Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{58}

Once Asim transmitted the plan, and said that everyone shall come, they agreed.

"Finally. Did Kentaro and Shaka finally bash you with some sense?" Emeralda asked as she grinned, making a few chuckle. "No. I simply leaned into the group logic instead of the lone leader logic." Asim replied to her, making Emeralda nudge his shoulder playfully as she giggled. "Yes. We get it. No more running off into the woods without having a medic or the team. Got it?" Kentaro said as he packed his medical kit with supplies. "Yes. I heard you" Asim said as he too was preparing his gear up to head out.

Everyone else was doing the same with their gear, as everyone would go out and head to another visit to the Anurai clan. Lily was too, as she placed a large sort of wooden figures into a bag. Asim remembered that these wooden figures were carved by Shaka himself, who hoped that soon they would give it to the Anurai clan as a gift. These wooden figures consisted of Earth animals, from the largest to the smallest ones. Not all of them were included as only the common ones were made by Shaka, but Asim guessed he would make more in the future. "When did you learn how to carve wooden figures?" Asim asked as he suited up fully. "I learned it from some old man who made these figures for a living back on Earth. But he also told me that he was doing it to preserve his heritage. It interested me, so I went and learned with him. And I picked the skill up quite well. Strange thing is that maybe I had a connection with it..." Shaka told him, picking up a wooden figure of an elephant to examine it. "Maybe that strange connection is definitely related to your past. It happened to me when I saw some blue flowers." Asim said, recollecting the moment when he nosebleeded as he remembered partially, before he got his memories unlocked. "Maybe. I think you are right." Shaka said with a nod and a smile as he started at the figure in his hand, before handing it to Lily so she placed it into the bag they will take.

Everyone continued to pack up when Mikhail had an idea from the blue. "Why don't we all have our memories returned to us? That way we can tell the na'vi of how beautiful our planet was on this next trip." Mikhail asked as he overheard the conversation. "Zettai chigau! I am not letting anyone become like Asim when they try that. He was lucky he had a strong immune system. Yet that doesn't mean the rest have it too and can do the exact same." Kentaro said to them sternly, clearly concerned about this. "Besides, what difference will it make if we remember our past lives or not?" Emeralda said, chiming in. Asim felt a pant on his chest when she said that, wanting to argue against her. Shaka was prepared to defend him, but Asim shook his own thought away and prevented his friend from doing so. "No, you're right. It won't make a single difference. What's past is past. We can only live in the present we have chosen." Asim said to Emeralda, surprising her. She stopped what she was doing and looked at him with incredulous eyes. "Really? That's the first time you say that. Who are you and what did you do to the real Asim?" Emeralda asked, some of the others agreeing. "I guess I have changed. Don't know." Asim said with a helpless shrug. "And in a good way, it seems like." Mikhail said with a proud smile as he patted Asim's shoulder. Asim smiled and let out a small chuckle as he and the rest got the last things prepared.

As they were strapping their things to their backs and bags, Shaka came over to Asim once more to speak with him. "Just curious about one thing." Shaka said to him. "Yes? What is it?" Asim asked his friend. Shaka looked at the other ones that were about to exit to the air and storage compartment, and then back at Asim. "What else do you remember about the restored memories in your mind? Or about the nightmare?" Shaka asked Asim, to which he shook his head. "No. Nothing else. The thing that I remember was Layontsin being beside me before I got knocked out from the shock." Asim said, being sure about it. "Huh. I see. Just wanted to make sure so nothing small and symbolic got away." Shaka said, nodding. "Yeah. Right. I get it. Don't worry. Now on I'll tell everyone everything." Asim said. "Speaking about Layontsin, I remember her being overprotective about you when we came to the village. That thanator na'vi was like that so much that we had a hard time getting your unconscious self away without getting scratched." Shaka told Asim, exhaling in a sort of relief as he recalled that. "She did? Wow...that's strange." Asim said, a bit surprised when he heard that.

It never occurred to Asim that the thanator anthro would act like that when he was in a vulnerable state. Mikhail came back to tell the two that they were ready to head outside, and they went with him as he joined hearing the conversation. "She kept holding you to her body and giving a death glare to anyone who approached her except those she knew fully. Even I was nervous to approach that creature woman." Mikhail told Asim as they closed the door behind them while the others placed their breathing masks and opened the door that would lead outside. "Uh-huh. Did she bite you guys?" Asim asked to confirm that they were truly alright. "Layontsin did try, but for intimidation." Shaka said as everyone went out to the grassy ground and closed the door behind them. Kentaro, Emeralda and Lily went ahead of the remaining three to get to the chopper and prepare it, leaving them out of earshot. "But, the most important thing is that I know exactly what her behavior meant towards you." Mikhail said with a grin. "Which is...?" Asim asked, looking at Mikhail with a questioning face.

Mikhail chuckled as he placed both hands on his own face as he made a comical expression. "It means she loooooves youuu~" he said in a singsong voice.

Asim looked at Mikhail with a slightly surprised face, but his surprise turned into an unimpressed expression. "You are joking." Asim said to him in a deadpanned manner. Mikhail stopped making his sort of face and turned it into an offended manner. "Of course I am not! I am not in the slightest bit joking about this matter, my tovarishch. You think I wouldn't notice it, did you? Clearly she has an attraction towards you." Mikhail said, swatting Asim's shoulder with a hand. Asim raised an eyebrow at his friend to determine if he was truly serious or not, and then shook his head a bit. "Please, elaborate if you would." Asim said to Mikhail. "She protected you, didn't she? And I am aware that you have a history of being distrustful with each other." Mikhail explained to him. "Damn right. But what does it have to do with her being concerned with my well-being?" Asim asked him. "She could have easily killed you the moment she had the chance. But instead she chose to teach you the language and norms." Mikhail explained further to him. "I agree, and she did offer to help you by going such a long length as to ask the clan leaders about letting you into their sacred place, which is strictly forbidden for trespassers to go into." Shaka said, also in accordance to what Mikhail has said.

It was a somewhat plausible view with this type of information for Asim that his friends gave him. "I am still not sure. Perhaps she had no choice but to follow what the clan leader had ordered." Asim said, scratching his head a little. "You should ask her when you see her soon. Now the other important thing is...what do you think? Do you feel the same?" Mikhail asked. "No. Not the slightest. Just that she is someone that we should be careful. For now, she is just an ally that is part of the Anurai clan that we have managed peace with." Asim said, shrugging in an indifferent way. "Come on! I know there is something inside you that is telling otherwise!" Mikhail exclaimed, swatting the back of Asim's head and making him flinch. "Ow! Hey, you are not the ladies master as much as you think you are. You don't know what I actually feel. And if Layontsin were to truly care for me as you say, she should go on her own to see my well—" Asim was saying when they heard the voice of Lily shout something from ahead right when they all were about to reach the hidden hangar. Asim looked up and saw Lily run down the grassy slope and towards the trees, looking excitedly. "Layontsin! Guys! She's here!" Lily shouted as she continued tearing down the slope. Asim's heart plunged down when he heard her sister say that name. "Speak of the devil..." he groaned as he immediately ran to accompany the little one.

Sure enough, they saw the anthro thanator slowly step out from the foliage and head towards them.