Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{5}

The deafening roars of the thanators and the trembling ground beneath made Asim's adrenaline levels skyrocket through the forest foliage. He tore through the forest floor, shoving branches and long plant stems from in front of his path. "Leave me alone already, goddamnit!!!" He shouted in frustration as he peeked behind to see in what proximity his pursuers were at. With a startled yelp he saw one thanator come after him and close in fast, it's jaws unhinged and talons spread as it lunged at him. Asim did a slide down, body laid flat as it slid forward to evade the large talons of the creature. It went over him completely, and then Asim got back up to stop and skid backwards to face them. The native on the large predator's back gave a yip of challenge as it took the spear from their back and aimed before throwing at Asim. Time slowed as Asim bent to the side and evaded the spear that would impale him, only to reach out and successfully catch it with his hand. This was instinctual thanks to his ability, and Asim took advantage of it as he held the acquired weapon.

Wasting no time, Asim spun and launched the spear right back at its owner with force. The spear whistled through the air and made a clean cut at the side of the native, right near the waist. The na'vi rider howled in pain, also making the thanator roar in pain. Asim remembered that the native and its beast were bonded through the physical neural connection. Meaning that whatever one felt the other could too, and the best way to weaken both was target the rider. Learning this he charged at the thanator at full sprint before taking a large leap and landing on the head of the thanator. Asim then leapt over the head and over the rider, pulling out his knife and giving the native's shoulder a clean cut before landing back on the ground a distance away. The na'vi and the thanathor grunted as if both have been hurt, and turned to face Asim again as the na'vi gave a hiss in frustration. Asim responded by giving out a fierce roar to them, telling his opponents that he wasn't afraid to give them another hit like before.

The snapping and breaking of tree branches behind alerted him that the other thanator and their rider were after him, making Asim dive to the side in a roll to evade getting trampled by the predator. Once recovered he kneeled low and pulled out his pistol to aim and fire two shots at the na'vi. The bullets punctured the native on the shoulder and on the waist, making the two of them howl in pain. "Ready to give up? If you push more, I'll be forced to sign your death certificates if you all don't let me go" he said to them, even if they didn't understand him. War cries from the natives on foot were heard from behind and from the sides, and Asim turned around to face them. While the others on their thanators tried to recover, the na'vi that have finally caught up to them arrived while carrying their spears. They spread around and launched their spears at him, which in turn Asim responded by jumping up and then rolling on the ground to dodge the weapons. When he got up, he quickly took one of the spears that landed near him and moved to throw it at one of them. He did this repeatedly as he continued dodging their attacks while moving around expertly.

Another na'vi threw their spear at Asim, but he didn't have time to evade as the spear tip stabbed his side. He gave a pained yell, stumbling back a bit before getting back up and trying to remove the spear while dropping his pistol. Now the natives closed in on him, surrounding him on all sides to corner him. They kept a distance as they tried to jab Asim with their spears, him having pulled out the spear that impaled him and using it to defend himself along with his knife. Some of them managed to puncture his armor and skin which led to more bleeding. Asim grunted and swung the spear he had in his hand all around, forcing the na'vi to back away from the swinging spear. "Back off!! I'm warning you!!!" He snarled, panting and seeing that they have surrounded him in all sides with little chance of escaping for him.

All except one.

Behind him he peered that some na'vis were making way for a thanator and their rider that have recovered from his attack, which gave him a path underneath the legs of the massive predator. Making sure that the natives weren't expecting for him to move, Asim plunged the spear in hand on the ground before saying something that confused them. Asim said the word "Skxawng!" at them, which meant 'moron' in English now that he remembered and confused the natives. This gave Asim the opportunity as they were momentarily confused to suddenly run at the large thanator and slide under it, giving it a cut on its dark leg with his knife before rolling to the side and getting up quickly. He wasted no time in starting to run away again as the creature have a roar of pain and the natives began their chase once more.

Asim continued to tear through the foliage once again, grunting and panting as his breathing almost became the only thing audible to him. He limped a bit as he ran due to the wounds inflicted on him still being fresh. Now that the situation has escalated to this particular point, he knew that further engaging the na'vi will ultimately result in capture. Or more worse...death. Time was running out, and they were closing on him again fast. Asim looked around for any place that he could use to hide from the na'vi, or at least give him time to lure them away from him in another direction.

Seconds later he found it; a small cave on the left side big enough for him to fit in, down a slope that he could slide in. Getting ready and aiming steadily, he used his grappling hook, which still worked, to slide down the slope and then swing around in another direction. The hook latched on to the tree trunk firmly, redirecting Asim to the side and landing him right into the cave. There, once inside, he quickly scrambled into it and hid as he heard the sound of footsteps and moving leaves, detaching the hook and wire and reeling it to him. Outside, Asim could see how the na'vi continued to chase in the direction where Asim 'supposedly' went, before stopping and realizing that the human has suddenly vanished in thin air. He waited patiently there, observing how they looked around in confusion and resorted to tracking him with his footprints. Luckily the only ones left behind were the ones he made before jumping and swinging to the left, making the disappearing act more believable.

Some time passed before Asim heard the na'vi hunters give their hooting and ululating calls and start heading back to search for him. Far away from where Asim was hiding and watching them. Moments passed, with the sounds of the na'vi and their beasts fading away before the sounds of the forest returned. Asim let his breath go in a relieved sigh as he didn't hear any more noises that meant nearby threats that remained. He slowly crawled out from his hiding spot and got up, clutching his wounds as he surveyed his surroundings. "Heh. I guess they really are skxawngs when it comes to tracking down humans" he told himself as he began to head to another direction and reorientate himself.

That's when he felt a presence above him, and he twisted around before something large and black pounced on him.