CHAPTER 4

       The man only laughed, "You're his, aren't you?" Lo'ak hissed in reply. "You're his alright," the man smiled menacingly before reaching out to replace the other avatars hand, taking a hold on his queue. Lo'ak gasped in pain as the man made him look at him.

"Don't!" Kiri cried in Na'vi as all the others voiced their complaints and fears as well.

"Where is he?" The man asked Lo'ak. His smile was gone.

Lo'ak groaned as the man adjusted his grip on his queue. He spoke to him in Na'vi, "Sorry, I don't speak English," he paused for a second, "To assholes."

"Where is your father?" The man demanded in bad Na'vi, catching Erìhe by surprise. He tugged at Lo'ak's queue, making him hiss in pain and the others began to protest. "Really? You wanna play it this way?" The man took out a knife, holding it up to Lo'ak's throat.

Kiri, Erìhe and Spider struggled in the hands of the avatars holding them back. "Don't!" Kiri cried again.

The man let Lo'ak fall back to the ground and one of his men was quick to grab him again. He walked over to Kiri.

"Kiri!" Spider yelled, "Hey! Hey, don't touch her!" He struggled as he tried to break free from the avatars. His yells of protest were enough to make the man turn around to look at him.

"What is your name, kid?" The man asked.

Spider took in deep breaths before replying, "Spider," then added, "Socorro."

Something in the man's eyes changed. He looked down at the boy with evident confusion on his face and gestured that the avatar holding him let go. He kneeled down, "Miles?" He asked.

Spider remained silent for a moment, "Nobody calls me that," he told him.

Erìhe looked back and forth between the two. How would that man know who Spider was?

"Well, I'll be damned," the man finally said after a moment of dead silence. "I figured they'd send you back to earth."

"They can't put babies in cryo, dipshit," Spider said.

Erìhe grimaced. Was that man somehow his father, reincarnated into an avatar?

The man stared at Spider long and hard, as if trying to make sense of something. Finally, he motioned for the avatar to hold him again and he got to his feet. "What are we doing, boss?" The avatar holding Spider asked.

The man pressed the button on his neck piece, speaking to someone on the comms, "Iron sky, blue on actual," he spoke. Erìhe supposed he'd heard a response since he went on, "We're standing ready for extract. Over."

Erìhe's eyes widened and she looked over at Tuk. They were planning on taking them along.

"Be ready, we're bringing in high-value prisoners," the man said as the group of avatars started leading them toward their extraction point.

"Let us go!" Kiri said.

They were all thrown to the ground once they had made it to the spot the avatars led them to. Her hands were tied, so Erìhe could not do anything even if she wished to. The colonel walked into the clearing where the battle between Quaritch and Jake had taken place. They pulled out a screen and seemed to connect it to the suit. It was old, but it showed a video. The video of Quaritch's death.

Erìhe tried ignoring the video as she shuffled the tiniest bit closer to Tuk. Her leg was now pressing against the smaller girl's knee and she smiled softly at Tuk when she glanced at her. "Be brave," she mouthed and Tuk nodded determinedly.

Before they even knew it, it was eclipse. It was dark and it was raining - Erìhe wished she could be back home already. She was only slightly worried that these people would succeed in taking them away.

She had complete faith in Jake and that he would come rescue them.

The group of teenagers were forced to stand in front of the avatars, close to the clearing where they would be picked up.

"Heads up. Three minutes," the colonel told the group. When he walked past Kiri and the avatar holding her, he spoke, "Watch our six."

The man held a gun to Kiri's neck as he hurried to stand behind the rest to keep lookout.

Then there was more silence. Erìhe listened intently for any sign that Jake and Neytiri were near and then there was a call. A call that the avatars would only think of as an animal. The teenagers knew better.

Erìhe's ears twitched as she looked around her. Her eyes caught Lo'ak's and she nodded at him the slightest bit.

Even Spider seemed to notice this time. He turned his head to look over at Lo'ak who met his eyes. The two shared a knowing look before looking away again.

Kiri voiced a prayer, which earned her a jab from the avatar holding her. "Shut up!" He hissed. They were supposed to remain silent.

Kiri did not listen in the slightest. Instead, she resumed her mumbling until the man had enough and pulled her head back, "Shut up!" He repeated.

Erìhe's mouth formed a smile at the thought of Jake and Neytiri being near, as an arrow flew right past them and hit the man in the head. Neytiri had come for them.

Kiri was released, but the entire squad was now alerted. "Get behind me!" The avatar who seemed to be Quaritch yelled and pushed Kiri back. Him and some of his other soldiers began firing in the direction the arrow had come from.

The darkness was filled by the light that came out of their guns as they shot at the trees. Over the bullets and rain they could clearly hear Neytiri yell, "Lo'ak!"

Lo'ak pulled the cap off one of the avatars gas pack and the green smoke engulfed the man, making it impossible for him to shoot. When another soldier reached over to grab Lo'ak, he sunk his teeth into the man's arm.

Erìhe and Tuk did the same, allowing themselves to be freed. Hands still bound, Erìhe aimed a kick straight into her captors gut - sending him falling to the ground with a grunt. "Tuk, let's go!" She called as she hopped over a trunk to get to the others.

Together, they all did their best to leave the scene and avoid the bullets raining on them.

"Run!" Spider yelled as he ushered Kiri to go faster, "Run!"

Kiri was caught by one of the soldiers grabbing onto her queue, stopping her from running along with the rest. "Go!" Erìhe said to Tuk, helping her over a tree root that rose above the ground before turning back to help Kiri.

Turned out she had to do nothing, as a second arrow whizzed past her ear and hit the man holding Kiri. Instead of celebrating or showing any relief, Erìhe grabbed onto Kiri's hands with hers that were still tied together, "Come on! Hurry!" She yelled as they ran to catch up with the others.

Spider waited until they had reached him before he used his hands to help push Kiri forward. Erìhe spared a glance over her shoulder to see the avatars being too busy getting to cover that they could not go after them. Still - they would not stop running until they got out of the forest.

They could hear yelling from behind. They could hear the bullets that came before explosions. Erìhe gasped as she stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look back.

"Don't be a warrior right now!" Spider yelled as he pushed her forward, "We have to go! We need to find Tuk and the others!"

Little Tuk. That was enough to make Erìhe turn her attention ahead once more. She nudged Spider, "Well, hurry up then!" She said as she ran ahead of him, behind Kiri.

As they were running over a tree, they were shot at by an explosive. It didn't hit anyone, but the impact it had on the tree underneath them was enough to make them fall off their feet. Erìhe placed a hand on Kiri's back as she crouched down. When she looked back, she could not see Spider.

"Spider!" Erìhe called as she peeked over the tree trunk. She could see him there, hanging on a vine by his cuffs. "Take my hand!" She yelled and lay down on her stomach to be as low as possible - so as to avoid the bullets.

Just as she reached out for his hands, Spider fell. The vine was not secure and the other end of it fell limp as he slid off of it. Erìhe watched in horror as the boy landed on the ground in a heap.

"Spider!" Kiri yelled.

Erìhe grit her teeth and got back to her feet, "He'll be fine, Kiri," she told her, "Let's go!" She said a little louder when Kiri only yelled after the boy.

"Kiri!" Erìhe turned her head to see Neytiri heading toward them, "Erìhe! Let's go!" The woman said as she dragged Kiri away from the trunk.

Erìhe got to her feet and followed behind the two, running through the forest and hopping over plants in her wake. Spider would have to stay tough and survive by himself.

"Spider!" Kiri called as Neytiri dragged her along, "He's down there!"

"We'll get him back!" Erìhe told her - though she never specified when.

Kiri ripped herself away from her mothers grip and leaned against a tree to watch as the avatar soldiers reached where Spider had fallen. She watched in horror as the men made their way down to him and pushed him over on his back.

"He's alive, let's go!" Erìhe told Kiri and nudged her to get moving.

Kiri unwillingly started running forward again, "He won't be for long," she said sadly.

"He's a tough kid," Erìhe assured Kiri as she ran side by side with her. "He'll be just fine, okay?"

Kiri reluctantly nodded and the three women ran down the tree. When they eventually hopped down to the ground, they were met with startled yelps. Erìhe flinched when she heard them, but she relaxed once she realized it was Tuk, Jake, and Neteyam.

They watched as a light approached in the sky. It was an aircraft coming to get the avatars. They all stood statue still until the light retreated again. They were safe.

"Hey - we're clear," Jake was the first to speak, "Clear. Everyone okay?"

Tuk ran to her mother, hugging her as well as she could with her arms tied together. "Tuk," Neytiri sobbed, thankful that they'd all made it out alright, "Thank you, Great Mother. Thank you!"

Jake took his two sons into his embrace and Erìhe stood awkwardly all by her own. Kiri was there too - but she was too busy thinking of Spider.

"Where is Spider?" Jake asked Lo'ak.

Kiri looked up at her father, "They took him," she told him with a shaky voice, "They took him."

Even though it was raining, Erìhe could easily tell that Kiri was crying. It was obvious from her voice. "It's okay," Jake told her as he hugged her, "It's okay. He's a tough kid," Kiri cried into her father's shoulder. "He's going to be okay."

Erìhe looked down at the ground. She had noticed Neteyam looking at her, but she did not recognize his expression.

-
A/n:
I wish I could publish more than one chapter a day, but sadly in order to not fall behind, I can't :(

I write my chapters way ahead of time just to stay on top of things, so once I finish this book, I will be publishing more than one chapter a day!

Love you guys so much! Your comments are so funny omg