The Pandoran sun, finally dipped below the horizon, taking the last lingering rays of daylight with it. I was still riding on Jake's back, my arms wrapped securely around his thick blue neck, my small legs dangling over his chest. Even with his genetically engineered, ten-foot-tall Avatar body, I could feel the tension radiating off him. His muscles were coiled tight, his yellow eyes scanning the impenetrable shadows, his ears twitching at every snapped twig or rustle of leaves.
"You doing okay back there, kid?" Jake asked, his voice a low, gravelly whisper that barely carried over the ambient hum of the forest.
"I'm fantastic," I whispered back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just taking a scenic midnight stroll through the forest of death. I give this vacation a solid two out of ten. The accommodations are terrible, and the local wildlife is incredibly rude."
Jake let out a short, quiet huff of amusement. "Just keep your eyes peeled. We need to find a place to bunker down. And we need a fire."
"Fire requires dry wood and an ignition source," I pointed out, my mind already running through the variables. "My flare gun is empty, I don't have a lighter, and the humidity out here is sitting at a solid ninety-eight percent. Unless you've got some Marine Corps magic trick up your sleeve, we're going to be sitting in the dark."
"Marines always improvise," Jake muttered.
He stopped near a massive, ancient tree whose bark was oozing thick, amber-colored sap. Jake reached out, snapping a sturdy, arm-thick branch off a nearby deadwood shrub. He then began gathering large, dry leaves from the underbrush, wrapping them tightly around the end of the branch. With a grunt of effort, he dragged the bundled leaves through the thick tree sap, coating it generously.
"Okay, caveman," I said, leaning over his shoulder to watch. "You made a Q-tip. Now how do you light it?"
"Friction," Jake grunted, kneeling down. He found a hard piece of flat stone, laid a pinch of dry moss on it, and began furiously rubbing a smaller, pointed stick against the stone, right next to the moss.
I watched him struggle for a few minutes. "You know, if I had my lab equipment, I could synthesize a chemical combustible using the phosphorus in the soil and—"
"Quiet, Stark," Jake huffed, his blue arms flexing as he spun the stick faster and faster. "I'm working on it."
Finally, a tiny wisp of smoke curled up into the air. A second later, a small ember caught the moss. Jake gently blew on it, coaxing the tiny glowing speck into a small, fragile flame. He quickly brought his sap-covered branch down, touching the flame to the resin.
Whoosh.
The sap caught instantly, flaring to life with a bright, crackling orange light. The shadows retreated, pushed back by the small circle of safety Jake had just created.
"Not bad, wheels," I admitted, genuinely impressed.
"Told you," Jake smirked, standing back up and hefting his makeshift torch. "Now, let's keep moving. I want to find a cave or an overhang."
As we walked, the jungle around us began to undergo a miraculous, terrifying transformation. As if responding to the fading of the sun, the flora around us began to glow. Small spots of bioluminescence flickered to life. Ferns pulsed with soft magenta hues, mushrooms glowed in toxic, neon greens, and massive, spiraling vines lit up like veins of pure azure electricity.
It was stunning. From a purely scientific standpoint, the biochemical efficiency required to produce this level of ambient light across an entire planetary ecosystem was mind-boggling. From a personal standpoint? It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
But beauty on Pandora was always a mask for danger.
High above, hidden within the thick, intertwining canopy of the massive Hallelujah trees, a silent observer watched our every move.
Neytiri crouched on a thick branch, completely still, her skin blending flawlessly into the shadows. Her large, yellow eyes were narrowed in disdain as she watched the clumsy, noisy alien stumbling through the undergrowth below.
He was an Avatar—a Dreamwalker. A false Na'vi. He possessed the body of her people, but he moved like an infant, snapping branches, destroying the delicate moss, and swinging his blazing torch around like a blind animal. And clinging to the Dreamwalker's back was one of the Sky People. A small one. A child.
Neytiri's lip curled into a silent snarl. The Sky People brought nothing but death and metal to the forest. They did not belong here.
Silently, with the grace of a falling leaf, Neytiri unslung her massive, beautifully carved wooden bow from her shoulder. She reached over her shoulder, drawing an arrow tipped with neurotoxin-laced bone. She nocked the arrow to the bowstring, her muscles pulling taut as she drew it back to her cheek.
She aimed the deadly point directly at the Dreamwalker's chest. One shot. That was all it would take to rid the forest of this bumbling intruder and stop him from causing any more harm to Eywa's delicate balance.
She slowed her breathing. She prepared to release the string.
Suddenly, a soft, ethereal light drifted down from the branches above.
Neytiri froze. A single Atokirina—a Woodsprite, a seed of the Great Tree—floated gently through the air. It pulsed with a pure, white light, its delicate tendrils swimming gracefully through the humid night air.
Neytiri watched in shock as the Woodsprite drifted directly into her line of sight, slowly lowering itself until it landed softly on the very tip of her drawn arrow.
The message was clear. Unmistakable.
Eywa had intervened. The Great Mother was protecting this Dreamwalker. And by extension, the small Sky Person clinging to him.
Neytiri slowly, reluctantly, lowered her bow. The Woodsprite lifted off the arrow, floating away into the darkness. With a frustrated sigh, Neytiri slung her bow back over her shoulder and silently began to track them from the canopy above, watching to see what the Great Mother saw in these clumsy fools.
Down on the forest floor, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood straight up.
"Jake," I whispered, my voice tight.
"I know," Jake replied softly. His easygoing demeanor was gone, completely replaced by the hyper-vigilant instincts of a combat veteran. He stopped walking, slowly turning in a circle, his torch held out in front of him.
The jungle had gone dead silent. The ambient clicking and chirping of insects had completely vanished.
"We're being hunted," I said, my heart starting to pound against my ribs.
From the shadows just beyond the reach of our torchlight, a low, guttural chittering echoed through the trees. It sounded like a hyena laughing, crossed with the hiss of a massive snake.
Then, the glowing green eyes appeared.
At first, there were just two. Then four. Then a dozen. They hovered about waist-high in the darkness, completely surrounding us in a tight, calculating circle.
A sleek, hairless creature stepped slowly into the flickering light of the torch. It was about the size of a large Earth wolf, but that was where the similarities ended. It had six muscular legs, leathery black skin stretched tight over a terrifyingly lean, muscular frame, and a massive, elongated jaw filled with rows of needle-sharp, translucent teeth.
It was a Viperwolf. And it wasn't alone.
"Stark," Jake said, his voice entirely devoid of panic. He slowly reached around to his back, grabbing the collar of my shirt. "Get down. Stay directly behind my legs. Do not move unless I tell you to."
I didn't argue. I unlatched my arms from his neck and dropped to the soft earth. I scrambled backward, keeping myself pressed tightly against the back of his massive calves. I was terrified, but my brain was working in overdrive.
"They're pack hunters, Jake!" I shouted, keeping my eyes on the shifting shadows. "They're trying to flank you! Keep the fire moving!"
"I got this," Jake growled.
He swung the heavy, flaming torch in a wide, sweeping arc. The Viperwolves directly in front of him hissed and recoiled, the fire momentarily overriding their predatory instincts. But as Jake swung forward, the wolves in the back lunged.
"Behind you!" I screamed.
Jake spun on his heel, swinging the torch like a baseball bat. The heavy, flaming wood smashed directly into the jaw of a leaping Viperwolf. The creature yelped in pain, tumbling through the air and crashing into the underbrush, sparks scattering across the ground.
But that was the opening they needed.
Three more Viperwolves charged from the right side. Jake kicked one squarely in the chest, sending it flying back, but another clamped its massive, powerful jaws down onto his left forearm.
Jake roared in pain, wildly shaking his arm. He brought the torch down hard on the creature's back, forcing it to release its grip, but the damage was done. Dark red Avatar blood dripped onto the forest floor, and the smell of it sent the rest of the pack into a frenzy.
They all attacked at once.
"Jake!" I yelled, desperately looking around for a weapon, a rock, a stick—anything. But I was ten years old. I was entirely useless in a physical brawl with a pack of alien apex predators.
Jake was a machine. He fought with a brutal, desperate ferocity, using his marine close-quarters combat training to punch, kick, and bash the creatures away with the torch. But there were simply too many of them. They were incredibly fast, incredibly agile, and they coordinated their attacks flawlessly.
One wolf lunged low, snapping its jaws around Jake's ankle. As Jake stumbled, another leaped up, slashing its razor-sharp claws across Jake's chest.
Jake fell backward, dropping the torch. The bundle of flaming sap hit the wet ground and hissed, the fire immediately starting to die out.
"No!" I yelled, scrambling toward the torch, trying to pick it up, but it was too heavy for my small arms to swing effectively.
Jake was on his back, desperately wrestling with a Viperwolf that was trying to rip his throat out. He had his hands wrapped around the creature's neck, holding its snapping jaws just inches from his face. But two more were creeping in from the sides, preparing for the killing blow.
We were completely out of time. We were going to die here in the mud.
Suddenly, a high-pitched, terrifying war cry pierced the night.
THWACK!
An arrow, as thick as a spear and traveling with the speed of a bullet, slammed directly into the side of the Viperwolf on Jake's left. The creature let out a choked yelp and collapsed instantly, pinned to the ground.
Before the rest of the pack could even react, a slender, blue blur dropped from the canopy above.
Neytiri landed directly in the center of the clearing with the grace of a falling panther. She didn't hesitate for a microsecond. Moving with a fluid, terrifying, and breathtakingly beautiful lethality, she drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired point-blank into the chest of the wolf on Jake's right.
The creature that was wrestling with Jake let go, turning its attention to this new, deadly threat. It lunged at Neytiri.
She didn't flinch. She dropped her bow, her hand dropping to her hip in a blur of motion. She drew a long, curved bone knife and spun underneath the leaping Viperwolf. With one smooth, sweeping motion, she drove the blade directly into the creature's heart.
The wolf crumpled to the ground, dead before it even landed.
Neytiri stood up, her chest heaving slightly. She let out a fierce, guttural, terrifying hiss, baring her sharp fangs at the remaining Viperwolves. She twirled the bloody knife in her hand, challenging them.
The remaining pack members looked at the three dead bodies of their kin. They looked at the fierce Na'vi warrior standing over them. Deciding the meal wasn't worth the slaughter, they chattered angrily, tucked their tails, and vanished back into the shadows of the jungle.
The clearing descended into a heavy, ringing silence, broken only by Jake's heavy panting.
I sat on the ground, completely dumbfounded. My mouth was hanging open. Oh my god!!! It's Neytiri!!!!🤩
Jake slowly sat up, clutching his bleeding arm. He looked at the tall Na'vi woman standing a few feet away. She was beautiful, dressed in minimal leather garments and adorned with intricate beadwork and glowing war paint.
"I..." Jake started, his voice rough. He tried to stand, wincing as he put weight on his injured ankle. "I don't know who you are... but thank you. I owe you one."
Neytiri didn't even look at him. She dropped to her knees beside the Viperwolf she had killed with her knife. Her fierce, warrior demeanor vanished, replaced by a profound, heartbreaking sorrow.
She gently placed a hand on the dead creature's side, ignoring the blood. She closed her eyes, murmuring softly in her native tongue, her voice thick with emotion. "Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan."Which translated to. I see you, brother. "Forgive me. Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People."
Jake, entirely oblivious to the sacred moment occurring in front of him, limped over, gesturing vaguely with his hands. "Look, I know you probably don't speak English, but I want to say thanks for the assist. Those things were all over us."
Neytiri's eyes snapped open. The sorrow vanished, instantly replaced by a blinding, explosive fury.
She stood up, whirling around to face him. She pointed an accusatory finger at his chest, her eyes blazing.
"Don't thank!" she shouted, her English broken but her meaning razor-sharp. "You do not thank for this! This is sad. Very sad only!"
Jake blinked, taken aback by the sudden verbal assault. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It is your fault!" Neytiri yelled, stepping closer, poking him hard in the chest with her long fingers. "They did not need to die!"
"My fault?!" Jake threw his hands up defensively. "They attacked me! They were going to eat us! What was I supposed to do, ask them nicely to leave?"
"Your fault!" she repeated, her voice echoing in the clearing. "You are like a baby! Making noise! Don't know what to do!"
I couldn't help it. The sheer absurdity of this ten-foot-tall, badass marine getting scolded like a toddler by a jungle warrior was too much for my brain to handle. The adrenaline was leaving my system, replaced by my natural defense mechanism: snark.
I picked myself up off the dirt, brushing the mud off my pants. I looked up at Jake, a massive, cheeky grin spreading across my face.
"I think she likes you, Jake," I said loudly.
Jake snapped his head down to look at me, his yellow eyes wide in disbelief. "Whose side are you on, Stark?"
"The side with the giant bow and the winning personality," I fired back without missing a beat.
Neytiri finally seemed to notice me. She looked down at my small, human form. Her eyes narrowed slightly, taking in my pale skin, my messy hair, and my weird clothes. But instead of the pure disdain she had shown Jake, there was a flicker of curiosity in her gaze.
"A small one," Neytiri muttered. "Why does the baby Dreamwalker bring a true baby into the forest of dangers?"
"Oi! I'm not a baby!" I clarified quickly, holding up my hands. "I'm just the genius he's babysitting. Hi. I'm Tony."
Neytiri stared at me for a long moment. Then, she looked back at Jake, shaking her head in utter disappointment. "You are ignorant. Like a child. Both of you."
"Hey," I protested, pointing a finger at her. "I'm a certified prodigy, lady. He's the one swinging a flaming stick around."
Jake looked flaberghasted," Hey!" He shouted clearly offended.
"I like her," I added, looking back at Jake. "She tells it exactly how it is. You should take notes."
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. "You're not helping, kid." He looked back at Neytiri, spreading his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Look, fine. If I'm like a baby... then teach me. Teach me what to do."
Neytiri scoffed, turning her back on him. She began to walk away, melting seamlessly into the dark jungle foliage. "Sky People cannot learn. You do not See."
"Hey, wait!" Jake called out, hobbling after her. "Come on, don't just leave us out here! Teach me how to 'See'!"
Neytiri didn't stop, but she didn't run, either. She kept a steady, walking pace, slicing through the thick jungle like a ghost. Jake grabbed my shirt, lifting me up and tossing me effortlessly back onto his shoulders.
"Hold on tight, Tony," Jake muttered, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg as he pushed through the ferns to follow her.
"You got it, Romeo," I smirked, securing my grip around his neck.
As we followed Neytiri deeper into the jungle, the true magic of Pandora revealed itself. With every step Neytiri took, the ground beneath her feet lit up. The moss reacted to the pressure, blooming into radiant rings of cyan and bright green bioluminescence. When Jake stepped in her footprints, the light exploded outward in a dazzling display, illuminating the forest floor like a glowing pathway straight out of a dream.
I leaned over Jake's shoulder, my eyes wide in sheer, unadulterated awe as I watched the glowing rings ripple outward.
"Okay," I whispered, the scientific marvel of it entirely overriding my fear. "That is insanely cool."
"Quiet, Stark," Jake grunted, keeping his eyes fixed on Neytiri's back.
"No, you be quiet," she called back over her shoulder, her voice floating through the trees.
I couldn't help it. I let out a loud, genuine laugh. "Oh yeah. She definitely likes you."
Jake just groaned, adjusting my weight on his back as we followed the fierce Na'vi warrior deeper into the glowing, impossible heart of the Pandoran night. I've forgotten where she brought Jake in the movie, so hopefully it's nowhere dangerous