Hey all. Just saw Avatar the other day, and figured I'd try my hand at a aftermath story. Please note I am basing this off of one distraction filled viewing of the movie, so I may get a few things wrong. Feel free to, and please do, correct me if this happens. Also, if you haven't seen the movie, none of this will make sense, although that probably goes without saying. Finally, I will be taking a bit of creative liberty with this and slightly tweaking the canon of the Avatar world. Nothing major, but just a few small things to set the stage for my story. Without further ado, here it is.

Pandora was no stranger to violence; predators and prey fought and killed each other every day, but the sheer level of devastation the battle for the Tree of Souls had wrought was something completely alien to the lush, jungle world. Smoking crater pockmarked the ground beneath the Halleluiah Mountains, immense chunks of rock held aloft by a powerful magnetic field, yet at the same time tethered down by a mess of roots and vines. The RDA gunships had been reduced to flaming skeletons of twisted metal by both the flying ikran and catastrophic crashes, their remains littering the mountains. A massive pit was all that remained of the humans' impromptu bomber, and thick black smoke billowed forth from it, a grim beacon that marred Pandora's skies.

Sitting alone on one of the floating boulders was a wrecked fighter, one of the company's Scorpion gunships, unlike the others. Blue and white war paint could just barely be seen through the flickering flames that consumed it, as well as a set of small, booted footprints leading away from it. The boulder was one of a long chain that stretched to the forest floor, and the pilot could be found sitting alone, legs drawn up to her chest, on the next level down. Her clothes were tattered, stained with soot, dirt, and sweat, and faded blue and white markings akin to those on her Scorpion were being washed from her face by the blood from a small gash on her forehead. All of this was distorted ever so slightly by the transparent mask secured to her face; the only thing keeping her alive in Pandora's toxic, at least to humans, air.

The sudden sound of beating wings made her jump to her feet and tense up as she reached for her pistol with one hand and a military bowie knife with the other. Shit, she thought, one of those Goddamn banshees, or ikran, or whatever the hell you call 'em is coming to finish me off. The exhausted pilot summoned the last of her remaining strength and dove behind a outcropping the boulder formed, the tangled roots and rock providing her cover.

The shadow of the flying predator came soon after the sound of its leathery wings, accompanied by the shrill shriek its kind gave. The ikran landed on its clawed feet, and the pilot was surprised to see a Na'vi, one of the near ten foot tall native of Pandora, step off. The blue skinned humanoid appeared, at least by its clothes, or lack thereof, to be male, and its black hair was held in a long braid behind his back. Its intense eyes stared directly at her, through the mess of vines and roots she hid behind.

"Are you the 'pilot' called Trudy?"

The Na'vi spoke English, the product of the RDA's school Dr. A. had opened up, albeit with a heavy accent. Her throat dry, the pilot called Trudy responded in a raspy voice.

"And what if I am? Who's asking?"

The Na'vi crouched down and petted the muzzle of its ikran, which responded with another shriek, before returning its gaze to her.

"Jakesulley seeks his Sky People companions. He said you might answer like this."

A face she could only describe as a smile seemed to creep across the Na'vi's face, if only for a moment, and Trudy, her gun trained on the tall blue man, slowly crept out from behind her hiding place.

"Alright, fine. Take me to Jake. My comm link broke in the crash anyways. I saw the carrier crash. Did we win?"

The Na'vi's face lit up at this.

"We did. The metal demons are destroyed, and the Tree of Souls remains. Now come, Jakesulley will explain all."

With that, the Na'vi leapt back onto his ikran, and extended a hand, beckoning for Trudy to follow. Still eyeing her supposed rescuer nervously, Trudy holstered her pistol and sheathed the knife, and began slowly approaching her escape from the boulder, though mentally protesting the action.

Why couldn't Jake have sent a plane?

End chapter. Short, I know, but there'll hopefully be more to come. Reviews, comments, and type of feedback at all would be appreciated. In fact there are a few quick questions I have for anyone better versed in the Avatar world than I who is willing to listen. Happy Holidays to all.