"Run. Definitely Run!"
The next morning, Rune woke up in her bed on a tear stained pillow, feeling the crustiness of them on her cheeks. Last night had been a rough one, the woman slightly crying herself to sleep after her guests had left for the evening. She remembered Trudy coming down to sit next to her, a friendly arm wrapped around her shoulders, rubbing her back and telling her to breath as she sobbed. It was a warm sentiment from the usually stoic and cocky woman.
Rune now swung her legs out of bed, rubbing her eyes and face, stretching out her limbs, before standing up and bending down to touch her toes and then stretching upwards. Her mouth opened and she let out a huge yawn. She the removed the ear plug from her deaf ear that she slept with. Stumbling over to the wardrobe in the room, the ex-soldier grabbed her hearing aid and plugged it in, not bothering to turn it on yet.
She saw a flicker of motion in her periferal, and turned to see a messy haired Trudy, mounting her bunk bed and jump down with a loud thump, or at least Rune assumed it was loud.
Rune turned to Trudy, blearily, before signing to her.
"Good morning." Rune signed, curling her hand in with her thumb straight up and then touching her hip and shoulder.
Trudy greeted Rune the same way, mimicking her roommates' AUSLAN sign, "Tha-s goo-mornin' right?"
Rune nodded, not in the mood to talk, yet.
That was fine between the two them though, with Trudy not being much of a morning person, and Rune's morning personality gone for the day due to last nights happenings.
The two quickly set about getting ready for the day, having showers and getting changed, Trudy slipping on her flight wear and dog tags, Rune slipping on her t-shirt, jeans and bomber jacket, and pulling her hair tight up.
She switched on her hearing aid and slipped on her Na'vi style jewellery, and then headed out the door with Trudy for a quick breakfast before heading to the Avatar Labs.
Today, Rune and Grace would be taking Norm and Jake on their first field trip through the wild and beautiful jungles of Pandora to conduct research. Trudy and another Recom would be escorting them through the jungles, the group getting the honor to fly in the womans beloved Samson Helicopter.
Grace and Norm would be taking tree and plant samples, whilst Rune would be documenting organisms for further analysis for her genome and evolutionary task. Jake would be running security effectively for them, the marine not being of much use in the science field.
"G'day and good morning," Rune called out, voice clear and enunciated, as she walked into the lab, indicating to other scientists and slipping her lab coat on.
"Good morning," Max responded, not bothering to look up from his microscope.
She was greeted with a few other good mornings and hello's from a small amount of scientists, not everyone on the team having woken up yet. Trudy stayed closely beside her, unsure about whether or not she was welcome among the scientists. She was reassured when Rune reached over with a smile and squeezed her arm.
"Here, I'll show you my work station," Rune said excitedly, grabbing Trudy's arm and dragging her over to a flight of stairs which she jumped down, landing with a thud on the floor below and summoning her friend over to her computer which displayed spirals of DNA and an in progress research paper.
Centrifuges and Testing racks covered her desk, alongside text books and research pages, photos of Pandoran wildlife glued onto pieces of paper with three page long descriptions, and an open journal with notes on the Na'vi.
Rune slid along her desk and into her office chair, spinning around in it to face Trudy with a grin, legs crossed and tucked on top of the chair.
"What do you think?" she inquired.
YOU ARE READING
Heart & Soul - An Avatar Fanfiction
Fanfiction"My soul and heart lay with the Na'vi, lay with you." Rune Chapman is a spirited woman in her late 20's, capable of many things. She's co-ordinated, respected, kind, and ready to teach and learn. And she's trying to survive. She's a former captain o...
