Together in Eywa

Part 5

They spent the next few weeks just flying through the sky each day, searching for any trace of the Sully family. It was miserable, at least for Crescent. Each day she had to ride with someone from the team on their ikran and she hated it. Spider always ended up with Quaritch, which made sense, but she hated how many hours she spent in silence just waiting for them to land or take a break.

Some nights they'd return to the sky-people headquarters, but others they'd camp somewhere in the forest. Those nights, Crescent would explain everything about Grace's lab and their avatars to Spider. He was so fascinated and clearly excited about it. He kept asking her questions and bringing it back up. Those were the nights that felt the most normal, as if they were just enjoying another night in Pandora, among the bioluminescence.

She spent multiple days, while flying silently with the team, trying to come up with some kind of scheme or plan to get out of their current predicament. Her and Spider had been in their custody for weeks and it was starting to weigh on her. Her heart ached for her father and Neteyam and the rest of the Sullys. And every day she forced herself to turn a blind eye towards her growing feelings for Spider.

It just made everything more complicated. And as she felt herself drifting closer to Spider, it's as if sometimes she could feel him pulling away and other times it felt like all he wanted to do was be around her. He spent too much time with Quaritch, it made her uncomfortable. They still hadn't talked about it and every time she asked he shrugged her off. It just made everything more confusing.

Her dark brown hair whipped her in the face as they flew over the Hallelujah mountains. Her backside ached from sitting in the saddle all day and she was bored beyond belief. This was what felt like their 100th expedition and there was still no sign of Jake Sully. Every day it felt like they slipped further and further away, and obviously that was a good thing, she didn't want Quaritch to hurt them, but it also made her heart sink.

The Sullys were long gone. They had left them.

Crescent heard a laugh from a different ikran, Spider. He was laughing at something Quaritch had said and was trying to teach him how to say "oel ngati kameie" but Quaritch was struggling with the pronunciation. Spider laughed again, making fun of his mistakes. Crescent had to admit, it was a bit endearing to watch. No matter how evil Quaritch was, seeing Spider get any kind of attention from a parental figure made her smile. He deserved at least something. She was almost convinced that Quaritch was becoming attached to Spider, like he really saw him as his son. Perhaps that could be useful to them in the future, but she just didn't want Spider to end up hurt.

"Boss," Lyle said, using his comm to make sure he was heard, "One of the patrols picked up a radar hit. A rogue gunship."

Her heartbeat quickened. What did they mean by that?

Quaritch looked over, his expression almost confused, "Where?"

"Eastern Sea," Lyle responded, "2 clicks north."

Spider glanced over at her, a mix of hope and concern in his eyes. She shared the same feelings. Honestly, it was hard to know how to feel, but she was glad Spider at least seemed to be in the same position. After weeks and weeks of searching with no trace, it was easy to want a change in their routine.

"Hold on." Quaritch said to Spider and the woman Crescent was riding with made sure she was secure before they turned around and headed back towards the head base.

***

"What's happening?" Crescent leaned over and whispered to Spider, as Quaritch spoke to General Ardmore about the rogue gunship.

Spider's hand brushed hers lightly and it sent a shiver down her spine. Seriously, what was happening? He looked down at her, "They spotted a gunship leaving the forest and heading out towards the sea. They tracked them all the way to a group of islands."