lo'ak had - once again - disobeyed orders. he had been supposed to stay at the battle site, where his father was occupied with fighting the skypeople. after a brief consideration, lo'ak had come to the conclusion that his dad, a former marine, now at least seven foot tall and a native of pandora, would surely win this fight and wouldn't need him lingering around uselessly anyways.

plus, he had convinced himself that jake would be just as curious as he was about you. lo'ak had sat hidden amongst the leaves of a tree, watching the conflict from above, how his father cocked the rifle he had before firing shots at the moving train that the skypeople built, how his mother's arrows pierced through the bulletbroof glass like it was water. and how his brother, neteyam, followed jake by foot, helping keep his guard up even from behind. only he had been banished up into the trees to watch, like a monkey. stupid monkey, lo'ak

he was almost sure that the rifle he had been given was solely for the purpose of making him believe that his post made any sense; lo'ak knew he wouldn't need it, and his father didn't want him to need it. it might not even be loaded with ammunition.

the heavy rifle in his right hand he hastily followed the trail you had disappeared down. the further he went, the quieter it got, fading sounds of shots and yelling from the battle behind him morphing into chirping birds and insects. in this corner of the forest there was nothing. all it was was an untouched crop of land that even his clan visited rarely, as there was nothing promising. it made a lovely spot for landing.

lo'ak pushed a large, heavy leaf out of his view and climbed over a fallen tree, trying to keep up. he couldn't lose you now, he wanted to know what exactly he'd seen just moments earlier. because when he had sat in that tree, lazily watching the happenings below, a shadow had caught his eye. a large shadow, gliding over the exact tree he was stationed in as if wanting to sneak a look onto the battle on the ground. but when his eyes had snapped up and he had craned his neck towards the direction in which the shadow had disappeared into - the direction he was now chasing into by foot - there had been nothing but the rustling of leaves, moved by the force of what must've been huge wings

it could only be one thing, one creature, that could be of this size but this agile at the same time, but that was impossible. neytiri had talked about the legends of her people, her planet. the warriors that had tried - and failed - to tame toruk.

the na'vi say that whoever tames toruk, is a mighty warrior, someone all na'vi must bow to. being rider of the single largest hunter of pandora meant carrying responsibility, but it demanded the respect of every living creature on the planet.

and lo'ak had though it was impossible for toruk to be tamed, he had not even been so sure about whether or not it even actually existed. but when he caught the glimpse of a leathery wing, red like fire, behind a large curtain of vines, he slowed his pace and took small, quiet steps.

before he reached the green curtain, he cocked the rifle he was holding, just in case. with his free hand, he reached up carefully, almost tentatively, and slowly parted the vines to create a hole for him to look through. and what he saw was beyond anything he had imagined.

you stood before the creature, which's head alone was twice your size, calm as ever. lo'ak stared, utterly in awe; not only did you look incredibly cool, but you were beautiful, too, and around his age. he never would've thought that toruk makto was a teenager like he was one

before lo'ak could think any further, the yellow eye of toruk caught his and the large head turned to look into his direction, making your gaze follow that of the animal and immediately snap onto his. the boys brain short-circuited and in defense he yanked the rifle up and aimed it at you

"don't come closer," he hissed, golden eyes narrowing as he fixed them onto you, "nice pet," he added, more quietly, to lighten the mood a bit