Alva took a deep breath and then sighed at the fresh air so unlike the one in her cage. Her neck still ached from the needle and tracker, and the area she forced it into was both numb and pulsing hot red. She rubbed the spot and then winced when she pressed down too hard on the biggest of the many bruises she had gotten from the rough treatment.

"" Tru'iel asked once she noticed Alva wincing and rubbing the spot again for the probably tenth time in five minutes. Alva's self-proclaimed aunt had noticed that there was something off with Alva- she wasn't as bubbly and dreamy as before and there was a hard glint in the corner of her eye that screamed pain. ""

"Uh, , doctor- " Alva responded, her voice still hoarse since all the screaming she did. "" She picked up a stick that they had sharpened at the end and pointed it at her neck as if to show her aunt how exactly the doctor had hurt her. ""

Tru'iel stared dumbfounded at her and then placed a hand on her cocked hand. ""

"" Alva answered and then giggles but this time it has a bitter twinge to it that sours it. "" She kicked a rock that laid on the ground and didn't react at the sharp pain she got when the sharp end of it dug into her still soft foot.

"" Her aunt asked with a concerned look on her face as she walked up to Alva who was still wincing from the leftover pain. As soon as the doctor had removed the needle she had thrown up all over the floor and then they had thrown her out of the room to clean it up. Walking right after that pain and injection was impossible- her legs were shaky and could barely hold her up, her eyes were flashing in and out of focus and her whole body was stuck between excruciating pain and the numbing sensation that fainting was.

Alva brushed her hair to the side, being careful not to tug her tswin too hard for it was still extremely tender since the examination, that Alva realised was probably an excuse to put that tracker in her and that her brother probably had only authorized that she had it injected but not that cruelly. He wouldn't do that to her no matter how cocky or defiant she acted with him- he wasn't a bad person, he just made bad decisions that would eventually cost him everything.

"" She whispered and yelped in pain when Tru'iel ghosted her finger over the area. "" She spat out through her teeth as she rode through the waves of pain that washed over her.

"" The Na'vi whispered and pulled her hand back like she had been burned. "Humans do this?"

Alva nodded again and let her hair fall back into its place. She straightened her back and mustered up a smile on her face that only shook slightly when her tswin plopped back into position and nudged the tender area. "Yeah, they did this to me. I guess they don't like not knowing where I am at all times."

"Brother do this?"

"No, not this" Alva looked down on the ground as doubt bubbled up inside of her. She knew Selfridge wouldn't do that to her but at the same time she was doubting his intentions with it- and if he had been the one to order the rough treatment to scare her into submission. "I mean technically he did but I don't think he knew how much it would hurt. He's never hurt me before" Alva rubbed her bandage and pulled her hand away when she accidentally pulled on the edges of the tape that held it down on her skin.

"But brother know?" Tru'iel pushed and placed her hand on Alva's wrist to stop her from continuing the work the two had been doing before Tru'iel had finally mustered enough courage to ask about the pain. "Why brother do this?"

"To control me. He's never liked how free I was and it's only gotten worse with the years. Eywa forgive him but he shouldn't have done this" Alva spat out but then sighed through her nose and pushed all the spiteful emotions back into the pit of negativity. "But it's okay because I'm free and out of my cage."

Tru'iel hissed and slapped Alva on the wrist. "This not okay, this bad. Brother no hurt sister. Why control?" She tilted her head to the side as she looked down at Alva, her eyes wide and angry- almost wild in a sense.

"Parker" Alva sighed out and looked up at the cloudy sky, smiling at the darkness of them. It was going to be a storm afterall, just like she had told them. "They see these bodies as property, as an investment to fix relations with the natives- that's you, and I guess it freaks my brother out when I run off with his property." She shrugged, "Doesn't help that he's 'worried about me and my mental health', whatever that means"

"He put tracker in you because fear? What is 'property'? You fine, Al'va, you like Tsahìk- connected to Eywa. 'Tis good" Tru'iel grinned and then whooped with a fist in the air. The Na'vi stroked a hand down her niece's face and then placed her hands over her eyes. "You see, like Tsahìk. Sky people no understand, but you understand. 'Tis good, no bad."

Alva laughed and pulled Tru'iel's hands off her face but she appreciated the words. Her face lit up again and her eyes regained the sparkle that danced along with the dreamy. "I don't see like the Tsahìk, I just see what Eywa show me." She breathed out between giggles that left her breathless and purple in the face.

"Still you see" Her aunt laughed and let her hands fall back to her sides. "Brother must understand you one with Pandora. He cannot keep you away"

"He thinks he can" Alva responded. "But sooner or later he'll realise I belong in the wild". Immediately after saying that she burst into high pitched laughter that made her forget about the pain for just a short period of time.

---

Alva was walking with a woven basket, that was made out of a strong type of grass that the clan used for smaller objects like food leafs, berries, etc, when she met Neytiri for the first time face to face and not her observing the chief's daughter from a distance.

"" She briefly touched her forehead and bowed her head in respect to the Na'vi woman that was much higher ranked than she. ""

" We can speak english. Tru'iel told me your na'vi is not very good" Neytiri's words flowed from her lips like a gentle river and thought Alva had heard her speak english before she was still stunned by how good her pronunciation was compared to most other Na'vi, like Tru'iel who had a very heavy accent that sometimes made words unrecognisable. Neytiri also bowed her head but then grinned at Alva.

"Thank you. I had no one to teach me na'vi" Alva technically wasn't lying when she said she had no one to teach her. Just that she had na'vi classes during the program but she never went to them because she was too busy daydreaming and being stuck in her head.

Neytiri nodded but her eyes stared into hers suspiciously. "Jake says he knows you but your aunt says you live in the forest"

"I've visited the base" Alva shot back, trying her damndest not to flinch or jiggle her bracelets like she was trembling to do. Her anxiety was going through the roof and she had no way of relieving herself of that stress since she couldn't go all the way into her mind and neither could she jiggle any of her bracelets or twist her rings. "Jake must be one of those people that bond fast"

"Are you learning our ways?" The other woman fired her next question with even more narrowed eyes and tail flickering behind her in short, stiff strokes. "I have not heard of anyone teaching an Al'va"

Alva laughed as Tsu'tey's face popped into her head and the grumpy look he got everytime she talked to him. She would accept no one else than him to teach her the ways of the people. "Tsu'tey will be my teacher"

Neytiri stood up straighter and threw her a look of confusion. "I have not heard of this, I must ask him"

"If you do then he'll probably say that he won't but you should know that he is going to teach me." Alva giggled and sighed with rolling eyes as she finally shook her wrists to make the bracelets there shake and make that addictive sound that soothed her every worry. Alva even gave a shake of her ankle to make the ring there shift a bit but not anything more than that. "He's shy?" She offered as explanation when Neytiri was still staring at her with that same sceptical and yet so confused look on her face.

"Are you a tawtute? You have extra finger like Jake, and hair" Neytiri pointed at her brow bone where there was no hair but on Alva there was.

Alva's expression turned into something like a deer in a headlight but grinned at Neytiri nonetheless. "I think that's my cue to keep doing my chore. May Eywa guide your path and we shall meet again, Neytiri, teacher of Jake Sully"

"Same to you." Neytiri whispered after her, confused at the turn of conversation- one that she thought she had the control over but had quickly been shown who had really been in control that whole time.

Alva skipped away from her friend's teacher and towards where she was supposed to go with the basket before she got stopped by Neytiri. She was back to humming and twisting a loose curl around her right index finger. The melody of the moment was a rather low pitched one and full of baritone notes and outdrawn sounds- it was the melody her mother used to hum to her when she was upset and it still made her feel warm inside whenever she heard it. She could hear it sometimes in the wind, in the rushing of water and in the chirping of the Pandorian equivalent of birds. A sign that Eywa was with her all times of the day and had her back until the day her energy was to be returned and she could spend the rest of eternity safely tucked into Eywa's warm and glowing embrace of love and acceptance.

"Oh!" She burst out when she saw a familiar muscled form walk just ahead of her with a bow slung over his shoulder and a few arrows in hand. "'Tey!" She giggled out and ran up to walk with him.

"Demon, what do you want?" He spat out at her once he noticed who it was that had joined him. His lips curled up in disgust but Alva didn't mind, disgust was a feeling and that meant that he had feelings for her. He clenched his hand around his arrows but not enough to make him break.

"Talk to you" She replied as if it was obvious and gave him a 'duh' look with a raised eyebrow and one-sided grin. Alva had to take quicker strides to to keep up with Tsu'tey's much longer and faster ones but she managed. She stared up at him with amusement in her eyes. "Why else would I walk up to you?"

"Leave" He spat at her and attempted to get away from her by walking even faster but Alva only giggled and looped her arm through his so that they walked arm in arm. He tried to yank himself free but Alva held surprising strength in her thin arms that surprised him but not enough to make him stop his attempts at freedom.

Alva shook her head and snickered, her eyes turning slightly dim as she partly zoned out and into her mind. "I don't want to leave, I want to talk to you."

"No. Leave, bug."

"Nuhuh" Alva responded and pressed herself into his warm side, molding into him like that was where she belonged. His presence calmed her raging thoughts at the same time as it helped clear her misty mind. "Will you teach me?"

Tsu'tey snarled and this time ripped himself away from her, showing how easily he could have done it before if he had truly wanted to. His eyes stared down at her with disgust that matched the rest of his face but she had felt his heartbeat, it was fast- faster than it was before she touched him, and therefore he wasn't as hateful as he thought he was. She smiled smugly at him and then winked.

"I will never teach you" He hissed at her, his words practically dripping with enough venom to drown her several times over, but she wasn't fazed by his show of anger nor contempt.

"Yes you will. I am patient, I can wait." She whispered to him before once again walking away from him before she could do so to her. Alva would always have the last word and with Tsu'tey it was no different, if anything she was more motivated to be her best self.

Alva giggled while braiding in a fancy piece of purple grass that she had found with Tru'iel into her hair and shifted her grip on the arrows she had stolen from Tsu'tey while he was trying to show how much he hated her and her kind. She was determined to get Tsu'tey to say yes to her, no matter how long it took, but it had to be because he wanted to and not because she forced him to. Eywa had plans for them, she could feel it in her bones, and she wasn't going to stand between Eywa and her plots- especially not when those plans ended up good for her.

Maybe I should prank him, she thought to herself while walking aimlessly away from where she had left the still fuming male behind. It had been a few days she had pranked someone, if you don't count the ones that had yet to be triggered back in her cage- like the kitchen door she rigged with a water bucket, or the dirt she had sewn into Quaritch's pillow and mattress, and she was itching to prank again. This time she wouldn't let him know it was her though, not like last time that he actually caught her, but on the other hand that time led to good things. Alva couldn't do another waterprank with him, he'd almost expect that and be more on his guard now that she had surprised him once, she'd have to think further on what prank to do but she was determined to do one. It would be a great way to relieve some pent-up stress and anxiety.

Yes, Alva would prank Tsu'tey again and it would be glorious.