Petrichor

Not a Scientist

She always believed Eywa would lead the way. Fate was something that could not change. Her entire life was built around her belief in it. 

She could not understand the arrival of the demons though. She believed it to be fate, and knew that Eywa had allowed them to make a home in the forest, had know that since she was eight years of age when they first landed. 

And now fifteen years later, they were still here. Their equipment was cold and unnatural, and the times that Ilhia had been close to their home, there had been small humans armed with their weapons, ready to fire. 

In the early days, the demons were wary but cautious, and the Na'vi were able to venture closer to what the humans called the 'compound'. Now though, the tension between the two species was thick. There had been no contact for years. The Na'vi continued with their lives, and the demons continued with theirs.

Ilhia had been at Doctor Augustine's school on that fateful day. Her older sister Sylwanin had absolutely despised the humans. She had stopped coming to school weeks beforehand. Ilhia had warned her, told her not to be stupid, but even Eywa couldn't stop her. 

She and a group of hunters had set fire to one of their sämunge. Dr Augustine used to call them bulldozers, which never translated to the Na'vi language. Transportation tool was better, but Ilhia knew it was not an accurate term. Bulldozers scared her. They were unnatural. 

Sylwanin thought that Dr Augustine would be able to protect her. She had thought wrong. 

Now Neytiri was fated to be with Tsu'tey. They were to be mates, Neytiri to be Tsahik and Tsu'tey to be Eytukan. She was not jealous of her. It had been Sylwanin's fate, before the demons interfered. Ilhia was not stupid. She saw how Tsu'tey looked at Neytiri. He wished that they were not to be mated at all. It was supposed to be him and Sylwanin, the oldest daughter and the oldest son. They had prepared for it for years, and it was cruelly snatched away. 

Neytiri blamed Dr Augustine. Ilhia knew it was not her fault. Dr Augustine may have been a demon in a false body, but she was a nice one. 

These thoughts pondered through Ilhia's head as she scouted the forest. She had been resting in her favourite tree when she had been interrupted by one of the things Dr Augustine called 'helicopter'. 

One was harmless. It was when it was many that she would need to worry. 

"How will they know we're here?"

Ilhia lay flat against the leaning tree she'd found, watching with curiousity as the false bodies passed below her. 

"I'm sure they're watching us right now."

There was three of them. One was the unmistakable voice of Dr Augustine. One was dressed similar to Dr Augustine, with a hawre' on his head, dark green that covered his hair. Ilhia found his mannerisms similar to the other 'scientists' that she had met, and put him down as such in her head. 

The third one piqued her interest. He most certainly was not a scientist. His eyes had scanned the area with precision after Dr Augustine had finished her sentence. In his hands he held a weapon similar to the ones that brought her sister to her early death. 

She bared her teeth and continued her gaze, making sure she stayed out of sight. 

Ilhia knew where they were heading to when they went through a particularly small opening between two large trees. She had not been back there for years, ever since Sylwanin was killed. Most Na'vi avoided the area. It just reminded them of the tradegy that had occurred. 

Still, Dr Augustine had no right to be here. 

She waited until all three had entered the deserted building, then slipped down from her place of hiding and approached. 

It was as clear as day in her head, remembering the lessons Dr Augustine had given her. Laughing with her sisters. The porch was the last place that Sylwanin had stood. 

 She had not been back since then. 

But she would not stand by and allow the doctor back into her part of the forest.