"So what are we doing?" Alva asked Jake once she dropped down to the ground in one fluid movement. Jake compared her gratefulness to that of a feline mixed with the flexibility and climbing skills of a monkey.

"We're still checking for threats" Jake repeated what he had just told the other avatar a few seconds ago. He took ahold of her hands that were still on his shoulders and gently peeled them off him.

"Are we exploring?" Her eyes became impossibly wider and glittering at the prospect of exploring Pandora. First she got to leave her cage and now she was going to explore? This day just kept getting better and better.

"No." Jake grunted and turned away from her with a moody swing of his body. "We are not exploring. We are securing the perimeter." He emphasized the 'we' and 'not' to really get his point forward but when the light in her eyes didn't dim in the least bit he realised that he was fighting a one-sided battle.

She squealed again and pushed past him as if she hadn't heard a word he had just told her. He briefly heard the word 'adventure' before she had run past him and round the corner. Jake sighed before following her with long strides and a readied gun, one never know what's waiting for you on Pandora.

Alva rushed towards the helicoradians or Loreyu in na'vi. It was her first time seeing the plants in real life and it was even more stunning than she had ever imagined. She understood now why the Na'vi called them 'beautiful spiral', for it was just that, a beautiful spiral of orange. She thought back to her botany class while in avatar training and remembered a fascinating fact about the plants, their self-defense mechanism was both fascinating and adorable.

"Watch this" She called back to the avatar who was busy checking his surroundings to have noticed what Alva was currently doing. Not that he could do anything about it, that is.

Once she had his attention she turned back to the plant with a grin, she couldn't wait to do this in real life. Alva reached out to the plant with her index finger and gently pressed down on the spirally lead, making the plant coil up and retracting down to the ground. She giggled at the shocked gasp Jake let out and turned around to face him.

"C'mon, have some fun" She grinned and gestured to the other spiral plants. "Grace won't know, she's all the way over there with Norms" She twirled around in the field, making at least 5 or 7 of the large plants recoil down to the ground with a 'splosh' sound.

Jake shook his head and laughed before joining her, pressing down on all the plants he could reach. He only had enough time to press down on two more of the plants before they all retracted into the ground, something that stopped Alva's wandering hands but not her dancing.

The helicoradians disappeared and gave way for the giant angtsìk that trumpeted at them in warning. Alva stopped her dancing and instead climbed up in one of the trees besides the field of spirals. In a few pulls of her strong arms and agile jumps she was high enough up in the tree that the hammerhead titanothere wouldn't be able to touch her even if it got up on its hind legs.

She looked down and saw Jake still standing shocked in the middle of the field, staring right at the obviously territorial animal. She was tempted to holler down at him but she would much rather see what he would do to defend himself. Alva crouched down on the branch and wrapped her tail around the branch to keep her steady as she leaned over the edge of it to get a better view of what was going on.

The animal quieted down but Alva saw that it was no less agitated than it was before and it lunged slightly forward in a territorial display that was missed on Jake. The dreamwalker raised his gun again and he too took a few steps forward. Bad choice, she grinned, now you've put on a challenge.

"Don't shoot. Don't shoot, you'll piss him off" She heard Grace's voice through her communication device. Alva's eyes snapped towards where Grace and Norm was hiding behind one of the trees.

The angtsìk trumpeted again and bashed its hammer like head against the trees besides it, trying to show the dominance it had. Jake looked on uncertain but with his gun held high and ready. "It's already pissed off" He shot back with fear and uncertainty in his voice.

"Jake, that armor's too thick. Trust me" Grace warned, while still hiding behind the tree next to the avatar. Alva couldn't help but think under what circumstances Grace found out about that, and why they would even bring a gun if it couldn't protect them.

Jake pulled his gun up and stepped back with a gasp as the animal came even closer to him while grunting and ripping up trees along the way.

"It's a territorial threat display." Grace informed Jake with thinly hidden stress in her voice. "Do not run, or he'll charge"

At those words Jake's head snapped towards her with disbelief clear on his face and in his voice. The only thing he could resort to now was sarcasm. "So, what do I do, dance with it?"

Alva looked at the interaction with curious eyes from her tree. He can't run but he also can't stay there. If he ran the animal would charge at him but if he stayed it would keep seeing him as a threat and also charge. It was a lose-lose situation, and Alva knew that Jake wasn't smart enough, yet, to think his way out of it. He wasn't used to his body or to Pandora, he was still too human.

"Just hold your ground" Grace offered Jake but her voice that was supposed to give him confidence wavered and shook.

The hammerhead trumpeted again and then charged with long powerful lunges. The sudden action made Jake throw all his instincts out of the window and responded to the charge with a scream and him sprinting towards it. He hadn't heard the growl, but Alva had and her eyes had already snapped over to where she could see the palulukan lurking behind Jake.

"Palulukan" She whispered in awe, the mighty predator was her favorite animal on Pandora. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She watched as the lithe muscles flexed underneath the black skin with a purplish hue to it. Alva stared right into its eyes, noting the intelligence it showed and the planning it was making. She wasn't sure if it was going to go for Jake or one of the hammerheads but time would tell.

"Yeah? Come on! What you got? Oh yeah. Who's bad? That's right" He taunted the hammerhead with a cocky posture and voice, still unaware of the threat lurking behind him, stalking his every move and every step. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, bitch. That's right, get your punk ass back to mommy. " He called after it when it ran away from the palulukan that had now creeped up so it was almost breathing down his neck.

Alva leaned even more forward in interest when she noticed that the predator still hadn't attacked him and that neither Grace or Norm had noticed it creeping up on the guy they were supposed to be guiding through a would-be disaster.

"Yeah? Yeah, you got nothing. You keep running." Jake even took some steps backwards after finishing the sentence and Alva held her breath when the palulukan raised its quills in preparation of something. "Yeah, and why don't you bring back some of your friends, huh?" It was only after finishing his last taut that he noticed the soft snarling coming from behind him and he tensed up before slowly turning around to face the palulukan behind him.

Alva held her breath and a small awed gasp was drawn from her when the cat-like predator roared and leaped over its soon-to-be prey. She saw Jake's eears laying themselves flat against his ears in fear of the animal leaping over him.

"Oh shit" He cursed and turned around to follow the jump while raising his gun again to point directly at the big beast of an animal.

Alva watched as the hammerheads formed a strong wall and roared back at the palulukan who was searching for a weak link. The avatar gently let go off the branch so she was hanging by her tail before grabbing hold of the branch underneath her with her feet and plopping down on it without making a sound. This she needed to see. She giggled again, this time more breathy and husky than the others, as she stared at the shocked and scared look on Grace and Norm's faces. The older woman was pushing Norm behind her while keeping her eyes firmly planted on the palulukan. It wasn't feared by everyone without a reason, its name did mean dry mouth bringer of fear for a very good reason.

After realising that there wasn't a weak link to slip past, the palulukan turned back to where Jake was standing , which made Jake panic and shaking. "So what about this one? Run? Don't run? What?"

The predator creeped closer to Jake who had yet to move out of his place. Alva dropped down another branch and then another so that she was on the ground again. She was not going to sit this one out, Eywa was warning her off a hunt and she was going to see it all. She pressed herself close to the tree with her tail flaring giddily behind her.

"Run! Definitely run!" Grace yelled at him, her voice begging him to run away before she lost another avatar to Pandora. As much as she didn't care for Jake she didn't want him to die, just like how she hoped that Alva was safe wherever she was.

Jake turned around and started rushing out of the small clearing with the thanator at his heel.

Alva slipped out from where she had been lurking behind the tree and swaggered over the clearing, ignoring the stunned looks that Grace and Norm gave her. "Goodbye, I'll see you later, nature's calling" She giggled at her own pun before she started jogging off from the scene off extreme tension. She could only imagine the confusion and fear Grace was feeling right now, but Alva only cared about seeing what was going to happen to Jake and exploring as much as possible before she's thrown back into the cage.

---

It wasn't until nightfall that she found Jake again, sure she had looked for him but she got distracted by...everything. The forest was even more beautiful and mesmerizing during the night. The green and brown colors of the day was gone, and replaced with neon lights reflected in the bioluminescent patterns of the ground and plants around her. Bright greens, pinks, reds, blues, all colors one could imagine was illuminating her path as she wandered around in the great forest.

A kenten flew by her, lighting up her face in a faint purple glow. She grinned when the lizard spun away to join some other kentans on a branch on a tree on her right. The lizard made a soft greeting sound that broke the silence that had fallen over Alva. Of course the forest wasn't all quiet, you could hear some growling, yowling, and other animal made sounds, but the kentan sound made a nice break from the tense atmosphere she was in.

Alva had no idea how Grace and the rest of them would react once they realised that she had run off, or how Selfridge back on base would feel about it. That man usually breathed down her neck whenever he could, trying to micromanage her every move. Family will do that to you. 'Adopted' he would argue, point his index finger at her and give her that one look that's an odd mix between disappointed and indifferent (a look that she had only seen him give anyone)whenever she used the family card.

She snickered slightly when she thought about the scolding that she would without a doubt recieve when she went out of her avatar body. Maybe they'll give me house arrest, or maybe I won't be able to link for a month. It was worth it, she mused to herself, and she would do it again if she could. A life behind bars isn't a life she wants to live.

"What's he doing?" The avatar asked herself when she watched Jake dip a long stick with the top of it wrapped with stripes of fabric from his shirt. Alva heard the growls and yaps from the nantangs that surrounded him, but she suspected that he wasn't paying attention. If he did he would know that he was currently turning his back on a pack of hungry predators that were going to rip him to shreds if he wasn't careful. "Looks like the pack of hungry nantangs are getting fed" She snickered with an amused smirk on her face.

She shook her hands slightly, listening to the soft sounds of the bracelets clicking together that instantly calmed her down. Alva was trying to pay attention to what Jake was doing but her mind kept wandering or she got distracted by her surrounding. One second he was trying to light up the torch and the next thing she knows he's getting attacked by nantangs. The avatar shook her head, grabbed a hold of the vines next to her and squeezed them until her knuckles and fingers turned a very pale shade of blue.

Jake scrambled backwards when he noticed all of the eyes glinting in the darkness and Alva moved along with them, only she was also hiding in the darkness. Her eyes were one of the many lurking in the darkness. Her skin prickled and if she was human goosebumps would have formed on her arms, they were being watched. She climbed over a low hanging root without making sudden movements or loud noises.

Jake disappeared when he made a sharp right turn but Alva easily found him again after climbing up a short but sturdy tree that handled her weight without a problem. Alva muffled a snicker at Jake's misfortune when he couldn't even last five minutes in the dark without attracting animals, whereas she had lasted that time and more, while stalking him, without making her presence known to either party. She wasn't arrogant enough to assume that the Na'vi hadn't noticed her though, no, she was sure that they were watching her right now the very same way that she was watching Jake.

Jake swung his lit torch from side to side, making sure to point it threateningly at those that came too close for his liking, but wherever he turned there was always more. They had surrounded him, Alva noted, they have the advantage. High-pitched growls echoed around the two avatars and Jake threw away the torch and brandished his long knife instead.

Alva's eyes wandered to the darkness behind him where she could see something silver glinting. Her eyes widened and mouth curled up in an excited lopsided grin that one could associate with a grinning puppy. The rest of her surroundings faded and all she could see was that one spot behind all the action that was calling her name.

She dropped down on the ground in a crouch and a small sting in her feet from the high fall. Alva took a slow step forward and then leaped up on the branch that was in her way, making sure to grab onto it with her hands and tail so she wouldn't fall back down.

---

The silver that had lured her away turned out to be a big piece of metal that she suspected came from one of the many helicopters they had flying around this area. She would have lost Jake if not for his loud, booming voice.

She was laying flat against a branch that curled out from a big tree just above where Jake and the mysterious Na'vi woman that had presumably saved him from the nantangs. Her heart ached for the poor souls that lost their lives because of his actions, but she would have ached more if Jake had been the one who died.

The forest was much more colorful here compared to where Jake had fought with the viperwolves, the ground lit up in turquoise in the shape of your footsteps, and all the surrounding plants glowed in purples, blues and pinks. It was also just now that Alva realised that her dots shone even stronger now compared to when she was behind the fence. It made a stark contrast between her light shade of blue and the bright white of the dots. She even found a couple of new ones that she hadn't seen before: a bundle of them that were hiding on her knuckles in the shape of a crooked circle. All around her she was surrounded by the colors, the darkness of some parts of the forest a mere memory as she basked in the bioluminescent colors.

The Na'vi and avatar that she was watching stepped out on a fallen tree that she couldn't follow them on unless she wanted to be discovered by them. It was a miracle that she hadn't been yet. She's probably busy with Jake, Alva thought to herself with a toothy grin.

While she was taking in her surroundings and getting lost in her head she didn't notice that both Jake and the woman had walked away from where she had last seen them. "Shit" She cursed and scrambled to her feet. This was not a good place to be alone on, especially being a dreamwalker that they would kill on sight.

Alva climbed down from her branch and stomped her feet in the ground with arms crossed over her legs, looking every bit a child that people saw her as. Alva sighed and shook her left hand to hear the soothing sound of her jewelry. It only took a few clangs before she calmed down and the dark feelings retreated back to where they lurked inside of her. With a smile that had the slight twinge of force to it she ran over the same bridge that Jake had done a few minutes before her.

The tree lit up her footsteps when she swaggered over it like a woman on a mission, which she was. Her strides were long, fast and confident. When she came to the end of it she threw a glance behind her just to make sure no one was following her, and to her relief she couldn't see anyone or anything that she deemed a threat. Something had happened on that bridge, she could feel it in her heart and soul. A sign, the woods whispered to her, a sign from Eywa.

A sudden yelp in the air coupled with hoots and laughs made her snap her head up to where she thought it would be. There was no doubt that that panicked, surprised yelp came from Jake, and the hoots had to belong to the Na'vi. They had discovered him and they were not happy.

There were many of them, Alva realised when she heard a lot of varying sounds that belonged to different voices, some masculine and deep, and some higher-pitched and feminine. She pushed her legs harder but still maintained an almost silent run, it wouldn't do if they caught her too, she didn't have a Na'vi protecting her like Jake did. She rushed past flowers of pinks, vines of dull purple, buzzing insects and all sorts of things as she tried to get to Jake before something really bad happened. She had no idea what she would do once she got there but if it wasn't bad then she would only watch like she had done before.

She heard them before she saw them, a big number of Na'vi surrounded Jake, some of them on pa'li and some of them on the ground. Her sprint turned into a slow, crouched walk that she had practiced so many times as a kid when she would play with her family and friends. This was no different than that, she assured herself, nothing bad will happen if you don't get caught.

She dropped down to her stomach and pulled herself to the ledge of the stone she had found that had the perfect overlook on the scene happening below her. Jake stood in the middle of the Na'vi circle with his hands raised into the air while chuckling nervously. Alva spotted the leader of the group, a tall Na'vi mounted on one of the pa'li. He had his hair braided into small, thin braids, with some of them covered in a orange-red coating, and the rest of his head shaved. She couldn't see much of his face or front because her stone was right behind him. The fact that she was spying on them unnoticed almost made her giggle out loud but she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth.