Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{43}

Despite the wind that was blowing around, Asim still went outside of the outpost after he changed clothes.

"Layontsin? What are you doing here?" Asim asked her in na'vi as he closed the door shut and went over to the anthro thanator. Layontsin went over to him, barely visible to Asim but her small glowing specks making her noticeable against the night and a few glowing plants. She then placed one hand on his shoulder, and another one over his heart. "Asim...I can help you. Follow me. To the tree of voices." Layontsin said to him, turning back to the forest as if she was worried about something and then facing him again. "Tree of voices....why?" Asim asked her, puzzled as to why she wanted to bring him there. He remembered Shaka say something about that place, how it was sacred to the na'vi and that outsiders were strictly forbidden to enter it. Now, Layontsin was offering to bring him to that kind of sacred place. "Your dreams...they need answers. Your heart is hurting. Eywa can help." Layontsin said to Asim, tightening her grip a bit on his shoulder. "Eywa...? Are you sure that this place can help?" Asim asked her. Even if he spoke in English, the message was understood and Layontsin nodded. "Yes. I am sure" Layontsin said and then loosened her hold on his shoulder before pulling his arm to follow her. Asim looked up at her face, noticing that she was determined to bring her to the place even if both knew that people like Asim were not allowed, and then looked back at the outpost.

He wasn't sure how long it would take for both to get there and then to come back, though now there was a chance to find the answers behind what happened before. "Alright. I will go" he said to her with a nod, to which the anthro thanator gave a relieved sigh and started to walk to the forest. Before he left to follow Layontsin, he cast one last look at the outpost where all his friends were sleeping. "I'll be back. I promise" he said to himself before heading to the forest with the anthro thanator. Layontsin began to pick up the pace as she trotted along the forest floor. Once in a while they had to go over some fallen logs and thick bushes, but it didn't stop them. Asim kept following Layontsin close from behind as she led the way, the anthro thanator glancing at him from time to time as they walked. Then, afterwards, she began to pick up the pace some more as she started to run. This surprised Asim, to which he immediately started to run as well to catch up with Layontsin. She noticed him try to follow her still as Asim saw her look back and give him a smile, much to his confusion. The anthro thanator then leaped up into the foliage and climbed up the tree trunks, making her way across the branches as she leapt from one to another. Wether it looked like a challenge or Layontsin seeming as if she were taunting him, Asim accepted it as he smiled and put on a burst of speed.

The storm above now started to calm down, making it easier for Asim to travel without loosing his way. Even the glow of the forest started to return as the storm ended. Asim continued to run, jump and climb to follow Layontsin. To which he caught up some moments later. Or, to be precise, she caught him as she laid a trap for him and pounced Asim from in front. Layontsin pounced on him, knocking Asim down and restraining him with her four arms. Asim looked up at the anthro thanator with confusion and panic, thinking that she had lured him into a deadly trap. Thankfully he was wrong as he looked up at Layontsin and noticed her smiling down at him. She gave a deep chuckling sound and nudged Asim's head with one hand before letting him go and standing up again to continue walking. Asim watched her, confused as to why she pounced on him and did that. Though his confusion was set aside when he saw her smile. "Okay, okay. I get it. You're playful. Can we go now?" Asim said as he brushed off the soil from his suit and armor. Layontsin grinned and then turned around to continue trotting.

While he followed, Asim thought of doing the same to Layontsin as a sort of payback for what she did. He made sure that he hid behind a tree when they turned a corner so that it would seem like he had been lost. When he did that, Asim waited for Layontsin to come back for him once she noticed he was missing. Time passed, and then he heard the anthro thanator come down from the branches to where she last saw him. Her quills and crest plates were flared and trembling, head rotating to the sides as she searched for any sign of Asim. He waited hidden behind a large set of bush leaves, waiting for Layontsin to come close enough, not breathing or moving a single muscle, until he launched his grappling hook. The wire wrapped around the legs of the anthro thanator, which made her yelp in surprise as she struggled to move. It did no good as it restrained her legs, as Asim came barreling out from the foliage before he tackled her large legs. Although the momentum of Asim's tackle was not much, it did cause Layontsin to tilt and fall backwards onto the ground. Asim quickly detached his grappling hook wire from around Layontsin's legs and immediately jumped over her. "Looks like I caught you now." Asim said with a sly grin, looking down at the confused and astonished.

Though, the anthro thanator, instead of lashing out or snapping at him in disdain, she unexpectedly used her four arms to grab him before he could get away. Asim was inevitably caught and imprisoned by Layontsin's four limbs, tightly as he felt his body slightly being crushed by her grip. He looked up at the large dark creature that held him prisoner, now realizing with surprise that this was the first time he was the closest to her. Not counting the first time they met when Layontsin was trying to kill him. Now things were different, as Asim looked up at the anthro thanator and saw her with the same smile as before. "Guess we are even now." Asim said with a slight shrug and closed his eyes as he smiled as well. Layontsin then made a sort of vibrating sound from her throat that spread throughout her body and that of Asim's, her four breathing orifices in her neck twitching as she breathed. "Yes." Layontsin said with a slight nod and chuckle, acknowledging what Asim said as she understood his words.

And then Layontsin opened her mouth slightly, revealing her sharp teeth, and gave Asim's head a small lick.

This was completely unexpected from Asim's part, who thought she finally had made up her mind and was about to rip his head off. When the meaning of the gesture kicked in, he was extremely flustered enough for his cheeks to turn red. Many questions flooded his mind as he stared at the anthro thanator in disbelief. Why exactly did she do this? Was it just another joke? Did he have something in his forehead? Was Layontsin trying to tell him something else? Did she really mean it? What could she possibly see in him that caused her to show him this gesture of affection? And so on and so fourth. Asim was so stunned while he processed what happened that Layontsin's voice pulled him out from the daze, noticing that she was looking at him with concern. "I'm...I'm fine." Asim said, starting to move and struggle to free himself from Layontsin's grasp. The anthro thanator relented and unwrapped her four arms from Asim's body, letting him go so he could stand up again. "So...are we there yet?" Asim asked Layontsin as she stood up once more. "Follow me" she said and continued to walk in the direction she was headed, Asim resuming following her as what had happened recently circled constantly in his head now.

Both of them continued to walk across the forest, the bioluminescent plants and ground lighting up everything around them, until they reached what seemed to be a garden. At least, the equivalent of a natural garden. And it wasn't the only thing there when it came to plants. There were flowers and other kinds of exotic life that littered and swarmed the place, like a gentle dream scape. The main focuses were the glowing trees that grew all around the place, their long glowing branches handing down and moving in the slight wind that flowed around. Small woodsprites floated all around the place as if it were their home. Layontsin gestured Asim to step forwards as she entered the area, and he followed her.

"Welcome to the Tree of Voices" Layontsin said with a smile, moving to hold Asim's hand and pull him deeper into the place.