Word Count: 2237

Sitting on his bed, Quaritch held a frown as he looked down at the screen in his hand. Displayed on the holographic, an image of himself – of his former self – sat.

He'd watched the recording probably three times by now, having devolved into just staring at the paused image of his own face.

It felt strange. His memories were him. He was colonel Miles Quaritch, yet everything felt so off now. His body wasn't what it once was, the muscle and strength he once trained every day for now reduced to the spindly limbs he held, the cryo and incubation of his Na'vi body unable to artificially mimic them.

Despite his increased size, he felt weak, feeble. Sure he'd started working out again, but it was a far cry from what he was once able to do.

Every time he walked past a window, mirror or other reflecting surface and caught even a glimpse of blue, his heart jumped as adrenalin pumped, only for him to realise it was himself.

Everything worked to frustrate him.

The life he had in his head differed so greatly to what he saw before him now. Hell, the labcoats had even told him he was back to being twenty years old now.

Sighing, Quaritch rubbed his free hand over his face before throwing the tablet onto his nightstand, too tired to think anymore.

Him and his team had three months to strengthen up and get used to their new bodies.

Three months until he'd finally be allowed to go after the man who caused all of this.

-

"Sister, come and get your children!" Yelling out in exasperation, you were trying your best to untangle the little limbs from your waist, playfully glaring down at the young boy dangling upside down from your body, his legs around your waist while his arms hugged your right thigh, his shorter queue swinging wildly as he giggled maniacally.

Gracefully running over, your sister laughed softly as her eyes settled on her son. "No'gue." She called his name with a smile, reaching forward and tugging his tail lightly to get him to stop ignoring her.

"Mother!" He whined, hugging your leg even tighter and you huffed, grabbing his legs and prying them off, dangling his lower body in mid air while he desperately tried to hold on to your leg. "No, Y/N!" He now called to you, pleading while you jokingly hissed at him before dropping his legs.

Letting out a little yelp, due to his hold on your leg, his body flipped and he landed on his feet, only for the impact with the ground to cause him to bounce back, forcing him to let go of you as he landed on his butt.

"That's one." You smiled as you then turned around, showing the other body hanging onto your back to your sister, little hands tangled in your hair. "And number two."

"Oh my." Chuckling, she reached out and grabbed her daughter, Yalai giggling and turning around to instead hang onto her mother, not seeming all that upset and seeing it more like a game.

That was to be expected though, considering the girl's younger age.

"Come on, you troublemakers, it's time to eat." Holding out her hand for her son, your sister took her children, thanking you wordlessly with only a gesture before making her way to the middle of the cave, where the communal area was set up.

Living in the cave systems of the hallelujah mountains wasn't something you'd ever imagined yourself or your clan doing, but all things considered, it wasn't so bad.

After the sky people returned, your people – who since the fall of Hometree had taken refuge in the forest – were forced to move once more, this time out of the forest and into the floating mountains.

Sighing softly, you watched with a fond smile as the little family walked away, only to suddenly feel something bump into your leg. Forced to take a step to keep your balance, you looked down to see one of the humans living in the clan, his eyes wide as he looked up at you.

"I'm so sorry." He apologised in fluent Na'vi, the oxygen mask on his face reflecting the fire while in his arms he carried a large box.

"No need." You smiled, placing a hand over your heart as you nodded. "It is time to eat, will you come?"

Once more, his eyes widened. "Oh, it's that time already? I need to link up then." Tilting your head, you nodded. So he was a dream walker.

"Shall I carry that? " Pointing at the box in his hand, he looked down at it before back up at you.

"Oh, uh, if you don't mind-" That was all the encouragement you needed as you already leaned down and took the box from his arms, looking a lot smaller in yours as you stood back up straight. "I'm Norm, by the way. Norm Spellman."

"Y/N." You smiled back softly, starting to walk with him, your tail gently swaying.

Though the humans had lived with the Omaticaya for a while, most of the clan members stayed out of their way. There was no dislike or distrust, but with your clan consisting of a good hundred Na'vi, it was fairly logical you didn't know everyone, nor did you ever go out of your way to go and meet them or the dream walkers.

"Uh, you can put it down over there." Norm pointed to the side and you nodded, placing the box down on top of an already existing pile of boxes. "You can go on ahead, I still need to link to my avatar." He smiled at you and you nodded, touching your forehead with your fingers before lowering it and your head in the familiar 'I see you' greeting of your clan.

With that, you turned around and made your way back to the middle of the cave system where the communal area was set up, ready to eat.

-

Back pressed to the bench, Quaritch grunted out a strained breath as he deadlifted the bar he was holding, pushing until his arms were stretched fully before lowering the weights back to his chest and repeating it.

Thankfully, in the last two months, he and his team had rapidly been able to come back to the strength, stature and stamina they had had before their... unfortunate rebuilds.

The science pukes had told him it was because their bodies were still dosed up on the growing hormones that they'd been filled with during incubation – even though these bodies had been made years prior. While it maybe shouldn't have, it all flew over his head when that man explained it to him. Something about it being best for the avatar bodies to stay healthy, bla bla. All that mattered was that he was back to a familiar feel in muscle tone and strength, though with being a recombinant and all, that too had been upped considerably. Any previous record he held as a human was blown out of the water.

Huffing as he lifted the weights once more, he turned his thoughts off as he clacked the bar back into the holder on the rack, letting go of it finally and carefully sitting up, grabbing the underside of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face before he let it fall again.

"Impressive, colonel."

Sighing out, Quaritch lifted his eyes in a tiredly annoyed stare to see his second in command leaned in the doorway. "Come to finally get off your ass, Wainfleet?"

Chuckling, Lyle raised his arm, flexing a bit. "Not everyone can have an ass like yours, sir."

Rolling his eyes, Quaritch got up, moving to stand before Lyle, looking down at the man he stood slightly taller over with a scowl. "Watch your tongue, Wainfleet."

Yet Lyle held no fear, scenes like this common for the two of them where they were – quite ironically now – just yanking each other's tails. "Sorry, sir." He grinned and Quaritch rolled his eyes, breaking his mock-discipline to whack the man on the back of the head.

"You owe me something from the vending machine for that comment." With that, he started walking out of the room and into the main training area.

"What, so you can add some more to your ass?!" Lyle called out after, getting an annoyed flick of the tail in return as Quaritch glared back over his shoulder.

"Make that two things!"

-

Flying high across the canopy, your ikran screeched as you lovingly patted him on the neck, looking around at all the other warriors. At the front, Jake – your Olo'eyktan – flew, his gaze never wavering as he looked dead set to the front.

Once again your ikran screeched and your brow furrowed. Standing up in the stirrups you had your feet on, you softly patted his head, trying to get him to calm down and get quiet. It was strange for him to do this, but through your bond, you could sense something felt different. What, you didn't know. It was more like something was pressing on the back of your mind, weaving its way into your mind with such subtly you could barely feel it.

Shaking your head, all of those thoughts flew away when one of the warriors in front yipped, pointing to the train tracks you all had been flying over, running through the protection of the forest.

Squinting your eyes through your visor, you could shallowly make out the fast moving object. Your ears turning to the sound of Jake whooping, the signal to go in for the attack.

Standing up in your saddle, you together with your fellow warriors went in for the dive, shooting straight towards the canopy and diving in, manoeuvring through the trees, vines and branches as if it was nothing.

Flying through the trees, you watched as up ahead the machinery turned, now headed straight your way. Readying your bow, you turned one of the arrows, snug between the fingers of your left hand as you narrowed your eyes.

With every flap of your ikran's wings, your heart beat faster. Your seat on the animal light and fluid as you weaved through the trees, ducking beneath branches before a small yip from your right sounded.

And just like that, the train was zooming past as you drew your bow, lips pulled back in a snarl as you aimed at one of the gunmen on top, bringing the string up to your cheek and firing loose.

-

"There has been another attack from Sully."

Standing in front of the general, Quaritch had his arms crossed as he glared down at the holographic table, watching the footage recovered of the attack. Several videos played at the same time of body cams of fallen soldiers, either shot by arrows, grabbed by banshees, thrown off the train, death after death that made the colonel's ears pin back all the way to his skull, his tail flicking in agitation.

"Where was this located?"

"A mere 10 klicks from Bridgehead." The general spoke, fidgeting with the controls to zoom out of the attack site, Bridgehead soon showing up on the hologram.

"10? Jesus." Quaritch growled softly, leaning down to watch the body cam of one of the marines currently at the site, spitting through the empty, looted boxes.

"Each attack has taken place wherever the train was. It is no indication of Sully's whereabouts." The general scowled up at Quaritch. "Colonel, you and your team are moving out in three days instead of three weeks. Understood?"

Any surprise he held at the order was buried under his anger and years upon years of discipline as he once more watched one of the many videos playing on repeat from the footage of the attack, watching a female Na'vi riding a banshee whiz past, firing an arrow with an angry hiss, the soldier slumping in his seat atop the train, the rest of the video simply showing the gun the soldier had slumped on, as well as the arrow sticking out of their chest. It only helped to solidify the colonel's belief of the savages as he sensed a low drum swirling at the back of his skull, feeling like an upcoming headache. His lips curling down, he looked up at Ardmore. "Loud and clear, general." With those words, Quaritch saluted before excusing himself, his teeth gritted as his anger boiled at the one who caused it all.

Sully.

-

Standing by the tree of souls, your jaw was clenched as you held your sister's hand, sadness and fear coursing through every fiber of your body. On your right leg, No'gue held tight, his face half hidden against your thigh as you all watched Jake relinquish the role of Olo'eyktan.

Watching Tarsem raise his knife, a lump grew in your throat, feeling as if a vine constricted it. Putting your right hand on your nephew's shoulder for comfort, you squeezed your sister's hand tight, barely able to keep yourself from looking away as Tarsem slammed his fist down onto Jake's chest, making a small cut as he yanked it away.

With that action, the previous Olo'eyktan was no more and you had to watch with a heavy heart as the Sully family walked off, leaving you all behind.

A new chapter was once more starting. 

-

So, I just developed a massive crush on this man and have to feed it. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, I'm sorry if there are any errors but I hope you'll stick around ^^

06-02-2023