“Yeah and besides, the science department doesn’t have to go along with it. We’re not getting paid to develop weapons, if they want this then they can get someone else to do it.” Dr. Eileen sighed at the failed attempts.
“It doesn’t work like that.... they’re the ones with all the money, they pay for everything we have. The equipment, the research projects, the Avatar program, everything. We do as they say or lose all that we’ve ever worked for. It’s so unfair....”
That night Dr. Eileen tried to sleep but the guilt was too much. She felt like she had opened up a gateway for governments of the world to add more fuel to the fire of ongoing wars back on earth. It was only a matter of time before armies would be bombing each other with toxic gases or injecting their soldiers with drugs. How would she explain her **** up to Dr. Augustine? She didn’t want to think about it. Hopefully a new day would come and take away her worries.

Days past and by now it had been a while since Tak and Alan had gained useful information, now it was time to gain more. They both went outside for a workout and also for a confidential chat. As Tak spotted Alan on the bench press they discussed what the next step would be.
“All we know is how to control the defence systems. Well not really, we still don’t know how to access them. And it’s not like we can just stroll into the room and go about our business, only authorised people can go in there.”
“I don’t think it’s as easy as just getting the password and entering it. They probably have some kind of system which changes the password constantly. I don’t know **** about computers, do you?”
“Nope.”
“...What if we got someone’s ID, then we could easily enter the room.”
“Yeah but it still doesn’t teach us how to do all that stuff on the computer.”
“We just get them to tell us.”
“Do things the usual way huh? Put a gun to their head and make them spit it out.”
“Then kill them, it’s the only way.”
“So, why are we even doing this? The FEBA base isn’t that big, we can just put explosives around the place and light the place up.”
“I could be wrong, but assuming the security systems are similar, if not same for all other places on Pandora, if we find out how to access them then we can pretty much shut down any place we want and take it over. Bases, mines, outposts, we could reclaim this world.”
“Right... and once we do take over the whole world then what?”
“The humans learn their lesson and return and the people who deserve to stay maybe stay. You live happily ever after with your girlfriend, the end.”
“...She’s not my girlfr-”
“Bull ****, I heard you two ****ing the other day. Shut the door next time.”
“Oh... you did?” mumbled Alan. The cat was now out of the bag but Tak didn’t care.

That afternoon when Tak was spending his afternoon with Zetey, he got his usual fitness session. Although his stamina still needed improvement, he was getting used to jumping and dodging obstacles in his way. As they were running Zetey suddenly stopped. She looked at an insect which was crawling up a tree and she carefully picked it up and showed Tak. It was a very beautiful looking creature with intricate patterns and a colour combination of black, yellow and orange which said “stay away from me”. Its legs were long and sharp like a spiders minus the hair. The mandibles around the mouth were like small multi jointed spines making it fierce looking. The spikes along its back stuck out like a Bloated Stem spore and got smaller as it reached the back. Zetey took Tak’s hand and showed him how to hold it. Tak examined the creature in great fascination. He had never seen this one, and it was only one of many others that lived in the area.
“It’s beautiful.” he said as the creature moved around in his palm and up and down his arm.
“It is dangerous. If it does not like you, it will bite you.”
“Can it kill you?”
“No, but be careful. It is poison, you will not be able to move.”
“A neurotoxin, that’s cool... Can I take it with me?”
“.....Whatever you take, you must return it.”
“I know, I will.”
“...Yes, you may.”
“Thanks, this is awesome.”
They shared a small smile before returning to their homes. When Tak got back he banged on the shack window and showed Dr. Eileen what he had in his hand. She quickly got a clear container and took it out to him. He threw in some dirt and plants then placed the creature in the container and put on the lid. Placing it by his bed in his Avatar’s tent he awoke from the link and went back out to get it and bring it in. They then connected the container to some pipes which allowed a flow of Pandoran air. These special containers were for keeping specimens alive so they could be studied.
“Where did you find this guy?” asked Dr. Eileen. She hadn’t seen one of these in a while.
“Just around here. Well, actually I didn’t find it, Zetey did. She let me hold it.”
“She let you hold it? That’s, pretty dangerous but something you don’t get to do every day. I guess it’s a special treat. You do know these things can paralyse you?”
“Yeah I heard. Must be a strong neurotoxin.”
“Very strong. One bite is more than enough for six humans. I’ll show you.”
She got a stirring rod and tied a bunch of cotton with a rubber band and inserted it into the container via a special hole. She prodded the creature and it pounced onto the cotton, biting down and injecting its neurotoxin. She tried to shake the creature off but it held on, then finally gave up and dropped to the container floor. When she took the rod out the cotton was drenched in a light yellow liquid.
“See that? Imagine all that being pumped into you, not very nice.”
Tak put on some gloves and took the cotton off. He then drained the toxin into a small sample tube.
“What are you doing?”
“Just collecting this stuff.”
“Why?”
“Why not? It could be useful one day. Maybe study it.”
“Ok, just be careful.”
Dr. Eileen was really naive which was good since she had no clue as to what Tak was really going to use it for.

The time had finally come to get more answers and Tak was determined to get out as much as possible from today. He took the small tube of toxin and gave it to Alan. He then joined Alan outside in his Avatar and on the way they discussed what they were going to do.
“This is a neurotoxin, it’s very strong. Go to the medical centre and put this into a syringe then find someone appropriate and get them to follow you outside. Once you do stick that thing into their neck.”
“Oh right, just let me do all the hard work.”
“Well I need to go get some stuff, I’ll meet you near the base.”
“Ok but remember this isn’t a stroll in the park, I may take a while so just wait.”
“Alright, whatever you say..... and the other day, when you got randomly called to the base, what the **** was that all about?”
“Oh that, well after we pulled that little stunt Hilton decided to tighten security even more. From now on all scientists are to be accompanied wherever they go, it’s compulsory. Anything suspicious we see or hear we have to report it. I’m not supposed to be telling you this but it doesn’t matter obviously.”
“We pissed him off did we?”
“Yeah, we did.”
Tak headed to hometree while Alan continued to the FEBA base. This was going to be difficult but they needed to know how to shut down the security system. Stepping through the entrance, Alan felt a bit nervous. Being alone made him feel under the pressure but he went to the medical centre and was greeted by a medic.

“What can I do for you?”
“Ever since yesterday afternoon I haven’t felt too good. Bit of a headache, dizziness and feeling tired.”
“Have you been drinking enough water? Sounds like you’re dehydrated.”
“I don’t think it’s that.”
He was looking around the room for an empty syringe but didn’t see one anywhere.
“Were you stung by anything? Plants, bugs?”
“No...but I am living with some scientists, maybe I was exposed to some chemicals?”
“I’ll have to test your blood.”
“Ahh, ok.”
The medic opened a drawer and took out a clean needle, drew some blood from his arm and took it away for testing. This gave Alan time to get a syringe. He looked for a cap to put on the needle then quickly put it in his pocket and sat back down.
“Hey how long is this going to take?”
“A while, why? You need to be somewhere?”
“Yeah I have to get back.”
“You wouldn’t have been exposed to a lethal dose of anything because if you were you would be dead by now. Just drink lots of water and you’ll piss it all out.”
“Will do, thanks!”
He then made his way outside the control room hoping someone would come out to fall as his victim. As he made a turn into the corridor he saw someone exiting the room. By the chat the person had with his colleague he was going out to get some fresh air, perfect. Keeping his distance, he followed the man with his head down. They got outside and the man began walking around the place. He then stopped and took in the warmth.
“Nice isn’t it?” said Alan.
“What?”
“The sun, it’s nice. Good to get out after been stuck inside a ****en room for so long.”
“Oh right, yeah sure is. I don’t know about you but I have to sit in front of a screen all day making sure this place doesn’t get attacked. Signing up with security department was a bad decision.”
“Yeah well at least you don’t have to deal with them in person. I have to make sure the people I escort don’t get hurt. It’s not as easy as it seems.”
“Oh you got to look after them scientist jack offs? That’s bull****. I don’t get the deal with those people, trying to make friends with the enemy isn’t going to make getting the jewels any easier. They need to go back home, stop interfering with our business you know? ****en dumbasses.”
“Yeah, I agree....”
The conversation wasn’t helping the plan and it was taking quite a while. But then the perfect opportunity arose.
“Hey bro, can you watch my back while I take a piss? I’m just going to go somewhere in these bushes. You got a gun with you right?”
“Yeah sure go for it.... Ahh wait, maybe you want to do it away from the fence, one of the scientists told me the little traces of Unobtanum in the soil can conduct your piss and you’ll get shocked by the fence.”
“...You serious?! ****, I’ll keep that in mind.”
The man walked away from the fence and headed deeper into the forest. No one would now know if he disappeared. There wasn’t anyone outside and they hadn’t been followed so nobody probably knew they were out here. Before the man finished his business Alan took out the tube of toxin and drew some of it into the syringe. He then approached the man from behind. “Sorry about this.” He said and he stabbed the needle into the man’s neck who yelled in pain. The toxin was injected into his bloodstream, quickly taking effect and within a minute he collapsed to the ground.
“Why are you doing this to me?” asked the man with slight difficulty as his mouth wasn’t fully moving. Alan ignored him and began dragging him by the arms deeper into the forest. Tak then appeared and looked at their victim.
“How much did you give him?”
“Not much, most of it’s still here.”
“He’s gonna be out soon, his heart will slow down but he’ll still be alive.”
“How long till he wakes up?
“A few hours, he won’t be able to move though.”
“So we’ll have to wait a while huh?”
Tak carried the body on his shoulder and they met up with Tsuwokan at a location which was appropriate for the situation. The rope was tied around their victim’s ankle and he was taken care of by Tsuwokan. Tak took Alan for a walk around the forest while they waited for their victim to wake up so they could ask him a few questions. They walked until Alan was extremely tired and returned. Alan sat down seeming annoyed.
“What the **** are we doing here? It’s been two hours.” he complained.
“Two hours?... Tsuwokan, throw him in.”


It was over an hour later but the man finally woke up. He couldn’t feel his body and still wasn’t sure where he was but he awoke looking at a beautiful ceiling of green leaves, vines and branches. He continued to look around above him unable to identify where he was. His hearing also began to return and he could hear the sound of animals feasting. He looked down at himself to see viperwolves eating him alive. His shirt had been removed and his trousers torn apart. The horror cam quickly but the pain was absent. As he watched himself being devoured the shock prevented him screaming at first but he eventually let out a cry. As he yelled the viperwolves were alerted that their meal was in fact alive so they became more aggressive and bit harder, trying to silence it but the man only yelled more. He was suddenly pulled out of the pit and the viperwolves who tried to hold on fell to the ground. Tak was face to face with him.
“Wow, looks like you were eaten back to life. Anyway it’s really simple, answer my questions or I’ll throw you back in.”
“What the **** have you done to me! You mother****er! You ****ing mother****er! Ahhhhh!!!!”
“Calm down or I’ll throw you back in.”
“**** you you ****ing piece of ****!”
Tak let go of the rope and the man dropped towards the ground but he stopped before reaching the viperwolves.
“Alright!!!! Alright!!! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Just don’t feed me to those ****en things!”
The man was missing most of his left arm and his right bicep, a large chunk of his right leg and bites taken out of his left leg. The viperwolves had also dug into his torso but there wasn’t much to bite into. Blood dripped from his whole body. Before the poor bastard bled to death Tak began with the questions.
“How do we access the security systems at the FEBA base?”
“You, you need to gain access through someone’s account. You’ll need their password.”
“Then what?”
“Then you, bring up the system management program and, just do what the **** you want.”
“That easy?”
“Yes! It’s not hard anyone can pretty much do it. Now please let me ****ing go!”
“You have an account?”
“....yes”
“Password?”
“....JDMC213....hey, you’ll need my ID as well to enter the control room. Now please just ****en let me go.”
“Already got it *******, but thanks anyway.”
Tak pulled off the dying man’s exopack and Alan put a bullet in his forehead. The dead body was dropped back into the viperwolf pit for them to finish off. They were eager to get back to finishing their meal and wasted no time tearing apart what flesh was left clinging onto the skeleton. The body was dragged around as the viperwolves fought over control, looking like a dog’s toy being tossed around violently. Blood spilled onto the ground and it looked like a brutal crime scene. They three of them left as they heard the savage beasts tear apart what was left of their victim.

Chapter 24

A little over two months of being on Pandora and Tak had gone through a lot, but so far so good. It occurred to Dr. Eileen that ever since he joined the team the pace in the work getting done seemed to had picked up. Running tests on the subjects that had been growing in the shacks, she smiled at the results. One day these things would be cleaning up the planet she once called home. She had requested a Samson from Hell’s Gate to come and pick up some of the plants so they could be taken to the lab there. She went and told Tak before she forgot.
“A chopper from Hell’s Gate is going to come down here so would it be ok if you could take these to the lab? I want Dr. Augustine to be updated on our progress.”
“Uhhh, ok.”
“Sorry, I know you don’t like going there. No one does but I just want to be sure they reach the lab. You can’t trust any of the army jack offs with this sort of stuff.”
“Yeah yeah I know. I’ll go.”

Before noon Dr. Eileen decided to take three of her scientists along to the Takahayo for a fun day out. She had previously discussed with some of the people if they could go out together and help out with the daily tasks. Tak was busy working out so he was left behind with Alan who was playing games on Tak’s laptop. While he was practicing his karate he heard rustling from the plants behind him. He stopped and checked if anything was there but there was nothing so he ignored it and resumed punching and kicking but a while later it happened again. The sound was faint but he could hear it. He sat down on the bench, patiently waiting and hoping the thing would come out. He had his head down but was looking up to see if the thing would show itself. It wasn’t long before he could hear more faint rustling, and catch a glimpse of what looked like a golden eye. He remained still, pretending to not see or hear anything and soon a few blue fingers were poking out from the growth. This Na’vi was a curious one and wanted to have a closer look. It finally built up enough courage to show itself partly and when Tak looked up their eyes locked. They instantly recognized each other but the neither showed any emotions. It felt a bit tense but it was an amazing moment for the both of them. Tak had finally come face to face with his blue friend for the first time in his true form. The boy hesitantly approached and eventually got within a metre of Tak. They stared at each other, speechless. In his Avatar the boy seemed small but in reality the boy was huge, taller than Tak by about half a foot. Tak felt so much more at ease around him than he did around any other person, human or Na’vi. He definitely wasn’t the type to talk to people out of his own will but this was different. A friendship had been built simply over doing small things together, who knows what would happen if they began talking. Tak put his hand on his chest and looked at him.
“Tak.” he said. The boy didn’t understand so he repeated it.
“Tak...”
He then pointed his hand to the boy and waited to a response.
“.....Tsanten.”
To make sure the boy knew he was being asked his name, Tak repeated the process. He said his name with his hand on his chest then pointed to the boy and said what he assumed was his name. The boy gave a small smile and repeated the process but in reverse. Tak returned a small smile, now they knew each others’ names. Since both were the quiet type there was no interaction between the two but Tak decided to break the silence and show Tsanten something which may interest him. He gestured to Tsanten to wait and he went inside the shacks and came back out with his Les Paul. Tsanten examined the weird looking tawtute object. He had never seen such a thing and had absolutely no idea what it did, but he was fascinated just by the looks of it. Tak slowly picked the strings one by one. Tsanten watched in amazement, he couldn’t figure out how the straight horizontal bits were making this strange noise at the touch of Tak’s hand. Tak then played a short blues lick and Tsanten’s eyes widened in amazement, what was that?! He just moved his fingers really fast and it magically created this amazing sound! For Tsanten this was really cool. Tak waited for Tsanten’s excitement to die down but that wasn’t going to happen so he kept playing and his curious blue friend’s excitement only grew bigger and bigger. For minutes they sat together, enjoying the beautiful sound which came from this magical tool until Tak stopped and put the guitar on his lap. He played the low E string and pressed down on the first fret. As he moved it slowly up he continued to pick that string and the sound got higher and higher in pitch. He let Tsanten have a go so Tsanten put his finger on the string and flicked it, it made that weird sound. He then brushed his finger across the strings and listened in awe as the thing magically made an even more vibrant sound. He smiled excitedly and then tried it with one of the frets pressed down, it made a higher sound. Tsanten could’ve done this all day but their fun was cut short when the sound of air being sucked out interrupted them. Alan was coming outside and Tsanten panicked. He quickly ran away. Alan came down the yellow metal stairs to see Tak sitting alone with his guitar.
“What are you doing out here playing by yourself? It’s so much better inside.”
“....Yeah, I guess it is.”
Tak went back inside and sat down on his bed. He continued to play while thinking of what he had just experienced. It was exciting, amazing and unbelievable at the same time. The feeling was mutual with Tsanten as he ran back home. This was the most exciting day of his life yet, too bad he couldn’t tell anyone about it.

The Samson arrived and Tak got all the stuff to take. Alan came as well since it was protocol. When they touched down at Hell’s Gate they went straight to the lab and looked around for someone to give the stuff to. A scientist approached them.
“You guys with Dr. Eileen?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, just put it over there. We’ll have a look at it. Nice work, we’ve been going over the stuff you’ve been sending us. I’m sure this’ll make Dr. Augustine’s day, provided someone hasn’t pissed her off already. ”
When they left the lab it was a good time to get some lunch so they went to the dining hall to see what was available. It was quiet with only a few people sitting down at the tables. They got some food and sat down at a table with another man not too far from them. It took Alan a while to notice it was Colonel Hilton. Their eyes met.
“Ah you, I recognize you. You’re with Dr. Eileen correct?”
“Yes sir, sergeant Alan Major.”
“Ah that’s right, sergeant Major. And that would be one of her scientists, Dr. Ling.”
“Yes sir.”
“You gentlemen care to join me?”
“Uh..sure.”

Alan moved over to sit in front of Colonel Hilton and Tak followed even though he didn’t want to. He still saw Colonel Hilton as a hostile one and avoided eye contact with him. He just kept his head down and didn’t speak, leaving Alan to do all the talking.
“So how are you boys enjoying Pandora?”
“Well, it’s nice. It’s definitely a bit unsettling at times but we’re managing to stay alive.”
“You get used to it after a while. Just remember to be alert all the time. I’ve seen what’s happened to a lot of men who underestimated this place, it’s not pretty. I remember the first time I went on a proper tour of the jungle and I’ll tell you, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’ll admit, I was amazed and I couldn’t stop thinking about it but that ended when I saw what some of the living things can do to you.”
“Must be pretty bad.”
“Very bad, I’ve seen everything from acid burns to dismembered limbs to severed heads. You know, Dr. Augustine once said there are many dangers on Pandora, and one of the subtlest is that you may come to love it too much.”
“I’ll keep that in my mind.”
Their attention was drawn to a lady who laughed out loud while having a conversation with the man she was sitting with. They seemed like more than just friends.
“So did you have any one special back home sergeant?”
“No sir, I didn’t. I was deployed in South America so I never had time for that.”
“South America, tough place. I heard some stories about the jungle warfare going on there. You’re lucky to be alive.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“I was sent to a few places in my time on earth. The middle east, Rwanda, North Korea, Bosnia, but that’s another story. Well anyway, people still manage to find someone special on this hell hole. I guess it’s not a bad thing since it helps people to stay mentally healthy. Some have committed suicide from depression within my time here. I guess the loneliness is just too much for some people.”
“Geez….”
“I mean there are other things which cause depression, but my point is just stay healthy sergeant.”
“Will do sir.”
Colonel Hilton could see Tak had been avoiding the conversation so he decided to test him. He directed his attention to him.
“And what about you Dr. Ling, did you have anyone special back home?”
Tak didn’t bother looking up at him. “Oh, uh…no” he said softly. He obviously didn’t want to talk to the Colonel.
“I see….”
It went quiet for a few seconds before Alan spoke.
“So what about you Colonel?”
“No, no one. I was married but my wife died before I came here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that….from an illness?”
“No, she was killed in a bombing. Supposedly it was planned be eco terrorists but they never caught the people responsible. Well, I’ve moved on since.”
“Only thing left to do after you lose someone special.”
“That’s right, life’s tough but just keep going…. Well you two have a nice day.”
The Colonel got up and left.

Meanwhile somewhere deep in the FEBA Dr. Eileen and her group were helping out the Takahayo with their daily tasks. They were picking fruits and seeds from trees while enjoying the peace and quiet. The warmth was just enough to keep them active but not make them uncomfortable hot. It had been a while since Dr. Eileen had spent this much time with Tsuwokan. During the period of mourning after losing his mate, Dr. Eileen had visited him every day for support and comfort, she was his shoulder to lean and cry on. Over the years they had slowly become friends. Although they would never have long conversations they had managed to learn a lot from each other. As they went about their jobs a Yerik appeared from some plants. Tsuwokan told everyone to be quiet then loaded an arrow onto his bow. He slowly pulled back as he kept aim on his prey and slowly exhaling, he released the arrow. It pierced the animal’s skin and caused it to tumble to the ground. Dr. Eileen flinched at the point of impact, she still hadn’t got used to seeing things being killed. Tsuwokan went to retrieve his kill and Dr. Eileen followed him. She stood beside him as she watched him say a prayer and remove the arrow before silencing the Yerik with his knife. She had seen this many times before but it never ceased to impress her how much respect the Na’vi had for everything around them. With a Yerik and enough fruits and seeds they decided to return to hometree. On the way back Tsuwokan and Dr. Eileen walked at the back of the group while chatting to each other.
“I think you’ve forgotten some English, you were better before.” she said jokingly.
“Yes, I do not speak your language anymore. I… do not have reason.”
“Yeah I guess you don’t…. Tsuwokan I just hope you don’t see us coming here all the time as a nuisance.”
“Uh, sorry I do not understand, ahhh, noo-suns?”
“Oh, I mean I just hope you don’t mind us being here. I know it might seem like we just come here whenever we feel like it but honestly I just can’t live without being around you all so often. You’ve become my family over the years, and I couldn’t live without my family.”
“You help us for a long time, my people thankyou and the others. You are always welcome eylan.”
“Thank you…..You know I always thought you were a fast learner, you seemed to pick up English better than the others in your clan. I could teach you if you want, I know you don’t have a reason for learning our language anymore but it’ll be fun.”
Tsuwokan gave her a look which made her tingle, she didn’t know what she had said to annoy him. But the look on his face slowly turned into a small smile. He just wasn’t expecting such an offer.
“That will be good.”
They exchanged smiles and she held his arm and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment as a friendly gesture.

Tak and Alan were thinking of returning to the FEBA but before leaving Tak decided to have a look around the place. He still needed explosives if he was going to destroy the FEBA base and a few grenades weren’t going to get the job done. He needed something more powerful.
“I think we should make a trip to the armour bay.” he said to Alan.
“For what? We’ve already got a ****load of weapons, we don’t need anymore.”
“Explosives retard, we’re going to need a lot more bang than what a few grenades can give us if we plan to destroy the base. I’m sure this place has a lot more stuff to choose from. Let’s go.”
They walked to the armour bay and as usual it was busy. Vehicles were being serviced and it was full of activity, even walking through the building they went unnoticed. They came to a hell truck, as they were nicknamed, that was parked, the giant yellow beast with its huge six wheels was quite a machine. Mining explosives were being loaded onto the back and were being secured. Tak had a look at the explosives and knew that’s exactly what he needed, but as to how he would get them was the problem. They walked around the truck examining it, studying its armour and mechanics and any possible weak points. It had cameras all around which enabled the driver a view of their surroundings. The armour seemed to be thick, as well as the tires. The glass looked like standard stuff but it could be bulletproof. They had gained enough information and decided to head back to the Samson which awaited them. When they arrived back at the shacks Dr. Eileen and the others were still linked. They sat down at Tak’s desk and tried to come up with a plan.

“Well this is going to be ****en hard.” said Tak as he had no ideas how this was going to get done.
“Alright, let’s first try and think of how we get the stuff from the truck. We know one guy drives it, we know he has a view of all around him so he’ll see us coming.”
“And I’m sure security’s pretty tight, they’ll most likely have men and AMPs escorting them to and from the mines.”
“Ok but let’s just focus on how we offload the stuff. We saw they’re strapped down, and you saw how big that thing is, the tray’s gotta be at least 14 feet from the ground. I don’t think throwing it off the back’s going to be a possibility. But let’s say we manage to get hold of the stuff, how do we carry it back to wherever we’re going to keep it?”
“We’ll use the direhorses, strap it onto them and carry it back to near hometree. We’ll bury them and keep it for later use.”
“Sounds possible, now how do we find out which trucks carry the explosives?”
The both of them went silent as they tried to think of an idea and for a while nothing came to mind, but Tak soon realized something.
“….You’re probably authorised to go down to the mines, you’re military personal right?”
“Yeah go on.”
“Can’t you get yourself a shift down at the mines for a day or so? They take you there by air so you’ll get a good look at how the ****’s transported along with all the security. Maybe you can even find out how to work the explosives.”
“That could work, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll get on the list. And someone has to come here, so it’ll pretty much be an exchange. I don’t think anyone wants to sit here for a day.”
“Come on Alan, you know and I know how casual those ****ers are. They won’t care, just explain it to them in a convincing way. Say you’re sick of baby sitting and you want out for a day.”
“You think they’ll buy it?”
“Sure, and if you mention there’s a hot piece of *** named Lynda Isaac waiting for them they’ll be here in no time.”
“**** you *******…… alright I’ll give it a shot tomorrow.”

The next morning Alan went to the FEBA base with Tak to see if he could get himself on the role to go to the mines. Tak went off to the shooting range to get more minutes for his weapons training. He was getting pretty good with rifles but still needed practice with pistols. If he ever wanted to put those 50 cal pistols to good use he would need more training. Once he was done we walked out and Alan was waiting for him.
“You get it done?”
“Yeah, just. I wasn’t sounding too convincing at the start but, I took your suggestion of mentioning Lynda and it actually worked.”
“Oh wow, it did? Well that’s too bad, she’s gonna get raped.”
“Hey **** you that ****’s not funny.”
“Relax I’m joking. So when are you going?”
“Tomorrow actually, I have to be back here tonight because we leave early in the morning.”
The two returned to the shacks feeling good that things were going as planned. That afternoon Tak went out for his run in the forest with Zetey while Dr. Eileen took Dr. Brent and Dale for a long hike in their Avatars. Tak had been getting more than enough exercise in his Avatar but the others weren’t. The amount of walking they did for their research was nothing compared to what Tak would do in a day. Dr. Eileen decided to take the two to a valley she knew of which had a beautiful view of one of the rivers meandering its way through the forest covered landscape. With everyone “gone” Alan and Dr. Isaac wasted no time making the most of this rare occasion of alone time. While taking off their clothes they kissed and made their way onto Alan’s bed and quickly got themselves in the sheets. It was quite warm inside the shack and soon they were getting sweaty. After an hour of hot and sweaty but passionate sex they laid in bed, Dr. Isaac resting her head on her man’s chest.
“I have to leave later.”
“Why?”
“I’m on the role for a shift down at the mines tomorrow, chopper leaves early in the morning so I have to stay the night at the base.”
“But I don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t want to go either, but it’s only going to be for one day.”
“So is someone going to replace you for tomorrow?”
“Yeah, someone will be here.”
“Uh, I hate those *******s. You know how many times I’ve been stared at and hit on? I’m so sick of it.”
“Well, you didn’t seem to mind me.”
“That’s because you constantly weren’t trying to get into my pants. You’re different.”
“Hmm, that’s nice to know. Just don’t pay him any attention and he’ll leave you alone.”
“Of course I won’t, I’ve got everything I want right here.”

It was an early wake up for Alan but he managed to get himself ready for a long day down at the mine. With his gear on and his rifle in his hand he got onto the Samson with the other security guards and took off. On the way he could see a never ending landscape of green with some very large trees sticking out the canopy. As they flew a group of Tetrapterons flew beside them. They were magnificent looking creatures with their beautiful shades of blue and purple, their sleek body and ferocious looking head. Alan was watching them gracefully from his seat until he heard gunfire and watched as some of the Tetrapterons were opened up with bullet holes and fell to their death. Some of the men decided it would be fun to shoot them down, a moving target is always fun, especially if it doesn’t fight back. He looked over to the men who were laughing and cheering, impressed with themselves at their pathetic attempt of trying to prove themselves as tough guys, then looked back into the open. Soon they were flying over the track which went from the mine to Hell’s Gate. Below Alan could see a few hell trucks making their way to the mine but none of them appeared to have a load in the back. The Samson touched down and the men hopped off, making their way straight to the command centre. Inside was where all the logistics took place, people making sure Unobtanium was being mined and delivered on schedule. The main room had a large glass screen with a timetable showing what would be arriving or leaving at what time. Alan only got a glimpse as he had to be elsewhere but he knew this was the place to come and have a look. Since it was his first day he had to be briefed on what went on at the mine and what his responsibilities were. A very quick explanation by the commander and he was ready to get out there although it was all quite a bit to take in at once but to sum it up, just keep yourself and others around you alive. Alan stepped out into the open. There was no grass, just dirt. He made his way along the perimeter of the mine to where he had been told to go. As he walked along the fence he looked down into the giant hole that was been carved into the earth. A massive excavator was scraping the walls of the hole and with every rotation of the giant rotor, thousands of tons of soil were been taken out. There was no one near his area so it was a pointless job. Looking into the forest which stopped just before the fence he could see a few stingbats hanging upside down from the tree branches, observing as these skypeople destroyed their world. If it was any other person they would’ve killed them all in an instant but Alan just watched them. It was turning out to be the most boring day on Pandora yet and seemed like an eternity for his break to arrive. He knew what he had to do so he made his way into the logistics room. Pretending to just look around, he did his best to mind his own business. No one seemed to care for his presence, the people just sat at their desks continuing with their boring work or did something else to kill time. He had a look at the timetable and scanned across, one row after another to see if there would be any explosives coming in. Truck 6 was due to arrive in two days at 10:45am, perfect. He found out what he needed and left the room.

The sun was setting and after a long day Alan’s shift was finally over, never did he want to do that again. He entered the shack and went straight to his bed. Dropping his rifle and exopack on the floor, he fell onto the mattress. It felt so good to finally lie down after a whole day of walking around for hours. Dr. Isaac came in and sat down next to him.
“So how was it?”
“It was ****, the most boring thing I’ve done here. I’m never doing that again.”
“Hahaha, well I’m glad you’re back.”
“How’s my replacement been treating you?”
“Uh, he’s ****ing retarded. I’ve made it so clear to him that I’m not interested but he just doesn’t get it.”
“Well it’s time for him to go, I’ll go tell him.”
Alan got up and told the man it was time for him to leave. When it was time for dinner they all gathered and asked Alan what his day at the mine was like. Tak was at his desk finishing off some final data inputting. Dr. Eileen called him to the table as they had made dinner using the lab equipment they had, nothing like a home cooked meal with Bunsen burners, beakers and gauze mats.
“Tak aren’t you hungry? It’s really nice.”
“Yeah…I’ll be there…..just need to finish this first…..done.”
Tak saved his work, turned the computer off and took a seat.
“What’s this?”
“It’s some Yerik meat, some vegies and gravy. We got given from the other day.”
Tak was starving and he dug into his meal. It tasted unbelievably delicious. It was just like a steak back on earth but with no fat around the edges and it was perfectly medium rare, just how he liked it. The topic changed from Alan’s day to how they should cook more instead of eating the fake **** that sat in the fridge. After dinner Alan shared everything he found out with Tak. Dr. Eileen never knew what they were discussing together in private but she thought it was either guns or girls, typical guy stuff.
“We might be able to pull this off pretty easily, the track’s just a clearing through the forest so we could easily ambush the truck. There’s no security escorting the trucks to and from the mines and the trucks are very far apart.”
“In that case, I say we jack those mother****ers.”
“Yeah, I wish it was that easy too, but if there’s any disturbance HQ will know instantly and they’ll send support. We need to keep the truck moving so they think nothing’s going on. What we can do is get onto the back and offload the stuff. You can get one of your friends to fly you in from above and once you’re on just throw it down to us, the explosives are just packs of plastique strapped to a detonator so they won't explode if you throw them. There’s also a guy who watches the payload so you’ll have to take him out cos there’s no way he won’t notice you. Just get as many as possible and we get out of there.”
“Sounds good, so when’s this happening?”
“Two more days, a truck’s meant to arrive at the mine at 10:45 so we should be at the waiting point by 10.”
“10am it is….. I think for this one you should just stay here.”
“Why? You still don’t think I’m cut out for this stuff?”
“No no, I just need you to stay here. I don’t want anyone getting suspicious as to why we’re both gone all the time. Don’t worry I know what to do, get on truck, offload stuff, get the **** out of there.”
“….Alright, I’ll stay. But you can’t **** this up.”

The day came and everyone was ready. Tak had informed Tsuwokan of the operation who then decided to ask the help of his ally. No tawtute blood would be spilled for this job but if it was going to help in defeating the skypeople then he was up for it. The nameless Na’vi leader called some of his brothers and sisters and they waited in position. Tsuwokan and Tak were looking for the truck from above. As Alan said there was one approaching the waiting point a little after 10am. They began their descent and Tak got ready to jump off. With his mask on and dirt covering parts of his face and arms he was ready to get the job done. Tsuwokan flew his banshee to the rear of the truck and as he approached it he slowed down. Tak jumped off and landed on the back. Tsuwokan quickly took off and kept watch from high above. The second operator saw one of the blue savages had landed on the back. He notified the driver and got out of the cabin to check it out. With his pistol loaded he cautiously looked around the corners of the blocks of explosives. Tak wasn’t aware that he had been spotted so he started cutting the straps off. As he was about to pull out a plastique he was interrupted. “Hey! What the **** are you doing?!” he yelled with his pistol aimed at Tak. It was a risky move but Tak decided act quick and disarm him. He grabbed the pistol and tried to point it away but the man quickly reacted and pulled the trigger. The bullet went into Tak’s torso, just below his chest, but it was only after he took the gun away that the pain kicked in. He ignored the sting of the bullet and threw the gun away, then picked the man up by the back of his shirt and threw him off the back. The man hit the ground and rolled, then moved slightly as if he’d just got the **** kicked out of him. He looked to his left to see the Na’vi following with their horses. He signalled them to come out and he began dropping off the packs of plastique. Two horse riders hopped off and threw the explosives into sacs as they hit the ground while the others kept an eye out for enemies with their loaded bows. When the sacs were full they returned into the forest and the Na’vi leader nodded to Tak to tell him he did a good job. Tak looked up and waved to Tsuwokan to come and pick him up. Tsuwokan manoeuvred his Ikran carefully onto the back of the truck and Tak got on. Just as they were about to take off the truck driver looked behind him, wondering why his assistant hadn’t returned, to see a huge banshee taking off with two of the blue savages riding on it. He knew something was wrong but it was too late. As they headed back to meet up with their accomplices Tsuwokan noticed Tak’s injury.
“You are hurt!”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
“We can help you when we return.”
“It’s nothing, I’ll just have to wash my singlet, explain the bullet hole and hide my wound.”

Chapter 25

It was extremely quiet and the smell of smoke filled the air. The usual blue sky was a dull and lifeless dark grey and the forest was dead. There were no animals to be seen, not even the small creatures which dwelled on the forest floor or the trees. Tak had a feeling that something was very wrong. It was hot and he was sweating alot. He continued to walk through the deserted forest, only able to hear his footsteps. His vision was limited by the smoke and every step he took slowly revealed what was around him. An extremely foul smell suddenly hit him but he couldn’t see anything. He continued and saw what looked like a blue figure on the ground. He stopped and stared at it, then around him in suspicion. Something definitely wasn’t right. Walking closer to the blue figure revealed more of them. He was finally close enough to identify what were dead Na’vi covering the ground. Their bodies had been disfigured in some way and were covered in blood and dirt. As he walked through this tomb of the mutilated he filled with anger, hatred and rage. There were adults and children, even babies, with gunshots, cuts, dismembered limbs, severed heads, bodies burnt to the crisp and some exposing internal organs. Tak spotted a child who was facing down and for some reason decided to kneel down, turn him over and look at his face. When he saw the boy he felt a pulse of anger run through his body. He was holding the dead body of Tsanten in his arms. He was going to find who was responsible for this massacre and make them suffer. Unable to do anything else, he slowly lowered his dead friend to lay on the ground. He got back up and walked around. As he asked to himself what the **** had happened here, he found another body but this time he feared he knew who it was. An adult with their braids tied in a bunch. He went to the body, kneeled down again and turned it to face him. It was Zetey looking right at him with lifeless eyes open, blood from her mouth and multiple gunshots. Tak closed his eyes and turned away. He gripped tight of her body with his hands and arms drenched in blood as he tried to keep his composure but it was too much. He looked up at the grey sky and yelled at the top of his lungs, letting out the immense anger that filled him. It began to rain heavily with thunder roaring down. Tak looked at his friend one more time, her eyes were gold and beautiful but it only fed his hunger for revenge. Holding her, he looked at the sky again. A jolt of lightning crackled powerfully and blinded him. That’s when he woke up in his bed, his heart racing and his face and back covered in sweat. He took deep breaths to try and calm down. Maybe his drug habit had transferred his hallucinations into nightmares. Wiping his face, he tried to go back to sleep.

Tak was about to go fishing with Zetey one afternoon when Tsuwokan unexpectedly interrupted and told he had to come with him. Tak didn’t want to go, nor did he know what this was about but Tsuwokan never took him away so it must’ve been important. He went to Zetey to explain this unfortunate incident.
“Sorry but I can’t hang out with you today, something came up and I have to go.... like, now... so yeah...”
“Is something wrong?”
“No no, nothing really, I just need to, uh... just go help out with something.... I think. I’ll try to finish as soon as possible and I’ll come right back, I promise.”
Zetey was disappointed but she let it go, it’s not like this was going to happen all the time. With a smile she nodded a goodbye and went on her own. Tak knew where to find her if he was to return. Tsuwokan began walking out of the village and Tak followed. They made their way through the forest which looked the same from any direction if you didn’t know your way around and in this case Tak didn’t know where they were going.
“So what the **** is it that’s so important that you had to drag me away from my awesome fishing trip.”
“Uhh, you still speak words I do not understand.”
Tak closed his eyes and sighed. It was like a face palm without putting face to palm. “What are we doing?”
“He wants to speak to you.”
“Who?”
“He...”
It took a while for Tak to figure out who this was but eventually he got it “Oh him, right.”
They eventually arrived at the place which Tak recognized, the many huts which were setup around a central open space deep in the forest. There was smoke coming from the fire place with some of the clan members gathered around. As the two entered the village they were looked upon and the leaser approached them. With a nod to greet them, he walked with them to the fire.
“My brothers, would you like to join us?”
Tsuwokan wasn’t interested so he declined the offer but Tak was starving, his stomach had been grumbling since he had woken up in the tent. He nodded and went to sit down with the others. Roasting over the fire were human limbs, the skin slowly melting away as the flesh underneath cooked. The leader handed him a forearm with the hand still intact. The fingers were charred and the skin was moist with blood and juices which oozed out. Tak took his meal by the stick which was stabbed through the bottom and spun it around while looking at it. It was just like the giant slabs of meat which roasted in the kebab stores back on earth, but not as appetising. Still, it was better than nothing so without hesitation he bit into the arm and ate away. He was so hungry that he disregarded the taste and ate like a savage beast that had just killed its prey and was feasting like there was no tomorrow, and in doing so the savage beast within him was slowly coming out. He devoured the arm of its meat and dropped the bone on the ground. He saw that no one else was helping themselves to what remained so he took half a leg and began eating. The Na’vi leader was impressed and smiled.
“What do you want to talk to me about?” asked Tak as he ate.
“I thought I was a good leader, but it seems that there is someone better than me. You know the skypeople better than any of us, after all you are one of them. I want you to lead the attack on them. We have the stuff and we have prepared ourselves, now we are waiting for your word.”
“It does not work like that.”
“Why?”
“If you attack now then you will be starting a war you cannot finish, you will also be putting others in danger, others who are not part of your clan. Attacking first is more than enough of an excuse for them to kill you all so you must be patient. Wait for them to strike first, then your revenge will seem understandable. It is a risk we must take.”
“What if that does not work?”
“It will work.”

Days past and nothing happened. Tak would wake up every morning hoping the team would receive a report of Na’vi murders but the mercs didn’t step out of line. He was also still regularly having horrid dreams which he would always wake up from early in the morning which was just before he would get enough sleep but just after there was enough time for him to get enough rest. When this happened he would feel tired during the day, unable to fully concentrate on what he had to do. Daily life was becoming a drag and he wanted it to end but everyday he would grind his way through. Getting into his Avatar was now the easy part of the day since he would feel refreshed and was ready to get out and do stuff. All those days running through the forest with Zetey were showing through as he could now keep up with her a lot easier. He was also getting to know the place very well and at the same time getting up and close with a lot of the plants and animals. Every day was like a field trip with the greatest teacher any student could ask for who would let them go anywhere and see, even touch, anything they wanted to. Dr. Eileen had also been spending time with Tsuwokan, picking up where they had last stopped with the English lessons. She couldn’t tell if he was enjoying their time together but one thing was for sure, he was a good student, patient and always willing to learn. Even though he never smiled or showed signs of having fun, he was determined and never gave up and that’s why he was her favourite student ever since day one. Tak was practicing his scales and sweep picking one night when Dr. Eileen had some exciting news for him.

“Watcha doin there guitar master?”
“Uuh... not much.”
“So, I just talked with Dr. Augustine, and since we’re the only ones out here she wants me to do some field work for her and I was wondering if you would like to come along.” she said sounding very cheerful.
“What is it?”
“We’re going to follow the river past the FEBA base which will take us to a direhorse grazing site. Grace wants me to do a population count and record some stuff, I guess she’s concerned because the wildlife in that area hasn’t been checked on in a while. It’s a hot spot for those ass holes to go hunting in.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah and you know what, it’s actually near where the Tipikaya are so if we’re lucky we might meet a few of them. Well I’ve never actually got to know them so they may not be so friendly, I mean we don’t want a repeat of what...happened to you and...”
It went silent for a bit until Dr. Eileen thought of something to say.
“Well anyway it would be great if you came along, it’s always safer to go with someone rather than yourself.”
“....when?”
“Oh, could be anytime, even tomorrow.”
“.....alright.”
“Great! Then we’ll go tomorrow.”

Morning finally came and Dr. Eileen got up to get ready. Even before her breakfast which included a coffee she was fully awake and couldn’t wait to get out there. She went over to Tak and woke him up as well although it was a bit early. He ignored her the first few times until she ripped off his bed blanket and got right in his ear to tell him “WAKE UP”. By the time he was ready to go everyone had also woken up and the links were running. Tak went to his which was next to his desk and lied down. When he woke up he could still taste yesterday’s meal in his mouth. The meaty taste and some of the muscle fibres still stuck in between his teeth. He removed them with his fingers and spat it out. After packing their backpacks the two of them headed off and on the way Dr. Eileen talked about the direhorses of the area they were going to. They decided to stick to the side which was opposite the base as they didn’t want to attract any attention from the mercs as they walked past. Although they couldn’t be harmed as members of the AVTR program, there was always the possibility that they would be “mistaken for one of them”. They reached the FEBA base and luckily their side still retained the rich forest. As they walked past it Tak examined it. He had never seen it from this side of the river and couldn’t help but to think how misplaced it looked, it was as if it was just dropped from above. They continued their way when they could hear the sound of engines roaring towards them. They hid behind some plants and watched from cover as the sound got louder. Three Gators came roaring down the river loaded with armed men. Dr. Eileen didn’t like the looks of this. She began to lose her composure.
“What the **** are they doing here?” she said in an aggressive tone.
“Hopefully not what I’m thinking.”
“****ing heartless bastards..... I don’t feel like going anymore.”
“What, so you just want to go back?”
“What’s the point?! They’re probably all dead!”
“You don’t know that, let’s just go see for ourselves.”
They both agreed to continue ahead. Dr. Eileen dreaded that her direhorses had been massacred and were now lying dead in a field of blood. For the rest of the walk she was silent. When they reached the field there were no direhorses in sight. Dr. Eileen’s heart sank but she decided to search the area just to be sure. Tak went into the growth of trees to find a few licking nectar out of pitcher plants. He observed them as they enjoyed the sweet golden syrup, seeming fine with his presence. One looked at him for a while resuming its business. Dr. Eileen found Tak with the direhorses and was relieved that they were unharmed.
“Oh, thank god they’re ok. I was really worried they’d been killed.”
“I guess they were just staying out of the sun, it’s pretty hot today.”
“Yeah, well then more of them are probably doing the same. We should look around here. I’ll just add these guys to the count.”
She took out her clipboard and put them on the count and proceeded to write down some points. They looked healthy and showed no signs of tawtute inflicted injuries. After recording enough information the two moved on in search for more direhorses. They moved deeper into the forest and found a large group of them resting within a field of beautiful plants. They were surrounded by flowers and larger plants with all their lush and vibrant colours, standing out in a background composed of many shades of green and brown. Beams of light would shoot through pockets in the canopy and light up patches on the ground. Tak was overwhelmed by how beautiful and peaceful this place was. One plant which got Tak’s attention was the Chalice, a very large pitcher plant which has a pink opening and lid with a purple tube. The sweet smell of its nectar was strong and irresistible to some creatures which would be drawn to it and fall into the opening, unable to get out and slowly be digested by the enzymes in the nectar. Dr. Eileen counted the direhorses while Tak went around checking their outside for injuries, then both went around measuring them and distinguishing whether they were males or females. By looking for certain characteristics they could also tell which were foals and which were adults. After their job was done they sat down amongst the direhorses and relaxed, looking at the natural beauty that surrounded them. They began discussing the habitat and eventually got to talking about the Pa’li’s love for the nectar.
“It’s really sweet, trust me you’ll love it” she said, and so Tak dipped his finger in a pitcher plants and licked the nectar. It was beautiful and he couldn’t resist but to try more. Soon his mouth and fingers were covered in the stuff and a nearby horse smelt the scent off his face and began licking him.
“Hey stop! Bad horse! Get away, stop licking me!”
“Ahahahahaha! He likes you.”
It was always nice to get out of the lab and immerse themselves into Pandora but after all they were here to do a job, not to mention for head scientist Dr. Augustine, so they didn’t spend too much time sitting down. They decided to travel across the grass field and follow the river which would lead them into the Tipikaya’s hunting grounds. It was amazing how much the landscape changed during their journey. From the FEBA to here, the ground would steadily elevate into small hills with some rocks and eventually become tall cliffs covered in moss and vines. In the distance Tak could see a green valley with rocky cliffs sticking out and looking up in the sky were colonies of floating mountains. The blue sky with some clouds added the finishing touch for what was the perfect shot. Too bad he didn’t bring the camera because this was priceless. As he took in the amazing view a small smile was forming on his face. Dr. Eileen caught him in one of his rare moments where he was actually happy.
“You like this place?”
“I love it.”
“It’s amazing isn’t it? Some people just don’t know what they’re missing out on.... My love for this world will never end.”
“Yeah, and I guess mine’s just getting started.”
“Sure is, there’s so much more.”
“Like the floating mountains up there?”
“Yep, those truly are magnificent. Maybe one day you’ll get to go up there and see for yourself just how amazing they are, not to mention the view you get.”

They entered the forest again and searched for more Pa’li but none were in sight. The growth of plants was quite thick and they were doubting whether the horses would come this far but still they searched the area. With the numbers they had counted Dr. Augustine would be disappointed so they continued their search.
“So far we’ve got 28, I really was hoping to find more because this place is so perfect for the Pa’li. Some of them must’ve migrated to somewhere else.”
“Yeah, or maybe those dick heads scared them away.”
“It’s such a shame. God I hate those dicks, I want to punch them in their ****ing faces. Especially that guy that wanted to fight you in the cafeteria, remember?”
“Ofcourse, what’s his name?”
“Terry, Rolfe Terry. I know because he once accompanied me and some other Avatars. We were doing some field work when some Tetrapterons woke up from the branches above. He and his gang killed them all because he said they became hostile. I’ll never forget that son of a bitch.”
They were aimlessly walking around and came to a wall of vines and roots. Thinking it was another dead end they decided to turn back when Dr. Eileen heard a faint sound.

“You hear that?”
“.....Yeah, sounds like someone’s crying.”
They broke their way through only to find a horrific site, a group of Na’vi had been killed. This was no accident or natural death, this was a massacre and the bullet holes in the bodies said so. Dr. Eileen looked in horror and shock as tears slowly built up but she was unable to say anything. Her heart was pounding and she was trembling. In the middle of it all was a young Na’vi girl crying as she held in her arms another dead girl. Her tears fell onto her dead friend and mixed with the blood. Dr. Eileen felt immense agony but Tak only felt anger, the type of anger which drives you over the edge and makes you want to kill, and with that he knew who to kill. All he had to do to be exact was to find out who was on the three boats that passed him along the river. Unable to do anything he decided to return with Dr. Eileen. He held her by the shoulders and gently pulled her away.
“There’s nothing we can do now, let’s just go back.”
When they woke up in the shacks Dr. Eileen’s emotionless face soon turned into one of anger and sadness. Her crying was unexplainable to the others but it wasn’t a good sign. Dr. Brent comforted her while asking what happened but once she had calmed down she ignored his question and went straight to her desk to try and establish a video conversation with Colonel Hilton. He appeared on her screen and despite how she felt, her anger was too much and she didn’t know what to say.
“Dr. are you alright? Is something wrong?”
“You’re goddamn ****ing right something’s wrong. What did they do this time? Tell me! Tell right ****ing now!”
“If you don’t calm down then I’m just going to end this, it’s your call.”
She took a few deep breaths and regained her composure before continuing.
“....I just got back from doing some field work and what I saw was definitely no accident. A whole group of Na’vi shot dead and you’re telling me to calm down, I’ll calm down after you tell me what your reasons for that were!”
“I never gave any orders for such actions! Do not be so quick to start pointing fingers!”
“Bull**** Hilton! Your pets won’t make a move unless you order them to, I know because I saw three boats loaded with men returning to the FEBA base as I was heading there so don’t bull**** me!”
Colonel Hilton put his face in his hands as his day had just got a lot ****tier. When it seemed like it was going to be just another average day someone accuses him of ordering a massacre on the natives which he knows absolutely nothing about. He wasn’t going to deal with this over a video conversation because that always resulted in a never ending argument.
“.......I’m sending a pilot to pick you up. You and anyone else who was with you comes.”
And with that he ended the conversation.

The sun was setting and the sky filled with orange. As Dr. Eileen watched Alpha Centuri A sink into the horizon the sickening feeling she felt when she saw the horror earlier in the day returned as she couldn’t get it off her mind. For the whole trip the both of them were silent. When they landed at Hell’s Gate they went to the Colonel’s office in the control tower to see the Colonel sitting at his desk with Sergeant Terry standing in front of the desk, they wondered why he was here.
“Finally, you’re here. Now we can begin discussing this matter. So Dr. why don’t you begin with what happened?”
“Why is he here?”
“Well Sergeant Terry here was one of the few who went up the river. I’ve brought him here as I would like to hear both sides of the story.”
Dr. Eileen frowned then slowly snarled at him as her breathing got heavier.
“You....you mother****er, you mother****er! You mother****er! I’ll ****ing kill you, I’ll ****ing kill you you son of a bitch!” she yelled as she had lost all control of her emotions and lunged at him, throwing a punch and striking him in the face. She grabbed onto him and hit him as hard as she could while he tried to defend himself. Tak just stood and watched, he wasn’t going to do **** to stop this, so Colonel Hilton had to jump from behind his desk and restrain her. He held on to her tight and she eventually calmed down and dropped to the floor crying. Security came rushing in and she was taken to the holding cell. Hilton sat back down while Terry wiped the blood from his nose.
“Next time don’t hesitate to restrain your colleagues, now where were we..... tell me exactly what happened.”
“Well, me and doc were on our way to do some field work s asked by Dr. Augustine, and as we were walking along the river we heard boats approaching so we hid behind some plants and-“
“Why did you do that?”
“...because these retards are too ****ing stupid to tell as apart from the natives, we probably would’ve been shot at.”
“Go on.”
“...We see three boats loaded with armed men heading back to base, and knowing you people have a history of killing the wildlife for fun, we thought the direhorses we were meant to observe might have been killed.”
“And you’re certain that they were armed?”
“Yeah, I’m certain.”
“Ok, continue.”
“So we get to the site and we find the direhorses unharmed, and after we finish there we decide to go to another place. We enter the forest and hear a faint sound of someone crying. We get closer to the sound, and we see a group of Na’vi all shot dead.”
“....Is that all?......Alright, sergeant, care to explain what happened? There’s no doubt that you were there, I have confirmed reports that three boats were taken and you were on one of them.”
“Yeah, we took three gators up there.”
“What were you doing there?”
“The motors had just been fixed so we decided to take em’ for a run.”
“And why were there so many of you?”
“They got to be able to function with a full load.”
“.....Go on.”
“So we continue up and see a group of them, a uh, hunting party perhaps. They were armed so we got ready to bring the pain.”
“....Did you shoot first?”
“No sir, we were engaged. We were sitting ducks out there so we had to return fire.”
“Why didn’t you just retreat?”
“Well sir, you can’t turn those boats around in an instance.”
Hilton did his best to take everything into consideration to make it fair as possible. He was having difficulty believing Terry’s story but the lack of evidence wasn’t enough to punish him. He sighed and rubbed his face as he was getting tired.
“....Alright sergeant, I’ve heard enough. I’ll be further discussing this another time but for now you’re dismissed.”
Terry gave Tak a smirk before leaving. Tak could’ve killed him with his bare hands on the spot but he didn’t react. He remained where he was stood.
“I understand how you must feel about this, but I’ve done my best to listen to both sides and there’s nothing more I can do. I’m sorry, but in the end my job is to keep people safe, and if that means dismissing the death of a few natives for the sake of not starting a war then so be it. If I could discuss some sort of deal or treaty with them I would, I really would.”
Now Tak gave Hilton a smirk.
“It’s too late, the 11th hour’s passed.”

Tak and Dr. Eileen returned early the next morning after a night at Hell’s Gate and as soon as they got there Tak sat down on his bed. Alan came, wanting to know what had happened but Tak wasn’t going to talk with the others gathered so Alan asked the others to leave.
“Hey what happened? Did they find who did it?”
“.....We do this now, and you’re coming with me.”
“.....Ok, ok.”
“Get some casual clothes, a hat and the security pass. Meet me outside.”
He went to his link and into his Avatar. The others thought it was just his introvert way of dealing with the situation, escaping for a few hours of alone time, but he had other plans. Alan explained to them that it was protocol for all non military personal to be escorted at all times. Tak found Tsuwokan at hometree and without explaining told him that it was going to happen. Without gathering his two best warriors he followed Tak out and they got weapons from the secret stash. With the 50 cal. Hydra in his hands, the grenade launcher around his shoulder, his pockets filled with grenades and his war mask on they moved out. On their way Tak explained things to tsuwokan and once they reached their secret allies and explained to them that now was time for war, a small army was quickly formed. The explosives were loaded onto direhorses and they moved out. This was alot for Alan to take in as he hadn’t been introduced to Tak’s new friends. They all stopped before entering the open. Alan got changed into his casual clothes.

“Go in and do your best to disable the turrets and open the gate if possible. Just try to figure it out and once you do, stay there. Keep your head down and don’t attract attention. No eye contact, and keep your hat down.”
“What if I can’t?”
“I’ll open it myself.”
Alan understood what to do. He made his way to the control room. With every step inside the building his heart pounded as he did his best to not crumble under the intense pressure. Although there was hardly anyone walking the corridors it felt like everywhere eyes watched him. Meanwhile Tak was preparing the explosives, opening the packs of explosives and stuffing a grenade into the packs then setting the timer to eight seconds. As he explained the plan the warriors gathered.
“When I give the sign you will place these around the place, I will tell you where. Once you do you pull this out. After you pull it out you do not have much time before it explodes, so run as far away as you can. We will kill all the skypeople first then place these around the place. You saw my friend, do not attack him.”
And so they waited for Alan to do his part who was now entering the control room. There weren’t many people and a few looked at him they weren’t concerned. He sat down at an unused computer and looked at the security pass, entered the name and the password. It took a while but the account was still active. He proceeded to figuring out how to disable the defence system. He had actually done a little bit of this sort of stuff back on earth when he was part of a number of missions which required infiltrating bases and shutting down the defences but this was trickier. The war party waited patiently, watching the turrets scan the open, then suddenly they stopped and the gate opened. They charged in and killed anyone they saw. Soon the base was on alert and all military personnel were outside, outnumbered and unable to put up a good fight. Tak blew open the entrance to the main building with the grenade launcher and the Pandoran air poured in. The people inside panicked and were running around so Alan took this opportunity to blend in and make his escape. Tak saw him run out the other gate but no one else followed so he had decided to bring the place down with the people inside, it would save time and ammo. There wasn’t much to take cover behind and some of the Na’vi had suffered wounds but kept fighting. Tak went to another exit and waited for it to open. As soon as it did, mercs came out and he wasted them with the uranium tipped rounds which shredded them to pieces. The rounds went through a whole squad and they fell like dominos in the doorway. Once the fighting stopped he signalled for the explosives and they were soon brought out. As he waited he looked around to see slain bodies around the base with arrows sticking out and severed limbs and heads. Some had been gutted with entrails left hanging out. Whether they were armed or not, they were to all die. Tak was handed an explosive which he detonated and threw into the main entrance. He ran to the middle of the base and watched as it exploded and from inside, the whole building collapsed. Glass from the control tower exploded and smoke and dust blew out. Tak then told others to take out the hanger and the medical centre. The explosives were placed on the fuel tanks and the explosion was the largest and loudest any Na’vi had witnessed. The medical centre was last to go, but there was still work to do. Tak got a group to help him push the boats onto land. They pushed them into the base and once they were lined up, Tak dumped an explosive on them. The same was done with the SWANs and with a final explosion it was finally over. After years of bloodshed the FEBA had finally been taken back, and justice for all who had suffered. Tak held his gun high and his war party yelled in victory. The atmosphere was one like never before, it felt like they’re voices moved the skies above them and echoed throughout Pandora, letting the skypeople know their time was coming to an end. Alan got chills down his spine. He got changed and they all left and returned to their separate homes. When Tak awoke he laid in the link and took in what he had just accomplished. A major victory indeed, but what this would lead to he didn’t know. As Alan came through the door Dr. Isaac rushed to him.
“Oh thank god you’re ok. I was so worried.”
“I’m ok, I’m fine.”
“It was getting late and then we heard explosions in the distance. What happened?”
“I don’t know but we heard them to.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe.”
With no one watching they shared a kiss and held each other for a while.

That night it was Dr. Eileen who had been quiet. She had barely talked for the whole day and had been drinking heavily to try and get rid of the horrific images in her head. With a bottle of whiskey she stumbled to the bath room and fell next to the toilet. She leaned over the seat and closed her eyes. The images of the dead Na’vi shot dead and covered in blood made her sick to her stomach and she threw up. It was late and it had been a long day. Dr. Dale and Brent decided to go to sleep. Dr. Isaac then sat down on Alan’s lap and they hugged. Seeing Dr. Eileen look like absolute **** was unsettling and she didn’t like it. She was used to seeing a happy, bright and enthusiastic woman with a never ending smile, not a depressed drunk who tried to drink her problems away. With all this going on, Tak just sat at his desk thinking of the victory he shared with his brothers and sisters.

Soul
 

You mentioned early on that the protagonist has some strong similarities to you and I think the love resulting from this relationship really comes through in your writing.
Excellent work so far.

If you haven't already (and I really am as tired as I feel), try posting your story on Fanfiction (dot) net. For a story this well composed you should get at the very least a few responses/ critiques.

thank you very much :) 1 response is probably nothing to most authors but it's alot to me. i have posted this on fanfic.net and so far no replies but that doesn't discourage me, i'm going to finish this story. i also tried to make the main character not too much like me. some things i threw in of myself were love to draw, plays guitar, does judo (i wish i did karate as well) and not talkative to some people in real life. i read somewhere that basing characters on yourself is not good but i have no originality when it comes to writing so i thought.... why not myself :D but thankyou for your feedback, it's well appreciated :)

Chapter 26

Dr. Eileen woke up in her bed with a massive headache. The foul aftertaste of alcohol and vomit polluted her mouth and it felt yuck. She rubbed her eyes and her vision slowly cleared to see Tak walking through the doorway. He walked over and sat down on her bed next to her.
“....What happened last night?”
“You tried to finish that bottle of whiskey and then threw up in the toilet while crying so I held you up to the sink so you could wash your mouth out and then threw you into bed.”
“....I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry, you’ve been nice to me for the past two months so this was the least I could do.”
“What about the others? What are they up to?”
“Working, or at least pretending to work, bunch of lazy ****ers.”
Dr. Eileen smiled and patted his hand.
“Thanks for taking care of me.”
“Like I said, it’s nothing, but now it’s time you take care of them. They won’t get anything done unless you’re there so get up and have a shower, you look and smell like ****.”
Letting out a small laugh she slowly got up and walked to the shower. Tak went back to his desk to see the others still doing nothing but talking to each other. Some days it felt like he did absolutely everything and he was sick of it. Alan pulled up next to him in a chair.
“Well, now that everyone knows the FEBA base is gone and we haven’t been questioned over it I guess we can take time to relax.” said Tak as he stained a few samples with iodine.
“Yeah....I guess we can.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“....I can’t stop thinking of yesterday. I was disabling the turrets when one of them saw me, he tried to stop me and the others soon noticed. It just felt like something inside me took control and I killed them, all.”
“You did what you had to do.”
“You know I barely slept last night?”
“You can cry all you want about it but what’s been done has been done, so don’t be such a *****.”
“Easy for you to say, you don’t feel anything.....and I never knew you had so many friends, got yourself a little army.”
“You met them before, you forget?”
“I don’t remember there being that many of them, you’ve never actually properly introduced me to them.”
“Well now you know.”

Dr. Eileen was feeling better physically but she still had emotions trapped inside her and she needed to let them out. Her memories of the horror were still fresh and she wanted them gone but didn’t know what to do, she just wanted to cry. Being trapped in a shack didn’t help so she decided to escape for a while in her other body. As she walked through the peaceful forest which surrounded her she anticipated stumbling upon a dead animal or even a dead Na’vi and it was hell. She continuously looked around in paranoia, thinking the RDA was watching her. Extremely unsettled she stopped and sat down with her back against a tree, she had walked so far that she didn’t even know where she was. With her head in her hands she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind but it only made it worse. She could still see the blood covered bodies and hear the cry of the lone survivor. Tears began running down her face as she sat helpless, her emotions eating her away. All she could hear was her weeping. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stopped weeping and looked up to see Tsuwokan kneeling in front of her with a concerned look on his face. She felt calm for a little while and got up on her knees to slowly hug him and when he reached out to hug her she broke into tears again. She hugged him tightly, frightened and in complete disarray like a child who had lost their parent.
“I know what happened.” said Tsuwokan softly as he tried to calm her down.
“It was horrible, I can’t stop thinking about it.” Her voice was unsteady as her emotions took over.
“You are safe now.”
“But what about those who died? It’s too late for them, and what about their families? What if they get blamed for what happened yesterday?......There’s nothing I can do to bring them back.”
“It is not your fault.”
He was right, it wasn’t her fault, but it would be partly his if the wrong people ended up paying the price for his actions. He stood up and pulled Dr. Eileen up with him after she had settled down and wiped her tears.
“I must return, there are things to do.”
“.....Yeah, ok.”
With a smile and a gentle pat on her shoulder he picked up his bow and returned. Dr. Eileen had been his shoulder to cry on in the past and now he was returning the favour. She felt better and so she decided to return.
Back at the shack Tak was reading a message he had received from Yuki.

“Hi Tak, how are you? OMG did you hear about what happened at the FEBA? The military base was completely destroyed and everyone there was killed! They think explosives were used and suspect it wasn’t the Na’vi who planned it, everyone’s saying it’s that traitor. You’re not too far from there so you probably heard the explosion or saw the smoke. I just hope things between us and them don’t get out of control.

Anyway, you also probably know that RDA setup a new biochemical weapons department. They assigned a team of scientists to work at a new lab in the middle of nowhere and I was one of them, so lame. So here I am in this **** hole, trying to find new ways for people back on earth to kill each other. At least it’ll reduce the world population LOL. But this place is just dead. The vehicles have ripped out all the grass and now it’s just rocks and mud, no plants, just heavy machinery. The grass returns and there’s actually beautiful forest and water in the area but we can’t go there, we have to stay here. Oh yeah, next to our lab are a few barracks and we have to live with these dumbass military douches! I hate it, we all do. This isn’t what I came here to do! Well, at least you’re having an awesome time.

By the way I’ve got a Samson just for the science team and I can use it anytime so if you ever need anything airlifted or need to go somewhere just ask me, I’d love to get away from here sometime. Well, talk to you later. Kiyevame (as the Na’vi say hahaha)
Yuki”

Yesterday had been a bad day for the Colonel and he hoped today wouldn’t be worse. After finding out the RDA had lost control of a crucial area it was nothing but yelling and insults from Parker while under the pressure of trying to figure out what the hell he should do about the situation. It was humiliating to face his colleagues after this defeat but it was a wakeup call. The Colonel was no pacifist, sometimes he saw that war was the only way to end things and although he didn’t believe in unnecessary violence he did whatever had to be done to finish the job. But this time was different, the enemy had managed to seriously wound him and there was no way he could be found, nor was it clear when his next attack would be. Siding with the Na’vi was pretty much a home field advantage and knowing the RDA’s activities just made it easier. He sat at his desk and decided to have a drink, something he rarely did. With a drink in his hand he leaned back in his chair and thought about what to next. It took him a while but he eventually came to realize that in this case, violence solved nothing. Over the years he had learned that the Na’vi are a tough and stubborn race, willing to do anything to avenge the death of their brothers and sisters. Since day one of his time on Pandora it had been nonstop back and forth battles but ultimately he would be the one to make this decision. He called Dr. Augustine to his office.

“I’m busy so make this quick.” she said in an aggressive tone.
“.....You know, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make this decision.”
“Stop wasting my time.”
“About yesterday’s events, I just don’t know what else to do. All these years of constant wars and it finally took that to make me realize this isn’t doing anything.”
“What are you getting at?”
“....The Na’vi want a war, well I’m not going to give them one. I’ve lost too many people over the past years, way too many. It’s just not worth it. They expect me to strike back, well it’s not going to happen. My job is to keep people alive and I haven’t been doing that.”
“So what does this have to do with me?”
“....I never thought I would say this but, I need your help.”
“My help?”
“Yes, your help. I need you to make sure it stays this way.”
“And exactly how am I supposed to do that?”
“You and your team of Avatars is all we have to keep what little peace exists between us and them, I want that peace to grow and only you can make that happen.”
“Really? Then how about you stop mining this place, I’m sure they’d greatly appreciate that.”
“Doc, please be realistic with me. And besides, without the money coming in from the mining your Avatar program wouldn’t exist, ok? Now what I’m proposing is for you and your team to explain to the natives what I’m offering. Talk to their leaders, talk to everyone if possible, go anywhere you can. I want this to go as smoothly as possible so my men will be put under more strict orders, and I would like to put you in command. You see any of them step out of line, you report them. Take the gun out of their hands if necessary, I just want this to succeed.”
“......Alright, I’ll do it. But it’s not going to do much, and if any of your goons try anything funny, don’t come crying to me when they end up dead.”
“Thankyou Dr. Augustine, you may now leave.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, he poured himself another drink.

The next few days were busy as Dr. Eileen had recovered physically and mentally from her horrific experience and so she made sure everyone was doing their jobs. They had received the message from Dr. Augustine in regards to the major operation which was to be conducted by the Avatar program in efforts to try and restore peace and planned on carrying it out soon. With the major occupancy of the RDA gone in the area, getting out for work or leisure was a lot more enjoyable as they didn’t have to worry about running into unnecessary trouble. However when one problem ended, another one always seemed to arise. Over the months that Tak had been working with his group, he had come to learn not only of the poor productivity of his colleagues but their lack of respect for others’ property and workspace. He had been disregarding it but couldn’t take it anymore when one morning he returned to his desk to see all his cover slips gone and iodine spilt on his papers. He looked around to see Dr. Isaac examining a specimen through her microscope while chatting with Alan. He went to her and turned off the light to her microscope.
“Hey what are you doing?!”
“What the **** is this? And where the **** are all my cover slips?”
“Why don’t you just calm down?!”
“Why don’t you just not ****ing touch my stuff? And how about not spilling **** on my papers?”
Alan decided to step in and try to calm them both down.
“Hey hey let’s just settle d-“
“No Alan just shut the **** up because this doesn’t concern you. I’m ****ing sick of you stealing my **** and not cleaning up after the ****ing mess you make, it’s ****en bull****.”
“When have I ever stolen anything from you?! Tell me, tell me!”
“You always take my stuff and never return it, I always have to find it and clean it myself. My scalpel is always dirty, my probe is always dirty, my tweezers are always dirty, everything’s always ****en dirty because of you.”
“Yeah I borrowed it, I never stole it! And if you weren’t so ****ing impatient I would’ve cleaned it and returned it you *******!”
“Bitch just shut up before I kill you.”
“You wanna kill me? Do it! I dare you!”
Dr. Eileen had returned from exercising outside to hear arguing in the lab. As she walked through the doorway Tak grabbed a scalpel from Dr. Isaac’s desk and pressed her face against the wall, holding the scalpel to her face. Everyone lunged at him, trying to pull him away but Tak held the weapon tightly and refused to budge. Dr. Isaac wasn’t acting so tough now, Tak could see the fear in her eye as she breathed heavily.
“You’re really starting to ****en piss me off, I was really patient with you all but my patience has run out.”
Dr. Eileen gently put her hand on Tak’s weapon wielding arm and looked at him.
“Put it down Tak, no one needs to get hurt, ok?....We all get angry sometimes, it happens. But no one needs to get hurt, so just let her go, please?”
Her soft gentle voice managed to calm him down and he lowered the scalpel, dropping it on the table and letting Dr. Isaac go. She had pushed him over the edge because he had never used such force against a woman. He went to his bed while Dr. Eileen staid standing against the wall, still in shock. Tears of fear trickled down her face as Alan tried to comfort her. Dr. Eileen couldn’t believe this had happened and she wasn’t sure if Tak should continue working with her group. He was the best researcher she had but if things continued the way they were then someone would die. After an hour of thinking she contacted the new weapons development lab and had a chat with the person in charge.

Tak had his bag packed and was sitting on his bed, waiting for his ride to arrive.
“I’m sorry but I don’t know what else to do, I just think you need to leave here for a while. Don’t think I’m singling you out, I know your reasons for being mad and I’ll talk to them about that. But for now I just think it’s best for you to be separate from the others. You’ll still be able to use your Avatar since they have some mobile links there.”
When the Samson finally arrived Tak put on his exopack and headed out. As Dr. Eileen watched the Samson take off and fly out of the forest she hoped that he didn’t get into anymore trouble. Sitting next to Yuki in the cockpit he took off his mask and looked out the window as they flew over the landscape.
“So how come you’re moving in with us?”
“Because I threatened the stupid bitch I have to work with, my supervisor says I need to leave for a while.”
“Oh, why’d you do that?”
“She takes my instruments and never cleans them, she takes all my cover slips, she spills **** on my papers, she talks **** and she does nothing just like the others. Just a bunch of useless ****s.”
“Sounds like you don’t have the greatest bunch of people to work with.”
“No.... So where are we going anyway?”
“Just a place not too far from here. It’s on the edge of a huge lake but don’t get your hopes up, it’s a dump. It literally looks like a pile of ****.”
“Isn’t that’s nice.”
Eventually they could see the forest slowly disappearing across the land as they approached the site. Trees became grass and grass became dirt as they began their descent into the camp.
“Well this is it, welcome to sludge city.”

He looked below at the manmade site which seemed so out of place. The ground was brown and looked wet with not a single bit of green in sight. Heavy machinery lied around the place reminding him of the junkyards back on earth. Pipes supplying water looked like parasitic organisms feeding off lake, slowly sucking up the life from the area. The multiple parked vehicles along with the portable fuel cells and barracks reminded him of the FEBA base. The whole place just looked dead and was now inhabited by humans like maggots living off a rotting corpse. They landed on what was meant to be the helipad and got out. As Tak stepped off his feet landed in partly dry mud and with every footstep he could feel the squishy ground below him as he made his way to the lab. When he got to the top of the yellow staircase he looked at the view which really had nothing to offer, just a patch of land with water and a blue sky. He went inside and Yuki showed him his bed which he threw his bag on, then they went to the lab where Tak would be working for a while. Yuki introduced Tak to her colleagues but they weren’t very welcoming, just the way Tak preferred it. Tak was already getting a feeling that his time here was going to be long and boring, good thing there was a link for him. He decided to go and recalibrate it for his Avatar and showed Yuki some things in case her help was needed, she wasn’t a qualified supervisor but the basics weren’t too hard to learn.

“So...yeah, not much to do around here.”
“Good thing I can get into my Avatar and escape this place.”
“But don’t you want to help me with my work?”
“No, not really.”

And with those last words Tak finished setting up the link and got in. Yuki sighed and sat down at her desk, wondering why she never got to have any fun. Waking up in the tent, Tak stretched his body and headed out. He tried to walk aimlessly as usual when he just wanted to be completely alone and not think about anything but found himself following the rivers which were spread throughout the FEBA. He would randomly choose where to turn and which new stream to follow, hoping that eventually he would be completely lost and find a secluded place just for himself. After minutes of walking he heard the sound of falling water and came to a place which he instantly recognized, a waterfall ending in a deep pool surrounded by an abundance of plants. “Oh, this place” he said to himself as he had returned to the place where he had his first swim. He pushed his way through some plants to uncover someone already occupying his place and again, he recognized this person by their braids tied together in a bunch.
“You found my spot.” he said as he sat down beside her. Zetey turned around seeming a bit surprised. She eventually forced a bit of a smile.
“You come here too?” he asked.
“Yes, I find this place when I was child. I come here when I want to be alone.”
“This is only my second time here, I came here for the same reason....Something wrong?”
Zetey dropped her head towards the ground seeming disappointed.
“Sometimes people make me mad.... My friends say I change, they say before I hate tawtute and uniltiranyu but now no more, because I meet you. Mother say I have become someone else, she say my father would not be happy if he was still alive. ”
“....You mad at me?”
“Kehe, you do nothing bad. But I want....I do not know the words.”
“Well I get what you’re saying. Sometimes people make me mad too. Selfish, lazy, useless people who think they’re never wrong. You try to be patient with them but even that’s not enough. Every second you put up with them builds up inside you until it just all comes out...”
It was a relief for both of them to talk to someone who felt the same way. The frustration was slowly being let go through their conversation.
“...You wanna go for a walk?”
“Srane.”

They made their way through the giant space filled with plants and creatures of all shapes, sizes and colours. Walking through the never ending network of calmly flowing rivers encapsulated in a massive hall of exotic life was something that would relax anyone no matter how stressed or angry they were. The sights and sounds of the forest gave the place an immense sense of purity and perfection, everything was in balance with each other. Whether it was flowing water or animals calling to each other or rustling plants, everything pushed Tak deeper into ecstasy as he was fixed in a trance by what surrounded him. He looked down to see his feet in water with ripples moving away from them. Tiny fish swam away with every step as he marvelled at the delicate life which thrived even within the shallow waters below him. Zetey looked at him as he fascinated over the small creatures and smiled, seeing him get excited over something simple as fishes was like seeing a child’s mind operating a man’s body at its best. She kicked some water onto his leg to get his attention. The water was cool and refreshing. Tak decided to take off his shoes and socks and feel the water with his bare feet. His feet instantly cooled and as he stood there taking in the great feeling, the fishes returned around his ankle as if they were observing something. For the first time Tak actually felt at peace. Everything that had happened within his time on this world he forgot about and just continued to enjoy the great feeling he felt. They continued walking and would come across giant tree roots covered in moss and small plants which would grow in and out of the ground in a bizarre fashion, forming bridges and arches for them to walk over and under like children on a playground. As they hopped from tree roots to the ground and then into the water, Zetey began to slow down, then eventually stopped. Tak noticed and looked behind to see her standing with her smile gone. He then looked in the direction he was going to notice the trees were disappearing, they were near the FEBA base. He walked back to her.
“What’s wrong?”
“.....I said I will never return here.”
“It’s ok, it’s over. This place is free now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Yes, but...”
Tak took her hand and slowly pulled.
“Trust me.”
He waited patiently for her to move and although she knew the skypeople had been defeated, she was still living in fear. She looked at Tak with an uncertain look and he smiled, assuring her there was nothing to be afraid of. With that, she took a slow step and gradually built up the courage to enter the place she had doomed for a long time. As they walked through the side gate, the turrets greeted them as if they were still alive, looking down upon them with their barrels. The grass turned into a hard, lifeless surface. Zetey had never stepped on such a thing and it sent chills down her back. Scattered across the place were dead bodies in dried puddles of blood. Debris was blown across the ground and the buildings that once were now laid as large piles of rubble, still smoking from their destruction. The smell of blood, urine, faeces, fuel and smoke filled the place and was near unbearable. It was scary to stand in the place which had been feared for years. Zetey walked to a nearby body and looked at it. A dead woman still with her exopack stared right back at Zetey. Looking into the lifeless eyes, she felt no pity for this innocent victim, just a build up of anger as she remembered all the people of her clan who died because of this place. Tears slowly crept as she kneeled down closer to this woman. She took off the exopack and looked down in despise, a human in its true form. No exopack, no gun, nothing to protect it, just a weak and pathetic excuse of life. But then she came to realize that, like her friends who did nothing to deserve their deaths, this woman may have done nothing either. She was just a woman, no weapons, no military gear. From what little Zetey knew this woman could have been a mother just trying to provide for her children, just like the mothers in her clan. She was then reminded that not all the skypeople are bad, and for this one she was in no position to make judgements. She closed the woman’s eye lids with her fingers, giving closure to her death, then stood up and began heading for the gate they came through. Tak watched the whole thing and it amazed him how one could feel so much hatred and anger towards their enemy yet in the end manage to find a bit of empathy for them, something he could never do. He took one last look at the dead woman and turned to leave.

The two spent hours exploring the area and managed to make their way up a rocky hill. When they reached the top they got an amazing view of the forest which stretched into the horizon along with rivers which made their way randomly through all the green. Hometrees could be seen sticking out of the forest canopy along with valleys, cliffs and some waterfalls. In the sky were colonies of floating mountains which sat majestically in a sea of clouds. They were like giant floating islands connected by bridges of vines and roots. It was too much for Tak, there was so much he wanted to say about this place but couldn’t even manage to squeeze out a single word. Zetey could clearly see he had completely fallen in love with everything. As the sun began to set, Zetey decided to ask Tak more about his home.
“Tell me more about your home.”
“This is my home.”
They both shared a bit of a laugh but Tak knew what she meant.
“Well, it’s nothing special. I lived with my parents in a small apartment just enough for three people. The only things you could hear were the noisy ****ing people around you, the train or my parents arguing. I had all my stuff crammed into a tiny room with no windows, just a box with a door. You go outside and the building was always surrounded by rubbish. There was always a crack head passed out on the stairs, or some guy beating the **** out of a woman, or people yelling and fighting, it was a bad place.... That’s why I love this world, because it’s beyond everything I’ve always dreamed of.”
They sat on the hill as Tak told Zetey more about the world he came from while they watched the sun set. The orange glow slowly retreated across the forest back to the horizon and before they realized it was night, but a new light took over as Polyphemus shined its many shades many of blue onto Pandora. Bioluminescent colours lit up the forest and the rivers were dotted with light by the organisms in the water. As much as he wanted to stay longer, he was concerned for Zetey’s curfew.

“It’s getting late, shouldn’t you go back?”
“No, I do not want to return.”
They sat there for a moment until Zetey got up, pulling Tak with her.
“Come, come.” she said as she rushed to get him on his feet. She then began running down the hill and Tak tried to keep up. “This way!”
As they made their way down, running and jumping to lower ground, the colours of the night lit the way. They reached the river and ran along it. The crystal clear water allowed light from the fishes and anemonoids to completely shine their colours through, it was beautiful. He wanted to stop and take it all in but had to keep up so he decided to save this for another day. As he tried to keep up, every step he took made the grass glow patches of light which temporarily showed the path he had taken. Where ever he looked there was bioluminescent blue, green, pink and purple along with other colours, representing some form of life whether it was a plant or creature. They made it into the forest and Zetey led him into the centre of a huge open area where rivers converged and plants flourished. They stopped and marvelled at all that surrounded them. The place shined with every colour on Pandora through the many plants and creatures, putting on a display of unimaginable beauty. Glowing insects hovered around flowers while fishes and anemonoids put on magnificent light shows in the water. All the trees had trails of glowing moss along their trunks and branches which formed intricate patterns. Panopyras hung from branches high above, radiating their bright pink light like natural chandeliers. Overwhelmed with emotions, Tak was completely lost in this world. He had never felt this way in his life and he didn’t know what was happening to him, but he didn’t want it to end. He turned to face Zetey as if he wanted to say something but said nothing, the look on his face clearly showed what he was feeling. As he saw the bioluminescent dot patterns all over her body, he looked at his arms to find he had them as well. Closely inspecting the patterns on himself, a smile grew across his face. She had never seen him this happy and it made her happy as well. To see someone from another world completely fall in love with everything the Great Mother had created was nice. The two continued to lose themselves in this wonderland, feeling better by the moment.

Back at the lab Yuki was sitting by the link reading, wondering when Tak was going to return. She would occasionally look at the screen to see if he was ready to come out. When it seemed like he wasn’t coming back, the screen alerted her that he was coming out of the connection and she got out of her seat. She struggled to remember which buttons to press but managed to get him out. Tak was stiff as a log and needed help sitting up. He stretched his muscles and moved his neck in a circle.
“You know how late it is?” asked Yuki. “What were you doing?”
“Having the greatest day of my life.”

hmm, I kind of got distracted with this story... If I get some time today, I'll try to catch up on it :)

that's the 3rd time you've said that. don't force yourself to read it, if you've lost interest then fine. i'd rather have comments on the chapters rather than people continously saying they will get back to reading it.

Sorry, it isn't a comment on the story itself, more the length. Length isn't a bad thing :)

Chapter 27

Dr. Eileen and two of her colleagues were at the Takahayo hometree, standing in front of the gathered clan who were listening as she explained the recent “treaty” to them. Members of the clan didn’t seem glad as they knew they were just being sold another lie. The Na’vi aren’t retarded and Dr. Eileen knew this very well, nor was she the type to lie right to someone’s face, but with the recent bloodshed from both sides there was nothing left to do. The stares she got pierced her as she explained what the Colonel had proposed, occasionally stuttering as the pressure got to her. When she finished, the Olo’eyktan questioned her.
“Your people have said this many times in the past, but we all know it is not true. You know it is not true. My people and I have known you for a long time. We have welcomed you and your friends into our home, we have learnt many things from each other, we have become very close....so why do you lie to us?”
Tsuwokan felt the comment rather harsh and felt he needed to step in.
“Olo’eyktan it is not a lie. She is just tr-“
“Silence, now is not your time to speak.”
Dr. Eileen didn’t know what to say. She looked to her colleagues as if she was asking for help but they gave her no reply. She then looked to the ground in shame and closed her eyes. Letting out a sigh, she gave her pathetic response.
“....I am sorry, I do not know.”
The Olo’eyktan was firm in his decision and he made sure everyone knew it.
“We will continue to defend our home even if we have to kill. Give your leader my words.”
And with those last words he ended the meeting. Tsuwokan could see the disappointment and humiliation in Dr. Eileen’s eyes as she looked at the ground, unable to face her colleagues. As the clan returned to their daily activities Tsuwokan went over to comfort her. Olo’eykatn’s harsh words were unnecessary and he didn’t want her thinking they were no longer welcome onto their land.
“I am sorry, my people do not understand you want to help.”
“No, no it’s ok.”
“What will you do now?”
“Well, the next closest clan is the Tipikaya so I-“
“Kehe! You cannot go there!”
“But we have to make things right.”
Tsuwokan grabbed her by the arms with both hands in a serious manner.
“They will kill you.”
“.....maybe, but we have to do this. So please, just let me go.”
He wasn’t going to let her go but something inside him told him to do so. He slowly loosened his hands and Dr. Eileen began walking away. As he watched the group leave, a fear built up inside which unsettled him. He wasn’t going to lose any more friends to unnecessary deaths. “Pey!” he yelled and walked over to them. “I will come with you.” Dr. Eileen didn’t refuse his offer to help, she knew that if she was to even make it into the Tipikaya territory then Tsuwokan was the one who would ensure that. “Thanks” she said softly with a smile. She thought about what she was about to get herself into and decided it was too risky for the others.
“I want you all to go back.” she said. The others exclaimed.
“Are you ****ing nuts? The two of you aren’t going to make it.”
“So you would rather have us all die than just the two of us?”
“Well four’s better than two!”
“Sorry Elliot, but you’ll only get in our way. And besides, the two of you wouldn’t equal one of him. I think we can manage with just the two of us.”
“Very funny but I’m not about to let you get killed and then have to explain to you know ****ing who about why my boss got a ****en arrow through her neck and then h-“
“Will you just please do as I say for once? Just once?”
“.....Alright, alright. Just don’t ****en die ok?”
“You don’t need to tell me.”
Before leaving, Tsuwokan told Dr. Eileen to wait and he ran up hometree and returned with what looked like an animal horn. It had a hole in the sharp end and was lightly covered in tribal decorations. “Oh yeah, we’ll definitely need that.” said Dr. Eileen, and the two head off.

Back at Sludge City the day was passing by very slowly as Tak watched Yuki carry on with her work. She tried to convince him numerous times to help her but he just wasn’t interested. They began discussing the future of humanity, throwing around ideas for government policies and how countries should be run. Tak, not knowing **** about how the political world operates, would constantly introduce bizarre or immature ideas only to have Yuki explain why it wouldn’t work. Tak would just counter her reasons with the argument that in a world which has stripped the natural world of its rights, the selfish, greedy maggots infesting that world should be stripped of their rights too.
“Wow, you never liked the world you came from did you?”
“I never had a problem with the world, it’s just the people that I hate.”
“Fair enough, I know what you mean. I think we all feel like that sometimes.”
“......Why do you even bother doing your work if you don’t enjoy it?”
“I’ll lose my job if I don’t.”
“I work with people that never do **** and they never get into trouble.”
“Well that’s probably because your boss doesn’t say anything.”
“But look at your boss, the ****er looks bored as much as you are. No one’s going to care if you don’t do anything. Well maybe that douche who’s running the whole thing but as if he’s going to know.”
“You mean the guy back at Hell’s Gate? What’s his name?”
“I don’t know, corporate douche?.....****, this place is ****. I’m going outside.”
“Me too, this is so boring.”

Dr. Eileen and Tsuwokan made their way towards Tipikaya territory. It was a warm and sunny day, the sky was clear and it was rather quiet. Only the slight breeze could be heard along with the plants that rustled in the wind. They followed the river and eventually reached the remains of what was once the FEBA base. The bodies had been collected but the rubble and dried blood on the ground remained. Dr. Eileen felt a chill throughout her body as she looked at what remained, imagining what had happened here. She entered through one of the gates and looked around. Approaching the rubble which used to be the main building, she stood at where the main door would’ve been. The smell of rotting flesh seeped through the rubble from the bodies that weren’t recovered. It was unbearable and so she backed off. Tsuwokan stood beside her and looked around at the destruction which he was partly responsible for. He felt no remorse. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her away. They continued but Dr. Eileen felt uneasy. Knowing that this was their reaction to the loss of a few of their clan members only made her think about their reaction to her once she showed up in their home. Walking along the river, she tried to calm herself down by concentrating on the water flowing. She spotted a small creature that was making its way up stream at the same pace that she was walking. It was something to take her mind of the thought of possibly being killed, but out of nowhere a large predator lunged out and ate the small creature in an instant. Dr. Eileen flinched as she witnessed the end of a life in a matter of seconds and her heart began to beat fast with the thought that hers could end in an instant like that very soon. Every day on Pandora is a struggle for survival and she knew this well but she had never been so afraid of death like today.

When they approached Tipikaya grounds, Tsuwokan pulled out his horn and blew the call to notify that visitors were coming, only thing is he wasn’t sure if visitors were welcome anymore in this part of the forest. The low sound sent chills down her back and she grew even more nervous. After Tsuwokan put away his horn, Dr. Eileen tightly grabbed his hand and took a deep and slow breath. He could tell she was scared from how tight she was gripping his hand, it was starting to hurt a bit. They made their way closer to the Tipikaya, anticipating death with every step they took. Dr. Eileen was constantly scanning her surroundings but Tsuwokan just kept his eyes on the path ahead. Extreme paranoia sent Dr. Eileen into a state of turmoil as the slightest sounds of animals moving through the vegetation or leaves falling from above were amplified into those of stalkers watching from cover, ready to kill. She held Tsuwokan's arm with both her hands as the tension was becoming unbearable. Tsuwokan thought they would make it to the Tipikaya unharmed but from somewhere nearby an arrow pierced Dr. Eileen in the leg and she let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground. Tsuwokan was quick to react, first kneeling down to protect her and then loading his bow and scanning the area ready to fire but he could see nothing. As he turned left, a Na’vi jumped down from the branches above with his bow pulled back, the arrow pointing at Tsuwokan’s chest, then another Na’vi jumped down. A third came out from cover also with her bow loaded. A fourth Na’vi surfaced from a pond covered in leaves with his arrow loaded. It was as if they were expecting one hell of a fight. Tsuwokan released the tension on his bow and placed it on the ground along with his knife. The Na’vi then pulled the two of them onto their feet, tied their hands together and with knives to their queues, took them to their clan. Along the way Dr. Eileen fell to the ground numerous times as the pain from the arrow was too much to walk with but her capturers would pull her up and force her to continue on her own feet. They reached the Tipikaya hometree, a large one just like any other, covered in moss and small plants growing out from the crevices all the way up. The forest canopy let through only some light so the entrance was heavily shadowed. All sorts of plants randomly grew along the path to the entrance and even all the way into the main hall. There were numerous sticks lodged into the ground and covered in decorations where on the top of some were ornamented human skulls. The two of them were dumped in the middle of the gathered clan who looked on with piercing stares. Tsuwokan rushed over to Dr. Eileen who’s right leg was covered in blood on the right side. A mean looking member of the Tipikaya stepped forward and looked down towards Dr. Eileen.

“Stand up.” he said. Too tired and hurt to do so, she laid on the ground.
“Stand up!” he yelled, but she refused to. Tsuwokan decided to sit her up and then try and get her on her feet but the Na’vi who stood over them stopped him.
“She can do it herself!”
Dr. Eileen pushed herself off the ground with her arms and slowly, in agony, stood up on her feet. With a crooked stance, she straightened herself.
“Why have you come to us?” he asked her.
“.....I am here to give you the words of my leader.”
“Your leader?...The same leader who is responsible for the deaths of our brothers and sisters?”
“.....You are wrong, he is not the one who-“
“I know what happened! Do not tell me what happened! I know what happened!”
“No, you do not.”

Anger built up and he felt the need to teach this Uniltiranyu that she was in no position to argue with him. He grabbed her by her throat with one hand while slowly driving the arrow deeper into her leg with the other. Dr. Eileen yelled as she tried to stop it. Before the Na’vi could say what he wanted to, Tsuwokan tackled him to the ground and the tried to punch him but this other warrior was quite strong. He kicked Tsuwokan off and quickly got on his feet and pulled out his blade. He took swings at Tsuwokan who barely managed to dodge them and was helpless without a weapon. The clan was now cheering on their fellow member to kill the outsider. Tsuwokan’s opponent charged at him for the kill and tried to slash him across his face but he grabbed the knife wielding arm countered with a knee to the gut and punches to the face. He knocked his opponent to the ground and refused to continue fighting as if he had enough, but his opponent wasn’t going to stop until this outsider was lying on the ground dead. Tsuwokan went to help Dr. Eileen but behind him his opponent was approaching fast with the blade in his hand. “Look out!” yelled Dr. Eileen. Tsuwokan turned around and took a deep cut to the face. The blade sliced across the right side of his face, just passing over his eye, and temporarily blinded his rights side as he kept his eye shut tight while holding the cut with his hand. Tsuwokan quickly got up ready to fight as Dr. Eileen bought him some time by grabbing onto his opponents ankles. He kicked Dr. Eileen who let go and went straight for the kill. As he was about to take a swing with his blade, he was stopped by a commanding voice. “Stop!!! This is not how we treat our guests!!!” A Na’vi woman with elaborate attire was standing just above the base of the central spiral in the hometree with a displeased look on her face. As she approached, the crowd that gathered moved to make way for her and she stood over Dr. Eileen, looking down at her. She then turned to Tsuwokan to see his blood covered face, then finally turned to the one responsible for it. She walked right up to him. “Leave now.” She ordered in a quiet but serious voice. The man snarled at Tsuwokan before leaving. Dr. Eileen assumed this woman was the Tsahik by her appearance and the power she held which she just demonstrated. Likewise, the Tsahik assumed these visitors had come to discuss something of importance. “Come with me” she said, and Tsuwokan helped Dr. Eileen up and he took her and himself up to the central spiral.

Tak and Yuki arrived at Hell’s Gate and unloaded Dr. Augustine’s requested specimens along with the sergeant that escorted them. They loaded the plants onto a cart and pushed it to the lab where they were greeted by a scientist.
“Thanks guys, Grace will be really glad now that she’s got stuff to work on rather than people to talk to.” said the scientist.
“Don’t you guys always have stuff to work on?” asked Yuki.
“Well yeah but, you know, Grace is the boss so she gets to work with the new fun stuff first always. Anyway thanks for bringing this stuff over.”
And with their job done they headed back to the Samson. On the trip back the two of them talked about what it was like living life in a shack. They both agreed on a number of things, waking up early was a bitch, having to put up with other peoples’ incompetence was frustrating, boredom would make the day go extremely slowly, food was ****ty and at times it would feel like life was no different to that of the average wage slave back on earth. But they both told each other that despite all the negatives, it was nothing compared to what Pandora had to offer. Since Tak was the one with the Avatar, it was a lot easier for him to experience it all. Unfortunately for Yuki it was all still just stories.
“It’s beyond incredible. Everything is just so full of life and colour and it’s just so different from where we’re from that it seems unreal. That probably won’t make sense to you but my point is you have to see it for yourself. Words can’t describe how amazing this world is, and that’s just the forest that I’m at. You’ve heard of the floating mountains right?”
What Tak described to her seemed like stuff out of a novel. The possibility of being able to get some free time and see this stuff lifted her mood and put a smile on her face. The chat definitely helped time pass by and before they knew it they were back at the shacks. Yuki powered down the rotors and hopped off. A few mercs stared at her and talked **** while having a few laughs as she walked to the stairs. Tak followed her and the mercs broke out of their snickering after catching a glimpse of him.

“Well, look who it is. What the **** you doin on my turf boy?!” said Sergeant Terry, trying to be as intimidating as possible. He got right in Tak’s face but Tak just looked at the ground, keeping calm.
“Didn’t forget about me did you? You think you’re ****en tough huh? After that **** you pulled off at the cafeteria back at Hell’s gate huh? I’ll kill you, I don’t give a **** if you’ve got one of them Avatars, you still ain’t tough. I’ve killed heaps of them dirty blue dogs an-”
“And look what happened, everyone you knew at the FEBA base got ****ed up. You’re a dumb ****.”
Terry had no comeback, he just stared at Tak with a desire to beat the **** out of him. Tak knew nothing more had to be said, he just let the idiot be and hoped that Terry would one day learn that he should think before he does or says things. As he walked away Terry had some last words to say.
“Well, I got to say, it was fun murdering those ****en blue monkeys.”

Dr. Eileen was having the arrow removed from her leg. The Na’vi woman who was treating her slowly pulled the arrow out, trying to be as gentle as possible. Taking it out was definitely worse than having it shot in. Dr. Eileen tried not to make too much noise but the pain was too much and she couldn’t resist constantly exclaiming softly in pain. It took minutes but finally it was out and now it was time to seal it up. The woman applied some sticky and strong scented plant extract onto the wound and instantly it stung. “Ooooooowwww fffffff****!” yelled Dr. Eileen as the medicine made its way deep into the wound. Tsuwokan was also treated but the medicine didn’t do much to seal the cut as blood continued to poor out. After Dr. Eileen got her wound wrapped up, Tsuwokan helped her over to the Tsahik for their talk. They both sat in front of her while elite warriors kept watch with their intimidating stares making them feel weak.

“Why have you come here?” asked the Tsahik. Dr. Eileen was a bit slow to reply but she kept calm and decided to put it as straight forward as possible.
“I have a message from my leader that I wish to pass on to you.....he asks for an end to the fighting between his people and yours.”
The Tsahik gave her a look which told Dr. Eileen it was going to take more than that to get her point across.
“With the recent deaths both sides have suffered, he asks for all clans to stop the killing, and he will do the same.”
“......And what will that lead to?”
Dr. Eileen didn’t know what to say. She was beginning to feel the pressure.
“Your leader asks us for peace now but not long ago he killed some of our people, how dare he think of us as morons. We will never forget what he has done.”
“No, that was not him. He never gave orders to kill.”
The Tsahik was surprised and stayed silent as she was trying to comprehend what seemed like an absurd statement.
“It was a group of men who were not under orders from our leader. They are a dangerous group. They do whatever they want to, but no one does a thing to stop them. I have tried in the past but, I am too weak.” She felt the anguish burn inside her as she remembered all the times she could have done something, no matter how small it would’ve been, but never did. It made her feel pathetic. The Tsahik felt a sense of honesty coming from this dreamwalker.
“How do you know this?”
“....Because I saw it. I saw these men return from what they did, and I saw what they did. I got there too late but believe me, if I could have done something to stop them, I would have.”
Tears were rolling down her face as it all came back to her, the sight of all the dead bodies, the bullet shells scattered across the ground, the smell of blood filling the air and the crying of the lone survivor. The Tsahik felt Dr. Eileen’s pain.
“....Go where ever you wish, nothing will change. The war ends when skypeople are no longer on this world. Until then we will keep fighting. Now leave.....”
Tsuwokan slowly got up with his stuff then helped Dr. Eileen up. They made their way back down and as they made their way towards the exit, what was left of the gathered crowd slowly made way for them. The two of them were beginning to leave the boundaries of the hometree when they heard someone calling for them. “Pey!” yelled the voice. They turned around and waited for the person to catch up. It was the Na’vi woman who had treated Dr. Eileen’s injury. She took a few breaths before speaking.

“No dreamwalker has ever come to us, you are brave... I heard what you and the Tsahik talked about, the others would ridicule me for saying this but I believe you. I have heard good things about the uniltiranyu, that they see, unlike the rest of the tawtute. The Tsahik will not tell you this but you have earned her trust. You have earned all our trust. I hope for our great mother to protect you on your journey.”
“Thank you for taking care of me, that was very nice of you.” said Dr. Eileen who received a smile from her caretaker. The woman then turned to address Tsuwokan.
“I see you my brother, what clan are you from?”
“I see you my sister, I am from the Takahayo clan.”
“Takahayo, I have heard good things about your clan... Fighting the skypeople near you all this time must have made you a tough warrior, you are brave to have come here.... I must go now. Please, take care.”
“My sister, thank you for all you have done for us. If you need help, my people will always welcome you. Kiyevame.”

They went their separate ways, knowing they had gained a new ally. It was a long walk back but Dr. Eileen tried so hard to make it back on her own feet. Every step was excruciating and it wasn’t long before she fell to her hands and knees. They could see the river but they still had long way to go. Dr. Eileen rolled onto her back and looked up at the sky. It was a really beautiful day. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and onto her singlet. “I can’t do this.” she mumbled. Blood was seeping from her wound and it didn’t look like she was going to get up for a while. Not wanting to waste time, Tsuwokan picked her up and carried her in both arms. Dr. Eileen was feeling bad, not just because for the fact that she had dragged him into all this trouble, but for also making him carry her. He was tired and angry but he didn’t show it. Dr. Eileen wrapped her arms around him and they kept on going. By the time they entered the forest Tsuwokan really needed to rest for a while. With Dr. Eileen still in his arms, he dropped to the ground and sat up against a tree. “I’m so sorry I got you into this ****.” said Dr. Eileen. The blood on Tsuwokan’s face had mixed with the sticky medicine and sweat along with some dirt and had dripped down the right side of his face. Dr. Eileen wiped it, then just held her hand on his face. Feeling bad for all the trouble she had caused him, she began to cry softly.

“I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. I should’ve just gone myself, saved you from all this trouble. I’m such a **** up.”
“No more crying.” said Tsuwokan softly. “No more.” His voice calmed her down and she wiped her tears. “You are strong woman. Strong woman do not cry.”

His words made her toughen up and she stopped crying. She took some deep breaths and looked into his eyes. She kept staring into his eyes until Tsuwokan looked away as it was beginning to get awkward for him. He broke the silence by standing up with her in his arms. “You must return with me, the people take care of you.” He carried her back and as they walked into the base of hometree, people came rushing towards them. Seeing the blood on them they wondered what had happened as they voiced their concern. Tsuwokan didn’t stop to talk, he just went straight up the hometree and took her to where she could be treated. He laid her gently on the floor and walked away. Dr. Eileen was extremely tired and was ready to come out of her Avatar. She slowly dazed off and woke up in her human body with then pain still remaining in her right leg.

The remaining twelve days went by very slowly for Tak. He eventually decided to help Yuki with her work, although he didn’t do much, but doing something was better than nothing. He avoided visiting the Takahayo as he didn’t want to run into his co-workers and he would check if the others were leaving or returning before he got out of his tent. Whenever something happened between him and another person, Tak preferred to distance himself from them for a period of time and in this case two weeks seemed appropriate. Hours would be spent every day walking around in circles through the forest until he got tired and returned. For the whole two weeks he managed to avoid his co-workers but it was finally time to return. He woke up and packed his stuff, ready to finally leave this **** hole. He hopped in the Samson and rode shotgun with Yuki. Outside they could see one of Terry’s dogs being given some sort of orders. Tak watched him approach and then get onboard. “Open the ****en door!” he yelled. “Don’t tell me we have to ride with this *******.” said Yuki as she put on her exopack and opened the door. They took off and flew away from the base. Tak turned around to look at who Terry had sent.

“I gotta make sure you don’t try nothin stupid, you got a problem with that mother****er?” he said. It would’ve been better if Tak didn’t respond but he decided to see how far he could push this guy before he lost it.
“Yeah I do actually, you just said don’t try nothing. That actually means try something, you used a double negative you dumb ****. Looks like someone needs to go back to primary school, dumb mother****er.”
The man got out of his seat and right in Tak’s face. “You wanna ****en do this?! You wanna start me mother****er?! Huh?!”
“Guys just stop it! Just stop this ****!” said Yuki as she tried to balance between flying the Samson and stopping a fight.
“Yeah, listen to her. Just stop this ****. You don’t want me to have to kill you do you?” said Tak. He had no intentions of starting a fight but it was too late to back down now. The man threw punches at Tak but he just backed off and just dodged the first few. He kicked his opponent hard to create some space, sending him back into his seat. Tak quickly got up and grabbed his legs, pulled him forward and laid in a few punches but he was quick to guard. Tak let go and stepped on him. The man got out of his seat and tackled Tak, sending them both to the floor. He was now on top and didn’t waste the chance to send down as many punches as possible. Tak managed to grab his right arm and pushed off with his lower back to throw his opponent off. Tak quickly punched him hard in the face and then pinned him to the floor with his knee, trying hard to stop him from moving around. He held down the man’s right arm with his other knee and pummelled the **** out of him. The man grabbed Tak’s right hand so Tak just elbowed him above the eye with his left arm and sent his head back into the floor. He broke free from the man’s grip and continued to lay waste to his opponent who wasn’t responding. Yuki came to her senses and stopped Tak. “Tak stop! That’s enough! Stop! Tak stop it!” she yelled as she tried to pull him away. She lost control for a sec and jerked the Samson to the right causing Tak to hit the window. He finally stopped and sat up, taking in breaths. “Is he dead?” asked Yuki as she looked at the man who was lying very still on the floor. There were patches of blood on the floor and some drops on the seat.

“Oh ****, I think he’s dead. You ****en killed him!”.
“....Put your exopack on.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”

Tak put on his exopack and also put one on the dead man. He then opened the door and dragged the body to the back of the Samson. “Keep it still!” he told Yuki. They were now flying over dense forest so it was a perfect place to dump the body. Tak held on to what he could and pushed the body with his feet, causing it to roll off the edge. He watched it fall into the trees and open a hole in the forest canopy, then returned to his seat. Yuki turned to him looking extremely worried.
“Why did you have to do that?! Now I’m going to get into **** for this!”
“No you won’t, you’ll just say he was being a ******** leaning out the side and you told him to get back in but he wouldn’t listen. You got distracted and lost focus, nearly flew into one of those huge trees and jerked it to the side. He fell off and died. If no one believes you then I’ll be your witness. And don’t worry about the blood, I’ll clean it up once we land.”