Hunted by Palulakans
Harry jumped out of the opening in the side of the helicarrier and took a deep breath. The smell of the air of the pandorian forest was fresh and intoxicating, the thick concoction of ozone, co2, and oxygen tasted like Earth's air to this body.
Harry looked up when he heard a rustle in the branches above him. Swinging in the trees above the group was a pack of Syaksyak, their blue and green leathery coats glistening in the bright sun.
"They're just Prolemuris." Harry turned around at Grace's voice, only to see Jake's tense shoulders and a gun pointed at the calm creatures. "Relax, Marine." Grace mocked, forcefully pushing the gun down. Harry bared his sharp canines at the botanist, and Grace immediately backed down from the shorter AVATAR and away from Jake.
Harry walked in front of the group, leading them through the vegetation and around certain plants. His bare feet sunk into the soil with each step, and he reviled in the pure life that he could feel thrumming underneath the surface of the soil. He could almost imagine the sound of a powerful heartbeat as it flowed through his very bones.
"Still can't believe you decided to come out here barefoot," Jake muttered. He had made his way to Harry's side at some point in their walk. Harry grinned, his sharp canines a stark white against his blue lips.
"Took a shit ton of convincing," He started, motioning back towards where Grace, Norm, and Wannfleet had stopped to look at some plant or another. "Grace still packed an extra pair though. I think she forgets that we aren't human out here." Harry and Jake continued to walk forward, far enough that Harry could no longer make out what Grace and Norm were fawning over, but close enough that he could see them exclaiming quietly to one another while Wannfleet rolled his eyes from his spot leaning against a fern.
"Woah, Woah. What the hell is that?" Jake stopped, shocked with his gun at the ready. Harry turned around, looking ahead of the group. A Tapirus stood innocently at the end of the path, staring at the approaching group of drivers.
"Jake put the gun down," Harry said calmly. "It's a Tapirus. One of the most gentle species of animal on Pandora." Harry explained, walking towards the frightened animal. Harry held his hand out to the creature, smiling and cooing at it. "Hi there, fella." Harry tried to release some sort of calming magic, but it never did seem to work in this body when he wanted it too. It almost felt like being eleven again on earth, his magic uncontrollable and prone to outbursts because of his short temper.
The Tapirus hesitated for a moment before walking the rest of the way to Harry. The creature butted it's head against Harry's four-fingered hand, initiating contact first. Harry smiled, even if his magic wasn't working as it used too, the creatures could still feel the small wavelengths he exerted from his very soul.
"See Jake?" Harry smiled, scratching and petting the small dog-like animal. "Completely harmless." Harry looked at the creature again before shooing it away. Harry felt movement to his right and looked up, finding Jake standing there, watching the animal leave.
"It looked like a cross between a dog and a squid," Jake remarked, and Harry laughed. "It's been a while since I have seen any wildlife," Jake muttered to himself, sounding wistful. Harry felt the smile drop off of his face. Animals that he had known and loved had gone extinct in the hundred and fifty years he had been alive.
Dogs and cats had been replaced with machines. Birds had gotten an automatic upgrade, and zoo animals walked around with a robotic grace that didn't feel right to Harry, who had seen what an actual tiger looked like back before they had all been hunted to extinction for their pelts. Harry scowled as he thought, remembering his years under the thumbs of greedy humans that only cared about how much is it worth? And How can this benefit me?
Harry had witnessed things in a little over one hundred years that most children today have never even heard of. At the age of thirteen, Harry had seen things that most fifty-year-olds today could only dream of.
"The animals on Pandora are beautiful," Harry whispered back. "And they are alive in ways that humans will never see again."
____________
Harry was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Jake had walked ahead of the group, and of course, Harry chose to follow his friend in case he ran into a few natives. Eventually, Harry had followed Jake's trail to a grove of colorful Helicoradian. Jake stood in the middle of the plants, admiring their bright orange coloring. Harry watched Jake give into temptation and touch one of the smaller Helicoradian, and the shorter man smirked when Jake jumped back in surprise when the plant sunk into the ground. In wonder, Jake continued to touch the smaller plants, and Harry had no reason to step in.
Well, until Jake decided that the smaller ones were too boring and he wanted to see the larger Helicoradian would do, if they would act the same.
"Jake, no!" Harry stared in horror as Jake hit the larger Helicoradian, setting off the rest of them. Quickly, all of the fiery orange plants were gone, exposing a herd of Hammerhead Titanothere.
"Don't shoot," Grace's voice echoed through their communicator chokers. "Don't shoot, you'll piss him off." Jake stood tense with his gun raised, ready to shoot at the large animal. The largest of the group, the alpha male, stepped up and roared.
"What am I supposed to do? Dance with it?" Jake snapped, breathing heavily. Harry laid a four-fingered hand on his friend's bicep, tugging it slightly. Jake lowered the gun a little, but not nearly enough for Harry to call it a win.
"Jake, that armor is too thick, trust me." Harry watched Jake's face twist into a scowl, showing clear signs of irritation. Harry could understand the feeling, but he had learned long ago that guns sometimes only made situations unsalvageable.
"Alright Grace," Harry said, holding the communicator button on his necklace. "Why don't you let me talk for this one." Harry heard her squawk loudly, but he didn't give her time to respond before he attached himself to the right side of his friend's body. "Alright Jake," Harry whispered into his friend's ear. "I'm going to let go. I need you to stay put." Harry let go, only to realize that it was a bad idea.
"Jake! No!" Harry yelled and reached out, only managing to snag a part of his uniform. The marine had charged at the large animal, screaming bloody fucking murder like he thought he was going to intimidate an animals seventeen times his size.
He hissed, running after the fucking skxwang in a futile effort to keep the titanothere from turning Jake into a blue smear in the grass.
The Titanothere reared up suddenly, roaring one last time before backing down with a look of fear on its face. Harry paused too, a feeling of forboading chrunning in his gut at the sight of a frightened titanothere. There were very few creature in the forrets of Pandora that could put that look on such a creature.
"Yeah, that's right bitch. Go and get your punk ass back to mommy." Harry heard Jake continue to taunt the Hammerhead.
A growl behind Harry caught his attention, freezing the immortal where he stood. Turning around slowly, Harry felt his eyes widen and his hands start to shake.
He knew that sound. The forboading feeling is his gut exploded, and his dormant war formed fight or flight instincts kicked his body into overdrive.
"Jake!" Harry whisper yelled, trying to get the marine's attention without drawing the animal's attention towards himself.
The Palulakan stood in the tree, snarling down at Harry and Jake. Jake's eyes dilated, and everything stood still for a moment. Harry heard Grace's sudden intake of breath when the Palulakan continued to walk forward, all six of its legs extending and retracting with every step. The large creature snarled before it jumped completely over Harry and Jake, landing not to far from the Titanothere herd.
"What about this one? Run? don't run? What?" Jake's voice rang out behind him, and Harry heard the click of the firearm. The Palulakan turned towards the two soldiers at the sound of Jake's voice and it roared.
"Run! Defiantly Run!" Grace yelled through the link, and Jake's sharp lunge away from the creature set off the Palulakan. Harry turned around quickly, grabbing Jake's arm before running as fast as he possibly could.
__________
The Palulakan chased after the two AVATARs, snarling and clawing at fallen tree branches and topside tree roots sticking out of the ground. Harry worked his body into overdrive, running as fast as he could while also dragging the heavy marine through the pandorian jungle.
Harry lurched back with Jake's body, which was now suspended in mid-air. The Palulakan had gotten a hold of Jake's backpack and the large animal was now shaking his friend around in the air like a rag doll, similar to the way Crookshanks used to shake around the toy mice Hermione used to toss him.
"Jake, unclip the god damn bag!" Harry yelled, desperately trying to make sure that he didn't damage his body by getting impaled on a tree limb or being caught in between Palulakan teeth. He had faith that his friend would live, but Jake's body wouldn't.
Jake followed instructions like the good soldier he was, and for once, Harry was glad for his military training. After landing on his back, Jake sat dazed for a second before remembering what exactly what was going on.
"We have to go, skxawng!" Harry yelled again, accidentally slipping into Na'vi at the end of his shout. He was barely being heard over the roar of the Palulakan. Jake ran faster now that his gun and his backpack was gone, and Harry didn't even stop to ponder exactly where the gun went.
It didn't matter in this situation. The gun would have only succeeded in further pissing off the already pissed off animal. Harry didn't know why the RDA insisted on using standard guns. Every animal native to Pandora was built to fight, not to be taken down by a human bullet.
"The cliff!" Jake yelled, and before Harry could second guess their decision, he hurled his body off of a steep waterfall, just barely managing to escape the claws of the Palulakan.
_____________
Harry gasped, resurfacing and coughing up sand and plants.
He looked around, dazed and hot. His shirt and shorts barely clung to his lean figure in some places while others were almost glued to his blue skin, but Harry didn't care at that moment. Looking to his right, Harry spotted Jake's unmoving figure, washed up not ten feet from his own.
"Jake?" Harry rubbed his temple, trying to calm down a major headache that was starting to form between his eyes. Jake rolled to the side and coughed, ejecting any water from his trachea that he would have breathed in.
"What the fuck was that?" Harry heard Jake's mumble as if he was sitting right next to him.
"That Jake," Harry said, reaching over his back to grab his queue. "Was a Palulakan, or a Thanator to the scientists." Harry clarified, seeing Jake's confused face after he said the long word. "They are like every other big cat that used to roam on earth." Jake's face twisted in mute horror, portraying Harry's emotions without having to know them.
"That was one nasty bitch," Jake said, stretching out his sore muscles. Harry laughed, collapsing on the sandy bank.
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Harry said back, content with just laying back and watching the blue sky. "I blame you for this whole thing."
"Why do you blame me?" Jake sounded incredulous. Harry rolled his eyes even though Jake couldn't see him.
"You're the one who decided that it would be a good idea to wander off." Harry scowled at the sky. "And I also blame you for that," Harry said, pointing at the top of the cliff where the Palulakan continued to pace around, trying to find a way to get to them.
"I kind of blame myself for that one too."
"Good, glad we are on the same page."