a/n: Italics are for speaking in Na'vi, and this is an extremely short chapter I know, the others will be longer.

Jasmine's POV:

Everyone was so eager to see and experience absolutely as much as possible. I wanted to absorb all of the exotic beauty around me. From a botanist point of view, Pandora was like a field of jewels. Back on Earth, there was rarely any plant life left. I took samples from the gorgeous, but mysterious plants around me. I had only been here a week, and only had my avatar for five days, but I already loved this planet. Today, my fellow scientists and I ventured out into the forest for the second time since arriving. Yesterday I had not been allowed to take samples becuse it was supposed to just be the 'walkthrough and getting to know what we would be working with' day. I was just eager to dive right into my work.

"You better hurry up!" another one of the avatar drivers, my friend, Nicole, retorted. I ran to catch up with them, stumbling the whole way there. I was anything but graceful.

"Im working on it!" I shouted back, finishing up the sample I was taking before joining the other avatar drivers.

Another fellow avatar, Lucas, laughed at me. "You know you don't have to take a sample of every. Single. Thing. On the face of this planet!"

"Stop fighting you two and come over here." Nicole ordered. Lucas and I crept over to her and crouched down to see what she was looking at. I contained my gasp as I saw a baby thanator prowling around.

"It's so cute" Nicole chimed.

"Yeah, cute and deadly" Lucas snorted.

The three of us retreated slowly and jogged back to the base. We had absolutely zero defense training, and knew nothing at all about fending of an angry- or hungry- animal.

It was well after dark now, almost everybody had retired to bed. Meanwhile, I was analyzing my samples. The first, I identified as flora sinensis, a very common plant on Pandora. It recoiled back to the ground when touched as a defense mechanism to being eaten by passing animals. I continued with my samples, but let my mind drift. I would be on Pandora for the next few years at least, the lifestyle of living on a base was not exactly comfortable. But I couldn't say being on Earth was much better. Almost zero plant life remained on the barren planet, and breathing was strained at best. Part of the reason I chose to come to Pandora, was not just because it was basically the only outlet for my field; but also because ever since I was a child I had been fascinated by its existence. I always knew one day I wanted come here, and now here I was.

"Jaz, we're closing up the lab for the night, you have to go to bed now" Nicole informed me, from the doorway. I sighed in agreement, and gathered my data, leaving the room.

Tomorrow would be yet another exciting day of exploration.

Ahonui's POV:

The skypeople had returned, our scouts had seen their metal birds fly in days ago. There was widespread panic throughout the clans, especially mine being so close their base.

Suddenly I heard a faint crack and looked down to see that the arrowhead I had been whittling broke in two, I cursed at my lack of focus. I recalled the last attack years ago, they were told never to return, but I always knew it was only a matter of time. The only way to get a rid of a pest was to kill it.

"Ahonui" a familiar voice called out from below. My co-hunter, Tafiq, swung himself up into my nook of hometree.

"Is it their return that troubles you?" He asked. Tafiq and I had been close friends since birth, he knew me well.

"No doubt they will try to launch an attack again, why else would they be here?"

Tafiq sighed, "And if they do, we will be ready this time. We have rid of most of the humans our scouts have spotted off their base, you know that Ahonui, you were there every time."

I knew it, we usually succeeded in our attacks. As lead hunter for our clan, and future Oloekytan, I knew it would fall on my shoulders to make sure the skypeople never ventured even near to our home. And I would not fail, I never failed.

"Everything is perfectly under control, thanks to you. The skypeople are greedy not dumb, they know now we will not fall easily" Tafiq assured me.

Warriors were supposed to be sure, I told myself...but I could only hope.