and target in site. I closed one eye and focused on the thanator. Then I instinctively glanced down one last time at my nocked arrow to ensure nothing was out of place and when my eye looked back up, ready to release, the thanator was gone.
I thought, "Oh hell, it moved!" I dropped my bow to the ready and scanned the forest for movement. I climbed to my feet and ran. I jumped from tree limb to tree limb, not really paying attention to my direction. Finally, I jumped into a cluster of giant leaves, using them to control my fall to the forest floor. I kept running for some time until I was sure I'd gotten clear of the thanator's territory. My heart started to calm down. As I caught my breath, I said to myself, "such is life in the forest when you're loner."
The days passed one by one. I hadn't bothered to even count them. I didn't care…
It was just another day now, like the one before and the one before that. The wounds I received the night I tried to kill Jake were healed, but that didn't mean I was healed. It reminded me of an old saying, "A flesh wound will always heal but its cause may fester for a lifetime." I'd been in exile now for about three or four weeks, or was it five. Hell, I couldn't remember. When every night is a struggle to survive, counting the days wasn't a top priority. However, I regularly found myself rethinking the events of the night I tried to kill my best friend. The night I betrayed my people and the woman I love. Those thoughts visited me daily, hour-by-hour, and they haunted me.
To add to my burden, I was pretty sure the same thanator had been tracking me for days now. I'm not sure why, but my hunter's intuition says he's using me to attract other prey and saving me for later. That's just a theory. Of course I might just be going crazy because from time to time, I feel like I'm being watched. There's never anyone there, at least no one I've ever caught. Then again, it may just be my imagination playing tricks on me. You would think I'd understand that. This wasn't the first time I've had to go it alone and this wasn't my first rainforest, albeit this one was certainly the most dangerous.
As I cautiously walked through the forest, eating a piece of fruit, sunset was approaching. I noticed a light fog moving in as well which reminded me of that night. Once again I replayed the memory in the head. I've gone over it hundreds of times in my head. That one night, and the strange disembodied feelings I experienced; the total lack of control. Nothing made sense. Even if the humans had an Avatar chamber, I don't see how they could have affected me with it. I'm the only one who should be able to control my body, especially since I'm the permanent resident in it. I'm missing something, but I can't figure out what.
I suddenly realized the daylight was almost gone. It was way past time for me to find shelter. Nightfall was almost here, then my ears perked up. I could hear something moving in the forest, coming in my direction. Whatever it was, there was more than one of them. I looked around. My heart started to race as I recognized the sound of viperwolves approaching. It was too late to make it into the trees. I was caught flat-footed.
I had a sinking feeling in my gut, "My luck just ran out." I backed myself up against a large pond, so I could hear anything crossing the water behind me. I pulled out all three of my arrows, stuck two of them point down in the ground in front of me, and nocked the third arrow into my bow. The viperwolves would be upon me any moment now. With a cynical tone in my voice, "Eywa, if you're listening, I could use a little help here tonight." My muscles tensed as I mustered all my stamina to fight for survival.
A few seconds later, I heard the rustling of the ferns. I knew they were close by, I could smell them and I'm sure they could smell me as well. I crouched into a defensible position, ready to quick fire my bow, my tail whipping back and forth behind me. I made a loud growling hiss toward the forest and yelled; "My spirit or yours will see Eywa tonight!"
Two viperwolves jumped from the ferns howling as they flew through the air. I fired at the first and made a direct hit. The arrow hit with such force he was stopped in mid-air and thrown back into the ferns where he'd come from. The second descended upon me as I pulled an arrow from the ground and quick fired it with no aim. It didn't matter; the viperwolf was almost within arms' reach when I cut the arrow loose. It struck the beast in the mid-section and pierced straight through him. The arrow continued out into the night air. The viperwolf fell right in front of me, groaning in agony. I used the end of my bow to break his neck as I scanned for the next wave. I said with a stressed voice, "Forgive me brother!"
It felt like an eternity but only a few seconds passed as I listened to the heckling jeers of the other viperwolves. This time, three of them ran out at once. I reloaded my last arrow and fired in time to strike one of them. It was an instant kill, but I'd run out of time. The other two were practically on top of me and another two came out behind them. My bow was just a bludgeon weapon now to try to keep them at bay. I struck one of them and he was thrown into the pond, he made a whining cry as he flew through the air. The other viperwolf bit my left arm. I dropped my bow, pulled my knife with my right hand, and stabbed the viperwolf in the throat, killing him instantly. His body went limp, his bite grip released, and blood oozed from the wound in my left forearm.
The other two leapt to attack me. I managed to catch one in the throat with my knife using a right-handed jab but the other landed right on top of me. His teeth sank deeply into my left shoulder. I let out a painful hiss as the viporwolf's teeth ripped into my flesh. I repaid him in kind as I opened my mouth with a growling hiss, bearing my jagged teeth. I bit deeply into the viperwolf's flesh taking a chunk out of him. The beast released me and limped away. I spit the chunk of flesh out of my mouth, and dropped the viperwolf still impaled on my knife to the ground. There was viperwolf blood smeared across my face and chest.
Despite my wounds, I climbed back to my feet and crouched in readiness for the next wave. My heart raced as blood oozed out of the wounds on my arm and shoulder. I could hear several more viperwolves closing in on my position. I'm sure the smell of fresh blood drove their enthusiasm to keep up the attack. I suspected this was it; they would come at me all at once for the kill. I mumbled to myself, "You know I'm wounded." I shook my head in frustration and yelled, "Stop playing with your food and finish the bloody job already!" I winced as the pain from my wounds rippled throughout my fatigued body.
While I prepared for what would probably be my last defense, I was pretty sure my luck had run out. All nine lives used up. Nine lives? That's funny, I never thought of that before. I guess I do have feline features. It's strange how humor can show up even at the end. I remained crouched, my knife dripped with viperwolf blood; I growled another long defiant hiss toward the forest full of jeering viperwolves.
Finally they attacked again, this time in greater numbers. Four viperwolves jumped from the darkness directly at me. As they flew through the air, I yelled, "Niysia...!" I lurched forward to meet the viperwolves, but as I started forward, I suddenly felt droplets of water raining down on me. My outcry trailed off as I looked upward to see a dark, lean bestial figure sail over my head with a great guttural roar, the kind only a thanator makes! It tackled three of the viperwolves throwing them back into the darkness. The fourth viperwolf must have been as surprised as I was and landed squarely on top of me. I couldn't bring my knife to bear in time, but I caught one of his front legs with my left hand as I dropped to my back. I used both my feet to kick him off of me. The kick was so hard it must have knocked the wind out of him. He landed in the pond with a wild splash and a yelp.
Adrenaline and instincts were all I had left as I got back on my feet and immediately crouched, scanning the forest for whatever would come next, but it was over. The viperwolf in the pond was swimming for the other side. I looked back into the dark forest again but found no sign of the thanator or any other viperwolves. I heard a low whimper coming from a patch of nearby ferns and I investigated only to find a wounded viperwolf. He was groaning in agony with one of my arrows stuck through his belly. I leaned over and told him, "I'm sorry, my brother. Forgive me." In one fatal stroke, I cut the viperwolf's throat. Killing him instantly. I recovered my arrow, wiped my blade clean, and sheathed it.
This night's dance with death had ended. Despite the intense pain of my wounds the bleeding had nearly stopped, I climbed up the first big tree I came to. Once I was safely aloft in the trees I surveyed the area for any other predators or threats. My anxiety began to ease as my adrenaline rush subsided. I was still alive, but the night was still young and Pandora's tests are endless.