Born Into The Na'vi

Chapter 1 - Learning

The ground felt weird as I ran; sponge like, yet still had that dirt texture. Each time I set my foot down, the forest floor I had stepped on lit up like a green flashlight in the night. The things I heard were strange yet comforting, made me remind myself that this was not a simulator or dream.

This was real life. That ment that death was real as well.

A tear escaped my large purple eyes and ran down my large face, landing on the ground that lit up at the touch. What went wrong? Everything was hooked up and ready, and my calculations were sound... My thoughts were running wild in my chronic memory, as I redid all the calculations I had done and kept coming to the conclusion that they were all correct. But then how did the machine malfunction like that?

As I finally stopped running, I crumpled to the ground and curled into a fetal position, sobs took control of my body. And, despite my tries, I couldn't keep quiet. I was alone in a foreign place, with no knowledge of the people that lived there. I didn't know what to do. There were no clothes on me, making me even more exposed. Luckily, I didn't have much to expose yet due to young age.

A sudden noise in the brush to my left startled me, and I stopped crying. The silence that enveloped the forest was deafening.

"Hello?" I called out timidly, afraid that it might be an animal that wants to eat me. "Please, is anyone there?"

The bush rustled for a few seconds, before a figure emerged. He was slightly taller than me, maybe a year or two older than me, and had blue skin. His eyes were the color of an emerald. The strange, colorful clothes he wore covered only what was needed and a bow was held in his left hand and a quiver with a few arrows was attached to his back. His tail swayed in a curious manner an inch or two off the ground, as he watched me for a moment before seeming to relax and returned his bow to his back. Dark brown hair reached past his slightly defined upper chest, while a braid of hair reached his lower back.

The strange person spoke in a language that was foreign to me, but it seemed easy to learn. After a minute or two of the stranger trying to communicate, he finally sighed and offered his right hand to me. I hesitated, not knowing what this boy would do to me but knowing that I would die if I stayed here, before finally taking my five fingered hand on his four fingered one.

We raced across the forest, stopping a few times to rest or hide from other animals, before coming to a halt in front of a large tree.

And by large I mean huge.

This tree, who's species I couldn't determine, had to be at least a hundred meters tall, supported by mangrove-like roots. As the stranger led me towards this tree, my head tilted upwards to take in the view, before remembering my state of apparel and lack of knowledge about the stranger taking me into a tree larger than the Statue of Liberty. I suddenly pulled my hand from his and ducked into some nearby shrubbery before another blue person saw me.

A hiss and a string of foreign words met my ears as the boy followed me into the brush. His eyes widened when he saw me crouched behind a large leaf that hid my body from his sight. A frown appeared on his face as he tilted his head in a questioning manner, tail curling and uncurling repeatedly. Watching his tail, I realised my own was twitching aggressively, not that I knew why or how to control it.

Movement caught my eyes as the stranger slowly raised his hands, drawing my attention and a small hiss from my mouth. He froze, as if dealing with a wild animal, and raised his hands even slower. In a way, he kinda was. My ears were drawn back, and the fear must've been evident on my face.

The boy made a gesture I was familiar with, beckoning me to come closer, to go with him. I shook my head, wrapping the oversized leaf around my body for protection, as if it would keep the monsters at bay. While I was wrapped up in my thoughts, I failed to notice the proximity of the now crouching boy in front of me. He was so close, I could almost feel the heat radiating from him.

Before I could stop him, the boy took my blue face in his hands, bringing it slightly closer to his face so I had no choice but to look him in the eyes. When I tried to pull back, he held my face a little tighter, while also trying not to hurt me.

"Zongteng," he murmured, large thumbs wiping my tearstained cheeks. Somewhere, my brain registered the word and two others came to mind.

Safe place.