We manage to climb out of the water, both still panting and me shaking a little from the adrenaline and nerves.
"What do we do now...?" I ask, glancing behind us back up the cliff.
"We survive" Jake replies as he grabs a medium sized branch from the ground and pulls out his knife.
I shiver a little and wrap my arms around myself, watching as he begins sharpening the stick quickly.
As I look around I try to stay calm, looking for a possible place for us to hide and stay safe from the creatures out here, then suddenly Jake shoves the stick into my hands "hold this. We can't afford to be unarmed" he says seriously before grabbing a bigger stick and fashioning himself a spear as well.
I shake my head, setting it down quickly "I'd rather not have a weapon. Not my thing" I explain quickly.
"Take it, or we could both die" he gripes, I wince but realize he's right, so I pick it up hesitantly and we then begin to head farther into the jungle, away from the water and away from the Thanator.
As we head deeper, we can hear the forest coming alive with life, especially as the sun was beginning to set now.
With the sun setting, the forest begins to darken around us, making me stick closer to Jake now, holding my speak more like a walking stick than weapon, using it for stability.
The sounds of the forest begin to come alive, so many living things surrounding us in every direction, making both me and Jake very jumpy.
Jake takes off his button up and wraps it around the butt end of his spear before taking out a set of flint and steal, I keep my spear close as I watch around us, holding my breath every now and then to make sure I could hear everything around us with nothing to distract myself.
He dips the rag covered end into a large mushroom like plant that was full of a sap like goo, then he crouches down and begins to try and light it.
But around us I can hear hyena like cackling from the darkness, making my ears stand up, tail flicking a little this way and that as I raise my spear reluctantly, hands shaking a little.
I jump as a howl is soon to follow the sounds.
I turn and keep my spear held up, pointed out into the darkness, my stomach tying itself into a knot as my heart was pounding in my ears.
Jake keeps trying to light the fire as I can see eyes beginning to get closer and closer to us.
Then just as I was starting to doubt he could even get it lit, he manages it, standing up quickly and spinning around, waving the torch out into the darkness, to reveal the pack of coyote like Viperwolves, their eyes glowing neon green in the torch light.
I try to steady myself, I didn't want to be useless in this fight, though that was bound to be the case no matter how hard I tried to be strong.
The beasts growl and a few snapping toward us, Jake begins to back away a bit, pushing me back behind him a little as we go, away from the beasts and toward one of the larger trees.
But it's too late as we are soon surrounded by them, they were even up in the trees around us.
I press my back to Jakes shakily "Jake...they aren't going to let us go" I whisper shakily.
"No, we've got this, we can do it" he replies, trying to keep me both positive and hopeful, though it wasn't working.
I jump to my right as one of the beasts had lunged toward me, while Jake stabbed forward with a growled yell, trying to get them to back off, though that only seems to agitate them.
I draw a little closer toward him before he yells "I don't have all damn night, Come on! Come on!" He roars, egging them on with his shouting, which was only making me more tense and shaky.
Then suddenly, one of the wolves launches itself at us, I don't have time to even think about returning the hostility before Jake had turned and, moving in front of me, he hits the beast away with his stick, causing it to hit the ground and let out a yelping like whimper.
I freeze up in shock and fear, but as Jake turns another wolf jumps at him from above on a high root, Jake manages to stab his spear into its chest and he and it fall to the ground, his weapon now stuck in the beast.
I turn my own spear into more of a bat, swatting at the beasts, not wanting to actually harm them, but I'm not skilled in any sort of combat, making me next to useless in this situation.
Jake pulls out his knife in order to continue fighting, and as one jumps on him, he gets it to the ground and slices at it, causing only a minor wound as the creature gets right back up to run off.
"Jake!" I yell as he tries to come back toward me, only to be grabbed by the ankles and tripped up, then they continue to jump on him, one he manages to kick away, but before he can even get to his feet properly, another pounces, snapping at him, very close to his face as his back hits the ground.
I move forward, to try and help to get it off him, but a few of the wolves had snuck up on me, grabbing my legs and causing me to fall as well, hitting the ground hard before I turn to try and fight them off in sheer panic.
One jumping on me as I raise my spear, holding it up as a barrier, the wolf biting onto it and growling, trying to bite through it and get to me.
"Please..." I plead desperately, even knowing the creatures probably couldn't understand me.
Then I hear a yell, which distracts the beast long enough for me to swat it away with my spear, I then scramble to my feet, spear now forgotten on the ground as I stare in shock at the Na'vi woman that was currently fighting and scaring off the pack.
She shot one then began smacking them away with her bow and killing one that jumped at her, I get distracted as one jumps at me again but I manage to grab another stick, swatting it away before they all run off into the forest away from us.
I drop the stick and look to the other two, the Na'vi tossing Jakes torch into the water beside us, Jake protesting as she did so.
Then we all hear a horrid wheezing whimper, I look toward the wolf that still had an arrow sticking out of it, wheezing and trying to fight off death.
My heart drops as I watch it in sadness and pity, even if it had attacked us, I hated seeing anything die, it was just their instincts to survive and find food.
The Na'vi woman goes over and kneels down on it, speaking softly as she quickly and mercifully ends its life with a stab to the heart, she continues her sort of soft prayer as she pulls the arrow from its body, then she goes to retrieve her other arrow.
Jake had gone into the water to retrieve his spear but I get distracted as the entire forest seems to glow.
My eyes widening as I look up and around us, tail flicking side to side as I stare around at the bright bioluminescence of the entire place, every leaf and mushroom and insect glowing like it was their entire point in existence.
I flinch as Jake suddenly starts talking to the woman, so I look over, seeing she is knelt next to one more of the wolves, praying over it.
"Look, um, I know you probably don't understand this. But...thank you... thank you" he says, crouching down to be at her eye level.
"Jake" I hiss softly, moving a little closer to him "shhh" I whisper, gently smacking his arm to try and shut him up.
He glares up at me then looks back to her as she pulls the arrow from its body.
"That was pretty impressive" he continues, and she looks up to us both, I meet her gaze for a split second before she looks down to Jake.
"We would have been screwed if you hadn't come along" Jake says as she stands and begins to retreat away from us deeper into the forest.
He stands, still holding onto his spear as he moves to follow her "hey, wait a second" he calls "hey, where're you going?" He asks, pushing through a few large plant leaves.
I shake my head a little but quickly follow, not wanting to be left behind, even as I could tell she really didn't want us anywhere near her.
"Wait up" he calls, still trying to talk to her "hey, slow down, I just wanted to say thanks for killing those things" he says quickly, grabbing her arm, my eyes widen as she suddenly swings around, smacking him hard in the face with her bow and sending him spawling in the dirt,I jump back out of the way as my heart jumps.
"Damn" Jake hisses, just as the woman comes up, pressing the end of her bow up under his chin "don't thank. You don't thank for this" she growls out, glaring at me over Jakes head for a moment as well, making me look away in shame, pressing my hands close to my chest for a bit of comfort.
"This is sad. Very sad only" she continues in a snarl, her tail waving around behind her in her distress and anger, her ears pinning back.
I tuck my tail in closer around my waist nervously, heart still racing as I glance around us, unsure if we were safe now or not.
Jake raises his hand in surrender "okay. Okay I'm sorry. What ever I did, I'm sorry" he apologizes.
I try to relax a little as I watched, staying a bit away, unsure if she would swing on me as well if I got too close.
She stands back up straight with a small scoff, pacing a little before looking to him again, pointing past us both back the way we came "all this is your fault, both your fault" she clarifies "they did not need to die"
"Our fault? They attacked us. How are we the bad guys?" Jake asks with almost a laugh, making me glare down at him a little, but she flinches forward threateningly, bow near his face again as he scoots back, making me take a step back as well.
"Easy. Easy" Jake whispers as he gently pushes her bow away from his face.
"Your fault! Your fault. You're like babies, making noise. Don't know what to do" she retorts, and I can't even argue, she was entirely right.
Jake keeps his hand raised as he slowly gets back to his feet "fine. Fine. If you love your little forest friends, why not let them just kill our asses?" He inquires, I wanted to smack his arm, to shut him up, but he did have a good point, so I stay quiet and back away a bit.
I was starting to feel overwhelmed now, every sound around us catching my attention, every crack of a twig and every soft animal noise, making my ears flick this way and that, but I try to focus on what's happening in front of me.
"Whats the thinking?" He continues.
"Why save you?" She murmurs.
Jake nods "yeah, why save us?"
She pauses now, watching us closely, though almost curiously.
"You have a strong heart. No fear" she says to Jake, before looking over and meeting my gaze, making me freeze for a moment, all my senses seeming to focus now rather than bounce around at every light and sound.
"And you...you have a strong soul. Kindness" My eyes widen a little, surprised and a bit confused.
"But stupid. Ignorant like children" she says in agitation, swaying a little as she spoke, then she turns and continues on down the nearly invisible path.
Jake smiles a little and looks to me, I return an uncertain smile before he nods, he grabs his spear then we both follow after her quickly, though I slip about a bit as we move faster, the mud coating the bottom of my boots making everything a slick surface.
"Well, if I'm like a child, then uh...look, maybe you should teach me. Teach us" Jake says, catching up to her quickly, I try to catch up, though I continue slip several times on the mud and soft moss.
"Sky people cannot learn. You do not See" she retorts.
"Well, then teach me how to See" Jake fires back, just as we come out onto a massive trees roots, Jake follows her onto the root without hesitation, I on the other hand definitely hesitate, my heart racing as my fear starts to escalate, looking down along the small cliff and over more large plants and roots bellow.
I look up to see Jake looking back to me, he motions for me to follow before he continues on, so I take a deep breath before slowly making making my way onto the root and following after them, moving cautiously and carefully.
"No one can teach you to See" the woman retorts.
I whimper out softly as I look down, we were now out over the huge drop, all thats under us now being the root we stand on, and the ground far below, making my palms sweat and my hands shake slightly.
"Look, come on. Wan't we talk?" Jake asks "say, where'd you learn to speak English? Dr. Augustine's school?" He continues, obviously wanting to keep a conversation going with her.
I see they are moving farther and farther ahead, so I suck in a breath and move faster, hoping to try and catch up, and I do just so, however, in my haste, I lose traction due to the mud, my foot slipping and I lose my balance, letting out a scream before I'm barely grabbed by the arm to keep me from falling all the way off the root.
Looking up as I gasp and see the Na'vi woman had jumped past Jake and grabbed my arm.
I grab her arm back and she helps me back up to my feet and closer to the middle of the root before she lets me go, Jake coming closer worriedly, I nod to him to reassure him I'm ok.
"You're both like babies" she reiterates, tail flicking this way and that in her anger while she mutters in Na'vi.
"Sorry..." I mutter softly, my cheeks heating with shame and embarrassment.
"We need your help" Jake says again after she continues on past us, he continues after her as well, though a bit slower now, and I follow quietly.
She stops and turns to us again angrily, raising her hand to stop us "you should not be here" she waves her hand as if to brush us away.
"Okay, then take us with you" Jake retorts.
"No! Go back" she snaps angrily, moving to walk away again, though Jake continues to follow her.
"No!" She stops, turning again and shoving him back a few feet before snapping at him in Na'vi "go back" she continues in English before suddenly looking up as she hears something.
Jake and I follow her gaze to see bright white little jellyfish like seeds, floating down toward us.
They come down closer, I can't take my eyes off them in awe, hearing the other two bickering a little, but I ignore them for now, slowly raising my hand and holding it out, palm up.
One floats down and lands softly onto my palm, it had no weight to it, though I could feel the softness of it, no rough texture to be found.
I lower my hand closer to my face to look down at the thing, reaching up with my other hand, I gently poke it, causing it to seem to jump up a little then float back down to rest on my hand again.
I look over to the other two, only for my eyes to widen, as Jake seems to be covered in them, he looks stunned and very confused, I almost laugh at the sight.
I look back to the one in my hand and it begins to float up and away, the others all following after it, I look back to Jake to meet his confused gaze before we both look to the woman.
She seems deep in thought for a few moments before she seems to make up her mind and she speaks "come...come" she urges and starts along the root again quickly.
We look to each other again before following after her, I slip a few more times, though I manage to not actually fall each time, and soon, after transferring over a few different roots, the ground comes up much closer to us now, until we aren't at a dangerous height anymore, much to my relief.
I begin to relax as we go, until there is a sudden whooping sound, as if something flying through the air, then there's a hard hit, ropes wrapping painfully around me and sending me flying off the root and onto the ground.
The landing making me gasp and cough as I landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me.
Jake yelps as he's hit as well and lands near me on the ground, I panic and try desperately to get out of the ropes as Na'vi warriors come out of the brush, surrounding us, whooping and yelling, obviously a hunting party, not expecting to find such an odd catch.
The Na'vi woman quickly jumps down from the root and starts talking with who seems to be the leader of the hunting party, a male Na'vi sitting high up on a horse like creature, tall and thin and with a stern expression on his face.
I watch him with wide fear filled eyes as he looks me and Jake over, sneering a little before we are pulled to our feet, the ropes falling to the ground and I hiss a little in pain as my braid is suddenly grabbed roughly, sending a jolt of pain through my head, and I can then feel a cold blade held to my braid and queue, making me stiffen and whimper softly.
My heart races as terror floods me, then we are forced to move, being shoved and pulled to run along with them all toward a massive tree not far from us, the tree was twice as large as any others we had seen so far, though I couldn't really focus on it, as I had to focus on keeping up with these warriors quick pace.
As we pass in through the huge roots, into the underside of the tree, Na'vi people begin to swarm around us in curiosity and wonder, a few reaching out and touching our arms or tails, I flitch at the unexpected touches and pull my tail up to my chest protectively.
Glancing around very slightly, I notice that the whole middle of the tree seems to be hollow, but there's also a huge root or branch system that goes all the way up the middle, like a huge a natural staircase.
I was too focused on what was above me, I didn't see the root coming.
My boot catches the root that everyone else had stepped over, causing me to lose my balance and begin to fall, however, a burning torturous pain suddenly makes my vision go white and I let out a scream.
As I had fallen, the Na'vi warrior had been startled and pulled down with me slightly as he had a tight hold on my braid, and in that stumble, his hand holding the knife had jerked back, slicing into my braid and queue, cutting through some of the hair as well as the queue underneath.
The pain only continues to grow as I fall to my hands and knees, nausea joining the excruciating pain.
I can hear Jake yelling, but he sounds so far off, fighting to get to me, but I can't focus...
The Na'vi all around watch on in horror and sorrow as I fall to my side in the dirt, sobbing in pain and curling up, trying to hide from the pain.
The cut hair and bits of queue littered the dirt around me.
The warrior that had cut my queue looks horrified and sick, dropping his knife, unsure what else he could do.
The tribes leader comes over quickly, pushing through the crowd to see what had happened, the Na'vi woman from before coming over quickly before kneeling beside me, quickly telling another woman to run and find the tribes doctor.
I clutch at my head in pain, my vision still just bright white as if I was staring at a light far too close, though my vision begins to return just slightly, making everything swim in and out of focus.
And the splitting pain in my head felt like I had lit my mind on fire.
I close my eyes desperately to try and keep the nausea from worsening and to hopefully help with the pain, though it really doesn't.
I can still hear yelling in both English and Na'vi as I could feel myself losing consciousness, but then I can feel myself being moved, and that wakes me up just enough to stay conscious as they force me to drink something, I try to open my eyes, only to whimper and give in to the dark void.
The last thing I hear being "will she be..." then nothingness.