Teysiri and Dr. Adams stood just inside the main doors of the mess hall, listening to the exciting mutters of the human crowd. “Is she leaving?” the humans whispered. “Where would she go?” they said under their breath. “I know l won’t miss her.” Teysiri knew that they were talking about her. She, along with her older sister Oliea and two other Na’vi children, had been kidnapped by the RDA almost fifteen years earlier. Even since that day a decade and a half ago, Teysiri had been longing to escape the torture of captivity. And she had. For six, short, precious months, she and her friends had been free. Able to breathe air that was not choked with smoke, able to see real trees and feel the soil beneath their feet for the first time in years. They had all returned home. All except one. Suddenly, the doors at the other end of the hall banged open and a tall, black-haired man stepped into the room. Ever humans in the mess hall stopped their muttering and turned to look at him. They went ridged and saluted him. Teysiri was the only one who didn’t move at all. “Teysiri!” Dr. Adams whispered. “That’s the General. You need to salute him!” “I refuse to salute a tyrant,” Teysiri whispered back calmly. “And anyway, he’s not MY leader.” “At ease,” General Erik Grace said, addressing the silent crowd. His skin was pale and his eyes were the bright green of leaves in a sunlit canopy. His loud voice was boastful. “Today,” General Grace said, his eyes sparking maliciously, “is the day we’ve been waiting for for five years, nine months, and twenty two days. Some of you for much longer. Today is the day that we finally land back on the home-front and rid ourselves of the final piece of the plague that has haunted us for over a decade.” “Yeah, sure, Lord Dramatic,”Teysiri said in a mutter that just barely counted as a mutter. “Teysiri, hush!” Dr. Adams whispered. General Grace’s head whipped around to look Teysiri straight in the eyes. “Teysiri!” He spoke as if he had just noticed her. “How nice of you to come. Why do you come up here and join me?” Teysiri took a nervous breath and started toward the front of the room. Though Teysiri was the tallest person in the room, under the eyes of all of the humans, she felt small. She felt like a child again, on the day she had first entered the walls of Bridgehead, the human city. Fear was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. As she approached the front of the mess hall, General Erik Grace grinned meanly. Teysiri unwillingly stood next to him. “So, Teysiri,”he said,”how long do you think you’ll make it out there? A week? A month?” “A day!” A voice called out from the crowd. A laugh rippled through the room. “So, how long?” Erik asked. “Long enough to kick the RDA’s butt,” Teysiri said, sneered at him. “Ooooh,” the audience said quietly. Erik Grace glared at the crowd, who quickly fell silent. “I believe it’s time for you to leave,” he said. “Come with me.” General Erik Grace started toward the main doors of the hall. Teysiri followed him reluctantly. Dr. Adams attempted to follow the general and the teenage Na’vi, but he was stopped. “No,” General Grace said,”you’ll stay here” Dr. Adams gave Teysiri a concerned glance as she passed. Teysiri gave him a brave look and followed the general. General Grace led Teysiri through many long corridors, receiving several salutes along the way, and to a large ramp that was slowly lowering. Teysiri looked beyond the ramp and saw a vast green expanse, dappled with trees. A skinny river, not unlike the color of Teysiri’s own skin, ran right through the center of the clearing. Erik cleared his throat and said: “I suppose you'll be needing these.” He handed Teysiri a dark gray duffel bag and an exomask, a human breathing tool that Teysiri hated to use. The ramp was fully lowered now. General Grace grinned malevolently. “Good luck.” ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ I wOnDeR WhAt’S On ThE oThEr SiDe lol ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Characters: -Teysiri (Tay-seer-ee) -Dr. James Adams -General Erik Grace -Crowd ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ First: Previous: Next: Official Studio: ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Credits: for all featured characters. James Cameron for Avatar and the featured art. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
