36Chapter Sixteen
Grace winced as the recoil of the rifle hit her shoulder. The metal felt alien and disgusting in her hands, with all her will she forced herself not to toss it to the ground. Jake and his men were showing the Na'vi the correct way to the hold the guns and many of the Na'vi had learned quickly. Amnita however chose to pretend she had no idea what she was doing. Grace felt like smashing her gun into the woman's face for her audacity but kept her cool. In the end, Jake warmed Grace's bed at night not Amnita's.
"Jake I cannot reload." Amnita said in halting English. Jake smiled encouragingly at Amnita, standing behind her to demonstrate the correct usage of the gun. Grace saw red as Amnita snuggled against Jake, his hands covering hers.
"Mawe." Leila said her eyes also blazing with anger over Jake's actions. Grace smiled at the scientist, noticing how badly she held the weapon in her hand. Upon seeing his mate's obvious inadequacy at using the assault rifle, To'itan mimicked Jake's stance. Leila giggled as To'itan bit her neck lovingly, his arms wandering down her body. With a growl Grace turned from the happy couple and bumped into a hard, solid chest.
"Txoa." Hav'yi said righting Grace before she fell down.
"I have become clumsy of late." Grace explained. She had reached her third month and was suffering from intense bouts of morning sickness. She had managed to convince Jake that she was just ill but he was not the only one she had to lie to. Her grandmother was sworn to secrecy but her mother was not so inclined.
"If your father asks, I will tell him." Anna had said much to Grace's annoyance. She was almost certain Sam knew. Recently the man had been following her like a nantang pup. Even now he was watching her with the fierceness of a mother ikran and it made her nervous.
"Is this guy bothering you?" Sam asked as he approached them. Hav'yi gave Sam a once over.
"Who is this dreamwalker?" Hav'yi asked. Grace didn't want to get involved between their male squabble so instead of answering she continued to shoot her target. With three sequential shots she managed to hit her previous targets until the fallen log she used as a target and a fine hole all the way through the wood.
"Pänutìng Ngeya txe'lan." Grace swung round to where the voice had come from, her finger still on the trigger. Bullets thudded into the ground, soil and grass spraying in the air. Quickly Grace stopped, narrowly missing Amnita's leg. Feeling a burn of shame Grace tried her best not to cower when Jake stormed towards her and yanked the rifle from her hands.
An uncomfortable silence followed, all Grace could hear was Jake's harsh breathing. Sam ordered the others to carry on with their business before placing a hand on Jake's shoulder.
"Breathe bro, it was an accident." Sam said sending Grace a sympathetic smile. Jake shrugged away from Sam, continuing to glare at Grace.
"Someone could have died." Jake growled.
"I know I'm sorry…" Grace started which only seemed to make Jake angrier.
"You're sorry, sorry! Sorry wouldn't bring them back." Jake shouted thrusting the gun into Sam's arms. Grace took an involuntary step back deciding that leaving Jake to vent would be the best course of action. If not for Amnita's smug smile Grace would have left Jake to calm down.
"You are plotting. You know he is mine!" Grace snarled launching herself at the woman. To her surprise, Amnita whimpered using Jake to shield her from Grace's attack. Grace attempted to bypass Jake's bulk but he stood firmly between her and Amnita.
"What is wrong with you Grace? You are usually more level headed than this." Jake said taking hold of her shoulders. Grace could feel tears of frustration welling.
"Jake I am frightened of your mate. First she tries to kill me, now this." Amnita sighed giving a little sniff for extra measure. Grace growled once again trying to get to the little witch.
"Grace if you do not behave I won't allow you here again." Jake said sternly. Grace took some time to imagine how her life would have been like if she had never gone hunting for talioang. Perhaps she would never have met Jake Sully and she would be mated to To'itan. To'itan who was on her side as he glowered at the stupidity that was Jake Sully.
"I want to challenge Grace." Amnita's words had the power to shatter every thought that had been going through her mind. Jake's grip moved from Grace's arms to her neck where he messaged the knots that had started to form.
"What does that mean?" He asked tiredly. Grace rolled her eyes and backed away from Jake, rolling out the tension in her shoulders.
"Hand to hand, Eywa provides." Amnita stated releasing the rifle to the ground. Both women ignored Jake as he spluttered with indignation over being ignored.
"Explain to the moron." Grace said, addressing To'itan as she began to circle Amnita.
Jake watched as his mate took a swipe at the female olo'eyktan. Her movements were usually swift and agile but not today. He could see sweat forming along her back as she rolled mere inches from him. He wanted to grasp her hand and run, run far away from mad women that couldn't keep their hands to themselves. But he knew it was down to his stupidity that Grace was in this fight.
"A challenge means that one can challenge another for their mate. The losing fighter may be a secondary mate to the male or leave entirely. Perhaps if you had shown Amnita how in love you are with Grace this would not have happened." To'itan had stated, rather too smugly for Jake's liking. The Na'vi was right. Jake should not have been easily swayed by Amnita's crocodile tears.
Amnita chose that time to aim at Grace's stomach. Grace was able to manoeuvre her body. However, the speed at which Amnita's assault came was too fast. Searing pain shot through Grace's spine as Amnita's fist smashed into her rib.
Jake cursed as Grace stumbled, agony written all over her face. The urge to jump in was strong but To'itan had made it clear that if anyone interfered the challenger would win.
"Grace you can do this!" He yelled almost wishing he hadn't when she gave him a gimlet glare. Grace staggered to her feet, producing a handful of something in her hand. With one swift movement, Grace blew the powder into Amnita's eyes. The olo'eyktan screeched and while she couldn't see, Grace threw her to the floor, placing her palm to her throat.
"Grace has retained her title as Jake's mate. Amnita may never challenge Grace within this life time." Hav'yi announced having refereed the event. Jake bolted from his place in the circle gathering Grace in his arms. She continued to scowl, although it had softened somewhat as he began to kiss her urgently.
"Sorry to interrupt." Amnita croaked her eyes dark and hazy as she continued to rub the substance out of them.
"Eywa provided." Grace said implying that the use of dried herbs was allowed. Amnita shrugged, knowing that Grace had bested her. It was not the use of the herbs that surprised her, it was what they were meant to be used for. If Toruk Makto's mate was expecting, then she may have caused complications. Amnita would rather die that be the cause of the death of a child.
"You should not have wasted these on me. If you had told me you were with child, I would have waited the months needed to challenge you."Amnita stated turning from them as a bout of sneezes shook her body. Grace's eyes travelled Jake's face locking with his eyes as he translated Amnita's words.
"What." Jake said hoarsely his eyes settling on her flat stomach. Grace tried to rest her hands on his face but he backed away from her touch, his eyes never leaving her abdomen. Grace lowered her arms slowly, not offended by his actions. Most men would be shocked to find their mates pregnant. She had only gotten used to the idea of being pregnant herself.
"I was going to tell you Jhake. Just not yet. We have so much to prepare for." She rambled slowly approaching him. To her relief he did not flinch when she reached him and instead he pulled her closer. Grace leant her head against his chest, the beat of his heart against her ear soothing her.
"We are having a baby?" He asked in wonder, then his eyes narrowed on the dark bruise forming on her shoulder. "You cannot fight with us." He stated. Grace stiffened in his arms at the command. No one, not even her father told her what to do.
"I will fight Jhake." She said nipping at his skin. Jake growled lifting her in his arms forcing Grace to straddle his waist. He quickly left the group taking Grace further into the trees. Once there he placed her on a smoothed boulder and began to pace.
Jake ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He knew that look in Grace's eyes, it meant she was not backing down. The thought of her going into battle was bad enough, knowing that she carried their child only made it ten times worse. Finally, Jake stopped pacing and settled onto the floor at her feet.
"Don't do this Grace. What if you lose the baby." Jake said taking one dainty foot in his hand and massaging her soles.
"I will do everything in my power to protect our baby, but I must fight Jake. They destroyed our home." Her words ending in a moan.
Our home. Jake smiled reluctantly deciding that within reason Grace could join them. She could have easily thrown many things in his face, like his betrayal or have called Kelutral her home, but she hadn't.
"I love you, do you know that?" Jake asked, pulling her legs along his waist forcing her to land on his lap. Grace giggled then used the tip of her tongue to lick the end of his nose.
"Well there's a rumour going around that you do. But I'd rather you show me." She whispered grinding her body against his.
"I'm going to be a father." Jake laughed rolling Grace beneath him, showing her just how much he loved her.
...
Stevenson slammed his fist against the steel table unnerving the men that worked diligently. Six months had passed since they had crashed landed on Pandora, six weeks spent travelling to the human compound which had been taken over by a bunch of tree hugging hippies. Stevenson gave a viscous growl before turning his attention to the one scientist who held the key to finding the treasures of Pandora.
"My patience is all but gone Spellman. You give me the password and I will let you live." Stevenson snarled.
Norman looked lazily at the man, tired of the threats on his life. He knew that the password was the only thing keeping him alive. Suddenly a man to his left got excited tapping away rapidly at the keyboard. For the first time in weeks, Norman felt anxious.
"Sir we have the co-ordinates to other deposits of unobtanium." The man said. All around them the screens illuminated with the image of the one place all Na'vi could not live without.
"That's a mighty pretty tree." Stevenson said, a smirk on his lips. "How 'bout we go gardening guys." The men cheered giving each other congratulatory thumps on the back.
Norman felt nauseous and could feel bile rising in his throat. Stevenson promised the men raises as they filed out of the room. The promise of money easing their conscious. Norman watched Stevenson as he shut the door and locked it. When he turned, he held a revolver in his hand. Norman shut his eyes and conjured all the memories he had of Pandora. How he had arrived twenty years ago with so much enthusiasm to learn. He loved that he still found wonders within the clippings Grace brought him. Grace. More like a daughter than the niece, she professed. He knew Jake was successful in convincing the Na'vi to learn the ways of the humans but he didn't think Stevenson would find the tree of souls. If it was destroyed their main connection with Eywa would be obliterated. As Stevenson took the safety off the gun, Norman smiled with the knowledge that the Na'vi would be able to defend Pandora once again.
...
Jake could barely breathe as Peter spoke to him through the vid-link. The man was trying his best to hide his own emotions for the sake of Jake. But Jake knew that Peter was hurting. Norman had a way of making friends with everyone and his death was a bitter blow in their plight.
"He didn't tell them a thing Jake. He refused to. Even after the beatings and torture he refused to say a thing." Peter said, though Jake didn't need to hear that.
It was bad enough that Norman had endured pain for helping the Na'vi but death. Deep hatred burned in his blood as he thought of Stevenson. The man would not know what hit him. As they were speaking, Ngay'swizav was mobilising their troops. Due to the flux vortex surrounding Iknimaya all radar systems would malfunction, giving the ikran riders an advantage. He had taught them all he knew on using the weapons made by the humans. Stevenson would be more than surprised when he saw the Na'vi with a full force arsenal.
"Jake, I have to go, we're leaving soon. Be careful." Peter said breaking the silence.
"Wait" Jake called, Peter returned to the screen his eyes constantly flickering hoping that no one saw him. "If you see Grace…"
"You don't have to say anything man, Sam told me the news. If anyone so much as breathes near her they're dead." Jake touched his knuckles to the screen hoping that the simple action portrayed how grateful he was to Peter.
"Peace out." the vid-link went dead and Jake was left with wondering how soon Stevenson would get there. Wheeling his chair to his psio-link chamber, Jake ran his fingers along the metal coffin.
"I know this is important to you but seriously I don't think your body can handle it." Max, one of the scientist, said. Jake nodded his head in understanding. Even now he could feel his human body slowly dying. When he had awoken in the chamber he had been racked with coughs. His hands hand come back with blood splattered in them.
"I know Max but to be honest, if we don't pull this off there will be no point in living." Jake mumbled cursing as his arms gave out beneath him. Max rolled his eyes, used to the independent man's ways. Max had some others help him move Jake into the chamber still warning Jake about the dangers of linking once again.
"Max, save it."Jake grumbled, easing into the jelly like chamber.
Na'vi Translation
Pänutìng ngeya txe'lan- Promise me your heart
Txoa- Forgiveness/sorry
Mawe- Calm
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