Time to introduce the crime scene! It stinks with smoke and death.
I remind you, that in this AU characters become scientists. So they don't investigate the lynch. They investigate the new creature appeared, found and brought by mangkwan. They need to explore as much information of it as possible, including where is it from, its cultural meaning to na'vi, what's its instincts, place in the nature chain, etc. RDA should be aware and prepared for encounter!
However, it's pretty hard when the carcass is rotting for the 7th day in the tropical climate, so our scientists are having big troubles with even taking it down from mangkwan pedestal... Their knots are really difficult and strong, and trying to cut them off will just lead to more damages for the carcass.
Trudy honestly wasn’t sure if they were gonna make it through the week and the last couple of days, things were tense inside the shack, her beloved boyfriend was clearly oblivious about it and why would he notice? But Grace’s eyes always tracked them when she wasn’t in her avatar, which in the last week had been entirely what the vampire was doing; spending as little time in her native body as possible to escape the reality of her nature.
Grace’s food ran out three days ago. From Trudy’s observation, normally, Grace was good for two days before she cracked another bag open but the last day was pushing it. Trudy wasn’t sure about her biology on how she burned through blood so quickly but right now… the only blood bags in range was her and Norm and she wasn’t about that.
Trudy had found a smudge of garlic in the back of their dry food storage, outdated and dry and stuck that in their rations when she made food which had certain made their doc wrinkle her nose and keep a distance but the woman was still watching them and it made her skin crawl because she was looking at them like they were something to eat. An awful reminder that they were part of a food chain and not on top.
The radiation storm would end at noon, but the radiation would need four more hours before it faded from the atmosphere entirely and they’d be safe. Light would return for the afternoon, but the window of leaving was slim before natural night set-in.
She needed to get Grace fed as soon as possible. Going to Hell’s Gate was an option and safest for them, but getting supplies here would take time and honestly, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk being locked in her Samson with a hungry vampire. With the Samson outside, there had been some mild damage too, a higher mountain had wound up dropping something into the rotor blades of her bird, so taking a trip in another Samson was the problem more than anything; more waiting that they didn’t have.
But, Trudy had an awful idea. Her stomach churned at the thought but what choice did she have? Grace and Norm were thankfully linked up, allowing her this freedom to act. Her steps led her to the mass of tools, picking up one of the tools. Trudy knew this shack all too well to know where important pipes were. Internally, it was panelled off to prevent accidental hits but she knew where the panel was weak and the last technician had only done a patch-job in their last visit so that was easy to undo to sabotage and let that guy take the fall once the technicians came. It should have been reported sooner but Trudy had her priorities and she was kinda glad for her laziness on the matter.
Trudy carefully removed the panel and got to work, careful to wedge the end of the screwdriver into the seam of the tape once she got to where she needed to be. They seriously used duct tape?? Still, it didn’t stop her. Not enough to break it, but damage it enough that in a few hours, the systems would flag and they’d eventually resort to wearing masks once the pipes failed. Hell’s Gate would prioritise a flight crew to them first to get the shack up and active.
But, even as she set the panel back and set everything back as it was, her stomach churned with guilt. She was bringing humans here for Grace to eat. Trudy closed her eyes, shaking her head. Better them than Norm, right? The justification felt hollow. So selfish. But the notion of offering herself to Grace made her skin crawl. She was just one person. She couldn’t let her know she knew. Wouldn’t let Norm know either. She didn’t want to be vampire food because what if they always asked for more than she could give? They could kill her so easily. It all felt so wrong, on so many levels….
-
“How is she still alive?” Henry asked as Alma was once again put through physical tests, once she was coherent enough and rested enough since the removal from Tabitha’s body. Tabitha herself was still resting, to mentally heal from the psychic trauma. Theophania herself had been absent and the separation had been a harder toll than expected.
Thana knew why he was still bubbling on that, as he was told that Alma simply wouldn’t wake up after the transfer into the avatar. A personality was not a soul. Memory was not a soul. It had been explained to him how it worked and honestly, she understood his confusion. There was little that their technology hid from them these days. They were rarely surprised and this was not a considered variable or part of their probably scales.
Thana couldn’t help but be fascinated, watching the activity from the probes on the avatar’s head, watching how she worked, how her brain functioned in this new body. Areas lighting up as well and already looked mature and settled. Mind and body worked seamlessly now.
“I highly suspect Maya may have been involved.”
“Maya? The tree?”
“Maya is sentient.” Thana pointed out. “She is still young nor as developed as her Mother Tree but sentient all the time.”
“A tree have feelings?”
Thana clicked her tongue at him. “Not like human feelings. She’s not human, but she is intelligent. Her primary desires are inclined to that of trees; wanting UV light, water, good soil or nutrient substrate, but she interacts with our technology for alternative stimulation. She plays games if given the choice via that. She has times of respite as she’s still growing. We can connect with her for our means through her branches with our kuru or for you, her waters. She’s telepathic in that front to know our minds and intents and responds to those desires.”
Henry stared, surprise.
“Alma’s avatar is a first generation after the test-bodies. First RDA generations typically have a lot more… blood in the works than the drivers and most SciOps folk are aware of.” Thana grimaced a little at the fact. Those early times where the humans were first learning and advancing with that technology were never without blood in the shadows.
Henry looked at her, eyes narrowing a fraction and clearly sensing there was more to it. “Meaning?”
“Those early avatars are created with higher brain function. Like a living person. For the early avatars, they needed the brain to be fully developed but had not yet developed means to artificially stimulate higher brain function throughout gestation to sustain a driver link. The generation before, the avatars didn’t have higher brain function throughout gestation and couldn’t hold a link and died shortly in and out of decantering with seizures. Alma’s generation, birthed in the mid-30s were concived with higher brain function since they were needed then and there, and a week before decantering, the higher brain function is… manually terminated in the tank. Its brain heals in the week, and can take the link, becoming fully reliant on driver-connections. Once they perfected the avatar creation process with an artificial stimulator a year later, they switched over fully to avoid getting caught using ‘unethical science’ that should shut the program down as Dr Lovecrafts earlier Dark Dreamer programs had following public protests with Animal Right actavists.”
Henry nodded slowly. “So, Maya could have brought Alma back reviving the Avatar’s snuffed out consciousness.”
“It’s a hypothesis. We don’t quite know the methods used by the RDA but it doesn’t seem to matter; Alma is alive, she and the avatar are now one being. A person. She is no longer a veil.” Which was a big thing and no doubt something to write about when the people involve were up and about for it… but it still left a problem of what to do about Alma now that she had survived the procedure.
Her mind was no longer risking Tabitha’s survival and, now with the avatar body, as a sentient being that now held rights that meant she couldn’t stay with them without due cause. They had to move her on since Alma herself was not contracted to work in their business nor did they want her working with them either. Wrong training. Nor was she a prisoner either.
Sending her to the East with the others seemed… like an unwarranted risk. Theophania had mentioned the kid, Nor, almost knifing her without listening to the whole story, even. No point sending her there just to die by some angst, trauma ridden adult who had no concept or context of what Alma had been at the time of his clan’s demise.
“What’s the plan with Alma now? We… keeping her?” Henry seemed hesitant. “If I try to water tank her, she’ll shove the hose up my ass.”
Thana snorted at the imagery. “No idea. We could recruit her, or leave her at one of the doorsteps of the one of the clans. The Sarentu are aware of her past, so is the humans she lived with in Dyer’s bowl. We could drop her off and let them have her, or send her away somewhere entirely.” Honestly thought it was probably the kindest option.
The Kame’tire clan was still an option but she felt reluctant to leave Alma with that clan with how reclusive they were. Like, the clan was aware by now of their arrival in this mountain space but they hadn’t approached but she knew their eyes were on them.
The Quadruplets were with the Zeswa, so there was a chance Alma could be accepted by that clan if the clan accepted the Quads and their avatar. They should probably establish a line with those four now that they were there. They had to grow and connect with the clans and the sisters gave them that opening with the clan. Could Alma thrive there? Or perhaps further? There were still a few clans still out there in range. Somewhere new entirely could be what was needed?
Right now, too many open options and no one to discuss it. Yet.
“I don’t know just yet. Until we’re sure she’s mentally stable and grounded in that new body, we have ground to keep her here.”
“Why don’t you ask her? Like, she has no idea where she is so she can’t tell people where she was. She might choose where she’ll wanna end up.”
“Even if it gets her killed?” Alma would probably choose the Sarentu.
“Then that’s her choice to make. It’ll be her first real choice in life. Everything before was preprogramed off what was installed with the veil personality to fit the goal.”
Thana inclined her head, humming. Yes, she supposed he was right. Alma probably may surprise her and go off the grid. “You’re her doctor for now. Ask her once she’s up. I’ve got to run though some reports with Agnes”
“Reports?” Henry looked up at her, confused.
“From drones we sent out five days ago. Data readings of risky territories.” She had personally seen to that and now they finally had an active data stream from the drone. The drone was very high-tech; it took scans of the area, local flora and fauna, air readings, weather pattern tracking, geological activity and, complied data of the clan in question, tracking movements and pattern tracking. There were a lot to go through and a lot more to get.
“Nothing you need to worry about, henry.” She patted his back twice and left him to it.
-
Morgan eyed the bowl of water, noting the water level with some trepidation. Noon. Good news and bad news. Still had a few more hours until the moon was safe once out of the storm and they could be on their merry way but Morgan still had to be the one to be out first so not to be forced to go back once the guys got their guns, unless Kim or one of the others came and got him.
But, he listened and looked about carefully as he picked up his cup, pouring out some of the water to lower the water level from the noon depth-notch to the ten am depth-notch. Two hours of safe time he could leave in four hours’ time. The others four here wouldn’t notice. Quaritch was taking a dump, Lyle was flat out asleep and snoring, his leg still elevated and Z-dog had found her way to some leather scraps at the bottom of a basket and had really found her calling with turning it into a hand-woven holster. She had on her new shirt, which was just a crop-top at this point since she didn’t wanna be bothered making a whole shirt.
He sighed, moving away to return back to N’deh’s mask to finish up the last pieces of decoration.
-
Ridley watched as vaguely in passing through the armoury to see a Samson being very quickly loaded up and one already with the engines hot.
“What’s up with the early trips?” The bases has another hour until patrols would restart. Ridley had plans to get Nathan and Ian and fuck off back to the reef. The buoys they had left had picked up passive movement of potential Tulkun pod and she really wanted to go see them. Thankfully, her mother had authorised both their avatars to the Reef as long as both their human forms remained in the same base. Meaning, she could still fuck her husband and they’d not break any rules in regards to their avatars. Seemed like a fair deal and honestly, she had thoroughly enjoyed her husband’s return to keep to that deal.
God, she had missed being the same scale of him. Still, his avatar’s face was still healing and while the avatar had been cleared to leave, the avatar wasn’t cleared for water-submersion for another two weeks, which was fine; Nathan could do a lot in the boat with Ian whilst she worked in the water.
She was pleased to know Colonel Harding still got a disciplinary for the damages done to the avatar. Apparently Mansk did not believe it was an accident due to Harding’s connections to the late Dr Alma Cortez and there was enough proof in an eye-witness to see that but nothing beyond that but it gave Nathan the right to transfer. Since the avatars were so expensive to make, the punishment of damage was high, even for accidents.
The new enforcement of the avatar tags still made plenty of drivers livid as fuck, herself included. It was almost like Selfridge was telling them to steal them and live in the wilds of Pandora for petty vengeance. Hell, she was actively planning to add their specialised tats onto them for future endeavours, should their… shadow employers demand their service.
The nearby SecOps guy, Garman on his uniform, looked up then to where the other one was fucking off to.
“Search for Quaritch, just for formalities really. This one is for Site 26.” Gesturing to the one being loaded up.
Ridley’s eyes flickered to it. Habitat engineers and Samson mechanics. General food supplies too and clearly a restock on top of it. “Something break?”
“Yeah, the air recycler conked out a few hours ago. Some idiot actually tried to duct tape it and it burned out. Almost caused a fire.” Garman shook his head in disbelief.
“What?!” her mother could have died in that tin-can out in the mountains. A fire in a pressurised pod in a toxic atmosphere, during a radiation storm! “Hot damn.” Her drawl came out harder than intended. “At least they made it through the storm.”
“God was looking out for them” Garman said, “Still, Selfridge is gonna blow a fuse when he hears about it.”
“Hopefully neither is us are there for that.” She bid him a farewell quickly, hurrying towards her room before she sat down at her desk and opened up the monitor. These weren’t ‘private’ as many would think but she was accustomed to knowing that but she had no intention to say anything that was important or interesting to the RDA to worry. She had other means for that.
Her hands hovered over the keyboard, lingering on her mother’s profile. Should she even open up a video call? Was she okay? Her fingers danced over the surface, not quite pressing down on the buttons.
Finally, Ridley decided, pressing down before the screen opened up, taking a second to adjust her camera as she waited, but only thirty seconds later did her monitor light up as the video call connected and opened up.
Ridley barely was able to stop herself from gasping.
Her mother was sat on the other side of the screen, clearly very tense as she was masked up but… it wasn’t that that surprised her but the fact she was so pale. While the light of the monitor did bounce off and reflect the screen in front of her but Ridley was still able to see what was not normal. Her mother’s eyes had shadows under her eyes that had a near purple tint, same with her lips. The paleness that shocked her was like looking after a gunshot victim and they were bleeding out. Her mother’s wavy hair even looked far more ginger in comparison to the normal auburn shade. Her eyes… they almost looked black.
But she knew immediately what she was looking at now.
“Ridley?” Mother looked genuinely surprised at her call, “What’s wrong?”
Ridley composed herself quickly. “I just heard what happened at your shack. I wanted to check in.” She stated, glad her voice was strong. “Are you and the others alright?”
Mother nodded, looking a little twitchy. “Yeah, Norm and Trudy are outside now its safe and the suns out. I was gonna go out and join them. It’ll be nice to stretch my legs.”
“They’ll be sending out a Samson to sort out the shack as soon as possible. Are you coming back on their return?”
“Not today, but do need to return tomorrow to run through some data with some of the other scientists.” Mother did look a little relieved to say that. Probably cooped up too much at the shack. Honestly, Ridley didn’t like the idea of that level of confinement, even without her mother’s… condition.
“How is your avatar?” Ridley opted to ask, “I heard you got lost after a thanator run-in.”
Mother’s lip curled up. “I got help. A passing Wanderer helped me.” Yet, the way she said it, felt like there was a story there and with how she smiled, there was definitely more to it. Na’vi would not often target Thanators unless a direct threat to them or their territory. Mother did not elaborate, though it was clear something pinged up on her screen before her eyes shifted to it. “But the avatar is well.”
“Selfridge has installed ankle tags onto avatars now. Be prepared should any of the suppliers that come may have one.” Not that it’d work well. The signals were gonna cut in and out and otherwise useless. Trackers can’t work around the flux.
Mother snorted. “<Thank you, but Selfridge is gonna learn why the tags are useless for mountain work very soon.>”
“I wonder how many people will try and get transferred to the mountain shacks by the end of the week.” She could imagine a few pissed off drivers would. Selfridge did have some levy with company property, which the avatars did fall under, but it was more of the social aspects that came with the tags that infuriated. “Good luck with that, ma.”
Her mother’s face softened, her head turning sharply. “I got to go. We can… talk later?”
Ridley considered it for a moment then nodded. “When you get back, yes.” Not through the monitored line.
-
Grace sat in the shade of the field lab, eyed narrow through the afternoon light that she honestly, did miss despite the draining effect it gave but she was so glad to be outside… and feel the pleasant breeze. Both Norm and Trudy were just lying next to one of the Dapophet trees basking in the light.
She felt mildly jealous that they’d get a dopamine release from that… but her thoughts always drifted to the horrid, dry parched sensation in her throat. Their heart beatings were sounding like temping drums against her ears and the warmth from their bodies…. All so enticing. Her fangs itched to bite… and she knew it would be a short-lived, but wonderful reward. The thought of the consequences was what was helping her hold back against those urges. Feeding from people when this thirsty without another vampire present, meant she had a higher risk to kill them. Another vampire would keep her in check.
Grace could hear the engines getting closer, but she was impatient. So close… and soon she’d be able to feed and relax. God, she missed being human. Drinking water and eating food… she missed that at times like this…
Finally, she caught sight of the Samson, standing up and hovered by the airlock, still as a statue as they got closer and closer. Trudy jumped up though seemed to pale a little at the Samson’s presence as it touched down and a four people stepped out, excluding the pilot. Grace licked her lips, glad to see two of the men pick up their repair kit and some of the supply boxes.
“Dr Augustine, can you show us the damage?” the lead engineer said, holding out one of the supply boxed to her to take, so she did though she recognised the medical scrawl that made her stomach settle in relief. Solis was really looking out for her. Oh, he definitely needed a raise.
Grace led them in, waiting through the airlock before showing them off to the space in question before she set down the supply box, which had her typical amount of disguised bloodbags for the week, but there was a small removable satchel inside the box.
For now. Don’t take risks with the mechanics.
Paz
She opened it up before she saw it, taking the whole thing before she hurried to the toilet and slammed the door after her, slamming the loo lid down to sit down and she pulled out one of the five the undecorated bags of blood and bit down straight away, not caring for the coldness as each sip and gulp smothered at the dryness of her throat….
-
Selfridge eyed the report in his hand, feeling some shred of relief that their work was actually getting somewhere. The photo of a link shack underneath a massive tree had been a hell of a lucky find. Finally proof, real proof that the defectors were still around and hadn’t fucked off to the other side of this money-making moon. It would take months, but sooner or later they were gonna get their defectors. But it seems the ones here hadn’t been at the site, no doubt because of the storm that had just passed, but were no doubt gonna be within the next couple of days once it’s ‘safe’.
He could wait another day to bring up moral on the fact that they had a defector in range.
“What’s the play, sir?”
“Set up an alarm and get a Samson parked close and on stand-by. When a defector goes there, tranq and bring them in.” Selfridge decided. “Have they gone in to know who lives there?”
“No, they don’t want to risk leaving too many signs of other people in the area. A SecOps member can recognise a tampered site better than a SciOps one. We don’t know which one it is.>”
“At least we know they’ve stolen one of their shacks, we can add a few more charges for theft of that scale, the shacks aren’t cheap. Start getting a team to add stolen shacks to their search parameters.” Selfridge added, pleased
“What do we do if they get aggressive?”
Selfridge barely spared a look up. “Tranqs unless they’re physically violent, then switch to lethal. They’ll be the ones attacking us after all. They’re the criminals we’re bringing to justice.” Quaritch would almost certainly agree with him on that. Assuming he was even alive, which Selfridge doubted. A sad loss on paper, but once the Samson finished their formal forest sweep for their human comrades and the downed Samson, he could make changes that were far better suited. Colonel Harding would probably fill Colonel Quaritch’s does quite well here. Walker can have her security gig once Harding was recalled, so that slot was filled smoothly.
-
Morgan chortled deeply, relived as he stepped into his own shack, dumping down the mask and opened up and took one of the iodine pills he had, just as precaution before he activated his monitor and radio hub.
“Sup, I’m home and RDA free!” He called through his radio, grinning.
There was a long pause, before the radio hub burst with noise.
“Everyone, cool it. One voice at a time!” Jake’s voice echoed the loudest. “Morgan, you good?”
“I’m very good! I’ve never been so pleased to have my gift of breath delayed! I’m so lucky!” he let out a huff.
“<How’d you get out of being followed by the RDA people?”
“I snuck out the cave by altering the times on the water clock back by two hours, so I have more time to slink out before they realised. I took an hour detour out of precaution and looped back to the shack. Which is empty. I assume you’re coming back late?”
“Some of us going to Hometree for the afternoon to socialise with the clan now that the storms over.” Jake said, “Honestly, we’re a looking forwards to waling about and no one wants to wake up to a newborn anymore.”
Ah, the baby. Morgan had forgotten about that.
“Are you really okay, Morgan?” Nadine’s voiced echoed.
Morgan’s eye twitched, jaw tensing. “I am well.” he opted to say, keeping his voice polite.
“Can we talk when we get back?”
Morgan huffed, not broadcasting that act before he brought the radio to his mouth. “Not yet. I’ve spend the last week with temperamental people and it’s been tense as fuck. I need to wind down from that first.” He wasn’t saying not just… not yet. He needed to unwind without an audience that wasn’t gonna try and intel gather from passing comments. “Now, I’m not gonna stick to the radio for long. I’m gonna clear up the camp and get some good fresh food on the go.”
“We have chili and peppers,” Nadine offered, “They’re in out airlock if you want some.”
Morgan’s head turned a fraction. More had finished growing? Hell yeah.
“Thank you, Sargent Reza.” He finished, to make a point.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Some things were never meant to leave Earth…. or be known about. Let alone being introduced to a whole new world, new life and a species called the Na'vi that probably didn't understand that there were worst things that came from Earth than Humans with technology.
-
Jake knows the Earth was a harsh place, well aware of the dangers it had and the monsters it had as well. No one cared, nothing would matter and….so what. If they thought of him of nothing, then why not take himself, his avatar and his friend and fuck off into the wilderness of pandora. If he can screw over the RDA and its resident parasites, then bonus points.
Grace isn't thrilled.
Chapter 94 snippet
Trudy honestly wasn’t sure if they were gonna make it through the week and the last couple of days, things were tense inside the shack, her beloved boyfriend was clearly oblivious about it and why would he notice? But Grace’s eyes always tracked them when she wasn’t in her avatar, which in the last week had been entirely what the vampire was doing; spending as little time in her native body as possible to escape the reality of her nature.
Grace’s food ran out three days ago. From Trudy’s observation, normally, Grace was good for two days before she cracked another bag open but the last day was pushing it. Trudy wasn’t sure about her biology on how she burned through blood so quickly but right now… the only blood bags in range was her and Norm and she wasn’t about that.
Trudy had found a smudge of garlic in the back of their dry food storage, outdated and dry and stuck that in their rations when she made food which had certain made their doc wrinkle her nose and keep a distance but the woman was still watching them and it made her skin crawl because she was looking at them like they were something to eat. An awful reminder that they were part of a food chain and not on top.
Few more au designs since there's no plot ideas with these two for now in my head
BIRD'S NEST ROY – one of the wind traders, addicted. Collects all sorts of garbage, including human lost things. Maybe even stuff from dead avatars. Wind traders clan (Tlalim) is friendly with RDA, but their movements are controlled by them (with help of Mangkwan, in particular, thanks to Evrart).
SMOKER ON THE BALCONY – a forest na'vi. Harry and Kim asked him for more info about the creature they need to investigate. But this guy doesn't want to talk about this. Is he afraid of smth? His clan isn't really friendly to RDA to share its secrets, but he definitely has something important to say. Maybe they should meet him later?
Getting Etuwa back to Hometree had been the hardest thing to do, the Tsahìk practically strapped to her, So’lek had used some hide to secure her to her frame to avoid her slipping off Katir as the woman was in and out of consciousness with the pain she was in. But Katir’s wings were fast, responding to her urgency to get to Hometree and she could see it get closer and closer.
She was glad So’lek had gotten there first, she could see people in the air approaching and no doubt healers to receive Etuwa as soon as they touched down.
“<We’re almost there, Etuwa!>” She called back to the Tsahìk.
The Ikrans in the air flew and changed direction to follow her on either side though she couldn’t see the twos expression, she got the feeling they were angry… which did not give her a good feeling as they descended down.
Etuwa groaned softly, her breath hot against her spine.
Soon enough, Katir touched down and almost immediately, they were being swamped by hands trying to tug at Etuwa to pull her off. Katir hissed out, flapping her wings to force a majority away. Tamtey hurriedly unbound Etuwa from her and watched as two warriors pulled her from her back though Tamtey considered jumping off, her gut told her to stay on. Ongwi was there, but his spear was out, pointed directly at her, as if she was an enemy.
Where was So’lek?
Ka’nat seemed to finally make an appearance through the growing crowed of hunters and weavers and spinners, pushing through as Kayì moved to Etuwa’s side to assess her wounds with a sharp, expert gaze. But, it was Ka’nat’s expression that Tamtey locked on. Fury.
“<You did this.>” he said, taking in his daughter’s injuries and glared up to her, which made Tamtey grip her Katir’s harness harder. “<You make her go.>”
“<Father, stop.>”
Tamtey wetted her lip with her tongue but she finally saw him, in the air. Ìley. Ka’nat made a cutting hand gesture before Tamtey made her decision, Ongwi swung his spear toward her but contact never happened as Katir took off into the air, pushing the armed warriors away and immediately made into the air and towards Ìley; to safety.
To So’lek.
Her heart began to race as a part of her began to process the fact that Ka’nat had ordered that to happen. To stab her? Because Etuwa got hurt? Katir hissed out against the wash of emotions, drawing her from mulling but thankfully, So’lek drew up beside her, leading her away towards Dyer’s bowl. Her hands shook on the harness.
She heard So’lek distantly through the wind talk on this radio, distantly reminding her that her own radio was still off but she didn’t have the energy to turn it on… but she felt a shred of relief to reach Dyers bowl, where she could see Alma and her family milling about the front area, her Sarentu friends too. All waiting for her. They were soon spotted, Ri’nela waving up to them. Her heart settled a fraction, slipping off Katir’s back the moment she was down before she threw her arms around Ri’nela.
“Oh.. Tamtey?” Ri’nela, surprised did hug her back, patting her spine with caution.
Tamtey held it together, not yet willing to let herself cry but… Ri’nela was so nice and warm. Comfort.
“What happened?” Alma asked, her tone careful and cautious.
So’lek sighed deeply, displeased. “<Ka’nat blames us for Etuwa’s injuries at the RDA base and almost had Tamtey attacked for it.>” He was more reluctant to say that but he knew it was important. The risks that those actions now had for them here. If Ka’nat was willing to do that then… what else was he willing to do?
“What?!” Alma echoed shocked, but nor was she the only one ad Tsengì seemed to shadow her with a higher amount of outrage.
“<Oh, the pompous assholes!” Tsengì continued.
Tamtey pulled away, letting Ri’nela spare her a look to see she truly was fine. She was unharmed, even after everything that had happened today.
“<For now, we’ll keep away from the Aranahe.>” So’lek said, “<There is still a lot we can do. The Kinglor are safe and now in a state of recovery so the Aranahe will also be busy.>”
“<Are we at risk staying here?>” Nor asked, his arms folded across his chest.
“<No.>” So’lek said, “<Etuwa is still Tsahìk of her clan. She will ensure our safety on the matter. I heard her shout at her father as we fled Ikran’s landing.>”
“Let’s not, Nor.” Ri’nela said to Nor, as he opened his mouth to argue. Honestly, Tamtey didn’t want another fight and listen to his complaining. Yes, there was risk but she knew Etuwa would never agree to them being harmed, especially when they were helping the clan. Still, she needed a few days to… process. It was all a lot and the RDA base wasn’t easy to take down, even with So’lek helping her.
“<Can we eat? I’m hungry.>” Tamtey said. “<Been a long freaking day>”
“<Certainly.>” Ri’nela patted her shoulder and led the way towards their hammocks.
-
“<Any news?>”
Alma’s head turned, expression softening as she saw Mäzan head into HQ, still with his carving knife and wooden decorations in his hands. “<From the Aranahe? No.>” It had been a few hours since Tamtey had come back and it was almost evening. She too had expected someone to show their face on behalf of Etuwa but there was nothing. No one. Perhaps they were simply waiting for Etuwa to be healed enough to properly talk and discuss?
Either way, Tamtey was back, the Aranahe was helped and the clan itself was healing. The kids probably would still be able to visit the outwards camps for education or trading but she’ll ask Mäzan to make his appearances to ask to avoid the Sarentu getting in those crosshairs should the clan be more hostile.
Mäzan’s brow pulled in, humming with a low level of displeasure. “<Ka’nat is not an open minded Olo’eyktan if he’s not sent an envoy to talk about what almost happened>.” He drifted closer, arm slipping to remove the sleeping toddler from her back, since Nanu had dropped off to sleep a while back and honestly, it was the most peace she was getting whilst she worked so she hadn’t put him down. Little breaths from the gaps in the mask vanished from her shoulder and her back straightened a little as Nanu was shifted to rest against his father’s chest. His little eyes opening for a moment before closing again.
“<Has Nanu eaten?>”
“<Tsengì gave him a steamed honey bun and chewy beans an hour ago.>” So his belly was full. A very clingy day.
Mäzan moved, peering at the back of her neck before wiping away crumbs she hadn’t noticed. “<I’ll put him to bed with Kapey for the night. Tsengì’s got her hammock up so that’s good. She’ll watch the two for the first few hours.>”
Alma’s head cocked curiously.
“<I noticed the upgrade to your shack door. I’ll come to you tonight.>”
“<I’m not prepped>” Alma said, her tail swishing a little. Sure, the upgrade happened from shit they took from the RDA site so he’d be able to access the airlock and crawl into the shack but… she had not planned to have full out sex as a human with him at the moment. She was no way prepared and she wasn’t comfortable trying to sit on his tools just yet without preparation.
Mäzan simply nodded. “<I know. I will not think of doing anything that would harm you. I’ve got a few ideas but we’ll discuss those privately later. Nothing has to happen tonight.>”
Alma’s shoulders relaxed, nodding. “Okay.”
Mäzan’s gaze turned down, smiling at Nanu’s sleeping face. “Tomorrow, I plan to fly to the Frayed Rapids, there’s a cluster of stone pillars I want to see. I have… an idea that could help bridge the Sarentu away from human influence more naturally if we set a separate camp in the cave systems. Close to visit us but far enough for growth. I know one lives higher up but I need to see it is deep enough for turning into a camp.”
“The others will need Ikrans.” Alma said, seeing one major flaw in the plan that didn’t involve Tsengì, Tamtey or her husband using their Ikrans for the trip at all times..
“Once Ka’nat is… more open minded of the matter of reason, we can shame him into allowing the Sarentu access to the rookery.” Mäzan said, fairly confident. “Ri’nela and Nor will no doubt jump at the chance. Teylan will need more time but the other three will help him if he agrees to follow.”
“What will we jump at the chance for?”
Both Alma and Mäzan turned to see Ri’nela hovering a few meters away, yellow eyes flickering between them, and briefly down to the sleeping tot then back to Alma. Alma gave her husband the nod, after all it was his idea.
“<An Ikran.>” Mäzan moved rocking Nanu a little as he took a few steps towards the younger woman, “There is a cave system just south of here in the stone pillars. I want to consider an outward camp for you Sarentu to grow into. But it’s only assessable by air.”
Ri’nela’s uncertain expression softened out, looking genuinely pleased. “<Nor would love that.>”
“<It’s a good middle ground for you.>” Alma said, feeling a little apprehensive but she knew where that came from.
“<Talk to the others later, we can visit tomorrow and start making arrangements.>”
“<Will you take the boys?>” Alma asked.
“<No, Nanu’s too much of a wanderer at the moment.>”
“Very well.” She had the idea of having a human-day, she was starting to feel extra tired now so letting her avatar rest for longer periods was wise, but she could postpone that until Mäzan was back. Nanu may probably stay stuck to her back or maybe get him playing with blocks whilst she worked. Anqa had only recently finished the haul from the RDA base so most of that had to be inventoried and moved to the field labs for space once they sorted out what they needed and where they could store the goods. They still needed more people to defect, which was it’s own problem but a later concern.
She probably should get Anqa to run loads to their storage cave in the Clouded Forest once they hit capacity here. Kapey could stay with Tsengì, if the teen was willing. They could spend time out gathering some food goods and Alma only had to worry about Nanu from getting into shit than two kids getting into shit.
Mäzan continued to talk, leading Ri’nela out with him in the process.
-
Alma had almost dropped off to sleep by the time she heard the airlock go, barely moving as her tired brain began to process before cracking open an eye and watching as the airlock door open and… her husband’s giant form pushed through, cracking his head a little on the way before he crawled straight to her bedside and set his giant head in the space beside her.
“<Evening.>” He said, grinning.
Alma sighed deeply, wiggling a little closer before stretching out a hand and patted his cheek. “<You took a while.>”
“<Kapey escaped after you unlinked and tried to get into your Dreamwalker’s hammock. Nanu woke up and thought it was a game he was getting left out of… it was a whole thing.>” Mäzan sighed, his breath washing over before he remembered he needed his mask and lent over to grab it from the hook, where they always were. “<Tsengì thought it was hilarious and watched me struggle.>”
Alma snorted, unsurprised. Tsengì liked witnessing innocent Chaos.
His hand reached forwards, gently tugging her closer to the edge, so she went willingly with some mirth on the matter. He was too big to be on her bed. His hand settled on her side, settling to rest on his hip in the darkness.
“<Want me to put the lights on?>”
“<No, I can see you fine in this.>” Mäzan said, “<I do enjoy the fact you’re a blind in the dark. Like you’re wearing a blindfold but I can see everything.>”
Alma chuckled, moving to roll onto her back, letting his hand settle on her chest… and gave a good feel if he wants. There was a long pause though her eyes followed his tanhì in the dark, she could see he was thinking about something.
“Sex talk or… did you have another start up topic?”
“<I… want to discuss about telling your past with them.”
Alma huffed, pushing his hand of her chest, this was not a sort of talk that needed her being felt up-during it. “<You think now is a good time?>” Her heart fluttered a bit faster. She knew Mäzan had wanted to wait and see before he’d encourage her to tell but… it all felt so soon!
There was another long moment of dreadful quiet. “<It’s not as simple as I had hoped.>” Mäzan finally settled on. “Ri’nela and Tamtey are more active and would be very vocal about it and very upset. Nothing unexpected… but I don’t think they’d be dangerous. Teylan certainly wouldn’t but he’d be the quietest and would be more likely to withdraw.>” Mäzan hesitated. “<Nor is the one who is the most dangerous and most likely to take revenge if we tell them now.>”
Alma’s heart sunk. Her hands came to his, squeezing tightly. “<You think he’ll hurt me?>”
“<Yes.>”
Alma inhaled shallowly.
“From what Tsengì said, he’s already displaying worrying purity-beliefs and being disrespectful towards other people who do not share his perspective or opinions. His lack of respect towards me is one thing but he appears to judging So’lek and Tamtey for handling human weapons and technology.” Mäzan let out a frustrated breath. “I cannot teach him as he’ll lash out at me for choosing you as my mate. He is blind to so much.>”
Alma moved till she was practically off the bed and kissed his forehead with a heavy heart. “<We can’t just tell Ri’nela or Tamtey, can we?>”
“<I don’t know. We could… propose a hypothetical question without specifying names of someone in the Resistance knowing of their past to both Ri’nela and Tamtey specifically. They’re the most mature two of the four of them who would handle the truth without risk to you or our family. Let them come to their own conclusions until we know Nor is in a good mental state to not target either of your forms.>”
Alma swallowed thickly. Truly a difficult situation. Before they knew about the pregnancy, they had only considered her avatar was at a significant risk in comparison to her human form, but with the baby, the loss of her avatar prematurely also meant her child would die with it if Nor learned and took revenge. It wasn’t safe, even if they deserved to know.
“Should we discuss contingency plans?” Alma asked quietly.
“<Not tonight. But that is where we’re at in terms of my current assessments of the kids. I want to possibly open up further talks with So’lek on the matter without specifying names too, so he’s aware enough and to keep track of Nor’s behaviour.>” His large hand tugged her from the bed, encouraging her to settle on his chest as he made himself more comfortable, stealing her pillows for himself. Alma rested head down, hearing the thundering beats of his heart through his chest. His hands settled on her back and legs like a warm, blanket. A blanket of flesh but not as creepy.
An idea came to mind. “Why… why don’t you tell Nor about Toruk Makto? He was chosen by Eywa to fight for the people. A Dreamwalker, who betrayed his clan and grained their trust to turn against the RDA. It is one thing to conform to Eywa but another to be picky-about it. Jake uses weapons, as do the Omatikaya but they undergo metal cleansing rituals after their fights.” She suggested after a moment, “<If Nor is so focused on Na’vi’s purity and devotion to Eywa, he needs to see it is not black and white. Na’vi will use metal to save their life and tend to their spirits when the fight has stopped. Eywa chose a Dreamwalker, a human to fight the sky people. He cannot pick and choose against Eywa’s chosen ones to fit his ideals. It’s not that simple.”
Mäzan shifted under her, humming softly which echoed right up her ear.
“<That is not a bad idea. Although, what you did and what Jake did are not the same.>”
“<No, but harm was still made against the Na’vi people.>” just different degrees in response to human selfishness. A Hometree, whilst a devastating loss, was replaceable. A clan was not. She knew her differences with what her and Jake did were too vast for comparison. He made a mistake and acted too late to stop it. He may have founds ways to make it up to the clan, but she never could. She had to live with that.
She closed her eyes, settling to listen to his heart for a few minutes to stave off the previous conversation. “<I know you’re not staying all night, Tsengì won’t be pleased and I really don’t need is to wake up with your erection between my thighs and you snoring away.>” It would be an obstacle course trying to get off him without waking him up. He took up her floor and he was so long she’d struggle on a good day. His tail often lay flat.
Mäzan snorted a little, one hand sliding purposely down towards her ass, one finger traced her crack and rested a hand at the back of her thigh, near touching her there. “I do want to discuss options of what we can do like this, my love.” Patting her spine with the other hand. “My hands and mouth can pleasure you well so that side is taken care of without harm. But I want us to have mutual pleasure.>”
So, what could she do to help him, was by essence his ponder. “I can still give you hand jobs, just with both hands. I can’t give you a blowy either.” Her jaw didn’t slack that hard. “But I can still give you blow jobs in my Dreamwalker so that’s still safe sex.” Which was something. She’s miss being intermate in him in that body but again, still a lot of options.
Mäzan hummed, considering that. “I would still like that, even with my imposed rule. It’s not at risk to our child.” He paused, “In this form, I can use the gap between your two thighs to stimulate me without penetration.”
“Sure, with some lube to glide.” Alma agreed because it did sound like a good compromise, just meant she’d have to have a longer shower in the morning. She craned her head up, pondering an idle thought she had earlier. “Ever curious about pegging?” Na’vi men did have a prostate. He’s still find pleasure in that.
Mäzan’s head tilted down. “I know you ruled out anal sex for yourself, with obvious reasons.>” Yep. She had because if she could barely take him down the shorter route as a human, she’d suffer dearly trying to take him up the second one. “I suppose… we could experiment. I haven’t been on the receiving end of that so… mayhap I will enjoy it? Maybe not.”
“I’ve got toys I can use for that… unless you want to carve yourself a suitable size and we’ll go from there.” Alma yawned, kissing his chest before pushing herself up to sit up on his belly, hands pressed against his chest to keep herself stable, his hands moving from her back and legs to allow her to move, watching her in the darkness still.
“<Can you at least sit on my face for a bit before I go?>” He asked, tone ever so hopeful in the dark. “<I miss your sounds>”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
What if Alma had had a chance to meet someone following the RDA's expulsion from pandora? Like Jake or Norm, someone she fell in love with and over the following 16 years, birthed healthy children via her avatar and lived a full life..
Until her past comes back as Priya picks up a signal from TAP and the Sarentu are welcomed to the resistance, not only coming to terms with their freedom but the new Na'vi kids around base.
Chapter 16 snippet
Getting Etuwa back to Hometree had been the hardest thing to do, the Tsahìk practically strapped to her, So’lek had used some hide to secure her to her frame to avoid her slipping off Katir as the woman was in and out of consciousness with the pain she was in. But Katir’s wings were fast, responding to her urgency to get to Hometree and she could see it get closer and closer.
She was glad So’lek had gotten there first, she could see people in the air approaching and no doubt healers to receive Etuwa as soon as they touched down.
“<We’re almost there, Etuwa!>” She called back to the Tsahìk.
The Ikrans in the air flew and changed direction to follow her on either side though she couldn’t see the twos expression, she got the feeling they were angry… which did not give her a good feeling as they descended down.
Etuwa groaned softly, her breath hot against her spine.
