The gift of Eywa

chapter 12: trouble

Dawn breaks in the sacred glade, shafts of orange morning light flow in. Neytiri, Tsu'tey, Jake and Nova sleep peacefully in eachothers arms. But then the roar of an engine startles Neytiri and Tsu'tey awake.

The splintering, crackling of the forest being crushed under enormous treads, getting louder. They watch in growing horror as the blades of  a bulldozer become a dark wall behind the sheltering ring of willows.

They both shake Nova and Jake, telling them in na'vi to wake up. "Nova. Wake up! Where ever you are now come back to me. Nova"

In the shack at dawn human Jake and Nova are in a hurry, excited to return back to their avatar bodies. Grace, still groggy chases after us with coffee and microwaved eggs.

"Here, Eat this. I'd hate to force feed two crippled." "Grace!" She slams the link lid shut leaving no other choice but to eat. Jake and Nova look at eachother, sighing before scarfing down the food.

The the willow glade Tsu'tey and Neytiri scream as willows begin to fall before the blade, to be grounded under the treads. Avatar Nova and Jake are directly in its path. Neytiri and Tsu'tey try to lift both Jake and Nova but their attemps are futile as a heavy peice of bark landed ontop of their legs, trapping them. They are screaming at them, frantically trying to wake them up as-

In the shack Jake and I adjust ourselves in the link chair, handing Grace our empty plate. Although Jake is a little head of me, somehow, as he finished before me as we pull down the lid.

In the willows glade avatar Jake wakes up a few seconds before Nova to see Neytiri and Tsu'tey dragging him and Nova. He leaps up as Nova starts to come through to her avatar body.

Nova's pov

As I start to wake up in my avatar body I see Jake leap up in alarm as well as Neytiri and Tsu'tey carrying me. Looking around I see a dozer pushing inexorably into the glade, splintering the trees and plowing the earth before it.

'Quaritch' I think in anger. The only person who is able to organise. Pushing myself off the two natives who try to stop me I run after Jake as we run into the path of the bulldozer, waving out hands. "Hey!  Heeeey! Stop!    Stop!" We shout but it is useless.

Positioning ourselves where the camera eye of the robotic juggernaut so that it will see us. Hoping it will stop but it does not, causing us to stumble back, tripping, disappearing below the blade for a second before running to the side with Jake.

Using alot, but not all, of my leg power I run faster than Jake and grabs a rock before leaping onto the dozeras I climb quickly to the camera mast. Rasing my fist the rock crashes against the lens of the camera.

I beat the rock furiously against it, pounding until into the junk letting out all of my anger that caused by the destruction of the forest.

The juggernaut grinds to a stop but the roar of engines continue. Looking to locate the sorce I see more dozers and tractors nearby, crushing the forest before them. Trees are slashed by plasma cutters as terrified animals flee before the onslaught.

The brutal scene causes my ears to flop down into a fold like a dog from horror. Powersuits and tractors advance nearby, crushing the forest, blasting anything that moves. A trooper sees me on the tractor and swings at me, surprised by the attack I was unable to dodge it.

But luckily Jake grabbed me put of their just in time as Tsu'tey grabs my hand whilst Jake has the other on as Neytiri leads us into concealing foliage.

From behind the screen of leaves we watch as the dozers advance, obliterating sacred sites, leaving only mud and wood splinters in their path. Stunned by the nightmarish, unfathomable wrongness of it, I can't help but let the tears flow down my face. I can feel it. The willows, I can feel them dieing.