Chapter Text
Earth was dying and the only solution to save humanity was to relocate the inhabitants. They found a planet similar to Earth, which was „only“ five years away and had the name Pandora. However, not everything went as initially hoped. As the people have always been, they did everything in their power to take over the planet and did not stop at doing so with violence. Thus it came to a war between the humans, who were also called sky people, and the natives of Pandora, the Na'vi. Many living beings had to die during the conflict. There were many losses on both sides. Still, the humans did not understand that they were the ones in the wrong.
Jake Sully a former human and now Na'vi led the natives of the planet as the Toruk Makto to victory and forced the humans to return to their home planet. Only a few humans were allowed to stay. They were the peaceful ones among the monsters. They only wanted to explore further the nature and the ways of life and not to destroy. Furthermore, those who were still too young or too weak to return to Earth were allowed to stay. Among these people were Spider and Y/N. They were both too young at the time. The chances of survival to send them back to earth were very low. So they were allowed to stay, but only under the condition to live peacefully with the inhabitants of Pandora and to take only what they needed to survive and no more.
Y/N grew up together with Spider, whose real name was Miles, in the remains of Hell's Gate. The scientists still living there, like Norm, then took on the parental role of the two and taught them everything - at least what they had already researched. It was exhausting for everyone on site, since no one was prepared to babysit for life and they were actually here for a completely different reason. Nonetheless, they all took loving care of the two children and made it possible for them to have a reasonably safe childhood. Everything was safe in the lab, but what happened outside in the wilds of Pandora they were not able to prepare them for, which is why Norm asked his old friend Jake for help.
Jake now had a family of his own, and the children he had with Neytiri were the same age as the two human children. And to do a favor to his friend, Jake allowed the children to stay with him to teach them how to survive in the woods. He kept referring to them as stray cats that would drop by every now and then and then wander off again. They played and romped with the young Sully's and a friendship quickly developed between all of them. Neytiri was not amused by the whole situation, she wanted the humans to finally leave their home planet, because they knew nothing but greed and destruction. Jake tried to calm her down by telling her that he would make sure that this would never happen again and that he would make sure that the bond between them would not be too strong.
Over the years, however, the bond between the two species grew closer and closer, and Y/N and Spider became something like "pseudo Na'vi," as Mary, another scientist, called them.
They learned some of the customs of the Omatikaya, how to hunt and defend themselves, how to make weapons and jewelry, and also what herbs could be made into medicine.
The young Y/N's favorite topic, however, was the flora and fauna of Pandora's forests. She also enjoyed adventures with the Sully children and Miles, but preferred the quiet of the forest. She is the complete opposite of Spider, while she roamed inquisitively, he preferred to create chaos together with Lo'ak.
Kiri and Y/N had a special friendship. They would often talk for hours about whatever was on their minds. About things from the human world, which Kiri wanted to know more about because of her mother Grace and about the Na'vi world, if Y/N wanted to know more about the All-Mother Eywa or had problems with the language again. The other Omatikaya also became more open to her over time. They trusted each other because she had proven that she was not like the other Sky People and was respectful of their culture.
Another favorite activity of hers is to do a little something with Tuk. She was like a little sister to her, even though they were both the same height. No matter if they played together or were looking for beautiful stones and crystals in the rivers to make beads out of them later. It was always fun.
The young woman was of a relaxed nature and loved to listen to what other people had to tell her. But today she had once again been persuaded to go on another suicide mission with Lo'ak and Spider. For pure safety reasons, Neteyam, Jake's oldest son, also came along today, so that no one would get into trouble and no one would really die.
Spider and her both put on their masks and turned on their exopacks at their hips. They told Norm goodbye and that they would both be home for dinner. She gave her foster father one last hug goodbye and said, "I'll watch Spider. Don't worry he'll be back home in one piece." Norm could only laugh at this comment and looked at the boy in the doorway, who already had a slightly impatient expression on his face. He patted them both affectionately on the back and then flipped the switch to the gate to the outside.
Today's plan was to go to the Hallelujah Mountains to fly with the Ikrans to an old Sky People base. This place was off limits according to Jake, of course, but as Lo'ak used to say, "He's just exaggerating," and who wanted to listen to Jake anyway? Lo'ak and Spider at least didn't, but Neteyam did, which is why he decided to come along.
It took a while for the two to fight their way through the embankment and arrive at the Omatikaya's hometree. There Lo'ak already welcomed them. " Well there you are at last. I've been waiting for you guys for ages" He pushed his way between the two as they walked and put his arms around their shoulders. "Neteyam, the buzzkill is already waiting at the other end. Come!" With that, he let go of the two of them and ran ahead to his older brother. When Nete appeared in their field of vision, she waved at him and called his name. "Nete, hey!" He turned in the direction from where the voice rang out and started smiling right away, running towards her to wrap her in his arms. The two of them had a special relationship too.
She pressed her head against his stomach as they hugged. Nete then understood her gesture and hugged her tighter. "I missed you too, even though we just saw each other yesterday," he murmured softly so his other friends wouldn't hear what he said to her. However, the scene was not spared from the comments of the two skxawngs. "Find a hut!" "No one can stand to watch this!"
Y/N shot back in response. "At least I have something going on and don't stare at the people I like from afar because I'm too shy to approach them" The statement went straight to the ego of the two. Miles pressed his lips together in a thin line and Lo'ak stood with his eyes lowered to the ground, stroking the back of his head with his hand in shame.
Even though the comment wasn't directly aimed at Neteyam, his body still stiffened and his ears automatically laid back. He suddenly felt warm as Y/N let go of him and looked up at him with a sly smile. He also let out a small laugh and asked the others, "Do you want to go now? Or are you guys just going to stand here stupid all day?"
The boys regained their composure and set off to finally get going. On the way to the mountains, they passed a river that they had to cross. The river itself was relatively deep but there were enough stones in the water to cross it safely. Nevertheless, Neteyam was worried about Y/N. And offered her to carry her. She reassured him, however, and instead took his finger in her hand to signal to him that she took his concern for her seriously. Because of the size difference, his hand was at least twotimes bigger than hers and she could barely get her hand around it to really hold on, so she always closed her hand around one of his long fingers. He liked the size difference, he thought it was almost cute that he could just carry her around all the time like Tuktirey. She's almost as tall as a small Na'vi child. Lo'ak also liked to take advantage of this difference, abusing Y/N's head as an arm rest when they stood side by side. Nete, on the other hand, did not like this at all and whenever he noticed his little brother resting his arm on her again, he said that it was humiliating and that he should stop. However, Lo'ak did not listen to his brother and he had to experience the consequence on his own body, when Neteyam hit him on the back of the head.
Since it was the first time for her to go to the Hallelujah Mountains, she was often distracted by new plants she had never seen before. She stopped one more time to observe a huge flower that had large pinkish purple leaves and in its center, what looked like small turquoise feelers that moved on their own. The feelers also seemed to sense her presence and were now moving in her direction. Y/N knelt on the ground and the first thought that crossed her mind was to reach out to the plant. The small antennae-like formations immediately wrapped themselves around her hand. It tickled and she began to giggle. She was mesmerized again, for what she had heard from Norm, there were no such plants on earth that seemed to have a mind of their own.
She pulled her hand back to herself and reached directly into her satchel and pulled out a small black notebook in which she entered all of her new discoveries. It was a birthday present from Max for her last birthday.
As if in her own world, she didn't even notice that the others had already run ahead and were almost out of sight. Spider and Lo'ak had already reached the end of the forest and the cliffs where the roots grew that served as a connection to the mountains. Only Neteyam noticed that one person from the small group was missing. He stopped abruptly when he noticed this and turned in all directions to catch sight of the small human somewhere. When he saw the bordeaux shirt among the flowers, he immediately knew what was going on. Y/N had once again been distracted by her curiosity. He walked back a little bit. She didn't notice him until his huge shadow fell in over her. "Why did I know I'd probably find you here?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest. She turned to face him, squinting her eyes as the sun blinded her. "You know me all too well, don't you? You can go on back to the others. I'll be done here in a minute, you don't have to wait."
The young Na'vi refused to be talked into it, because after all, Y/N was important to him, and besides, his father would skin him alive if he didn't bring her back to Norm. Nete knew she was a strong fighter for a human, but still she is a human and weaker and smaller than most animals in the woods.
And if he is honest with himself, he is in a way interested in what she wrote down in her little book and what else she had to say about her new discovery. He liked to watch her eyes grow and sparkle when she learned something new or when he and his siblings told her a story.
And her smile, which always danced on her lips, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Even more breathtaking than the sky mountains, even more beautiful than the luminous plants at night, and even more enchanting than Vitraya Ramunong, the tree of souls he had once seen at a ceremony.
Sometimes he wondered if she found him as fascinating. He was, after all, a Na'vi, an inhabitant of Pandora. Exactly what she loved to learn about. Moreover, she also saw him as his own person. Not, like all the others as Neteyam, the son of the great Toruk Makto, the next Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya, the oldest Sully boy, the great warrior who killed a sturmbeest with one shot during his first great hunt. No, she saw in him the loyal, cautious and thoughtful young man who always put his own feelings and needs second, preferring to take care of his family. Not like his father, who saw him as a soldier, as the golden, perfect son. The way Jake wanted him to be. She was the first person to ask him how he was doing when he was having a bad day and if he wanted to talk about it. She was always so accommodating to him. He didn't know why such a wonderful person would bother to make time for him. Y/N was a perfect creature in his eyes. How could anyone not like her? When he laid in his bed at night, he thanked Eywa over and over again for letting him get to know her. And when he thought about her in his sleepless nights, sometimes the thought crossed his mind if he liked her more than just a friend. But he always banished this thought quickly. Y/N was not a Na'vi like him and he was not human, that would never be a good match. Spider was a human, her and him would fit together perfectly.
His own thought alone made him angry, almost jealous. Just like now, when he was just thinking about it again.
His face contorted and he furrowed his eyebrows. Only Y/N's voice and her waving hand in front of his body pulled him out of his imaginations. "What's the matter with you? Is everything okay?" There it was again. The little questions about how he was doing. He just shook his head to get out of the trance and reached out his hand to help her up.
"Come on, let's go," he replied as the human girl pulled herself together. She didn't understand why he suddenly radiated such a strange aura. Just a few seconds before everything was fine and now he was acting like he was possessed by something. Y/N thought that maybe he was just annoyed, after all he had surely imagined his day differently. Neteyam walked with long steps in front of Y/N, so that she could hardly follow and had to walk three steps faster to keep up. Arriving at the roots, they continued on their way. While Miles and Lo'ak jumped like small children from root to root and hardly paid attention to the fact that they could possibly fall several miles into the depth or into their death.
Y/N, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment to even set foot on the moss-covered root. Maybe it was not such a good idea to come along. Would it have been better to stay with the clan? And rather to help Kiri with whatever she was doing? What would happen if she slipped? She would hardly survive it and dying was clearly not an option for her at her young age. Y/N didn't know what else to think, but a big hand on her shoulder grounded her back into the here and now.
"I'm going to stay behind you. You don't have to be afraid. Go real slow" Nete reassured her. "Thank you, thank you for alwasy helping me" Y/N cheeks were blushing now too just like Neteyam earlier when they hugged. The Na'vi in front of her interpreted this as just a sign of nervousness and excitement, it was her first time balancing at such a height without a ground under her. Slowly but surely she put her foot down. She took few steps and quickly realized that she didn't need to be afraid. The moss was relatively dry, as it hadn't rained in days. In addition, the wooden root seemed larger than she first thought.
She turned to her friend and smiled at him. "It's not as bad as I thought!" The other two boys stopped from a distance and called over. " Come on, now. The Ikrans are already waiting for us!" Neteyam walked right behind her, for once taking small steps to make sure she put one foot in front of the other safely. He was sure that she would make it without him, but the red discoloration on her face and the beads of sweat that slowly formed under her mask made him kinda worry.
Arrived at the mountains now began another hurdle. The climbing. She was not a newcomer to the subject but the path just now had already taken some of her strength. Lo'ak and his big brother jumped up with ease and grabbed hold of the stone outcroppings. Miles was still waiting below with Y/N. "Come on I'll help you up" he said, crouching down and carefully stretching his arms out in front of him with his hands on top of each other. He helped her with the robber ladder to get a good head start. She put her foot in his hand and with momentum Miles went up from his knees and Y/N grabbed hold of the nearest rock.
Finally reaching the top, the small group was already a little out of breath. This didn't last long because the Irkans started to screech when they noticed the presence in their territory. Y/N was startled, it was not new for her to see Ikrans up close, but so many at once and then in their territory? That was a little scary at first. She didn't know how they would react if she kept moving, but as she looked to her foster brother who kept walking in a crouched state, Y/N did too. If Miles didn't need to be afraid as a human, neither did she. Rising to her feet, she only now noticed the remarkable view.
It was a totally different perspective of Pandora. From here, you could see the whole planet. You could even see one end of the forest and the beginning of the sea. It was simply breathtaking and she regretted not taking her camera with her.
The Ikrans themselves were a stunning view from up close. It was colorful and noisy. A completely different world.
The two brothers called for their Ikrans with a very specific call that has been used by the natives for centuries. The brightly colored animals flew towards them at full speed, slowing down only when their claws began to touch the ground. Lo'ak was the first to walk up to his Ikran and stroke it over its head. He connected with his braid to the Ikran and straddled it. Spider followed as the boy with the shorter braids extended his hand to him. Neteyam followed next and greeted it as well with a touch to its neck. Then he mounted his beastly companion and petted him one more time.
Y/N followed him and climbed on the huge winged creature. They flew over the vast expanses of nature for some time until an a tiny building could be spotted from far away. It was an old camp of the Sky People, which had already fallen down over the years and due to the war. The group landed and immediately jumped off to explore the area. Miles and Y/N now saw another extent of the greed and destruction of their own species. The young woman's stomach churned at the sight and she felt like she was about to throw up. She could never have imagined what this place must have looked like a decade ago. She was ashamed of her kind. Was it so hard not to destroy what was not theirs? Couldn't they have approached the matter more diplomatically? Most of all, she felt sorry for the natives - what terrible things they had to endure. They lived here in peace and then came the horrors in spaceships. A tear ran down her cheek at the thought.
`Teyam went into the old shattered metal building first, through a broken window, to make sure there were no dangers inside. He then burst open the door from the inside and let the three others in. Lo'ak and the human boy were intrigued in the things left here. In the building there were still old plans left by the humans, strategically showing how it was simplest to drive out the natives and cut down the forests to get to the precious goods under the soil. Theses things were probably lying around there just as they had been 15 years ago. The older Na'vi was not interested in that, so he stood at the door and watched the scenery in front of him. Y/N only got worse the rest of the time. She felt the pure pain. The pain of the fallen and breathing even under the mask was difficult for her. "I-I have to get out of here," she said in an irritated tone and sped forward to the entrance. Miles turned to her and looked at her with a confused look, but she didn't notice and continued to run outside.
Nete watched her come out of the building. "Are you all right?" He raised his hand to try to touch her, but she just turned away from him. "Yeah yeah, I just need to get out of here for a minute, this is all too much for me."
He noticed that she didn't let herself be diverted from her plans, and he let her off on her own. "Don't run so far away, though, will you? We don't know if there are any dangerous animals around.“ Her head went on autopilot and she ran and ran and ran. Y/N didn't even pay attention to how far away she was from the abandoned camp. She decided to stop after another two minutes of running. She put her hands together behind her head and let out a long tearful sigh.
She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. She wanted to deny it, but the evidence was right in front of her. It was just like the stories Norm and Jake told her, but personally seeing the aftermath only made the tales worse. When she came back down, she decided to go back, but something was different. She didn't even know exactly where she was at first. She just went into the depths of the forest without paying attention to anything.
And then there was this loud cracking sound. Her whole body froze. She hoped it was just the others checking on her. But her hope was quickly shattered when she saw that it was not her friends, but a large black creature. A thanator. One of the most dangerous predators in the Pandoran wilderness. She wanted to scream, but couldn't and her body decided to flee. Y/N started running through the embankment, over rocks and roots sticking out of the ground. Fortunately, she did not fall, so she only ran faster. As far as her feet could carry her.
In her life-and-death run, she spotted a hollowed-out tree trunk that offered a possible hiding place. She changed direction and ran to it, crawling into one of the openings.
Her heart was beating like crazy in her chest. Supposedly safe in her hiding place, she tried to catch her breath and regulate it so she wouldn't give herself away to the Predator.
She heard the loud footsteps circling her and prayed to Eywa to spare her, but it was probably too late for that. She clearly should have stayed home.
The footsteps grew quieter to the point where they could no longer be heard at all. Y/N thought the thanator had lost her trail and was now looking for a new victim. But this was not the case, as she thought the area was clear, she crawled to the opening and stuck her head out to make sure. Suddenly a claw came at her from above with and almost caught her. In the last second she could pull her head back.
Now she was trapped. No one else was near her and calling for help would probably only make the animal more aggressive. The claw now struck another time and broke through the tree trunk. Splinters fell in all directions and Y/N didn't know what to do. She had to look death in the eye. On all fours she now scrambled in the other direction to escape as fast as possible. Just when she managed to flee from her prison and was standing on her two feet again, the thanator lunged again and caught her with its claws on her back. She cried out loudly in pain and fell to the ground with a jolt. Something in her body, in her head, however, told her that it wasn't time to give up yet. Despite the pain and the blood running down her back, she ran. The most important thing was to get out of here.
She ran, hoping to arrive at the old base. After some time, she spotted the building and screamed for her life. Neteyam saw Y/N sprinting in his direction and the next thing he noticed was a Thanator chasing her. "Inside, Nete run inside and hide!" she screamed one more time. As she crossed the threshold, her legs gave way as well and she crawled under a table with the others. Neteyam quickly locked the door, but forgot about the broken window through which he entered in the first place. The thanator struggled to squeeze through the pane and cut themself several times on the sharp shards of glass. This did not stop it from trying further, however. "You're hurt," Lo'ak stated, touching the fresh wound on Y/N's back. She hissed in pain and he quickly withdrew his hand. Neteyam in the meantime had drawn his bow from his back and did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He reached for an arrow from his quiver and aimed with precision at the head of the beast. Since the first arrow alone didn't reach through the animal's thick skull, he tried another time and, with a hiss and flattened ears, this time aimed for the neck. With a swing, he pulled the arrow back and let it go. This time he had managed to successfully eliminate the danger. The black beast slumped in on itself and then hung motionless between the window. Neteyam breathed heavily, adrenaline surged through his veins and his facial expression settled down. His ears perked up when he heard Y/N's painful whimpering.
He rushed towards her and crouched down on eyelevel. She was sweating heavily and cried. "What happened?" `Teyam could only ask. Miles had panicked himself and was already imagining the telling off he would receive when they got back home. "I-I just wanted to get out of here for a minute b-because everything was getting to be too much for me a-and then all of a sudden this thing came. I tried to hide, but it didn't work, and then-n I was attacked," she let out through her tears, clinging to Neteyam. He wanted to hug her tightly, but the wound prevented him from doing so. "I told you it was a stupid idea to come here, Lo'ak."
"How could I have known that a thanator would show up here and attack us?"
"Dad, told you this area was off limits. Can't you listen for once?"
"That's as much your fault as it is mine and Miles. You could have tried to stop us from coming here or at least stopped Y/N from running away."
Both brothers started arguing and it looked like it wouldn't stop for a long time. Spider interrupted them both worried about his foster sister.
" I don't give a shit who's to blame for this whole thing right now. Y/N is hurt and needs help right now. Get over yourselves, you two thick heads."
Neteyam turned away from his younger brother with a snarl and shook his head.
He took the still crying Y/N into his arms and tried to calm her down. "It's okay, it's going to be okay. We'll take you to my grandmother Mo'at now and I'm sure she'll help you. I promise."
"I just want to go home, `Teyam" she replied, stroking his cheek.
They did not hesitate to immediately make their way to the Ikrans. The older Na'vi first put Y/N on and then connected himself. The Ikran took off with a screech and they went on their way home, as he had promised her.