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"When I look into the eyes of an animal I do not see an animal. I see a living being, a friend, a soul."
- A. D. Williams
"Aiyana, can you hear me?" A voice gurgled through the emptiness of my conscienceness.
My eyes peeled themselves open, and it took a great force to do so. It took me a second to focus, but I knew where I was. The whitewashed tiles of the Link Room were a welcomed sight, but I couldn't help but wonder why everyone was crowding around me.
"Jake? What's going on?" Confusion was evident in my voice.
"You're back in the Link Room. You're okay," he seemed to sigh in relief as he spoke this out loud. "Do you know where the Avatar is?" Jake had asked the question, but I had several sets of ears waiting for my answer.
"I," I fought to remember, "I tried to stay awake as long as I could," Memories flashed before my eyes and I tried to piece them together. "I had dived into a small cave to get away from the reptilian kitty. In my distress, my foot was crushed under rocks and I couldn't free it." My mind began to reel faster, " I was there for hours, simply staring at the sky. A native came and pulled me out sometime in the night. I don't think he spoke English and he began carrying me. I fell asleep sometime after that," I looked down into my lap, almost as though I was ashamed.
"We need to get you back in the Link," Grace was pacing back and forth. "You need to find out where you are so that we can either get you the hell out of there or well," she paused and looked down, "we'll address that later."
"You can't seriously expect her to go back in after that?" Jake jumped to my defense, "She's just got back! Give her a break!" But Grace was right.
"No, I'll go back in." The group of arguing adults became silent when I spoke, "I have to make sure everything is okay, that Akanda's Avatar is okay." Once my mind was made up, there was no way that anyone could change it and they didn't try. I pulled myself back into the Link pod and began to strap myself back down. Grace's hands replaced my own and worked quickly. She was oddly quiet and there was a look in her eyes that I hadn't seen before.
"Remember, you won't be able to connect with the Avatar if it's deceased. You'll feel nothing. Not even pain. Good luck," Grace was quiet and her voice was strained.
I couldn't respond; my mind was too clouded with thoughts of blame. This was my fault. It's my fault that I didn't know if the last thing I had of my sister was still alive. I needed my Avatar to be alive.
Grace gave me one last glance before she pulled the pod closed around me. The silence engulfed me and the familiar tingling began in my toes. With a growing sense of hope, I closed my eyes and allowed the process to fully begin. My mind surged through the link, begging it to find the Avatar. And when I did, it was as though I had been hit by a train. My lungs burned and pain surged up my leg, but I was in my avatar form once again. Tears pricked the sides of my eyes as relief flooded my veins.
