Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{22}

At first they did not go directly to their outpost.

What they did was that instead of going directly back there, they changed course slightly so that it would seem that they were heading towards another direction, far from the place. Once out of sight, they turned back to the hidden hangar near the outpost. The chopper landed smoothly inside and everyone got off, Emeralda shutting down the transport and exiting the vehicle. "You guys aren't worried that they could track us still?" Asim asked as he helped unload the container from the chopper. "We made sure that the locator beacon was deactivated and removed from the system. That way they can't trace us back to here" Kentaro said as he also helped with carrying the contained. "You guys haven't changed a bit" Asim commented with a smile as he and his team moved out from the hangar and back to the outpost. "Why change? This is who we truly are now and always will be, risking our lives now to help each other survive on this new world to live a free life" Shaka said to them as they made their way through the mountain path to their home. "We could not ask for anything better" Mikhail said in support to them. Asim nodded and continued to carry the container with them to their outpost. "Oh, did you two find anything else that can be of use?" Emeralda asked as they neared the outpost. "Well...we did find two things. One somewhat interesting, and the other that some of us would like." Kentaro said. "What was it?" Shaka asked eagerly. "Slow down, it's a surprise for everyone to see." Asim assured them as they opened the door and headed in while carrying the container, everyone inside now before closing the door.

Once settled, they opened the container and peered inside at its contents. "Woah...these are it?" Emeralda asked as each of them took an item and inspected it, marveled by the design that each had. "That's right. These are the sacred items that we will give back to the na'vi. And hope that they accept it. I don't understand why they were in special containers when they would have been stored anywhere." Asim confirmed as he took the modern bow and arrows out as well as the packet that had the crystal bottles in it. "These are -were- definitely used to be transported in secret back to Earth so that the items could be sold in black market dealers, and sold at exaggerated prices for the rich" Shaka explained as he inspected a beautiful necklace he had picked. "It's a good thing that the RDA personnel forgot about these when they lost the battle" Asim said as he moved to set some things aside and then returned as everyone placed the items back into the container to close it. Afterwards they placed the container in the storage area and then went to see what else they have brought along.

"Vodka!! My precious!" Mikhail exclaimed once he saw the contents of the one package that they brought along. He took one of the crystal bottles filled with the drink and hugged it close to his chest, making everyone chuckle. "If it isn't a girl, it's vodka for this guy." Emeralda said with a tragic sigh, this making everyone laugh more. "He misses his vodka. And don't let him or anyone give some to Lily. She's still young." Asim said, also in warning as he smiled and they all started to celebrate the success of their own mission. "We should do a toast. Like how the guys at parties did on Earth. What do you think?" Emeralda suggested a while later. "I think...it's the best idea since the creation of liquor." Mikhail said, frowning a bit at first before his smile returning to him. "Okay. It's settled. I'll go check on Lily" Asim said, leaving his friends for a moment to go to the rooms.

He found Lily there in the bedrooms, looking outside at the forest through window with patience while she sat on a couch. Lily turned around when she heard the door open, and then smiled brightly as she noticed that Asim had arrived. "Big brother! You came back!" She exclaimed as she got off from the couch and came rushing towards Asim. He smiled and knelt down to hug her as she barreled into his embrace. "Yep! I'm here. Like I always promise." Asim said, relief washing over him as he hugged his little sister. After a moment she let go and looked up at him with gleaming eyes. "How did it go? Did you find what you were looking for?" Lily asked as she jumped several times in excitement. "We sure did. Statues, figures, jewelry, and necklaces. And we brought it along in here to keep it safe." Asim answered his young sister. "Wow! Really? Can I go take a look at them? Will I be able to keep one?" She gasped in joy upon hearing this. Asim hesitated when he heard what Lily had asked for, and shook his head. "Sorry. You can't keep them, because they belong to the na'vi. But you will be able to try them on and look at them" he said to her. Lily sighed a bit in dismay upon hearing his words, but then nodded in understanding and had her smile return to her face. "Okay then." Lily said obediently, making Asim smile in pride. "Good. Now, let's go take a look at the na'vi items before getting something to eat. Sounds good?" Asim proposed to Lily, making her cheer and nod. Soon they started to head back to the main room where the others were waiting.

***

Night came over the moon of Pandora, the forest lighting up the night while Asim and his team attended dinner in their outpost.
"Kampai!" Kentaro exclaimed, everyone saying 'cheers' in their home language as they clinked their cups together above the table where they were sitting at. Then they sat back down on their chairs and drank from their cups as they got ready to eat what was prepared for them. It was mainly the fruits and vegetables that they have harvested from the biome, as well as some edible meat that they acquired from prey outside the outpost(which surprised Asim that they were able to manage that), but in the majority the food was incredibly delicious. "Man, how exactly did you guys manage to be so good at cooking?" Asim asked as everyone ate. "You can thank Shaka that he learned some cooking before we left Earth and moved into here." Mikhail said as Shaka came over, bringing a pan with some baked onion rings. "Please. You all are so kind" Shaka said to them as he set the pan down and sat down with them. They chatted all the time they ate dinner, reveling on how great they performed on their recent mission. And they also told elaborated jokes on how they could improve in the near future. Once they finished, they began to plan for the following day. "I get that we will go to their village and bring them their items, but...how will we get there? By chopper? Or by walking?" Emeralda asked at one point. "We will do both, but we will land far from the village in order to not make them think that we are attacking them" Asim said. "What about defenses? Just in case they aren't friendly to us." Mikhail asked. "Sure. But be discrete and do not attack when they attack us first." Asim replied to him. "Are you sure that this is the best approach?" Kentaro asked him. "With us alone and the na'vi on the other side...it's not wise. What is wise is the reason why we will go to them. That's what matters." Asim said to them, nodding. "Sounds like a plan to me" Emeralda said as she and everyone smiled.

Afterwards, everyone organized the table and cleaned their plates to go prepare to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.