Chapter Text
The forest never slept.
It breathed around me; bioluminescent veins pulsing through leaves, insects clicking warnings to one another, roots shifting beneath my bare feet like they knew I didn’t belong anywhere anymore. I moved low and fast, tail tight, bow clutched so hard my fingers ached. The RDA would be close. They were always close.
I froze when a branch snapped.
Not the hollow crack of breaking wood, but the careful misstep of someone trying not to be heard. my heart slamming against my ribs.
I spun, arrow already drawn, breath shallow. So I hissed, voice shaking despite my effort to sound fierce. The forest answered with silence, too quiet.
Then a figure stepped into view.
Tall. Blue.
Na’vi.
My relief lasted nothing but half a heartbeat before suspicion burned through it. He wore nothing bright, nothing metallic. But I had learned the hard way that the RDA could dress their lies in skin. Avatars. Monsters that looked like our people.
“Don’t come closer,” I warned, backing toward a tree, eyes darting for an escape path.
The boy—no, warrior, raised his hands slowly. “Hey,” he said, voice low, calm. “I am not here to hurt you.”
That was exactly what they always said. Except, he was speaking Na’vi, not English.
My hands trembled, the tip of my makeshift spear glowing faintly. I tracked his chest, waiting for the hum of machinery, the flash of a human face behind false eyes.
Then he shifted his grip—and the light caught his hands.
Four fingers.
Not five.
My breath caught painfully in my throat and the forest seemed to exhale with me.
I stared, mind racing, fear tangling with confusion. Avatars had five. Humans had five. Only true Na’vi—
“You are not RDA,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. The boy frowned, lowering his hands just slightly. “No,” he said gently. “I am not.” I didn’t lower my spear. Not yet. But for the first time since I’d run into the forest alone, the world didn’t feel like it was closing in to crush me. And somewhere above us, the trees glowed brighter, as if Eywa herself was watching. The boy didn’t move. Every instinct told him to; forest rules said don’t stand still when someone has a spear aimed at your heart. But something about her stopped him. Maybe it was the way her ears flicked constantly, tracking every sound. Or the way her breathing was too fast, like a hunted yerik’s.
She looked Na’vi. Mostly.
But her skin—Eywa, her skin was wrong.
Not the deep blues and teals of the Omatikaya. Hers was a muted violet, like twilight shadows over stone, catching the forest light in unfamiliar ways. Even her markings seemed off, darker, almost burnt in. The boy had seen clans from far away, travelers and traders, but nothing like this.
I stared at him like he might still turn into something else.
“You are… Omatikaya?” I asked slowly, as if saying the word might trigger a trap. He nodded once. “Yes.” His voice sounded steadier than he felt. “You are in our forest.” My spear wavered, fear finally breaking through whatever had been holding me together. “I thought you were one of them,” I admitted, words tumbling out now. “They send things that look like us. They chased me for days. I did not know you were Na’vi.”
“I still do not know if you are Na’vi,” He said honestly. That made me freeze. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The forest hummed around us; soft glows, whispering leaves, life pretending everything was fine. She swallowed. “If you are Omatikaya,” I said quietly, “then you know what they do.” The RDA had been walking through these forests, I had seen it myself. “I am from Tomak’ta clan” I tried to explain “I had been held captive my whole life. Please, you must help me! You know what they do” He did. Images flashed through his mind; fire, metal, screaming trees.
He lowered his center of gravity, glancing toward the thicker growth to the east. “If you stay here, they will find you.” He hesitated. Bringing a stranger—an odd one—into the forest was dangerous. Bringing someone the RDA was actively chasing was worse.
But leaving her? Eywa would not forgive that. “Come with me,” he said at last. “Quiet. Fast. If you make a sound, I cannot help you.” My eyes searched his face, like I was trying to see past him, into every story I’d ever been told about betrayal. Then I gave a single, sharp nod. “Fine,” I said. “But if this is a trick—”
“It is not,” he said, already moving. “And if you do not trust me—”
“I do not,” I snapped back, following anyway.
We vanished into the glowing forest together, two strangers, both afraid, both unsure if the other was salvation or the next danger waiting to strike. I almost bumped into his back when he made a sudden stop. “why are we stopping?” I asked. He turned around “wait here.” He instructed “I will bring my father, he will decide what to do with you” and I felt my heart drop, for some reason I never stopped to think what would happen if I did ended up to be found by a village. “What Is your name?” he asked. “uhh—Kai’ra” I replied hesitantly. “Neteyam” he answered back before leaving me. I figured we must be close to his home considering the fact he was back in the span of 20 minutes. I was sitting against a tree when I heard him return. I stood up and saw them. Neteyam gestured to the man besides him. I halfly tuned him out as I looked the older man up and down “this is my—” Neteyam said before I had jumped on the man, kicking the rifle away and holding his kuru around the base of his neck. The man yelped, but he was weirdly cooperative, putting his hands in the hair. 5 na’vi fingers. An avatar. “stop!” Neteyam shouted. “He is my dad!” He kept shouting. “Your dad is a demon!” I hissed back. The man in my grip kept murmuring things like ‘I can explain’ or ‘I am Jake sully—’ I stopped. “Jake Sully?” I breathed out. The name was not unknown. My grip loosened, just a little. The name echoed in my head like a bad memory I couldn’t shake loose.
Jake Sully.
The man the RDA cursed.
The man Quaritch hunted like a wounded animal.
The man who betrayed his own species for some local tail.
He stayed still—like someone who knew sudden movements could get them killed. But I also remember the other side of Jake Sully.
Toruk Makto.
I tightened my grip on his kuru before I even realized I was doing it. My ears pinned flat, tail stiff with fury. “You lie?” I snarled. Neteyam froze, eyes wide. “Kai’ra—please—”
“Kai’ra,” the man repeated softly. He didn’t try to pull away. Didn’t reach for a weapon. He stayed very still. “I’m Jake Sully. And if you know Quaritch… then you don’t know why I did what I did” That made my chest tighten. I knew that name too well. “Say his name again,” I hissed. “Say Quaritch like he did not hunt my clan. Like he did not keep me locked behind glass and metal my whole life.” Jake’s breathing changed. Slower. He looked at me—not like I was a threat, but like I was a wound. “Quaritch did that to you?” he asked quietly. I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My hands were shaking now, rage and fear blurring together. Memories pressed in white lights, restraints, voices speaking English over my head like I wasn’t even alive. Neteyam stepped closer, cautious. “Dad… she is scared.”
“I can see that,” Jake said. His voice stayed calm, grounded. “Kai’ra, listen to me. If I was RDA, you’d already be dead; or back in chains.”
That was true.
I hated that it was true.
Slowly, every movement announced Jake lifted his hands higher, palms open. “You don’t have to trust me. But you’re standing in Omatikaya territory, and RDA patrols have been pushing closer every day. If they’re chasing you, staying alone will get you killed.” I swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?” I demanded. “Nothing,” he said immediately. “Food. Shelter. Time to breathe. That’s it.” My eyes searched his face for lies. I found exhaustion instead. Up close, he looked… tired. Not weak. Just worn, like the forest had asked everything of him and he’d given it willingly. His eyes flicked over me—my skin, my markings, the way I stood like I might bolt at any second. Old grief. The weight of too many battles. Finally, reluctantly, I loosened my grip and stepped back. Jake exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for a long time. “Easy,” he said quietly. “You’re safe here.”
Safe.
The word made something twist painfully in my chest. “I know who you are,” I said, voice tight. “Quaritch spoke of you. Like a curse.” Jake sighed through his nose. “Yeah. Sounds like him.”
Neteyam looked between us. “Can we… go home now?”