𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭

𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧

Na'vi language will be in bold.
'✈️' = time skip

Last night I decided to stay somewhere else, away from Quaritch. I was worried I'd lose my cool if I were around him even more. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay here forever though and the sun has already risen, so I got up and headed near the cave.

I couldn't sleep at all last night, even though I wanted to, I felt guilty and my leg was in a lot of pain. I also had tried my best to treat the wound, but I knew I couldn't fix the broken bone.

When I returned to the cave, I noticed Quaritch wasn't there and neither was most of his gear, but his shirt was. I took the sharp rock and pieces of wood that I collected yesterday, beginning to form a bow, and afterwards I'd make some arrows. I had planned on hunting before we left to the base again.

~✈️~

I finished the actual bow part, but I didn't know what I'd use for the string part, so I just thought for a moment. Maybe Quaritch would have some in his vest that he left.

I grabbed the half empty vest, observing that most of the weapons were gone besides a few of the orange handcuffs he had on him, a couple grenades and he did have some rope. I grabbed the thin rope, but knew I had to cut it somehow.

I suddenly froze when I remembered something. Quaritch still had my knife that I was gifted from my father. I searched through his pockets before I saw that similar knife that I always had by me. I took it out, inspecting it to see if it had any damage. It seemed untouched, almost perfectly new.

I held it in my hands, my thumb tracing over the design, then cut the amount of rope I needed. I took the piece I cut, tying it to the carved wood in double knots, making sure it's tight enough. Once that was done, I moved onto shaping the arrows, but instead of using the sharp rock, I used my special knife, which made everything go by quicker and was a lot easy to use due to how sharp it was.

"Done." I quietly admit, ready to leave. I hobble out before I met the face of someone I didn't want to see right now. Quaritch looked me up and down, ready to say something, but I only studied the dead creature he had in his hands, along with a gun in the other.

"You seriously used this?" I take the gun from his hands. "Yeah." He bites his lip, ready for me to shout at him about how he's killing the wild life, but I didn't. "That's basically cheating." I giggled, looking at the weapon closer, my bow and arrow tucked under my arm. "Cheating?" Colonel remarks. "Yeah. Use a knife, or this." I raise my hand made hunting tools. "You made that?" He asks and I agreed.

I looked at his hand gun a little closer, afraid to touch any trigger or button. "Want me to show you how to use it?" He wondered, putting the animal down near the ongoing fire.

Luckily it wasn't windy nor rainy any longer, just very humid, so now I realized why he didn't have his shirt on. "Yeah, sure why not. But after I'll teach you how to hunt correctly." I handed him back his gun and he took it. "Sounds good to me." He grinned slightly.

~✈️~

When marching through the rainforest, my leg ached more and more, but I tried my hardest not to show it. In the distance we found an open spot to practice with my shooting skills.

We settle in, Quaritch preparing me and showing me how to hold it correctly. "This is called a pistol, also known as a hand gun. There's multiple ways to hold it, but the way I use it, is propping my thumbs forward, just like this." He informed me and I followed along. "Make sure you have a good grip on it when you're about to shoot or else you'll fly back. The force will startle you at first until you get used to it."

Quaritch handed me the gun, waiting for me to do as he had shown me. I took it, trying to place my thumbs exactly like he did. "Good, now put one foot forward, and aim."

I placed my uninjured leg a step in front of the other, holding the pistol tightly. "Focus on something you want to shoot. I'm sure you've already got a good aim." I looked in front of me, squinting and concentrating on a tree. "And all you gotta do now is use your finger right here to pull the trigger. Just be prepared, it'll happen real quick." He crosses his arms, backing up and providing me space for me to do my own thing.

I relax my mind a bit, looking back at my focus. I slowly put my finger on the trigger of the gun and pressed down. I squeezed my eyes shut, stumbling back once the bullet was fired. When I looked up, my target was not hit. I sighed in aggravation. "That's okay, try again. Not everyone will get it first try." Colonel comforts before he figured something out.

"Hold up, I have an idea." He reaches in his pocket, pulling out a similar kind of rope I used for my bow. He wrapped it around a certain tree, creating a point for me to hit. "Better?" He walks back over to me. "Yeah, thank you." I smile, and he returns it.

I got back in my stance, convincing myself that I wasn't going to flinch this time. I put my thumbs forward, aimed and pressed the trigger. My eyes closed shortly, but I got it. I looked at the tree,  shuffling over to it to get a closer sight.

The bullet was right in the middle of the tree, the bark having a hole broken into it. I let out a happy gasp, cheering for myself before I heard a clap coming from Quaritch's hands.

I turn myself around in pride, a wide smile spread across my lips. "Atta' girl!" He congratulates, approaching me. "You wanna go try hunting with it, even though you consider it cheating?" Colonel offers. "Yeah, let's go!"

I walk pretty quickly by Quaritch's side as we try to find another spot to hunt down an actual animal. Adrenaline was spreading throughout my body again, starting to numb my leg.

•Quaritch's POV•
After a little bit of searching for a place to hunt, I thought I should try and strike up another conversation, but I didn't know what to say. She was already pissed off at me as it is and didn't really want to be around me, but I didn't want her to feel that way. I don't know how to describe this feeling about her, it's like I crave her. I crave the sight of her, her body, her voice, her laugh, her everything.

I knew she felt something for me, but she couldn't own up to it. She didn't want to betray anybody, but she'd be betraying herself if she said she didn't want me. I was thinking and thinking of what I might say, but instead of me starting the conversation, Y/n did.

"You know I don't hate you for some reason, but I know I should." She randomly spoke. I didn't know how to reply to that yet, so I didn't. "Why is that?" She looks up at me, and my heart started thumping even faster. "I'm not sure." I looked back down at my feet.

She had every right to hate me, I must admit it. But she doesn't, and that's what made me most confused. It was pretty awkward the entire hike, but we soon found a spot where a bunch of bird-like animals sat. We took that opportunity to use the pistol, so Y/n got ready to shoot one of the animals.

She pulls the trigger with her eyes tightly shut. I found that quite hilarious the way she flinched. I was so focused on her face that I didn't realize she had shot one of the flying animals. "I got one!" She cried out. I immediately snap out of my trance, looking at the dead bird. She limped with her injured leg over to it, picking it up with a large grin that was contagious enough to constantly make me smile back at her.

"I must be a good teacher, huh?" I joke around.
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A/N - i don't really know what to add to this authors note tbh 😭😭

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