"No I forbid it." Grace almost yelled, pacing in the small space. Norm frowned, on more than one occasion ranting to Gene about the situation. He'd trained for the mission of studying the Na'vi people and yet someone who joined out of pure dumb luck had instead been allowed in. Of course she could sense the slight resentment towards her as well considering the fact that she wasn't even human and had been welcomed into the tribe. Jake watched on, opening his mouth and closing it again as Grace continued her argument.
"You can't undergo the ritual, it will kill you."
"With all due respect Doctor Augustine, Jake and I have an eighty six percent chance of surviving. The probability of dying, while not zero, is still low and has not happened within the clan in recent years. We will survive the ritual and will come out closer to the people than before."
"Gene you don't know that." Grace admonished, clearing having not expected Gene to side with Jake.
"On the contrary. Due to my closeness with the people and through multiple calculations I have predicted that we will survive this trial." She pinched her nose, mouthing numbers to herself.
"Grace." After reaching twenty she finally looked at Gene's cube, the blue light slowly trailing along the top.
"Have faith in us. While Jake may have disappointed you before," He looked at her as though offended, "I do not recall a single moment in which I have let you down. I do not plan to now." She looked between the two, frustration and disbelief trying to hide the worry underneath.
"The day has already started. We'll discuss this further when we return." She sighed, allowing Jake to swing himself into the machine before climbing in herself. Norm sat beside her pod, their faces pinched as she waited to go under.
"Are you really sure of this Gene?"
"Grace-" She held up her hand to silence Norm, the male biting his tongue with a scowl.
"Yes. I would not suggest such a thing for your own body, the body older and of a previous stage. Compared to the avatar bodies Jake and I inhabit, your own has too much human and has a significantly higher chance of perishing should you attempt it. That isn't to say we won't die. As I said we can still die from this, but I don't believe that is our fate." She shook her head, "Let me think on this some more."
"Of course, we are not yet ready. We have time." Gene left them then having no doubt Grace would be joining them soon as she reconnected to her body and found Tsu'tey impatiently waiting outside her hammock.
"Are you going to sleep here all day?"
"No, I was simply preoccupied this morning with other matters. What are we practicing today?"
"Hand to hand. Nanti says you have significantly improved since she began teaching you. I wish to judge myself. Come." She lightly jogged to keep up with his long strides, almost missing Ralu's call as he threw a spartan fruit at her. She managed to catch it in time to save it from falling to the ground after it hit her in the chest, calling out a thanks with a wave and eagerly devouring it.
Tsu'tey turned sharply as she was licking the juice off her fingers, expression relaxed and neutral as he nodded to the sparring ring which was more of a sparse patch of dirt than any designated area human's made for such things.
"We will go over the basics first and move on from there quickly if you have a firm grasp on them." After weeks of training together he'd slowly transitioned from open hostility to more disdain or apathy. She wasn't exactly sure why, sure that with his history he'd hold her in contempt indefinitely, but as they said she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth if it meant he'd take teaching her more seriously.
They started slow, basic blocks and making sure she hit correctly in order to do the maximum damage without hurting herself too bad before they began to speed up. From simple slow movements to faster transitions and harder hits. She ducked low to avoid a punch but took a knee to her face, body recoiling as she staggered back with a sore nose. At least no blood had been drawn yet. She could still remember vividly the harsh hits she took from Rotxo, ribs taking less time to heal compared to human healing rates but still very memorable.
She bounced back quickly, moving quicker now that they'd transitioned to an actual spar. A punch to the shoulder allowed a kick to the side. Duck, dodge, sidestep and block. She bent herself backwards from a vicious punch, springing back on her hands and throwing her legs up quickly to hit him in the chest. As soon as her toes touched the ground again she launched herself forward, shoulder digging into his stomach once again as he hissed. She wasn't nearly strong enough though to knock him down as he dug his feet in, arms hooking around her own before he slammed his knee into her gut.
She fell back with a wheeze, coughing and staggering away on her knees as she attempted to regain her bearings.
"Up!"
Despite the aches in her body and pain blossoming across her abdomen, she sported a wide grin and pushed herself back up into fighting position. She pressed her feet into the ground, toes spreading and closing in close before she launched herself at him once again. He beat her down three more times, each time calling for her to stand and each time watching as she did so with a grin and a spark in her eyes. He had come to understand that her eagerness to learn was simply because she wanted to. She wasn't like the other demons who wished to learn without change. They collected the knowledge and used it to push their own values. Gene though, was different in a way. She had the same thirst for knowledge only instead of just having it, she applied it to herself constantly. She adapted and mingled, showing a true desire to be like them unlike the demons before who still clung to their other life.
She must have noticed his slight distraction as she managed to avoid a kick, sliding under his limb while simultaneously grabbing it and lifting. With his balance thrown out he fell back with her on him in an instant. Her legs locked around his own as her hands pushed his arms down, effectively locking his limbs.
Her smile grew further at his stunned look, ears perking up and tail waving happily as he looked over how she held him. He could get out of course, in terms of strength he still surpassed her, but she'd done well.
"Well?" She asked, eagerly awaiting what he'd say to how she'd done. In the time since she'd first started, even she could tell she'd greatly improved.
Tsu'tey watched her closely, her body open and honest even as she continued to straddle him in an attempt to prevent being bucked off. She sported several new bruises from where he'd hit her harder than what was strictly needed for a spar, but they didn't take away from the glow she exuded from having finally bested him.
Her expression quickly morphed into shock as he bucked his hips up harshly, throwing her off balance and allowing him to switch their positions.
"Good." Even pinned by him, she was undeterred in her joy, a wide grin coming over her face and tail waving happily.
"Really? Nanti and Amhul will be glad to hear that." Finally he let her up, intent to continue their training in the forest. Before they could leave though a voice spoke up.
"Losing to the demon Tsu'tey? For the future olo'eyktan, you are quite lax." They turned then to see Rotxo. He openly glared at Gene, a sneer in place as he stalked forward. Tsu'tey stopped him before he could engage with Gene, no doubt looking to fight her again and prove himself superior to Tsu'tey seeing as he'd only caught the end of their fight when she'd finally managed to one up her mentor.
"Rotxo. Stand down."
"You're going soft Tsu'tey. I thought you didn't care for the demon." Rotxo hissed, face close to Tsu'tey's. She couldn't see his expression, nor hear whatever he hissed back, but it must have been offensive if the anger Rotxo displayed was anything to go off of.
She gently laid her hand on Tsu'tey's side, the male tensing as he looked at her.
"It's fine Tsu'tey. I do not mind sparring with Rotxo. It will be a good indicator to how I've improved." She smiled up at him before stepping forward into Rotxo's personal space.
The male snarled down at her, stepping back several spaces so they were in the proper sparring place. The commotion they'd worked up once more drawing the attention of the other Na'vi who watched in intrigue. Obviously many thought she'd lost her mind, challenging Rotxo once again and this time without Nanti there to save her but she had faith. Faith in her teachers and faith in Tsu'tey, that he wouldn't let her outright be killed about he'd begun to warm up to her.
He came at her fast like last time, hit just as hard as she caught his fist and slid under his arm, shoulder slamming into his chest and with a grunt she flipped him over her back and darted out of his range. People like Rotxo, like Quaritch even, didn't give up after one good hit or even several. He was back on his feet with a snarl, body lunging forward as he wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her forward and slamming his fist into her face. She recoiled at the hit, nose throbbing and a quick swipe revealed it bleeding.
Despite how series the fight was, she only seemed to halfway focus on it, mind not all the way there as they traded blows for blows, her body once more taking more abuse than it needed to. It was only when a sharp pain raced through her body that her mind zeroed in together. She cried out hands scrabbling at his own as he tightly gripped her main braid that had her quene.
"I wonder, would you die like us if I cut of your quene?" The people recoiled at that, looking on in shock and uneasy as he pulled out a dagger. Her eyes seemed to zero in on it, heart pumping painfully in her chest as the reality of what would come to pass settled in.
She ground her teeth together, fangs piercing into the flesh of her gums as she forced her body to turn just enough, grab a fistful of his own braids and bring his face to her own. Pain exploded across her face but she didn't care, pulling him down again and slamming her head once more into his own. He stumbled back dizzy, blood trickling from his own nose and busted lip as he released his knife. She kicked it to the side before charging at him with a cry.
He wanted to kill her. He was going to kill her. He wasn't going to kill her. She could feel her heart constrict and twist painfully, her mind felt like it was splitting open and everything was too much. She was saying something, her mouth moving but her ears ringing. I'm sorry I'm not one of you. I'm sorry I can't help you. I'm sorry but I want to live. I want to feel. I want to know what it means to be alive. I want to know what it means to live. I'm sorry.