꓅ꃄꑾ• ꅏꋫꌥ (avatar/pandora OPEN FOR RES 3/12)

[blu.jaye]

llllllllllllllll𝒛𝒐'𝒆𝒂 →
llllllllllllllllll【 kekunan ◈ 25 ◈ location. jungle basin ◈ tags. -- ◈ mentions. everyone 】

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Precise footfalls carry the warrior silently through the humid undergrowth, stalking after his friends with all the grace of a thanator hunting her prey. Zo'eä contemplated exactly why he was shadowing a trio that comprised of his clan member's usual scouting party - minus himself of course - and huffed a short sigh. Of course he was usually more included when it came to the planning and participation of missions like these, but as soon as Riha and Ateyo had made it clear that they would have to make the journey by foot, it was an instant dampener on his mood. He exelled in everything flight related so the realization that they would have to leave the Ikran behind left him feeling dismally handicapped in a way he wasn't used to. Sure he could weild a spear or shoot a bow with relative accuracy, but it was never his strong suit as far as combat was involved. So, in his own ( and admittedly childish ) way of protest, he hung behind the group under the excuse of protecting their flank. For now he would watch over them in his own way, knowing that they were all capable to protect themselves if anything should happen, but anticipation still pulled his back muscles taut and his hands gripped tightly around his spear.

His muted steps came to a tentative stop when the usual soft tapping of tepid rain turned into something more fervent, and he cast his weary eyes over the group in front of him. Something didn't sit right with him and his ears flicked and swivelled in sudden alarm as the constant ambience of the jungle silenced, and from the looks of it his party members felt it to. It was still silent when the familiar shiver of cold anxiety shot down his spine and into the tips of his toes, and suddenly his body was moving in autopilot, shooting himself forward into an urgent sprint to reach his companions. He heard the rushing before he saw it, but he was unsure if it was just the sound of his own blood hammering in his ears. Time seemed to slow and he watched through hazy vision the exact moment a solid wall of water slammed into him like a hammerhead titanothere. Suddenly he no longer had the ground beneath him as he was swept quite literally off of his feet by an unrelenting torrent of water.

Tumbling mercilessly through the harsh rushing of the water, Zo'eä struggled to find purchase on any surface as he was thrown like a ragdoll against the ground and surrounding debris. With heavy limbs and a head full of wirring thought, he managed to navigate his body into a tight coil as his self preservation kicked in all at once - his strong arms and legs tucking into a fetal position in order to protect his vulernable middle and ensure no serious injuries occur. He knew that it would at least give him a higher chance to survive the situation, and he wasn't willing to tempt fate that day. It unfortunately wasn't enough to relent against sharp objects slicing at his exposed appendages as he was thrust down a rocky cliffside by the savage current and slammed unceremoniously into the basin below.



A blue head burst its way out of the now-calm mass of water, hacking and coughing as air filled his burning lungs. His thoughts were racing as he continued to gasp, clawing his way towards to shoreline with weakened arms. It was meant to be a usual scouting mission. A simple stealth-maneuver like one of the ones himself and his Taronyu brothers and sisters would engage in often. So the smarting bruises and shallow cuts that decorated Zo'eä's limbs as he drags himself onto land only served as an extra reminder that things had gone completely and utterly south in less than 2 minutes. And that he was helpless to stop any of it from happening. As he sat on the bank he dug the heels of his shaking palms into his eyes, and baring his teeth he willed himself to calm down and take charge of his breathing. It would be okay because he would make it okay, so he sucks in one more long breath and stands, any visible signs of his vulnerability gone in an instant.

It only registers in his mind a few moments later when he has taken inventory of his injuries that what had happened would have also affected his scouting party. It was enough to kickstart his sense of urgency as he prepared to start a search for any sign of them... before the abrupt, resounding bang bang bang of gunshots echoed throughout the environment. Zo'eä instinctually hisses as he crouches and surveys the surrounding landscape for the source of the threat, anger and resentment bubbling in his chest at the thought that the false Na'vi they were scouting were also trapped down here with them. That was when he gets the first proper look at where exactly the water had taken him. A... canyon? Yes. Himself, his companions, and their enemy as well it seems, now found themselves in a densely vegetated canyon, sunken deep beneath the jungle floor. The realization that they may not easily deal with this predicament has him swearing under his breath as he stalks lowly along the river to verse whatever Eywa may have in store for him.

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[nocturna.]

██║
██║
────── 《|𝐂 𝐋 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄 | 𝐌 𝐀 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐒|》 ───────────────────────
𝐈. 33 yrs | 𝐈𝐈. corporal; recom| 𝐈𝐈𝐈. sec.ops | 𝐈𝐕. location; jungle basin | 𝐕. tags; annie | 𝐕𝐈. mentions; lucian, sci.ops group

Since take off, Clive had been silent - more so than usual. This was to be his first mission in blue; that's what his cousin had jokingly called it at breakfast. Part of him felt like a fresh faced cadet, going out on his first training exercise. It had been a couple weeks since awakening up in this... new body and he still felt it wasn't truly his. He had watched his(?) video logs over and over, faced with the harsh reality that he had died. But was this right? Should he even still be here? For the first time in his life, well second life, Clive began to think deeply on the morality of his new existence. Despite being incredibly close with his cousin Wainfleet, Clive had kept these thoughts to himself. He could see how excited Lyle was to get another chance at revenge. Shouldn't he feel that way too?

As the Samson downshifted into a decent, Clive shut his eyes and willed away those thoughts - it was go time. Glancing to Lucian, he gave the younger solder a curt nod as a reminder to do the same. Clive easily jumped from the copter's open door, his weapon at the ready. Within the thirty or so seconds the pilot took to land the craft, Clive had made a quick, but thorough sweep of the immediate area. "Clear." He stated, fingers pressed to the comms at his neck. With the all clear from Lucien's side of the Samson, the scientists made their way out of the vehicle.

Clive knew little behind the reasoning the scientists were out here to begin with and he really didn't care. He was too busy wrestling with his own inter dialog to understand why they were even out here. A large part of himself was glad he was simply back on security detail. He knew the ins and outs of the role and it was a relatively easy mission. A smaller, angrier side of him was deeply annoyed Lyle had been hand picked by the Colonel for an elite mission - A mission that was so 'hush-hush', he couldn't tell his own cousin.

Ears pricked behind him, catching the tail-end of Lucian's curious questions to one of the scientists. Rolling his eyes, Clive turned in their direction and cleared his throat to get the younger man's attention. He quickly shook his head with a stern scowl, attempting to get Lucian back to his duties. If he wasn't going to be having a 'fun' mission today, neither would anyone else.

Time passed relatively slowly before the rain had started to fall, souring Clive's already glum mood further. The small droplets quickly began to grow in size and speed, prompting him to move back towards the Samson. Clive scanned the area, it seemed as if most of the team had moved further away from the copter than they should have. The rain was close to a torrent at this point, making it difficult to see. He called out, "Back to the chopper! We're done here!" But the rain easily drowned out his voice.

With a frustrated sigh, Clive sloshed through the soaking vegetation trying to locate everyone. He was quickly halted when deep rumbles vibrated up from the ground into the sole of his boots. "What the..." That was the moment Clive realized their team was screwed. He watched with widened eyes as small rivers flowed between his feet. There was too much rain falling much too quickly for the soil to absorb it all. His head snapped up, yelling as loudly as he could "HIGHER GROUND NOW!" Diving into a sprint, the Corporal desperately tried to reach the last place he'd seen everyone. Why did those bookworms have to wander so damn far from the ship?!

He wouldn't make it to them. Within seconds, a huge wave began crashing through the forest, ripping up everything in its path - Clive included. The wave hit the man like a ton of bricks, forcing air out of his lungs with heavy pressure. His body involuntarily sucked in a mouthful of murky water. Clive kicked his feet, breaking the surface with ragged, sputtering coughs. He fought hard, making sure to keep his head up at all costs. As the flood raged onward, Clive grasped and clawed at the occasional tree or log trying to gain purchase, but with no reward. There wasn't much he could do now, but keep his head up above the surface and swim with the current.

With joining the current, Clive found himself gaining a speedy momentum as he swam along the dirty water. He kept his eyes sharp, trying to find any sign of the group. What he did find sent the marine into a mad dash towards anything he could grab. The water carried him along, closer and closer to what appeared to be a cliff face. With an "you've got to be kidding me" expression, Clive braised himself, arms tucked and formed his body into a torpedo shape as he slid over the edge.

After splashing violently several feet down into the murky depths, Clive scrambled back up to the surface. So far his training had kept him alive and relatively unharmed. He bobbed freely, letting the water send him to a muddy bank. Finally his feet felt the semi-solid river bottom and was able to walk himself out of the water. Breathing heavily, Clive coughed, spitting out grimy water. He quickly began to check his body and gear for major damage. Scrapes and cuts were to be expected, but what wasn't to be expected was his comms necklace hanging on by a thread, covered in muddy sand. Sighing, Clive removed and shook it out, hoping it was still functional. He took a few moments for its repair before refastening it around his upper neck. With a hopeful breath, Clive pressed the two pads and spoke. "Can anyone read me? I repeat, can anyone read me?" As soon as his finger left the device, a high pitched static squeak emanated from the touch pads. Clive recoiled in painful disgust. Of course.

Resigning to the fact comms were likely down, the corporal began to brush himself off of the muddy grime coating his person. The relative quiet was suddenly fractured by the short burst of gunshots. Shoulders sinking low, Clive groaned audibly. So much for keeping a low profile. "Cheong..." He growled, all but certain the young solder was the culprit. With the group's position now given away, Clive returned to his equipment check at a more urgent pace. He attempted his neck comms once more, hoping against hope the thing would work. "Dammit Cheong! Use your head!", Clive barked, his fingers pressed hard onto the comm touch pads around his neck. He hoped the young bonehead's equipment had faired better than his. But until then, he knew he'd better get a move on and find the rest of the group - before Lucian would do anything else to give away their location.

A wet coughing sound grabbed the man's attention from the growing annoyance of his current situation. Quickly hoping over some mangled branches and debris, his yellow eyes met those of Dr. Muirgen. Though she had clearly made it through the flood waters intact, she was definitely roughed up. Long, quick strides had him at her side in moments. "Doc, you alright? Anything feel broken?" Clive asked calmly, kneeling down beside her as he visually inspected her for any obvious injuries.

𝐕𝐈𝐈. wc; 1249

[Stargazer3000]

.....𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐘𝐎 ━━━━━ • ━━━━━
.....• location jungle basin • tags none • mentions everyone
.....

Ateyo grit his teeth against the wave of fresh pain that swept through his body as he forced his arm back into position from where it had been bent at a horrible angle. A guttural groan covered the snap of bone returning to its place, breaking the heavy quiet of the dense underbrush, and his heart raced - from the pain, from the fear of being heard, from the loss of his people. Ateyo fought to slow his heart, to form a plan, to find his people, to fix this, but when the quiet was broken again by the sharp crack of Sky People weapons his heart raced anew, blood pounding in his ears like a war drum.

His body moved before his mind, plans drifting away with the rest of the river debris as Ateyo silently slipped over logs and dense underbrush, panic numbing his injured arm better than any tsahik healing. The Sky People must have seen one of them, that was why they had drawn their weapons, who had they seen, who had they taken now? Atyeo moved so swiftly he almost startled himself when the demon came into view, covered in mud and with his back turned towards the hunter.

If Eywa had abandoned him before, she was certainly with him now. His knife had not been lost to the waters and Ateyo drew it in a fluid motion, gripped its comforting weight in his hand as he crouched and circled further behind the demon; palulukan could not move more silently. He did not see any of his clan at the demon's feet and the relief was so sharp it hurt, but that did change what he had to do - this threat to his people could not stand. He would not see them fall.

Even covered in mud and alone, the demon was a grim figure, and to most Na'vi the weapons that he carried would be certain death. Na'vi blood and bone wrapped around an alien heart were a true terror. But Ateyo had no more space for that kind of terror, and it was not terror that drew his lips back in a silent snarl and pushed him forward from his hiding place, it was not terror that rushed through him as he slammed into the demon, hoping to throw him off balance and stop him from using his weapons. It was not terror, it was rage.

[Stargazer3000]

.....𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐄 ━━━━━ • ━━━━━
.....• location jungle basin • tags none • mentions everyone
.....

Annie had always like briefings, had always taken clear instructions to heart and followed them to the letter, and now she did precisely as she had been instructed to do during her security briefing on Pandora - "If you get separated from your security detail, the first thing you should do is make your peace with dying a painful death. And then, if you'd rather that painful death be delayed slightly, you should take inventory."

Her bag remained strapped to her back, filled with now obsolete machinery, and her breather was still functioning. She had a hydration pack and by some miracle two flares that hadn't been ripped away by the flood - it wasn't much, and she'd give an arm for some kind of weapon, but she could make it work. She would make it work.

Sudden gunfire ripped through the relative silence of the sub-terranean jungle, and in another life Annie might have tensed at the noise, but now the only feeling that she could muster was relief - she wasn't alone. Fresh determination coursed through her as she rolled from her back to her knees, getting ready to push herself into a standing position, and find the source of the gunshots, and inventory their gear, and build some kind of a handmade helicopter to fly them out of here - no, not that one, but a girl can dream - when the snapping of branches caught her attention.

Instinctively, Annie whipped her head in the direction of the noise and braced for whatever was coming to get her - at least the instructions had prepared her for this. She had made her peace with dying a painful death after all. It was step one - and was met not with a raging thanator, but rather a raging Clive Masters.

The man cut an opposing figure at all times, and if she was honest, looked like he could subdue even a hammerhead titanother, but seeing him covered head to toe in mud and looking every-inch like the swamp-thing quirked the corners of her lips up in a bemused smile, likely hidden beneath her own layers of mud.

"Not broken, only bruised, Corporal. Well, unless you want to count my coms. They're well and truly broken," Annie gestured vaguely at the collar, which at that moment emitted a wet static noise as though paid to respond on command. "Were the shots yours?" she asked, eyes roving over Masters in her own assessment that he hadn't been gravely wounded.

[‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎power `]

( 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍 ☆ 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆 ──────── ✮ )
lucian cheong ⊹ 25 ⊹ form here ⊹ tagged: ateyo ⊹ mentioned: clive, annie ⊹ wc: 833

indentlucian knew that shooting the gun was probably a bad idea, but his clouded judgment was something he would worry about when the consequences hit him in the face. with the useless gun in one hand and another wiping away the mud from his face, his ears twitched at various noises that his ears managed to pick up from the valley. the valley itself was a beauty that lucian had not expected, his wide amber eyes scanning and digesting as much as he could. the momentary peace and solitude was shattered after he heard a familiar - yet broken - voice from his communication device pressed up on his temple. perking up at the clive’s recognizable voice, lucian let out a laugh of relief. pressing the two pads that pressed up against his neck, “howard, hey old man is that you? are you alone? is annie with you?” the device was rough but it had not been badly damaged to the point where it was unusable, somehow. there was a chance he could give it to one of the scientists and see if they could tinker with it. he waited a couple of moments before he figured that clive wouldn’t be responding anytime soon, as lucian barely heard his superior trying to communicate with him. with disappointment heavy on his tired body, he walked over to the water, kneeling before it before scooping it to wash whatever mud had dried onto his face.


the water reflected his image, bright amber eyes locking onto the image of him, ears fluttering for a moment. he had felt like a stranger to himself yet this body was all he’s ever known since arriving to pandora. the memories of his own planet were fuzzy in his brain despite the scientists reassuring that all his memories had been connected to this foreign body. lucian had woken up in a body that was not his, yet, it felt like it did belong to him; it felt so wrong that being in this body felt right. yet somehow, he felt like this body he possessed was not supposed to be his own. but he was here and in this body for a reason. here, he had a purpose. back then, his purpose was to defend a dying planet with no hope for it’s greedy people. prying himself from his thoughts, large hands cupped the clear water before washing his face. he had no complaints about the mud on his skin but the fresh water made him feel more awake, more aware.


a groan of relief brought him back to his senses as the water trickled down his skin, “that’s right,” he muttered to himself. standing tall on his feet, lucian was about to set down the gun (that no longer works much to his dismay) until he felt a massive weight lunging onto his back. lucian was no amateur to close quarter battling, in fact, it was something he excelled in. quickly finding balance on his feet, lucian crouched down slightly to where his knees were bent and his thighs flexed under his weight as well as the weight of his attacker. his hands found the shoulders of whomever was behind him and grabbed onto them, flipping the na’vi over his head and onto the ground with force; a struggled grunt escaping his lips at his burning muscles. the recom had assessed the na’vi male quickly, noting the knife in his hand, climbing atop of the male placing a knee on the crook of his arm and another right below his neck.


“what the hell, man?”

lucian grabbed the knife from the na’vi - with little struggle as the na’vi had a firm grip on the knife. pressing the blade against his neck, lucian lets a small growl bubble in his throat. “are ya gonna tell me what that was for?” he interrogated, yet, he knew the answer already. a tall na’vi male with full recom gear waving around a gun was not a very good first impression. adding more pressure onto his neck, “I don’t take kindly to being attacked with a knife, you know.” his tail whipped from side to side as his body calmed down from the sudden adrenaline. lowering his face to meet eyes with the native, he tilted his head, “I’m gonna get off of you and we’re gonna talk things out, alright?”


removing himself from the male, he waved the knife around. “and you’re not getting this till you play nice, got it?” he made sure to keep a distance from the na’vi in case he had more aggression residing within him. this brought a frown to lucian, the sky-people had such a nasty reputation to the natives because of everything that had happened in the past, lucian heard stories about wars between the sky-people and the natives. their anger towards them was understandable, lucian couldn’t deny them that. “i’m not gonna hurt you,” he starts, kicking the damaged gun into the water. “see?”

[‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎power `]

( 𝐑𝐈𝐇𝐀 ✧ ──────── ➶ )
riha te yiaywewi 'rrkxlle'ite⊹ 26 ⊹ form here ⊹ tagged: irui, zo'ea ⊹ mentioned: ateyo ⊹ wc: 616

indent“qluock-ah!”

indentriha was alarmingly quick to turn her head to the sound, the small beads in what little braids she had in her hair clicking together, spotting irui creeping his way towards riha, trying his best to stay undetected. a wash of relief came over the tsakarem as she spotted the taller na’vi without any noticeable grave injuries. a few scratches were nothing to worry about. resting her aching body on the pillar behind her, she motioned the boy to come closer to her without sound. her sharp eyes scanned the na’vi one last time from the tips of his feet to the top of his head. the truth was she had no plan, her main concern was where the rest of her people had fallen and whether or not her scouting partner ateyo had managed to live despite the grand fall. a silent hiss escaped her lips in growing frustration, both in herself and the great mother. eywa’s plans were at times hard to understand, but riha had no time to decipher her actions. she looked up and quickly noted that there was no easy way out, especially with how much damage her body had taken due to the fall. she also wanted to spare her people a painful journey unless it was necessary. her ears drop and flatten against the sides of her head, glancing back at irui who had seemed frantic for a moment. placing a hand on his chest, she gave the young man a gentle push. “i need you to find strength, now.” her words were stern and quick, accompanied by a strong gaze. she needed her people to be strong, to have no fear, especially when bullets rang through the air as a tell-tale sign of sky-people.


indentletting her body take a momentary breather, she peers behind the pillar and quickly notices another familiar figure that had appeared close by. irui had fallen into the water during his fall, the small hairs that stuck to his forehead being clear evidence and it seems zo’ea had faced a similar fate. taking a sharp inhale, riha winced at the sharp pain in her ribcage that she decided to ignore. now was no time to succumb to pain. turning fully to face irui, she gives him a stern look with hardened yellow eyes before turning and walking silently towards zo’ea, her footsteps as light as a feather and her presence - despite being out in the open - concealed by the surrounding area’s ambient noises. riha calls out towards the tall na’vi, a sharp “ah” that blended in with the sounds of the valley, before grabbing his shoulder to turn him around. again, she studies the na’vi for any grave injuries but unknowingly releases another content hum as she finds nothing. now, she had irui and zo’ea at her side, safe and sound. she was collecting everyone one by one.


indentbut what she dreaded was coming across one of the sky-people in a false na’vi body. she was not afraid, no, not at all; but under their current circumstances, engaging in any conflict with the enemy would be a terrible idea. her ears flatten, straighten out, then flatten again as she contemplates. riha doesn’t speak a word, she merely sends a glance towards the other two and starts making way towards the sounds of the gunshots from earlier. she would not engage, she merely needed to assess the situation at hand and figure out exactly how many people had fallen into the valley.

indent“it seems that eywa has something in mind for us.” were the only words that left her lips as she quietly made her way towards the source of the sound.

[Stargazer3000]

.....𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐘𝐎 ━━━━━ • ━━━━━
.....• location jungle basin • tags lucien • mentions everyone
.....

As his body hit the ground and forced the air from his lips, Ateyo felt as if he was once again held by the flood waters - out of control. He fought to steady the rise and fall of his chest, rage tainting the world a dim red as his knife was taken from him. No, not his knife, Arvok's knife. Whatever the Sky Person was saying fell on unhearing ears - what did it matter when all they did was lie? He had picked up some of their common tongue, could speak it well enough to be understood, but a snarl was the only response he gave to the demon, roughened by the knee pressing on his throat.

His breathing now steady, and strength seeping back into his limbs, Ateyo tensed, ready for roll the stranger onto his back when all at once the pressure lessened and the Sky Person stepped away, trying to put distance between them. It was not far enough Ateyo noticed, instinctively rising to a crouch and burying his hands into the muddy riverbank.

With a hunters gaze, Ateyo watched the demon kick his weapon into the water and forced himself to hear what they Sky Person was saying. "I'm not gonna hurt you". It was true, the Sky Person had not harmed him yet, but death followed the demons like a friend, and Ateyo could not find comfort in the promise. The demon said he wanted to talk, but still he clutched at a weapon in a sign of certain violence. Arvok's knife was not even held right by the demon - it was not built for their hands after all. Ateyo would get it back and once he was certain that the Sky Person was without a weapon, then they would talk.

His hands that had dug into the muddy river bank now curled into fists, filling Ateyo's palms with a combination of dirt and debris that he threw at the Sky Person. He gave a short battle cry as one of the fistfuls met their mark, breaking across the demon's face with a wet clap. In a fluid motion Ateyo sprang forward, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat, using both his hands to break the hold that the demon had on the knife. The fierce joy of seeing it fall free strengthened his tired limbs, strength Ateyo used to firmly plant his hands on the demons chest and push, toppling them both gracelessly to the ground.

Sprawled atop the demon, Ateyo grabbed for the knife where it had fallen next to them, and sheathed it. The Sky People talk was rough on his tongue, but still he found the words, "You do not need a knife to talk."