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83. Misadventure of Two Adventurous Kids
🕑 Added 2023-09-07 18:58:22 +0000 UTCDeep within the jungle of Pandora, two humanoid figures could be seen walking side to side, one tall bulky of metal and the other smaller of a preteen girl with striped navy blue skin, a tail ending in a furry tip behind her, and two long ears that pivoted and twitched at every sound of the primeval forest.
"Are you sure we don't risk anything? I don't want to be grounded by Mom.", Kiri said, already feeling regret welling in her chest about her choice to have accepted Miles's invitation to go out in the middle of the night.
"Nah it will be fine! I'm here! And ain't nobody will even notice we were gone, your parents are sleeping like logs. Cupla's asleep too, I made sure to feed the big guy those sleepy berries Dad warned me about with the fish so don't worry! No one is going to bother us! Aren't I fantastic?", Miles' enthusiastic voice with a hint of robotic behind blasted through the speaker all the while he pointed a mechanical thumb at himself proudly.
Rolling her eyes at this over-dramatic display in amusement she felt a slight relief at his confidence she wasn't one to let an opening go when there was one.
"If you say so… I will trust the machine the All-Father has crafted for you.", she quipped back, not even knowing her words were right as in case of extreme danger the autopilot mode of the small mecha will be engaged, and her term used to speak about his Father puzzling him as much as ever but that was one of the reasons he liked her.
She was not weird but unique and in that aspect, he wasn't so far behind. Both were bizarre in their own ways for what they were, the circumstances surrounding them, and to whom they were connected.
And Miles presently wasn't yet aware of what was happening unlike her, the term now more apt than ever when she spoke of it first. It was the main subject of the time. She was aware of it through her great sensitivity, she even felt a few days ago a rapid increase in heartbeats, the rhythm of life, and that for an entire night and it was accompanied by a profound sentiment of excitement, joy, and deep pleasure from the All-Mother.
She immediately told it to her Mother and the Tsahìk of Omatikaya the next day as she didn't manage to sleep, just like she was asked to always do when her gift let her glimpse and perceive the world brought by the Great Mother in a way no Na'vi or Avatar ever did.
Everyone and even herself would need to be blind, deaf, and dumb to not realize her blatant uniqueness which had been hypothesized to have for origin the fact her Mother was pregnant with her when she did the consciousness transfer ritual the reason for her gift.
She will later realize when her innocence would inevitably fade away that the nature of this 'excitement', 'joy', and 'pleasure' were due to one type of act between two lovers and one type only. And it would not be a one-time event.
It was something that she would never dare to speak again particularly once she would understand why the adults she spoke to made funny faces at detailed words. Her Mother in particular seemed extremely amused by what she said.
Anyway, it wasn't random Miles decided to sneak out at this time with Kiri. The jungle at night was at its most beautiful phase even if it's in equal measure at its most dangerous.
The flora was varied and complex in all aspects from large feathery plants to strange floating mushroom-jellyfish hybrids glowing an intense purple to crystalline orchid-like flowers that would snap down and swallow a man whole.
As for the fauna it was of equal splendor from hundreds of arthropods be they hovering or skittering around the tree and soil, their body covered with bioluminescent light shining like the prettiest of gemstones as the bigger life forms such as a group of prolemuris fascinated at them.
The entire jungle was a constellation of bright color each bioluminescent cell a star and an orchestra of numerous beasts from clicks to yawl and high-pitched cries in the far distance, a paradise if not for the fact that quite literally everything had the means to kill the walkers within be they humans or Na'vi if they are careless or unprepared, or worse both.
And it depended on where as well the area those two were was relatively 'safe' at most there would be viperwolves and those wouldn't fare well against half a ton of pure technology if it came down to it.
Liam taught the boy to defend himself and to aim for the kill, something Miles would do in a heartbeat if there was no other choice and it came down to it, it wouldn't be the first time he would have killed as his Father was teaching him the basic of hunting, killing your games and preparing them for uses be it consumption or something else.
Of course,e killing a wild animal was a world apart from doing it to a sapient being like a human but even there Liam had driven into his skull that surviving even if you end up killing someone was the best outcome. Better have regret and be alive than have none and have your rotting carcass be eaten by bugs and worms six feet under.
In any case, this was the perfect place and time to have time alone and be without adults dictating their every choice. He always was a willful child, something that only grew with time and with his Father's influence that made him numb to many things that would warrant rightful fear.
Though as rebellious as he seemed to be he knew the only individual not to disobey or worse disappoint in any circumstances was his Father. However, Liam wasn't here and the rules set were quite lax around the edges so what he was doing if not caught would not be of much problem at least from his point of view.
He needed to seriously mess up to be punished or break one of the two primary rules of going against the good of the community or that of others for his gain or satisfaction with malicious intentions.
At some point, Miles' various scanners noticed the sign of physical fatigue so as the gentleman that he was he decided to help and he moved one of his mecha massive mechanical fast yet with extreme care as he grabbed her by the trunk like one would grab a run of the mill's water glass.
"Ky-Whaaa-aAAH!", she emitted a long incomprehensible cry and squeal of shock while her ear flicked at the back as her feet left the ground as she was lifted.
"Stop fighting, it's me, you are going to hurt yourself if you continue.", Miles said and she stopped her fit of panic, letting her place atop the large metal shoulder of his mecha that snapped down at the point she touched to make a more comfortable seat.
"Thank you… But a warning would have been nice.", she said as she took a more comfortable position, with the higher point of view she could see glimpses of a river that would further down become a massive waterfall.
They continued treading forward marveling at the sight and sound as they began speaking about various random subjects from why Mister Langford their teacher seemed more exhausted recently to what mischief Lo'ak had been causing for his family the Sully and this evolved until it was about their parents.
"Hmm, can you explain to me why you keep calling Dad All-Father? You can go with Liam, Uncle, and other choices but it's always this… Why?", Miles asked as the sound of his mecha bulky feet clapped against the water of the river.
"You don't know?", Kiri sounded shocked at this, her eyes widening slightly. It was akin to someone not knowing fire burn to her and it was even more when this someone was the adopted son of said All-Father.
"Nope… Never cared much until it started to seem to cause this commotion. I thought it was just a joke or another bizarre title like the <Lost Child> thing. Dad considered a child! And a lost one at that, as if.", he said with indignation at the notion that the towering figure that was the pillar of humanity on the moon and his adoptive Father could be considered such.
His words affirmed to her that he wasn't joking which in turn surprised her further and that he seemed to not grasp the… Intricacies even if for her it was blatantly obvious at least for the All-Father part as for the latter she wasn't sure either lacking in context but she could tell it was due to a type of growth having happened since when the title had been commonly used.
He was smart, smarter than her in a lot of ways but it was more on the practical and physical side of things and not on the more blurry esoteric side like her.
"It's because that is what he is… The All-Mother, Eywa is his mate and is her too.", she stated as if it was an obvious observation that anyone could see and that it was normal while making perfect sense.
Something that was evidently not shared by Miles whose confusion translated on the light of his mecha blinking rapidly while a large metal hand stated the head in confusion before the massive shoulder hunched ever so slightly in resignation.
"If you say so, I will trust you on that one.", he said, he barely understood what Eywa was, he knew she was a very important figure in all Na'vi culture but for him, she was those Trees of Souls, and the flora in general, she couldn't be a person as far as he saw.
'But Dad spent a lot of time with that small Tree of Souls on the island. But that doesn't make sense… It's a tree you can't fall in love with a tree. No matter how pretty it is.', he thought as he remembered several instances where Liam stayed alone in front of that tree.
Sometimes he touched the bark as if inspecting it and other times he slept on the roots all the while regularly throwing carcasses of animals and other dead biomass as fertilizer.
But that was as far as it went, it was him taking great care of a Tree of Souls he planted. Yet his mood while he did so was different, more dreamy and at peace. It was quite unusual now that he thinks about it, still what Kiri said didn't make any lick of sense.
"That was a stupid question anyway… Buckle up and hold steady. I'm going to increase our speed.", Miles said, not forgetting to warn of his impending action as the light over the mecha flashed brightly for a second.
Inside he grinned as the scanners informed him that all systems were ready and as he began to run Kiri screamed at the sudden outburst of speed as the world for her became a flurry of light and she held for dear life even if it wasn't necessary with the mecha holding her in place.
This jog lasted nine full minutes of which Kiri stopped panicking at two and it only stopped once they arrived at their destination a waterfall throwing itself on a cliff with a flat stone covered in blue moss that glowed under Polyphemus that extended further in the air, only holding in place thanks to larger stones and massive trees.
It was a picturesque sight, a sight perfect for an impromptu midnight picnic in one of the most dangerous ecosystems known to humanity. Adding most radio waves had difficulty traveling through this place, not as grave as in the middle of the Hallelujah mountains but a problem nonetheless.
Walking toward the flat stone at the cliff the mecha once suddenly stopped moving, its legs folding and arms serving to hold the machine in place, Kiri took the opportunity by immediately jumping down, her entire body wobbly as she sat down on the moss.
A loud hiss of mechanical origin was then heard as the head of the mecha snapped up followed by the chest revealing an eight years olds boy way above average in height and musculature, his wild and messy dark blond hair couldn't hide the grin behind the visor of his exopack.
"What would you prefer?", Miles asked, jumping out of the mecha and then tapping on two points on its left metallic feet, A plate slid open revealing a rack full of bags that were all snacks and drinks.
He didn't wait for her to have the time to think that he was taking things out and placing them down on a large patch of moss.
Nearly everything edible was made by their own hands and he was very proud of himself, it was simple things such as chips but still, he was not even ten years old. Liam wouldn't accept any less from the child he took under his wing, being bad at cooking was something that was, to put it mildly, forbidden when the post-human had decided you were his responsibility.
But all of a sudden as Miles finished pouring her a glass of lemonade two powerful roars that shook the local's wildlife to its core echoed far and wide, their origin the sky, one was agony and defiance and another of rage and triumph.
Miles and Kiri's heads snapped in the direction from where the roars came from, both recognizing what animals could emit such a sound. And it wasn't good news.
Their heart felt for them, as if they were going to explode in their chest and their bodies betrayed them freezing in place as breaking from the low cloud two massive winged creatures, one of bright orange and the other of a pale yellow and the two beasts were spiraling to the ground where they were from above.
The two majestic creatures were two female Great Leanopteryx fighting for a male to mate for life and only one would survive this ordeal as per tradition was in their 'culture', the pale yellow one as it let go of the orange one who fell on the river its battered body slamming into stones yet it was still holding on to life. If drowning in its own crushed organs and bones could be called life.
But it wasn't for long as the bigger yellow one slammed its talons into the orange one head. The ground seemed to shake, while the skull took the full brunt of one dozen and a half metric tons with enough kinetic energy to break a tank leading to the carbon-reinforced bone to fractured impact.
And it fractured loudly or more accurately splattered loudly as blood and pieces of gore oozed out in abandon, some even reaching the kids' feet but both were too shocked to even flinch even less show any kind of reaction.
The yellow one stood victorious. It gazed down upon its fallen adversary with sadness, pride, and satisfaction as it emitted a high-pitched cry of victory.
Once the cry ended the kids with their ears hurting and ringing couldn't care less that the Great Leonopteryx not even forty meters (~131ft) away was breathing heavily and that it was marred with injuries from scratch to meters deep gash.
No, what took their focus was that it was staring at them, from Kiri to Miles then to Kiri and Miles until its three healthy eyes locked onto the human boy, and crawled toward them at great speed. Its massive jaws were full of teeth painted in blood of its own kind aiming for Miles.
<STOOOP!>, Kiri finally snapping back to reality yelled in utter terror at what was unfolding, and to her utter shock the Great Leonopteryx's body froze, its eyes suddenly dilating as both she and it felt a connection for the briefest of moments yet the energy the beast had generated by its momentum didn't into thin.
But before the worst happened a loud crunch followed the milliseconds as the mecha without any pilot punched the head a few meters to the side destroying the possibility of Miles being crushed alive like a vulgar bug.
The Great Leanipteryx then followed the movement as it fell down the cliff to fly away and at the time Miles fell on his rump, his body shivering as tears trickled down his cheek while Kiri immediately ran up to him to check if he was good. Miles accepted the hug from the Avatar girl as he calmed down and he looked up into the cold visor of the mecha.
*HE IS PERFECTLY HEALTHY ON THE PHYSICAL SIDE KIRI*
A cold deep mechanical voice spoke out of the mecha as it moved and stood in front of them, its left arm mostly destroyed. The voice contained worry and anger and a hint of pride for some reason its owner, clear to them, spoke again this time addressing the human boy.
*MILES CRAM THESE CHAINS OF EVENTS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED YOU WILL BE PUNISHED ACCORDINGLY… AND FOR YOU KIRI YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER ARE BEING INFORMED OF YOUR ACTIONS AS I SPEAK*
Both felt their heart stop at this in particular Kiri but the voice hadn't stopped this time it was merrier but overall still containing anger and worry.
*THAT WAS STILL A NICE TRY… I HOPE THIS WAS A WISENING EXPERIENCE FOR THE BOTH OF YOU*
