Only a few feet away was the lone Sturmbeest, shuffling along the forest floor. It was a young male, strong and healthy, having left its herd to find another. It was vulnerable and the perfect prey. Sha'tira nocked an arrow, nearly balancing on the tips of her toes. Overhead, the skies of Pandora were crying. The rain only made her hunt that much harder and it was probably the most important hunt of her life. Today, she had been granted the right to kill. She needed a clean kill to be considered for the long trek to Iknimaya and gaining an ikran. She couldn't see him, but she knew Tsu'tey was watching. She knew he was close.
"Shit." She hissed softly when her foot nearly slipped off the tree branch. The Sturmbeest suddenly bolted. She growled as she sheathed the arrow and took off after it, running through the trees, careful to avoid falling to her death. Up ahead, the branches suddenly ended and she took a deep breath, nocking the arrow as she continued running. She prepared herself for the jump, sailing over empty space. The Sturmbeest sped by below and she fired, hitting her mark perfectly. Unfortunately, she was still flying through the air so there was no time to celebrate. She tried to land on a tree branch but she immediately slipped and hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of her own lungs and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. She sat up and checked herself for injuries. Finding none, a huge grin spread across her face and she got up and raced back to the dead Sturmbeest. Her first kill. Tsu'tey was waiting.
"Look, I know that was terrible. Let me try again." Sha'tira pleaded. She looked down at the creature. It wasn't breathing at least, so it wasn't suffering. She stepped forward and knelt at its side, whispering a soft prayer to Eywa as she'd been taught to do. Her first hunt and she'd ruined everything already. "Look, I know that wasn't the cleanest hunt, but can I-" He suddenly slammed his hand over her mouth and growled, crouching next to her, tail lashing. Around them, the bushes were rustling. She glimpsed the viper wolves surrounding them. Her hand went to her knife. Tsu'tey copied the motion and released his hold on her. They turned back to back as the pack of vipers descended, but before they could be attacked, a great roar shook the forest. "Holy shit." It was a Thanator, and it was not happy.
Tsu'tey moved in front of her, drawing his bow. "Wait, don't!" She pushed him over as the Thanator leaped over them, knocking aside the viperwolves with hard swings of its paws. They scattered like the wind, disappearing into the trees, whimpering, as suddenly as they had come. The Thanator turned and faced them, the frills on his neck rising with its hackles as it hissed.
"It will kill us now, thanks to you." Tsu'tey hissed at her. "Get off me."
Sha'tira did not get off him. She placed her foot on his back so he couldn't make any sudden movements. The Thanator roared and charged. She ran forward and bared her teeth, stopping the beast in its tracks. It ever so slowly relaxed and surprised her by licking her cheek. "Hello old friend." She grinned, offering her queue.
"You have ridden a palulukan?" Tsu'tey asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah. I got stuck in the valley where they live and in order to survive, I had to bond with one of these babies."
Tsu'tey picked himself up and rubbed the dirt off of him. She had to force herself not to look at his abs as he did so. "Tell it to leave then." He commanded.
"No." Sha'tira scoffed. "He will help us carry the Sturmbeest back." It took no effort for the Thanator to flip the dead body onto its back. She climbed onto its back in front of it and motioned for Tsu'tey to climb on as well. He was still staring at the Thanator. "Come on, baby, we don't have all day. The people could use this food." He eventually sighed and conceded and mounted up behind her. "Try to keep your hands to yourself." She smirked. "I know it will be difficult." She looked over her shoulder and saw him roll his eyes. It was a swift ride back to Hometree. They were greeted with awed looks and bows aimed and ready to shoot down the Thanator. They dropped the meat and Tsu'tey dismounted while she rode the Thanator back to where they found him. "Thank you sir, and stay outta trouble." She smiled and removed her queue, watching as it backed away and took off into the forest.
The walk back was far longer than the ride, but she didn't mind. It was mostly quiet and she had to come to terms with failing her big test. She was surprised at her mentor meeting her halfway. He stepped in front of her, looking down at her as though he couldn't quite understand what she was, who she was. "Tsu'tey? Is something wrong?" He continued to look confused for a moment, before adopting his typical stoic, smartass look.
"You have passed your test." He said finally. "In 3 days, you will travel with others to Iknimaya to choose your ikran."
It took a minute for his words to sink in fully. Then it was followed by shock and sheer joy. "Are you serious?!" He leaped backwards when she screamed. "Yes! I thought I had failed for sure, that jump was so stupid. I shouldn't have tried to be an overachiever and catch a Sturmbeest." She jumped up and down excitedly. "I have to tell Grace and Jake. Thank you so much, Tsu'tey." Before she knew it, she'd thrown her arms around his neck. It took another moment for her to realize...he was hugging her back. She quickly leaned away though, glad that Na'vi couldn't blush. Even if they did, it was too dark to see it. The forest around them was lighting up with bioluminescence and the sight always took her breath away. She was so happy, so excited, her tail was quivering. "Thank you." She said, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. He had that confused look again. "What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Because you are strange." He answered simply.
"Why am I so strange?" She crossed her arms, looking up at him.
"You are not what you are supposed to be. You are human. But Humans are not your people. You are not Na'vi, and yet your heart is Na'vi. Eywa chose you. That is why you are strange."
"Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up trying to figure it out." Sha'tira patted him on the shoulder and started to walk away. "Believe me, you don't need to -shit!" The ground suddenly gave way beneath her. Tsu'tey tried to grab her and ended up being pulled into the hole with her. They tumbled through the darkness until they landed in water. Very cold water that shocked her senses pretty badly. The cavern around them was glowing bright blue, giving light to what would be an impenetrable blackness. Something brushed against Sha'tira's leg and she spun around, eyes widening at seeing the large, dark shape gliding through the water. "Tsu'tey?" she looked around.
"Up here." Her mentor was tangled in the vines overhead. He was trying to free himself when the dark shape in the water came back. Sha'tira looked around, trying to find something to grab onto or climb on, anything to get herself out of the water. She didn't want to be fish bait just after finding out she could become a hunter.
Sha'tira dove as fast as she could, narrowly skirting the massive fish. She wasn't able to make out much of its features to find out its scientific name, but the flash of its teeth told all she needed to know. It was not a friend, and it was probably hungry. She powered her way out of the creature's path and resurfaced, just beneath Tsu'tey. His tail was hanging down as he struggled to right himself and she did the only thing she could do. She grabbed it, making him scream, and shimmied her way into the vines next to him, curled into a wet ball.
"Stop grabbing my tail!" he snapped.
"Fuck you, I almost got eaten alive!" Sha'tira hissed. They took a moment to glare at each other before starting the climb back up to the surface. She made sure to yank him back down by his tail so she could get out the hole first. His reply was to trip her when she tried to stand. "Asshole." She hissed softly.
"Skwxng." He growled. He ducked her foot when she tried to kick him. She was prepared to try and hit him again when she felt a click in the back of her brain and everything went black for a second. When she opened her eyes, Grace was frantically trying to wake her, repeatedly smacking her and shining a light in her eyes.
"I'm up. I'm up!" Sha'tira rubbed the side of her face, silently hoping Tsu'tey took her avatar back to Hometree. "Why'd you wake me up?"
"You've been under all day. It's time to get out. You and Jake are terrible, you have another body, remember?" Grace replied. "Come on, get some rack." She helped Sha'tira up.
"I-I can do it." She said, swinging her legs out of the link chamber. She stood up and immediately her legs gave way and she hit the floor. "Ow."
"But you can do it, right?" Grace asked, standing over her with crossed arms and a smug look that soon turned to concern. She crouched next to her student and helped her sit up again. "You have to remember your other body. When was the last time you soaked in the tub? Or worked out?"
"I'm going to Iknimaya in three days to choose my ikran. I don't have time-"
"You don't have time to eat? Or sleep?" Grace countered. "I understand how incredible this opportunity is for us both, but it won't matter if you're dead."
"Dead." Sha'tira scoffed. "A bit over dramatic, don't you think?"
"I think that you will be joining Trudy on a run back to the base. Stay there a couple days and rest."
"But-"
"I don't want to hear it." Grace moved forward and helped her up, half carrying her to the back room where their beds were. Sha'tira scowled as she was forced to lay down, but her anger didn't last long because she was soon asleep, her dreams filled with a certain Na'vi man.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Early the next morning, Sha'tira and Trudy flew back to base. While the pilot refueled the ship and collected any other necessary items they needed, Sha'tira went into her room and took a long soak in the bathtub, running through the last weeks in her mind. She couldn't keep them from falling back on Tsu'tey. The way he tried to protect her from the direwolves and the Thanator. The way he hugged her… the feeling of his powerful arms around her...that annoying smug smirk of his…
"Fuck!" She sat up in the water and pushed the button for the shower to run, turning on the icy cold water and letting it rain down on her until it was too cold to stand. "Fuck you, Tsu'tey." She hissed, getting out and drying off. "Just fuck you. FUCK YOU!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Sha'tira?" Max called through the door. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Everything's fine." It would prove to be a boring couple of days as a very restless Sha'tira was confined to the lab watching Max do his little experiments or helping the other Avatar drivers. Mostly, she hit the gym, in a last ditch attempt to work off her extra energy, but it didn't seem to work. Every time she had worked herself to the point of exhaustion, which was one a day and once being 4 o' clock in the morning, her mind was viciously invaded by Tsu'tey. It was where a certain hated someone found her one day, trying unsuccessfully to ignore thoughts of her mentor.
Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? He was so annoying and irritating and she wanted to shoot him, or better yet, cut off his tail despite how often it had saved her life so far. She suddenly shuddered, remembering his touch, the way he pushed her behind him to protect her, staring down an entire pack of direwolves without fear. Sha'tira scowled as she hefted the dumbell in her left hand and threw it at the mirror she was standing in front of. She dropped the other one and sat down with a huff in the empty gym.
"Nice throw." She looked over her shoulder at Colonel Quaritch. Colonel kill first and ask questions and the second bane of her existence behind Tsu'tey. She wasn't even sure why he bothered to talk to her considering their views on the indigenous had lead to quite a few screaming matches. Maybe he thought that with his big muscles and tiny brain that he would be able to ease his way into her bed. It wasn't lost on her that half of Hell's Gate wanted to fuck her. Unfortunately she wasn't attracted to trigger happy fools. The king of those fools was standing right next to her. He offered his hand to help her up.
"What do you want?" She sighed.
"What's with the, uh…" He gestured to the mirror.
"It's just that time of the month. Felt like destroying something, so I did." She shrugged.
"Uh huh. How goes work with the blue monkeys."
"Na'vi." She corrected as she stood up without his help. "Why ask when we both know you don't care? You're trying to bulldoze their planet anyway. For a few fucking rocks, might I add. You all make me sick."
"You all?" He asked. "You talk like you're one of them."
"I would rather be." Much rather.
"Then you're making a mistake. You're a human just like the rest of us. Being paid by the same people, brought here on the same craft. What now, Doctor?"
Sha'tira glared at him. "People like you destroyed our mother, our planet. People like you, who believe that we know everything and can kill everything just by having a bigger gun. Taking what you like, destroying entire species and ecosystems. I'm not like you, Quaritch."
"Not yet." He chuckled, stepping close to her, so close she could smell his musk. She curled her lip but didn't back down. "This place makes you do a lot of things you wouldn't expect. When the time comes, I hope you pick the right side."
"When the time comes, I hope I get to put an arrow right through your face." She replied. That only made him smile.
"Hey." Trudy stepped into the gym, looking warily at the situation before her. "Everything alright here?"
"Time to go?" Sha'tira asked. Trudy nodded. "Great conversation, Colonel. We should not continue it at another time." She followed Trudy out of the room. There was a lot she had to do now in preparation for becoming a hunter and little time to do it in.
"You okay?" Trudy asked.
She nodded. "Just fine."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jake found Grace sitting next to the window in the small kitchen, smoking a cigarette and looking at a picture. He wheeled himself forward and pulled himself into the chair across from her and looked at the picture. It was of Grace, Sha'tira, and some of the People at the old school.
"Sylwanin and the other children." Grace said, without even being asked.
"What happened?" He inquired. Mo'at had said that Sha'tira had gotten vengeance for them after Sylwanin's death, but he didn't know the full story, and he didn't think it was right of him to ask Neytiri.
Grace sighed. "Sylwanin and some other warriors destroyed some bulldozers. They didn't like the forest clearing. I guess she thought we could protect them…" She put down the picture and took a long drag of the cigarette. "Quaritch's men slaughtered them. The People never came back to the school. They learned all they needed to about us."
"And Sha'tira?"
"She killed the men soon afterwards. Just opened fire on all of them."
"No wonder she hates what she is."
Grace shook her head. "That hatred started a long time ago, but it's made her stronger. Distrustful and angry, but stronger. I need someone strong on my team."
Jake looked up at her and smirked. "So tell me about her love hate relationship with Tsu'tey."
Grace rolled her eyes. "A match made in heaven but neither will admit it. It doesn't matter anyway. Sha'tira's not a member of the clan...yet. And Tsu'tey is promised to Neytiri. We can't afford to earn the ire of the People right now."
He frowned slightly, but managed to hide his real thoughts as he looked down at his legs, knowing that the real world was out there, where he could walk and run. This one just seemed like a dream most of the time that he simply ghosted through. He and Sha'tira both it would seem were born into a lot in life that they despised.
"Anyways," Grace continued. "Get some rack. Big day tomorrow." She flashed a rare smile. "You lucky swine. I'm rooting for you. Don't do something stupid like dying."
"I'm pretty sure Tsu'tey wouldn't mind."
"Probably not, but I would."
"Aw, Grace-"
"Do you know how much it would cost to send someone to replace you?" Grace said as she stood up. "Or how much effort it would require just to choose someone?" She continued to rant as she walked into the back.
He smirked. "Love you too, Grace." He slid back into his wheelchair and stuck the picture back on the fridge where it belonged.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Read and Review!
A/N: Oh my goodness this update is way overdue.I originally had several chapters done and planned to upload them all at once but it got deleted and I had to start over. I am so sorry about that. I promise I will try to keep this updated. Another chapter should be added within the week. Send me some reviews or PMs, guys, on what you might want to see. Hopefully we can make some progress with Sha'tira and Tsu'tey in the next chapter. If they don't kill each other first...or Sha'tira doesn't lose her mind...and Tsu'tey doesn't kill someone… Hopefully. Sorry for any mistakes.
P.S: Merry Christmas! Happy holidays to all!