Word Count: 3350

Walking through the forest, Quaritch and his team walked, guns raised in defense as they carefully stepped over tree trunks and foliage.

Whoops and chirps sounded out all around and the marines stayed on guard, ears twitching and pointing at every noise, listening to the animals around travelling through the forest.

In front, Quaritch walked, a tablet in his palm as he scanned the area, trying to find any trace of a settlement, anything that would indicate any nearby Na'vi.

"Hold up, something's ahead." Speaking lowly, Quaritch stopped, the marines behind him falling in as they carefully looked around. His tail flicking in anticipation, the colonel read the scan again, once more seeing the heat signature, causing him to scan the foliage directly in front of him.

"It's a Yerik."

His ears angling down, Quaritch looked behind himself to the small human in the middle. "What?"

"Your 'something'. It's a yerik." Spider repeated, his arms crossed as he defiantly looked up at the Recombinant. "A hexapede? Ever heard of it?"

Squinting his eyes, Quaritch's tail flicked in annoyance. "Alright, smart guy." Dropping his gun down, he turned around before bending down, placing one hand on his knee as he looked down at his former selves' son. "How about instead of being a know-it-all after the fact, you actually say it before we could potentially be mauled or attacked, hm?"

"Trust me, if something hunted you, you wouldn't even know it was coming before it is too late."

"Try me."

Annoyed, Spider retaliated and the two continued to argue back and forth defiantly, yet none were aware of the eyes on them from above.

-

Sitting in the tree, you observed the Na'vi below you.

Not Na'vi – Dream walkers.

Their guns raised and their voices and footsteps loud, you'd heard them coming a mile away, giving you plenty of time to climb out of sight. And now you sat, looking down in concern and anger.

Flexing your hand on the handle of your knife, your thoughts raced while your eyes stayed firmly focused on the group. You recognized the kid in the middle, how could you not - Spider had practically become a part of the Omaticaya clan despite his origin. So to now see him walking between the dream walkers, every protective instinct in you flared.

"Alright, keep moving." Hearing the male in front's words, you slowly raised up from your squat, carefully and quietly moving with the group as they traversed the forest.

They were looking for the clan, there was no question to it.

Breathing softly, you stepped over the large branches of the trees, taking your bow off of your back without a sound, your eyes hard and cold.

Just a short distance away, your sister's children were playing and you couldn't let these dream walkers get any closer.

Breathing slowly, you expelled your breath before drawing your bowstring back, aiming at the man in front. Keeping your arrow straight and still, you clenched your jaw, making sure to not have a chance of hitting Spider.

"Y/N!"

Your ears shooting up at the shout of your name, your eyes were wide in alarm, the young voice making your blood run cold.

Below, you watched as the soldiers perked up, their guns quickly raised to the right, where No'gue's voice came from.

"Steady!" The one in front called out, his own gun up while Spider ran in front of him, jumping up and grabbing onto the underside of the firearm, trying to pull it down.

"Stop!"

"Rowan, go check it out." Cutting off the man to his right, you watched as another stepped up, his gun raised as he carefully stepped into the underbrush.

Panicking, you abandoned your previous target and instead ran to the other side of the large tree branch you were standing on, spotting No'gue walking over further down the trail, looking around for you while the avatar below you stalked in.

Your heart beating fast, you felt your tail whip around, conveying your stress as you readied your arrow, pulling hard on the bowstring as you listened carefully for the soldier's steps, waiting for him to come into view.

You were outnumbered and way in over your head, but with this, you could at least thin out one before they'd start fighting back, maybe even more.

Tightening your hold, you watched the avatar step out from behind a tree and without hesitating, you let go of the bowstring.

Piercing all the way through, the soldier gasped as the arrow hit before he collapsed, parts of the arrow sticking out on either side of him.

That was one, but it wasn't enough. Grunting in frustration, you dropped out of the tree, glancing at the soldier.

"Rowan, come in."

Hearing the crackling voice from the speaker that had fallen out of the soldier's ear, you grit your teeth and took off, sprinting into the forest.

Behind, you heard the commotion as the soldiers sprang into motion, yet you didn't give them a chance as you rushed through the plants.

"Y/N!"

"Back to the pond! Go, go!" Running towards your nephew, you grabbed onto him as you ran past, lifting him into your arms as you continued running. "Why did you stray so far?!"

"What's going on?" Scared, he clung onto you, looking back over your shoulder as he also picked up on the multiple thuds rushing through the part of the forest you just shot out of. "Is it palulukan?" He whimpered, his eyes darting around in fear, waiting for the giant snapping jaws of the six-legged black beast to jump out.

"No, it's not, but we have to go." You breathed, panting softly as you ran as fast as possible. Chancing a look behind, you watched the male avatar from before, the one in front, rushing after you, a determined look on his face as he sprinted ahead of his men.

Hissing in frustration, you picked up speed even more, jumping onto a tree branch and running along it, practiced and balanced. Suddenly, the wood vibrated and shook as the man jumped on as well and you felt No'gue's hands tighten on your hair and shoulder where he was holding you. Yet the man wasn't as adept at it as you were, needing to slow down to follow the bends and bumps.

"Where is your sister?" Calling that out, you dropped down to a branch lower while the terrain angled down, leading towards the river and pond where you had left the kids previously.

"Still by your ikran." The little boy whimpered and your face hardened.

"Hold on and hold your breath." Saying that, you slung your bow over your head as best as you could with No'gue in your arms and dove off the branch, falling several meters before you splashed into the river below in a practiced dive.

Kicking your legs out, you squinted through your eyes, vaguely seeing the little one in your arms keep his eyes squeezed closed as he hugged you tight while you swam.

Looking skyward, you frantically swam up, breaching the surface of the water and gasping, No'gue doing the same while he rubbed his eyes.

Swimming forward, you fought against the current of the small waterfall, swimming over to the mangrove of roots next to the natural flow of water from above.

You had to climb that. Climb it and you'd reach the pond the small waterfall was attached to, leading you to where you'd left the kids to play earlier. If you could just get to your Ikran, you'd be able to get away and warn the clan.

Grabbing onto the roots, you breathed heavily as you looked back, watching the other sky people reach the opening on the other side and slowly start to follow their leader onto the branch. Your eyes darting further, they then crossed with that of the man – the colonel, as he was called before.

Your ears angling back, you hissed in anger, the man taking no notice as he jumped into the water after you and No'gue.

Alarmed, you quickly started climbing the roots, jumping and pulling yourself up as fast as you could with one arm.

"Y/N..."

Wordlessly comforting him as you panted, you cradled your nephew's head as you reached the top, only to hear a body climbing out of the water below you. Your head snapping down, you watched as the colonel pulled himself onto the roots you just left behind.

"Going somewhere, sunshine?"

Hissing down at him once more, you jogged into the trees and quickly put No'gue down, crouching to his level. "Go find your sister, get on my ikran. I will follow." Placing your hand on his head, he reached his little hands up and placed them over yours, looking at you with a pleading look before he nodded. "Go!" Pushing him slightly, you watched as he rushed off into the brush, following the water while you snapped a turn to look down at the soldier climbing up.

Taking your bow off your shoulder, you rushed forward right as he put his hand on the top, swinging with all your might as you hit him straight in the face.

Calling out in pain, he fell back, bouncing on the roots before he heavily splashed into the water, sputtering to come back up with an angry growl.

"Colonel!"

Snapping your head up, you watched just in time to see the other avatars raise their guns.

Pushing your legs out from under yourself, you ducked to avoid the bullets, scrambling to get out of there.

Crawling to the trees, you called out in pain as something grazed your left arm, not having enough time to give it thought as you took cover behind a tree.

Soon, the gunfire died down and you instantly rushed forward, sprinting down the small river until you reached the pond in the clearing. On the other side, No'gue and his sister stood by your ikran, trying to get it to calm down enough to get on.

Yalai was covered in dirt and cradling her shoulder and you bit your lip, realizing your ikran must have thrown them in fear at the gunshots.

Calling out your throat vocalizations, your ikran instantly stopped roaring and fidgeting, turning to you as you ran over. Yet right as you did, on the other side of the clearing, the colonel came out.

Your eyes wide, you quickly turned and reached down, drawing your bow back and aiming it at him. Loosing the arrow within a second.

To his credit, the colonel managed to flinch back while the arrow travelled across the water, smashing into his gun instead of his body.

Grunting, he dropped the thing and watched it fall into the water, his head shooting up to look back at you. Watching as you turned your back and moved to the children, Quaritch quickly sprinted forward.

Grabbing Yalai and lifting her onto your ikran, the winged animal made a noise in alarm at the approaching threat while you were doing the same for No'gue, lifting him onto the animal with his sister.

Connecting your queue, you hopped on and quickly ordered him to fly up, your eyes widening in alarm as you watched the colonel sprint forward, barely a few meters away while your ikran flapped his wings, beginning to lift off.

Your eyes darting around, you made a split second decision. "Hold on and stay on!" Yelling that out, you disconnected your queue and jumped off of your Ikran, right into the charging colonel.

Rolling into the ground together with him, you kicked your legs out and threw him off of yourself, whipping your head back to watch the kids call for you while they flew away, fear and worry in their eyes while your Ikran stayed with the last thought you gave him while connected through Tsaheylu.

Getting to your feet, you jumped back, staying low to the ground as you angrily drew your knife, glaring at the male in front of yourself, feeling your tail whip around while he got up as well, analysing you.

"That was quite a show."

Narrowing your eyes, your hold on your knife tightened. "You should not be here."

Huffing a bit in amusement, he himself sunk through his knees too, bringing his hands up in front of himself, balled into fists. "I assume what you just said weren't words of surrender."

Feeling your lips curl, your fangs flashed slightly. "Give Spider back and leave and we won't have problems."

Tilting his head, Quaritch smiled slightly as he watched the female Na'vi in front of himself, her posture filled with hostility. He didn't get much of what was being said, yet he did pick out the words 'give' and 'Spider'. "No can do."

Seeing his flippant attitude, your annoyance and anger flared and you jumped forward, swiping your knife at his gut.

Jumping back, Quaritch shot his hand forward, redirecting your knife to the side, only for you to turn with it and sweep your leg out into his.

His eyes widening, he dropped onto his back with a loud grunt before quickly rolling to the side to avoid your knife as you stabbed it into the dirt where he was just laying. In a quick move, he turned his body and wrapped his legs around your waist, flipping you over himself and to his other side, disorienting you as you slammed onto your front with an angered grunt.

Using the momentum of the move to get to his knees, he quickly got on top of you, putting his knee on your lower back to pin you, only for you to reach back over your shoulder and grab onto his vest, pulling him off with surprising strength. "Oh Jesus."

Grunting that out, the man moved into a shoulder roll and quickly got to his feet, seeing you doing the same once he turned around.

"Colonel!"

The both of you – covered in mud – watched as the soaking wet marines ran into the clearing, guns raised.

Quickly, Quaritch held up his hand. "Don't shoot!" He yelled out before he turned his head back to you. "I've got her."

"You're vile." Hissing that out under your breath, he smirked a bit.

"Nice to meet you too."

With that, you yelled out a grunt in anger as you jumped forward, anticipating his jump to the side as you instead rolled straight through, grabbing your bow you had dropped before and whipping around, ears pinned back and fangs bared as you swiped it right at him.

Jumping back, Quaritch narrowly dodged the wood, tilting his head as he narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "That's not very fair."

You hissed something back in Na'vi that he didn't understand before swinging your bow once more, following it up in quick succession with a series of moves, Quaritch stepping back and sideways to avoid each and every one, feeling the mark on his left cheekbone bloom, having met the force of that swing one time too many already.

Your breathing intensifying, you were acutely aware of the other soldiers approaching your little tussling area, making your entire nervous system feel on fire. Stepping forward, you made a full turn, swinging your bow down with added momentum and an angry growl.

Widening his eyes, Quaritch felt the end smack into his shoulder, yet he took a page out of your book, turning with it to let your bow slip past his body before he rushed forward, his open palm slamming into your sternum as he pushed you back.

All the breath leaving your body, you were forced to drop your bow, falling backwards onto your back into the mud before your fight or flight flared, making you roll back over your head and onto your feet, taking your knife back out of the dirt it was sticking out from.

"Come on, colonel!" The whoops of the marines sounded out and your ears pinned even further down, your eyes briefly scanning them before locking on the human boy stuck in the grasp of one of them, his eyes frantic and pleading as he struggled to be let go.

"You have to run!"

Calling out to you, your eyes crossed with his and you stood up a bit, raising from the defensive crouch you were in before.

Looking back at the kid, Quaritch then turned back to you, trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder while his eyes analysed you and the boy, watching your reaction. He had no idea what was said of course, but still. "Alright, playtime's over."

The colonel started taking steps towards you and you instantly got in a defensive position, growling a warning hiss at him. Smirking back at you in return, you lashed out, swiping your knife across his chest, yet his protective vest caught any possible damage, as the man instead used it to grab your arm and twist it.

Calling out in pain, you refused to let go of your one remaining weapon, gritting your teeth as you tried to fight his strength.

"Come on, drop it." Quaritch huffed, kicking his foot into the side of your shins to get you on your knees, the shock of it forcing your knife out of your hands.

Instantly, Quaritch moved behind you, grabbing your queue and pushing you face first into the ground, forcing you on your stomach while he put his knee on your lower back once more, properly pinning you.

Hissing out in discomfort and slight pain at his tight grip, your arms shot back, clawing at his to get him to let go, your tail wrapping around his thigh in your frantic movements, when suddenly something cold was pressed to the back of your neck, making you freeze..

"Yeah that's right, you know what that is. Calm your rockers." Breathing heavily while he held the knife between your braid and neck, sharp side up, Quaritch looked up at his team, his ears moving up and down as he just watched them stand there like limp statues. "Can one of you idiots cuff her already?!" At that, the recoms seemed to jolt into moving, Mansk jogging over with the orange snap-on cuffs. "Goddamn." Quaritch huffed in exasperation, getting up and wiping some of the mud off his face.

"Nice work, colonel." Lyle grinned as he approached, Quaritch rolling his neck with a little groan.

"How is Rowan?"

At that, Lyle's grin fell, his eyes falling down to you. "The arrow killed him instantly." He spoke, bringing out the dog tags to show to his commander.

"Shit." Quaritch huffed, taking the chain from his lieutenant. Pocketing the item, the man then shoo'ed Mansk away while he stepped over to stand on your left side.

Glaring at him, your tail whipped in agitation as the recombinant then leaned down, grabbing you by your bicep, to which you cried out in pain, biting your tongue immediately after to refrain from showing any more weakness. Yet Quaritch already raised his brow, bringing his other hand up to wipe away some of the mud on your arm, making you twitch to try and get away from him.

"Someone got a good shot off." He remarked and Wainfleet stepped over, peeking at your arm to see the deep graze shot.

"I think that was Prager." As he spoke, you hissed at the bald Na'vi, your senses overwhelmed as you were examined like a toy.

Struggling in the colonel's grasp, you tried to somehow break free, clearly useless. "Calm yourself, mud princess." Quaritch groaned, your squirming getting on his nerves.

"What do you wanna do with her?"

Scratching his head, the colonel then waved his arm at Fike, who was still holding Spider's shoulder. "Get the kid over here."

Glaring at Fike as he pushed him forward, Spider walked up, forced to take long steps thanks to being exclusively surrounded by Na'vi bodies.

Smiling down at Spider, Quaritch pointed his finger at his smaller chest. "I want you, boy, to translate a little message for her."

-

I'm gonna try to update once a week (aka, every monday) but please excuse me if I don't make it because college life hard and mental breakdowns frequent xD

13-02-2023