Beatrice felt the heaviness of her body before she fully woke, sighing to herself quietly. Remnants of the dream she had filled her mind, blue hands moving towards her, someone shouting her name as the world spun. She slowly sat up, a familiar ache in her head already rising as she took deep breaths, rubbing her eyes before gently shaking her long bangs out of her eyes. She looked over across the room, staring at the empty bed that belonged to her mother. Beatrice rolled her shoulders, standing up and making her way over to the closet to pick out her uniform, starting her daily routine of showering, changing, and mentally prepping herself for another day of paradise.
As she closed the door to her room, she quickly jumped in the constant line of workers making their way to their designated areas at the beginning of the day. As she arrived to the kitchens, she immediately made her way to the large pantries, grabbing the clipboard hanging off the wall and starting her weekly assignment of taking stock before she had to jump into making the large amounts of breakfasts. At 17, youd think theyd recruit her to the military side, but after one look at her very, very large medical record, it was immediately shut down. It had been a year since her mother had passed, her mother being the only reason she was here on Pandora. Denise, Beatrice's mother, had assisted in the medical lab when everything fell apart in Beatrices' life. From when Denise knelt down in front of 10 year old Beatrice, explaining to her that their planet was dying and this was how they could help, up until that fateful moment just a month before Beatrices' 17th birthday, their lives were amazing. Though they didnt agree with how the humans were trying to take over Pandora, they still believed somewhere in their hearts that theyd save Earth. Denise died with that hope still in her heart.
Beatrice turned into a robot, waking, working, and then sleeping everyday. The only highlights of her life were when she was allowed to go out of the military base, into the deadly Pandora jungle, to harvest the weekly fruits and vegetables that the humans discovered were edible for them. It was the only time she felt alive anymore, even knowing how easily she could be killed by the beautiful creations of Eywa or the Na'vi. Every time she went out for the past couple of months, she felt as though the forest was watching her carefully, learning each step and breath of the girl. Even with the hair on the back of her neck standing up at the feeling, she couldnt help but admire the world around her, begging Eywa for forgiveness each time she had to cut a plant or pluck fruit from a bush.
Beatrice quickly focused onto the list in front of her, unable to stop the small smile forming on her lips as she quickly realized it was time for a trip out of the base. She shuffled through their stock, huffing at the low quantity of a couple specific fruits that were also used for the med lab, only Beatrice knowing the recipe to turn them into balms. Once she finished going through the list, she pulled her small notebook out from her pocket and made her personalized list of the fruits to look for while she was out. The first couple of times, military personnel went out with her as a precaution. Now, she was allowed out either just by herself or with others if she chose.
She quickly finished up her list, sliding her notebook back into her pocket and hanging the list back up on the wall before making her way over to Pat, her higher up. Pat was probably her only friend in the entire base, and she loosely used that term.
"Pat, I gotta go harvest. Ill be back at the end of the day to stock up the pantries." Beatrice's voice was soft and timid, absentmindedly trying to tuck one side of her bangs behind her ear as she looked up at the older woman. Pat looked over at Beatrice and nodded her head, gently grabbing onto her shoulder.
"You be careful, youre my best worker here. Im sure you saw as well, but we need more of the- whats it called? Yo.. yoba? Ah, whatever it is, the med bay as been bitching about their stock being low of the balm you make. "
"Dont worry, i saw. Ill make sure to get everything." Beatrice said her farewell, the ladies giving each other soft smiles before the younger girl made her way out of the kitchen, grabbing the cart she always took before jumping back in line to the usual exit she would take. As she came up to it, she nodded at the guard at the door, him nodding back at her as he immediately recognized her. He handed her a mask and portable battery before pushing a button on the door to fill the small room before the exit with oxygen, giving her a nod that she could enter. She quickly stepped in, slipping on the mask and depressurizing it before giving the guard a final nod, hearing the loud beep of the outside door opening before wincing as the bright sun filled the room with natural sunlight. Beatrice took a deep breath, stepping out into the dirt and immediately setting off to the lush forest. She couldnt help but feel giddy as she got closer and closer to the forest, wondering if she was going to get to see some new wildlife.
Beatrices feet immediately took her to her usual path, the ground slightly showing a constant trail of her usual route. She always tried to replant the fruits she took, the path she was on now leading directly to the small grove of sprouting plants. Once she stepped under the large canopy of trees, she took a deep breath feeling like she was immediately being watched. Her eyes roamed the forest, looking for anything out of sorts as she kept walking to her grove. After about a half hour, the feeling never leaving her, she made it to the small sprouts in a couple of uniform lines, kneeling down and checking over the leaves and feeling the ground to make sure they were hydrated. As she started to stand, she heard a loud chirp echo through the forest, causing the hair on the back of her neck to raise. She sighed, tucking one side of her bangs behind her ear before making her way out of the grove, starting a new route to start harvesting. As she walked, she looked over each plant before plucking fruit and herbs, thanking Eywa each time for the health of the fruit.
As time passed, Beatrice finally made it to the bottom of her list, starting to look over the large plant in front of her to find the bigger fruits. She gently moved the leaves, freezing in her tracks as she came face to face with a small stingbat. As she stared at it, it staring back at her, the forest around her went silent and the only thing she could hear was the thrumming of the ache in her head. She heard a rustle next to her, causing her to slowly turn her head to find a bigger stingbat climbing down from the large tree to her right. She didnt dare to move, only lowering her eyes as the larger stingbat got closer. Beatrice listened carefully as the stingbat moved into the bush she currently was at, watching from her peripheral to see the larger stingbat carefully picking up the smaller, before turning its head to face Beatrice.
Beatrice steadied her breathing, the pounding in her head steadily getting worse, making her squeeze her eyes shut. She jumped slightly as she felt something wet and slimy move along her hand, cracking open one eye to watch as the stingbat licked her.
"Please dont eat me.. well I mean it would be fine if you did just kill me quickly first.." Beatrice whispered, looking at the stingbats face. The creature made a loud chirping sound before spreading its wings and shooting off, heading back up to the large tree above her. She took a deep breath, slowly moving her hands off of the bush, wiping down the front of her shirt as she took a step back. She rubbed her temples, trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. Her hands rubbing down her sides once more before bunching up her hair, tying it in a low ponytail under the bands of the mask before fanning the back of her neck.
Beatrice let out a loud sigh, looking up at the large tree above her before getting chills seeing a spot in the leaves move. She looked back down at the bush, shaking her head slightly, knowing she needed to get back to base before eclipse. If she didnt, the tracker in her mask would start beeping erratically and a team of military personnel would come out searching for her. She quickly starting picking the final fruit from the bush, trying to steady her breathing enough for the pounding to try and go away. Once she had what she believed was enough, she gently moved around some fruits in the cart behind her to make sure none would spill out. She turned to head back to the grove, the illuminating plants starting to become bright, giving the girl a small amount of anxiety. Once she step foot in her grove, her head continuing to pound, she could see more clear up into the night, her eyebrows scrunching together in confusion as she saw that she still had a couple hours left of daylight. She looked back down around her, watching as the plants continued to glow brighter, hurting her eyes slightly. Beatrice froze as she heard the rustle of leaves above her, her hands starting to shake, making her heart race knowing she was going to pass out soon due to the pain in her head. She jumped, a gasp escaping her lips as she heard a thud behind her, before a loud voice spoke sending shivers down her spine.
"Dont.. move." The voice held a thick accent, causing Beatrice's heart to race faster as she didnt dare to move a muscle. "Show me your hands." She slowly moved her hands out to her sides, cursing to herself mentally after noticing how badly they were shaking. She blinked away the stars in her vision, her breathing becoming rugged. The Na'vi slowly circled her, Beatrice not daring to look up at them. "You have no weapon?" The voice asked her, sounding confused.
"N-no. I.. I like to t-talk things out." She murmured out, trying to sound as normal as possible. She glanced at the Na'vis feet, watching as they paced slightly in front of her. "I-im sorry, i really dont feel well, may i sit?" Beatrice asked gently, it getting harder to blink away the stars. She flinched as the voice yelled out a no!, nodding her head slowly. "I dont know how long ill be out, but this mask has a tracker in it, so once eclipse comes theyll search for me. You need to get away as quickly as possible if i dont wake before then." Beatrice whispered out, met with a confused what? , then followed with a loud shit! as her body collapsed, witnessing the Na'vi reach for her before she hit her head on the ground, her vision going black before she could see their face.
a/n- hiya everyone, please bare with me as this story begins. we will be following the awow plot line, just allow beatrice to get her background and bonding with the family! i promise itll get better! please let me know if you have any tips, i am pretty ahead on my drafts for this story but if i have to go back and edit something i will. please please let me know if you like it 🫶