[WIP] - Breach.

[Sovereign]

A little background: There was a post on the forums asking what would happen if Neytiri arrived on present-day Earth. So I'm going to write a story about it, but I am deliberately avoiding any explanation as to why or how (hence the name "Breach," being a "breach" of both present-day reality and how we perceive the Avatar Universe since Neytiri would have no reason to come to Earth, in-universe or otherwise). Note that this assumes all the events of "Avatar" did in fact take place, and that Na'vi can survive in Earth's atmosphere.

This is also the first fanfic I've ever done, so this is the obligatory "Please be nice" line

Licensing: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Cross-posted at Avatar-Forums

Chapter 1 - Arrival

Earth, 2010 - Somewhere in the United States

Neytiri's back ached. More than the usual pains from a day's hunt or taking a tumble from an ikran. Also, her tail felt numb, as if she'd slept on it. As she opened her eyes, the sun glared into them. A single sun, and nothing more. Something wasn't right. Neytiri yawned, stretched and felt her hand bump into something, which gave way. As she brought her arm back, she noticed something different in the air. The mingled scent of Yerik droppings, territorial markings made by Angtsìk and even the smell of the occasional carcass stripped by Nantang were all absent. A strange hint of metal clung to the air--the only thing similar that Neytiri remembered was the stench of the Tawtute machines.

Opening her palm, Neytiri sniffed the broken bark. A metallic tang jumped out--this tree was cut, it did not fall from age. And the tree, it was so small. Nothing like the gigantic Kelutral. Crunching sounds caused Neytiri to jump from her prone position, hiss and turn, dagger unsheathed. A small brown animal turned its head toward her, froze for a split second, and then disappeared amongst the trees. Very odd--the animal lacked any sort of queue, had four legs and was a strange color. The leaves on the ground were brown, dead, and the leaves of the trees had turned the color of fire. Neytiri had never seen this before, since Pandora's climate remained essentially unchanged year-round. This is not home, she thought. But where is it, then? It had been bad enough when the Tawtute had burned Hometree--hundreds of Na'vi died and one of the oldest of the Kelutral fell before its time. Now she had no clue where she was, but she knew it was not Pandora.

Neytiri set out to find more about her strange new surroundings. For some reason, it felt as if her feet were mired in mud. She felt heavy, uncoordinated and clumsy. Breaths came in short bursts, as if she were not able to get enough air. She slowed to a walk, as running left her winded and her legs were tiring much more quickly than usual. Arriving in a clearing, she noticed a small structure. It was clearly unnatural, though it appeared to be painted brown to blend in or fit better with the surrounding environment. A sign at the top had script on it. Though the Na'vi had no need for written language, she was aware Tawtute (or humans, as they called themselves) utilized such forms of communication, having learned some aspects of this "English" from Dr. Grace Augustine. Though she had been one of Augustine's best students, Neytiri never ceased to wonder why the Sky People needed so many words. And there were words in common usage which the Na'vi had no equivalent for. The one that stuck out the most, and made her quiver in anger, was lie. This was not a concept the Na'vi understood prior to the arrival of Tawtute. To deliberately not tell another something, or to tell another something completely false was not something the Na'vi had ever done. It was not borne out of some "moral" standing, but rather that it was unneeded, in fact no Na'vi had even thought of the concept.

The sign on the building read "North Picnic Shelter." She knew what "shelter" was, and that "north" was a direction. "Picnic," however, was a term she was unfamiliar with. Grace had not used the term in conversation, nor was it contained in any lessons. Inside were long tables, proportioned for beings smaller than she. Much smaller. About the size of Sky People, now that she thought about it.

Sky People. Jake had told her of the homeworld, Earth, where "they killed their mother." There was "no green there" since the whole planet was ravaged by over-use of practically every resource imaginable. Were there others out there like the Sky People? At least, alike physically? Even if there were, it wouldn't explain the use of Sky People script, nor how she ended up on this alien world in the first place. Next to the shelter was a brown container labeled "TRASH." Trash could both be an object and an adjective, and she recalled its use in another way when…

She stopped. She didn't want to think about that day. The accident at the school. The needless deaths.

The wind shifted. Neytiri picked up a scent. One she recognized, vaguely. She'd only smelt it along with the destruction and death brought by Sky People machines, but she knew what it meant. Food. Sky People food. Disgusting, inedible and unnatural. Sky People guards had left trails of it following their gigantic machines. Machines that destroyed trees, killed animals and despoiled Pandora. More and more, Neytiri was beginning to think that all this was somehow related to Sky People. She moved over to the container. It had a lid which she easily removed. A swarm of tiny creatures greeted her, irritated that someone would dare to disturb their meal. If there was one symbol of the Sky People that no one could forget, it was Coca-Cola. Jake had explained that Coca-Cola (or "***e") was a favorite drink among his people. It was considered moderately unhealthy if consumed in large amounts, and came in both metal and plastic containers. All of these bore the red-and-white lettering of the company's logo. That same logo stared up at Neytiri from the trash container.

What did it all mean? It made no sense. Earth had no life other than humans--Jake had said that much. At least, no other life that wandered wild and free. The creatures of Earth were kept penned in places called "zoos" where the humans could watch them. Human children were taught that this was normal and animals had always lived in cages. More like prisons, Neytiri reasoned. Why did the animals not fight? There were some that certainly could, though nothing as fearsome as Palulukan or as awe-inspiring as Toruk. The only animal she'd seen was a small brown one that had darted away from her upon noticing her presence. It looked as if it ate plants, lacking teeth, claws or other implements to make meals from other animals.

Neytiri sat on the top of the table. She could imagine Jake chastising her for this--"We don’t sit on that part, we sit down here!" but Jake wasn't here. Nor was anyone or anything else she recognized, other than the Coca-Cola bottle. The table sagged, since it wasn't designed to accommodate a 275 pound weight.