Life on Pandora

☆⌒(＾-゜)v

The forest teems with life as Neteyam gently lands on a moss-covered root, already turning to smile mockingly at Spider. "You're jumping around like a wounded six-legged creature," he jokes, nudging him with his elbow. "Try bending your knees. You're not made of wood."

"I did bend them!" Spider retorts, running after Lo'ak as he leaps over a fallen log. "You're just bragging."

Lo'ak laughs loudly and carelessly, almost slipping when Kiri reaches out and catches him without even looking at him. “Eywa doesn't need you to break your neck today,” she murmurs, amused.

Tuk runs past everyone, his braids flapping. "Last one to the stream smells like yak dung!"

Neteyam runs after her, then stops abruptly, instinctively raising his hand.

Everyone freezes.

A sound filters through the trees. Laughter. Voices. Too relaxed to be predators. Too carefree to be hunters.

Lo'ak crouches slightly. "That's not from our clan."

They peek out from among the leaves and vines, and there they are. A small group of Na'vi teenagers resting near a clearing, joking amongst themselves, one of them balancing on a low branch as if it were nothing.

One of them is you.

Neteyam straightens up, tension is relieved and curiosity replaces it. “Oh,” she murmurs. “They’re just children.”

Tuk tilts his head, his eyes sparkling. "Can we greet each other?"

The forest seems to hold its breath, not from danger, but from anticipation, as two groups of strangers realize that, after all, they are not alone.