Together in Eywa

Part 4

The sound of multiple aircrafts starting hurt Crescents ears as her and Spider walked quickly towards one. They were flanked on all sides by Quaritch and his team and Crescent had to practically jog in order to keep up. Quaritch had his hand on Spider's shoulder, shouting so that he could be heard above the loud sound of the gunships.

"Get on the ship, find a seat, and keep out of the way," He ordered. Crescent rubbed her wrist, the skin tender from being cuffed for so long. They had only just removed the bindings so that she could put on and adjust her mask. She hoped they wouldn't feel the need to tie her hands together again.

Spider leapt into the gunship and then grabbed her arm to help her up. She shook him off, not wanting to look like she needed any help in front of the avatars. Crescent was determined not to show any kind of weakness at all. He just shrugged as she climbed in herself, grabbing hold of one the aircraft's cannons and looking through the sight. She tried not to laugh as he pretended to aim it right at Quaritch's team.

Quaritch was not as amused, "Woah, hold on there hotshot," he shoved Spider down next her on the bench in the middle of the aircraft, "Listen up," Quaritch grabbed both of their arms to keep them from jumping up or trying to run off, "There are trackers built into your masks," he tapped on the glass of Spider's, "if we hit the ground and either of you take off, I'll have you back in 2 minutes and I will not hesitate to punish one or both of you." Spider glanced at her and she looked back at him. Both of them had the same priority, keep each other safe and figure out a way out of this, "Understood?" Quaritch asked.

When neither of them responded, Quaritch shook their arms harshly, "Understood?" He demanded again.

Spider rolled his eyes and glared at him, "Yes sir." He said in a derogatory tone.

Quaritch released them and began speaking to the pilot. Crescent turned towards Spider, talking in a hushed tone, "We have to figure something out. I don't like this."

"Me neither," he agreed, glancing around to make sure no one was listening to them, "but we may just have to bide our time."

Crescent sighed, nodding, "You're probably right. We can't do anything without the risk of hurting each other."

Spider looked uncomfortable at the thought. She knew he was still beating himself up over the fact that they got caught, even if it was in no way his fault. Crescent wished she could say something to make him feel better, but if she was being honest, she had no idea what to say. She was overwhelmed by everything going on around her and if she was feeling that way, she couldn't even imagine how Spider was coping.

She wanted to say that her father would come for them, that Norm would try and do something to help them out, but again, she didn't want him in harm's way. It was hard, trying to keep everyone safe and she knew Spider was stressing about the same thing. She could tell by the way it seemed like he constantly had an eye on her, he'd even look like he wanted to say something from time to time, but he never did. Crescent just wished they had some time to talk about everything that had happened, she could tell multiple things were weighing on him.

They spent the rest of the flight in relative silence, not risking even speaking to each other in fear it would upset Quaritch. When they touched down in the forest, Crescent immediately knew where they were. Her heartrate skyrocketed. They were so close to where she had hidden Grace's old lab. If Quaritch decided to explore even 500 feet north, he would definitely find it, and she didn't want to know what he'd do if he did.

She still hadn't told Spider about the lab either, she had wanted it to be a surprise.

"Listen up," Quaritch demanded as Spider climbed on top of a fallen tree, Crescent standing to his left, "Jake Sully has gone underground," Crescent's heart sank a little when she heard that. Obviously Jake's first priority was to keep his family safe and he was not at all wrong for that. But something tugged at her in the back of her mind, wondering if there was a chance that she would never see Neteyam again.