Foreign: Spider Socorro

31

The night we got back to the ship, the sun had already been rising. It shone into the windows with yellow streaks, seeping into the walls and cracks in the floor.

Every body was anxiety ridden and sleepless. Scoresby and a few other team members stood around the inside of the ship, staring mindlessly into the map. Trackers beeped from their computers, sending out waves of green.

I watched as Spider took off his mask, motioning for me hand mine to him.
With a crisp snap, the pressure released and I felt the cool air flowing through my skin.

"That always feels good." I laugh, handing my mask to Spider and turning away. I felt him searching to grab my mask as I walked away. On the other side of the room, Ian sat down with a small cup of liquid.

From the moment I met this man and heard about his journey and experience with marine biology, it intrigued me. I took quiet steps to him, he laid with his palm to his face.

"Hello. Ian?" I spoke to him quietly, placing a hand on his back and waiting for his answer.

"Oh, yes. The forest girl." He smiled, turning his head to me and offering me a seat. I looked back to Spider for his approval, but his body sunk into a chair. He laid asleep with his arms crossed.

A smile warmed my heart, seeing him there.

"Yes. I really admire the work you are doing here. All of this must be very interesting." I smiled to him, grabbing myself a spare cup and filling it with water.

"You do, yeah? Well, it is. But I've never studied the forest, marine biology works with this reef. It's truly beautiful." He laughed proudly, scratching his head.

"Well, yes." My breathing slowed. A familiar comfortable feeling fell in between us.

"We've got quotas to play around with today. Just waiting on your team," he added, taking a sip from his mug.

"They should be arriving back from another village. What will we be doing today?" I ask him, looking back to Spider. He still splayed with his arms crossed, sleeping deeply.

"Studying Tulkun." Ian finished.
"And let's get on with it." He said with a heavy breath, downing the rest of his cup and slapping the table.

I laughed to him, finishing my water as he grabbed a mask.

"See you two out there." He pointed to Spider. He stood from the chair, pressurizing his mask and walking to a large door.

"Yes sir." I chuckled, spinning my body to Spider and looking between them.

    ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

"I'm over it. I've got quotas to meet." Scoresby yelled to us as he stood watching more burning villages.

"You wanna hunt? Let's hunt." Quaritch growled.

Spider and I looked over the water, eavesdropping their conversation. At the end of his father's sentence, his head turned in question. A look of disgust curled his lips and my expression mocked his.

"This is so fucked." I told him, shaking my head.

"What? Here? There's too many villages." Scoresby told the colonel. He looked to Spider and I, trying to negotiate at our extent.

"No, no, no. Respectfully, sir. You do not understand the bonds between the Tulkun and the ocean Na'vi." Ian spoke up. He approached behind Scoresby, standing up to our colonel.

He looked to me, widening his eyes.

"It would be like murdering their family." He finished, urging me to speak on the manner. I felt tingles in my feet at the sight of these men arguing, and it prompted me.

"You can't hunt here." I finally spoke.
They did not look to me, but continued to speak. With a scoff in my voice, I turned back to Spider.

"They're fucking up everything." He sighed, leaning his back against the railing now.

"I know." I agreed, sitting in the same position as him. The men continued to argue.

"If we start hunting here, the hostile will come after us." Scoresby tried to convince the colonel to move the ship. I watched as they conversed with each other through body language.

"Exactly. One hostile in particular." Quaritch growled, catching the attention of Spider. I noticed that the expression on his face became powered by fear. He turned his head slowly, keeping his eyes on the group, watching. Listening. His eyes dropped, twitching under the plastic of the mask.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, placing a hand on his arm. He couldn't bring himself to look at me.

"They're going to lure him out. Above that, they're talking about hunting Tulkun." He spoke, hushed. I heard the sharpness of his voice cracking against my skin.

"Wait it out. We don't know that this will make him come out of hiding. He's smarter than that." I tried to reassure him, rubbing the blue streaks on his skin.

"Let's move it out!" Scoresby yelled over me before I could speak again.

"Bitch." I muttered.

Spider watched as the water moved under the ship, floating higher. The water pushed away from the fans and we began to move.

"Inside, kids." Ian said. His clothes whipped from the wind of the ship and he cocked his head to the door and shimmied away. I watched as he struggled against the wind to open the door.

"Come on." Spider groaned against the wind. His hair smacked around in the air as he also struggled to the door. I watched him, opening it to me.

"Right." I agreed, holding the railing to push myself to the inside.

"The tulkun are traveling here-" Ian was speaking as I clicked the door shut. Taking my mask away from my face, Spider and I sat in cold, metal chairs on the opposite side of the room.

It was tense. Blinking radars and sonars tracking large bodies of green and grey splotches.

"Then what's going on? Move it." Scoresby yelled. He waved his arms to the men steering the ship, and they jumped.
Their hands pushed against each lever. I felt the ground shift under the chair, and my body leaning against the push of the moving ship.

"I really hope this doesn't end like everything else." Spider whispered.
He nodded against the speech of the other men in the room, listening attentively.

"Yeah. Me too." I agreed.

I could only hope with the technology they acquired, hunting tulkun would be humane. Everything pulled against that. I feared that this would draw out our target, and put his family in danger. His family would be in danger.

AN: I promise there will be more movie credit in the next chapters 🫡

I'm kind of struggling with what to write before the war UGHHHH

But- how did you feel about this chapter?

Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this ❤️❤️

Much love- A.:)