I'm Not In Kansas Anymore
I'm Not In Kansas Anymore
Title: I’m Not In Kansas Anymore
Author: sagaluthien aka sagas_stories
Movie Prompt: Avatar(2009)
Fandom, Characters: SPN/Avatar, Dean, OFC, OMC, mentions of Castiel, Sam, Jimmy, Jack Sully, Neytiri
Rating, warnings: R, Au, Crossover, het
Word count: 3462
Beta: Calamitycrow
Disclaimer: I do not own the fandom’s characters, just borrowed them for a moment. The original characters I invented for the story I would appreciate if you tell me if you want to borrow them.
Author’s Note: This story is written for spn_cinema 2011.
Author's Note 2: I'm not sure this is any good, because of what I struggled through to get this finished. Not only real life was busy, I seemed to get into a writers block and my computer was moody, and it suddenly could turn off without a warning. So I'm happy I got anything done. I'm also sorry if I missed some characters.
Author's Note 3: The Navi language I made from a Navi-Swedish dictionary, and is probably not the right one.
Summary: To save Dean, Castiel sends him into the future, but he didn't count on his journey would go even further.
Year 2011
Dean looked accusingly at Castiel. He didn’t want to accept that the angel couldn’t fix him, that he would always have to walk with support. The doctors had done their best, but all they managed to do was to put his left leg back together, damaged. They said he had been lucky to keep it at all, as his left leg had been totally demolished.
Castiel could only make the worse of the pain disappear, but he coldn't make Dean's leg whole. He'd mumbled something about being too late.
From the minute Dean become lucid he'd demanded the doctors to fix it, but all he heard was that he should accept they couldn’t make it better and he would probably be able to walk on it, though not without the help of crutches or a cane. They also said he would probably always have some pain, and he'd might have trouble staying on it for long.
After the dreadful news, Dean had to deal with being stuck in the hospital bed, which Dean really saw as a suffering - he was anything but amused or happy. He was bored, there was nothing to look at and that Castiel had the cheek to disappear for two days. He was also pissed at the angel; Castiel had dropped that Dean would have to live with his damaged leg, and then just vanish.
Dean had just woken up from a bad dream and he thought he saw the beige trench coat outside the half opened door. A moment later Castiel was at his bed and before Dean had blinked, Castiel had put two of his fingers on Dean’s forehead.
Year 2150 - Lawrence
“Damn angels!” Groggy and disoriented, Dean tried to get his bearings.
“CASTIEL!” Dean fell, hit the asphalt.
“Castiel, if you dare to show yourself…” Dean sat up and was about to rise when a grievous pain shot through his left leg.
“Castiel you know what I think about this. Can’t you please remember to warn a guy before you make your mojo.”
The street was empty and nothing seemed to happen. Dean looked around and the world was a lot darker and more grey than what he remembered. He hoped that he would've remembered if they lost the battle against Lucifer. The street was filthy, so again Dean made another attempt to sit up, but as he tried to move his left leg he could only manage a slight bend in his knee.
He remembered the hospital room and laying there with a shredded leg. Dean was sure it had been just a moment ago, but then the leg had been worse. Now it was like it had healed - sort of.
When he put weight on the leg, he still felt the pain. It felt like not all of his muscles were there and the knee was definitely damaged.
“Damn angel. Where are you?” Dean’s voice bounced between the walls.
When nothing happened, Dean dragged himself to the nearest wall for support so he would stand up. Straightening up, he felt dizzy and he leaned against the wall until the vertigo disappeared. Took another minute to get his bearings, as he tried to learn where and when he had landed. He started to limp, leaning against the wall, as he continued to take in the place.
Not far from where he had landed, he noticed a cane lying on the ground that looked out of place. Guessing it could be his, he got there and managed to pick it up without falling. At once Dean felt it easier to move, even if he trying to put his whole weight on his right leg was something he could not do.
For every step he took, with no clues to know where he was and no angel turning up, Dean wasn't getting any happier. He had to lean quite heavy on his cane, as his leg was beginning to hurt a lot more. He wanted some pain killers and he also realized that he was hungry.
“Castiel, I do not like the fact you are ignoring me.”
Dean slowly turned around, hoping the angel would be there, though the street was still empty. All he could do was to continue moving towards what he saw be a bigger street. Reaching it he looked for a sign, but couldn't see any. The street was as filthy as the alley he'd come from.
He decided that he needed to find any living soul, any one that he could talk too, though he didn't want a demon - he didn't think he would be good to defend or kill it in the state he was. After every step he took time to look around for not miss anything. Castiel didn't show up, but he started to see people and vehicles.
Though no one seemed to take noticed of him.
Dean struggled forward and when he'd passed two blocks he found a bar, and reaching it, saw he had the luck of it being opened. He entered, hobbled to the first booth to sit down and rest his aching leg.
A waitress appeared, asking if he wanted to order anything. After he learned that he could get a hamburger and fries, he ordered that and a beer. Feeding his hunger, he didn't pay much attention to which people were there, or who entered. Almost finished he did look toward the bar and saw how a little guy was trying to get under the waitress' skirt.
Dean took his cane and rose, ignoring that his leg protested. As he got closer, he saw she tried to get the guy to stop, and he heard her saying 'no'. He'd never done anything toward a woman that had told him she didn't want to, so he acted on her behalf. He punched the guy. Dean got the guy's attention and they soon were in a fight, though not long after, Dean was thrown out from the bar.
"Castiel, can you come and help me now?" Dean asked as he rolled around to see where they might have thrown the cane and where he could get some leverage to be able to get up on his legs.
A moment later the light was darkened and when Dean looked up to see what caused it he saw two men dressed in suits. No trench coat and no angel there.
"It sure looks like him." The one to his left said.
"Are you Josh Winchester?" the second one asked.
"Go away!" Dean didn't feel like company. Next second he sat up, looking closer at them.
"Are you Josh? Sam's brother?" The second guy asked again.
"No, but yes I'm Sammy's brother."
"Were there more than two?" The second guy asked the first, and that one shook his head.
"Would you please come with us?"
"Ooo…kay."
At the first moment he could, he checked they weren't any demons. They didn't look like it, but he could not be careful enough. At the pub he had sneaked a salt shaker, and throwing some of the salt on them had not give a reaction. Neither had the water he had blessed when he taken a cup from the bathroom and then accidently spilled on them. They had passed both tests, Dean decided to followed them.
Dean was brought to a morgue and showed the one they called Sam. He took a step back, and was about to fell when he saw the body laying in that body bag - it was an exact copy of him. The guys quickly explained that Sam had signed up for a project that would take him to another planet.
For Dean it sounded tempting, as he was tired of what Earth and Hell had offered him, but before he said yes he asked to get 24 hours to think and do some research. Even if they seemed very eager to get him to say yes, they did grant him those 24 hours.
He had gotten the address of this Josh, and he had no problem picking the lock and get into the small apartment. The guy wasn't there and he found everything he needed for the moment. Looking through Josh's few possessions, he could see how he could be taken for a Winchester. Josh and Sam were twins. The twin's father had been Dean, though not him. In his search he had found a genealogical table where he could see the generations and those had kept given the name of them to honour them. Actually, when studying the table he saw that he was the great grandfather and that the twins' mother had been cousins to his grandson Dean - and was Sam's grand daughter.
For a time Dean just sat with the genealogical table, trying to figure out what had happened, but he had nothing from what must've taken place after he learned that Castiel could not fix the leg and later been swapped to this year. All he had was the proof in his hand that he must have lived to create life.
He kept digging and learning things he didn't like and he didn't quite understand why Castiel had done what he did. Meanwhile he prayed for the angel to turn up. He so much wanted answers. Still Castiel was absent. This life wasn’t any better than his old life. Dean learned that as long he didn't have any actual money, he couldn't get his leg fixed, even if there had been made medical advances. Only if you were rich, could you be cured from most sickness.
Maybe Castiel had believed he would find a way, but Dean was so tired and lonely that the plan he'd been offered earlier sounded better.
"I'll say yes to take part in that project as you - Castiel has totally abandon me."
Year 2155 - Pandora
Dean was happy that he been sedated in the kyro, which made him unaware of anything, not even dreams. The later he was especially happy for, because the nightmares from his time in Hell still haunted him.
All the new ones got a speech about being weak and hungry, and further down, before they was let out, they were told to keep the mask or after thirty seconds, they would start lose consciousness and in four minutes, they would be dead.
Dean went off with the last of the new recruits, as his leg slowed him down and the sedation had made his muscles even sorer. He looked around with interest, wondering what the new world would mean for him, and what would be expected of him. He also wondered if there would be demons, angels or gods here. He especially wondered if Castiel would be able to follow him when he still wanted to put the angel up for answers.
He soon learned what the project was about, and also that there had been changes. The doctor Augustine, who'd started most of the project was dead. There were a few left after some war, and thinking about a war made his skin crawl. It seemed like there was no peace and harmony anywhere, and in this world, the humans had been the demons. For a brief moment Dean wished he'd never agreed to any of it, either being pulled out from Hell or actually making the deal that had changed so much of his life. As the last thought crossed his mind, he changed the wish. He wished the yellow demon had never entered the Winchesters' lives at all.
Dean shoved his thoughts down, as things were as they were and he couldn't change them now. All he could do was to take the chance of a new life, and not make any more mistakes.
Nothing could've prepared him how he would feel when he saw his avatar. Even less on how it felt to be inside the larger body. It was long way from what he so far had been through. One advantage was in the other body he wasn't hampered by his bad leg. He could run, jump or even dance without being scared of falling. It did take time for him to master the avatar, though he thought he done it well.
At his first assignment he questioned why they had to have guns with them, but entering the forest he changed his mind when he saw the creatures. Dean believed that he'd done the right thing when shooting the ones that was most threatening, though somewhere inside him it didn't feel right. He had no idea how he came to have that feeling, not if he looked back to where he'd been. He'd never had second thoughts to kill demons.
The real turn around came at his third assignment, which took place closer to nightfall. Dean tried not to shoot the creatures, he'd rather find another way or scare them. The people that had become his new friends, teased him - saying he was a pussy, though after they had tasted his fist, they stopped the taunting. Dean was happy they could accept him, even if he seemed to be different from the ordinary military type. Most did seem to like having him there, as he had experience, unlike them and saved them from situations.
They had gone deeper into the forest, and Dean couldn't see any indication they were being threatened. He walked away to look at more of the vegetation. Many of the lighting of the vegetation, or withdraw of it make him curious. He inspected something that looked like long grass when suddenly he was met by yellow eyes.
His heart flew up in his throat, and he started to back away. Not paying attention to where he put his feet or tail, he fell on a root. Dean froze and could not get a sound out. Eye to eye, the creature looked way too much like a hellhound.
"Salew nga seykxel!" [Stay put!]
Dean had no idea what it meant and hoped it wasn't a command for him to move, because he was paralyzed. The few moments they stared at each other felt like hours and Dean thought he wasn't long from Hell.
When the creature moved, disappearing into the forest, he slowly breathed out. Dean felt light headed. As soon as the paralyzing fear left, he felt for his gun.
"Lu nga tam?" [Are you okay?]
Dean looked to his right and saw a Navi. He could've raise his gun, but he let it lay beside him. He felt his tail move restlessly, making noises.
"What?" he needed more time to find the word he thought was right in the natives' language. "Pelì’u?"
"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
That could Dean understand. He'd been told that some had learned English.
"Yeah. I'm okay. What the hell was that?"
"Good. Let me help you up. You one of the new guys, aren't you?" The guy stretched out his hand. "I'm Jake Sully."
Dean held out his hand as greeting not for help, but Jake was faster and Dean was pulled to his feet.
"Winchester, Dean Winchester."
"Nice to meet you, though I can't remember anybody with the name Dean. I think there was one called Sam."
"You right, it was supposed to be Sam, but he got killed, so I was the one closest who could take over this avatar."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You're his twin then, like I was Tommy's?"
"I think it's more complicated than that." Dean looked around, worried.
"Then I suggest we meet and talk another time, before your friends miss you."
Jake had no problem taking Dean to where the others were working. As they reached them, the two Navi they'd been working with greeted Jake in a way that made Dean wonder who the guy really was.
Back at the camp Dean asked Jimmy, who he'd become closest to, about the odd behaviour.
"I thought you read the handbook." Jimmy said, like that everyone would know why. "Jake Sully is oléeyktan of the omaticaya. He is married to Neytiri, who is the leader of the tribe."
"I think I remember. He was the guy that stopped the war and actually let this all continue in a more peaceful way."
"You right."
Since Dean had been in his avatar he liked it more and more and that depended much on the fact he could move many times easier. Also the pain that his bad leg caused him disappeared when he was in his other body. He asked if he could not have more assignments, anything to be away from the camp. There'd been moments he felt trapped. Part of him understood how much he actually liked the life he been living with the driving and Impala, back on earth. There was still a part of him that wanted Castiel to come and swap him back.
Dean was given more time to do assignments and be in his avatar. He had shown that he handled it quite well and he was allowed to have times together with Jake Sully, who had promised they would have a talk. One talk led to more.
Dean's homesickness changed the day Jake took him to learn more about the Navi's and their life. After several talks between Jake and him, they become friends. Dean never had a friend in the same meaning, though it also looked like the bond he had with Sammy. During their talks Dean understood that even if Jake loved his life, he still missed some of the elements of his human life. Eventually Dean was asked the question if he was ready to learn what it really meant to be a Navi and if he would consider staying at Pandora and not returning to Earth.
Dean had thought about it for some time, wanting to give Jake an honest answer. He could see it would be so much more advantage to stay at Pandora and not go back. Especially if he couldn't get back to the time he'd come from. Once he'd decided, he said yes; after all, both he and Jake seemed to want to get the most out of the opportunity.
Jake was a good teacher, as was Neytiri. Dean appreciated the world a lot, although in a different way he had done on Earth. He really had seen more than others, and survived. Jake had let Neytiri teach Dean to ride. When she first told him how he had to attach his plait with the 'horse', as that was the bond - shahylu, between him and the equitatus. Dean had given her a look, but he quickly learned to listen to the omaticaya. He didn't regret it.
When he finally was up on the equitatus and had initiated the bond he could feel the animal's soul and feelings. Dean almost forgot to listen to what Neytiri told him. Somehow he had asked the equitatus to walk to the river, and in a pace fit for a beginner, and it had just done that.
At the bank's edge, Dean had said they would turn back to where they'd begun, but he wasn't used to the movements, and he fell in the water. In a reflex action he took hold of the girth to get up, but then Jake was there, with his outstretched hand. He took the offer.
"You're good. You managed your first ride way far better than I did the first time."
"Thank you. It felt extraordinary."
"I knew you would love it."
"The feeling of being together in the mind can't be described, love is… a long way from it. It felt so natural."
Jake surprised Dean by hugging him. Soon after they went on a longer ride and after that, their rides became a daily exercise.
Riding was the freedom Dean had missed. Feeling the muscles move under him was like the feel of the Impala's engine. He liked how fast he could put the distance between two places. The equitatus was his car here.
With his success with the equiatus Dean found himself to be thinking about his new life even more, learning how everything went together in the Eywa. It was like this was what he always missed. No thinking about demons, angels or anyone that wanted to take over the world. No apocalypse, no fight to destroy the world.
The best was probably how easily he was accepted by the Navis. After that it was like his old life really started to fade, as more as he became a hunter and guard there.
One rare occasion when Jake and him talked about their old lives after Jake had learned that Dean held a lot of military training, Dean stated; "I'm not in Kansas anymore."
THE END
Title: I’m Not In Kansas Anymore
Author: sagaluthien aka sagas_stories
Movie Prompt: Avatar(2009)
Fandom, Characters: SPN/Avatar, Dean, OFC, OMC, mentions of Castiel, Sam, Jimmy, Jack Sully, Neytiri
Rating, warnings: R, Au, Crossover, het
Word count: 3462
Beta: Calamitycrow
Disclaimer: I do not own the fandom’s characters, just borrowed them for a moment. The original characters I invented for the story I would appreciate if you tell me if you want to borrow them.
Author’s Note: This story is written for spn_cinema 2011.
Author's Note 2: I'm not sure this is any good, because of what I struggled through to get this finished. Not only real life was busy, I seemed to get into a writers block and my computer was moody, and it suddenly could turn off without a warning. So I'm happy I got anything done. I'm also sorry if I missed some characters.
Author's Note 3: The Navi language I made from a Navi-Swedish dictionary, and is probably not the right one.
Summary: To save Dean, Castiel sends him into the future, but he didn't count on his journey would go even further.
Year 2011
Dean looked accusingly at Castiel. He didn’t want to accept that the angel couldn’t fix him, that he would always have to walk with support. The doctors had done their best, but all they managed to do was to put his left leg back together, damaged. They said he had been lucky to keep it at all, as his left leg had been totally demolished.
Castiel could only make the worse of the pain disappear, but he coldn't make Dean's leg whole. He'd mumbled something about being too late.
From the minute Dean become lucid he'd demanded the doctors to fix it, but all he heard was that he should accept they couldn’t make it better and he would probably be able to walk on it, though not without the help of crutches or a cane. They also said he would probably always have some pain, and he'd might have trouble staying on it for long.
After the dreadful news, Dean had to deal with being stuck in the hospital bed, which Dean really saw as a suffering - he was anything but amused or happy. He was bored, there was nothing to look at and that Castiel had the cheek to disappear for two days. He was also pissed at the angel; Castiel had dropped that Dean would have to live with his damaged leg, and then just vanish.
Dean had just woken up from a bad dream and he thought he saw the beige trench coat outside the half opened door. A moment later Castiel was at his bed and before Dean had blinked, Castiel had put two of his fingers on Dean’s forehead.
Year 2150 - Lawrence
“Damn angels!” Groggy and disoriented, Dean tried to get his bearings.
“CASTIEL!” Dean fell, hit the asphalt.
“Castiel, if you dare to show yourself…” Dean sat up and was about to rise when a grievous pain shot through his left leg.
“Castiel you know what I think about this. Can’t you please remember to warn a guy before you make your mojo.”
The street was empty and nothing seemed to happen. Dean looked around and the world was a lot darker and more grey than what he remembered. He hoped that he would've remembered if they lost the battle against Lucifer. The street was filthy, so again Dean made another attempt to sit up, but as he tried to move his left leg he could only manage a slight bend in his knee.
He remembered the hospital room and laying there with a shredded leg. Dean was sure it had been just a moment ago, but then the leg had been worse. Now it was like it had healed - sort of.
When he put weight on the leg, he still felt the pain. It felt like not all of his muscles were there and the knee was definitely damaged.
“Damn angel. Where are you?” Dean’s voice bounced between the walls.
When nothing happened, Dean dragged himself to the nearest wall for support so he would stand up. Straightening up, he felt dizzy and he leaned against the wall until the vertigo disappeared. Took another minute to get his bearings, as he tried to learn where and when he had landed. He started to limp, leaning against the wall, as he continued to take in the place.
Not far from where he had landed, he noticed a cane lying on the ground that looked out of place. Guessing it could be his, he got there and managed to pick it up without falling. At once Dean felt it easier to move, even if he trying to put his whole weight on his right leg was something he could not do.
For every step he took, with no clues to know where he was and no angel turning up, Dean wasn't getting any happier. He had to lean quite heavy on his cane, as his leg was beginning to hurt a lot more. He wanted some pain killers and he also realized that he was hungry.
“Castiel, I do not like the fact you are ignoring me.”
Dean slowly turned around, hoping the angel would be there, though the street was still empty. All he could do was to continue moving towards what he saw be a bigger street. Reaching it he looked for a sign, but couldn't see any. The street was as filthy as the alley he'd come from.
He decided that he needed to find any living soul, any one that he could talk too, though he didn't want a demon - he didn't think he would be good to defend or kill it in the state he was. After every step he took time to look around for not miss anything. Castiel didn't show up, but he started to see people and vehicles.
Though no one seemed to take noticed of him.
Dean struggled forward and when he'd passed two blocks he found a bar, and reaching it, saw he had the luck of it being opened. He entered, hobbled to the first booth to sit down and rest his aching leg.
A waitress appeared, asking if he wanted to order anything. After he learned that he could get a hamburger and fries, he ordered that and a beer. Feeding his hunger, he didn't pay much attention to which people were there, or who entered. Almost finished he did look toward the bar and saw how a little guy was trying to get under the waitress' skirt.
Dean took his cane and rose, ignoring that his leg protested. As he got closer, he saw she tried to get the guy to stop, and he heard her saying 'no'. He'd never done anything toward a woman that had told him she didn't want to, so he acted on her behalf. He punched the guy. Dean got the guy's attention and they soon were in a fight, though not long after, Dean was thrown out from the bar.
"Castiel, can you come and help me now?" Dean asked as he rolled around to see where they might have thrown the cane and where he could get some leverage to be able to get up on his legs.
A moment later the light was darkened and when Dean looked up to see what caused it he saw two men dressed in suits. No trench coat and no angel there.
"It sure looks like him." The one to his left said.
"Are you Josh Winchester?" the second one asked.
"Go away!" Dean didn't feel like company. Next second he sat up, looking closer at them.
"Are you Josh? Sam's brother?" The second guy asked again.
"No, but yes I'm Sammy's brother."
"Were there more than two?" The second guy asked the first, and that one shook his head.
"Would you please come with us?"
"Ooo…kay."
At the first moment he could, he checked they weren't any demons. They didn't look like it, but he could not be careful enough. At the pub he had sneaked a salt shaker, and throwing some of the salt on them had not give a reaction. Neither had the water he had blessed when he taken a cup from the bathroom and then accidently spilled on them. They had passed both tests, Dean decided to followed them.
Dean was brought to a morgue and showed the one they called Sam. He took a step back, and was about to fell when he saw the body laying in that body bag - it was an exact copy of him. The guys quickly explained that Sam had signed up for a project that would take him to another planet.
For Dean it sounded tempting, as he was tired of what Earth and Hell had offered him, but before he said yes he asked to get 24 hours to think and do some research. Even if they seemed very eager to get him to say yes, they did grant him those 24 hours.
He had gotten the address of this Josh, and he had no problem picking the lock and get into the small apartment. The guy wasn't there and he found everything he needed for the moment. Looking through Josh's few possessions, he could see how he could be taken for a Winchester. Josh and Sam were twins. The twin's father had been Dean, though not him. In his search he had found a genealogical table where he could see the generations and those had kept given the name of them to honour them. Actually, when studying the table he saw that he was the great grandfather and that the twins' mother had been cousins to his grandson Dean - and was Sam's grand daughter.
For a time Dean just sat with the genealogical table, trying to figure out what had happened, but he had nothing from what must've taken place after he learned that Castiel could not fix the leg and later been swapped to this year. All he had was the proof in his hand that he must have lived to create life.
He kept digging and learning things he didn't like and he didn't quite understand why Castiel had done what he did. Meanwhile he prayed for the angel to turn up. He so much wanted answers. Still Castiel was absent. This life wasn’t any better than his old life. Dean learned that as long he didn't have any actual money, he couldn't get his leg fixed, even if there had been made medical advances. Only if you were rich, could you be cured from most sickness.
Maybe Castiel had believed he would find a way, but Dean was so tired and lonely that the plan he'd been offered earlier sounded better.
"I'll say yes to take part in that project as you - Castiel has totally abandon me."
Year 2155 - Pandora
Dean was happy that he been sedated in the kyro, which made him unaware of anything, not even dreams. The later he was especially happy for, because the nightmares from his time in Hell still haunted him.
All the new ones got a speech about being weak and hungry, and further down, before they was let out, they were told to keep the mask or after thirty seconds, they would start lose consciousness and in four minutes, they would be dead.
Dean went off with the last of the new recruits, as his leg slowed him down and the sedation had made his muscles even sorer. He looked around with interest, wondering what the new world would mean for him, and what would be expected of him. He also wondered if there would be demons, angels or gods here. He especially wondered if Castiel would be able to follow him when he still wanted to put the angel up for answers.
He soon learned what the project was about, and also that there had been changes. The doctor Augustine, who'd started most of the project was dead. There were a few left after some war, and thinking about a war made his skin crawl. It seemed like there was no peace and harmony anywhere, and in this world, the humans had been the demons. For a brief moment Dean wished he'd never agreed to any of it, either being pulled out from Hell or actually making the deal that had changed so much of his life. As the last thought crossed his mind, he changed the wish. He wished the yellow demon had never entered the Winchesters' lives at all.
Dean shoved his thoughts down, as things were as they were and he couldn't change them now. All he could do was to take the chance of a new life, and not make any more mistakes.
Nothing could've prepared him how he would feel when he saw his avatar. Even less on how it felt to be inside the larger body. It was long way from what he so far had been through. One advantage was in the other body he wasn't hampered by his bad leg. He could run, jump or even dance without being scared of falling. It did take time for him to master the avatar, though he thought he done it well.
At his first assignment he questioned why they had to have guns with them, but entering the forest he changed his mind when he saw the creatures. Dean believed that he'd done the right thing when shooting the ones that was most threatening, though somewhere inside him it didn't feel right. He had no idea how he came to have that feeling, not if he looked back to where he'd been. He'd never had second thoughts to kill demons.
The real turn around came at his third assignment, which took place closer to nightfall. Dean tried not to shoot the creatures, he'd rather find another way or scare them. The people that had become his new friends, teased him - saying he was a pussy, though after they had tasted his fist, they stopped the taunting. Dean was happy they could accept him, even if he seemed to be different from the ordinary military type. Most did seem to like having him there, as he had experience, unlike them and saved them from situations.
They had gone deeper into the forest, and Dean couldn't see any indication they were being threatened. He walked away to look at more of the vegetation. Many of the lighting of the vegetation, or withdraw of it make him curious. He inspected something that looked like long grass when suddenly he was met by yellow eyes.
His heart flew up in his throat, and he started to back away. Not paying attention to where he put his feet or tail, he fell on a root. Dean froze and could not get a sound out. Eye to eye, the creature looked way too much like a hellhound.
"Salew nga seykxel!" [Stay put!]
Dean had no idea what it meant and hoped it wasn't a command for him to move, because he was paralyzed. The few moments they stared at each other felt like hours and Dean thought he wasn't long from Hell.
When the creature moved, disappearing into the forest, he slowly breathed out. Dean felt light headed. As soon as the paralyzing fear left, he felt for his gun.
"Lu nga tam?" [Are you okay?]
Dean looked to his right and saw a Navi. He could've raise his gun, but he let it lay beside him. He felt his tail move restlessly, making noises.
"What?" he needed more time to find the word he thought was right in the natives' language. "Pelì’u?"
"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
That could Dean understand. He'd been told that some had learned English.
"Yeah. I'm okay. What the hell was that?"
"Good. Let me help you up. You one of the new guys, aren't you?" The guy stretched out his hand. "I'm Jake Sully."
Dean held out his hand as greeting not for help, but Jake was faster and Dean was pulled to his feet.
"Winchester, Dean Winchester."
"Nice to meet you, though I can't remember anybody with the name Dean. I think there was one called Sam."
"You right, it was supposed to be Sam, but he got killed, so I was the one closest who could take over this avatar."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You're his twin then, like I was Tommy's?"
"I think it's more complicated than that." Dean looked around, worried.
"Then I suggest we meet and talk another time, before your friends miss you."
Jake had no problem taking Dean to where the others were working. As they reached them, the two Navi they'd been working with greeted Jake in a way that made Dean wonder who the guy really was.
Back at the camp Dean asked Jimmy, who he'd become closest to, about the odd behaviour.
"I thought you read the handbook." Jimmy said, like that everyone would know why. "Jake Sully is oléeyktan of the omaticaya. He is married to Neytiri, who is the leader of the tribe."
"I think I remember. He was the guy that stopped the war and actually let this all continue in a more peaceful way."
"You right."
Since Dean had been in his avatar he liked it more and more and that depended much on the fact he could move many times easier. Also the pain that his bad leg caused him disappeared when he was in his other body. He asked if he could not have more assignments, anything to be away from the camp. There'd been moments he felt trapped. Part of him understood how much he actually liked the life he been living with the driving and Impala, back on earth. There was still a part of him that wanted Castiel to come and swap him back.
Dean was given more time to do assignments and be in his avatar. He had shown that he handled it quite well and he was allowed to have times together with Jake Sully, who had promised they would have a talk. One talk led to more.
Dean's homesickness changed the day Jake took him to learn more about the Navi's and their life. After several talks between Jake and him, they become friends. Dean never had a friend in the same meaning, though it also looked like the bond he had with Sammy. During their talks Dean understood that even if Jake loved his life, he still missed some of the elements of his human life. Eventually Dean was asked the question if he was ready to learn what it really meant to be a Navi and if he would consider staying at Pandora and not returning to Earth.
Dean had thought about it for some time, wanting to give Jake an honest answer. He could see it would be so much more advantage to stay at Pandora and not go back. Especially if he couldn't get back to the time he'd come from. Once he'd decided, he said yes; after all, both he and Jake seemed to want to get the most out of the opportunity.
Jake was a good teacher, as was Neytiri. Dean appreciated the world a lot, although in a different way he had done on Earth. He really had seen more than others, and survived. Jake had let Neytiri teach Dean to ride. When she first told him how he had to attach his plait with the 'horse', as that was the bond - shahylu, between him and the equitatus. Dean had given her a look, but he quickly learned to listen to the omaticaya. He didn't regret it.
When he finally was up on the equitatus and had initiated the bond he could feel the animal's soul and feelings. Dean almost forgot to listen to what Neytiri told him. Somehow he had asked the equitatus to walk to the river, and in a pace fit for a beginner, and it had just done that.
At the bank's edge, Dean had said they would turn back to where they'd begun, but he wasn't used to the movements, and he fell in the water. In a reflex action he took hold of the girth to get up, but then Jake was there, with his outstretched hand. He took the offer.
"You're good. You managed your first ride way far better than I did the first time."
"Thank you. It felt extraordinary."
"I knew you would love it."
"The feeling of being together in the mind can't be described, love is… a long way from it. It felt so natural."
Jake surprised Dean by hugging him. Soon after they went on a longer ride and after that, their rides became a daily exercise.
Riding was the freedom Dean had missed. Feeling the muscles move under him was like the feel of the Impala's engine. He liked how fast he could put the distance between two places. The equitatus was his car here.
With his success with the equiatus Dean found himself to be thinking about his new life even more, learning how everything went together in the Eywa. It was like this was what he always missed. No thinking about demons, angels or anyone that wanted to take over the world. No apocalypse, no fight to destroy the world.
The best was probably how easily he was accepted by the Navis. After that it was like his old life really started to fade, as more as he became a hunter and guard there.
One rare occasion when Jake and him talked about their old lives after Jake had learned that Dean held a lot of military training, Dean stated; "I'm not in Kansas anymore."
THE END