Heart & Soul - An Avatar Fanfiction

↞Leaving Home↠

"The IVS Argo is a Interstellar Vehicle designed to transport you all to Pandora."

Rune stepped off the plane, stretching out her limbs and cracking her back, before walking across the tarmac and into the airport terminal.

It had been a long eight hours and now she'd finally touched down in California, America. Tired, sweaty and desperately in need of a drink. She'd expected a bit more as she walked out of the plane and onto the tunnel, but she guessed the stories were really true. America didn't have much sun access anymore, thick clouds of smog covering most sky space, making the area below dark and gloomy and awfully smelly.

She didn't like it, and even though she knew she'd only be here for an hour or two, she regretted coming.

Once out of the security and airport, which was hard to navigate due to its size, duffle bag in hand, Rune waited out the front of the airport with a group of other people who were going to Pandora just like her. There were twenty-three of them, including herself. Rune's ears were assaulted by the rushing lanes of traffic on the highway in front of the airport, forcing her to have to turn her hearing aid off. Eventually, she and the others decided to move inside to wait for the taxi, the polluted air and thunderous noise being too much for a lot of them. She hooked her hearing aid back in, no longer being met by a screeching noise thanks to the sound proof windows of the airport. They moved into a quiet chatting lounge.

As the group waited for their taxi, some tried to make small talk and start a conversation with others. Evidently a lot of the group came from all over the world, but around four of them lived in the country itself.

"So where you from?" a stout man with a ginger goatee and a Texan accent asked, setting his large backpack down.

"I'm from Australia, born in Darwin in the Northern Territory," Rune answered, her accent would also give away where she was from. She adjusted her hearing aid, "Assuming from your accent, you were born in Texas?"

"Yeah, born in bred in Tallahassee. Had I heard you talk earlier, I would've been able to identify where you were from right away." he responded. Rune braced, waiting to hear the old 'chuck a shrimp on the barbie.' speech from ages ago, but it never came thankfully.

Another person joined their conversation, she was lanky and of similar height to Rune, with lustrous black skin, a half shaved-half braided head of hair, genetically modified blue eyes and sharp features.

The three introduced themselves to each other, Rune learning that the Texans name was Billy Danvers and that the other woman's name was Camille, she said her last name was Patterson, and Rune learnt she was from Guadalupe.

"So, what are you here for?" Camille asked, her French-Caribbean accent was thick but understandable, more so than Billy's Texan accent.

"I've been hired as a chef for the Canteen, I've been working with RDA for some time now and I finally got invited to work on Pandora, so I took it. My wife divorced me and took the kids, so I thought that this could be the new lease on life that I need." Billy explained, rubbing the balding spot on the back of his head.

"I'm here to work as an Avatar-Driver on Pandora, I got put on the waiting list after a request from Doctor Grace Augustine." Rune informed them.

"You're a scientist then? Being an Avatar-Driver isn't an easy job, I heard the Na'vi can be a bit brutal." stated Camille.

"Ah, no. I'm actually a scholar in Anthropology, I've been hired to record a history of the Na'vi and write a book. It's quite fascinating actually." Rune explained eagerly.

"What about all them scars then, and that 'earing aid?" Billy was curious about the woman's noticeable features.

"Oh, I'm ex-army, as in from today onwards. I'm on some sort of reserve program till I return back to Earth. I have around six years of experience, eight if you count the two I spent in Cadets, and ten if you count that and the last two years I've spent on reserves. I got the scars on the side of my head one of my tours where I also lost my hearing in my right ear, the rest of the scars are from other events," she said, memories of the event flashing through her eyes, "What about you Camille, what are you here for?"