Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter five of "Gone in the Dark." This chapter has some Jake/Neytiri. It is likely I will introduce Kuai in the next one. I will not tell you what her status will be. You will have to find out for yourself. Stay tuned for chapter six.
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Chapter 5: Starting the Search
Jake guided Nova through the sky a short distance above the ocean's surface. He held his gun a bit steady. Nova hissed loudly while lifting his head somewhat. Five other Metkayina were not far behind them on their skimwings. Three were young men, and two were young women. Neytiri flew high above them on Artemis. Everyone carried a backpack filled with food and medical supplies. Artemis squawked loudly as three big islands with wide spaces between them came into view. Nova growled in a soft way. Jake touched his throat mic. Neytiri heard static come over hers and placed her hands over it.
"Neytiri, look at that chain of islands!" Jake shouted in amazement.
"I see them, Jake. Kuai and her hunting party could be on any of them," Neytiri responded hopefully. "We should check them out."
"Go to the first island. I will meet you over there," Jake instructed in a gentle yet firm voice.
"All right," Neytiri responded. "I will see you in a minute."
Jake pulled back on Nova's harness with a loud grunt. His teammates mimicked his movements. The skimwings folded their flippers against their bodies. They settled on top of the water. Neytiri willed Artemis to head for the first island. Artemis squawked obediently and made two flaps of her wings. She proceeded to go toward it.
"The chances of Kuai and her friends being on any of these islands aren't terribly big, Jake," the first man said uncertainly.
"I agree," the second man added with a nod.
Jake let go of the harness and made an adjustment to his gun. "We must search every inch of them to be sure."
"I say we split up to cover more ground," the third man suggested while gripping his spear tightly.
"I agree," Jake responded, blinking twice. "The men will search the second island. The women will take the third island."
The first woman exhaled. "That sounds good to me."
"Give me an update on your search whenever you feel the need to," Jake said while touching throat. He placed his hand on his gun. "Be careful. Green Spears could be hiding anywhere."
The second woman nodded at him. "Of course."
Jake took hold of the harness. He motioned for Nova to go to the first island. Nova emitted an obedient hiss and swam toward it. The men went for the second one, as did the women with the third one. Jake pulled back on the harness, causing Nova to come to a stop. He disconnected from him. He slipped into the water, feeling it lap up against his waist. Nova tilted his head slightly. He blinked three times before snorting softly.
Jake headed onto the beach, where Neytiri was waiting for him alongside Artemis. He could see a dead ilu laying on its back on the shoreline. It had two crossbow bolts in its chest and one in its left side. It happened to be brown on top and white below. Its first right flipper had what appeared to be a chunk bitten out of it. Its mouth was wide open. Each bolt had ends cut into sharp points. They were tipped with feathers. Their entire frames twisted around. He stopped next to it, his heart skipping a beat or two.
"It is Kuai's ilu, Jake. Her name was Jona," Neytiri whispered sadly as a tear fell from her eye.
"These crossbow bolts are of the Green Spears," Jake whispered, getting on his knees next to Jona. "From the looks of it, Jona was hit from underwater not very far from these islands. It is likely Kuai was knocked off Jona by a hit to the face or something."
"The current carried Jona to this island," Neytiri said while looking around.
"Right," Jake agreed. "Kuai may have ended up on this island or one of the others. She could be elsewhere."
"I hope Kuai is not—" Neytiri started, a sob rising in her throat.
"I hope not either," Jake interrupted gently while rising to his full height. "We've lost several Metkayina in the last few days. I hope we do not lose any more."
"I bet the Green Spears are having similar thoughts in Kia," Neytiri suggested, a tear falling from her eye. "Even if they are our enemies, innocent people are suffering over there too."
"This war has been tough on everyone, especially the kids," Jake said, shaking his head in disbelief. "This is all the while we are fighting against humanity's colonization of Pandora."
She pressed her lips together. "The Green Spears have been lucky not to be targeted by humans, but that could change at some point."
"I did think of moving us elsewhere temporarily, but I decided against it. No matter where we go, we will be found by our enemies," Jake said in much seriousness.
"My home is where you are," Neytiri whispered, walking up to him.
He sighed softly. "My home is where you are too."
Jake wrapped his arms around Neytiri in which he pulled her into a hug. He sighed contently when she slipped hers around his waist. He kissed her temple before resting his cheek on it. He rocked her from side to side. They released their hold on each other after thirty seconds.
"Let's get to searching," Jake whispered in a gentle voice.
"Okay," Neytiri replied with a nod. "Keep an eye on your surroundings."
He bit his lip. "You too."
The couple headed into the rainforest. A gentle wind went through the trees, making them rustle. They looked around carefully as their hearts beat a little faster. Jake ran his tongue all over the inside of his mouth. He kept his gun at his side.
"This reminds me of my very first mission on Pandora," Jake murmured, eyeing his mate. "I was pointing my gun at everything I saw. I was told to perceive all living things as a threat."
"Grace thought of you as a trigger-happy skxawng," Neytiri said truthfully. "You can still be a moron sometimes."
"Skxawng also means fool, dummy, idiot, butthead, etc. No matter how old we get, we will always have a tendency to do dumb things," Jake commented, his ears twitching.
"No matter what age you are, you will always be a child to your parents," Neytiri added.
"My parents died in a horrible apartment fire three months before Tommy was murdered," Jake muttered in much sadness. "It was due to faulty electrical wiring."
"Tonowari's father was killed by an akula. His mother died from an infected wound after she cut herself seriously on a rock when she tripped and fell," Neytiri mumbled, her ears lowering. "Ronal's father died from a stroke. Her mother passed away from a lung infection. His parents were the leaders of their clan at the time of their deaths. Tonowari and Ronal had to take over leadership, though they were quite young."
"Age does not matter when it comes to leadership," Jake said, looking ahead. "I do not know if I told you this, but akula is the Russian word for shark."
"Really?" Neytiri wondered, turning to him.
"Yeah," Jake admitted. "The akula has behavior very similar to a shark. It smells the blood of an injured fish. It goes for a quick and easy meal. It sounds weird the Na'vi have words from human languages."
"Anything is possible in the crazy universe of ours," Neytiri said, shifting her attention to the area in front of her. "We must always expect the unexpected."
"Right," Jake agreed. "Life can come at so fast that we don't have time to even blink."
A snapping twig caused Jake and Neytiri to come to a halt. He turned and pointed his gun at an ottis coming out from behind a log. The ottis resembled an otter. However, it had six legs instead of four and no fur or whiskers whatsoever. It was light brown above and dark brown below. Its tail was paddle-like in appearance. Its body was covered in plated armor. He lowered his gun.
"It is just an ottis," he whispered in relief.
"That critter looks harmless, but it packs a mean streak," she responded seriously. "You once told me your kind would try to pet wild animals thinking they were cute and cuddly like the ones in a zoo."
"Oh, yes. You once told me Sylwanin dared you to pet a nantang when you were nine years old. It scratched you on the hand. Your parents found out and grounded both of you to working with the pa'li," Jake explained with a wry smile.
"It taught me a lesson. It was to never take a dare regarding animals from my sister," Neytiri pointed out matter-of-factly.
"That is a good lesson," Jake said, swinging his tail from side to side. "Let's go. We need to find Kuai as quickly as possible.
"I know. Eclipse will be here before we know it," Neytiri commented and cleared her throat. She and her mate resumed walking. They observed the ottis going into the undergrowth. They looked around slowly.