FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE READ THIS AND YOU CAN HATE ON ME LATER! BUT, FYI, I DONT BAIT WHEN HATERS HATE! XD
I know this chapter will be a lot shorter and a lot more bland than the others but I hope it'll curve you over until I get the next chapter up where it will include bonding with an Ikran for both Jake and Faith as well as more interaction between Faith and Drewan. So sorry for this, but it'll just act more as a filler.
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It was fatigue that kept Faith from feeling the depression that came with the return of her blindness. All she could comprehend was her mother's voice calling her, making sure she was okay. Grace's hands pushed back her daughters hair from her forehead and cheeks to get a good look at her flushed face.
"I'm fine, Ma." Faith replied in a groggily tease as she pushed her protective mother's hands away. Having darkness constantly covering her eyes made it hard for Faith's mind to remain conscious as it mostly registered that she was resting. She had to repeatedly preform an awakening movement to keep herself afloat.
A cold palm pressed against her back as her abs flexed her body into an upright position. Her bones popping like bubble wrap due to her lack of recent mobility. The stuffy, sanitary smell of a crowded link room was enough to make her nose turn upright in disgust. The sounds of busy technicians and scientists buzzing around the enclosed space.
"Wheres Jake?" The youngest Avatar driver asked. She repeatedly shook herself roughly as she began to drift.
"He wasnt with you?" Grace angled her face under Faith's obsolete gaze. Hearing her mother's concerned tone made Faith's heart pause for a moment. She wondered if Jake had already pissed Neytiri off or had pulled a stupid move and gotten himself killed.
"He was but-"
"Jake Sully coming out of link." A monotonous informant came from the speakers, cutting off the youngest Na'vi driver. Faith felt the swift gust of air as her mother left her side to check on the other Marine.
"Jake? Jake!" Grace called, grabbing a pen flashlight from her lab coat and moving it over Jake's eyes. "C'mon back, Kid." Faith heard the gentle sounds of her mother slapping his cheeks to wake him up.
Suddenly, Jake had taken a deep breath to fill his lungs which then transformed to a choked laughter. "Well, now that you two are fine. Are the Avatars safe?" Faith rolled her eyes, thinking to herself 'Of course the head scientist has to make sure her years of work weren't just thrown off to the viperwolves.'
Jake took the word 'two' from the Redhead scientist's statement and felt a small wave of relief hit him as he knew she was meaning Faith. After Neytiri had taken her avatar away, Jake never let her condition leave his mind, even after the angered princess had told him she was healing and now rested down below the winding tendrils of Hometree's multiple trunks.
But like the two had the same exact thought after Grace's concerned question, Faith and Jake smiled brightly, thinking of what had happened outside the fences of Hellsgate. "Yeah, Doc, and you are not gonna believe where we are." He laughed a bit harder after that, infecting Faith as well.
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To say that Grace was surprised that not only did her daughter, but the idiotic Ex-Marine, had managed to be allowed under the vigilance of the Omaticaya clan would be the understatement of the universe, and with Neytiri no less. Of course, it didn't calm her nerves to hear that Faith had successfully bonded with one of the rarest and most aggressive creatures of Pandora's plains and the fact that her leg were injured though not permanently.
They all laughed in the cafeteria the next morning as Grace told the rest of the Link Crew "These two both disappeared into the Jungle, with an angry thanator coming after them!" Her hand motions to display the previous hand motions added to the comedy even if her daughter couldn't see it. Then preached about Jake was more than likely to get all of them killed.
Later that day, something made Faith a little suspicious about her brother-in-arms as he was called up to SelfRidge and Grace spent the time he was gone trying to get her daughter to tell more stories about what she saw out in the terrain of the planet. When Faith had asked her mother why Jake was summoned, she merely brushed it off as the head honcho of the security program talking deployment stories with him.
Trusting in her mothers words, Faith brushed it off. And when Jake returned to the bunkers, she had charged herself in teaching him the names and titles of the high ranking Na'vi of the clan, and some of their common daily customs.
"Su'ey." Jake mispronounced sitting on the bottom bed of the bunk, watching protectively as his blind co-marine moved about the room. "Tsu'tey." Faith reprimanded, throwing her arm towards Jake's voice and successfully hitting the Marine in the arm. Jake laughed at her efforts, knowing she want trying to be harsh.
"Better make sure you know that when my mother asks you." The young Augustine warned with her hands on her hips.
But sure enough, when both were called back to the link bay, Jake had totally butchered the future chiefs name with Grace. She didnt care as much as Faith but then again, Faith knew about the Prince's hatred for dreamwalkers and any patronizing from Jake would set anything off.
"So whose this Eywa?" The untrained Marine asked, setting himself into the link bay as Grace began the sequence to the launch. Faith almost lost her breath. She felt like the biggest moron on Pandora for not going over the most important being in Na'vi culture.
"Whose Eywa?" Norm repeated in pure disbelief. "Only their deity, their goddess made up of all living thing, everything they know. You'd know this if you had any training whatsoever."
"Easy there, Norm, I've been holding him as a hostage in school sessions while in the bunks." Faith defended bravely. "He's learning. Granted, at a very slow pace, but learning."
"And besides, who's the one with a date with the Chiefs daughter?" Jake taunted with a wicked smile on his face.
By this time, Faith had already been strapped into her link bay, the assistant scientist checking over the schematics before sending her into the dive. She was just about to lash out at Jake for his comment before the door to her bay shut and the engine roared to life. 'Oh, he'll still get it.' She promised to herself.
Awaking once again, Faith heard the low and desperate whine of her sleek, black skinned companion. Na'vi voices also filled her ears and the sound of padding footsteps surrounded her.
In fact, the voices sounded really close. When Faith opened her eyes, she was taken back when she saw she was surrounded by the faces of young Omaticaya children.
"Ummm......hello?" She greeted with a crooked smile still quite unaware of what was happening.
Seeing she was awake, the children gasped and took off out of the covering. Aungia's whines hushed and Faith had just enough time to see the children that had practically smothered the Hybrid so much under their affection that he didn't even have the chance to scare them off.
"Good Morning, Oh Ferocious One." She teased the towering creature. Aungia huffed at my remark but still greeted her in return with a nudge of his muzzle on her hand.
"Faith?" The young driver perked her head up to see the Na'vi body of Jake entering the covering. This time, his body was only donned by a simple wrapping of clothing around his lower region.
"Hey, Jake." She flexed her abs to get herself to an upright position. Aungia, knowing the new arrival was friend, kept a content aura.
"Hows the leg?" Jake made his way closer into the covering and scanned over Faith's previously wounded appendage.
Faith tensed her leg to get a feel of how it would be to move it. What she felt was a mere twinge to what she remembered her pain to be once before. The wholes were still obvious on her leg though they had seemed to close a drastic amount over night.
"I'll live." She answered swinging her legs over slowly to the direct ground instead of the animal hide-made bed Neytiri had placed her in.
Jake held his hand out courteously towards what he would consider to call his little sister. Faith smiled and nodded a thank you as she grasped his forearm and let him do the work to pull her up.
Aungia was immediately there behind her back incase she had lost her balance or something to make her fall again.
"So, what are you gonna be irritating Neytiri with today?" Faith asked, leaning on her stronger leg. She immediately remembered Jakes comment earlier, now with a clear visual shot, smacked him with a good amount of force on his upper arm. Jake jumped at the sting on his arm and gave Faith a irritated look. The augustine simply pointed a firm index finger at him. "Dont be playing games with Neytiri today, y'hear? Shes already pissed about being stuck with us as it is so if you mess with her in any way, she'll kick your ass in ten seconds flat then leave ya for the viperwolves, guaranteed."
Jake rolled his eyes at Faiths warning and glanced back at the entrance to the covering like he was scared of the princess catching him saying something bad. "She says shes going to teach me how to bond with something called a 'Direhorse'."
Faith snorted at his easy disregard, 'Mom is right, Jake's gonna get us all killed.' she thought. Faith turned back to Aungia and stroked his shoulder blade gently. "Well this will be entertaining." She muttered just loud enough for Jake to hear.
The marine gave Faith a confused look, waiting for her to explain. "Answer me this, Marine," She loved seeing his reaction as she paused for affect and using her mother favorite nickname for him. She giggled at her own dirty mind as she proceeded on. "You ever bareback-it before?"
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Neytiri was in front of the group consisting of Herself along with Drewan, Jake and Faith. Of course, Aungia was behind his partner, always remaining close. Faith had a slight limp in her step though she deduced it would only get better if she began to rebuild the muscles in her leg through exercise.
Before they had left Hometree, Neytiri had given Faith a set of 'clothes'. Faith had many complaints about the style, as it was really just a necklace with loosely bouncing objects hanging from it and a thin cloth to go around her lower area. But she needed to get used to it, this was just one more step into being accepted into the clan.
Neytiri had motioned. Jake into the Direhorse open plain where their were three direhorses sucking sweet nectar from nearby plants with their long narrow tongues.
The princess had grabbed a halter from the edge of a tree branch and caught a single direhorse from the bunch and brought her over to jake. Faith and Drewan had stayed back as the lesson begun.
"We are staying for a small time. You have already proved yourself able to ride on the hybrid there." Drewan turned to gesture towards Aungia who lowered his head and glared but no growling present. A bow that was strapped around his body shaking side to side as he moved.
"Then....what are we doing?" Faith asked not bothering to look away from Jake as the Direhorse smacked him behind his head for assuming she was a 'he'. She made sure to check her words, not daring to retort that she was mostly unconscious during most of her riding on Aungia so it wasnt really true.
"I am going to start teaching you the ways of the Jungle." He stated monotonously. Jake had managed to climb on the back of the Direhorse and connected his queue to the hers, letting out an overwhelmed sigh. He was nowhere close to expecting what he did when the Bond.
"You may tell her what to do," Naeytiri patted her forehead as she looked up to the inexperienced rider. "Inside." She stepped back from the 6 legged herd animal and gestured to the rest of the open area. "For now, say where to go."
Jake sent a quick gaze back at Faith who was now covering her mouth with a hand to refrain from laughing or showing a smile. Jake shifted his weight evenly on the flat back of the Direhorse. No saddle, no source to hold himself. Bareback.
"Forward." And with that command, the Direhorse took off from its starting point, leaving Jake unprepared and tumbling back off to hit the muddy ground.
Neytiri and Faith laughed aloud. The chief's daughter jogging to recapture the Direhorse. Drewan laughed as well, unexpextedly, though his reaction was merely more of a chuckle.
Suddenly, Drewan snapped his head back at a galloping sound then instantly turned to his pupil and pushed her out of the way just as Tsu'tey and a couple of his warriors charged through on their own Direhorses. Both teacher, student and hybrid fell back at the quick attend to avoid being trampled.
Aungia quickly regained his footing and snapped his jaws at the prince but Faith set her hand out before he could put an actual piece of him in between his teeth. From her position on the ground, she pet his hanging head comfortably.
The prince's party paused in front of Jake and Neytiri. Jake was struggling to remove the clinging mud on most of his right side, including his face.
"You should go away. You and the ignorant child." This time, it was Drewan who had to restrain Faith from tearing him to shreds.
"Nah, you'd miss us." Jake answered, pulling a stem of water weed from his mouth.
"Let us leave." Drewan more of commanded as he quickly collected another direhorse close to them. "Mount your hybrid."
"These aliens will learn nothing." The prince assured Neytiri. "A rock sees more." Jake scraped even more brown mush from his chest. "Look at him."
Faith made the bond with Aungia and jumped to his back as he crouched down for her advantage. Again, she felt his breaths as her own and their hearts beat as one.
"Ride." Her teacher ordered, sending his direhorse off.
'Scare his direhorse' Faith thought in her mind which transferred directly to Aungia. She could feel her companion rumble at the thought and as they ran by the Prince, Aungia sent a small nip at the direhorses legs. The creature reared on its hindlegs, letting out a terror filled cry.
Although it caught the prince of guard, it wasnt enough to throw him of. Faith didnt care either way, as long as he got something in return for saying such things about her and Jake.
"That was a stupid move."
Faith had to do a double take to realize where that comment had come from.
"Holy crap, you speak english?!" She cried at Drewan, nearly forcing Aungia to stop on a dime by her loss of concentrate on the path ahead.
Her teacher smirked at her reaction but nodded nonetheless. His body rode smoothly against the back of the direhorse who seemed to have no concern with the Hybrid as long as his rider didnt.
"Nearly give a girl a heart attack!" Faith dramatized, putting a hand over her chest and taking deep breaths.
Drewan slowed his direhorse when he came upon a spot he liked. But Faith temped his patience and began a conversation. "Why are you always such a stiff?"......Probably not the best starter.
Drewan dropped from his mount and turned to hive her a confused look, not understanding her question in the least.
"I mean, why do you never show any emotion?" She rephrased, gently pulling the bond away from Aungia as she herself dropped from his back.
"I do show emotion," he stated, taking the bow from his back and holding it firmly in his grasp. "To those I trust."
Faith's face blanked. "Is that why we're put in the middle of a beast-ridden forest with nothing to protect myself with?" Her sarcasm dripped from her tone.
For a second, Faith saw a real smile move over his face. "If you learn fast, you wont die."
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