The journey back with Ngeha was spent in silence, Awa was lost in thought and Ngeha just didn't know what to tell the young woman in front of her. They had sneaked out of the healing hall and 'borrowed' a pa'li named Tri'ty from the clearing the animals grazed in. The animal had greeted them with a gentle neigh and a buck of the head.
"This is Tri'ty" Ngeha had whispered to her and reached up to touch the head of the horse-like creature. "She's my pa'li, the first ever animal I made tsaheylu with"
"Are you sure we're allowed to take her?" Awa had asked after marvelling at the beautiful animal before her, the strong tall body and the beautiful colors of blues and purples.
Ngeha had scoffed slightly at the question as if it was ridiculous to her. "Of course we can, it's my pa'li"
Awa didn't believe her, the slight raise in pitch at the end sounded suspicious to her but she didn't say anything and now here they were, on their way back to the place she sneaked out off. The human was hoping no one had noticed but she knew that wasn't possible, an employee didn't just disappear from base fora whole day and night without someone noticing. No doubt Quaritch was keep a close eye on her and reporting back to Selfridge at this moment.
Awa thought the forest was the most beautiful this way, in the darkness. The exotic colors of Pandora really came to life during the night, illuminating their path in different shades of neon. Trees of all sizes and kinds turned into a blur of brown as the two raced down the path to the human territory, the soft grunting and quiet pants of the pa'li echoing around them.
No one said anything for the hour ride back, the silence was at first caused by them not wanting to get caught by the Omaticaya but then it just stuck, the air felt thick and uncomfortable but neither of them knew how to break it. Tri'ty gently slowed down as the end of the forest came into view and the lifeless grey of Hell's gate slowly grew before them. Where there used to be a forest bursting with life in different forms and vibrating color there was now only a dull grey, metal and broken dreams.
"This is my stop" Awa awkwardly spoke up when she shifted to get off the tall pa'li and then fell to the ground with a slight oof. "Look I really appreciate what you did for me"
"Don't mention it" Ngeha grinned, showing a bit of teeth. "You can thank me properly tomorrow, I heard Atxa has something special planned for you"
"You know Atxa?" Awa asked and raised a curious eyebrow,
Ngeha cackled, the sound loud and vibrating in the air around them. It was a husky sound but yet so melodious and soothing. "Of course I know him, he's my mate"
"Oh..." Awa stuttered with a surprised look on her face, this she hadn't expected. "He didn't tell me"
The Na'vi grinned and pushed Awa slightly in the head. "And have you two had a conversation about mates?" She asked with a pointed look in her eyes as she stared down at the blushing human.
"No..." Awa replied, dragging out the O. "We haven't"
"Then that's why he hasn't told you yet. That and he's being cautious,"
"Cautious about what?" The human asked before petting the pa'li with long careful strokes.
"About you." Ngeha told her and shifted her and Tri'ty so that they faced the forest. "Have you already forgotten our earlier conversation? Trust takes time, darling, and effort. You two aren't there yet. " The Na'vi called back after trotting away from the stunned human.
...
"Psst" A voice called after Awa when she just crawled up the hole she escaped through, her feet were bleeding at this point and her entire body ached as flashes of pain pumped through her.
She turned her head around so fast she almost gave herself a whiplash. Standing in front of her with her hand placed on her cocked hip was the same dark haired woman that had given her the mask earlier that day. She was wearing the same dirty white tanktop and and flying uniform that she had tied around her waist. The woman's long hair was tied up in a ponytail and a necklace adorned her neck.
"Who are you?" Awa whisper-yelled with slight panic showing on her face.
"Trudy. Trudy Chacon, pilot. Who are you?" The woman, Trudy, replied with a grin and a slight nod.
"Awa. Awa Davis, avatar driver" Awa replied with a cautious grin, she didn't trust the woman standing before her not to be one of Quaritch spies. "I-uh- what are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Trudy shot back easily and emphasized the 'you'.
"Nothing" Awa mumbled and stood up before brushing off the dirt that had collected on her clothes.
Trudy chuckled and swaggered closer to the other woman. She dropped down in a squat and looked at the hole Awa had dug to escape the base. "Sure don't look like nothing to me. Seems to me like you are sneaking back in" The dark haired woman winked at the avatar driver and then got back to her feet in one smooth movement.
Awa scrambled over to Trudy with wide panic filled eyes and she could feel cold sweat forming on her forehead. "Please don't tell Quaritch! Please!"
Trudy snorted and shook her head. "Why would I tell that asshole anything? You're back, aren't ya?"
Awa nodded with a grateful look in her eyes and she let out a sigh of relief. She could only imagine what he would do to her if he found out that not only is she talking to the enemy but she's sneaking out to see them too. "Thank you so so much"
"No worries, I don't see a problem with sneaking out every once in a while." Trudy said with a nod of her head and a smirk on her lips. "I do it all the time, haven't gotten into trouble yet."
The avatar driver laughed at that, Trudy proved to be a comical relief that she needed. She had cried, she's yelled and now she needs to laugh. "So you promise not to tell anyone about this? Grace is going to rip me a new one as it is."
"Nah, don't worry about it. Don't tell those uptight people anything unless I have to." Trudy reassured the other woman with an easy smile that stretched all the way to her eyes. "But I didn't see anything, are we clear on that?"
"Yeah- I mean of course" Awa nodded fervently, her hair flying up and down with the fast bobbing.
"Good. Now let's get inside, and after you take a shower-cuz, no offence but you stink- we're going to get some food in you and then we're throwing you back in that glorious blue body of yours" Trudy told the other woman, or more like ordered her if it wasn't for the smile still present on her lips.
Awa sighed but on the inside she longed to take a warm shower and wash all her problems and worries away. "Sure, why not"
It took maybe an hour before Awa had taken a long refreshing shower and ate her first decent meal in forever. A favorite of hers: grey mush served with green mush, was the only option in the cafeteria and though she was pretty sure the food was going to give her food poisoning she gobbled it all down, more so because she wanted to get back in her Na'vi body rather than her being hungry.
Trudy had left her alone sometime between the walk from the cafeteria and Awa getting into a linking unit. Something that Awa wasn't sure she was actually allowed to do, and wasn't very smart since it was late at night and the smart option would have been to have a long night's sleep before going back into her injured body. But, Awa wasn't thinking smart, she didn't want to wait until morning to make sure her Na'vi body was really okay. Looking at it only made her feel even worse, and she had no idea of the actual condition it was in. Linking to it was the only way to make sure she had no really serious injuries that the Na'vi hadn't discovered, though she doubted there were since the Na'vi would have noticed it.
"I'm ready" She told her technician, Maria, a young woman from the latest batch of humans to arrive on Pandora.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait?" Maria asked with a sceptical tone to her voice and furrowed eyebrows. "I don't think it's smart to do this now, let the body rest until tomorrow before you put even more strain on it."
Awa shook her head gently, waving off any concerns Maria had. "I need to make sure my body is good, if I wait until tomorrow it might be too late." She sighed and let her head fall onto the soft bedding of the linking unit. "Just-Just link me"
"Whatever you say, Awa" Maria snapped back, her features twisting into anger and a bit of jealousy. "I'm telling Grace about this"
"You do that, I don't really care" Awa shot back with her eyes closed. She didn't have time for this petty fighting, she needed to make sure she hadn't totally killed her body and the longer she took to find out the more the risk was that she could be too late.
Maria growled and punched different buttons on her pad and screen, starting the linking program with a glare on her face. The machine purred to life and one of the other technicians gently closed down the lid over a frowning Awa that was struggling to clear her mind of everything. Worry was creeping up again, making her stomach twist and a headache form.
She pressed her eyes closed even harder than before and focused on wiping away any thoughts to keep her mind clear and after struggling for a few minutes she relaxed and her mind went blank. She started linking but then she was thrown back halfway through it with a sudden flash of white pain that felt like it burned her brain to crisps. She yelled out in pain and trashed but the pain kept coming, her fingers felt like they were burning, her legs felt like they were breaking and then resetting only to repeat the process. Her stomach lurked and she felt bile rushing up her throat and she punched at the lid in panic as the pain only grew stronger and with a last push the lid flew open and she crashed down to the floor and threw up everything she had eaten. She continued to shake on the floor as the aftershock of the burning pain travelled through her convulsing limbs.
"Something's wrong" She gasped as she saw Grace's worried face into view but through the ringing in her ears she couldn't hear whatever Grace was telling her. "Something's very wrong."
AN: A big thank you to everyone who's reading my book, I love all of you!