Dominika awoke early the following day and joined Jake on a tour around the hangar that held all the jets and other large vehicles. Currently, she was roaming around with Trudy, the pilot that would be flying them around and to their locations, while Jake was off meeting with someone.
"Wow...you've guys managed to gather quite a few models." Dominika remarked with a smile as she admired the different models.
"I think they got some of these through high-stakes poker." Trudy said with a chuckle before she pulled Dominika out of the way of an amp suit. "Watch it!" She yelled at the driver of the amp suit and then shook her head. "Some of these aren't even flown yet since they haven't gotten the right pilots." She added while gesturing to a few rather pristine high-tech fighter jets.
Dominika looked over at the jets before she grinned. "I thought I recognized those...I was a commander, and my squad used these planes." She said as she followed Trudy over.
"Leave it to the countries in war to make killing machines." Trudy said before she looked up at the shining jet. "So, which one was yours? The Zeus 'King of the Sky' or the Aurora 'Too Beautiful to be in a War'?" She asked with humor clear in her tone.
"I flew a modified Zeus model while the rest of my squad had basic Aurora models. This model was our best one...so it was only given to the best of the best." Dominika said and rested her hand on the part of the jet she could reach.
"It's an awful shame then that you can't fly it. Such a nice jet shouldn't just be sitting here collecting dust." Trudy shook her head at that before she looked at Dominika.
Dominika shrugged a bit at that as she calmly pulled her hand away. "Even if I could, I'm unsure if I would do it. When I was shot down, something...in me changed. As I activated my parachute, I looked up, and my squad was gone. While everyone in my country knew that war takes many lives, it still hurt to be the only one alive." She said before looking at Trudy with a soft sigh.
Trudy nodded after a moment before she began to lead Dominika away. "I couldn't imagine getting back into the business if I were in your shoes. Your accident is what almost all pilots fear, y'know." She said in a sympathetic tone while she kept the redhead to the side.
"Am I already in the textbooks for what can happen if your ship blows up?" Dominika asked while the corner of her lips quirked up.
Trudy smirked at her. "Nope. You're in the documentary." She said with a chuckle while she kept an eye on the mech drivers.
Dominika couldn't help but laugh at that. "I knew those interviews would go beyond the news."
Trudy led her out of the hangar as they headed for the labs. "Us Americans ate it up." She said with a grin while she tied her hair in a ponytail.
Dominika rolled her eyes in humor and was silent for a bit until they reached the labs. At that, she smiled and nodded to Trudy. "See you out in the field."
"See ya." Trudy nodded before jogging off back to the hangar.
Dominika entered the lab with a smile and stood next to Jake. "We were talking about muscles and tattoos." Jake said to Grace with a shrug and a cheeky smile.
While Dominika was unsure about what they were discussing...she could see that Grace was having none of it. She was thoroughly pissed off at Jake.
"Yeah. Well, listen marine-" Grace looked at him sharply while leaning over him a bit. "You're driving an avatar, now. That means you're in my world, got it?" She said, her eyes narrowing in silent warning.
Jake raised his hands in defeat while he wore a slight wince. "Yeah, I got it." He said with a nod, though, judging his tone, he was only saying it to avoid another lecture from the redheaded scientist.
"Good." Grace said just as sharply before she turned away and entered the main link room.
"...Ouch. It looked like she was going to bite you." Dominika whispered to Jake as they followed Grace.
"I think she was." Jake quietly replied with a wince.
Grace glanced back at them before she stopped at one link bed. "That son of a bitch has screwed up this program enough. All this-" She gestured to the link beds, "-exists so we can go out there and build a bridge of trust to these people, who could teach us so much. But thanks to Quaritch and his thugs, the Na'vi won't even talk to us anymore."
Dominika offered her a small smile. "Well, now you have two new faces to help fix what the fuck-ups did." She nodded afterward and planted her hand on her hip.
Grace cracked a smirk at her. "Excellent choice of words." She said before she continued and looked at Norm and the redhead. "Since you both are fluent, the Omaticaya clan might give you two a chance. If that happens, we may have a chance to get them back on the table before things go tits-up for good."
Norm looked not so encouraged by her words. "That was…not the kind of pep talk I was hoping for."
Dominika chuckled and patted him on the arm. "Chin up, Norm. The outlook could be much better, but I for one will take on the challenge." She said before heading over to her link bed.
The woman watched as the lid opened before she climbed in and soon enough she was traveling through the familiar tunnel of color.
000000000000
Over the jungles of Pandora.
Dominika held a pair of binoculars up to her eyes as they flew over the dense jungles of Pandora. While Norm was looking for the nearest barf bags, the rest of the crew were looking at the wildlife beneath them and flying beside them. Dominika herself was making a game out of finding different animals, crossing them off on her notebook whenever she saw them.
"Having fun, Waldo?" Jake asked with a smirk.
"Waldo? What weird American thing is Waldo?!" Dominika loudly asked when then helicopter dipped a bit.
"Ah, you'll never get it!" He laughed at that and then shook his head. "Besides, it's not American!"
Dominika rolled her eyes at him. "Oh shut up!"
Grace looked at them before she spotted a Sturmbeest herd drinking from the river. "Sturmbeests!"
Dominika looked through her binoculars. "Several females…oh, and a calf!" She reported back with a smile.
"And a bull. He's got those red markings." Grace told her and returned the smile before she held onto the Samson as they banked hard at a waterfall.
Dominika nodded before she laughed when Norm clung to the inside of the Samson. "You okay, Norm?!"
"No-I am not!" Norm said before he screamed a little when Trudy banked again.
Dominika couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face. "Hold on, Norm. We'll be landing soon!"
"I hope…" Norm said as he tried not to get sick again.
Eventually they reached a small clearing that the Samson could land in. When they did, the drivers hopped off. Grace waved her hand at Trudy, telling her to turn off the aircraft before she looked at Wainfleet. "Stay here with the ship." She said before she looked away. "I don't need two morons with guns."
The man clicked his tongue. "Got it, doctor." He said as he stayed beside the Samson.
Jake appeared to be quite jumpy as he grabbed his gun at each sound. He whipped around when he heard some chittering nearby and raised his gun.
Dominika raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey…easy, Jake. You'll know if something wants to eat you. Right now we are perfectly safe."
Jake looked at her in surprise before he saw her reassuring smile and sighed. After that he relaxed and nodded. "If you say so."
Around an hour of walking later, the group found themselves at a partially destroyed shack. The building looked as though it had been pumped full of bullets at some point. The appearance of it quickly sobered up everyone in the group.
Dominika slowly traced her fingers over a few of the bullet holes as her eyebrows furrowed. "...What happened here?" She quietly asked and looked over more of the building.
Norm was paying the building no mind and was looking up to the trees. "So, how will they know we're here?"
Grace looked up as well and smirked. "Oh, I'm sure they're watching us now." Her comment made Jake look up with a cautious expression.
Dominika stepped into the building, minding her step as she carefully looked around. She paused when she saw a desk and then a book covered in dust lying on the ground. "Grace? Was this…a school?" She asked as she picked up the book.
Grace looked at her before her gaze flickered elsewhere. "It was." She stepped inside and picked up a framed picture.
"Why would they do this?" Dominika turned to face her as placed the book on the desk.
"...Things weren't happening fast enough." Grace said before she got the picture out of the frame and put it in her bag.
Dominika sighed and shook her head. "What is wrong with people?"
Jake looked at her with a small frown. "A lot of things."
The redhead looked at him and then at Grace before she exhaled. "Right. Grace, I'll help with the equipment." She headed over and began to help the older woman.
After another hour of setting up the equipment, Grace and Norm were ready to start getting their readings. Dominika nodded and stepped back before exhaling. "Looks like you guys are all set up. I should go check up on Jake."
The scientist looked up at her. "Try to keep him out of trouble, Dominika. He's practically a child out here." Grace said with furrowed brows.
"I'll keep a close eye on him." Dominika told her before going after the marine.
It was an understatement to say that Jake was like a kid in a candy store. He looked at anything and everything and then touched even more. He touched the leaves, flowers, even the trees. Honestly, it was refreshing to see the amazement in his eyes. Dominika hadn't seen anything like it for a long time.
The woman quietly followed him until she emerged when he poked some Helicoradians. "Jake." She smiled and called out to him.
Jake blinked and looked at her. "How long have you been there?"
"A while. Your fascination is…fun to watch." Dominika softly chuckled and approached him.
He rolled his eyes in mild humor. "Aren't you supposed to be with Grace and Norm?"
"They don't need another person looking at the stuff they're getting back. Besides, I happen to have a bit more field experience." Dominika winked at him and trailed her fingers over a leaf.
"You were sent to babysit me, weren't you?"
"Totally." Dominika chuckled at that while she watched him roll his eyes.
Jake turned away and then looked at the plants he had been messing with. "So what are these things?"
"Helicoradians. They are sensitive to touch and we think that they can even sense nearby movement. After they have been touched, they recoil and sort of retreat into the ground." Dominika explained with a head tilt.
Jake raised an eyebrow before he touched another one. This time, the plant retracted back into the ground, but it also caused a chain reaction. All the plants around it coiled up to reveal the clearing they were in.
Before either of them could ask about it, a deafening roar sounded and made them both pause. "Uhh…what was that?" Jake asked and he got his gun from his back.
Dominika looked around before she caught sight of the animal. "Oh fuck. Hammerhead Titanotheres. There are basically giant rhinos with the heads of hammerhead sharks."
Jake grimaced at that and aimed at the massive creatures.
Hearing the sound, Grav and Norm hurried over and hid in the bushes. "Don't shoot. Don't shoot, you'll piss him off." Grace said into the throat microphone.
"She's right. The bullets will just startle them and then they'll charge." Dominika told him with a worried look.
"What are we supposed to do then?!" Jake asked and looked at her for a moment.
"We can't run." The redhead responded as she stood still.
"Just hold your ground!" Grace told him as she watched the massive creatures.
The large animal moved and slashed its head around, taking down sapling and small foliage. It bellowed once more and lowered a bit before it began to charge.
"Oh fuck-Jake?!" Dominika gasped as he charged right at the creature as well, screaming with his arms spread wide. "Get back!"
Unexpectedly, the hammerhead stopped abruptly and let out a noise that almost sounded frightened.
"Hah! That's right, bitch! Who's the boss here?!" Jake laughed as the creature backed up.
Dominika looked at the scene in confusion…before she heard a noise behind her. She stiffened as her mind raced before she slowly glanced back. "Jake…?"
"Yeah, I'm the boss. Run off!" Jake cockily said, not at all hearing Dominika.
"Jake!" Dominika called to him a bit louder.
Seeing as the marine was still thinking he was the cause of the hammerhead's fright, she dashed forward and pushed Jake out of the way.
"What the hell, Dominika?!" Jake looked at her with a scowl…before he finally noticed the beast.
Dominika pulled out a knife and narrowly avoided the beast's pounce before she plunged the knife into its forehead. "Run, Jake! Run now!" She yelled before she grabbed his hand and ran while the creature was stunned.
Jake looked shocked but ran with her. "What the fuck is that thing?!"
"A thanator! It's a feared Pandoran predator." She tried to explain before she heard the beast roar and began chasing them.
The woman dragged him out of the way when it caught up and pulled him under the roots. "Aim for the head!" She slapped his gun.
Jake opened fire at her words and yelled before he lost the gun when the creature grabbed it and threw it away. "Fuck!"
Dominika watched before she saw it going for Jake's pack. She reached over and unbuckled it before pulling him out in time. "We have to keep moving!"
"What the hell are we gonna do?!" Jake asked as he held her hand.
Dominika looked around before she heard the sound of rushing water. "There's a waterfall up ahead! We have to jump!"
"Are you crazy?!" His eyes widened at her words.
"I'm a fucking maniac, but this is the only way!" Dominika said before they emerged from the jungle to a cliff side.
Jake panted and looked back before he tightened her hand. "Together."
Dominika looked at him before she nodded. "Together." She repeated the word and held his hand just as tightly.
As the thanator emerged behind them, the two jumped. They braced for the impact and landed in the water.
While the beast roared in anger and went back into the forest, Dominika emerged and gasped before she helped Jake do the same. She made sure he wasn't injured before she began to swim for the shore.
Once they reached dry land and entered the forest, Dominika sighed and looked over her body, seeing the scratches she had sustained during the chase. "Ugh…wow…that sucked."
Jake nodded at that and looked around. "…Where are we?"
Dominika looked up and squinted. "I…have no idea. We only studied the locations we were heading to." She told him before she looked up. "It'll be eclipse soon…and then night. We're fucked."
Jake winced and checked his neck mic. "Grace? Norm? Anyone there?"
Dominika waited before she sighed. "Something is blocking it…we've got no coms."
"Well…what do we do?" Jake asked as he stopped trying.
"…We are gonna have to rough it. We need to find a way to make fire and shelter if possible. Fire first, the nocturnal animals can't handle light." Dominika instructed him.
"Good thing I know my survival skills." Jake said and he began searching around.
Dominika looked up to the trees. "The natives are certainly watching us now."
"Is that a bad thing?" Jake asked as he quickly grabbed some sticks and then wrapped some cloth from his own shirt around them.
"…I'm not sure. They could be irritated or impressed by us. There's no way of knowing." She shook her head at that before she removed her pack and brought it over to him. "I have a lighter we can use, we just need a more flammable liquid of some sort."
While Jake searched for such a liquid, unbeknownst to them there was a Na'vi woman watching them. Her bow was readied with her deadly arrow aimed at Dominica's throat. The moment she was about to fire a Woodsprite landed on the tip of her arrow.
Her eyes widened and she mouthed a word before she lowered her bow. She watched as the Woodsprite floated away and then looked back at the duo in stunned silence.
000000000000
Sunset.
As the sun set and twilight occurred, Grace grimaced and looked through her binoculars while the samson circled over the forest.
"I'm gonna have to call it, guys. We're not allowed to run night ops. Colonel's orders." Trudy said over the intercom, causing the two remaining Avatars to sigh.
Grace put down the binoculars with a deep frown. "Shit."
"Sorry, Doc. They're just gonna have to hang on 'till morning." Trudy responded with a frown of her own.
"I don't know if they'll last that long." Grace said with a hint of concern in her eyes.
000000000000
Night.
"You got those torches going?" Dominika hastily asked as she finished sharpening her spear.
Jake grabbed the lighter and tried to light it a few times before it finally went. He quickly lit both torches and then looked around. "We've got company."
Dominika turned to look at him before she heard the trademark noises of Viperwolves. "Damn it."
"What are these guys?" Jake asked and handed her a torch.
"Viperwolves. Think of any prey animal that hunts in packs and that's their behavior." She explained and cautiously held her spear out.
"Got it." He nodded and watched before he whipped around at the sound of something breaking a stick.
The creatures stalked them, hiding in the trees, the bushes, every inch of the darkness. Their noises sounded similar to that of a hyenas, a hideous laugh that put them both on alert.
They were nearly caught off guard and Dominika quickly dodged the creature and thrusted her spear into it's side. She pulled it out and kicked the animal away while her tail angrily swished. She looked around before she yelled and smacked another one with the body of her spear.
"Remind me not to piss you off." Jake murmured as he kept the viperwolves away with his torch.
"Here's your reminder, hah!" Dominika stabbed another viperwolf, twisting the blade with a scowl.
Jake comically blinked at that.
"Heh…eyes on the problem, Jake." Dominika shot him a smirk and promptly beat down a screeching viperwolf.
Jake looked back at the viperwolves…before he noticed a group surrounding him. "Ah, shit." He murmured and waved the torch at them before pulling his knife. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."
Before they could pounce on him, a loud feminine war cry sounded out and a female na'vi landed. She screamed at them and then used her bow to whack them away before firing an arrow at one near Dominika.
The redhead gasped and looked stunned at the sight of the na'vi woman. She quickly focused back on the remaining viperwolves and stabbed one in the head. She tossed it off to the side and panted, not caring about the amount of blood on her body.
The native female lowered and hissed at the remaining creatures. This action alone caused the viperwolves to flee after hissing in return.
Dominika staggered and tossed the spear away, before she threw her torch into the nearby body of water. She leaned against a tree to try and calm down, ignoring the urge to drift off.
While Jake looked at the na'vi woman in amazement, she hissed a little at the sight of his discarded torch and hastily grabbed it.
As soon as he saw her heading for the water, Jake moved to stop her. "Hey wait don't-" He yelled…but she had already thrown it in. He scoffed at that and then sighed before he noticed just how much the forest naturally lit up.
"It's alright, Jake. She knows what she is doing." Dominika told him as she opened her eyes and watched the other female cautiously approach her.
The Na'vi woman looked over all the blood before she turned away and went over to a viperwolf making whimpering noises. She knelt down before putting it out of its misery and whispering a prayer in na'vi.
Jake watched her and lowered a bit as she murmured a prayer to another dead creature. "Look, I know you probably don't understand this. But...thanks. Thank you." He paused and softly chuckled. "That was pretty impressive."
Dominika sighed through her nose at his words. Of all the things he could have said, he said that.
The native looked up at him with a glare before she got up and started to leave.
Jake blinked and looked after her. "Hey, wait. Wait, where you going?"
Dominika followed him when he jogged after the woman. "Jake, I really don't think this is time for small-talk. We just killed a lot of creatures." She tried to tell him.
Jake chose not to listen to her this time as he crashed through a few plants. "Slow down a second. I just wanted to thank you-" And then he made the error of touching her on the shoulder.
Dominika wasn't too surprised when the other female whacked him to the ground with her bow. "I told you so." She mumbled and then went quiet.
"Don't thank! You don't thank for this! This is sad. Very sad, only." The female said as she held the tip of her bow to his chest.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Whatever I did-I'm sorry. Geez." Jake said while holding his hands up in defeat.
"All this is your fault! They did not need to die." The woman said while pointing to the dead bodies of the viperwolves.
"We apologize for what we did. We did not think." Dominika said in an attempt to calm down the na'vi woman.
"They attacked us. How am I the bad guy here-?!" Jake yelled while pointing at the obviously apologetic Dominika.
The woman moved the tip of her bow to his neck, "Your fault! You are like a baby, making noise, don't know what to do. You should not come here, both of you! You only come and make problems. Only."
"We did not want to be here. We merely want to return home." Dominika replied with a frown.
The native female narrowed her eyes, prompting Dominika to swallow. "I can understand your anger…but I cannot see why you came to our rescue when we were hurting the forest. We aren't a part of this." She carefully said, taking time to choose her words while she slowly stepped forward.
"She had a point. Why save us when we were hurting your forest friends?" Jake asked as he cautiously got off the ground.
The woman paused before turning to the two, "Why save you?"
"Yeah, why save us?" Jake looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
She was quiet for a moment before looking between them. "You have strong hearts, no fear." She said before glaring at Jake. "But stupid! Ignorant like a child!" She backed up before she began to leave again.
Dominika held her head for a moment before she followed after the woman. "Come on, Jake." She waved him to follow.
Jake caught up with them and looked at the na'vi woman. "If I'm so ignorant, maybe you should teach me." He said and went ahead of Dominika across a narrow root that made a bridge.
"Sky people can not learn. You do not See." The woman responded and leapt onto an elevated branch.
Dominika was focused on them instead of the drop and followed the other two up. After that she rolled her eyes at Jake.
"Then teach me how to 'see'." Jake said while Dominika looked at him blankly.
The woman stopped and Jake almost ran into her, "No one can teach you to See." She said in a quiet voice, her eyes locked onto his.
After that she ran across the elevated root of an enormous tree, a horizontal trunk big as an oak. A waterfall shimmered silver in the Polyphemus-light. Vines hung down a hundred feet into the gorge, and among them stingbats and other night flyers swooped and flew.
"Hey, slow down. Look, I think we just got off on the wrong foot and-" Jake trailed off when he noticed how high he was from the ground. "-you just have to know me. I'm Jake. Jake Sull-"
A vine caught his spear and spun him off balance. He dropped the spear and almost fell off the root.
"Whooaaa, shit!" He yelled as the Na'vi caught him with one hand.
Dominika looked at him with wide eyes, but didn't move to help him as the other woman pulled him back up with ease.
The na'vi woman muttered something in her language and frowned at him.
Jake looked back at her and his voice lowered. "We need your help."
"Both of you should not be here." The female replied and narrowed her eyes.
"So, take us with you." Jake said with a small shrug.
Dominika sighed at his words. Truly, she had thought he was far smarter than this.
"Jake…" The redhead began before she looked up and tilted her head at something.
"No. Go back." The na'vi woman pointed in the direction they had come from…before she too saw what Dominika saw.
Jake looked between them and was about to ask what was going on, before hundreds of Woodsprites floated down. "…What?"
"There are a lot of them." Dominika said before a few landed on her head and then on her arms and shoulders.
Jake looked at the Woodsprites and whacked one before the na'vi woman held his arm back. "Don't!"
He looked at her in confusion before blinking when they landed on him. "Uh…"
The woman looked almost amazed at the sight and then watched as they floated off and gently blew away in the breeze.
"What were those?" Dominika asked as she stood beside Jake.
"Atokirina'. Seeds of the Great Tree, very pure spirits." The female said, quietly looking at the two in awe.
After that, the female looked a little shaken as she looked at them…before she grabbed Jake. "Come!" Pulling his hand, she ran into the forest causing Dominika to quickly follow.
It was all too silent as they trekked through the beautiful forest, until Jake broke the silence. "What's your name?"
That very second, a bolo flew around his feet and sent him to the ground. Dominika, who had no time to react, soon found herself in the same situation.
Dominika grunted as she felt some more pain on her head before she smiled a bit when Jake freed her from the bolo. "Thanks."
Jake helped her up and did a quick look over her head before he was startled when several Na'vi atop Direhorses thundered towards them.
"Back-We need to get back." Dominika said before she gasped when even more Na'vi jumped out of the bushes and surrounded them. They were armed with spears and clearly not afraid to use them.
The female Na'vi dropped to the ground in front of the two while glaring at the lead rider. "Tsu'tey, what are you doing?! They are my captives!"
Tsu'tey swung off his mount with a fluent grace that the other riders seemed to lack. "These demons are forbidden here. I will kill these two as a lesson to the others!" He said while drawing his bow.
The female leapt between him and the two avatars, confronting him warrior to warrior. "Stop! There has been a sign. This is a matter for the Tsahik."
Tsu'tey clenched his jaw with frustration, frustration with her as much as the situation. He turned and angrily remounted his direhorse, barking a command to the hunters. "Bring them."
Dominika and Jake were forced forward by the warriors. "Shit…" Dominika mumbled and stood close to Jake for support. "Listen…if I pass out, you need to convince them to let us stay here." She whispered to him.
"You aren't going to pass out. We can do this." He whispered back, though there was concern in his eyes.
"I'm not too sure." Dominika murmured with a grimace.
Jake frowned before he made the quick decision of picking her up. "Don't fall asleep."
Dominika looked up at him in surprise before her eyes softened. "I won't."
He nodded before he continued following the warriors.