Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait!
It didn't take long for Tsyeyk's wrist to start throbbing unbearably. He curled up with his blanket, still sniffling as he stared down at his tiny wrist, watching it. He could almost see it throbbing, but even then, it was starting to hurt so bad. He rolls his ankle and that hurts too, but not as bad as his wrist. He turns slightly to point his ear in the direction of the sound when he hears something behind him, momentarily forgetting that the strange people had been following him. He's so conflicted on what to do. No one but mommy has ever come to his home before and, well, no one other than her has ever spoken to him either. He's always wondered what it was like to be around others - seeing as being with mommy was always so great, and he had enjoyed that bit of time with these strangers.
Until he realized they weren't going to take him back to mommy. It had been silly of him to hope. It had been silly to put so much faith onto the shoulders of these strangers he's never seen before. He had just gotten so consumed with his desire to see mommy that he wasn't thinking straight. Why would mommy send strangers to him? Why would they be the ones to bring him to her? She would just come to him herself, as she had always done before.
But he wanted it so bad. He wanted to be able to go to her. He wasn't sure how to prove himself other than to just try his best. He knows that she'll see all the hard work that he's putting into ensuring that one day he'll be worthy enough to be able to go with her to the place that she wants to be.
Where is she? How long until he's able to be with her? What does he have to do in order to be good enough to be with her? He doesn't know. She never told him.
Still sniffling, sinking into despair, he turns completely to look over his shoulder at the strangers, blinking long, thick lashes. The woman from earlier drops down on her hands and knees and crawls in to sit next to him with a huff, the adornments hanging off of her clack and rattle at the movement. She can sit up just fine with about a foot to a foot and a half space above her head, but she still looks uncomfortable in the limited amount of space. She fits fine, but he's not sure any of the males will fit as easily.
After taking a look around the space, at all of his worldly belongings, she turns to look down at Tsyeyk and meets watery blue eyes. She presses her lips together tightly before softly asking, "Ar yu okayee?"
Tsyeyk carefully turns to settle on his other side to face her, staring up at the woman through the tangle on his dark hair. He wipes at his wet eyes, swallowing thickly. He sits up a bit, looking between the female and then out at the other strangers, knelt down peering into his home, mixed looks of confusion and... something akin to sadness. They whisper to one another, shaking their heads and frowning.
"Hay, baybee," the female says softly, reaching out to lightly tap his knee. He glances over at her, tilting his head. She points to his wrist that he was cradling to his chest. She chews on her lower lip, mumbling something under her breath before carefully asking, "Hurt?"
Hurt? What's that? He thinks about when he's seen small children fall over and their parents would come tend to them and they would say... not hurt but...
"Owie..." he mimics, holding up the throbbing hand. He could ignore it. He did everything else. Mommy taught him how to be tough. He needed to be strong in order to be good enough. No crying. Mommy didn't want him to. But she wanted to know about his wrist, right? No one has ever asked him about his wrist before. Whenever he would hurt himself, he has memories of mommy glancing at it, sometimes poking at it or twisting the hurt limb before pulling away and leaving it at that.
He expected it to be the same for this beautiful woman, as she inspects his wrist, a frown pulling at the corner of her lips as she gently twists his wrist, making him flinch. She looks at him in sympathy before carefully reaching into a pouch on her side, grabbing out a smaller white pouch thing that she shakes hard for a few seconds before placing it over his tiny wrist. He tries to jerk his hand back, yelping at the sudden cold, but her grip is just enough to keep him connected to her.
"Owie!" He says, frowning up at her.
The woman offers a sympathetic smile. She gently pets down his arm and he stops his struggling, just to feel the sensation. It feels so... nice. He liked how soft and gentle it is. Mommy was never like that with him. He wasn't good enough yet for that. But... he was for her? This stranger to be like this for him? Just like that? What had he done that was enough? Maybe if he can replicate it, Mommy will take him to where she is.
The strangers outside are talking in hushed whispers, looking at him, his home, then at the forest around them. He doesn't know what they're saying but he's not too worried. He's much more interested in the woman in front of him. How gently she's touching him. She feels along his arms, spreads out his fingers, touches his shoulders and his neck. She touches the soft spot behind his jaw on both sides, pressing into it enough for him to squeak in pain before she soothingly pets down his matted hair. She's hurting him and soothing him and he's not sure he understands.
She touches his cheeks, his forehead, her frown deepening. She brings her hand down to his chest, running across the bone there down to his ribs, face wavering more at the sight of them, then his hip bones and his tiny tewng, the straps digging into his skin, rubbing it raw. He's going to have to make a new one soon. On and on she goes, inspecting every inch of him. Look at all his bruises, the booboo on his knee that distinctly smells funny to him, to the cuts on his feet.
All the while the rest of the strangers are talking in hushed whispers. Tsyeyk can hear them, but he doesn't know what they are saying. He hasn't learned any of the words that they are using yet. He still has so much to learn.
One of them must have said something, because the beautiful female next to him looks over and says, "Kernel, he kant stae out heir. Hez gohing tu dii."
One of the males, the one that gave him the really cold water that he likes, turns to stare at him with a hard expression, debating something. Tsyeyk shifts a bit, uncomfortably, unsure of what the look means. Everyone looks at the male, so Tsyeyk does too. Most of the time when Tsyeyk sees strangers traveling together, one of them is in charge, so that must be him.
After what feels like forever, the male finally says, "Wahnt tu come with uhs, kihdo? Even Hellz Gayte haz tu bee bettur den dis." And then, to Tsyeyk's utter shock, despite him having no idea what the male said, he holds out his hand for Tsyeyk. After a moment of staring blankly, not understanding, he waves his hand in a gesture that Tsyeyk recognized other strangers would use when they wanted someone else to come hold their hand or follow them. Whenever mommy would do it, she would drop her hand immediately afterward to show him that she only wanted him to follow, not hold her hand. But this male... he... he...
Tsyeyk's entire body freezes, eyes wide, ears perked, staring at the male as if seeing him for the first time. He... wants to touch Tsyeyk? He wants Tsyeyk to follow him? To... To hold his hand?
Heart pounding hard in his chest, Tsyeyk makes for the male, the female saying something in a warning tone that makes him flinch in fear. He glances back at her, but she's looking at the male, gesturing to her wrist, identical side to his wounded one. But she looks at him and smiles, nodding encouragingly for him to continue. She glances around the space for a moment while he carefully, tentatively, makes his way to the male. The cold white pouch is left behind, but she just puts it back into the pouch on her back. Despite how bad his wrist was starting to hurt, it's much duller now and his skin is purpling where the cold pouch was.
His breaths are coming out in a mix of panicked and excited huffs as the male's other hand comes out towards him, more welcoming than before. His anxiety spikes but he wants this. He wants this so bad. The male is trying to get him to come. Come where? With him? Had Tsyeyk been wrong before? Was he going to take Tsyeyk to his mommy? Had he just been foolish earlier? Or maybe it wasn't time yet. Maybe he was supposed to go with them first, then he would go to mommy. He didn't know, but he also didn't care right at that moment.
He just didn't want to be alone anymore.
He's never met people before, but these strangers had to be the nicest that there has ever been and he's so thankful that they found him. Or he found them.
No matter how many times he stopped to stare at the older male, fighting the swelling fear and near cripple desire flowing through him, warring to stop him from approaching these strangers more, but also urging him on. He's trembling, shaking so hard he's surprised he can move at all, but he just... can't stop. Even though mommy always hid from them, he has no idea what is going to happen next but... but... he just... can't stay here for one more night alone. He just wants to find mommy and be with her and maybe these people will help him. They've been so nice to him so far. He doesn't know what she was so scared of, but he's... desperate.
Desperate to not be afraid anymore. To not be hurt anymore. To not cry himself to sleep or wake up feeling too weak to even move from his spot. He needs something that's not what he's been getting. And something in him... something tells him he needs to go with them.
The man grabs him under the arms once he's cleared the stone that makes up his home and pulls him up into his arms. Tsyeyk heart is pounding so hard he feels dizzy. His tail is twirling anxiously, and he thinks he's going to throw up. He's not sure what's going to happen next, but despite mommy not coming back, this has got to be the most exciting day of his life.
Carefully, the male straightens up, muttering, "Ah boi hiz age shuldent bee dis liiht."
"Hez skin ahnd bons," another of the males says.
Stiff in the male's arm, Tsyeyk stares down at him through the tangle of his hair, wondering how the male was able to hold him up. Mommy never did it. He's not sure why, but he always figured he was too heavy. He's seen her have trouble carrying large beasts in his faintest memories. So, he figured he was heavy like that. She never tried to pick him up, so he didn't know for sure. But this male was holding him easily enough.
The male turns and starts heading off, the rest of the strangers following after. One of the males staying behind to grab hold of the female's hand as she crawls out of his home. She pats at her bottom, stuffing some of his things into the pouch that she was carrying on her back before following after, her face twisted into a displeased expression that he's seen on mommy enough times to look away from in shame, knowing it had to be something that he'd done. Hopefully, despite that, they won't just set him back down and leave him again.
Tsyeyk wraps his tiny hand around the hard material that the male was wearing across his chest, sitting rigidly in the male's arms, not sure what else to do. His grip tightens, afraid that his strength alone won't be enough to keep them together if they should change their mind and wish to separate from him. Many of the males cast him looks, which he meets, hoping that they will see the worthiness in his eyes wish to keep him close.
Hoping that he can show them that he's worth it.
The little boy had been terrified but so badly wanted to be around people that he had accepted Quaritch's hand and allowed himself to be pulled out of the tiny little crevasse under a massive rock that he made his home. There were items strewn about that definitely tell the tale of someone else having been here at one point. Older, at one time better woven or crafted items, but are now so worn down and splitting apart.
If any adult had been in his life at some point, it hasn't been for a while and that's heart breaking. He's too skinny. Too filthy. Burning with a fever that he doesn't seem to notice. A wound on his leg is very obviously infected and Walker is concerned about it.
Yet despite it all, he sits ramrod straight in Quaritch's arms, meeting the eyes of his men beneath a tangle of black hair with the bluest eyes he's ever seen on a Na'vi. He had thought that they were all supposed to be golden. So where did this boy with strange blue eyes come from?
Quaritch moves the boy to one arm, still alarmed at how light he is despite being maybe five or six. He brings his hand to his throat radio, switching the channel until he's on the one he wants and touches at his throat mic, "Hells Gate, come in. This is Colonel Quaritch. Do you read?"
"We read you, Colonel," a woman replies. "How may I assist you, sir?"
"Patch me in to Doctor Augustine."
"One moment," she says. A pause, then, "Alright, I'll send you her radio channel. Is there anything else that I can do for you, Colonel?"
"No, that'll be all."
"Farewell, Colonel."
He switches to the designated channel. "Doctor Augustine, do you read?"
A too long pause, then a long, exasperated sigh. "What do you want, Colonel? To tell me for the thousandth time that you're not going to be able to find somewhere for my school? Jesus Christ, I told you I would just go look myself."
"Now, hold your horses, Doc," Quaritch says, glancing at the little boy whose head is tilting back in forth staring at him, not understanding why he was just talking to himself. Being this close, he might actually be able to hear the woman's voice, even though the earpiece is in the opposite ear of the side the boy is on. "I'm having a bit of an issue I need your help with."
Another long, exasperated sigh that makes the colonel smile despite himself. "What now?"
"We found a kid out in the forest, about five or six maybe. Really bad condition. Interested in a little rehabilitation?"
There is a long pause, and he can see Grace Augustine's face twisting in confusion, trying to interpret some hidden meaning from his words in his mind's eye. After a slow breath, she finally asks, "Are you saying you found a kid out there? An actual kid? Where are their parents?"
"No idea. Caught him sneaking up on us. He's starved and dehydrated. A real mess, doc. Running a real high fever, no doubt from the infection on his leg."
Augustine lets out a little breath. "And no parents around?"
"Maybe at one point, but the sorry excuse for a home he's living in hasn't seen an adult for a long time." He adjusts the little boy on his arm. "We're going to the evac sight and heading back to Hell's Gate. I expect that you'll want to see to him. Being a bleeding heart and all." Despite his words, he can't help but send a worried look at the little boy who was still watching him with massive blue eyes still hidden beneath a mess of knotted black hair.
"And you're sure..?" Grace asks slowly, before stopping. "Bring him back," she orders, as if that hadn't already been the plan. "Straight to the labs, Colonel. I'll see you there."
"Yes, ma'am," Quaritch rumbles, grinning.
They travel onward in silence for a few minutes as the boy glances around and staring at the side of Quaritch's head, meeting his gaze whenever the older man looks at him. His long, skinny tail curls around the colonel's arm as if to better keep them together. He feels a tiny finger on the hand that isn't wrapped around the strap of his bulletproof vest lightly tracing the lighter stripes along his collarbone and neck.
"I got some pictures of the place," Prager says. "I'm sure the doc is going to ask."
"She's probably still going to ask to come see it," Brown points out. There are some mumbles of agreement, all of them knowing the doctor well enough to know that she's going to want to know the full breadth of this situation.
The little boy looks around the forest around them, ears flickering, before letting out a little yawn. Quaritch looks down at the little hand holding onto his shoulder strap to see his wrist still swelling up, darkening again in aggravation. Adjusting his grip on the little boy, his thigh skinny enough to rest in his hand, which only makes him frown more for how small it is despite his age. But it also gets him thinking about the knife strapped to the other thigh.
Where in the world did that boy get that knife?
It's not like he could have stolen it off of a soldier. So how does he have it?
"Does it look authentic?" Quaritch asks, catching Lopez stepping up beside him, looking down at the little boy's thigh.
"Sure does," Lopez says, making the little boy look over at him, uninjured hand reaching up to brush wild matted hair away from his face a bit. "It's old, but still in good condition. But that's how the RDA makes it. Meant to last forever. You don't suppose he'll let me look at it, do you?"
"You can always ask him," Quaritch offers. Despite the levity of his words, he too was curious to look at it.
Lopez hums for a moment, casting a look back down at the knife in the holster loosely attached to his thigh. "I'll wait until we get to the doc. She'll at least be able to talk to him."
Quaritch nods. Fair enough. No need to stress the kid out more than he already is.
Thankfully, as they go, the kid seems to relax more and more, still just quietly looking around at Quaritch's men, and the man himself. He scratches at his chest with a tiny, thin hand. His ears flick a bit as he listens to the Avatars talking quietly amongst themselves, not an ounce of recognition in his eyes. He doesn't know that they are talking about him. That they can't seem to understand why he's living out in the forest alone. Where his parents are. Why they weren't with him and how they could have left him in such a state.
"They have to be around here somewhere, right?" Ja asks, glancing over at Mansk next to him. "There's no way he would be able to survive otherwise... right?"
"I can't imagine he would. I just don't get why they would choose to live that way. Where are they right now?" Mansk asks, pressing his rifle closer to his chest, eyes scanning the forest around them for dangers.
"Maybe they'll be coming back for him soon?" Fike offers, stepping up onto Ja's other side.
"You saw him crying when Walker asked about his mom," Prager says from beside Walker and Wainfleet. "It's obvious that she left him. But what was the point? Is this like a sick Na'vi punishment or something? Abandon your kid out in the forest for a few days or something? Sounds pretty sick to me."
"God," Ja says softly, looking ahead at the little boy, who was sinking more and more into Quaritch's arms, head resting on the colonel's shoulder as he droops more into slumber. "Can you imagine if that's true? Absolute fucking monsters. Jesus."
"That's definitely worst-case scenario," Zhang says calmly, staring at the forest through his dark shades without so much as a twitch in his expression. "No doubt it's more likely they are just dead and not leaving their kid out in the forest because their monsters."
"What? Like they were out on a family walk through the forest, and they were mauled to death by the many dangers of Pandora? And what? The kid has just been living out here ever since?" Ja asks, frowning.
Zhang shrugs, casting him a slow look. "I would prefer it that way as opposed to him being mistreated and basically tortured. Wouldn't you?"
Ja flinches, looking way. "Fair enough."
Back tracking for about forty minutes, they finally make it to their evac site. Ja bounces ahead, reaching the front windshield, giving it a hard enough pat to jostle the woman sitting inside. She looks over at him, grinning and flipping him the finger. She presses a few buttons and the back doors to the samson magnetic locks disengage and the doors open for the Avatars and they all pile in.
Ja puts his headset on once he's in his seat and says, "How far along are you in that book, Trudy?"
"Far enough along to know that this is going to be sad and if the dog dies, I'm going to kick your ass, Ja," Trudy says, waiting for the last of the Avatars to hop onto the samson. Lyle gets on the gunner seat and pats the side of the samson.
"We're good to go," he calls.
The samson powers up, roaring to life as the blades spun faster and faster. The little boy jostles in Quaritch's arms, looking around panicked. He holds tightly to Quaritch, looking like he's about to jump out of his skin and despite his eyes welling up with tears, he keeps it under control. His entire body starts shaking in terror, his eyes darting around wide and alert, but he doesn't cry despite looking like he really wants to. He is saying things in Na'vi, voice tinged in panic and fear.
"Alright Blue Team, hold onto your butts," Trudy laughs as the samson launches up into the air and makes its way back toward Hell's Gate.
It's mostly a smooth ride until they hit some turbulence, jolting the samson a bit, making the little boy cry out in terror, the tears now trickling down his cheeks as he looks around. He wraps his arms around Quaritch's neck, crying in fear. Quaritch pats at his back, trying to be soothing. Maria stands up from her seat, moving to kneel onto the ground in front of Quaritch, rubbing his back and shoulder soothingly.
"Mawey, mawey," she says softly.
The little boy looks at her, full lips trembling as tears track in thick globs down his cheeks. He says something over and over again in a small, shaking voice that makes her face stricken with pain. Her own lips press together tightly as she rubs at his back, petting his matted hair a bit as the little boy pulls from Quaritch to her, holding out his arms for her. In an instant there is a flash of terror, like she'll reject him, but instead, she pulls him up into her arms and moves back into her seat. She hums softly into his ear as she rocks back and forth.
Ja and Zhang don't seem to mind her rocking into them as she cradles the little boy tightly to her as he sobs harder, clinging to her, saying, "Txewm, sa'nu, txewm," over and over and over again. With his little head tucked into her shoulder, she presses a hand to her face as if to hide it. A moment later she wipes away at a tear, taking a shaking breath.
Fike, staring at her face, quietly asks, "What is he saying, Walker?"
Walker shakes her head, cradling the little boy closely. For a few moments she doesn't respond as she holds him. She steadies herself, blinking away the wetness in her eyes before quietly speaking into her headset, "Scary, mommy. He's saying 'scary, mommy' over and over again."
Fike looks away.
Tsyeyk feels... exhausted. Like every bit of his energy has been sucked out of him. He's not sure where he is or what is going on, but eventually the roaring beast around them settles and its belly opens up for the strangers to pile out of. The pretty female doesn't put him down like he expected her to. She still held him, like she had been when he was crying. He was so mad at himself for being so scared. How was mommy going to know that he was good enough if he cried?
Mommy always hated when he cried. He tried to hold it in, he tried so hard, yet it didn't work. He was so shaken by it all, he couldn't stop himself. He tried. He really, really did. It's not fair. He should have been able to do that one thing! He wanted to make her proud so that he could prove himself sooner, yet he couldn't even do that. It's no wonder mommy hasn't come back for him yet. He still has so much to learn. He has so much more room to get better before he's good enough to be with mommy.
The pretty female keeps hold of him as she crawls out of the monster's belly and to Tsyeyk's terror, they are surrounded by monsters. Thankfully, they appear to also be at rest like the one that they crawled out of. But he clings to the pretty female. He shouldn't be afraid. Mommy would want him to be brave, but she's not putting him down. She's not pulling away like mommy usually does because he's not good enough yet. But the female doesn't pull away. He doesn't know why, but he's so thankful. He's not ready yet for her to pull away.
There is another female waiting for them amongst the monsters, her eyes on Tsyeyk, a mixture of emotions crossing over her tense face as the female carrying him walks over to her.
Tsyeyk's ears fold back as the male that held him earlier says something to her quickly. She nods, sparing him a long look before looking down at him in the female's arms. She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes as she scans him.
Then she greets him, waving a hand from her forehead to him, saying softly, "I see you."
He blinks rapidly, recognizing the action from watching others greeting one another. He waits too long before returning the action, realizing that was what she was waiting for, his stomach knotting in anxiety and excitement. Now that he's not panicking, he has a moment to collect himself. No one has ever greeted him before, and when he had tried to do it to mommy, after seeing strangers do it, mommy didn't return the action. He must have not done it right.
He carefully returns the action, hands shaking. "See you."
"I am Grace Augustine," she says slowly. The little boy frowns a bit, trying to understand. She smiles more, pressing a hand to her chest and says again, "My name is Grace Augustine."
Shakily, he points a little finger at himself, rasping softly, "Mommy calls me Tsyeyk."
This look flickers over her face, which makes all of the strangers' stare at her, making note of the look. She sucks in a slow breath, creases forming between her eyes before she smiles again. "And where is your mommy, sweetheart?"
Tears stab at his eyes again, but he swallows it down, not even sure he has enough tears left in him to cry again. Not that he should. Mommy wouldn't want him to cry. He shakes his head, lips pressing tightly. "Out there. She's there." He points back to the forest that he can see off in the distance. He's not sure how they got so far away from the forest, but he's never been this far away before.
"Do you know where? Is she coming back to your home soon?" She asks.
Tsyeyk blinks, trying to understand her words. He slowly shakes his head, still trying not to cry. "Mommy not coming. Tsyeyk not good. Mommy come back when Tsyeyk good. Tsyeyk not good."
The female, Grace, shakes her head, two strange patches of hair above her eyes pulling together as she reaches out and gently pets his shoulder. "No, sweetheart. No. I'm..." she pauses, closing her eyes before considering something. Then she asks, "When was the last time you saw your mommy?"
Tsyeyk shrugs his shoulders, looking away. "No. Tsyeyk wait. But not good. Mommy don't be with Tsyeyk."
Grace looks away, closing her eyes before looking back, smiling softly. "Are you hungry?"
Tsyeyk blinks at the question, not understanding. "Tsyeyk... wait being with Mommy?"
She frowns, making an eating motion with her hands. "Food?" Then she pats her stomach. Immediately his own growls at the realization at her words. And he hasn't eaten yet today. He is very - what was the word that she used? Hungry? Yes. He's very hungry.
He nods, rubbing at his forehead as the motion makes him dizzy, but he smiles a bit, wondering if she was going to come hunting with him. The only person that he's ever been hunting with is Mommy.
"Go?" He rasps, pointing toward the forest, his little tail flicking a bit.
Grace smiles, reaching forward to gently push his knotted hair from his face a bit as she says, "We have food here we would love to sha - " She stops, staring at his face, her eyes widening.
"Pretee bluw, aynt dey?" The male in charge says, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Vairree," Grace says softly, pushing his hair a bit more. She runs her hand over the back of his head, trying to get the tangled mess of his hair out of his face but it's crusted pretty much in place. This look crosses over her face, leaning forward to rub at the back of his head, then she stops, stares at him with big eyes before she touches his cheeks and then his forehead, frowning. Back to Na'vi, she says, "How about we get something to eat and get you all cleaned up?"
He nods, excitement and fear pooling in his belly, not sure what exactly is going to happen next but... they have all been so nice to him. And they want to give him food? Mommy doesn't usually bring him food anymore leading up to when she didn't come back. He survived. Mommy taught him, but he couldn't do it the way that she could. He didn't fully know how she did a lot of what she did, and whatever he would try to emulate usually ended in failure.
Grace waves her hand and the female follows her into the strange... stone home. Far, far bigger than his own. He turns to look over her should from where he rests on her hip to watch as the forest gets further and further away.