Avatar: The Guardian

Chapter 5: Festivities

Author note: I use { } to separate Na'vi and English when it's appropriate for the scene.

As Kiri trudged onward through the interminable swampy labyrinth, the sun was sinking lower in the sky. At this particular section of marsh, the insects were very persistent, nibbling at her and continuously buzzing in her ears. She was hungry and thirsty; her arm felt like it was in a vice; and her head was pounding. Stopping for a moment, she bent down to the stream to fill her parched lips.

"Why are you stopping?" A synthetic voice startled her from behind—the voice of the machine who was either her captor or her guest. She wasn't sure at this point..

"I need to drink," Kiri said, continuing to sip with her hands. She knew Spider needed some water too, but she couldn't give it to him while his mask was on.

The machine stopped and began scanning its surroundings. Despite the damage sustained in the skirmish with the Alta'maha, it walked and carried Spider with relative ease. Above, sunlight beamed down on its body, reflecting off its unpainted areas through the thinner canopy. Yeriks and other smaller animals maintained their distance from the drone nearby while a swarm of hunting banshees cried out as it flew overhead.

Kiri arose and adjusted her homemade sling. Her attention was instantly drawn to the banshees, hoping they had riders, but she was disappointed when there were none. She then looked at the portable radio looped at her waist and wished she could call her dad if she knew how.

"Requesting ETA," the machine said after observing the Banshees fly off.

Sighing, Kiri faced the machine. "Almost there," she added, purposefully being vague. She recalled this area and estimated that they were approximately two miles from the camp. "There is a cave not far from here where you can stay."

"What is the calculated threat assessment at that location?" the machine inquired as it locked eyes with one of the Yeriks, prompting the creature to flee in haste.

Kiri blinked at that question. "Uh, I don't know. We didn't go inside because we didn't bring any lights."

"Proceed then."

After traveling for a little longer, Kiri halted in front of an ancient, decrepit cave. It was tiny in comparison to the one her clan lived in, but it was the only hiding spot she knew of. Spider had wanted to investigate it earlier, but she decided against it. In retrospect, it may have been a good idea.

"Here it is," Kiri remarked, gesturing with her hand. As she got closer to the opening, her nostrils scrunched up in reaction to the foul air coming out of the cave. It was obvious something lived within, and she froze in fear, thinking one of those hell centipedes was inside.

The machine stepped ahead of her and turned to inspect the interior, scanning slowly and thoroughly as it could see through the darkness. "Scanning locations for threats."

It was then that Spider suddenly let out a groan, which immediately got Kiri's attention. She swiftly circled the machine to check on him.

"My head," Spider growled before grasping for his back. "My back," he complained next.

The machine stayed still while it assessed the cave, ignoring what the Na'vi and human were doing.

"Monkey boy! You're awake!" Kiri gasped with delight as they locked eyes.

"What happened?" Spider said in a daze, as he looked around the world upside down, "Who's holding me?"

Kiri coughed and glanced about awkwardly before making some hand movements to indicate something was wrong.