Avatar: The Way of the Chaos

Chapter 6

In your defence, Genevieve was first to turn tail and run. You had felt such a spike of panic that upon seeing her flee had triggered you to start running as well, and now you were both running for your lives.

Your feet thudded against the ground, and you made sure to stay with Genevieve, not wanting to get separated in this foreign world.

You vaguely heard shouting behind you, but the blood rushing through your ears had muffled the yelling. You felt so much urgency to just get away that your mind was a blank canvas, purely running on adrenaline.

You and Genevieve dodged through the Na'vi crowds, not missing the way some of them hissed at you in contempt.

You, in all honesty, believed that you had gotten away, and you felt a bit of the panic die down when you had reached the entrance to the forest. The daunting greenery had you abruptly stopping and yanking back Genevieve's arm.

"Ow! You ass! You could have dislocated my shoulder!"

"Are we seriously going into the forest?"

She opened her mouth, presumably to say 'yes' before she hesitated. She seemed to be contemplating something when her eyes flickered over your shoulder, and with wide eyes, she bolted again.

Turning around, you saw Jake's pissed expression, and that was enough reason for you to run head-first into the nightmarish shrub.

You don't even know why you were running. You had started, and it seems wrong to just stop.

You could see Genevieve a couple feet ahead of you, shoving through the trees with vigour. You heard the rustling of quick, thudding footsteps behind you, and that was all the more reason to speed up.

You wanted to yell at Genevieve to stop, because going into the forest was something you guys didn't want in the first place, and running away now was just stupid.

And you would have, if not the streaking blue alien quickly approaching to your right.

You almost screamed, the only salvation you had was the fact that the blue alien was not targeting you, but Genevieve.

Without thinking, you turned left and kept running.

Now, if no one chased you, you would have stopped there and slowly walked back the way you came. Reality was, there was still someone chasing you —if the rapidly approaching footsteps were anything to go by— and you were having none of it.

A shriek left your mouth, and you stumbled when an uprooted tree tripped you. You didn't fall, and you would have kept running if not for the harsh grip on your arm.

You tried to flinch away, but that only made the latter grab your other arm, and from there, the two of you collapsed in a heap on the forest floor.

Gasping, you winced at the burn in your lungs. You don't think you've run that hard in your life.

The grip on your arms were bruising, pinning you to the floor with no other escape. You struggled a bit, before ultimately giving up.

You were going to explain yourself, because you didn't mean to run, it just happened, but the moment you looked up, your mouth went dry.

Gold eyes so bright they bordered in green, intense to the point where you believed he didn't even need his arms to pin you down anymore because you couldn't move under his gaze.

Neteyam's braids dangled mere inches away from you, framing his face which held an expression of disapproval.

You squirmed, and to your disbelief, he tightened his hold even further.

"O-oi," you choked out, voice a bit raspy, "I didn't mean it, alright? It...just happened so—"

He suddenly hauled you up, and releasing one arm, he dragged you back to the Hometree at a brutal pace.

His expression didn't seem pissed, just neutral and maybe slightly annoyed, yet his speed had you tripping over branches and roots every second. You almost cussed him out.

Finally emerging from the forest, you noted that Genevieve had already been caught by Lo'ak and was now standing sheepishly in front of Jake.

She glanced over and saw you, before letting out a bark of laughter, "you got caught too!"

You scowled, "you got caught first."

"Girls!"

You flinched, and you opened your mouth to explain yourself, but Jake cut you off.

"If you want to go into the forest that bad, then you can go," he seethed, "but from what I heard, you are trying to prevent yourselves from going, so behave."

You fidgeted, shooting Genevieve a glare when she caught your eye.

"Now, you are going to learn how to climb. And I suggest you try your best, or I really will throw you into the forest."

Genevieve nodded glumly, and you very visibly slumped.

At Jake's retreating back, you bit back a frustrated noise, finally accepting your fate.