DISCONTINUED | Zaëne ✵

✵ 1

Zaëne's POV

Dreamwalkers.

Crouching on the branch, I look down the ground and watch three dreamwalkers wandering through the forest.

One of them is a fighter, I think, he has a gun. The other two are male and female, probably scientists. They've never had a warrior in the avatar program before...

"Prolemuris. They're not aggressive," I hear the female say.

I suck in a sharp breath. Grace. That's her voice. It's her, I know it is.

I don't know who the other dreamwalkers are. I'd have to get closer.

I watch and follow them as they continue to move through the forest, climbing over roots with the warrior in front. Grace and the other scientist crouch down by some roots to take samples.

A small smile grows on my lips. Same old Grace.

The warrior dreamwalker apparently decided to look around. I watch, rather amused, as he faces off with an angry hammerhead titanothere. I still haven't gotten used to calling the animals by the names they Na'vi have given them. I let out a small chuckle when the warrior taunts the hammerhead when he thinks he drove it off.

If only he looked behind him. Oh, there we go, now he sees the thanator.

I run along the branches above the warrior, watching as he tries to escape the dangerous panther-like creature. When he jumps off the cliff by the waterfall, I know he's not a complete newbie; he's been trained in survival.

He was probably a marine on earth.

"Forest, please let Neytiri know that there's a dreamwalker heading towards her," I whisper.

Neytiri and I came out here to practice stealth and have a little fun. We have to try and sneak up on each other without letting the other notice us. I was on her trail when I spotted the dreamwalkers.

I leap off the branch and grab onto a vine as I fall, sliding down the vine to the ground.

"Easy," I sooth the thanator when it turns and growls at me. "Easy."

The thanator lowers its upper lips then turns and heads off. I've found that Eywa's gift of talking to the forest also includes communicating or understanding the animals. They don't talk back to me, but I can read their body language better and easier than others.

I dive off the cliff into the river. When I climb out on the other side, I climb up another tree and look for any sign of the dreamwalker or Neytiri. I find Neytiri as she readies an arrow and pulls back on the bowstring, prepared to let it go and pierce through the dreamwalker's body.

I place a hand on her shoulder when I spot a woodsprite, atokirina in Na'vi. The seeds of the sacred tree. She freezes and we both watch as the woodsprite lands on the arrow head for a few seconds before gliding away. I watch it disappear through the leaves and look down at the dreamwalker, who is oblivious to us watching him.

I look at Neytiri and she nods. We will not kill him. I dart through the trees, following the dreamwalker with Neytiri behind me.

I circle around in front of him so I can get a good look at his face. When I do, I almost fall off the branch.

"No way," I whisper. "Tommy...?"

"Your brother?" Neytiri asks quietly.

I nod, muttering under my breath, "but... he's a scientist, like Grace... last time I saw him, he knew nothing about guns or survival in the wild... but then..." I draw in a breath and hold it. "Jake... why is he here? And if he's here on Pandora, where's Tommy? Jake and I both knew how much Tommy wanted to come here. Jake would never take Tommy's place unless Tommy wanted him to, which would never happen, or... Tommy died."