Chapter Text
Varang looked back as the vortex sucked up the last bits remaining of the ship. She hissed as her nightwraith flew from the chaos and examined the area, spotting her surviving clan mates. They rode their banshees up to her, yipping and yowling.
She called back to them, ordering them to go back to the RDA base before she looked back at vortex. That girl…Varang tranced her fingers over her kuru. She beat herself up internally, she was a coward, how could she flee from a fight with a CHILD? But the girl wasn’t a child, she was something Varang had never seen before. Still, it gave her no comfort and did not ease her shame
Her eyes scanned the dark sky, she’s expected Quaritch to be right behind her, she’d seen him mount his banshee with the boy. Unless Toruk Makto and his woman interfered.
Varang growled to herself as her nightwraith stayed in mid-flight. The vortex was growing stronger and she saw different hues of colors, she began to look at the direction where her clan had disappeared contemplating on joining them. Her own words to that jungle Na’vi echoed in her head
“A woman, loyal to her man”
Was she that type of woman?
After a moment of hesitation she looked back at the vortex. Eventually she yelled out in frustration before ordering her nightwraith to fly back. She’d finally found an equal. She’d be damned if he died on her watch.
She saw two banshees fly away from the floating islands, one covered in black, white, and red painting and so she decided that was the first place she’d check. Her nightwraith flew between the islands, trying to avoid the pull of the vortex, as Varang continued her search. Her eyes stopped on the highest island, she could just barely make out a couple of figures near the edge. It seemed she missed whatever conflict had been going on.
However, before she could even allow herself to relax, someone jumped off the edge. Her eyes widened as a blur of red and gray fell through the sky into the fiery vortex. She shouted, commanding her nightwraith forward, and without a second thought, it followed her orders, diving straight into the inferno.
Varang remembered the last time she’d felt the extreme heat surrounding her, the blinding light had forced her to keep her eyes shut, the suffocating smoke, but she still remembered the arms around her, keeping her as far from the fire as possible. She prayed she’d never have to experience that again, yet there she was. The flames licking her skin if only for a couple of seconds before she felt something throw her nightwraith out of balance, sending her tumbling out of the vortex into the side of another island. Her claws dug into the rock as she attempted to hold on
Varang wrapped her arms around her neck, holding on for dear life, letting out a heavy breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, but when she opened her eyes she saw Quaritch’s body slip off the rocky slope
She lunged forward, off the nightwraith's back, managing to grab him by that stupid vest she’d told him to get rid of. Now, she was more than glad he hadn’t listened to her. She grabbed onto a root to prevent herself from going over the edge, then after she caught her breath, she attempted to pull him up, wincing at the strain and pain that shot through her arms. She cried out as she gave up, but only for a moment.
“Quaritch!” She called, hoping to get a least bit of help but it was no use, he was out cold. She tried once more to lift him, only for her arm to throb in pain again. She could hear the root start to give out.
“Kelsìvayo!” Varang shouted desperately, trying to keep a painful grip between Quaritch and the root. Kelsìvayo rushed forward, stretching her long neck down, lowering her head under Quaritch’s limp body and pushing him up to allow Varang to fully pull him back onto solid ground.
Varang let herself fall back onto the rock, panting as her entire body ached. Kelsìvayo, inched forward, squawking in confusion as it looked down at her, nudging her shoulder with her crest. Varang shakily put a hand on her head. Besides maybe a few bruises and burns, they were okay. She sat up and looked over at Quaritch. The same couldn't be said for him. It seemed Kelsìvayo couldn’t get to him fast enough. His leg was twisted at an awkward angle, there was half an arrow still sticking from his arm, and his body was covered in blood and burns. The darkness made it harder for her to see his wounds.
Varang forced herself onto her feet and pulled Quaritch onto Kelsìvayo’s back with some help from her of course. After steadying him behind her, she signaled Kelsìvayo to take flight. The eclipse was ending and the light once more shined upon Pandora as the nightwraith flew away from the battle that had just taken place mere moments ago.
Halfway through the flight to Bridgehead, Varang felt Quaritch stir behind her. She looked over her shoulder, meeting Quaritch’s glazed eyes. For a moment neither said anything, not that it would’ve mattered, Varang couldn’t find her voice, no matter how hard she tried.
Eventually Quaritch let out a soft groan of pain, closing his eyes once more, “Hey, baby…” Varang would never understand sky people and their strange names of affection, nevertheless it brought her some comfort to hear his voice. She brought a hand to his cheek, softly caressing the side of his head as he buried his face into the back of her shoulder. Even though she knew he lost consciousness again, she could still hear his soft breathing and feel his heartbeat against her back, that was enough to keep her calm.
Upon reaching Bridgehead, Varang fished out that red device Quaritch used earlier from his vest, having lost her own in the battle, letting it flash red as she entered the city and headed toward her clan’s area.
Once Kelsìvayo landed, Varang dragged Quaritch toward her tent, yelling at her people nearby to help her carry him in then yelling at them to leave once they’d set him down on her bed of furs. She rummaged through the herbs, powders, and elixirs she brought along with her. She cleaned up as much of his injuries as she could, washing the blood off and disinfecting the wounds. She then pushed a knife into his arrow wound, pulling it out the other side before washing and disinfecting the injury as well.
Just as she finished she heard the yells and protests of her people outside her tent, followed by footsteps. When she turned around, a couple of humans barged into her tent, heading toward Quaritch. Varang immediately grabbed one of her blades and jumped onto her bed, swing her weapon at them.
“Stay away from him!” She hissed sharply. They backed up, raising their hands and speaking in their language
“Wait! Wait!” One of the other sky people who had come with Quaritch before rushed forward, “Help, they help! They help.” He tried telling her, in very poor Na’vi. Varang guessed only Quaritch made the effort to learn it flawlessly
“I am the Tsahik. I can heal him.” She insisted hoping he could understand her
“They heal him better.” He responded. Varang wanted to huff. Heal him better than her? No one was better than her. Her mother was the best and she’d learned everything from her after all. In the end she reluctantly stepped aside, allowing the large machines controlled by the humans to carry Quaritch out of her tent, leaving her alone with the sky man and a tinier, funny looking man.
“Will he be okay?” Varang asked, the sky man, she tried to remember his name, something with a L, maybe Lyle? They had such strange names.
“Humans will do their best.” He responded to her shakily. Suddenly the smaller sky man walked forward speaking in that language Varang had heard before. She made a note of learning some of it later before turning to look at Lyle expecting a translation. He sighed before speaking again.
“He say, you do great job. General fool.”
“We lost many warriors…” Varang muttered, her eyes falling to her feet. Only few of them had managed to escape, luckily they were good warriors. The human spoke again and Lyle translated, “He ask, you have more?”
Varang hesitated before answering
“Yes, but they’re guarding our home. We cannot leave ourselves unguarded” She explained. Lyle translated her words back to the small man, he responded with something that made Lyle’s eyes widen “What? What does he say?” Varang pressed
“He say, bring your whole clan here.” Lye finally responded after a moment, “Everyone. Weak, old, pregnant, children. All.”
Varang was left speechless, her eyes wide with surprise as well. She opened her mouth and tried to say something but after a while, all that she could ask was, “Leave our home?”
Lyle and the man began to argue, it ended with Lyle pushing the man out of her tent, turning to tell Varang, “Think through.”, and then he too disappeared. There was talking outside her tent that eventually faded away along with their footsteps. And once more, Varang was left alone. She stared at the entrance for a moment before she climbed back onto her bed, bringing her knees to her chest.
She felt like a child in that moment, but she couldn’t care less. The guns, the flamethrowers, the machines, they’d all failed. Why? If Eywa could easily dispose of them, why couldn’t she help the Mangkwan when they needed her? What would it take to beat this cursed world? And what could she do now? Return to their old ways? No, the weapons would’ve worked. Victory was so close, within their grasp. It was that stupid girl. If they got rid of her, surely then they’d succeed.
“Father,” Varang muttered softly, her hands clenched into fists, “I promised you I’d protect our clan. Our home. I thought this was the way. We’ve stayed at our tree for years even after it was destroyed. I told you I could make it better, but….if we were to leave permanently…would we forget who we are? Would I be breaking my promise?”
The silence was her only response