Where the wild things are (OC x OC)

Echoes of sorrow

Later that night as Louise is asleep and any and all dinners have been eaten, Jake wheels himself over to the table by the fridge while Grace walks over to the microwave and puts her cup of coffee in there to warm it up again as it's gotten cold.

Jake sees more photos on the table and he flips through them, noticing how it's photos of Grace in her Avatar body, with her students.

There's a photo of younger Neytiri looking startled while younger Vitxyillì presumably jumps from a high place, lunging at Neytiri for a hug.

Jake chuckles softly as he looks at the photo, the image of Neytiri's startled expression and Vitxyillì's borderline psychotic smile causing his lips to twitch in a small smile of his own.

Jake flips through the photos once more and there's even a photo of younger Perä lunging at younger Räi who's clutching food to his chest, presumably having stolen it from Perä.

Jake lets out a snort of amusement. The picture is a classic example of brothers being brothers.

Grace comes over and sees Jake looking at the photos but she ignores it for now, making herself a cup of coffee.

"What did happen at the school, Grace?" Jake asks curiously, setting the photos down gently and looks up at her.

Grace's hands pause briefly as she pours creamer into her coffee, her shoulders tensing up ever so slightly. She'd known this question was coming again, and it still manages to catch her off guard.

Grace exhales a soft sigh, stirring the creamer in her cup before turning around to face Jake.

"Neytiri's older sister, Slywanin, stopped coming to school. She was angry about the clear cutting." Grace explains.

Jake stares up at Grace, dumbfounded by the information. Neytiri has a sibling, an older sister, no less, and he'd never known.

The realization hits Jake like a ton of bricks, leaving him reeling. He can't help but wonder why Neytiri never mentioned her sister, and where Sylwanin was now.

But yet again, Neytiri isn't entitled to tell Jake everything. Hell, he hasn't told her everything and he has not even told her about his twin, Tommy.

"And one day, Slywanin, Tsu'tey, Otayä, Fyìse, Perä and a couple other young hunters came running in, all painted up. They'd set a bulldozer on fire." Grace continues, looking down at her coffee briefly, her mind drifting back to the incident.

Jake's shock only grows as the story continues. His mind tries to wrap around what he's hearing, the image of Neytiri's older sister and the other young hunters painted up, setting fire to a bulldozer.

Jake has a sneaking suspicion this is why Otayä has the bullet wound on the right ass cheek, come to think of it.

"I guess they thought I could protect them." Grace adds, her tone becoming more somber.

Jake's heart twists in his chest, compassion and sorrow welling up within him for the  Na'vi who looked to Grace for protection. He can guess where the story is going, by her somber tone and the look on her face. He braces himself for what's to come, even as dread pools in his stomach.

"The troopers pursued them to the school, they killed Slywanin in the doorway. Right in front of Neytiri. And then shot other Na'vi, I got most of the kids out alive, the kids carried the ones who were killed. But the survivors never came back to the school." Grace finishes, her tone softer, and more somber. She raises her coffee to her lips and takes a greedy swig.

Jake struggles to find words in the wake of Grace's story. The images that flood his mind are violent and disturbing, and the thought of Neytiri watching her sister being killed, it's like a punch to the gut.