Hello everyone. Thanks for all the great reviews. It has been brought to my attention that I never told you what Koda looks like. I jumped into this story with her in my head, but fear not it will be explained. For her it will be mostly in her Na'vi body anyway but I will describe her later on in this or the next chapter, depending on how carried away I get.
I laid down in a bed of silicone as the lid of the coffin closed. It felt as if the ending of one life and the beginning of another. Something big was going to happen and I wasn't sure of what it was going to be. It felt like being in a tornado of warm wind. At least that's what I felt, not to sure if I should have felt anything at all. When I opened my eyes, I was barraged with light and colour so vivid that it made my head hurt. I blinked the blindness away as a head came into my view. It was the doctor that made sure that there was no problem with the link. I was alone in the room, being that I was the newest female of the group. After all the motion tests, moving fingers and toes and such, I was able to get up and dress and move around. I dressed in a simple pair of shorts and a black tank top. A strip of elastic cloth bound and supported my chest, an unfortunate side effect of being a human hybrid, human anatomy. I didn't bother with the issued army boots that were supplied and opted to go barefoot instead. I strapped on my thigh holsters that held a few small knives that were only sharp enough for carving. The first task in my mind on this new planet was to carve a new symbol for my new body.
All of a sudden I heard the door of the room next to mine slam against the outside of the structure. I opened my door and watched as who I assumed to be Jake take off across the pavement. I leaned against the door way as I chuckled, I jogged after him, passed the basketball players. I was quickly gaining speed, I looked up a path that was coming up and saw a group of humans walking in army formations, a perimeter patrol group. I ran a little faster and dived over them, I rolled into a space between the crops and popped back up to my feet as I continued to run. I felt so invigorated. The All-Mother was all around me, in the air that I breathed, in the soil beneath my feet, pounding away in my chest. I continued to run, I passed Jake and another female that was with him as well as others in the garden. I no longer cared where I was or where I was going, my heart was pulling me. And I could only follow with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. A laugh was pulled from my chest as I continued to run, a smile so wide on my face, it could have split in half. Another tug in my heart pulled to my right and I changed direction so fast that I left a hole in the dirt. The air around me started to fill with noise of the night. Animals calling to roost, others calling for The Hunt. It was eerie and home all at once. So primal was this place that it left a hole in my soul, here I was stuck in confines, while life was being lived as intended just feet from me.
In front of me was the forest, and much to my distain a 15 foot tall reinforced chain link fence with razor wire top. The smile on my face turned into a silent scream, I was so close. She was just beyond my reach, I could practically see her there standing in the shadowed protection of the massive trees. There was a sharp pain in my head, as if someone was stabbing my brain with a red hot knife. I buckled, and folded to the ground landing on my knees gripping my head in my hands. Tears leaking out of my lashes. I felt digging into my skin, burrowing out my muscles, exposing my internals to the air. I felt my skin being flayed of my bones, my nerves being pulled out of my body. I screamed, loud enough that the raptors in the trees so close yet so far away, scattered in fright. After that everything faded to black as I fell into the soft earth. Little did I know that somewhere in the darkness of the forest another being screamed in joyous welcome as a woman with dark braded hair smiled as she faded into the trees.
When I regained consciousness I was in the med bay and very confused. My limbs were filled with prickling, my dark olive skin was slick with sweat. I looked up to see Norm and Grace standing over me, Jake was sitting off to my side with worry etched into his face. Grace and Norm were looking over the computers talking back and forth. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. Blood rushing to my skull and my ears ringing. I ran an unsteady hand through my waist length wavy dark brown hair, turning to look at Jake. "What in the nine hells happened? One moment I was fine and happy the next I'm on the torture wheel having my skin flayed off?" I ran a hand over my face, removing the sweat from my skin. I started to braid my hair, as I turned to look at Grace and Norm. "What happened?!" I insisted. Grace turned to look at me, "That lid has been open for 5 minutes and yet you still remained in the link. Somehow, you can stay linked without cerebral stimulus to you brain. We had to apply outside stimuli to your body to pull you back." I rolled my eyes, she was trying to sound smart with all her science. I knew a thing or two. "So, in other words" I lifted my arm, a trail of blood seeping through the fine hairs on my skin, flowing around the muscle, " you stabbed me with a needle?" I once again rolled my eyes, "There better have not been anything in it, I hate injections! Never know what kind of shit they are pumping into you." I slipped off of the table, wobbling for a second as pins and needles erupted through my feet and calves. Jake moved over to me, lending a supporting shoulder as I got my footing. I left my hand on his shoulder, nodding my thanks to him in my brief moment of unsteadiness. I looked to Grace, "well you have fun trying to figure that out. Jake," I looked down at him, "How about we go get some slop… I mean food. Norm, Care to join us?" I glanced over at him and saw the curiosity splashed across his face as he gazed at the screens. He didn't even hear me, I chuckled and turned back to Jake. "Come on, lest leave the science-oids to their business." he managed to get out between chuckles. We walked out the door and were off to find the cafeteria and all of its freeze dried food for people unable to adapt to the new, glorious world they now lived on, if you could call this living.