DR. RUTH CARSON grew up hearing about Pandora as a kid, hearing of the alien moon that promised beauty and awe.
Coming from the lower class in the States, she fought tooth and nail to provide any opportunity to distance herself from the hard life s...
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AS much as Ruth was thankful that the Thanator she was now bonded to had not ripped her to shreds, she felt like an imposter even as she sat on its back. Felt like an imposter despite being chosen.
How could she explain it? Explain that the apex predator had surrendered itself to her as if commanded by Eywa herself.
That seemed to be the only way despite every avenue of logical thinking the scientist tried taking. Because how else does an outsider do such a thing? The only explanation she could form was 'divine' intervention if it were even real.
She should be dead now, not riding on the animal's back. A beast she'd been so eager to study upon arriving on the moon, now her mount just as much as the ikran she had claimed.
Ruth wasn't Na'vi. She was an alien, a demon in false skin as the Tsahik Ikeyla had stated so adamantly earlier that day. A halfbreed with lingering human blood.
The only difference now was that Ruth had claimed the Anurai's totem animal as her own, by some miracle she still couldn't place, hope in her heart that the clan's reverence for it would sway the Tsahik's decision to join them in the impending battle against the RDA.
The expressions of Tsu'tey and the other Omaticaya warriors when she'd rode up the small hill on the back of the apex predator, their weapons bared in surprise, had struck a semblance of pride inside her. The way their looks had shifted from sudden fear to awe instead of indifference or disgust many Na'vi had shown her in the months before.
Somehow, she and Jake had managed to bond with two of the most dangerous animals on Pandora. A fact she felt sounded dumb if it were said out loud, but some part of her wondered if Eywa had sent the animal for some reason. She wasn't even sure she believed Eywa was real in the first place.
Perhaps it was for what they were currently doing, trying to win over the Anurai and their stubborn Tsahik once again. She only prayed her new mount garnered the trust of the clan in the way Jake had been able to with the Omaticaya.
Though, she reminded herself she was no Toruk Makto.
Upon arriving back to the Anurai's dwellings, those that were conversing at the mouth of the cave opening gaped when their eyes first landed on the predator, scrambling to their feet and retreating inside. Baskets and other items were scattered with their retreat, their projects abandoned.
Ruth smirked as she focused her breathing, feeling the powerful legs that moved beneath her, carrying her with expert balance as she hardly swayed in her seat. One hand remained wrapped around her mount's kuru, the other hanging lazily at her side. She allowed the animal's strength to sharpen her zeal; something she would need for the impending interaction they were soon to have.
She had no plan if the clan were to attack them. All their hope relied on garnering their reverence instead of fear. Hopefully, those who had run inside would at least warn the others that a rogue Thanator wasn't casually wandering into their cave system to rip them all to shreds.
