Chasing Ghosts

"Okay." Alex breathed to himself as he pushed his way through the brush. "This is bad."

Considering the fact that he had only just managed to survive an attack by a pack of psychotic animals, he considered himself lucky that he was still alive. Instead, he was now lost in a dark forest, with only a small flashlight to guide him.
I should have packed a bigger one. He mused. Of course, since Pandora's nights were usually bright enough to let someone see without imaging enhancers, flashlights were pretty low on people's wish lists. Not anymore.
He had tried to climb the bank again. It didn't work out. The earth was crumbly and he could barely see any decent handholds. Instead, he settled for following the bank until it evened out, then he would get back onto the road, and he'd make his way home. At least the psycho animals had gone.
That was almost half an hour ago. He thought he heard gunfire at one point, in the distance, but that was a while ago. He thought about staying at his position in the hope that another search party would find him, but that was unlikely. Chances were his friends thought that he was dead. He certainly couldn't tell if anyone else was in his position, and he certainly didn't want to attract any of the murderous wildlife by shouting or firing his weapon. For all intents and purposes, he was alone.
Strangely, he started to get used to the silence. More importantly, it sounded like the birds and the critters started to as well. He could hear the small chirps, screes and chitterlings of birds, insects and critters. For some reason, he really felt at ease.

"Okay… this is no big deal…" he whispered to himself. "I can get through this…"
His foot plunged into water, causing him to gasp in shock. He almost lost his footing and fell in.
Shit…
He shined his light across his surroundings. He noticed the moon was starting to shine through the trees. He remembered that sometimes it was easier to see in darkness without his flashlight. He flicked it off, and waited for his eyes to adjust.
"Well this is new…"
He realised he was standing near the border, of what appeared to be a large swamp. It was certainly very 'swamplike'… and wet. Without the glow of Pandora, it looked like any other swamp that he had expected to see.
Alex carefully waded through the water. He did his best to follow the embankment, relying on what was practically gut instinct to make his way. The water was cold and at times went up to his chest, but he was careful enough to not trip over. His exo suit was designed to be positively buoyant, so there wasn't that much of a threat of him drowning.
Funny… He thought. I swear to god I can hear a heartbeat. It wasn't his own. He could hear it, alternating, and with a sound that felt like a beat, but was entirely different. It gave him a strange sense of peace and something moved in the water.
"What?"
He could definitely see it, the ripples. It was coming to him, whatever it was.
"Oh shit…"
He started to scramble up the nearest tree root that he could find. Noise discipline be damned, something was coming for him.
He had just managed to hoist himself up, when it burst out of the water.

'It' proved to be the closest Pandoran equivalent of a crocodile. Except it had six legs, an armored carapace, and was massive. It could have very well eaten Alex whole had he not managed to get out of the water. Unfortunately, it got the illustrious second prize in the form of Alex's leg.
Alex screamed as the jaws clamped on his leg. In normal circumstances, it would have been chomped right off. Thanks to the armored greaves that his exo suit provided, the teeth failed to breach his skin.
Alex was being dragged down. He was holding onto the tree root with all of his mechanised might, but he knew that he was fucked. He'd eventually lose his grip, and it would be all over.
A hand grabbed him.
He was facing down so he couldn't see who was rescuing him. Whoever it was, he was certainly strong, as they were now making real progress, and Alex was being lifted up. As soon as he had freedom to use his hands again, he grabbed his shotgun and aimed carefully at the crocodile things forehead. Then he fired.
The beast gave a roar of pain and let go of Alex. The lucky human and his rescuer almost fell off the other side. The beast slunk back into the water.
Alex caught his breath and looked at his saviour. He swore when he saw who it was.
The na'vi woman beside him looked like she had just been through a battlefield. Her hair was torn, her jewellery was broken and she was covered in mud. She was tired, and had the same look of surprise that Alex had on his face.
"Fuck Neytiri…" Alex swore. "Is that you?"

Mu'kala jogged down the road, his head fuming at himself for missing the APC.
Another part of his mind was actually glad he didn't have to rely on the humans machines. He never trusted such devices. He'd prefer to come on a mount, but of course, he didn't bring one.
I can't believe they accused US of the killings. He fumed. Why? They were na'vi, probably, but who would have any wit to attack a single convoy carrying wood?
He kept jogging. When the mad beasts attacked, he was unable to get to the trucks before they took off with the others; he was busy trying to stop a viperwolf from biting his arm off. By the time he killed it, the trucks had sped off, and any one left behind was either dead, or had melted into the jungle, the beasts hunting them. He alone remained on the road.
I mean, it's not what I would have done. He continued in his head. I would have hit some convoy containing their murdering soldiers, not trucks of wood. Whose idea was this?
Probably some boys too scared to face the real warriors…
He kept jogging. The moon was out in the sky, shining cool light down upon the ground. The darkness didn't seem so scary anymore. His mood lifted a little.
The only thing detracting him further was the damn headache he was having.
He continued jogging.

"Yes…." The na'vi cheiftess breathed. "It's me…"
"What are you doing here?"
"I want to ask what the hell YOU are doing here first… okay?" She was haggard. She certainly wasn't going to take a 'no' from the tawtute as an answer. She really was not in the mood for any bullshit whatsoever.
Alex seemed to take the hint. He related to her in na'vi on what had happened, how the humans had gone to look for their missing men, only to find a convoy attacked by arrows. He then related on how the mad monsters had attacked everyone, causing him to be separated from everyone else. The rest was details, particularly in how he just managed to avoid being eaten alive thanks to her help.
"You were lucky I was here tawtute." Neytiri said. "That beast would have been your end, when you disturbed its lair."
"Right, how was I to know which patch of jungle belonged to what animal in the middle of the dark?" Alex said sardonically. "So why the hell are you here?"

"I was going with my child to visit the Khalistheya tribe. My child, Miri, she started getting strange, recurring dreams each night for the past week."
"What sort of dreams?"
"She spoke of strange lands of mist and shadow. It was a world that was like ours, but different, filled with strange aspects that didn't make any sense to us. In these dreams, she would find people… or perhaps spirits. Some were hostile and angry. They would try to attack Miri and chase her down. Others were benevolent and kind, and would try to help her go safely through this world. She never really told us what these spirits were like. A lot of this world we didn't understand."
Alex sat there listening. He didn't say a word.
"Sometimes she would wake as normal. Other times, she would wake up frightened or crying. We didn't know what to do. Then one day, Hesh'ka of the Khalistheya sent a messenger saying that she had the answer. She said that she could only tell us when we came to her village. I went with Miri, along with Norm, Max and a few friends. Jake couldn't come because of the trouble with the young braves attacking the treecutters." She shut her eyes in frustration. "I should have never trusted that fucking bitch…"
"What do you mean?"
"When we arrived at their homes in this swamp, Hesh'ka was at first, friendly with us. We talked about Miri's dreams at what we could do, when suddenly she just shouted 'Now!'. All of the sudden, some of her warriors pounced upon us, trying to pin us under, and taking us prisoner. She took Miri away from us, and carried the rest of us to a clearing out in the swamp."
"Why?"
"I don't know…" Neytiri whispered. She fought back a tear or two. "She didn't say anything about what she was planning to do with her, even when I screamed at her about how much of a traitorous bitch she was… While they were taking us to the clearing, Norm caused a distraction, and I managed to slip away. I don't know what happened to the others though; I think they're still with the Khalistheya. I trudged the rest of the day and the night, through the swamp in the hope that could get to the mines and tell Jake what had happened." She breathed in and out. "And then it went dark."

Alex was silent for a while as they sat on the root.
"How can you be so calm in a place like this?" Neytiri demanded.
"This is my calm face?"
"How can you live in the darkness? How do you find your way without Eywa's light to guide you? Why aren't you scared of this?"
"What, are all na'vi scared of the dark?" Alex muttered half-jokingly.
Neytiri wasn't smiling.
And then Alex realised what she meant.
Of course… na'vi exist in light almost all the time. Between the sun, the moon, the planet and the glow of the flora and fauna, real darkness must be almost non-existent. He noted the na'vi's reaction when the forest had gone dark twice. They've never SEEN real darkness. No wonder they're so scared of it.
"Well Neytiri…" Alex said as he got up. "We humans don't have your wonderful light back home. We never did." He grabbed a branch off the tree, tied some fabric around it, and moved slowly to the pitch plant that was growing out of the trunk.
"So we make our own."

Mu'kala needed a breather. It was funny. The trip to the convoy had only taken about half an hour, but that was only because they were going on vehicles. It must have been few hours since he had taken off down the road, but he wasn't sure that he had made a lot of progress. Having a headache didn't help either.
He sat at the foot of a tree, just off the side of the road. He'd give himself a short break, and then he'd be back on the move again. He relished in the thought of being able to tell off the others for leaving him behind.
Damn tawtutes…. He thought. Leave me behind like the short, untrustworthy scum that they are huh? I'll show them.
He watched the world around him. The moon was out, so he took some comfort in seeing its face in the dark.
Why did they take the bodies? I've heard of people taking the equipment and leaving the bodies, but who's heard of taking the bodies and leaving the gear? There were some decent guns lying around.
He rubbed his head furiously. The headache was starting to make him dour.
Maybe it's some human trick. He thought up suspiciously. Maybe they made the whole thing to give them a reason to attack us. Maybe this is all-
"Daddy, what are you doing?"

Mu'kala looked up.
In front of him, in the direction of the mines, were two na'vi: a boy and his mother. The mother held her child's shoulders parentally from behind. The boy was dressed in what anyone would expect a na'vi child to dress up in. He had scuffed up hair and mud on his face. The mother was dressed in clean wrappings. She had feathers in her braid, arranged in in an almost spiral fashion. Both of them looked at Mu'kala with sad eyes.
"…Kee'ha?... Sokka?" Mu'kala stammered. "What…what are you doing here?"
"We came to see you daddy." The child said. His voice felt like the only thing in Mu'kala's mind.
"But… but…" Mu'kala stared. He was at a loss for words. "But you're both dead. I… I…"
"We know."
"Then…. how…. What…."
"You didn't say goodbye 'kala." The mother whispered. "You weren't there when we needed you."
"But… but I was on a hunt!" the once powerful na'vi warrior begged. "There was no way I'd be there in time before they attacked! I tried to get back, but by the time I heard, RDA had already attacked! I…"
The boy and the child started to move down the road. Mu'kala couldn't tell if they were walking.
"Wait!" he cried, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen!"
He started to chase after them. Before he knew it, he was breaking into full run. But no matter how fast he went, they never in his reach. They were always walking away.
Mu'kala tripped up on the road. He didn't see the larger than normal stone, and he fell flat on his face as a result. When he looked back up, they were gone.

Mu'kala got back to his feet shakily. He looked around. He had progressed down the road further, but the surrounds hadn't really changed. The forest didn't seem to care that he was chasing ghosts. Mu'kala fought back the remaining tears, wiped his nose and regained his composure as best he could. He still felt like curling into a ball and crying though.
He started walking on again.

Alex and Neytiri walked carefully along the swamp roots.
"Do you know where you're going?" Neytiri questioned at one point.
"…Sort of."
"What do you mean sort of?"
"I'm sure if we follow this bank, we'll make our way up the road again."
"If you say so…"
They walked on. Alex carried the flaming torch. It wasn't as fancy or high tech like a flashlight or night vision, but there was nothing else better for beating back the dark. Sometimes they would have to quietly wade through water, other times Neytiri had to carry Alex across certain gaps. Those were sometimes awkward moments.

"So Neytiri…" Alex began.
"What?"
"Tell me about your daughter."
"No."
Alex paused a little.
"Okay I wasn't expecting you to be that blunt…"
"I'm not discussing my family with you tawtute." Neytiri replied. "Get used to disappointment."
"Believe me, I'm used to it."
"It's not as if you have any experience in them." She muttered snarkily.
"Hey!" Alex stopped where he was, pointing the torch back at her. "I've had the closest thing to a daughter to take care of alright!" he said with anger. "So don't tell me what I know and don't know, okay?"
"Oh really? Neytiri smirked condescendingly "Did you babysit some brat for a night while his mom and dad partied?" She started to make expressions. "Did he not go to bed when you told him? Did you screw up his favourite bedtime story?"
"How about looking after your six-year old little sister, after your parents died for several years, all by yourself, and then come home to find that somebody killed her?" he said. "That good enough answer?"
Whatever laughter there was in the situation had a heart attack and died on the spot.
"…I-"
"You know what? Fuck it. Forget I mentioned anything." Alex marched on moodily. Neytiri had to follow behind to stay with the light.

Neytiri was silent for a while as she thought of something to say. She thought of changing the subject, but that just seemed to be a gormless, spineless thing to do. So after about half an hour of trudging, she worked up the spine to ask him about her.
"Tell me about her."
"No. Get used to disappointment."
There was a short silence.
Alex sighed. "Her name was Michelle. She was my sister."
"How old was she?"
"She was about six when I started taking care of her. I was only nineteen." Alex jumped over a gap. "She was the biggest thing about my life at that point. I had to work as a policeman and at the same time look after Michelle. It wasn't easy."
"What was she like?"
"She was cute… she always asked questions, always wanted to know what this was, what was that, who was that man, how was your day, what happens if you put these in a blender…" he partially shivered. "I never knew glow sticks could blend…" he got back on topic. "But she almost always had a smile for you when you came through the door. She must have hated being cooped up at home, she always loved it when I took her out to explore the city…" He shimmied across the root. "And she loved hearing stories. She once said she preferred hearing stories to watching TV."
They moved on a while longer. Neytiri didn't ask about how she died. Instead, she moved on to something more worthwhile.
"If it's any consolation…" she said reassuringly. "Miri would have loved to meet her."
"Huh…"
"Really. She's a lot like what you said your sister is like. She would have made fast friends with this Michelle."
Alex looked behind at Neytiri for a moment. He looked uncertain.
"Well… if you say so." He agreed. "Thanks. She did look friendly."
Neytiri frowned. "You met her? When?"
"Let's just say that Hesh'ka didn't do a too good a job of stopping her from meeting the sky people when they came to visit." He kept moving.

As they continued to move through the swamp, Neytiri started to snicker.
"…What?" Alex asked uncomfortably.
"I saw you smile there."
"…So?"
"That's something I've never seen you of all people do." She chuckled. "AND you were trying to hide it."
"You haven't really been doing too much smiling either."
"Yeah, but it's funnier noticing you not doing it."
"Oh go soak your head…" he countered. "You're just jealous because if YOU smile too much, then your face would crack upon."
"Hey, it could be worse. At least I'm not some pitiful young woman who dyed her red, put liner on her eyes, and bemoans how miserable our world is."
Alex turned around and stared at Neytiri before bursting into laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"We've got the same equivalent of that, more or less, back home!" he started to shrug off the laughter.
"Nah! You're lying!"
"I'm not! I know a guy just like that in the colony!"
The two of them started laughing as they compared the differences between the two people that they knew. Before they knew it, they were gossiping about their other friends and their own people.
"Oh man…." Neytiri sighed happily. "Our friends have got more in common with each other than I've thought."
"Yeah. I wonder how they're doing now…"

The human and the na'vi walked through the forest.
Emile was lucky to have found someone after running into the forest. He knew the stories of people who had been found dead just metres from the road. So he was glad when a na'vi brave ran right into him a little while after the fight. He still had to nurse the bruises from it. At least the two of them knew each other's language, sort of. Now they just had to find a way back.
"There." Emile pointed across the gap. "The road is right over there. All we need to do now is find a way across this gap…"
"I can jump it." The na'vi declared. He took a running start and clearly leapt over the gap and onto the road. "Your turn human."
Emile took a running start. But just before he reached the gap, he stopped dead. He balanced precariously over the edge before stepping back.
"What's the matter?"
"I… I can't make this one."
"What, are you afraid of heights?"
"….Yes."
The na'vi swore. "Hold on, I'll go find a vine you can grab on while I drag you up. Wait here." The na'vi took off.
Emile started to get really nervous at this point. Okay… That na'vi guy better not has just left me here. He thought in his mind. Its okay Emile, It's okay… just wait here calmly and- what was that?
He heard something crawling up the bank. On his side no doubt. He took out his flashlight and took a deep breath.
He went to look.

The scream filled the forest as Derun raced back with the vine. Shit, what has that moron got himself into?
He came up to the gap. There was no sign of the human on the other side.
"Hang on!" he shouted in broken English. "I've got the vine! I need you to come back so I can throw you the vine So I-"
"Don't bother." A quiet voice said right beside him.
The warrior jumped back in fright. The human was standing right beside him. He was facing away from the bank, not even bothering to turn his head to face the warrior. He had this disturbingly blank expression on his face.
"Shit!..." the warrior stammered in fright. "How the hell did you get across?"
"I jumped."
"Jumped?"
"Jumped."
The warrior looked at the gap. "But that was a big gap! There was no way you could have jumped across…"
"I did." Emile said flatly.
The warrior looked back and forth from the gap to Emile.
"You-"he began.
"Jumped." Emile interrupted.
"Across-"
"Across the ravine."
Derun scratched his head.
"Is there a bathroom I can use around here?" Emile asked.