Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{60}

The rest of the flight was calm for everyone. All of them except for Layontsin, who was on edge the whole time.

Asim felt a pang of pity for the anthro thanator that was tense and gripping in the ceiling handles of the chopper. It was understandable that it was her first time traveling in a flying vehicle, something normal for a human. Except Layontsin wasn't a human; she was a native that hasn't gotten used to anything human except the bad side of things. It was as if it were the first time a human was invited to an alien spaceship, and it was natural for them to not know what to expect. That was precisely what Layontsin was experiencing, and what she was feeling was none other than nervousness and uneasiness. Asim looked over at the anthro thanator that was with them, as she watched out the door while the chopper took them above the forest. She seemed tense enough to be frozen in place by the time they arrived at their destination. So, taking the decision as no one else was speaking, Asim carefully made his way to be beside Layontsin, latching in to a handle on the floor near a seat so he wouldn't fall out. Once near the anthro thanator, he reached out to place a hand on one of the four dark arms of Layontsin.

The anthro thanator had her gaze glued outside as she stared at the rushing trees below the chopper, but his hand on her arm brought her attention back to him when her head turned to his direction. Asim looked up at her and gave her the best reassuring smile he could manage giving her. "Be calm. We will be home soon." Asim said in na'vi the best he could over the wind that was drowning his voice, as the anthro thanator did not have a radio headset to hear what he was saying. Wether the wind carried away his message or not, Layontsin looked at him with her green eyes and gave a slight nod, Asim feeling the large and muscular arm of the dark apex predator easing up a little. "There we go." Asim said, smiling at Layontsin as he felt that she was calming down. She then looked back out to the door to stare at the view while they traveled, but this time she was more calmer than before. The serenity of Asim watching Layontsin was interrupted when he heard Mikhail's voice, and he looked over behind his shoulder to his teammate. Mikhail was grinning widely and smugly, then using his hands to make a heart symbol while mouthing the word "love" to him. This made Asim frown in indignation and made a hand seat gesture at him, and mouthed the word "stop it!", for Mikhail to stop what he was doing. Mikhail was only amused by this and continued to mouth the same word over and over again. Even Shaka was into this as he was silently chuckling at the sight of this. Lily had no idea what was happening, so she continued to watch them. Having no more remedy to deal with the shenanigans of his other teammates, Asim rolled his eyes and looked out the door like Layontsin was doing to ignore the two as they continued to sit and wait until they arrived at their destination.

A few hours passed before the chopper started to slow down and descend, meaning that they have already arrived. The ones in the cargo section have taken naps, including Lily, during the trip to replenish energies. When the craft shook and bounced a bit at touchdown, they woke up. Once on the ground, the anthro thanator was seen exiting the chopped out to the grassy ground, head lowered to avoid the still spinning blades, and move away as quickly possible. They assumed that she wanted to get away from the chopper as quickly and far away as possible, but Layontsin stopped at a distance to wait for them while they got off. Once everyone was out of the craft and its motors were shut down, they went to the anthro thanator to lead the way. Layontsin lowered to all six limbs and shook her body, to shake off the queasiness that was given to her all throughout the flight. "You're okay. We are here now, finally" Asim said, watching Layontsin recover soon after and start walking in the direction of the Anurai clan village. Everyone in the group followed the anthro thanator through the forest, not falling behind Layontsin despite the difficult terrain.

In moments they arrived at the village, where the natives were going about their day as usual. Asim and the others smiled as they saw them living in peace, and more when the na'vi spotted them and came to them. The na'vi kids were eager to greet each and every single one of Asim's group, including Layontsin. The ones that have become more popular from the group got more attention than the others, and that was alright since they understood. Mikhail as he was strong but gentle with the na'vi kids despite them being more taller than him as he gave them pick ups with ease. Emeralda as she had rare blonde hair that she herself had agreed for the na'vi kids to accept the offer of making her a braid. It was rare to see someone like Emeralda change from being a sarcastic remarker to a kind person when around the kids, which made Asim glad that every single one of his team, his family, had a change of pace in their lives. Next was Shaka, or, as the na'vi kids and adults called him, Vur Fnelan(story person), due to him being a great storyteller and spokesperson that understood the na'vi language more than the rest. And then Lily, who was the all-time favorite of the na'vi kids as she was the youngest of the group. Despite her small size, Lily had grown really close to her na'vi friends, and even if she knew some na'vi, it didn't stop her from making new friends with others that weren't accustomed with humans. Which is the reason why the na'vi kids liked her, and made Asim not worry about her being amongst them.

That left Asim and Kentaro as the only two that were the less popular. Sure, they didn't get that much attention, but they did get compliments from other na'vi. Like Kentaro's medical abilities during the last rival na'vi attack, and Asim's fighting skills along with the rest of the group. No one from the group was left out, even if some would say they were. All in all, everyone was being treated fairly and equally when in the village despite still being new to the tribe. Especially by the clan leader and the tsahik, who were now approaching them and made Asim face them as he stopped his train of thought. Rai'uk and Unil'tingai came to them, both Asim and Kentaro giving both of the clan leaders the greeting gesture and saying "I see you" in na'vi. The two clan leaders nodded and gave them the same greeting gesture in return and in respect, then asking them of their well-being. "We are alright, as you can see. I have recovered well from the experience." Asim told them with a nod, remembering what happened before. "It's a relief. Even if it wasn't allowed by us, I am relieved that you are alright." Unil'tingai said, Asim following her gaze towards Layontsin who was with the kids and the other na'vi. "Wasn't allowed?" Asim echoed, turning back to the tsahik in question. Unil'tingai nodded, her face expressing some disdain that was replaced by self-control afterwards. "She took you to the Tree of Souls by disobeying our decision, without consulting us. Yet, it turned out fine, even if we were strongly against it." The tsahik explained to them.

This came as a surprise to Asim, as he realized that Layontsin had lied to him about all of this. Yet he understood that the anthro thanator wanted to help him as she had noticed him be stuck with more questions than simple answers that the clan leaders gave him. Asim was so surprised by what he had heard that he started to think about Layontsin. Was it true that the anthro thanator was now starting to actually care for him? He didn't think in that sort of way due to the experiences before, except for the time she wanted to help him. Maybe Mikhail was right about it, as much as Asim wasn't in concordance with the 'love expert' title Mikhail has placed upon himself. The thing was....that now Asim didn't know what to feel about this particular thing.......

The whole thought distracted Asim for a moment before he snapped back into reality again. "Tell me, what do you think your dreams mean?" The tsahik asked Asim. He looked back at Shaka, who was now starting to give out the wooden figures of Earth animals to each of the na'vi kids. The young ones were enthralled by the gifts that Shaka had made and was giving to them, turning and inspecting them in their four-fingered hands. "I...do not know. I honestly am not one that has faith. Yet...Shaka tells me that I...was saved...by Eywa. She helped me live once again." Asim explained in the best he could so the clan leaders could understand. The looks of surprise in their faces was clearly written, especially by the tsahik as she was the spiritual leader of the tribe. "Come with me. We shall speak in private." Unil'tingai said, gesturing with a hand to accompany both clan leaders to their hut. Asim nodded and went with them, looking at Kentaro and making a face gesture to say 'Wait for me. And check on the others'. Kentaro nodded and walked away to be with the group.

Once he saw that, Asim turned fully around and followed the clan leaders.