I've time skipped a few things, things that I found uninteresting to not only myself but others. Anyway, the story will still be relatively smooth, it just won't go over every last thing.
Not only is that boring, but it just uses up chapters.
Tsu'tey will be a little OOC from this point on, sorry about that.
Dominika sipped her coffee, "Soooo, The Floating Mountains?"
Grace was packing up equipment as Dominika lazily watched her, "Jake has been talking to Selfridge and Atilla. I thought we might need some time away."
Dominika shrugged, "Tsu'tey von't be happy, but I have been being a quick student for him. Said my training might be accelerated."
"Figures. I'm glad Jake got Neytiri, he wouldn't have been able to deal Tsu'tey. You, on the other hand, I'm guessing this isn't that bad." Grace stated while looking at the Russian.
"Eh, he is like some of the old drill sergeants, only he has a spear."
Dominika finished her coffee and helped Grace with the last few devices.
Dominika sat in the cockpit as she assisted Trudy with the controls. "Must be my lucky day, havin' a former pilot up here is saving me a hell of a lot of time." Trudy said with a grin.
Dominika snorted, "Be glad I even recognize these controls, otherwise you'd have to do on the job training with Norm."
"Ha! Anyway, look back at their faces." Trudy turned one of the mirrors and Dominika giggled.
"It's as if they never went through the simulations. Vell, minus Jake of course." Dominika shrugged as she tapped on the radar.
It began fritzing out and the landmasses were hidden by the thick gray bars.
Both women grinned, "Ve are entering VFR!" Dominika laughed, causing Norm to blink.
"What is VFR?" Norm asked.
Dominika looked at him over her shoulder, "It means ve have to see where we're going, vithout instruments."
"But we can't see anything!" Norm said, gesturing to the fog that surrounded them.
Dominika shrugged, "You figure it out after a while, Norm."
Time skip.
Dominika hopped out of the plane with her mask on as she looked at her surroundings. The rest of the humans jumped out and went towards the shack. Dominika took one last glance before heading in as well.
As she exited the airlock, she noticed Grace turning on all the link beds, "Jake you get the least glitchy, Dominika, you get the second least." She pointed towards their respected links and Dominika nodded. "Norm, you'll operate Jake's."
Norm frowned and glared at Jake as the latter rolled by, "You got a problem?" Jake asked, quickly noticing Norm's attitude.
Norm turned to look at Grace, while Dominika was already preparing her own link, "I trained three years for this mission. I speak the language fluently." He pointed at Jake, "He falls off the frickin' turnip truck and all of a sudden he's a cultural ambassador!?"
"It's not our choice, Norm." Grace stated.
Norm glowered at Jake, "Yeah, well I didn't come out here to wash the dishes while you're on some interspecies booty call."
Norm stormed off and Dominika whistled, "Vell, he can't go very far."
She finished what she was doing and hopped in the link bed.
Dominika opened her eyes before getting out of her hammock, looking into the distance she saw Tsu'tey walking towards her with his ever-so-present pissed off look.
Over the weeks he had grown a little nicer, but Dominika still told herself that he silently hated her guts.
"You're late." He stated as he stopped before her.
"Give me a break. Mo'at said since I've already figured out a bow, my training is being sped up." Dominika said while folding her arms.
"How do you do it." He said mainly to himself.
"I've been in a war before. You have to learn quickly, otherwise...you'll die." Dominika said, eyes closed in thought. "You can say that I naturally do things faster since my mind thinks death is near."
"Then why does Jakesully struggle to do even the most basic things?" Tsu'tey asked, pointing to Jake who was having trouble chasing after Neytiri who was bounding up the stairs.
"He is a moron. From vhat I have seen, he is the dumbest person I have ever met." She paused and tilted her head, "However, vhat he lacks in skill and overall intelligence, he makes it up in his will power, and his bravery. He is not afraid to go after something head on, even if it is death itself."
Tsu'tey gave a reluctant nod before descending down the stairs, prompting Dominika to trail after him. "Vhat are we doing today, Tsu'tey?"
He was silent and this brought a devious smile to her face, "Oh? You don't vant to tell me?"
"We're going hunting." He stated after around a minute of Dominika's ear-to-ear grin.
They exited home tree and Dominika whistled for her direhorse, "Is this my final test on my archery?" She asked as she connected her queue and mounted her horse.
Tsu'tey also called for his horse and mounted his with his natural grace, "Yes. If you succeed, you will be ready." His sharp tone caused the russian to shrug as she urged her horse into a trot.
"If? You know I vill succeed, Tsu'tey." She said, her tone free of cockiness and full of confidence.
His lips barely lifted as he looked back at her, "We will see."
Her eye twitched as his horse galloped off, muttering a curse in Russian she chased after him with a newfound playfulness.
Falling into Tsu'tey's pace, she grinned, "We will see? Now, vhat does that mean."
"It means what it means. Stop playing around." He stated, only furthering her playfulness.
She was about to reply when he held up his hand, a sign that something was up.
Dominika ears twitched as a slim black silhouette entered the clearing, it made a soft clicking sound as its eyes glowed a menacing green.
It slowly approached them and Dominika took a sharp breath, "He's big." Her voice was soft as her horse began backing away.
Tsu'tey narrowed his eyes as the massive Thanator stared them down, "He is the leader of them, very strong." He stated as his horse began backing away as well.
She muttered a swear in Russian as her horse gave an angry grunt, "What do we do?"
Tsu'tey was silent and Dominika could feel the nervous energy rolling off him.
The creature's gaze finally settled on Dominika and a low growl barely prepared her for the beast as it pounced on her. Stunned by the jump attack, Dominika struggled to get the beast off of her.
Tsu'tey's eyes were wide in shock as he contemplated helping her.
Dominika winced as a claw dug into her shoulder,"Chert poberi! Pomogi mne!" Her voice was barely above a pained whimper as she tried to grab her knife. Upon the confused look she received, "Help me...Or do you want me dead…" She translated, having used her Russian dialect previously.
He closed his eyes in thought, before arming his bow and aiming it at the Thanator. In one fluid motion, the beast roared in anger and leaped off of the nearly crushed female.
Dominika gasped as she held her heart, "Good...you didn't vant me dead." She mumbled in her thick accent as one hand covered her wound.
He shot another arrow at it and the once powerful beast whined as it retreated into the forest. Tsu'tey's horse shifted with a grunt as the warrior looked at her, concern filling his normally cold eyes. "Are you alright? Did he injure you?"
Caught off guard by the concern, she didn't respond immediately. She finally gave him a shaky nod, "Yes, I am alright. He gave me a deep wound on my leg and on my shoulder. He beat me up pretty badly."
The Russian attempted to stand up but failed miserably. Tsu'tey looked at her in amusement, silently asking if she needed help.
"I'm fine-oof!" Dominika face-planted into the dirt and Tsu'tey grinned.
"Really?" He disconnected from his horse and stood above the woman.
Dominika huffed and attempted to stand up again, but the result was the same for every attempt. A mouthful of dirt.
She propped her head up and pouted, "Look at you...you're laughing your ass off about this!" She wagged her finger at him in accusation as he looked indifferent about the event.
"Why would I be doing that?" He stated, voice thick with amusement.
The woman punched the ground several times in frustration, Why is he acting so...so damn annoying! She thought as he finally helped her up.
He gave her a cocky smirk as she defiantly looked away, "I got beat up by a Thanator, Tsu'tey. If my leg wasn't messed up, I would wipe that dumb smirk off your face."
"And how would you accomplish that? You're injured." He gestured to her open wounds and she twitched.
"I said 'if'! I never said I 'would' do that!" Dominika objected while pointing at him.
He placed her on his own direhorse and she begrudgingly made herself comfortable on the horse.
"We will head back, if you are allowed after they heal you, we will come back out here." Tsu'tey stated, his lips forming a small grin.
"Gee thanks." Dominika muttered while holding onto him.
The Russian woman blushed as the horse took off, the muscles of the warrior contracting under her fingers.
Dominika always considered the warrior handsome with his chiseled features. Tsu'tey saw something in her, something told her that he was watching her. But, it could never work, this wasn't her real body.
Would it ever be?
The woman closed her eyes, No...I vill forever be cursed to my real body. Get ahold of yourself, Dominika, you know the truth. Dominika told herself, a small voice telling her to ignore that.
Why do you assume your future? The small voice whispered.
Assuming it was her conscious, she frowned, You know what I am, it is fruitless to hope for a different future. Grace said it best, ve are only out here to repair the relationship after that ve are only humans masquerading as something else.
A small wood sprite landed on her arm causing her to blink in confusion, the creature floated as the voice returned, You have a different purpose, you just have not seen it yet.
The voice silenced and the creature floated away, leaving her stunned speechless and frozen in place. The sounds of the surrounding wilderness faded slightly as she stared at Tsu'tey's back.
The words echoed through her mind as she held on tighter to the warrior while the horse thundered towards hometree.
"You've been attacked by a Thanator twice, what are the odds." The female na'vi mumbled as she wrapped the leg.
The woman was named Ver'na and she was one of the healers in the tribe. Her hair was braided into many smaller braids that was held together by a piece of fabric. A necklace made of beads covered her breasts while a small yellow loincloth covered her privates.
She had been the first person to meet the aliens face-to-face, and possibly the first to give them looks of kindness. Ver'na appeared to be very open-minded and rather patient.
Perfect for a healer.
Ver'na finished the leg and moved onto her shoulder, "You shouldn't go back out for a while, otherwise you may reopen your wounds." She stated, offering a warning look at Tsu'tey.
The warrior looked annoyed by the healer and left the room. Dominika smirked at his silent tantrum, he wanted to annoy the crap out of the Russian.
In his own way.
Hunting.
The thought was odd, but he managed to piss off the woman each time. He knew what made her tick, and what made her explode.
He always aimed towards making her explode, whether it be by taking her shots or even mocking her.
Dominika sighed at the thought as Ver'na left the room. She thought back to when she last saw Jake.
Human Jake that is. He looked like a shell of his former self, he was also mentally off. He was falling in love with Pandora, in a body that wasn't real.
Her eyes slammed shut, Jake was going to die of hunger. Or even worse, dying of something mental when he realizes that Avatars cannot go all the way.
Grace had told her everything, what could happen if you tried to go all the way.
Insanity. Complete and utter insanity.
And Jake was headed down that path.