Gladiator

Chapter 1

Zrina's POV:

     I start to regain consciousness but I have a raging headache. Someone is carrying me but that person is running. Really fast. I start to open my eyes and noticed the man carrying me was Lo'ak.
"Lo?" I asked. He looked down to me and smiled. Before he said anything. Someone yelled to him. I think it was his dad, based on the masculine voice. Lo'ak stops running but continues to hold me. Everyone is asking if Lo'ak is alright.
"Lo'ak, let me down." I start to get down but he helps me down. I groan.
"Go easy Z," Lo'ak tells me. He puts an arms around me as I am still very weak.
"Ah, my head. It hurts." I grab my head in pain. It hurts very bad.
"Lo'ak. Are you alright?" A man asked.
"Yes sir. I'm alright. But please help her. She is injured." He said staring at the injured girl.
"Lo'ak, I am alright. Let go of me." I pulled my arm out of his grasp and collapsed to the floor. The larger man caught me.
"We will help you. Lo'ak. Can you hold her?" He asked. Lo'ak nodded. The man gave me to Lo'ak so I adjusted myself.
"Hey asshole *yawns* are you sure you can hold me. I'm pretty heavy. And you are very, very weak. I always have to carry everything since you are so tiny," I explained. Lo'ak rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Hey kid. Do you know where you are right now?" Lo'ak's father asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.
     "Not really. I don't really travel," I told him. I looked back at Lo'ak and then everything went black. Again.

     I woke up on a cot in a large tent. I saw Lo'ak out of the corner of my eye sitting next to me. He was the only one in the room. I smiled at him and he noticed that I was awake.
"So kid, I need to learn more about you to help you, okay." He told me.
"Can't I just go to sleep?" I asked, "I would know more about myself." I put on my best puppy dog eyes. Lo'ak always falls for them. Jake didn't seem like he was going to agree but he gave in hesitantly.
"Fine. But in the morning, you need to tell us." I nod my head and fall asleep quickly.

     I wake up and stretch. I see that I am the only one left in the tent. I leave the tent and see Jake and his mate arguing. I decide not to pay attention since it's rude. I sit back in the tent and wait for someone to come in. I lay on my back and see someone walk in. It is this little girl. Probably around the age of 8. She looks really excited to see me.
"Hi! I'm Tuktirey, but everyone calls me Tuk! What's your name? Are you friends with Lo'ak? How old are you? You're very pretty!" Tuk kept ranting until Jake came back in.
"Tuk! Chill out. She just got here. Give her some space." Tuk ran out of the tent so it left just me and Jake.
"I'm gonna go get Lo'ak. I'll be right back," Jake said. He walked out and got Lo'ak. They both came back in and sat down.
"Okay, let's start this. Your name's Zrina right?" He asked. I nodded my head.
"How long have you known Lo'ak?" He asks again.
"Uh... around 4 years?" I didn't really know. I looked to Lo'ak but he was looking away. Jake looked to him angrily. I smiled slightly, trying not to laugh.
"Who are your parents? What tribe are you from?" Jake kept asking me questions. Lo'ak knew talking about my parents was a tough conversation.
"Oh. Uhh. My mother was Corporal Renita Brooks and I don't know who my father is. I also don't know what clan I am from." I looked around the tent, examining the place. Jake sighed loudly.
"I knew your mom. She was... something else. We were really good friends. I knew I recognized someone when I saw you for the first time. You look almost identical to how her Avatar looked. She was strong and kind. But most of the time reckless. We always ran off and got into trouble." Jake described my mom like she was the best person in the world. Lo'ak nudged me a little.
"She sounds like someone I know." I nudged him back.
"Yeah," I said. He smiled at me. Jake heard it and looked at us. We reminded him of the relationship he had with my mother.
"Okay, Zrina. I want you to get your stuff and bring it to our tent. Quaritch thinks that you are one of my kids so you are coming with us." Jake explained.
"Um, what do you mean? I have to leave?" I asked.
"Yeah. We aren't safe here so we are leaving to live in another clan," Jake told us. My face dropped. I didn't want to leave. Well, I don't live in the clan but the forest is my home. I nodded my head, even though I didn't want to. But I also didn't want to live without Lo'ak.
"I'll go get my stuff," I said sadly. I walked out of the tent and began my walk back to my home.

     I made the walk to my home eventful by running along the trees. I got everything I needed so I walked back to High Camp. I arrived at the base and brought my stuff to their tent. I dropped it near Lo'ak's belongings and walked over to him.
"Hey Lo'ak." I wrapped my arm around his waist.
"Hey Z." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I noticed that he was with his older sister.
"Hi! I'm Zrina, but you can call me Z," I said to her.
"Hey. I'm Kiri. It's nice to meet you." I walk over to her and loop arms with her.
"I'm so glad there's a girl my age that lives here. I've been stuck with Lo'ak for four years and he's two years younger than me. Like I'm basically babysitting him!" Kiri laughs really loud.
"Wow. But I'm glad there's a girl my age too. It's weird being stuck between two boys. Ugh!" I laughed at her comment too.
"We should be friends. Bye Lo'ak, I've found your replacement pretty quickly! Haha!" I laughed at him. He growled back at me. I snarled at him.
"Kiri, if you'll excuse me for a moment. I have to deal with this asshole. But stay right here, it's gonna be fun." Lo'ak starts to circle me so I copy him. He lunges at me so I grab his arm and throw him to the ground. I laugh loudly as he gets up. Lo'ak lunges at me and pulls me down. I yelp and attempt to get free. I use my weight and flip over on top of him.
"Pinned ya," Lo'ak flips me over but I counter it and flip him back, "pinned ya again. Haha. I win. That's like, the millionth time I've pinned you." I turn to Kiri and she's on the floor laughing. I'm still sitting on top of Lo'ak when Jake and his mate walk in with their eldest son. I look up and feel embarrassed. Lo'ak pushes me off of him so I hiss. Jake laughs but Lo'ak's brother and his mother keep their stoic expressions. I stand up quickly. She seems to not like me by her expression. She looks disgusted to see me.
"Hi! You must be Lo'ak's mother. I'm Zrina. Oel ngati kameie." I made the 'I see you' symbol. She hesitantly did it back to me. I smiled even though she seemed to not want to do it back.
"Zrina, this is my mate Neytiri, and this is my eldest son, Neteyam." I did the 'I see you' symbol to Neteyam and he did it back to me.
"What were you and Lo'ak doing?" Jake asked. I laughed.
"We were wrestling. And I won," I bragged. Lo'ak looked away. Jake and Neytiri's ears perked up.
"Really?" Neytiri asked, doubtful of my victory against Toruk Makto's son. I nodded my head quickly. Jake laughed so I turned to Lo'ak. He looked embarrassed so I decided I would add on to the embarrassment. I walked over to him and hugged him.
"Lo'ak, it's okay to feel ashamed for losing to a girl. Let alone you are the son of Toruk Makto!" I laugh.
"But you are older than me!" Lo'ak exclaimed. I shrug my shoulders. He pushed off of me and snarled. I growled back at him. Lo'ak lunged at me. I dodged him. He went to punch me but I caught his fist. Lo'ak's eyes widened because he knew what was going to happen.
"No no no no!" But it was too late. I did a scissor leg takedown around his neck and pinned him between my two legs. I looked up at Jake and he looked surprised.
"Okay, I don't have zero training experience, but I don't have a lot." I smirked. Lo'ak looked up to me, still in his hold.
"Yes you do! You have too much training. I should've never taught you how to fight!" Lo'ak wheezed. He slapped my leg to tell me that he surrendered. I undid the hold so he could breathe.
     "But then how would I survive?" I questioned my friend jokingly. I stood up and laughed. Jake clapped me on the back.
"Good job kid," he said. I smiled.

     A few hours later, I got to walk into the tent with Lo'ak but he pushes me back. We hear Neytiri and Jake arguing over something. I think it's about me?
     "Ma Jake, you cannot have that demon live now in our home!" I was shocked by Lo'ak's mother's words. I could tell Lo'ak was too.
     "Neytiri, she does not mean any harm and she has not done anything bad to us," Jake tried to reason with her. I could hear her huff loudly.
     "When I was a child, my mother would tell me stories about her kind and how they would cause problems wherever they went. That is why they are extinct. Or that was what I thought." I never knew that someone would think I was a bad person because of my skin color. This is terrible! I couldn't take it anymore so I ran off. Lo'ak didn't have the guts to follow me so he just sulked off to his siblings.

     Before we left to move to a different clan, Jake had to step down from his role as Olo'eyktan. Jake was cut with a knife by the future Olo'eyktan. We had to walk down to our ikrans. I was with Lo'ak since I didn't have an ikran. We finally started to fly away as I turned around to the home that was never really home.