Chapter Text
Luca tried to keep his breathing as quiet as possible as he pressed himself up against one of the strange trees. In the distance, he could hear his squad, or former squad now that he had betrayed them, yelling for him.
"Come out Bianchi! If you come with us now, maybe your punishment won't be so bad!" He heard one of them say, before laughing.
"Hey, you think his dear old dad will reward us for bringing him back mostly unharmed?" Another said.
"Of course he will! The colonel is the only reason the brat even got himself a Blue body. If any other soldier died, that'd be it. No second chances. Fuckin' nepo baby." The third one spat. He was right, Luca thought begrudgingly. He was only 18, and just a footsoldier. No sane person would have let me in to the Recombinant program. His father simply had a lot of money and sway with the RDA, and his squadmates, all older soldiers with much more experience, resented Luca for it.
He kept as still as possible, and eventually heard more shouting coming from the direction of his former squadmates. "FUCK! Viperwolves! Retreat! We'll just have to tell Bianchi that his son is gone. Again." The squad commander howled, and Luca heard him and the others pile into the Samson, and flying away.
As soon as he was sure that the aircraft is gone, he stood up and bounded into the forest. He had thrown off his dogtags and throat-mic far away when he first decided to defect, to stop himself from being traced. The grass glowed beneath his feet, and he could hear multiple animal noises all around him. As he ran, he turned to look behind him at a sudden noise, and then almost ran head-first into a tree.
After a while, he reached a small clearing, and almost collapsed. Luca sat down on the floor, and began breathing heavily. The reality of his situation had sunk in. He'd betrayed the RDA, his father, just because of some messages on some datapads. He pressed his face in between his knees, and started to cry.
Suddenly, he heard voices. He gasped, but the voices didn't seem to be speaking English. Two Na'vi appeared from in between the trees, and headed towards him. Fear rushed over him, and he took his assault rifle off his back and pushed it toward them with his foot, raising his hands in surrender, and started to plead with them.
"Please, I'm not with the RDA anymore. I left. I wont hurt you."
One of them gestured toward him, and they began to speak amongst themselves.
"/A dreamwalker. I had only seen the Resistance one once, but here is another one. They all look that weird, it seems./" One of them said, laughing. (Trans: “Uniltìrantokxo. Nì‘aw ‘awlo ultxarun oel ‘awpot Tìkarayä, slä fìtseng nìmun tse‘a lahea pumit. Fori fkan nìtxan ‘ur snewsye.”)
"/Atsok!/" The younger one hissed. "/What if he's dangerous!/" (Trans: "Ma Atsok!" "Livu lehrrap!")
"/Calm yourself, my friend. He has thrown us his weapon, and is surrendering. Besides, he looks to be even younger than you, and I am in the prime of my life. And if it comes to it, I shall simply push you in front of me./" The older one, apparently called Atsok, laughed again. Luca didn't understand what he was saying, but he could recognize his tone. He's joking, probably about me. Luca realized. At least that means he doesn't see me as a threat. (Trans: “Mawey ma ‘eylan. Pol tsre‘i kunit sneyä mìso ulte verelek. Pori ‘ur fkan ‘ewan nì‘ul ngato nìsung, ulte ke lu koak oe mi. Txo ‘iveko, tsakrr hayawnu ngati oel.”)
"/Ka'nat will know what to do./" The older Na'vi then pointed to Luca, and beckoned him closer. "/Come. We will take you to our Olo'eyktan./" Luca didn't understand the words, but as a soldier, he could recognize an order when he heard one. He slowly stood up, keeping his hands visible at all times, and began to follow the gatherer. The younger Na'vi picked up his weapon and trailed behind, his disgust clear in his expression. (Trans: ''Tsari smon Ka'natur eyawra kem" "Za'u. Moel ngati masyunge ne moeyä olo'eyktan")