thirteen. only love can hurt like this
CLAN AFTER CLAN, THEY ASSEMBLED TOGETHER BY TORUK MAKTO TO BRING JUSTICE AGAINST THE SKY PEOPLE. Juniper knew that with Jake being Toruk Makto, they were in good hands. But sitting next to the tree of souls, the Vespera girl felt nothing but unease. She prayed to Eywa, hoping Grace was resting well as her mind was stuck on the first moment she met the scientist.
Juniper sat with her knees firmly tucked to her chest as her fingers danced around the gauge that was wrapped around her torso where she had been shot. She glanced at the sky with a tear trailing down her cheek, her only thoughts being: is this all that the second life Juniper was given was about? Being locked away and experimented on without her consent?
Shutting her eyes tightly to stop more waterworks from falling down, Juniper realised how much she wished to stay dead rather than this. Anything but this. A click at the door, the sound of it opening, caused the girl to tense her body. She bared her teeth, watching as a woman with a lock of red hair walked inside. The woman held out her hands, opposing as a non-threat, yet Juniper hesitantly got up on her feet in a crouched position.
She was slow, a grimace on her face when she moved her position. Grace saw the bandage wrapped around her torso and sighed, moving closer to the girl, "it's okay, I'm not here to hurt you," Juniper didn't listen but instead kept the heavy glare on her face, "I'm here to help you. I'm a scientist, and I know people like you that can help."
Juniper settled. The Vespera girl didn't want to believe the woman, who was obviously a scientist, in case she was lying. But as Juniper stared into her eyes, all the child saw was the sincerity and the raw honesty leaking from her voice that made Juniper hopeful—a phantom of a smile meeting her face, "'people like me'?"
The kid questioned, and Grace knew she had Juniper's trust as she bent down to the Vespera girl's level, her eyes switching between the gauze and her eyes, "yes. The Na'vi. There's a clan of them in the forest, and I know they would wanna help you," Juniper smiled, and Grace noticed how it was lopsidedly, the side of her canines showing, "I wanna help you. Can you trust me to do that?"
Juniper paused for a moment at the question. If she were to get her hopes too high up and was let down by the woman, then Juniper would be defeated. But a nagging feeling in her gut yelled at her to trust Grace. So, with a nod of the head, Juniper stated, "yes. I trust you."
The present Juniper hadn't realised a certain man taking a seat next to her, his eyes worryingly inspecting the girl as she sniffled. The Vespera girl was taken out of her thoughts when she felt the longing stare at her side and slightly flinched. Juniper and Jake didn't say anything but stared at the tree of souls beside them.
Jake sighed heavily, "do you want to talk about it?" He asked. Juniper didn't gaze at the man until a minute of silence passed them. He saw how her eyes watered with tears, highlighting the golden yellow hue of her eyes, "is it Grace?"
Juniper shrugged and breathlessly scoffed, "some part of it, yeah," Jake wanted to know what the other part was but didn't ask as he didn't want to pressure the teenage girl. Juniper knew that she could open up with Jake but was reluctant in doing so. Why? She didn't know. The Vespera girl wasn't one to open up and express her emotions, but hearing the care in Jake's voice made her walls tumble down, "I guess I'm—I'm scared of what's gonna happen. To you, to Neytiri, the people ... to me. I don't wanna be caged up and tested like a lab rat again. I can't live through that."
"You won't be. Not when I'm around. Nothing is going to happen, alright? I hope you can still trust me, June," Jake exasperated. Juniper smiled at the genuine tone of his voice, the feeling of being protected washing over her.
Juniper inhaled sharply, "I do," She said, and Jake felt relief, "I trust you. Even after everything, I still do," The Vespera girl halted, needing to ask the question that plagued her mind, "did you mean what you said?" Jake puckered his brows, staying silent to give Juniper time to explain, "about me being your kid? Or—or was that just part of getting us to trust you?"
Jake froze, not knowing what to say. He knew the answer but didn't know whether Juniper would accept it or not. Scared if Juniper was going to reject his words. He sighed, "it was real. But if you need time or some space, I get it—"
Juniper cut the man off immediately, "no. I—" She didn't know how to put what she was feeling into words. To express how much she missed this fatherly presence in her life, "my dad, Mateo, was one of a kind. He was the type of father that would do anything to protect me ... and he did. But it cost him his life, and I couldn't do anything about it. I guess what I'm saying is that ... since we've gotten close, you've been that figure to me. You've been another Mateo. And I don't know why you'd think—or anyone would think—I'm worth that much, but it means a whole lot to me. More than I can explain. So, thank you, Jake. For being my dad."
Even after everything, the bond between the two was unbreakable—something only a father and daughter could have. He brought Juniper into an embrace full of warmth which she gladly accepted, and continued to hold each other as if it were the last time since the war was at the brink of the edge, waiting to come plummeting down any moment. And how hard it came down on them.
Jake sat on Toruk, leading the Na'vi of all the clans they collected. He glanced to both his sides, seeing Tsu'tey and Neytiri gaze back at him. He then gazed up, seeing the bottom side of Zuzip, which Juniper was perched on with her bow in her grasp. The time for war had come, and the Na'vi were ready. They were ready to fight to the end, not letting the sky people reach the tree of souls—their gateway to Eywa and their ancestors.
Juniper reactively hissed at the sight of the gunships coming in, her hold becoming tighter on her weapon. The Vespera girl gazed over to Jake, waiting for his signal of attack as did every one of the people sitting on the sides of the mountains, ready to secretly ambush the sky people. When they got the signal, Juniper and Zuzip were fast to follow after Jake, readying her bow with an arrow.
Juniper held up her bow, ululating her battle cry as Zuzip zoomed past. Jake flew downwards, grabbing one of the gunships as he created a hole for the rest of the ikrans to fly through. Zuzip was one of the first to reach, giving Juniper a clear shot of one of the soldiers in the gunships. Quickly, Juniper let go of her arrow and watched proudly as the sky person fell limp, the gunship going down with him.
Zuzip flew up from tumbling down, flipping through the air as Juniper told the banshee through her bond to claw at the end of one of the gunships closest. In doing so, the bottom half of the plane broke off, and Juniper smirked as she watched the people on board begin to fall and the ship loses its momentum. Neytiri saw this, shooting an arrow at the pilot, sending a nod to Juniper as the ship crashed down with an explosion.
Juniper met the woman's side, lifting up her bow as they banged weapons together, chorusing their battle cries together. Yet, the moment was short-lived when the ships began to fire, aiming towards the two. Zuzip and Seze split up, coming from both sides. Juniper crouched on Zuzip as the ikran soared through the air, somersaulting, and the Vespera girl let go of her arrow, watching it make contact with the man shooting.
From one of the bigger ships, Juniper patted Zuzip on the back as the banshee got closer, and the Vespera girl pounced off the creature as they would do during their daily flights. Juniper held the end of her bow, hitting any of the sky people that noticed the girl before they could shoot. Before a bullet hit the girl's skin, Juniper jumped off the ship and landed on the back of Zuzip before flying away to watch Jake take over.
Toruk's talons met with the skip, using its force to send it to the side of the mountains, the ship exploding in the process. The gunfire coming from the ships worsened, missiles coming from any direction, and Juniper was smacked down in the middle of it. Zuzip manoeuvred around the shootings with tremendous speed, the ikran's mind on one thing: to keep Juniper safe.
Juniper ducked, sending Zuzip down like a bullet to get out of the way of an incoming missile shooting at them. The Vespera girl sighed in relief, glancing up to where the missile was fire and landed on the mountain above them. She hated watching the debris fall from where the explosion rang out but knew it was better than she or Zuzip. Juniper gasped when she the size of the larger gunship coming towards them, just getting out of the way by a couple inches.
Though the gunships surrounding them saw this, they aimed their weapons towards the Vespera girl and her ikran as they were losing control from the sudden ship hurdling towards them. Juniper yelled out as Zuzip shrieked in pain, plummeting to the ground of the forest beneath them.
Before Juniper could take control of the situation, from the speed they were going down, the teenage Na'vi fell off her ikran. Juniper tried to move around the large leaves and branches to control her fall, yet met with the ground harshly. Juniper felt like she was in and out of consciousness, her vision being hazy from the fall she had endured.
Though, the Vespera girl spent no time worrying about herself when there wasn't a sight of Zuzip. Juniper remembered the pain she felt through the bond, feeling almost empty where it once stood. The Na'vi stood up and grasped the side that she fell on, pulsing with pain. She moved through the forest in search of Zuzip.
Juniper saw a clearing through the trees, and her stomach dropped at the sight. Moving her arm from her side to her stomach, she wailed. Juniper moved forward as fast as she could, running to Zuzip's side and falling to her knees. Her hands made it to the ikran's head as she slightly shook the creature. Tears burnt her vision, and she forgot about the pain that she succumbed to.
Zuzip had her full, undivided attention as she cried for her best friend, "Zuzip," She weakly whispered, seeing the blood that coated Zuzip's vibrant-coloured scales. Juniper shook her head, feeling the bond between the two begin to wither away, "no, no, no," Juniper whispered, her voice becoming louder and full of emotions, "no! Zuzip, wake up, please! We won't fight anymore, okay? We—we can get out of here and go on our flight at eclipse instead."
When the creature's eyes didn't even open, Juniper's body slouched in defeat and buried her head in the ikran's neck. Her best friend. Her spirit sister was gone at the hands of the sky people. The same people who took her father away, her saviour—Grace, her home, and now Zuzip. Juniper sobbed, not knowing what else to do as her body shook from the cries and yells leaving her throat.
The girl remained like that, clinging on to her best friend despite the sound of the sky people closing in on her in the distance, fraily whispering, "you never left me ... I'm not leaving you, Zip."
authors note.
i know, I KNOW, y'all probably don't wanna hear from me right now but let's just take a minute of silence for zuzip. a fallen warrior, a friend, and a spirit sister. 😞😞 you guys probably think i'm the most evilest person out there right now, but i am indeed sorry for this chapter as well as the next one. like my heart is beating very fast and i will apologise with tears if needed.
again, im sorry ( kind of ) 🫡