Hiraeth ||Tsu'tey||

When it had to chase Jake through a forest

It stared at the creature, tensing its body, ready for the fight that would soon happen should the animal not back down. The hammerhead was snorting loudly, hooves pulling up soil as it in a display of dominance dug down.

"Get behind the tree line, sir," It dutifully requested, knowing better than to outright command a superior. "If it charges I'm unsure if I can bring it down in time," it clenched its fists in a rare display of emotions.

Jake gave it a look, not standing down either.

It tried again, "please, sir, the tree line," it pointed to the cluster of tall trees, "it's antagonized but I doubt it would get through the trees."

Still, the man raised his gun and aimed at the animal.

Grace and Norm broke through the green but immediately when they saw the bellowing animal they hid behind the trees. With all their training they knew better than to openly defy an animal that much larger and much more dangerous than them.

"Don't shoot. You'll piss it off," Grace said as she pressed a finger to the communicator, voice worried, not that Jake noticed it through the thick haze of anger that clouded his mind. It was a standoff that was about to turn deadly if they didn't somehow persuade one of the parties to give in, and they all knew that the hammerhead in front of them wouldn't.

In an agitated tone Jake shot back, "it's already pissed off!"

"Jake, that armor's too thick. Trust me," the scientist told him.

Just as Jake started to back off the animal bellowed again, lowering its head to the ground as if to charge at him. It stepped in front of him in one last desperate attempt to save the jarhead idiot that was Jake Sully - not even a day into being a real avatar driver and he had already pissed off one of the biggest animals on Pandora.

"It's a territorial threat display," Grace warned him when she saw him backing, "Do not run, or he'll charge," she pressed, glaring at him.

It shifted on its feet, gun thrown over on her back as she readied herself for a fight she was never going to win. "Sir," she protested, "you need to get back!"

Hopefully It had taken Jake's side as the challenger but It doubted it. Jake being the larger male and the one who initiated was the bigger threat, and the hammerhead hadn't once looked away since the plants retreated into the ground.

"What do I do?" he asked in panic.

"Hold your ground!" Grace ordered him, eyes nervously flickering between the shit show that was the animal, Jake and It. "If you're lucky it won't charge, but I doubt it."

The hammerhead threw its head against the trees on both sides of it, splinters of the saplings and branches falling over it like confetti, a display of power that made shivers run down Its spine. It bellowed one last time before charging.

It took a deep breath as time around it seemed to slow down. The sharp inhales from the hammerhead were drawn out and the echoes and vibrations of its heavy steps vibrated through its whole body. It saw Jake run past her, gun held high, screaming at the beast about to ram him. It felt every beat of its heart, every move seemed to take ages, Its thoughts muddled together as It saw the man It was supposed to protect run to an early death, and in doing so condemned It too. That's when time seemed to snap back into place and It, with a shake of its head, sprinted after the ex-marine and in an act that could only be self-sacrificing, It ran in front of him, hands spread out and head held high in what must have been the first time in years. The same thing that was about to kill It was the thing that thrilled It, made adrenaline pump through Its veins - made It feel alive.