AN: This is my first time writing a fanfiction for Avatar. Please be nice and read it patiently. Leave a nice review please! =)
Note: River is my Own Character and the plot belongs to me. aside from him, the rest don't belong to me.
SUM: SLASH Follows along with the movie. River is a fellow coworker of Jake's and during their first visit; he gets trapped alone in Pandora. Unfortunately it wasn't Neytiri who picked him up. It was Tsu'tey and due to River's stubborn streak, they do not get along fine. PAIRINGS: Tsu'tey X River -------Jake X Neytiri
Two
Conclusion: My ability to make stupid choices is astounding.
I gulped and stared up at the tall not horse-ish thing standing in front of me. In the back of my head, I vaguely remembered the textbooks on the creatures of Pandora. The horse was supposed to eat flower nectar right? So what was there to be afraid of?
Well, for one thing, it's practically the size of a small house and my eyes are like to the level of its knobby knees. Is it my imagination or is this one particularly big? I turned slowly to give the tall Na'vi a sideway glance and he smirked again, eyes sparkling maliciously. I suddenly felt his personality was no better than the other peers on Earth. Were the Na'vi all like him? I felt my shoulders slump as the familiar feeling of being lost came back to me fully. Here I was again, not sure what to do. The dream I had been holding onto for dear life was leaving me behind. I had hoped to find a home on Pandora and get a fresh new start. Like a rebirth from my filthy life back on Earth. It seemed almost impossible now. I took a deep breath and lowered my eyes to the ground, feeling them blur with tears.
No, men don not cry.
I flung the tears off my face angrily with my hand and looked up into the golden eyes of the beast in front of me. It stared back down at me, its narrow face expressionless, not that I was expecting a welcoming hug and a smile.
I searched my memories for the information I needed to tame the so-called horse. Something about hair and antenna flashed across my mind and I reached up to yank at my buzz cut. The blond fuzz was so short I couldn't even gather it together. I turned to see the tall Na'vi male snort at my expression. His skin glittered from the millions of water drops still clinging to his body, his long hair casually draped over one broad shoulder. The bow was strapped to his back.
I sighed. There was no chance I would escape so I squared my shoulders and looked up at it. A foolish thought entered my head and for a moment I considered the chance that my mother might have dropped me on my head quite a few times in my childhood, not that I could remember her face. She died a long time ago.
"In order to earn its approval, you have to respect it first." My drilling serge's words echoed through my head once again. His word on backing away didn't help last time so why should I listen now? Oh what the hell, you're going to be the death of me, Sergeant Jones.
"I'm not going to hurt you…not gonna hurt you…" I reached out a trembling hand and slowly tried to put my finger tips on the tall horse's head. Of course that part took me some effort and I had to stand on my tiptoes because the horse was as mean as its owner and didn't lower its head an inch. There were a few millimeters between me and the horse's muzzle when the tall Na'vi leaning casually against a rock suddenly gave several sharp clicks and the horse head butted me hard. Star exploded in my vision and I felt back a few steps and landed on my butt. The ground was soggy near the river and mud splattered over the breathing mask. I growled when the sound of his deep laughter floated over to me and wiped the glass surface as I stood. I straightened my mask and stepped closer again. The horse focused its eyes on me and snorted, its front four hooves pounded the dirt in front of me.
I took a deep breath and sent a silent prayer to the heavens as I took a flying leap at the horse. My chin connected with the hard back of the animal and a bitter metallic tang informed me I had bitten my cheek. My legs flailed as the animal reared up and took off running. My mouth was in pain and I spat out a mouthful of reddish saliva, pulled my mask back on before clinging to the back tighter. It was the fastest horse I had ever ridden. Wind rushed past my face and ears and I pressed my face against the grayish blue neck of the animal as it tore deeper into the forest. I whispered a few words to try and calm it down but it only went faster. I held on for dear life. Soon the clearing by the river came rushing back in bright colors and the horse reared up again, its body almost standing on the hind two hooves. I finally let go and allowed myself to fall back onto the hard muddy ground. I grinned up at the sunlight and closed my eyes, letting my body go limp.
I blinked when a slimy soft tongue licked my ear and opened my eyes. The tall animal was bent over me and licking a trail of saliva over my breathing mask. I let out a small whoop and wrapped my arms around the long slender face and pressed my forehead against it.
"That's enough." The flat voice to the left made me turn and the horse trotted back to its owner. The Na'vi had an annoyed expression on his face as he leaned down to speak to the horse, his voice extra loud and meaning for me to hear. "You must be feeling quite ill today to let a human ride you without a struggle."
I clenched my teeth and felt a flash of anger burn through me. He patted the horse on the neck and turned to lead it into the forest, completely ignoring me. I glared and grabbed a handful of mud, took aim and threw it at the tall native without thinking clearly.
"You're just a sore loser!" I shouted as the mud smacked him in the back of his head, his long shiny black braids now dripping brown mud. The broad shoulders stiffened as he turned around with a glowering look that could kill.
"Who do you think you are, human?!" he hissed and stalked toward me. I took in the detail that his impressive look didn't weaken even though he had a handful of mud dripping down his face. The Na'vi raised a hand as if to strike me but he froze as another one of those small jellyfish things floated over my face. Where did they come from? How come they can just pop up out of nowhere?
More and more came from all around and settled over my arms and hair, pulsing gently. Their little tentacles tickled as they brushed over my face. His face went hard as he drew his hand back with a disgusted look.
Suddenly the sound of a roar broke through the silence and the glow things scattered as birds of every color flew out of the trees and the tall Na'vi growled in annoyance. His face was stony as he hauled me to my feet and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, wrinkling his nose. Did I smell bad?
He threw himself over the horse and connected the end of his braid with the horse's antenna. Oh right, that was how you did it. I struggled to ease myself onto the back of the horse and he allowed me grudgingly to slide behind him. The horse was fast and the ride was bumpy so I tried to wrap my arms around his waist but that only got me a hard smack and an angry hiss. I glowered and removed my burning hands and tried to grab onto something.
"Tsu'tey." He suddenly said. I blinked.
"Come again?"
The Na'vi growled impatiently. "The name is Tsu'tey."
I realized he was telling me his name and smiled. "Oh, well I'm River." I whispered to his stiff back and grinned. "Nice to meet you, Tootsie"
He gave me a glare over his shoulder. "It's Tsu'tey not Tootsie."
I nodded obediently and the rest of the ride was done in silence. By the time we arrived at his home, it was already nighttime and my eyes were wide as dinner plates. The night was lit by a thousand glowing plants. My eyes scanned over the beautiful things in awe. Then the sound of hooves reached my ears I froze at the prospect of meeting more hostile glares but Tsu'tey said something in the native tongue and the other riders emerged around us, their golden eyes curious and some hostile. I held my head stubbornly high and ignored them.
The sound of a female's voice came from somewhere nearby and I heard a familiar voice reply slowly. Suddenly the horse underneath me gave a hard lurch forward and I saw Jake's tall blue form with a graceful female standing next to him. She stiffened when Tsu'tey hissed something and before I could do anything, she drew the bow from her back and fitted and arrow inside. My eyes widened as the arrow rushed at me in a blur of yellow. Suddenly a blue blur flash in front of my face and the sharp tip of the arrow quivered in front of my face. It was merely inches from my face when it was stopped by Tsu'tey's fist. The Na'vi riding in front of me caught the arrow casually with his left arm. I went cross-eyed as I took in the sharp tip.
It was too much and the last thing I saw before blackness took over was the surprise on Tsu'tey's face as I slid off the horse.
The ground is damn hard. I think I broke my jaw.
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