Thank you Rhea!
Yes I'm really excited to show how it affects everything! That will come soon! Hopefully in the next two chapters!
And the story is finally picking up a little! So excited to write the next chapter :)
When I wake up next I'm back in my link, I smile and quietly get out, heading to my room, grabbing some clean clothes before going to take a shower and relax a little. Once my showers done I get dressed and go back to my bunk, frowning seeing my rose hadn't been watered while I was out, I quickly grab a glass and fill it with water, carefully watering the pot gently, praying it wouldn't die from the lack of water before I suddenly get an idea, I grab the last seed and go to talk to max, explaining that I wanted to see how an earth flower would grow on this planet, he helps me get some soil from the forest, having one of the mercenaries grab some and I pull on one of the masks, taking the seed, some water and a small pot with the soil outside into the training grounds of the facility.
I go to the garden area and sit down under the huge plants, gently planting my seed into the soil and watering it carefully, hoping it would be able to grow, as I watch the water soak into the soil I relax a little, I felt so much better out here than inside the base, it was cold and stuffy inside but out here, even with having to wear the mask it was warmer and more comfortable outside, wishing I didn't need the mask I stand, picking up the pot and moving to just outside the bungalow where some of the Avatar bodies were resting, I set the plant down gently on the deck happily, excited to see if the rose would grow at all in this worlds atmosphere. As time goes by I go to grab a bit of food for dinner before heading to bed tiredly, falling asleep quickly.
My eyes widen as I look up, my heart racing, I'm standing outside of the walls of Hell's Gate, looking around I see soldiers rushing out of the wall through a small door towards me, guns pointed at me as one yells for me to return inside, I don't even think before sprinting off into the woods, gunfire coming from behind me but I keep running, bullets wizzing past, tearing into the trees and plants around me "please Eywa, protect me" I pray as I run...
I gasp and sit up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat, I get up quickly and go to take a hot shower, needing to calm down, after I go to talk with max about the dreams, he had become a good friend in the short time I had known him, I see him heading up toward the bridge and I follow only for my heart to sink as we stop on the stairs, Jake is there talking with Quaritch, Selfridge and some other officers about the lay out of home tree, I felt sick as we quickly and quietly sneak back down and go to tell Grace what was happening, my dream completely gone from my mind for the moment, me and Max explain to her what we saw and she quickly gets to work packing up everything, I help her quickly and Max heads back to his office to try and not draw extra attention to us. After some time I hear Jake enter and I try to ignore him, to angry at him to face him now so I continue to put things we'd need into boxes and bags to bring with us as we'd be leaving this base, Grace tries not to snap at him as she says "I'm not about to let Quaritch and Selfridge micro-manage this thing. We're going up into the mountains" she says pointedly moving to put away a small device "There's a mobile link up at Site 26 that we can work out of" she explains, Norm looks up and moves over excitedly "The Hallelujah Mountains?" She nods "that's right" he fist pumps happily "Yesss!" Jake looks at him confused and norm nearly rolls his eyes at him "The legendary Floating Mountains of Pandora? Heard of them?" He snaps a bit before getting back to work, Grace tells Jake to go pack his things , after I'm done helping pack the equipment I go to my bunk and grab my things, forgetting my small pot with the rose in my rush, once I get to the air field I grab a mask and meet everyone at the Samson, helping load it before we help Jake in and we take off, I buckle in quickly and tightly grip onto the handle next to my seat, I close my eyes and try to just relax and think of something else as we fly, ignoring as they talk up in the cockpit, I keep my eyes closed and my hold tight on the handle until I feel us land and the Samson turn off, then I quickly disembark and start to move stuff to the door of the site, moving past Jake as he tried to help me move a box.
After about an hour we get everything inside and Grace sets us up with the three link pods, I thank her quietly before climbing into mine, knowing I'd have to face Jake once back with the clan, I sigh softly and close my eyes, letting my mind drift.
As I open my eyes I yelp in surprise and pain as one of the clans Direhorses is standing over me and gently nosing me, I flinch only causing more pain as my braids gets jostled again, I sit up and gently grip my braid to hold it still, watching the creature as it doesn't seem frightened at my yelp nor at my sudden movements, I carefully stand and try to move around the horse a little, but it just follows after me as I move away, frowning I look around but not many seem to see what's happening, I head outside of the tree, hoping the creature would get distracted and move away but it continues to follow me.
After a few minutes I start to get annoyed at its constant pestering so I get an idea, I find a large flower I often see them eating from and I move the Direhorse to face it, which thankfully grabs its attention and I manage to sneak off back under the tree, I sigh softly before looking around, seeing many continuing their normal duties I start to realize just how useless I am here, out of the corner of my eye I see Neytitir's mother Mo'at, I hesitate before slowly moving over toward her, waiting until she finishes speaking with some girls before I bow my head hoping it would show a sign of respect "Mo'at, I'm so sorry to bug you, but...I want to be helpful here, I want to repay the kindness you have shown me, but I don't know how, I am not a skilled warrior, nor do i know how to hunt or fish as Jake does" I say honestly, keeping my eyes down nervously, she looks me over, circling me for a few moments "do you know how to weave?" my heart sinks as I shake my head, she nods a bit and looks up around us, she gets the attention of a group of women "follow" she instructs and I do so quickly, looking to the group nervously, Mo'at speaks with them quickly before moving away, the leader of the group motions for me to come closer "you are Rose yes?" She asks and I nod softly, she smiles a little "I am Zey'wa, Mo'at has told us you wish to learn weaving?" I nod again "I do, but I've never done it before" I say quickly, not wanting them to over estimate my skills, she smiles more "then let us teach you as we would a child, every female should know weaving so as to contribute to the clan, and to prove useful to her future mate" she says, motioning for me to come sit with them and I do so, sitting cross legged. For the next few hours they start to teach me how to weave baskets, I start to get more comfortable and relaxed as we talk, them helping me learn a few of their words as well.
But all good times must end, I sigh softly seeing Jake walking over "Rose, we need to talk" he says seriously, I frown softly but nod, excusing myself and thanking the women before I follow him outside and to a clear area where no one could hear us, keeping my braid balanced on my shoulder, he turns to me "why are you suddenly so mad at me?" He asks sounding a bit angry and hurt, I frown at that "Because your working with the men who want to tear this beautiful world to the ground, all you care about is the money and getting your legs back" I snap a bit angrily, he looks taken aback "you heard...?" Shaking my head 'no, but I can guess what Quaritch would offer you" I respond, now it was his turn to frown at that, he goes to say something but I raise my hand to stop him "I don't want to hear excuses, everyone has an angle, I'm just glad I know yours" I say softly and shake my head before walking away into the forest, back toward the river I had bathed in the other day, my heart racing from the encounter, I hated being so rude but he made me so mad.
As I get to the water I realize I had tears running down my face, I quickly sit at the edge of the water and splash some up onto my face, I had never handled stress well.
I lay down carefully on a rock in the river, just above the water, I carefully unwrap my queue, wincing as the air hits the sensitive painful wound, I take a deep breath and carefully lay the braid down into the water, whimpering a little at The pain but I knew I needed to soak it and the cold would help numb the pain, closing my eyes I try and think of something else, only to remember my dream, I frown a little, that dream actually scared me, what would happen if that came true? Would I survive...?
Without meaning to I get lost in my memories and dreams for a few hours, only to re-emerge from my mind when I hear a soft growl from the rivers edge, I sit up quickly without thinking and whimper in pain, my queue hitting the rock I'm on, my heart sinks and eyes widen as I see one of those wolf like creatures that attacked me and Jake before, it growls louder and soon a few more join it on the rivers edge, I stand quickly and look around for any way out, they were blocking the way back to Home Tree so I couldn't risk that, one soon jumps into the water after me and I jump as far as I can toward the other bank, landing in the deeper water and having to swim the rest of the way as the wolves start to give chase, climbing up out of the water I scramble onto shore and start running, the adrenaline masking the pain of my queue, I can hear them yipping and growling as they make it to the shore as well, I keep running as fast as I can, making it a ways before they manage to catch up, one bites into the back of my leg and ankle, making me scream and sending me to the ground, I kick it off and grab a nearby branch as another pounces on me, I manage to keep it held back with the stick shakily as its snapping at my face "I don't want to hurt any of you! Please!" I nearly scream, fear and pain clouding my mind until I feel the ground shake under me, and soon a male appears, jumping off his horse and yelling, grabbing the creature off me and throwing it a little ways before he swings his bow around and manages to scare off the others, I drop the stick and shakily sit up, looking up at him as he watches the wolves retreat before he looks down to me and my heart drops, its the same hunter from before, the women earlier told me his name was Tsu'tey, I stumble to my feet, not noticing the blood on my ankle from the bite marks, I feel my face heat up in a blush as he looks me over "sky people should go home" he says angrily, I flinch back a little "I didn't mean to cause trouble" I retaliate "I was just trying to rest and they attacked me, I can't climb the trees yet so they caught me..." I murmur nervously, he huffs and points past me "return to home tree before you get yourself and others killed" he says seriously, I lower my head and quickly do as he says, returning to home tree, half way back the adrenaline wears off and I can feel all of the pain full force now, I start to feel nauseous but I continue on, once back near home tree I gather some leaves and herbs I'd need to make some poultice before I move to the small stream next to home tree, I sit and wash my wounds carefully before putting the poultice on them and wrapping both my ankle and queue.
I groan softly as I still feel ill but I grab some reeds and other weaving materials to practice with before returning to my small hammock, I practice weaving for a few more hours, trying to keep myself busy and not thinking about the pain. After some time I glance around and notice Tsu'tey watching me, I frown a little and look away, afraid to draw his attention but it seems he noticed and he comes over "you should not have been so far from Home Tree" he scolds, I look up at him from my spot on the hammock as he speaks before looking down a bit ashamed "it wont happen again" I assure, afraid he'd make me leave Home Tree if I caused any more trouble, he looks me over a bit "did you go to the doctor for him to bandage your wounds?" I hesitate before shaking my head, wincing a little and reaching up to grab my braid gently "no...I bandaged them myself, but I'm fine, Ive taken enough of the doctors time" I say quickly, he raises his eyebrow "where did you learn to wrap it? Are you a doctor of your people?" He asks a bit curiously now, I smile sadly and shake my head "sadly no, I learned it from my mother, she was a doctor back on my home world...she taught me a lot before I left" I say softly "so you know how to be a doctor but chose to do otherwise? Why? Is being a doctor for sky people not a noble and useful job?" He asks, I laugh softly and shake my head "I don't know enough to be a doctor for my people, for that it is much like being a warrior for your people, you must go through years of training and even then its hard, you must study books while training as well as practicing under other doctors" I explain softly, he looks a bit surprised "I did not think your people would care so much about caring for others" he says honestly, I sigh sadly "many hum...sky people are as bad as you think, but its not all of us, think of us as half bad half good, but many of the bad are only bad because they are afraid or they are forced to be" I say softly, he nods a little before heading off, I relax as he leaves and I try to continue weaving.
Later that night as the clan is heading up for dinner I get up, wanting to try and climb up with them, once most of the people were up I slowly follow, being careful of my ankle and carefully climbing up but the higher I get the more nervous I get, by the time I get to where everyone is eating my hands are shaking badly and I move away from the ledge quickly, drawing a bit of attention to myself, blushing I move to the side and toward a corner, wanting to get their eyes off me, I sit down criss cross and glance around, only a moment later I jump as Tsu'tey comes over, casually handing me a leaf of food before he returns to his spot, I watch him a bit shocked before quietly eating, thankfully the rest of the people seem to ignore me now, but I notice Jake glancing toward me then to Tsu'tey, I shrug it off and finish my food and slowly climbing back down the tree, some of the clan shoving past me or going around me as I was going so slow, I mutter 'sorry' every time I get in someone's way before getting to the bottom and returning to my hammock to sleep for the night, glad no one came to talk with me before I manage to fall asleep.
Chapter 5!
This took a while! Had a small bit of writers block, but I think I've gotten past it.
Can't wait to see what you guys think!
Love you all!
(Also if anything sounds a little weird or reads a bit off please ignore it, I'm a bit sick and out of it so my brain doesn't want to work properly XD)
~Rose~
