Beatrice could feel movement by her head, slowly moving her fingertips as she gained feeling over her body again. The pounding in her head was dull now, causing the girl to take a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes. The sky was the first thing she saw, immediately remembering she wasnt in her room at base. She quickly sat up, searching around for the Na'vi who found her earlier. Beatrice found the Na'vi looking over her grove, inspecting the plants she had growing as an homage to the plants she had taken from. Feeling no threat, she looked back up at the sky to try and calculate how much longer she had before eclipse. Feeling safe with about an hour and a half, she looked back over at the Na'vi to find the male already staring at her.
"You planted these."
Beatrice nodded her head at his statement, slowly moving one of her bangs out of her face, quickly checking over the glass of her mask to make sure there werent any cracks.
"Why?"
"I wanted to give back to Eywa since i took fruit from her.." Beatrice let out softly, looking down at her hands as she crossed her legs in front of her.
"You are sky people, you do not care for Eywa." The male Na'vi walked in front of her, crouching down to face her. "What is the real reason?"
Beatrice flinched at his tone, her embarrassment for her own kind showing on her red cheeks. "I dont agree with my kind, sir. My mother and I never did. We only came here because we thought we were helping save our home. We didnt know they were trying to make a new one here.."
Beatrice looked up when she was met with silence, only to meet the Na'vis amber eyes, causing the girl to immediately look back down.
"You do not like your kind?" His voice was quiet, his tone changing after the girls confession.
"No."
"You do not wish to be with them?"
"No."
"What do you do for them?"
Beatrice sighed, looking over at the cart of fruit. She pointed to it, only looking at the Na'vi when his attention was on the cart. "I harvest for them. Sometimes, i make healing balms for the medical team."
"What about your mother?"
"She's dead."
The Na'vi looked back over at her at these words, a look of sympathy in his eyes before he changed back to the neutral composure. Beatrice looked back down, not wanting to be disrespectful. The Na'vi stood up suddenly, making Beatrice glance up at him for a moment. She noted his woven cummerbund, realizing he had to be apart of a "royal" family in the Na'vi ways.
"Stay here. Do not move. I will be back before eclipse."
Beatrice looked up at his words, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she watched the Na'vi wrap his bow around his shoulder. "What? Where are you going? Why can i not go back?"
"You do not wish to be with the sky people, yes?" Beatrice nodded slowly, meeting his eyes as he looked back over at her. "Stay here. Do not move." Beatrice let out a small huff at his words, finally nodding. He turned, starting to walk out of the small grove.
"My name is Beatrice." She let out, watching his figure move through the bushes. He turned his head back to her, looking her over before nodding, then disappearing. She sighed loudly, laying down onto her back, fiddling with her fingers as she stared up at the sky. She studied the two planets in her vision before looking over at the leaves in the trees that hung over her. Her mind raced at the possibilities of what was going to happen to her.
The Na'vi was somewhat kind, and seemed to want to "save" her from the sky people. That was his intention, right? Beatrice let out another sigh, closing her eyes and letting her mind drift off to memories with her mother, wishing more than anything she was there with her.
Sometime later, Beatrice woke up, not realizing she had fallen asleep. An erratic beeping woke her, causing her blood to run cold. She immediately scrambled up, looking up at the large trees and into the forest, bouncing on her legs. The Na'vi never even told her his name, how was she supposed to trust him? He said he would be back before eclipse, where the hell was he? Beatrice paced, picking at her nails anxiously. She glanced over in the direction of the base, seeing the flashing lights of an emergency slipping through the trees.
"Shit! Where are you?!" Beatrice yelled out, spinning around as she searched the trees again. She could hear voices far away, shouting orders and yelling her name. She let out a sound of frustration, debating on if she should call out to them and go back, hoping the next day the Na'vi would be back, or if she should run. She grabbed onto the mask, fiddling with the pressurizing button while trying to make her decision. She heard a loud call, making her head dart up in the direction of the trees above her. She jumped back as she saw something falling towards her, gasping as she recognized it and caught it before it could hit the ground.
A mask.
Beatrice didnt hesitate pulling the bases' mask off her face, barely remembering to take a deep breath before doing so. She quickly slid the new one over her head, looking up as she saw flashlights starting to peek through the trees. The Na'vi jumped in front of her, picking up the portable battery and shoving it onto her waistband as she fixed the strap at the back of her head and depressurized the mask, taking a deep breath. The Na'vi quickly grabbed Beatrices hand, yanking her along as he took off in the opposite direction, the only piece of Beatrice being left behind was the old mask, it still beeping erratically.
They ran for a while, the male whisper shouting at her to go, go, go! every once in a while when she tried to slow down to catch her breath. Finally, the Na'vi yanked her behind a tree, pressing her into it and towering over her, breathing deeply.
"Catch your breath." He whispered down to her, his ears twitching as he listened to everything around him. His tail wrapped around the girls calf as he looked around, quietly shushing her as she gasped loudly while trying to breathe. She glared at him as she tried to quiet herself down as she caught her breath, looking down at her calf that his tail wrapped around.
"We lost them. Breathe." He looked down at Beatrice, finally noticing his tail and unwrapping it nonchalantly. Beatrice leaned her head against the tree, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to slow her heartbeat and quiet the pounding in her head as she breathed.
"You never even told me your name! And then you made me run like that, even after passing out earlier! What is wrong with you! What happened to 'before eclipse' ?!" Beatrice whisper- shouted at him, not feeling this fiery in a while. She looked at the Na'vi who held a mischievous smile, glaring as he gave her a cheeky smile in return.
"I had to see if you trust me. If you listen." Beatrice scoffed at his reasoning, huffing as she finally caught her breath, the pounding in her head not disappearing. "You trust easy. That is both good and bad." Beatrice rolled her eyes, stars starting to invade her vision.
"Dont get trust and hope mixed up." She snapped, feeling her hands start shaking again. She looked down at them, cursing before leaning her head back against the tree.
"My name is Neteyam. And i hope you trust me."
"I dont think ill have a choice, Neteyam." Beatrice whispered out, her back sliding down the tree as she started to lose consciousness. She felt his large hands grab her, hearing another one? before he picked her up as she passed out. He huffed, realizing he did push her too hard after she passed out the first time. Neteyam turned from the tree, listening closely to the forest to make sure they were still safe before starting to move to an open clearing. He clicked loudly, calling for his ikran, hiding Beatrices face in his chest from the large wings flapping down. He gently made tsuhaylu, climbing on and adjusting Beatrice in his lap before taking off.
Neteyam couldnt help but glance down at Beatrice every few moments, the small girl being something hes been dreaming about for almost a year. Dreams filled with blurry images, a human girl, laughs, tears, and fear. A couple months ago, Neteyam almost stumbled, literally, upon the girl during one of his scoutings of the sky people base. Ever since he saw her quietly whispering to the plants she took from, he couldnt stop himself from going to that area at least once a day. He eventually caught on that she usually came out once a week, it would be very rare if she came out twice, but a nice surprise. He continuously kept an eye on her, her being a puzzle he couldnt figure out. After the first month, Neteyam brought her up to his father, which took Jake by surprise. Jake would meet Neteyam there a couple times when his son would call him on their headpieces, watching her carefully. She reminded him of Grace. Not feature wise, but soul wise. Being so gentle with the wildlife, talking to Eywa as if she was right there next to her, or even just how focused she would become when planting new seeds.
They would both notice how the girl would look so depressed before she rolled her cart back to the sky people base, always taking a final look back before entering the large buildings. Neteyam never discussed the girl at home, but Jake could tell he thought about her. When Neteyam found Jake today, out of breath and rambling, asking if he could allow Beatrice to join their side and live with them, Jake could only look at him confused.
"Beatrice! The girl!" Neteyam shouted, jumping on his heels as if he was in a hurry.
"Beatrice? You talked to her?" Jake could only ask incredulously, not expecting that today would be the day his son built up the guts to talk to the girl. Neteyam groaned out in frustration, his tail flicking around anxiously.
"Dad! Im running out of time! Ill tell you everything when we get back, i just need your approval!" Jake could only nod, not being able to get any words out before Neteyam ran off, grabbing a human mask before calling for his ikran and flying off back to the human girl. Jake only shook his head before going back to what he was originally doing, praying to Eywa to keep his son safe.
As Neteyam held Beatrice, he couldnt help but wonder why she kept passing out. He remembered her mentioning that she didnt feel well, so maybe it was just that. He looked down when he felt movement in his arms, watching as she squeezed her eyes shut before slowly opening them. She looked up at Neteyam before noticing how close they were to the sky, a scream building in her throat as she grabbed onto Neteyam tightly, making him unable to stop the laugh that escaped as he watched her reaction. She looked around almost crazily, realizing she was on an ikran, gasping at how high they were before grabbing onto the Na'vi tighter.
"Do not worry! I have you. We are almost to home anyway." He said, giving her waist a gentle squeeze before looking back in front of them. Beatrice slowed her breathing down, and with Neteyams help, changed positions so she was sitting on the ikrans neck, looking out into the world in front of them. She looked down at the ikrans neck, slowly and softly petting it as a wide smile spread across her face, a laugh slipping out of her lips. She looked back over her should at the large Na'vi, smiling brightly at him. Neteyam couldnt help but smile back at her, nodding his head in front of her to show her the entrance to his home.
Once they landed, Neteyam gently disconnected the tsuhaylu, groaning quietly as he saw his siblings run at him, them being followed by his father. Neteyam turned back to Beatrice, grabbing onto her waist and helping her down. The girl was shorter than Spider, making Neteyam have to crane his neck down a lot this entire time.
"Im sorry about my family, Bea." Beatrice tilted her head up at Neteyam slightly, taken aback by the nickname before looking behind him and seeing 3 younger looking Na'vi leading an older looking one straight to them. She immediately lowered her head, taking a deep breath as Neteyam stood in front of her to guard her from the onslaught of his siblings. Once they got close enough, the questions immediately started, the youngest of them being picked up by Neteyam and peeking over his shoulder down to the human girl. He shushed all of the up as their father approached, moving from in front of Beatrice to allow his father access to her.
"Bea, this is my father. Sir, this is Beatrice."
Beatrice took a deep breath, looking up at the aged Na'vi and having to take a double look. She looked over at Neteyam, down at his cummerbund, then back to Jake Sully.
"Sir, its an honor to meet you." Beatrice raised her hand for a handshake, Jake immediately meeting her and shaking her hand.
"D'you mind following me so we can ask you some questions?" Jake asked, nodding his head to the small girl. Beatrice nodded her head, looking up at Neteyam before following Jake, her eyes meeting the floor and watching Jake's feet to make sure she didnt get lost.
They arrived to bay, a human man waiting at the door that Beatrice recognized as Norm. She took a deep breath before following the men in, following after Norms lead and removing her mask, rubbing the indents that were left of her face gently. They sat around a table, Jake looking comical compared to them.
"Ask away, sir."