Chapter 6: Alien abduction

Date: June 5th 22:42 PM

Location: Omaticaya village

Arvok's eyes slowly peeled open; his iris's dilating and quickly readjusting themselves to the faint light of Hometree. He laid there in his bed; breathing in a slow rhythmic pattern, mimicking sleep to keep from alerting any who still straddled the line between the waking and unwaking world. With only the feeling of the intertwined branches of his bed rubbing against his skin he carefully perked up his ears, twisting and turning them like the frills of a hexapede, hearing for any noises that should not have been there. After several long moments, hearing only the faint breathing of his fellow tribesmen he carefully readjusted himself, doing his best to make certain that his bed made as little noise as possible. All the while the sleeping forms of his family lay on either side of him, their movements just like the rest.

Slowly taking in a breath he pulled himself up to a sitting position cringing slightly as his hammock creaked beneath his weight but thankful that none had awoken. Grabbing his equipment that he had taken to bed with him he wrapped his bow over body, feeling the string press tightly against his chest. Again he pulled himself up, this time to his feet, doing well not to make the hammock sway beneath him. And with only the briefest hesitation he hopped up to the main branch that the hammocks hung from, practiced hands quickly getting their grip on the rough bark. Gripping it tightly he hoisted himself up with a light grunt, still hearing for anyone that might expose him. Once he was on solid footing he gave his family only a passing glance as he left them behind.

As he stalked his way to the central spire, its form winding all the way up from the ground to his destination, the canopy. He peered over the branch he stood on to the forest floor far below him. There he could see; through eyes made for the subtle darkness the shifting and moving forms of his people's guards, patrolling the lower levels of Hometree and keeping a watchful eye for any predators who might desire a sleeping meal. He and his family had the privilege of living in the upper levels of Hometree where the Olo'eyktan and his family lived, in no small part due to his brothers betrothed. He would have thanked his brother for making his journey far easier than it otherwise would have been if he had a mind to tell him, which of course he didn't.

Pulling his eyes and mind back to the task at hand, he got to the spire. Stepping inside he reminded himself that for all the love he had for his people, he internally groaned at their need to keep everything so incessantly bright as he past bladder lantern after bladder lantern whose contents were filled with dozens of glowing insects that hung from the interior walls of the spire, casting his shadow against the bark and making it even harder to be sneaky.

But as he continued on; he began to notice that one of his shadows seemed to move on its own as he caught the slight movement out of the corner of his eye. In an instant he was still, his mind trying to find an excuse for his presence here when his faux shadow revealed itself.

"How long have you been following me?" he whispered with a relieved sigh as Neytiri walked up to him, the dim light shining against her striped skin.

"Long enough" she whispered back with a slight smile as he nodded his head in confirmation.

"You were always the best at sneaking around" he dryly admitted.

"Comes from years of experience" she answered back as they began sneaking up the tree again, Neytiri taking the lead and leaving his eyes to stare at her back. Those eyes eventually found themselves tracing down the stripes of her back like the rungs of a ladder, his face growing a shade of purple until he reached the base of her tail and what lay just beneath which swayed with her hips.

With some effort Arvok dragged his eyes from their target, mentally slapping himself for ogling her when he heard her speak.

"I've been thinking" she said; keeping her back to him and leaving her unaware of Arvok's internal battle. Though as her voice pulled him away from admonishing his carnal thoughts the tone in which she spoke told of a disposition he rarely saw in her, hesitation.

"I know we agreed to not tell anyone but…" she whispered to him, her final word shifting her voice to one filled with exasperation.

"But it's only getting worse, every time we return to that place more trees are felled, more life destroyed and we are no closer to stopping it!" she said twisting about quickly to look him in the eye. In them he saw a storm of emotion; frustration, fear and anger all in equal measure.

Arvok could only look down from Neytiri's gaze; her blunt assessment burrowing deep into his mind as not only the thought but the reason behind it had been on his mind for some time as well.

Was he really hiding this to keep his people safe or was only doing this for his own ego, for the satisfaction of being right when everyone else had called him a fool as even his brother had wanted to pretend it never happened, doing his best to silence the subject whenever it was brought up by others.

'Well almost everyone'

He looked into Neytiri's eyes, his face turning flushed once more but this time not out of mere natural attraction, but the reassurance her presence brought. He and she were the only ones who knew the truth and thus the only ones they could confide in. The only ones they could air out their fears to about what was fast becoming the defining moment of their lives.

Looking back on the day they first went to that place; for all its horror he couldn't help but be reminded about how she had been so…accepting of what he had to say. Even in the weeks after him and his brother had come running to tell everyone, only she had bothered to truly ask him about it and not just bother with the question so they could voice their own opinion, which he was thankful for as dealing with this alone would have been maddening.

"I know but I just have this feeling that we need to wait, that something is coming and it's coming soon" he said trying to assuage her fears.

"More of those scuttling things so they can destroy even faster no doubt" she derided, flicking her hand dismissively.

"I… I don't think they want to destroy everything." He stuttered, knowing full well the reaction that statement would bring but knowing it needed to be said. Her reaction was just as he thought as she pulled her head back as though the words had physically struck her.

"Not destroy everything?" she said incredulously, brow furrowing and voice getting louder by the syllable.

"You saw the stumps, you saw those… things. they bring only death and destruction, what do you mean they don't want to destroy everything!" she nearly screamed, her voice straining to keep her from shouting as Arvok remembered back to when they had first seen the creatures they would later call crawlers.

They had discovered them the second time they had gone there. They watched high in the trees as their small scuttling forms would dash through the grass on four bladed legs, their limbs slicing through the air with every step. The only way they could track them without the natural light of the forest being their single red eye that glowed violently in the darkness. They had watched as those things would latch themselves onto tress like parasites. And then the lights would come from their bellies; like their eyes it shined bright and angry, brighter than any fire. Where on his first visit he had thought the trees had been felled by some large, sharp blade but watching as the things slowly crawled around the trunk in a circle, the lights burning deeper and deeper until the tree would eventually collapse he realized the truth. The tree would creak and groan until finally crashing to the ground, the crawlers skittering away for but a moment to not get caught underneath and would then slice the great tree into smaller pieces and roll them away into the darkness. They would do this for hours at a time and it took every ounce of their willpower to not intervene, to not stop the seemingly mindless destruction.

But when they had watched a pack of viper wolves try valiantly to stop them, to be brave where they were not, he was glad they hadn't. While the crawlers seemed unprepared for their assault with several being destroyed they would soon hear the familiar call of the buzzers; they would swoop past at frightening speed either not noticing or not caring about their presence and Arvok had the feeling it was the latter as they would issue their war cry heralding their arrival. They too had bright lights that would shoot across the darkness faster than they could blink and as they struck the viper wolves the two would be greeted by the smell of burning flesh and some simply turning to dust in an instant. Watching the panicked form of a viperwolf simply collapse in on itself as its body glowed like the sun before crumbling away had haunted the pair for days afterwards. But it had been after the last viper wolf had been slain when he had noticed something.

"Remember when the buzzers caused those small fires" he asked, recalling how their red lights would cause small grass fires and hoping she could at least humor his line of thought. She nodded her head in response, brow still furrowed as he continued on.

"Remember when they put out the fires?" He asked again, remembering how the crawlers would without fail put out those fires by kicking dirt onto them with legs.

"So?" she snapped back, her patience wearing thin.

"What creature can put out a fire?" he answered back, letting the question hang in the air. When Neytiri didn't answer he continued on.

"Thanators and viper wolves are attracted to fire, Hammerheads and Sturmbeest will run, but what is the only creature that can knowingly snuff out a fire?" he questioned one last time as her face fell still before her eyes went wide and her mouth mouthed the word as she looked back to at him with horror.

"Na'vi?" she said in disbelief, fear tingeing the edge of her words as the implications washed over her.

"Or something like us." he said with a grim nod. "Those things are intelligent or whatever is leading them is and if they simply wanted to destroy everything they could have just created massive fires and burnt the whole forest to ash." He said with a grim certainty as Neytiri stood in silence, her eyes wide and downcast staring now through him than directly at him.

"But why don't they?" This time it was her turn to ask the question as her mind tried its best to find some sort of neural lifeboat as the full consequences of this dawned on her.

"Because there is more to this than we know, I don't know what it is but we need to figure that out before we do anything else." He said as he placed his hands on her shuddering shoulders.

"But how could they?" she said in complete disbelief. "How can they not see it, how could they continue to destroy Eywa?" she asked, almost begging for an answer.

"I don't know, but we will have our answers soon enough. We just need to have patience" he reassured her even as he wasn't sure himself.

They stayed that way for several moments before she finally slumped her shoulders; her confusion finally giving way to regretful acceptance before nodding her head, signalling she was ready as the two redoubled their efforts to get to the canopy.

They traveled in silence the rest of the way and finally after several minutes they reached the final bend where they were greeted by the amethyst horizon of Pandora. But along with the sound of wind and the brushing leaves was a new sound, it was muffled as if whatever was making it was doing its best to hide. Arvok turned to Neytiri who seemed to have heard it too. Slowly the pair inched around the massive trunk when they spotted the source of the noise. He couldn't see exactly who it was but he could tell it was a she and she had been crying. Arvok was confused and worried as to why they were crying and was torn between finding out what was wrong and simply leaving.

But as Neytiri walked past him it seemed the choice was made for him. He gripped her arm gently but with firmness as his face was a mask of apprehension. Neytiri's response was only to put a hand on his own, the fear and confusion from before replaced with a look that said she needed to do this. Instead of simply releasing his grip he shifted it to her hand giving it a gentle squeeze as he looked at her, cautious but trusting her judgement as he followed.

"Are you alright?" Neytiri asked as the woman posture shot up like she had been struck by lightning. She wheeled her body around quickly revealing herself to be Menari, one of the tribe's gatherers. As turned herself to them she also revealed her heavily pregnant belly, which she cradled in her left arm as her wide eyes darted between them.

"Neytiri, Arvok. What are you to doing here?" she blurted out as she tried to brush away the tears in her eyes. She tried getting up but her stomach made what would have been a swift action rather sluggish as Neytiri offered her hand which she refused.

"We were just going hunting" Neytiri lied which Menari seemed to accept without hesitation.

"Oh ok… well good hunting" Menari quickly uttered doing her best to maneuver past them on the relatively thin branch.

"Wait, are you okay?" Neytiri asked again, planting a hand gently on the mother to be's shoulder. Menari pulled from her grasp but stayed just out of reach, back turned to the two as she answered in a hushed tone.

"Just… thinking about the future"

The two were stunned for a moment, Menari was a valued member of the tribe, her mate just as much and the two were expecting. What about the future would cause such distress? Then a thought struck them as they turned to each other, their thoughts plastered on their face and were immediately thankful the mother had remained facing away from them.

'Did she know? Had she seen them?' those thoughts rand through their minds as Arvok bit his lip in nervousness and Neytiri struggled to find a response.

"Well… your future is sure to be well as Eywa has blessed you with children" Neytiri innocently described, but as the words left her mouth they could see the muscles in the former huntresses back bunch up, her right hand clenching so hard it shook as Menari answered back in a tone that all but declared that her jaw was as clenched as her hand.

"Yes, truly she has blessed me." She hissed in a furious whisper as she turned around to reveal a normal pleasant smile. Where one might have expected bulging veins and bloodshot eyes filled with anger had seemingly been swept away. The hand that was clenched with so much force Arvok worried it would break under the pressure was now resting over her stomach, tenderly rubbing it as he watched the blood begin to rush back into the deprived limb. All that mixed with the dissonance of the near instant change in attitude shocked them both into silence.

"Goodnight children and good hunting" she said in a perfectly calm, almost cheerful tone as she walked away. The two didn't move from that spot as they watched her begin her descent down the spiral and even then did not move for several minutes more.

Eventually Arvok looked to Neytiri and her to him, and without a word being spoken left to go find Seze. Once they had found him they hopped on and left, again without speaking a word, their minds unable to process and their tongues unwilling to speak about what they had seen.

Corporal Lyle Wainfleet rolled his shoulders; feeling the weight of his combat armor against his body. Every piece, from his greaves to his gauntlets and pauldrons the hard plates of his armor had been painted a dark green to match their destination. He was a young man, early thirties though his age hadn't saved his hair much to his dismay. With the final clasps sealed and a self-affirming sigh he began to look at his pip-boy, tapping away at the illuminated screen. With a few clicks his vision was enveloped by a cascade of colour that covered his entire body from a bright red to a cold blue and with a quiet whirl the colour disappeared. It had been a photonic resonance barrier, once only capable of defending entire installations had been successfully miniaturized for individual soldiers. And for where his men were heading he all but knew they would need it. As the thought of his men entered his mind he instinctively looked out over his teams living quarters. Including him there was six and he could practically taste the energy in the air; the joy of just them being here mixed the anxiousness and worry of being there now. Like the calm before the storm and he could see it on all their faces.

He couldn't blame them nor would he; he was feeling it too and so much more.

"I don't like this" a gruff voice said to his left that pulled him from his thoughts. Looking to his left was Martinez, his combat armor hugging tightly against his body. He knew everyone had heard him, keeping one eye on the pair even as they finished putting on their gear.

"What don't you like Martinez" he responded; he already knew but this conversation was a long time coming and it would be best to do it now.

"That the plan changed Sir" he answered back.

"Don't tell me your scared Martinez, someone like you is to ornery to die" Batista piped up taking a moment from checking over his grenade launcher.

"Maybe you should listen to him Batista, and you might actually live to his age" Fulson said, the dark skinned woman not even bothering to look at the over demomaniac as she fiddled over her medical supplies for the sixth time. She was right though; the old bastard was at least ten years his senior and was the most experienced out of them all.

"Ah I didn't know you cared" Batista said in faux affectionate tone.

"Ain't about being scared, it just don't make sense." He said looking down on Lyle, not even bothering to get involved in the pairs bickering. "The plan was to begin in August but now all of a sudden Admiral Zao decides we need to leave now." He explained as some of the others nodded their heads in agreement with the old man's assessment.

"It doesn't sit right" he finished, letting the silence filter in as Lyle thought over his words.

"You worry too much big guy; go in, secure the sight and if we're lucky we might even see an alien" Victor said with a wicked grin, finally bringing himself into the conversation as he loaded bullets into a magazine.

"What about you Ryder, you excited to see some aliens" he asked as he looked to the last of their squad and their newest member. He had been designated as their team's signals specialist and at the moment was working on his pip-boy.

"I'm just here to do my job" he said with a shrug as Victor waved him off.

"Martinez and Ryder are right, I don't like this situation any more than all of you" Lyle said as he looked to the rest of the squad who were waiting to hear what he would say.

"But we're here now and while I don't agree with the Admirals decision, we fight under the circumstances we have rather than the one's we want. Because that's what it means to be a Terran marine we make the most out of little, so keep your eyes open and your aim steady." He ordered as most nodded in affirmation whilst others still looked unconvinced as the call for everyone to get to their shuttles rang out in the room.

Without hesitation they all grabbed their equipment and hurried off, all except for Lyle and Martinez as Lyle gave him a small smile.

"Thanks for that" he said as they began to leave the room. Martinez only shrugged his shoulders.

"Knew the boys were thinking it, better to speak now and let them think their complaints are getting answered." He responded as he looked down at him.

"But what do you think it is that got them so spooked" he asked as Lyle's expression grew tense.

"Something bad" he said in resigned acceptance as the two entered the main hanger, the large yawning chamber filled with noise as people filed in into their shuttles. One such group was his team and a group of tunnelers. They were to be part of the first wave to secure the mining zone and prepare it for the heavy equipment. Some of the less experienced might have thought sending miners with the soldiers would be a bad idea but Lyle had grown up in the NCR and he knew full well that a tunneler, even an untrained one was anything but helpless.

"Will we make it" he lazily inquired as Lyle put on his mask and helmet, grabbing the straps and tightened them as the polarized visor and rebreather hid his face.

"Only one way to find out"

The tense flapping of Seze's wings filtered through Arvok's ears, brushing against his mind as he and Neytiri flew through the night sky with the clouds as their canopy and his one arm gently wrapped around her waist as an anchor. Both still silent as the tension became too much for either to bear.

"What was that?" Neytiri whispered as she looked back at him, Seze giving a low screech as she felt her rider's emotions.

"I don't know" was all he could say as his lips turned into a thin line, struggling to understand. Menari had been one of the tribe's most seasoned hunters, having trained almost his entire generation in the art of hunting. He remembered how she and her hunting partner Syanan would recount the tales of great hunts and how her singing voice had been considered the most beautiful in the tribe.

None of what they had seen even remotely resembled her, gone was the firm but caring voice, gone were her steely eyes that spoke of an experienced life. But in those eyes he felt something familiar. Even as he tried to grasp the memory it would slip through his fingers, a headache wracking his mind as he tried to concentrate.

A hand on his shoulder finally drew his mind from another attempt as he blinked away the dryness in his eyes, wondering how long he had been silent. They looked to each other, knowing that they both didn't have the words to describe what they had seen and returned to silence.

After some time Arvok looked over Neytiri's shoulder; where he could finally see their destination. It was a small valley that the other worldly creatures had turned into their hunting grounds.

The valley itself on the outskirts of their territory was surrounded by large hills that would block the sight from the ground and forced them to fly higher than a hunter normally would.

As they got closer his ears perked up as he straightened himself as high as he could and from Neytiri's similar response he was certain she had heard it to.

It wasn't like the sound of the buzzers, with their high pitch almost pulsing rhythm. This was loud and whooshing like the roar of a great fire and they could tell there was more than one, some farther some closer. Each of their heads was spinning in every direction, the sound of rushing air drowned out by the screech of Seze as she felt her rider's anxiousness.

Then they looked up and through the twilight they saw dark shapes flying above the clouds, their outlines pressed against them like shadows. Then the shadows descended; their eyes going wide as the blood in their veins ran cold. Large, bulky forms breached through the clouds like a meteor shower blowing blue fire from their backs as they moved so fast that it boggled their minds. And just like the buzzers these things flew with no wings.

It all happened so fast he didn't have the time to count them all as Seze screeched in panic, one of the flying things darting right past them and as Arvok's eyes look deep into the creature's black and blue skin he could have sworn he had seen the shadowed outlines of people inside it, looking back at them. He suddenly felt that he was falling as Neytiri commanded Seze to dive down to the canopy below, grasping hard against her as he felt his legs dangled in the air. Just as quickly was the sense of weightlessness left him as Neytiri leveled out and his chest slammed into Seze's back, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Soon the sound of rushing wind was replaced with the rustling of leaves as he grit his teeth and whipped his head back to the sky as he saw the last of the things fly through the sky and disappear behind the horizon.

Arvok's heart was hammering in his chest, his breath ragged and uneven as he continued to stare wide eyed at the horizon. They had come; whatever "they" were and he had seen them. In spite of his earlier introspection he couldn't stop as an almost manic gin from spreading across his face, all the insults and sideways glances from his fellow tribesmen washed away by the feeling of vindication.

Patting Neytiri on the shoulder to get her attention he pulled back quickly when he saw the look on her face. Where his face was a mixture of excitement and fear, her face was awash in anger. Brow furrowed and her lips peeling back to reveal her fangs, he had never seen her like this before.

But her reaction wasn't entirely unwarranted as they had for the last few weeks been forced to hide in silence as the crawlers continued their work. And while he had hated the rampant destruction, his anger had been tempered by the why.

Why had they come? Why are you destroying the trees? Why Why Why

But the look in Neytiri's eyes showed that she no longer cared about the why, all she knew and all she needed to know was that someone was destroying the forest and in turn hurting Eywa, their goddess. And now the creatures masters had come and with it, the chance to stop them.

"Neytiri please" he all but begged as he lifted his palms in a placating manner. Hoping, praying even that he could stop the raging fire that had been ignited behind her eyes.

"They're here, we can get them to stop, but we need to get them to listen okay" he said, the final word more a plea than anything else, realizing that he had little power to stop her. She could kick him off and leave him here, fly against their other worldly visitors bow in hand and rage in her heart. So he needed her to listen.

"It's just like I told you, Eywa has rewarded our patience and now we can get them to stop." He said one final time as the mention of their goddesses made her pause.

Slowly he watched as Neytiri calmed, her snarl disappearing and her brow unfurrowing but the hard look in her eyes showed that the fire had not been put out. Only that a barrier had been placed between; a barrier that could just as easily be brought down if things did not go well.

She nodded her head only once before she ushered Seze back into the sky, the cold wind once more brush against his skin as they raced after their long awaited guests.

The flight was fast and tense Neytiri pushing Seze hard to close the gap between them as they flew higher into the sky where they saw two spots of bright unnatural light, shining through the trees, the larger of which had been the site of the sea of stumps.

"We'll go the rest of the way on foot; I don't want Seze anywhere near them" She said with a growl. Arvok agreed with her idea, while he had yet to bond with an ikran he understood the deep bond between the two and the possibility of her being injured or worse especially after their first encounter was the last thing he wanted.

Gliding down as silently as they could, they landed only a few hundred meters away from the aliens. Seze growled loudly as they dismounted pushed by her rider's anger. Turning around Arvok saw Neytiri press her forehead against the giant reptile doing her best to calm her, even as he noticed the hand gripping her bow had gone bone white from how hard she was gripping it. Standing there for a few moments Neytiri pulled away and as they marched off Arvok saw a look in the banshee's eyes that told him to protect Neytiri, for her sake and his as the banshee's form slowly melted away, obscured by branches and leaves.

The trained instinct of years of hunting kicked in as the two stalked through the dense canopy. Running and leaping on the balls of their feet and taking care to only step on patches of moss to muffle their steps. But they soon realized their attempts to stay silent would not help them as the forest that was once filled with the sounds of bugs and animals that would mask them was now dead quiet, even the air refused to rustle the branches, leaving each foot step loud and striking to their heightened hearing which only adding to their unease. Doing his best to remain calm he focused on the cold moss beneath his feet, the familiar feeling keeping him rooted in an otherwise alien situation.

Gingerly he placed a hand against the string of his bow that lay strapped across his body, checking to see it was still there and while he felt a primal sense of safety with his weapon there was another part of his brain that was telling him it would be as useful to him as hunting a thanator with a blade of grass. As they got closer they began to hear a menagerie of noise his mind had no reference for, filling the void of silence that announced the stranger's landing.

They were moving slower now; from leaping bounds to crawling on their hands and feet as they neared the site, their eyes beginning to squint away from the bright lights that were shining through the trees and leaving long streaks of shadow in their wake. Soon there was only a small layer of leaves separating the two from something they could not even begin to understand.

Arvok looked to Neytiri one last time as she did in turn as their heart beats drummed in their ears and hands shaking from the adrenaline coursing through their veins. Steeling their nerves they each slowly peeled away the layer of leaves, letting the light shine into their eyes temporarily blinding them.

Through gritted teeth; his eyes slowly adjusted and went wide as he could see where the lights had come from. Long, thin stalks like the trunk of a young tree tipped with light at the top like leaves. These things seemed to sit along the perimeter pointing out into the darkness, and beyond them, their visitors.

"They're the size of children?" he could hear Neytiri mutter under her breath, astonishment and confusion peppering her voice as the two stared past the "light trees" where the objects they had seen flying through the sky were now resting on the ground, their sides split open like the wings of a bird. And coming from them were dozens of strange figures that began to spread out.

Arvok truly had no idea as to what these strange people would look like, but he knew it wasn't this. The tallest one among them would have barely reached his hips and honestly had left him slightly underwhelmed.

'These were the beings responsible for all of this?' he questioned to himself as he strained his eyes to get a better look. The first thing he noticed beyond their size was there clothing. Some wore bright orange over their chests whilst others wore dark colours that made it difficult to see any more than their outlines.

But it was the ones dressed in orange that looked… off, stranger and even more different from the rest with large, bulbous heads and eyes that even through their strange masks that covered their eyes was a faint, ever present glow. He watched as a large group of the strange ones moved towards the center of the clearing; standing in a rough circle before all at once, as if by some unheard command had been given began ripping into the dirt with their hands.

Arvok and Neytiri watched in stunned silence as beings less than half their size ripped chunks out of the ground like a predator tearing at its prey. Large piles of dirt began to form and rocks the size of their heads were tossed aside as the beings began to reveal the submerged roots. Then they pulled strange tools from their backs and a sound unlike anything he had heard flooded the clearing. It could only be likened to roaring animals as they tore away at roots bigger than he was and had existed long before him.

In what seemed like no time at all they watched as the sky people spread out from the center; the once green grass was replaced with churned soil and shards of wood. The feeling of disappointment melted away as he watched the visitor's work, surprised by their deceptive strength, and frightening swiftness.

Just as it seemed that the roaring would never end they all stopped, filling the air with a familiar sound, the unmistakable cackling of viper wolves.

Turning back they could see them rushing through the grass and low hanging branches of the forest. From the sound there had to of been a dozen and likely far more and as he saw the glow of their eyes glinting in the darkness he almost pitied the little people. Even if they were deceptively strong and armed with strange tools none could challenge Eywa and she would see to it that they were punished.

The little people seemed to have noticed to as they began speaking to each other in a strange language that he could not understand. The glowing eyes began to move away and were replaced by a large group wearing what he had thought was mere clothing but had in fact been armor. Their green color in the gaze of the light trees reminding him of the shells of an atlas beetle wore by warriors of the Tipani clan though that was where their similarities ended as the harsh angles spoke of something completely unnatural. They wielded even more strange tools that they pulled from their backs. Smaller than the ones before and hugging them to their shoulders they formed up in rows, some standing, some kneeling and some lying on their stomachs between the forest and the light trees and this caused him even more confusion before his unvoiced question was answered as his senses were assaulted by a series of loud booms that made his ears ring.

Looking over he could see Neytiri was just as affected, her jaw clenched as they struggled through the noise. Like a rolling thunder they used what he now understood to be their weapons, for nothing could make such noise and be used for anything else. He watched as the foliage was torn apart by things too fast for him to see and the loud bangs mixing with the pained wails of dying viper wolves. And along with the bangs came a new sound that almost reminded of the sound of someone dropping a large stone on the ground, it would have been completely innocuous if not for what came next. The ground began to erupt as the pair was rocked by shockwaves that made their ears pop. Massive plumes of smoke and fire battered the charging viper wolves, with only a light thump to warm them of their impeding deaths as they were consumed with only small craters to mark their end. But even through all of this and the screams of their dying pack members they did not seem to slow them down; in fact it only seemed to drive them ever onward at an increased speed. And behind the charging mass of fangs and claws he saw it.

It being a viper wolf but this one was different than the others, where a normal viperwolf's skin was black with a glossy sheen. This one had splashes of white and purple that ran the length of its back from head to tail. And as its body began to shimmer, its body began to glow the same colour and coated the forest in its light and drew the alien's attention. Some of them tried to kill the wolf, using their strange barking weapons; yet it remained unharmed as their attacks seemed to stop in their tracks, by some invisible force. The viperwolf then glowed even brighter, almost as if the animal was wreathed in purple fire and in a single instant, it launched itself forward.

Before the aliens could even react the wolf had slammed itself into one of them, releasing a large shockwave of energy, destroying their orderly rows and sending the body of one unlucky alien flying back several meters and landing in a heap, and it did not get back up. Several other aliens were not spared, having been knocked clean of their feet and trying desperately to defend themselves as the wolf wasted no time and began sinking its fangs into the closest one next to it whilst its pack mates got closer and closer, and the aliens screams growing louder and louder.

As the screams of pain began to overpower the bangs and flashes of their weapons he turned again to see that Neytiri was smiling wide, all the violence she had wanted to inflict on those who had harmed Eywa was right in front of her and he could see the gears turning in her head, pushing her to do something that he knew he would have to stop.

But before he had the chance the earth shook again; harder and louder this time, almost making the two lose their grip as a large plum of dust erupted from the recently torn earth. The fighting on the ground was not spared either as some were thrown from their feet yet again.

For a moment all was quiet, interrupted only by the light pattering of debris falling back down to the ground. Even the viper wolves that only a second ago were attacking with a fury he had never seen stopped in their tracks as the image of a spear like object appeared from the dust.

All native eyes, whether Na'vi or beast was fixed on it as a bright blue light shot out from the spike, washing over them all before their eyes were assaulted by blue flashes of lightning and the crack of thunder. Through squinted eyes he watched as the lightning was called down from the sky and in the blink of an eye they appeared.

Where once there was nothing but air now stood three hulking forms, their eyes glowing a bright yellow in the floating dust. Their armor was bigger, heavier and thicker than any he had seen before and without hesitation they rushed through the ruined earth with freighting speed. Arvok could only liken it to a charging hammerhead as their feet slammed and churned the earth with loud, repetitive booms and as they reached the battle one of them pulled what he thought was a blade from his waist that roared like the tools from before but louder, more feral like rabid animal as it cleaved into the unprepared viper wolves, the blade tearing a brave wolf in two; its blood and guts falling in a shower of gore as it continued to roar, drowning out the screeching yelps of pain, its desire for death seeming endless.

Another gripped a viper wolf by the leg and threw it so hard against a tree that the bark cracked and splintered apart as the animals gave one last pained yelp as it fell to the ground in a heap. The third had gone on ahead, acting as a living wall for its smaller comrades and as another viper wolf dove from a branch; its black teeth filled with violent desire and was rewarded with the hulking figure lifting its arm and catching its neck in a vice like grip. The creature bit and clawed at the offending limb, wriggling about to try and get free before all at once its neck was snapped and its body tossed aside without further ceremony. Arvok and Neytiri could only stare in shock as one after another the viper wolves were being slaughtered.

But even amidst the carnage it was their bodies that unnerved him the most; hunch backed with long arms thicker than his leg, chests and shoulders so large and wide that two Na'vi would have to stand shoulder to shoulder to achieve a similar width. How could something so malformed move so fast?

The little ones, seeing their rescue became rejuvenated, some pulling their injured away whilst the rest began firing again. And as they did the large ones too pulled similar weapons from their backs. But these like their owners were far larger and thicker and when fired Arvok had wished he had covered his ears as a deafening roar assaulted him. The sound was like boulders crashing together and as he tried his best to block out the noise, no matter how hard he squeezed his hands to his ears it would not stop. He could feel it in his chest and his legs, even his teeth felt like they were rattling in his skull as his vision began to blur from dizziness. He struggled to watch as Viper wolves and the forest around them just began to explode. With each boom a viper wolf, once filled with life and fury was reduced to nothing but red mist and gore, their blood painting the once vibrant forest floor in wide streaks of crimson. Even a viperwolf who like the one before began glowing with power, ready to do to these new monsters what had been done to the smaller ones was pulped as its barrier shattered.

The shear brutality mixed with the pungent smell of death assaulted his nostrils almost making it too much for him to handle; a cold sweat wracked his body and dread bubbled in his heart as he clasped his hand around his mouth. Stopping himself from vomiting but allowing the noise unrestricted access making the dizziness worse. It took all the force he could muster not to lose himself as through swirling vision he saw Neytiri was suffering the same effects, but the feral snarl had returned in full force as she saw what she thought had been Eywa's divine judgement being washed away in a sea of red.

He saw as she took a kneeling stance and began to draw her bow, muscles shaking as the tension grew. He watched as she tried her best to aim, the arrow getting coated in a bright blue aura as she called upon the power of Eywa so that she could kill these invaders.

"What is she thinking? Had she gone completely insane? Even if she killed one of them, there were more ready to turn her into red mist too." He screamed in his mind as he lunged an arm out at her trying to grab the arrow, to stop what was coming before it could begin. But his dizziness became too much and finally overcame him as he lost his footing and began to fall to the forest floor, the last thing he saw was Neytiri's shocked expression getting further and further away before the world went black.