Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{82}

Darkness was all that surrounded Asim while unconsciousness. But instead of the cold embrace that it provided, it was warm this time.

When all his senses started to return to him, Asim stared to open his eyes and focus on where he was now. The first thing he saw was a hand reaching from the light that he was adjusting to, as well as some muffled voices that were familiar. The sound in his ears came back and he heard the voice of Kentaro, speaking as he had his hand placed on Asim's head for a moment. Later he saw the others gather close all around them, including....Shaka? When he saw the face of his friend, with eyes open and moving, he immediately began to sit up. "Matte matte! You still have some recovering to do after the fatigue blackout you went through." Kentaro said, moving him down with a hand as Asim's senses were regained fully. Asim coughed a bit when he sensed something sting his lungs, and when he recovered he looked straight at Shaka again. "Shaka? Are you alive? Or...have we all joined in the afterlife?" Asim asked almost bewildered. Shaka shook his head and smiled, reaching to uncover his sweater partially and show the wounds that he received. "I was stabbed very viciously in all parts except the heart. They missed it, but I still blacked out and was sure I was going to die. Luckily...I healed. Miraculously. Either by our adapted bodies or something else, I am here, alive with everyone else. And I understand the pain you guys went through when you saw me in a dead state." Shaka explained to Asim, looking at the rest of the group. Asim stared at his friend before sighing and resting his head back on the ground. "I really thought you were gone. That we won't see each other again and...and..." Asim started, and then clutched his head when he remembered what happened before. The attack on the Ash clan territory, the fierce battle that started, chaos brewing all over the na'vi camp. And most importantly...the anger and hatred that drowned Asim, which drove him to go about in a rampage and kill nearly every Ash clan na'vi there was. He looked at his hands near his face, which were still covered in dried blood after what transpired.

All of this made him feel even more guilty and ashamed than he has ever felt before, making him shed more tears as his face hardened.

A moment passed when his silent sorrow was interrupted by two hands on each side. Asim looked to the left and saw Lily holding on to his arm, his sister being safe and sound. "It's okay, big brother. You saved me and the na'vi kids. Even if you were scary and were planning to kill the tsakarem." Lily said, not dropping her beaming smile. Asim's breath stiffened before he leaned gently to the side to hug Lily with one arm, continuing to shed tears. Then he felt the large hand of the other on his right shoulder rub him, making Asim look up and notice that it was the anthro thanator. "You don't need to be sad or guilty anymore. You did what you had to do. And you had a good reason to do it. Not like the Ash clan tsahik and her twisted ways." Layontsin said to Asim, moving closer to nuzzle him on the head and rub his chest comfortingly. Asim sighed and thought for a moment, before nodding slightly and leaning against the anthro thanator while holding Lily. Layontsin gently pulled Asim closer to her body and gave him a hug, her vibrating noise starting to resonate from her breathing orifices. "Awww...she is purring! That is a definite sign that she loves you." Mikhail said, interrupting the peaceful moment that they were having. But instead of making everyone scold him, Asim chuckled and the rest laughed at this. Later Asim started to remember. What had happened before he passed out from the tiredness and fatigue, with what Layontsin said. "Wait...what happened to the Ash clan? Where did the rest of them go?" Asim asked, looking up at the anthro thanator. "We are not sure. Perhaps they have gone out to the farthest regions of the forest, to the unknown, or...they may have sought refuge in the Mangkwan clan" Layontsin explained, turning and raising her head towards the outside of the hut everyone was in. "Mangkwan? What tribe is that?" Asim echoed in question, tilting his head. "A solitary tribe that does not make contact with or accept any tribe elsewhere, other than members like outcasts that seek refuge after being expelled from their home." Layontsin explained to everyone. "If that is the case, then that means they most certainly would have gone there for sanctuary. Which also means they will come back." Mikhail said to her. "No. They won't come back. Not after what they brought upon themselves, or after many suns to come. They now know we will never accept them...unless they finally let go of that hate and the enemy within, and seek true change." Layontsin said to him in response. Asim looked down in shame when the "enemy within" was mentioned. The fierce hate that Asim carried within scared him now more than ever, seeing that all of these vengeful acts that he and his team committed to the Ash clan, even when it was justified, still felt wrong.

What worried him more was that now that this has happened, the other tribes will find out about them, and conflict will soon continue to emerge around him and his family. It was not just him and those he cared about; it was the entirety of the Anurai clan, who have welcomed them with open arms even after suffering greatly from humankind. Thinking about what will happen when other tribes opposed them was worrying enough to move him into making a decision despite it being a hard choice. "We need to separate. All of us, from the Anurai tribe. The only thing we will bring is conflict to everyone, nothing else. If this clan suffers again, it will be in more unbearable pain than before, with us to blame. It's our fault for being here in the first place." Asim said, giving a long sigh. The others from his team looked at him and at each other,  worried about this that Asim had said and the decision that he implied for everyone in the team. Layontsin, understanding his words, looked at Asim before frowning and moving two of her four arms to hold his shoulders. "Listen to me again, skyperson. What happened was because of them, not you. Believe me, I am was more scared on that time that I saw you with the enemy within than I have before. But now...I don't. You could have killed the tsakarem easily, but you didn't, and she now has found refuge with the Anurai clan. More importantly...because you helped me become someone that I wanted to be. And I want you to stay here with me, always. If you leave me, I will hate you so much that I will hunt you down and eat you alive." Layontsin said sternly, letting out a serious growl from her throat.

This made Asim tense up and swallow in nervousness, seeing that the anthro thanator was firm in her decision. "My daughter is right. Besides, we cannot allow that her future mate escape her." Unil'tingai said, entering the hut along with Rai'uk so that they sat close to everyone. Asim looked at them in surprise, and more with the majority of the Anurai clan members standing outside as if they have been there waiting for him to recover. "We have already decided, and we will not repeat ourselves. You have offered us kindness and loyalty, and we will always be in your debt. Thank you, for saving my life and that of the children. This is your home and the home of your family now. You and your family...are and always will be...part of the Anurai." Rai'uk said, moving a hand to place it on Asim's shoulder. Unil'tingai also did the same on the other shoulder, as well as Layontsin over the hands of the clan leaders with all four hands. When he looked up at her again, Asim noticed Layontsin with a more kinder expression than before that told him she was true to her words. Gradually, some na'vi began to enter the hut to place their hands on the shoulders of his team, his family, in a way that each and every one of them were connected with the na'vi surrounding them. They continued to do this even outside, as if it symbolized that it was never ending. Realizing there was no way out of this and overwhelmed by the whole decision, plus the fact that this act of repeated acceptance was not a blind decision, Asim eventually relented. "...Thank you..." Asim said finally after a long moment of thought, now letting go of all the worries that were present before and now fully accepting the decision. Everyone smiled as they heard Asim's response, content that he understood and was now able to move forwards with no doubt.

Now, things were more clearer than before. And a sense of pure relief washed over.