We had been playing around for a good hour or two already when Lo'ak decided it was best to go back and as Kiri was again away from the rest of her siblings I volunteered to go and search for her.
"(Kiri?)" I spoke in hope of finding her quickly, brushing away a big leaf, behind which I found the Na'vi girl sleeping in the grass. Atokirina' were floating around her still frame, as the grass seemed to be moving to her breath, moving away in circles, like when a helicopter was trying to land. I moved in closer, careful not to harm any of the seeds around the still frame of my sister.
"(Kiri. Hey.)" I lightly shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up gently, not like she had done earlier today when taking me away from my dreams. I repeated her name a few more times until she finally groaned, switching from laying on her side to laying on her back, squinting up at me before sitting up. "(Is everything fine?)" She looked away from me before replying to my question.
"(I did that thing again, didn't I?)" I knew what she meant. Ever since the two of us were young she had some sort of connection to the planet, always being fascinated by the little things on pandora or making friends with almost any animal she met. I gently pushed aside one of the Atokirina', which had started ascending a little bit too close to my face.
"(Yeah, you did.)" I answered her question whilst smiling lightly. She still seemed uneasy every time she had one of these moments, as it made her stick out like a sore thumb. Not that that made a difference when she mainly hung out with two humans her entire life. Our small moment of peace and silence was interrupted by our younger sister, who was seemingly looking for Kiri as well.
"(Kiri!)" being echoed by her, the almost twice as tall teenager following behind her who I didn't notice before, and Spider, who was last let himself be shown. "(Kiri, we need to go back!)" she exclaimed again. I nodded at her and helped her get up, before following the other three back home, which didn't go as planned, as Lo'ak, followed by Spider suddenly went off course, jumping down the fallen tree trunk we previously trekked upon.
"(What's wrong?)" asked a skeptic Kiri, who stopped walking to wait for her brother's reasoning.
"(We're supposed to be back home by the eclipse.)" said Tuk, not really adding anything, as we all knew how keen our parents were on enforcing that rule, not that I broke it a few times in the last few months. Lo'ak had found fresh tracks, which Kiri, Tuk, and I only saw after getting closer to the two males.
"(These are too big for humans.)" The first said, looking around for clues, not that he would spot anything. I looked closer, gathering the information that the creature these belonged to wore boots.
"(Avatars?)" asked Spider.
"(Seems possible,)" Lo'ak countered, standing up again and continuing his speech. "(But definitely none of ours.)" Referring to the scientists like Norm, who drove his avatar around the camp most of the time. He and Spider had started moving along the tracks, only to be distracted by Kiri again.
"(What are you doing?)"
"(Shh, he's following them.)" I shot down her question whilst giving her a short glance, which she didn't seem to catch, now only staying quiet like the rest of us. Soon we glanced through the thickest at a few Na'vi dressed in military clothing, holding automatic rifles, searching in and around an old and run-down link shack, like the ones we had back in the base.
"(We should've never come here.)" Said Kiri with a subdued voice, as not to draw attention, but soon spoke back to Lo'ak. "(Dad is going to give you a flight ban.)" She looked at me. "(You too. For the rest of your life.)"
"(Shh. Can you stop?)" was the only response she got from Lo'ak, as the rest of us had our eyes fixated on the military crew. He had drawn his bow ever since he had started following the tracks and now urged Spider forward with him, still whispering. "(Come on, we need to check that out.)" They will get us killed, I'm sure of that, but I can't let them do this shit alone. I moved forward as well, mine and Spider's exopacks making noise as we drew our breaths. The three of us crouched down behind a tree trunk that had fallen long ago and was covered by moss and other short vegetation.
"(Hey. This is where my dad and your dad fought.)" Whispered Spider to the taller na'vi teenager next to him. Both didn't let that stop them from having their eyes glued on the scene in front of them, when only for a short glance.
"(That is your dad's combat suit.)" Replied Lo'ak, again looking at the human to his side. Spider only exclaimed two words as I could see the troops emerging.
"(Oh shit.)" Upon closer inspection, I realized that the one in charge seemed to be the man Spider had tried forgetting about his whole life, his dad, Miles Quaritch. The major problem was, that he seemed a little bit too blue, tall, and generally speaking na'vi. I wasn't able to think much more as Lo'ak took word again.
"(I have to report this.)" Spider and I just looked at him as if he had lost all his senses.
"(No, dude, we're going to be in a lot of trouble!)" I whispered to my younger brother. He only nodded for us to follow him as we three retreated to Kiri and Tuk and once we arrived he started contacting our father through the communication device on his neck.
"(Devil Dog, Devil Dog, here is Eagle Eye, over.)" Jake made us use code names when communicating this way because we could be listened in on. It didn't take long until the man on the other side answered.
"(Eagle Eye, I hear you.)"
"(I spotted a few people.)" He made a short pause. "(Look like avatars, but they're wearing camouflage and carrying automatic weapons. There are... six of them, over.)"
"(What is your position, over.)" I picked up on the worried undertone, but only glanced over to Lo'ak, waiting for his response to the question.
"(Erm... we're at the old barrack.)" I grimaced, knowing that dad wouldn't be pleased with us.
"(Who is we?)" Jake asked, already annoyed as it seemed.
"(Me, Spider, Firin, Kiri,)" he again paused, before announcing the last member we had with us, who wasn't even allowed to leave our base without mom or dad. "(...and Tuk.)" My heart pounded in my chest and I could swear Kiri's ear flicked in my direction. A few seconds later Jake's voice sounded through the transmitter again.
"(Son, you will listen very closely now. You will all move back immediately, make no noise and disappear. Go away, understood?)" We all looked at each other.
"(Yes, sir. We will move back.)" Lo'ak said in a defeated manner.
"(What did I tell you?)" Whispered Kiri to him, like it hadn't been clear that the boy had made a mistake. No one gave care to her words though and only did as we were told. That didn't seem enough for my sister as she again began to speak. "(You are in so much trouble.)" Lo'ak only hushed her.
"(The eclipse begins soon!)" Tuk said too loud, but before anyone could say anything one of the military avatars grabbed her from the thickest next to her. She screamed and Spider and Lo'ak drew their bows, pointing them at the troops that emerged from the trees around us, all with their weapons pointed at us.
"Weapons down or we'll shoot!" Some of them yelled as we hissed at them, which did nothing in stopping them from circling us in. "No movement!" They continued and Lo'ak was first to realize that resilience was futile and dropped his bow on the ground, commanding Spider to do the same.
"Grab them!" They yelled moving in on us and holding us down by our hair/kuru. "Stop resisting!" The one holding Kiri yelled at the smaller female. Tuk seemed on the verge of tears and cried out for her sister.
"(Kiri!)" Said the girl now focused on Tuk, trying to calm her down.
"(Stay calm, Tuk, everything will be fine.)" This seemed to anger the one holding Kiri.
"Shut your mouth!" He didn't seem to understand us, which was forced out of my mind, as I felt a barrel against my head, seeing the same for Lo'ak. I stopped trying to get free, as getting shot wasn't on my agenda for the day. I wouldn't've even had the time to do anything as Quaritch walked into the circle.
"What do we have here?" He asked in an arrogant tone. I glanced at Spider, whose eyes seemed fixed on the man walking along the center, who only gave him a few seconds of his attention as he was called by one of his goons, who had taken one of Kiri's hands, showing it off to Quaritch.
"(Don't touch her!)" I yelled, only to be hit lightly on the back of my head with the gun pointed at it. Nobody seemed to care for me though, as the almost bald man holding Kiri spoke
"Look, Colonel, five fingers. That's a half-blood." I was mortified, same as Spider next to me who whispered a curse to himself.
"Show me your fingers." Commanded Quaritch Lo'ak, who slowly raised his hands, showing the man across from him his middle fingers. The colonel chuckled once.
"You are his, aren't you?" Lo'ak only hissed at him in response "And if that's true." He continued smiling smugly, before grabbing the start of Lo'ak's queue and pulling him to his feet. "Where is he?" He asked and when not getting an answer immediately shook the boy he held once, as to show that he was not messing around. Lo'ak didn't seem to be intimidated though.
"(I don't speak the human language,)" he paused "(with assholes.)" Quaritch thought for a second.
"(Where is your father!)" He yelled out before again tugging on Lo'ak's queue, this time with enough force to make the teenager cry out in pain, which gathered negative attention from the rest of us as we tried freeing ourselves once again with no success. Lo'ak cried out again, as Quaritch hadn't stopped pulling. "(Really? Do you want to mess with me?)" He now suddenly took out his knife from his belt, holding it close to Lo'ak, who was still in his grasp, and looked up at his attacker with no fear in his eyes. Quaritch dropped him back to the avatar who held him previously and started making his way toward Kiri.
"Kiri! No! Stop!" Lo'ak yelled out before I pulled the attention to me.
"Hey! Don't touch her! Hey!" I began to almost break loose from my captivator, who told me to stay still, pulling the eyes from Quaritch to my direction.
"Don't hurt her, please." Spider added, now getting attention from Quaritch, who asked him a question.
"What's your name, boy?" Nobody dared to say a word. Only the filtered breathing from Spider and I could be heard next to the ambiance of the jungle. The only other human broke the tense silence.
"Spider. Socorro." This seemed to daze the tall dream walker, as he hushed away the soldier holding my friend and got on his knees.
"Miles?" He asked with such bewilderment in his tone, that you could forget that just moments ago he threatened to slice open the throat of my brother. Spider on the other side didn't show any emotion on his face. The slightly narrowed eyes only glanced at Quaritch.
"Nobody calls me that." Nobody moved a muscle, being too fixated on the interaction of father and son, with the latter not wanting to accept that fate, even when faced with it head-on.
"I think my ears are deceiving me." He buffered for a moment, as if not finding the right words to use to hide his surprise. "I thought they sent you back to earth." He continued. I shook my head lightly, whilst glancing in the direction of Tuk, who seemed on the verge of tears. She didn't seem to notice me though being held back by her captivator with her eyes glued on Spider and his now avatar father. Spider still seemed glued to the ground below his feet. The only thing that moved was his mouth to respond.
"No baby's in cryo-capsules you idiot." Quaritch stayed still for a few more seconds, before getting back up and signaling the soldier behind Spider to hold him again, just like the rest of us.
"What do we do now, boss?" He asked his superior, not getting an answer from the blue-skinned corporal, who activated his communication device whilst turning away from Spider.
"Iron Sky, here is Blue One, actual." We couldn't hear the response as we could with dads prior transmission. "Are ready for extraction. Over." Quaritch still wasn't done with speaking with that someone yet and after a short pause called out again. "Attention, we have important prisoners in custody."
"Let us go!" demanded Kiri, as if that would change a thing. Quaritch didn't appreciate the comment and only snapped at her to shut her mouth, after which they started moving us into a row, not like the circle we were in before, presumably to keep an eye on his, not that we would with no weapons and now cuffs around our wrists. Looking around I saw that we were now directly next to the before-seen combat suit and old barrack. Quaritch looked at a holo-pad with one of his comrades.
"She's an animal." He commented as a familiar Na'vi female painted in war painting hissed into the camera. That's mom... what the fuck is that video. I knew that I wasn't the only one watching as Spider next to me also seemed entranced by the video visible on the glass tablet. I almost whispered to him to make the boy stop watching as time went on and the video stopped shortly after Neytiri had shot the old Quaritch twice in the chest with grandfather's bow. Spider seemed to be in shock as his breath drew short and his wide eyes locked onto the floor to avoid seeing anything more.
"Dude, are you alright?" I whispered almost silently, which my best friend seemed to ignore as he looked back up, my eyes following the path his took. The older Miles had taken the skull of his former body in a way Shakespeare would have been proud, but instead of uttering the famous words the poet had set into the world the former only negated the question if the remaining's should be recovered. A crack followed by a harsh crunch was the sound the skull made as it was crushed by the tall avatar with one hand.
I took one last look over at Spider, whose facial features had started becoming hard to see as the eclipse had set in, casting an ominous shadow over the jungle. And if that wasn't enough, raindrops slowly decent from the sky above, making it dark and wet, a combo I had started dreading a long time ago. Every second felt like minutes and every minute felt like hours as the time passed in the branches we first saw the dream walkers through, waiting to catch my parents off guard, as that would happen.
Sorry for the long wait, I had lost motivation for this story, which is a bad addition on top of school and other private projects. I hope to at least write the next chapter in the next week, but we will have to wait and see. Until then, have a nice day, goodbye.
Oh, I almost forgot, vote and comment to guilt-trip me into continue writing this story :))