ten. got a sense i've been betrayed
GRACE AND JAKE WOKE UP WITH A JOLT, SENDING NEYTIRI AND JUNIPER ON ALERT. The two collectively agreed that they wouldn't leave the pair until they had woken up, and when they finally did, Jake explained how the sky people were planning to invade and destroy hometree. The group walked down the heights of their home, meeting with the Olo'ektyan and the Tsahik.
Neytiri called for her parents, causing them to turn and face the awoke Jake Sully, "Etyukan, I have something to say," Grace urged them to listen. Once Jake got permission to speak, the man announced, "a great evil is upon us. The sky people are coming to destroy Hometree," Jake hurriedly faced Neytiri, "tell them they're gonna be here soon. You have to leave, or you're gonna die."
Juniper puckered her brows at the unsteady feeling in her chest when she heard the last word of Jake's sentence. Die. The Vespera girl realised how much she feared the idea of death—from being someone that experienced a pain-free death in her old life, it wasn't something she worried about. But now, as she stared into the people's faces, Neytiri's and Jake's—Juniper came to the realisation that she didn't want to die. Everything changed.
The Tsahik glanced between her daughter, Juniper, Jake and Grace, "are you certain of this?"
Jake paused at the question, having something to get off his chest. Though Jake was hesitant as he knew this would change everything that they believed in him. He panted, "look, they sent me here to learn your ways so one day I could bring this message and that you would believe it."
Juniper stared at the man, recognition plastering her face. To herself, Juniper shook her head and took a couple steps back away from Jake in disbelief. She couldn't have been right from the beginning. The Vespera girl couldn't bring herself to accept the situation at hand. Neytiri stepped in front of Jake, her hands pressing against his shoulders as she inspected his face, "what are you saying, Jake? You knew this would happen?"
As Juniper prayed to the Great Mother for her and Neytiri to be wrong, Jake killed any last hope Juniper had when he nodded his head, answering with a brief 'yes'. Juniper's breath increased, her breathing becoming irregular as she felt the world around her become dizzy. She had trusted a man—a man that was related to Tom Sully, who tortured her in ways that she vowed not to speak of—just so she could get stabbed in the back, "look, at first it was just orders, and then everything changed. Okay, I fell in love. I fell in love with the forest and with the Omaticaya people. And with you."
Neytiri hit the arms grasped on her forearms, staring down at the ground as the feeling of betrayal settled in, "I trusted you," Hearing the brokenness in Neytiri's voice made the tears build in Juniper's eyes come falling down. She felt the tingle of her skin as a trickle of waterworks slithered down her cheek, "I trusted you," Jake urged on, trying to get the woman to listen. She yelled in his face in Na'vi, cursing the man out. She pushed him harshly, "you will never be one of the people!"
Grace added herself to aid Jake in convincing Neytiri that they were trustworthy. That Jake truly had changed from being a soldier following orders to becoming one of the people. Though, Neytiri wasn't falling for it and was stuck on her words. Jake glanced to the side, taking in the sights of the younger girl, which broke his heart. Looking at her, it was like Juniper was in a trance. Her hearing tuned everything out like she was being held under the water, the only sound that could be heard was her frantic heartbeat.
Her eyes were locked on him, tears blurring her vision. Her ears were perched down, and the hurt she felt through her chest was clearly displayed in her expressions. He sighed brokenly, stepping towards Juniper, who took a reluctant step back from the man. Her voice wavered as she spoke frailly, "I was right. You were with them this whole time. And to think I actually saw you as this—this some kind of dad!"
Jake shook his head firmly, wanting to bring the girl in his arms and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Just like he had done when she shared her past before all of this started, "no, Juniper. That was before everything. Before I got to know you," Jake chose his next words out carefully, sincerity held in his voice, "that was before I saw myself as a father. You're my kid, Juniper. Blood or not—human or Na'vi."
The Sully man was a couple step away from Juniper, just barely being able to hear her words, "you're exactly like him," She said. Jake knew exactly what she meant, and if his heart wasn't broken before, it definitely was now, "you're just like Tom. You're even worse! At least Tom didn't get me to trust him. But you did, and it hurts more."
The Olo'teykan called it off, looking to some of his men by his side and ordered, "bind them," The Na'vi were quick to move, kicking Jake down to the ground harsher than they did with Grace. Juniper cried to herself, not being able to control the sobs leaving her hoarse throat. Neytiri waltzed to the child, bringing Juniper into her embrace.
Neytiri watched as Jake and Grace were tied as she continued to tightly hold Juniper, keeping her head tucked in her chest so the younger Na'vi wouldn't witness the sight. Neytiri felt her emotions increase when she could hear the cries from Juniper, avoiding the longing and painful eyes of Jake. The older woman whispered calming sayings to the teenager, trying to rest the girl's crying as she swallowed down her own tears.
However, when Juniper heard the shakiness of Neytiri's voice ... it didn't help at all. Jake and Grace were forcefully carried to their feet, being pulled away. Juniper tucked her head to the side, her watery eyes meeting Jake's glance as he was pushed out of her line of sight. It only made the Vespera girl cry harder.
Juniper remembered the last time she felt this vulnerable and exposed before.
When all she had to live for was the same four walls, a bed on the side and a one-sided glass that Juniper couldn't see through—the time she was nothing more than a scientist experience. Juniper went through her breathing control, trying to prevent herself from hyperventilating. Zuzip stayed by the girl's side, laying her head down on her lap as Juniper caressed the bridge of the ikran's head.
At this point, Juniper was numb to the situation. How could someone she had trusted dearly, knowing the issues she experienced, still do that sort of thing? It boggled the teenager's mind. The Vespera girl replayed their interactions, trying to figure out any signs that she could've seen earlier. To say that Jake played the part well was an understatement.
The whole clan trusted Jake just so he could grab the knife that they had given him and stab them in their backs. The only time that Juniper could see a sign of his betrayal was when he was persistent to become friends with the girl, the reason being that she didn't trust him. Which turned out to be rightfully so.
A part of Juniper blamed Grace for the feeling she felt as she stared up at the sky. Grace was the one who had gotten the Vespera girl to give Jake a chance. And she regretted that decision. It was no wonder why Grace was bound along with Jake. Juniper felt the rush of tears burning her ears once again, her throat becoming dry as she tightened her grasp on Zuzip.
The ikran shrieked at the sudden pinch on her skin, glancing up at her rider. Zuzip remained to sit through the occasional nips at her skin if it meant for Juniper to let her emotions go. The creature nestled her head further in the girl's embrace in hopes that Juniper would feel the slightest bit better. And it worked.
Through the bond the two shared, Zuzip felt the girl's emotions lessen, calming the ikran. Juniper was thankful that Zuzip stayed by her side and breathlessly chuckled, gazing down at the warrior, "thank you, Zip."
Zip. A nickname that Juniper had given the ikran when they first started flying together. Zuzip chortled at the name, and the two didn't have to say anything to explain to each other that they had their backs. That, no matter what, Zuzip would stay by the girl's side until she was ready to be let go.
But, at this moment, Juniper felt like she was never going to have the courage to be let go of. Instead, she'd always feel the pain of someone close to her betraying her. To feel the coldness of the blade seek into her skin, feeling her blood gush out of her body as the knife began to twist her insides, and was pulled out, leaving the girl for dead with a hole where that person once stayed.