It stared at the creature, tensing its body, ready for the fight that would soon happen should the animal not back down. The hammerhead was snorting loudly, hooves pulling up soil as it in a display of dominance dug down.
"Get behind the tree line, sir," It dutifully requested, knowing better than to outright command a superior. "If it charges I'm unsure if I can bring it down in time," it clenched its fists in a rare display of emotions.
Jake gave it a look, not standing down either.
It tried again, "please, sir, the tree line," it pointed to the cluster of tall trees, "it's antagonized but I doubt it would get through the trees."
Still, the man raised his gun and aimed at the animal.
Grace and Norm broke through the green but immediately when they saw the bellowing animal they hid behind the trees. With all their training they knew better than to openly defy an animal that much larger and much more dangerous than them.
"Don't shoot. You'll piss it off," Grace said as she pressed a finger to the communicator, voice worried, not that Jake noticed it through the thick haze of anger that clouded his mind. It was a standoff that was about to turn deadly if they didn't somehow persuade one of the parties to give in, and they all knew that the hammerhead in front of them wouldn't.
In an agitated tone Jake shot back, "it's already pissed off!"
"Jake, that armor's too thick. Trust me," the scientist told him.
Just as Jake started to back off the animal bellowed again, lowering its head to the ground as if to charge at him. It stepped in front of him in one last desperate attempt to save the jarhead idiot that was Jake Sully - not even a day into being a real avatar driver and he had already pissed off one of the biggest animals on Pandora.
"It's a territorial threat display," Grace warned him when she saw him backing, "Do not run, or he'll charge," she pressed, glaring at him.
It shifted on its feet, gun thrown over on her back as she readied herself for a fight she was never going to win. "Sir," she protested, "you need to get back!"
Hopefully It had taken Jake's side as the challenger but It doubted it. Jake being the larger male and the one who initiated was the bigger threat, and the hammerhead hadn't once looked away since the plants retreated into the ground.
"What do I do?" he asked in panic.
"Hold your ground!" Grace ordered him, eyes nervously flickering between the shit show that was the animal, Jake and It. "If you're lucky it won't charge, but I doubt it."
The hammerhead threw its head against the trees on both sides of it, splinters of the saplings and branches falling over it like confetti, a display of power that made shivers run down Its spine. It bellowed one last time before charging.
It took a deep breath as time around it seemed to slow down. The sharp inhales from the hammerhead were drawn out and the echoes and vibrations of its heavy steps vibrated through its whole body. It saw Jake run past her, gun held high, screaming at the beast about to ram him. It felt every beat of its heart, every move seemed to take ages, Its thoughts muddled together as It saw the man It was supposed to protect run to an early death, and in doing so condemned It too. That's when time seemed to snap back into place and It, with a shake of its head, sprinted after the ex-marine and in an act that could only be self-sacrificing, It ran in front of him, hands spread out and head held high in what must have been the first time in years. The same thing that was about to kill It was the thing that thrilled It, made adrenaline pump through Its veins - made It feel alive.
Seconds ticked by and just as It began preparing itself for the collision the great beast stopped short with a scared bleat. It stopped too, watching the animal with suspicion - It knew it wasn't the charging that made the animal retreat, so what did?
Jake didn't seem bothered and instead hollered at the fleeing hammerhead, "oh, yeah! Who's bad? That's right!"
As Jake taunted the animal It felt a crawling sensation and turned around slowly. Something black moved among the leaves, almost blending into the dark forest around it. But It saw the yellow eyes and the way the leathery being moved too smoothly for it to be the wind.
It swallowed, where the hammerhead had been daunting this creature was downright terrifying. Six limbs, piercing eyes and a tail that swung behind it. An instinctual fear coursed through It, froze It, cold sweat formed on Its back as the animal stared at the scene.
"That's what I'm talking about, bitch!" oblivious to the animal stalking him, Jake kept on shouting.
"Sir-" It tried to reach him, hands clammy. "Sir," she tried again.
"Huh?" Jake was drunk on victory, smile almost delirious. "What's up?"
Just as Jake turned around to see what It was looking at, the black mass launched itself off the platform and landed with a thud that vibrated around them. The animal stared at the retreating hammerhead then let out an earth-shaking roar once the hammerhead got away.
"We need to go, sir," Its hand was just shy of touching her charge as if a barrier stopped it from touching him.
The animal turned around and bared its white, dripping fangs with a lethal hiss, raging yellow eyes glaring.
"What about this one? Run, don't run? What?"
It anxiously moved around, that same instinctual fear battling against the instincts beaten into It- the ones that made It want to do whatever it took to survive battling against the ones beaten into her since birth. It was torn.
Just before Grace told them to run, It made Its decision and grabbed Jake by the arm - breaking that barrier for the first time.
It pulled him through the tree line, over boulders, under fallen branches, zig-zag around the trees - all in effort to try and shake off the animal snarling behind them. Splinters of trees fell over them at every turn as the beast ran right through the fragile wood.
They launched themselves between two trunks, barely avoiding the sharp claws that swiped after them. It pulled him up and they kept on running, though the time they won through the little trick meant nothing as the strong animal was back at their heels with a renewed vengeance.
Hair fluttered behind It, legs heavy and legs burning with each breath, It forced its charge to follow It. Instinct guided it now, and only the adrenaline pumping kept It on Its feet and away from the teeth of the beast. Jake was falling behind, his stamina rapidly disappearing with each turn, every dip and each snarl of the tiger-like creature.
They dove under a huge root system, just as the beast leapt- blocking out the sun as the rippling mass of muscles was about to take them. The thin roots didn't protect them, though, as the animal easily ripped through the wood - kindling washing over them like rain, and spittle hailing over them. They were inches away from being torn to pieces by the beast's claws and even less so from ending up right in its teeth.
It forces him to roll down to the side as the animal tears through the roots where they just laid. Chunks of wood was flying and It could feel Its heart beating like a tattoo against Its chest as the beast came closer and closer but the space for escape only grew smaller. This couldn't be the end.
"Move!" It exclaimed just as the animal bit clear through the roots, catching on the straps of Jake's bag as it did so.
With a triumphant roar it swung him with it. If it was possible Its heart stopped right there and then. Jake's gun laid abandoned by Its bloodied hands and with a grimace It grabbed it, practically launching itself out of the lair, screaming as It let out several rounds.
Jake was thrown to the side as the beast suddenly focused on It. He fell with a grunt but was still alive. It threw the empty gun to the side, arms spread wide as it ran at the animal - if It was to die like this, the least It could do was buy Jake some time.
"Run!" It screamed at him and Jake got to his feet shakily.
An idea formed in her head as the animal looked torn between the two - would it go for the wounded and easy target or the one that was now chasing it?
It ran at the animal, trying to make Itself look as big as possible, even though it probably looked like a blue ant attacking a human. Time was all they needed, and distraction was the key. They would never win a fight against it, they couldn't outrun it, couldn't outsmart it, couldn't survive it if they didn't somehow win enough time.
Just as it was about to snap its jaws at It, It dove low, avoiding the swinging tail, grabbing onto Jake who was watching on the side lines, rushing towards the sound of rushing water. Of course! A waterfall would be their savior!
It forces Jake to push on, not to give in to the little voice in their mind telling them to give up. They move across the forest like the devil was on their heel. No more hiding, no more avoiding, just running for their lives.
A cliff grew in the distance but the animal grew faster, and It felt the animal's warm breath at Its heels, almost as if the animal was just a hair length away from eating It.
It drags Jake behind it, pushes him off the cliff and then dives off just as the animal catches up with them, jaws closing in defeat, missing It by a mere inch.
It fell into the river with a loud splash. In those few moments in which It was stuck in a state of fear, Jake was forgotten. Cold fear gripped Its body, even as the swiftly moving water moved it further and further away from the beach and the air in Its lungs were swiftly emptying. Even as Its lungs started burning It couldn't find the will to push up, in such a state of shock that it didn't even believe it had gotten away - almost convinced that It was trapped in the belly of the beast.
But the thing that brought It back wasn't Jake, it wasn't the voice telling It to survive - it was the voice of Quaritch threatening It, telling It all the things he would do should It fail to protect Jake. Of course, if It was dead he wouldn't be able to do any of the things he promised, but even through the thick mist that clouded Its mind, It was still somewhat aware that It survived and that It had to fight for survival.
With a few rapid moves of Its strong arms It broke the surface of the river, gasping loudly for fresh air. It spotted the beach just a few meters ahead and with movements that bordered in panic It swam over, feet paddling behind it. The rushing water made it difficult, tugged at the soaked clothing, splashed cold water in Its face, wet coughs being pulled from Its lungs.
Finally, It made it to the beach. Soft, warm sand greeted It like a warm hug after a cold day. Not that It would know how that felt. With a loud gasp for air, heaving chest and tired, aching limbs it fell down to the ground, defeated. Jake was nowhere to be seen and neither was the animal. It didn't know what was worse yet.