Chapter Text
Two weeks after Ardmore had watched those tapes, she sent ground troops to scout the surrounding forests that lay near the MagLev bombing. The rails were completely gone now, and the vehicle was just a frame of metal. Nothing more to it.
The AMP suits, controlled by humans, hunted for anything that related to Na'vi-- footprints, tossed out weapons. Just anything they could see-- and when they found something of interest, they followed down the best-guessed path, only hoping that they would find the said clan. Find the said, children, too. Overhead, though, small, quieter choppers observed the AMPs below, sending radioed messages of how the area looked from the skies. A pod of wild Ikran fled from a nearby tree, and one of them flapped just a little too close to one of the Samsons. BANG. It was shot and killed. Soldiers onboard watched its figure free-fall until hitting the canopy below, which made nearby trees rattle from the commotion.
"Don't focus on killing animals. Focus on getting the kids," Ardmore spoke through her comms as she had seen the bird hit the forest floor below-- she was a part of the ground team, sitting within an AMP suit. It's loud, machine-like stomps spooked a herd of Hexapedes into a gallop, straying away from the scary metal creatures waltzing through their forest.
"Hexapedes are a sign of nearby Na'vi-- I learned that clans often breed these animals for nearby food," stated Ardmore, "Keep going, people."
Multiple different AMP suits had changed their direction to follow the animals, as spooked creatures typically ventured back to their homestead. It was a win for the RDA.
Zaylem had been begging his parents for the past weeks to go on a forest walk with the surrounding children whom he had acquainted with, but each time, Quaritch explained that he was still grounded. But today the father actually agreed to let them go after Eclipse-- which was now taking place in the sky. The 15-year-old cub sought to find the people who he hoped to come along, which were his sister-- mostly because Varang told him to include her, Spider, Faa'rung-- who was sided with Reym at all times, Mal'lya-- one of the Olo'eyktan daughters whom he was never really close to, and Sak, another one of the Olo'eyktan daughters. She was pretty close to Reym, so it was only fair to include her. Then, outside of that family, Savi'ya joined-- thankfully, she wasn't considered a menace by these specific individuals.
Together, the cubs and Spider circled up, waiting for Eclipse to subside and for the sun to come back out again. Ts'aak screamed from the tree line, as if asking to come with, but Zaylem never mounted the animal. He was still technically grounded from flying.
Back in the village, a group of female Na'vi attended to Varang in taking her hair out of those braids. It was a small ritual that she would often take part in when coming close to giving birth. The tension from those tight braids going away immediately satisfied the woman each time one of the village ladies undid them. But, of course, braids coming undone wasn't the only thing happening. Frequent contractions hit her very bloated belly every few minutes, which sent the woman into a state of tensing still, eyes shutting tightly.
Quaritch remained near his mate, observing over her figure as more contractions hit. The man had to take into consideration that this was most likely the last day he would see his woman pregnant... and soon, he would be holding an infant in his arms again. The thought caused his pupils to dilate in compassion-- oh, to be a father again.
"Dad!" Zaylem yelped from the circle of cubs nearby. His tail flicked with anticipation-- and it was present in his expression, "Can we go? The sun's coming back out. We won't be gone long! We just want to explor--"
"Yes, but let me make something clear," the father cut his son off, half-amused, half-agitated, "Stay near each other. No one ventures out alone. Do all of you-- minus Rey'mara and Faa'run-- have bows and knives?" he pointed at the group. Zaylem quickly reached down to his dropped bow and held it high over his head, showing for the whole world to see.
"Yes, Dad. Savi and I have one. Spider does, too. Sak and Mal'lya have knives," he explained, gesturing to each individual once their name was stated.
Quaritch took a moment to look over the group of cubs. Then, he peered at the parents of the children who did not belong to him, minus Savi'ya. They did not seem to care, as both had been sharpening knives absently over a tree root. Back to Zaylem, the man's eyes softened just slightly, "Go on, kids."
With that, Zaylem led the way, his curious side clearly taking over any instinct to look or act mature. After all, he was still just a cub.
Back with the females, Varang observed her children whilst they ran off to play within the confines of the forest. One hand rested over her ready-to-pop belly, gaze now resting upon her husband.
"He's just like you--" she groaned as another contraction hit, "he's nothing like me."
"Nah, he's got your bravery. Idiot doesn't know how to control it yet, but it's there," said the Mangkwan Olo'eyktan whilst now kneeling next to his pregnant woman.
"Oh, do not call your son an idiot," is all she could muster out before yet another sharp cramp squeezed all her organs like a vice. Her throat let out a mighty, pained roar that echoed off distant trees. One female fell to her knees and started massaging the hurting woman's torso. "Ugh! Get this baby out of me!"
"Sorry, honey," is all Quaritch could say, his blue hand resting against her shoulder. To that, the woman with now free hair slapped his wrist.
"Do not 'sorry honey' me! This is your fault! You did this to me!" there was no real bite to her words though-- but there was pain. Red, hot, burning, sharp pain. The man smirked at the comment-- because it was true, and he couldn't exactly counter her statement.
"What is this way?" asked Zaylem, pointing his bow-- not arrow, just bow-- in a direction that slightly led downhill.
"That leads to a cave. But, I've never personally been in there before because dangerous animals sometimes go in and out of it," said Mal'lya, her hair swaying along with the current of the flowing air. Savi'ya nonverbally nodded to the first girl's statement, her own eyes glazing past a carnivorous herb.
"Sweet! Let's go!" the boy challenged, now jogging in the direction that he had been curious about.
"Zaylem! Did you not hear what she said?!" complained Reym, "she said dangerous animals!" The young girl was now running after him with Sak, Spider, Faa'rung, Savi’ya and Mal'lya following closely behind.
"Dude, Dad's gonna kill us if we wake a dangerous beast," yelped Spider as he dodged poisonous greenery that had been growing over Zaylem's home-made path. Zaylem never answered directly with words, but he did breathe out a curt huff that basically translated to, 'Dad can suck a dick and get over it'.
"Knowing the Hapxi clan's bad luck," Sak joked, nudging a friendly elbow into Savi'ya's arm, "we will probably be caught by those robot things that your dad speaks about all the time--"
She was cut off by a crunching metallic scream that resonated across the forest. Then, an AMP suit, its pace quickening toward the children, who stood stunned and still.
"You called it!" Zaylem gasped, tail brushing between his legs, and with a frenzy of panicked emotions, the boy grabbed his sister's arm and darted forward-- toward the cave system. Savi'ya and Sak rushed after them, with Spider, Faa'rung, and Mal'lya just at their backs.
"Go!" screamed the youngest boy, his short, curly hair bouncing against his forehead, distant winds grabbed hold of the fur-like texture. Mal'lya instinctively pressed a three-fingered hand against her brother's back, pushing him into a quicker pace as the AMP suit rushed forward even faster. The speed was quite uncalled for, since the machine was so bulky and hefty.
"It's gaining!" Reym cried, grip over her brother's wrist tightening. Spider, behind them, struggled to hold the speed as his legs were shorter and not as thinned out as the Na'vi. This led to Mal'lya grasping his wrist, too, now helping two individuals rush to 'safety'.
"Over here!" Savi'ya shifted right, pointing to an opening into the cave-- but it was quite big, and the AMP suit would be able to at least reach into the enclosed space. "Watch your head!" she called out again, ducking into the area. Zaylem shoved his younger sister in, then urged the other children into the dark place. By the time he fled in the opening, the AMP suit had nearly caught hold of his kuru-- again. With hard breaths, the group of children tried going deeper into the region-- only to hit a wall. Turns out, it was just a pocket, and not part of the true cave system.
"I'm scared!" yelled Reym, voice echoing off the tight walls and low ceilings.
"Get back!" Zaylem pushed himself against everyone else as a rough robotic hand reached into the space, the air from where it swept back hitting the cubs in the face. Faa'rung, attempting to look tough, pushed himself in front of his best friend, ears low with defense.
The arm had tried again, clamping down on air just in front of Sak's head, making her squeal. Now, multiple AMPs surrounded the space outside of the 'cave', leaving the children cramped against each other and basically left to suffocate.
Savi'ya pressed herself against the backside of the wall, hands tracing over the wet texture until her three fingers brushed over a small crack. Gliding that hand over the incision led to an expanded opening-- a natural tunnel. It wasn't big. But it probably led somewhere, right?
"Guys, I found an opening. It's small-- but we'll all fit," she whispered. Each Na'vi's animalistic eyes panned at Savi'ya, the outline of her arm glowing from her bioluminescent patterns. "Who wants to go first?"
"I will," Zaylem offered, sliding his way through the 'crowd' of cubs until meeting face to face with the opening. It was really narrow-- and had airflow. Which meant it led to another spot. With a shaky breath, Zaylem inched his way through the crevice.
When the children were being chased
Se'yal worked in mysterious ways. Zaylem even said. So, when she scaled the skies, overlooking the children as they explored, it wasn't considered unusual. In fact, it was beneficial. Because upon seeing that first AMP suit chasing her siblings and those other cubs, she had immediately turned Skiku around, her heart rate raising. She knew that intervening alone was dangerous. She knew that she could never overtake a whole metal suit alone. She had to tell someone. And that started with gaining the courage to show herself to the clan again.
"It is fine," she told herself, "this is not about me. This is about them." her red loincloth and top flustered through the air, picking up slight drops of rain as dark clouds formed over the sunny day. Well shit, this truly was just bad luck-- and the Hapxi clan really did live up to it's stereotype-- not because of Savi'ya, though. She was never the problem. It was the Na'vi who blamed her's fault. So now winds picked up as Se'yal urged her bird faster through the skies. Soon, the village was visible-- hometree standing taller than any other barked plant for miles.
The woman yipped through the wind and rain, her high-pitched sound piercing Na'vi ears who resided in the village. People looked up with concern, noting that specific yip meant danger. Or a warning.
"The cubs!" she screamed, now gliding down until Skiku met with the forest floor, "They've been hunted! They've been chased into a cave by a metal suit! It has them trapped! We need warriors! Help!"
Tal'koren's ears perked at the sound of his distant daughter's voice-- and that seemed to be the only thing of concern for him. Not even the fact that his other three children were in great danger. Quaritch, on the other hand, stood along with his surrounding recoms. Prager's ears dropped, and a sharp yelp left his lips, signaling for Tango to come down from the trees, which were now swaying from wind.
"Where are they?!" demanded Quaritch, hands immediately reaching for Cupcake, who had been perched on the ground with him.
"We call it Danger Alley-- it's a cave system!" the female stated through hard breaths. Drops of rain were now running down her face, the same going for everyone else. Quaritch mounted his bird quickly, ears flattened in panic. Varang, on the other hand, stood from her spot on the ground, pushing the surrounding women away.
Then, she rushed-- best she could-- to J'ekru, who also remained grounded with Cupcake.
"Varang! Stay! You're about to give bi--"
"Shut it!" she snapped, eyes burning with a fire that he hadn't seen in a long time. Chaos ensued around them, while mounted warriors and recom's alike grabbed guns from the weapon storage area, called their birds down, and lifted into the air. Varang was no exception. She struggled to get over J'ekru's back, but never faltered. Instead of taking a weapon from the stash, though, she fled to the Quaritch hut to grasp her personal gun-- a Standard Issue Rifle-- the woman hadn't even used it yet. On her way back out from the hut's interior, she met face to face with her husband, who pressed a gentle hand against her belly.
"Var. This is dangerous. And you're heavily pregnant."
"I said shut. It, Miles. The RDA will not get away with this. I will kill every singe one of those fucking bastards!" she was now screaming, face exploding with fire. Quaritch had no choice but to let her go. He, too, needed to get his hand gun and assault rifle. Ten seconds after Varang took for the skies, Quaritch left too, Cupcake throwing her head from feeling her rider's change in demeanor.
This was complete war.
"It opens!" Zaylem yelled from his spot in a now spacious part of the cave. Though, it tripled in darkness. And the opening to outside was a little bigger than that of the pocket, "Come on! Hurry!"
One by one, the children went-- Spider first, then Faa'rung, Reym, Savi'ya, Sak, and Mal'lya. But upon the last girl cramming her way into the area, another, newer and slimmer model of the AMP suit reached in, further now. It grasped the 16 year old girl's kuru, ripping her away from the others with a snapping metallic sound. Her blood-curdling screams echoed against the pocket and surrounding trees.
"Oh!" Sak yelped, heart dropping to her feet, "Mal!" she tried darting to her sister, but Savi'ya's stern hand clasped against the younger girls' before pulling her through the rest of the opening.
"That's my sister!" cried Sak, her sobs loud now, tears gushing down her cheeks. Each child was now staring through the opening, eyes wide over Mal'lya's form-- dangling from her kuru. Then, with an AMP suit knife, the controller of the machine stabbed it's sharp contents through the girl's torso-- coming out the other side.
Everything seemed to still, including Sak's weeps. Even the now rainy environment outside the cave went silent.
"I--" Mal'lya gasped, blood now rolled its way down her whole body, dripping from her toes onto the cold flood. "G-- hom--e..." is the last thing she was able to muster out before those golden eyes rolled back, her body went limp, and the bioluminescent patterns on her skin dimmed to nothing. The screams came shorty after that. Sak fell to her knees, cries shredding against the surrounding kid's ears. Reym seemed stunned, eyes just wide-- nothing behind them. Faa'rung, too, let his own tears fall, his tail falling between his legs. Savi'ya knelt beside crying Sak and embraced the girl, keeping her still as she tried bashing against the slick cave walls. Spider's mask picked up speed while oxygen entered and exited his body even faster, sending him into a state of hyperventilation and horror.
Zaylem, though, was quiet. His jaw had dropped, and his ears slowly descended until they pressed against the sides of his head. In his mind, he was to blame. All of this was his fault. And now his friend was dead in the hands of a metal robot. Her limp body soon was dropped, hitting the ground with a hollow thump.
"Mal'lya!" Sak was now screaming louder and louder with each sob. Her tail slashed against the hard ground until it bruised.
"I'm so sorry..." is all Zaylem could say. The whites of his eyes had turned red.
But on the outside of the said cave, AMP suits weren't done yet. They had successfully rounded the area until reaching the new exit, humans inside glaring into the opening. It was still a little too small for the full suit to enter, but the arms were long and extended quite far. And once again, the cave didn't go back forever. At least it was more spacious than the previous one, though. With one swipe of the arm, the suit's fingers just brushed Savi'ya and Sak's kneeling form. The older, duo-colored eyed girl managed to drag Sak backwards until they hit the back wall.
Zaylem then reached for his bow and arrow-- remembering that he had it. Grasping one of the few bows he had in stock, the boy stretched it over his bow's string.
Hapxi Na'vi fled the skies in their riding companions. There must have been at least 20 of them just soaring through the evening air. Varang had tried her best to keep up, but her very pregnant belly caused her to falter, slowing J'ekru down with her.
Then, she couldn't take it anyone. More contraptions had hit her poor body, and her Nightwraith had instinctively dropped from the sky, gliding to the ground as he could, too, feel the woman's pain through his own body.
Zdinarsik, who had been concerned over her adoptive son, noticed the falling woman, and her mind immediately went to the thought of birth. Varang was never one to back down when it came to her children-- unless she was physically unable to. And this was that moment. Knowing that Varang shouldn't be left alone in the vulnerable state of birthing a whole child, the woman gave up helping in the hunt to assist the pregnant woman-- whom she still struggled to come to terms with.
"Ah!" gasped Varang as she knew it was time to dismount upon her bird landing upon dirt, "no..." she leaned against his wing, "no, my children! I can't do this now!"
Zdinarsik landed shortly after Varang exclaimed her emotions. And in response to seeing the recombinant, the heavily pregnant woman hissed loudly, fangs bared in defense.
"Easy," said Alexis, tail swinging at her back, "clam down."
"You need to help them get my childre--"
"No, Varang." she cut the woman off, "I need to help you."
"No, my children. Go save my children!"
"I am. I am saving your unborn child from being attacked and dragged off by some rapid animal just moments after birth, Varang! You cannot do this lone-- you're too vulnerable!"
"I do not have comms," Varang snarled, another contraption hitting the woman, sending her crashing into the hard, dirty ground. Zdinarsik's hands fished after the woman, now supporting Varang's shoulders from faltering even more.
"I have comms. Do not worry."
"I do not wish to tell Miles. Not now--" Varang's voice tightened once again, "--AGH! Get this child out!"
"You clearly have to start pushing with the contractions, Varang," stated Zdinarsik. "Come on, back up against the tree. I will help you,"
"I don't need help!" Varang snapped.
To that, Zdinarsik only huffed, "Whatever you say, crazy woman."
Either way, Varang complied to Alexis's words, and she laid back against the bark of a tall tree. Zdinarsik worked on sliding the woman's loincloth from her legs in order to make the birthing process a smooth as possible.
"You're fine. Make sure to breath as you're pushing."
"Shush!" screamed Varang, "I know how to give birth! I've done it twice before!"
With that, Alexis Zdinarsik remained quiet, the Ikran and Nightwraith remaining patient on the ground, looking out for potential predators.
Quaritch was too focused to even notice his wive had left the pod. His eyes scanned the forest below, instinctively searching for any AMP suits who may be taking over the wrong land. Ahead, Se'yal led the charge, her bird flapping hard against the windy elements. To her side, Sah'kirtu sat above her bird. The woman was much like her mate in the sense she wasn't very loving to her children. Only when they were in danger did she show some sort of concern and instinct. But to Se'yal? The woman completely ignored her oldest daughter.
Then Tal'koren flew side-by-side with Miles Quaritch, blinking every now and again from raindrops flying into his gaze. The man had only gone for the weapons. He had said earlier, even, 'if we take down the suits, we get more weapons! We become even more powerful!'
"Here!" Se'yal's unmistaken voice boomed through the misty skies, "I saw them down in that cave-- but the suits are gone now!"
Quaritch's ears dropped at that. If the suits were gone, then his children were, too.
Se'yal was the first out of all Na'vi to land. Her figure jumped from Skiku's back, now crouching to peer into the cave she once saw the children enter. The sight inside was not something anyone was expecting. "Ah!" the woman threw her whole body backwards until she landed on the mud-like floor, "Mal'lya is dead!"
A heap of screams exited various warriors at the words, their primal instincts taking over, as they bared teeth, beat their chest, and other wild-like things. Quaritch had ran upon hearing those words, now staring down at a dead, blood-covered girl. Her eyes were open and white, and no light illuminated from her patterns.
"Oh! My child!" Sah'kirtu fell to her knees, grasping her daughter's body to her arms, "My young, precious daughter!"
Se'yal glared up dangerously to her mother's back, staring daggers through her spine, "Mother."
The woman ignored her eldest.
"Mother!" Se'yal tried again, rising to her feet and walking around the fallen female Na'vi, "Now you care?!"
Sah'kirtu continued to grieve over her now dead daughter. Each moment, her sobs became louder, and once they reverberated from the trees, Quaritch knew it was time to get quite. He glared to Tal'koren, who was in the midst of searching the floor for any fallen weapons.
"Olo'eyktan!" Miles shouted. The man raised his head to meet the opposing man's glare, "Comfort your mate! Tell her to calm herself! I have no doubt the AMPs are still out here. If they hear the commotion, they will get us."
"There's more?" The Hapxi leader's ears perked, a smile forming over his lips. And with no hesitation, he rushed to Sah'kirtu's side, hands gripping the woman's shoulder, "Woman, calm down. Calm down." he stated, ignoring both daughters, "There are more AMP Suits! More weapons for us!"
She continued crying. Se'yal, too, had shed tears, but her gaze remained hard against both parents-- now especially her father.
Quaritch's own anger had boiled over at this point, and the man moved to gather around the parents, gently shoving Tal'koren to the side, "Sah'kirtu! Shhh!" he started, "Listen to me,"
"No!" screamed the woman, holding the head of her daughter closer to her chest, "She's dead!"
"Yes, she is! But, listen! Your other daughter is still in danger!" Quaritch's ears dropped, his own thoughts only about Reym and Zaylem, "we need to calm down and think rationally in order to save them!"
Meanwhile, in the other side of the cave, through the crevice, the AMP arm had tried again to wing through, to catch any child it could get its hand on. Zaylem snarled before shooting his arrow toward the metal machine. The sphere struck the arm, causing it to become immobile, but the human just controlled the robot to turn and try the other arm. Again, Zaylem shot another arrow, but this one missed, just as the AMP moved closer to the wall.
"Stupid child!" yelled the human inside, even though none of the children except Spider could understand the words. Zaylem had gone overboard at this point, adrenaline pushing him to extreme levels. He jumped in front of the group and threw a heated hiss at the suit, his tail slapping air, ears pinned anomalistically. However, reached to grab his figure-- snatching his arm with a force that broke bone.
"Zaylem!" Reym yelped, her sound reaching the other side of the cave, where the adults remained. The other children had become reckless, unsure of what to do except cry and retaliate.
"Let--go!" shrilled Zaylem, faltering to keep from being dragged by the enraged suit. Savi'ya, with shaky hands, readied her bow and released the arrow toward the pink skin's form-- and it struct clean through the glass, killing the man instantly. Though, the robot's hand never unclenched, taking Zaylem down with it upon falling.
That's when another new model of the AMP came though-- it was Ardmore this time. Her robotic features reached for Zaylem's scuffled form. "No!" he shrieked, pulling with all his might to unlatch his limp from the clamped grasp. Savi'ya had thrown yet another arrow in the figure's direction, only hitting the back of the robot and doing no damage.
"Stop!" Sak sobbed, the knife in her grasp shaking rapidly. "You killed my sister!" the girl howled just before sprinting full speed at the AMP suit, blade ready to cut whatever came in her way. But, she was young, inexperienced, and didn't understand as much as an adult would. Ardmore had spotted the girl, now directing her attention to the tear-struck kid. With one hand, the woman caught Sak by the neck, massive grasp snapping the bones immediately.
Reym's scream as ear-straining upon seeing yet another child dropped dead against the floor. Faa'rung, too, struggled with understanding his sisters were both dead now. Zaylem had become still, gaze landing over Sak's deceased form, silently hoping that she was only playing dead. But he knew otherwise. She was really, truly gone. Slowly, the boy glanced back to the other children. Savi'ya appeared to be struggling to stand straight, legs wobbling dangerously. Spider didn't even look strong anymore. He leaned against the back wall, crying within his mask, defeated now. And Ardmore's gaze landed upon Zaylem, expression evil and monstrous. The rain pouring overhead had made her look even more dangerous.
"Smith, take the little menace." Ardmore backed up slowly, allowing for another AMP suit to show itself. The man extended his metallic arms at Zaylem, resorting in the blue child to hiss defensively, now rustling to escape the dead AMP's grip faster, but the now muddy ground had made the job ten times harder.
"No! Zaylem! No!" Reym tried rushing to her brother, but Savi'ya held her back by the arm. The girl sobbed harder and harder by the second, now hurling over as if to throw up.
Although, everything slowed in motion to Zaylem when a shadow passed overhead, and a pair of Ikran talons dived, plunging their sharp edged into Smith's AMP suit, sending his form crumpling backwards, the impact crushing the man inside in an instant, and mud splattered from the ground over the now motionless hunk of metal. By the time Zaylem was able to fully register what had happened, a swarm of other birds flooded the area... and Ardmore was gone-- she fled the scene to avoid gaining the same treatment as Smith.
The remaining AMPs were either fighting or running. The ones who fought got a face full of bullets by Na'vi, and the ones who ran's fate was 50/50. In the time frame of this, Zaylem had began the process in fidgeting with the hand to pry it from his arm. He knew something had broken-- and if not, sprained. Each time, he pulled, a tense, pained groan left the kid's throat.
"Easy, boy," Quaritch was there, panting hard against the misty air, wet hands pulling the robot's hand apart, and finally unleashing Zaylem. The kid gasped, falling into his father's arms instinctively, letting every emotion he had been holding in out-- drenching Quaritch's chest not just in rain now.
"Easy..." the man repeated, heart rate still spiked, "Are you hurt other than your arm?" he pushed himself from Zaylem's sobbing form and lifted his chin, eyes scanning his son's whole body for injury.
"I'm f--fine!" cried Zaylem, shaking form saddening in Quaritch's eyes.
"Where's your sister? Where's the others?"
"The ca--ve..." the blue kid lifted his good wrist and pointed for the dark opening, to which Miles assisted his child to his legs once again and guiding him into the darkened area. The first thing he noticed was Sak's deceased form-- neck snapped, blood seeping from her mouth and onto the cave floor.
"Oh, my God..." Quaritch gulped, anger now flaring in his chest.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Rey'mara emerged from the darkened area, throwing herself into her father's leg, crying loudly against his skin. The man fell to his knees immediately, pulling the young child in and holding her tight-- as if she would be lost if he let go. His hands hand then lifted to his comms.
"Ethan Prager. Come comfort your daughter. She needs you," his voice was clam despite his every want to kill every human on Pandora at the moment-- except Spider and Blake. Speaking of the human boy, Quaritch's gaze narrowed through the dark to spot his human offspring, "Spider, come."
To that, the dread-headed boy rushed forward to protection, at last comforted by his biological father's presence. Quaritch also urged Faa'rung into his arms so he didn't have to bear seeing his dead sister on the ground again-- at least he would have a barrier blocking his gaze from reaching her.
Just behind, a now burning chopper fell through the canopies before hitting the ground and blowing surrounding trees and the ground into a heap of flames and fire.
"Varang, you have to push, hun," Zdinarsik hand rested a palm against the other woman's lifted knee, eyes focused in on Varang's tightly shut ones.
"I cannot focus!" yelled the birthing woman, "Not when my cubs are in danger!"
Zdinarsik sucked in a tight breath, ears dropping with the air, "Varang. You have to focus on your unborn child. Trust me when I say this-- your husband and the others have everything handled. And you do not need to worry anymore."
Varang's breathing became shallow as a heap of tears threatened to force their way from her eyes, "I'm scared--"
"I am, too." said Alexis, "Spider is with them. And that is my child, even if you don't think so."
Varang cried out a shriek upon pushing with yet another contraction, "Ngghh-- I do not care about the pink skinned right now! Do not speak of him!"
The opposing woman's eyes narrowed, but nothing ever escaped her mouth about the human again. Right now, it was best to just please the struggling woman. "Alright, I won't speak of it. But you have to continue-- I see the baby's head crowning."
"Can I just stop--" Panted Varang, both hands clenched in fists by her side, pulling up on planted grass, their roots now exposed, "I do not want to do this anymore!"
"Varang, look at me." Zdinarsik leaned forwards, one hand now holding her head in place, and forcing eye contact, "You have to. This situation is non-negotiable. Think about it-- you get to finally meet the child whom you have carried for months. You get to finally understand it's gender!"
Quieting down, Varang listed closely to the other woman's words, head nodding gently against her still-placed hand. Then, when yet another cramp made it's way through the woman's poor body, Varang beared down with all her might-- before once again giving up and leaning back with gasping breaths.
"You have to breathe, Varang! Breathe!" Zdinarsik peered down to note down any changes in the position of the fetus.
"I am trying!"
Alexis quickly became upset with the other woman's complaints, "Well try harder!" she had screamed, earning a slightly shocked expression from Varang. "Yeah! I'll be just as mean and tough as you! Now, when another contraction hits, you push, and breathe!"
And the woman did just that, taking one deep breath just before squeezing all muscles into a strained feeling and bearing once more. The motion helped, as the child had become more dislodged. Zdinarsik was quick to place a protective hand near the baby's head, "One more, Varang. One. More."
"I cannot-- I am exhausted--"
"No, no. Don't say that. You push!"
"I canno--"
"You can!"
Varang gave in, straining herself with another sharp spark of pain, and finally the baby's full, slick, blue-striped body fell into the other, helping woman's hands, head limp against her palm.
Zdinarsik spent just a moment in clearing the child's airways until placing it over Varang's now bare chest. "It is a boy. You have another son, Varang..."
The leaning mother immediately wrapped her shaky hands over the child, eyes wide in pure love, "Oh... oh, my..."
"Congratulations, Varang." said Zdinarsik, wiping her vernix-covered hands over the ground before lifting one hand to her comms, "Quaritch, do you read? This is Alexis Zdinarsik."
From the other side, Quaritch was in the middle of flying back through the now-clearing storm, Reym crying into his chest from in front of him. Next to him was Zaylem on Ts'aak, now throwing up vile overboard.
"Zdinarsik. Give me your status. Where are you? Where is Varang?"
"I'm with her, Quaritch." is all the woman said at first, "is everyone okay? Your kids? Spider?"
"My kids and Spider are... fine..." he muttered, "Mal'lya and Sak are dead."
"Oh, shit--" Zdinarsik gasped, and the reaction sent Varang into a panic-- one hand rushing to grasp Alexis's arm.
"My kids--"
"They're fine," Zdinarsik took her hand from the comms, "Tal'koren and Sah'kirtu's two youngest daughters are gone."
Varang's ears dropped, "Oh..." then her gaze dropped to the now fussy baby in her arms, "I cannot imagine..."
Zdinarsik then spoke through the comms again, "Miles... you have another son."
The man's gaze widened just slightly, breath hitching in his throat, "She gave birth...?"
"Yes, sir."
"I--I wish I was there. Where are you?!"
"Stop, Miles." said Zdinarsik, "Focus on your children. Focus on keeping them clam. I will get your wife and baby home safely."
And with that, Quaritch, after all this time of running and fighting, realized that-- this was A New Life, and A New Perspective.