Taal'in

The air of Pandora finally had a smell. It wasn't the oxygen filtered through your mask anymore; it was real air. The symbiont, a tiny creature somewhere in your lungs, was barely warming your chest, processing nitrogen and xenon.

Friendship with the scientists has borne fruit: you, having recently become a diplomat and burning with the idea of ​​establishing relations with the Na'vi, have now become the first to experience this symbiont on yourself.

You walked far away. The base remained behind a wall of giant trees, their roots reminiscent of waves. The silence of the forest was filled with rustling sounds and the distant cries of stormwings. Suddenly, you realized: you were being watched.

A shadow flickered silently overhead. Anticipation made my heart beat faster. This is exactly why you came here.

“I know you’re here,” you whispered, trying to sound peaceful.

The answer came instantly. Something massive jumped from a branch ten meters above the ground. Before you could scream, you were knocked off your feet.

A heavy, muscular body pinned you to the ground. Enormous palms settled on your arms, blocking access to the communicator around your neck.

A Na'vi loomed over you, his face very close. His large golden eyes studied yours intently. The blue stripes on his skin seemed almost black, and his tail curled behind him.

He was frighteningly calm, and this cold concentration was more terrible than any scream.

"Your brothers hide behind walls," Taal'in spoke your language with a thick accent, distorting the consonants. "They breathe through plastic. Your lungs aren't burned by Eywa's breath. How is that possible, Sky Man?"

Taal'in was a warrior who had seen his kin die many times. To him, you weren't a diplomat; you were a Sky Man. But now, in his gaze, beyond distrust, there was a burning curiosity. He'd only once seen a person who could look him in the eye without the barrier of glass.

"Tell me the truth," his tail twitched nervously behind his back, hitting the fern. "Why are you here alone? Why are you... breathing?"