CHARLOTTE GAVE BIRTH TO A beautiful baby girl, a mix between human, Veytanikan and Omatikayan, the only one ever born in history of the mix.
She'd inherited her fathers pale skin, but she took some her mothers blue pigment in her stripes instead of Aye'nis grey.
Like her mother she had five fingers, and thank Ey'wa good eyesight.
To her parents she was the most perfect little girl.
Aye'ni and Charlotte were pressed up against eachother while Charlotte described their baby girl to him "my darling Ivy" Charlotte stroked her cheek "you will grow to be brave and strong"
And that was true.
As well as her looks mixed with Charlottes and Aye'nis so was her personality, like Charlotte she was a curious child and like Aye'ni she was adventurous and as she grew older she prooved to be as Charlotte promised, brave and strong.
At seven years old she was already sneaking off to the jungle to hunt, she was stubborn and reckless, she's go for animals much bigger than her, sometimes Charlotte would have to run to her rescue, other times she'd bring back large animals and proudly grin while her father groaned.
At ten years old she was jumping from tree to tree and executing home made parkour courses perfectly, sometimes she lay in the creek and let the cool wash over her the lapping crystal water calmed her, sometimes she'd climb up her family's tree to watch Eclipse, she wanted to emerse herself in the beauty of Pandora forever.
When she was twelve she started getting lonely, living alone with just her parents no clan, no people her age, never any other interactions besides her family, sometimes she liked it that way, she was most definitely an introvert, but sometimes she wondered what a friend would be like.
Thirteen years old, she's spend her days exploring, gathering seeds and roots, playing with the friendly animals and hanging upside down in trees while rereading her mothers collection of books for the millionth time.
In the morning she'd dissapear into the jungle, and in the evening she'd return which a collection of random things ready for dinner with her family.
Fourteen years old, better than ever, she was agile, an experienced hunter and fighter, fluent in both English and Na'vi her skills were well developed and she was smart for her years and well advanced.
She dropped from the top of the tree onto the candle-lit wooden deck below, night had fallen and the darkness blanketed Pandora, thousands of stars twinkling like glittery crystals, she carried seeds and three fruits in her side pouch.
"Hi" Charlotte greeted, she was cooking a fish Ivy had speared early over some sizzling coals, Ivy walked forward to her and pulled the fruits from her side pouch.
"Your favourite!" She told out and handed her the purple fruit "I found a new tree, a little farther out it's packed"
Behind her her father was climbing up the ladder "dad!" She strided up to him and took his hand to place the fruit in.
"Thanks kid" he told her and scruffed her hair and she offered a playful hiss in return and wacked his hand away.
"So what did you get up to today?" Charlotte questioned shaking some spices onto the fish.
"The usual" Ivy bit into her fruit and sat down on the deck against the trunk "I saw a palulukan!"
"Ivy!" Charlotte scolded "your going to be the death of me! Stay away from the danger zones!"
Ivy waved her hand "I was in the trees im fine ma"
"So how big was it?" Aye'ni questioned intrigued with a smile.
"Aye'ni!" Charlotte scolded, slicing the fish "stop encouraging it!"
"Ah not even the biggest viper wolf could down her down" he sat next to her and she giggled.
"Blow the candles out please I want to see the stars!" Ivy begged.
The stars, oh how she loved the stars, she could watch them endlessly, her mother came from the stars, she didn't talk about it often, no matter how much Ivy wanted to know, Charlotte would never hold back knowledge from her, but this time she did.
Ivy knew the horrors of the sky people, about the destruction and devastation the humans caused, but Charlotte never went into detail.
"We can eat first then you can star gaze" Charlotte told her bringing a leaf of fish towards the young girl.
Ivy squinted her eyes up at the sky, there was something she'd never seen before, and she had the sky fully memorised from hours of gazing, it was brighter than any other star, and much bigger "mama?" She pointed a finger up at it.
Charlottes eyes flickered up and she let out a gasp and dropped the leaf of fish, making Ivy jump "what is it what's wrong?" Aye'ni asked sensing the tension.
Ivy had never before seent that look in her mothers yellow eyes, they were wide with pure horror, their usual spark had vanished in a whirl of anxiety, and been replaced with terror.
"U-um" Charlotte stuttered, looking down at her daughter who was squinting at the new bright light "Ivy baby, give us some time to talk"
Ivy was confused, as she stood up, her mother was never anxious, not like this at least. Something was wrong, very wrong.
She hopped down the ladder and let her feet drop into the soil, above she heard hushed voices, she could detect the tension.
She looked around the glowing landscape, the bioluminescent plants and flowers decorated the landscape in delicate glimmers, painting the forest in various bright shining colours in such detail, Ivy and set off trying not to think about it her parents strange behaviour.
Of course she thought about, she was always thinking, her brain never shut up, she'd try meditating but her mind was constantly overflowing with thoughts, like a million tabs open at the same time, relentlessly fighting to be the same thought.
Was it an explosion in the sky? Perhaps some kind of supernovae? That was gonna send a deadly gamma burst and kill everybody? "Shut up Ivy" she muttered to herself.
She approached a tree, it was her special tree, at night the leaves glowed a pinkish-purple, illuminating the ground, it was so ethereal to her just like every part of her home, it was magical.
She lay by the tree trunk and looked at the sky through a patch in the leaves, it was almost as if the light was getting brighter and closer, when she noticed this she immediately scrambled up and her large pale eyes widened in fear, could it be what she thought it was-
CRASH!
Her head snapped to the ground besides the trunk of her favourite tree as she scrambled back, the sight was not at all what she was expecting it was another Na'vi...illuminated in the pink light.
Her hand instantly grabbed her knife and she crouched bearing her teeth and fangs ready to pounce, the Na'vi which she had now identified as male rubbed his head "ow"
The she remembered what her mother told her "if you ever see somebody else Ivy, hide your fourth finger, it is crucial"
She tucked her pinky in and placed her other hand behind her back out of sight, the boy jumped when he saw her and she hissed threatingly, when his yellow eyes layed on her shine of the river crystal knife he quickly raised his hands.
Her lips parted though her eyes remained violent, he had four fingers like her...
"I won't hurt you I swear" the boy quickly said, though he was confused, she looked different than any other Na'vi he knew, incredibly pale, her satiny ivory skin was almost luminescent in the darkness, but with light blue stripes, and instead of white bioluminescent dots scattered across her they were blue , he didn't recognise this at all, causing him to tilt his head in confusion.
Ivy gritted her teeth threatingly her wild eyes indicting the boy that this was no joke "well I will hurt you" she nodded her head towards the knife on his side "drop it" she snapped.
"Alright alright" the boy slowly lowered his hand to the knife keeping one raised above, sliding it out and throwing it to the side immediately snapping his arm back up.
Ivy slowly lowered her knife and tilted her head at him narrowing his eyes, then it hit her, another Na'vi she'd never seen one, let alone interacted with one, she inches forward and the boy stepped back "hey I'll fight you"
Ivy snorted and stood up straight "you couldn't hurt me if you tried"
"Well that's a bit egotistical" the boy raised a eyebrow as she went to pick up his knife, careful to keep her fourth finger out of sight.
"You are Omaticaya" she observed, he was like her mother, darker navy blue skin, black hair, he had the side of his head shaved and it was in braids and he was about four inches taller than her, his fingers were like hers too, was he an avatar, or...a child of an avatar?
"Uh yeah..." he nodded looking her up and down in confusion "are you...are you Veytanikan?"
The Omaticayas had never once before communicated with the Cave Na'vi, who never interacted with any other clans, they were reserved to themselves, the others knew almost nothing about them.
She observed his knife while nodding flipping it between her fingers, skillfull keeping the extra one out of sight, and she started pacing back and forth.
"I thought you all died out?" He questioned "can I lower my arms now it hurts?"
"Yes" she nodded sliding her knife into its holding place but keeping his tucked between her fingers, he did so and stood there awkwardly "and not all of us"
"I thought you guys were like, half blind" he asked.
"Not me" she answered.
"How come you're a little blue-"
"You ask to many questions shut up" she chucked his knife towards him half hoping it would accidentally impale him so she wouldn't have to deal with him, but he caught it gracefully with his four fingered hand.
"Well can I at least ask what your name is?" The boy countinued tucking his knife away.
"I'm Ivy"
"I'm Lo'ak"
"So...what are you doing?" Lo'ak asked awkwardly bouncing on his toes, Ivy tilted her head in confusion.
"Stargazing" she answered simply twirling her bracelets around her hand, she didn't really know how to socialise, with anybody, especially not a teenage boy for that matter, but she was both intrigued and excited at this new face "I like the stars, they always stay the same" she said randomly:
He was about to speak when he started looking distracted, Lo'ak lifted his hand to his neck and spoke into it confusing Ivy "yeah dad what is it?" after a couple of seconds the boys eyes widened and he looked up.
She had almost forgotten about the star, it was big now, much bigger and her eyes opened in fear letting out a breathy gasp "okay dad" the boy spoke, a frantic tone lacing his voice.
He pulled his hand from his necklace while Ivy furrowed her brows "Ivy we've gotta get out of here now" never once before had Ivy heard a tone that serious.
He moved forward but like clockwork Ivy scrambled backwards away from him, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared "I must find my family goodbye Lo'ak"
"W-what no you-" he started but he could already tell that this girl was no the kind he'd win an argument against "just got your family out of her okay?"
And with that she sprinted off, the forest whizzing by her in fantastic colours, an asteroid? A gamma ray burst, or something much more lethal, something she had feared her whole life.
She made it to the tree and swiftly climbed up, she saw the relief on her mothers face, "oh Ivy you're back"
Ivy's eyes flickered around she noticed her parents carrying bags "ma what's going on?" She asked shakily.
"Ivy baby" Aye'ni said trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible "we're getting out of here"
She looked up again, she could see it now, an outline of a ship, ships looming over her planet, she turned to her mother who moved forward to her "Ivy be my brave girl, please be my brave girl"
Ivy nodded, she knew this wasn't the time to freak out, she grabbed a bag from her father "let's go"
Before she knew it fire was spreading eating up her home in billowing flames of angry red and orange sending ripples through the air, the heat licking her ivory skin, Aye'ni spoke "Charlotte, your body your human body it'll be burnt"
Ivys head flung around from where her eyes were watching the flames, to see her mother "w-what ma?"
It was now she noticed the glistening tears in her eyes, Charlotte never cried "I know" she whispered frailly and turned to her daughter "Ivy you need to leave my avatar ok? The fire to my body is getting closer, her eyes glanced over to a patch of unlit trees.
"N-no ma!" Ivy pleaded "we can get it"
"I love you baby" Charlotte kneeled down and kissed her forehead and holding her daughters smaller hand "I'll love you forever"
BOOM!
The area of tree blew, time slowed down, her father wrapped his arms around her shielding her, she felt her mothers hand slip away, she felt her mother slip away and she knew what had happened, she felt the first tear she'd let out in a long time fall.
"MAMA!" She screamed.
"We have to go Ivy go!" Her dad yelled, she glimpsed at her mothers lifeless avatar one last time before her legs carried her faster than ever before.
Her father slowed grunting in pain and she faltered "dad?"
Blood, on his torso, the shrapnel from her mothers pod had hit him "no no no no" she cried and went back for him.
"Go Ivy" he told her "go!"
"No" she said firmly and put his arm around her shoulder, she pulled him forward, intensely hot fire blazing through eating everything up in its path blocking almost every exit "you're not leaving me alone NO!"
He fought, he really did, they made it up a mountain, it took a long time, the blazes were spreading even more, she shielded his mouth from smoke and kept dragging him forward, her breath she took was painful, her eyes stung from the thickness of the air and all the could hear was sizzling and crackling, her nose was filled with the smell of burning wood and her whole body ached.
That's when she heard it, crying, sobbing, bloodcurdling screams of grief and heartbreak, from all directions, Na'vi.
She's stumbled across a clan "HELP" she screamed at the top of her lungs before she could think of what the consequences could be and all heads snapped towards her and before she knew it a man and a women ran forward, the women looked like she'd been sobbing, the man who dropped beside her had dreadlocks and was dressed in a lot more elaborate clothing than the others as was the women.
"Dad!" A voice called out, she looked up to see a young girl seven at most with a look of pure fear painted on her soft featured face.
"Tuk!" The women rushed forward to grab her.
Ivy noticed her fathers eyes getting droopier, he'd stopped responding "dad?" She whispered quietly with a shaking voice tears now positively flowing down her faces uncontrollably "DAD" she screamed at him "STOP IT"
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw three more figures appear, lighten up by the brightness of the malicious flames, all about the height of teenagers, she didn't pay attention "no no no no not you two"
The man who had dropped beside her, and the women to the other, the man applied pressure to the wound as the crimson liquid flowed dangerously heavy, while Ivy screamed at them to save him, she looked up to the three positively terrified teenagers, Lo'ak, these must be his parents
Without thinking, her hand slid to the knife on her hip, she launched up to the teen boy who let out a high-pitched scream, her knife grazed his neck while he held him still, the boy most likely his brother and a little older tried to pull him off her, but her wild eyes indicated she would slice of he got closer.
Ivy looked down to the terrified parents contemplating what to do "save him or i slice" Ivy whispered in an airy quiet voice.
"I'm sorry he's gone" the man had his bloody hands raised, fearful for his son while the mother looked ready to kill "look please don't do this"
It wasn't their fault, she had to tell herself, they couldn't do anything, she should of stayed with him while he took his last breath instead of standing here knife at an innocent kids neck, fuck why didn't she stay with him, her father would be so disappointed.
The conflicted young girl hesitated before throwing her knife to the side, leaving Lo'ak with only a trail of blood coming from his neck.
"You can't leave me alone dad you can't not now please" his white eyes stared into nothingness, he was limp, he was at peace with Eywa now.
"Dad?" She whispered shakily "DAD" she violently shook him.
"Hey hey" the man tried to calm her when he took sight of her fingers and his lips parted and he froze.
She countinued trying to shake him awake, she was in denial that this had happened, how had this happened it had been a normal night.
The man was trying to figure out what to do, this girl just lost her father, there was no way he would be able to get her to leave, she's just a kid, there's no way she'd calm down she's not emotionally mature enough-
She stopped crying and she looked away from his body towards the burning landscape and ignited home and slowly stood up.
Ivy wasn't the kind to be sad, she was the kind to be angry, oh and now this sadness had formed into rage, she was furious, she had never felt an emotion this strong, this antagonising.
She watched her whole life burn, literally, her whole had just collapsed, everything she had ever known, gone in less than an hour, her mother, father, her home, her whole life, her whole childhood burnt to ashes, what was she supposed to do with that? It was so sudden.
She furrowed her brows and turned on her heel storming away from heat of the fire deeper into the jungle, she couldn't let any more people see her like this, crying made her weak, and she wasn't weak. and as from now, she was alone.
And that was the last time Ivy cried.
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