Yay vaguely smutty chapter 18!
hehehe. And now I'm all caught up and you'll all forget about the fic for a while until I post my next chapter up here.
I'm off to Montreal for my brother's wedding in a very few hours, so I'll see you all on the flipside!
Be warned, this chapter is the farthest I've gotten into the actual "M" rating thus far, so younglings, avert your eyes.
Anyway, enjoy!
Brotherhood Chapter 18: Boys and Girls
"Wait, now lemme get this straight," Tom frowned, "you grabbed the banshee, tried to hang on, and completely forgot about making the bond with it?"
"I didn't completely forget," Jake interjected.
"No, but it just "slipped your mind" initially." Tom shook his head, "Do you know how much the adrenaline rush scared the shit outa me? I thought you must be falling to your death! I was sitting there just waiting to feel the horrible wrenching pain of you hitting the ground thousands of feet below!" By the time he had reached the end of that sentence his normally level voice had gained several decibels, and he was feeling the distinct desire to hiss at his brother.
Jake pinned his ears back. "Geez, man, you don't need to scream, I heard you. But...seriously? You actually felt that?"
"Well, yeah," Tom nodded, "I was concentrating pretty hard though, just in case."
"Do you think it has something to do with the avatars?" Jake asked, "I mean, could the twin thing be strengthened somehow from the transferring thing?"
"How would I know? Not my area of expertise," Tom pointed out, trying not to lose track of the original topic.
"Well, we could always test it," Jake pointed out.
"How do you propose we do that?" Tom wondered, distracted, for the moment, from the good head of mad he'd been working up to.
"Oh, I think I have an idea," Jake grinned evilly as he picked up a nearby stick and poked his twin hard in the kidneys. "Ow!" he frowned, "I did feel that!"
"Dummy, of course you did!" Tom slapped the stick away. His mad was back now. Definitely back. He shoved Jake backward. "What the hell were you thinking? That really hurt!"
"I was testing a theory," Jake shrugged, "isn't that what you science geeks love to do?"
"Oh is that what you were doing? Well then, why don't I test it too?" Tom pinched both his brother's ears. "Aw shit! That hurt! Well this sucks, there's no point brawling any more if it's only gonna hurt both of us."
"I can ignore pain," Jake laughed, tugging at his brother's braids, "can you?"
"It's just mind over matter," Tom pointed out, "I wonder, though, if you can ignore...this!" His hands quickly got busy on all the sensitive spots he'd always known, trying to tickle his brother into submission.
Ninat and Neytiri had been sitting chatting since both their charges were busy preparing for the upcoming celebration when Ninat suddenly frowned.
"They are making far more noise than they should be," she said to Neytiri, "Do you think we ought to check on them?"
"Perhaps that would be best," Neytiri agreed. "Even though they look like adults they really are still children."
"They are males," Ninat laughed, "All males are eternal children. That is why Eywa created females; to ensure that the males did not all simply kill each other through foolish accidents."
Once they came within view of the area, the two quickly hid themselves to watch. The boys were rolling around on the ground, both laughing helplessly and both tickling each other.
Ninat giggled as she watched, then turned to Neytiri. "We had better reign them in," she pointed out, "and I think we had also better put on our stern faces. Our amusement would only encourage them, and they do have work to do."
"Stern faces would be best, I agree," Neytiri nodded, then schooled her features before stepping into the clearing.
"What are you boys doing?" Ninat sighed as she stepped out as well. "You were supposed to be discussing iknimaya, not rolling around on the ground."
Neytiri leaned over and gripped Jake by the ear, firmly. Both Sully boys yelped, and Jake quickly stood to relieve the pressure.
"Do you need constant supervision?" Neytiri said, "I could take you to where the mothers watch over the young children, if you wish."
"Tom!" Ninat hissed as she dragged him to his feet as well, "Look at the mess you have made of your hair! Now I am going to have to fix it again."
"I'm okay, I'm okay," he said quickly, "you don't have to fix it just now, wouldn't it be better to wait until tomorrow just in case it gets messed up again?"
"No that is quite alright," Ninat sat him down, "I will fix your hair while Jake tells his story, and Neytiri will make sure he does not do anything foolish, since apparrently he still needs supervision."
Neytiri grinned. "And of course I will correct any details he forgets," she added.
Ninat quickly assessed Tom's hair once she had him sitting and decided that only the front braids really needed fixing. She sat behind him and angled his head back, her fingers working quickly to fix them before Tom became too agitated, and Jake took up the tale again from where he'd left off.
Getting back to Site 12 with three sickly thanator cubs hadn't been easy, but they had managed it. Taka carried the male the whole way, and the two females traded off, one walking while the other was carried in Louise's arms until the one walking got tired and needed a rest. Then, of course, once they'd reached the research site a place had to be found for the cubs to sleep. For now, they had been put in the hut where the avatars rested when they were empty, although it had taken some fast talking to get Carlos to agree to that. It was only when Taka explained that their teeth weren't strong enough to even cut flesh properly yet that he'd conceded...for now, but he was fiercely protective of his avatar body and didn't want to chance losing it to baby predators, even if only through something accidental.
Taka and Louise had very carefully explained to the babies that they were going to lie down and go to sleep, and that when their bodies slept the babies would not be able to wake them quickly, so if they needed anything they were to cry loud enough that they could be heard inside the modules. They didn't try to actually explain mind transferrence, but they did say that if the babies linked to them while they were sleeping they would seem empty, and that they had other bodies they went to while they slept. It was a little like trying to explain the concept to three-year-olds, but they at least succeeded in reassuring the cubs that they wouldn't be "meat" and that they would "wake up" if they were needed, and ultimately that was all that mattered.
Once they were out of their link beds, however, Louise grabbed Taka by the arm and spun him toward her.
"What the HELL were you THINKING?" she railed at him, "What if you'd nicked a vein and bled out! How would that have helped anything?"
"I wouldn't have nicked a vein," he shook his head, "I deliberately avoided the undersides of the arms for that very reason."
"But you still could have!" she shook her head, "and what if I hadn't been able to find you in time? What then?"
"But you did find me in time," he said calmly, advancing on her in such a way that she instinctively backed up. It took only a few steps in the cramped quarters before she hit the outer wall of the module. "I've told you before, bakemon-chan, I'm not going anywhere, so you had better just get used to that idea."
He leaned in to kiss her and she pushed him away. She was still furious with him, after all. It didn't work for long, though. He just caught her arms and pressed them back against the wall as he leaned in again and kissed her until all the fight melted out of her. He really was damned good at kissing, she had to admit. And somewhere along the way he had discovered her weakness for a little light bondage; a weakness she wished he didn't know, as he took advantage of it every chance he got.
Unfortunately as her anger waned, the fear she'd been using it to cover came to the fore, and she started to shake. It was embarrassing, quite frankly. She pulled out of the kiss by turning her head away, closing her eyes and refusing to look at him. She didn't want him to see the fear and - worse than that - the need that she was sure was obvious in her expression right now. Not that it wasn't clear he had apparently already guessed what her major problem was - had always been - with men. They left. Whether they left because they got bored of her or they left because they got hurt (or died...but she didn't want to think about that), they always left eventually. She'd gotten so tired of people she cared about leaving that she had decided years ago to always make sure to be the one to leave first, or drive them away before she cared enough for them to really get into her heart, so nobody else could ever hurt her like that again. He was...making it really hard not to want him to stay, and that scared the shit out of her.
He shifted his grip so that both her wrists were pinned together by one hand and turned her face very gently back toward his, although she still kept her eyes closed, refusing to look at him.
"I promise I'll do my best not to frighten you like that again," he breathed softly against her ear, "but you have to promise me something too. You have to promise to trust me, Louise."
The way he said her name made her shiver slightly. God! How did this man know how to push all the right buttons so well? If he wasn't so frickin' adorable it would really piss her off.
"Do you promise to trust that I know what I'm doing?" he pressed, leaning in so close against her she didn't dare move.
She bit her lip and moaned softly in helpless frustration before she finally conceded. She...actually did trust him, as crazy as that was. "I promise," she nodded, mortified to realize there was a tear or two rolling down her cheeks.
"Good," he nodded, "and I promise one more thing. You aren't going to be able to scare me off. I've already seen what the bakemono can do, and none of it would ever make me want to leave. But then what can I say? Clearly I have a possibly less than sane fondness for terrifying monsters who need me." He gently thumbed away her tears and kissed her into submission again, taking full advantage of the fact that he had her in a very compromising position against the wall as he ground himself against her.
Although they'd been...well, she supposed she might say "going out", for weeks now, and had even slept together in the same bed, they still hadn't properly slept together, and the anticipation was driving Louise nuts. Which was probably entirely his intention. Taka, she had quickly learned, was a sneaky manipulative bastard of the very best sort. He'd figured out all her usual tricks and stubbornly refused to fall into any of the traps she set for men. It was...impressive. But still very, very frustrating. Especially at moments like these when she could feel how hard he was against her and could only imagine how good that hardness would feel sinking into her. Frankly, she'd wanted him inside her from that very first night of the party, but he stubbornly refused to budge on the issue, insisting the "time was not right" every time she almost had his boxers down.
Still, that didn't stop her from grabbing every opportunity she could. Letting him support her balance momentarily she brought one leg up around his hips, half-wishing she was in her other body right now so she could use her tail to pull him even closer.
"I've been very hard on you, haven't I, koi," he purred as he let go of her hands to rub her thigh instead.
"You're driving me to distraction to the point of going insane," she nodded, "God, Taka, please! Don't I deserve a reward for everything you put me through today?"
"Hmm..." he mumbled thoughtfully as he slid his hands back up her thighs and under the waistband of her pants, "I don't know about that, but a reward for trusting me? That I can agree to." He cupped his hands under her ass and lifted her other leg off the ground as well, and she wrapped it around him, clinging to him as he carried her from the link module into the sleeping module they shared.
Taka was so distracted by kissing his way down Louise's body that he almost didn't realize what the yowling sound outside meant. Groaning softly, he leaned his forehead against her hip. "Wouldn't you just know it," he sighed.
"Welcome to parenthood," she said, slumping back on the bed before pushing herself up. "We'd better go see what they need, but you owe me, "Daddy" and you'd better not forget that."
"You don't have to come out with me," he kissed her forehead before getting to his feet.
"Hey, I'm Mommy, it's my job too," she laughed as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head, not bothering with putting her bra back on.
"If you say so, Mommy," he grinned, pulling her against him from behind and slipping his hands up her top for one last squeeze before pushing her toward the link beds.
Once they were linked up, he rolled off the side of the cot his avatar slept on and went to see what was wrong. It was the male cub. He'd been sick on the floor and was looking very dejected and apologetic.
"What happened?" he asked the more adventuresome female when she stepped close to link up with him.
«Brother made sick-up,» she said, «and he said is thirsty. And he sorry he made bad-smell sick-up in den. He made sick-up too fast to go outside.»
"It's not his fault," Taka soothed, "You're all still very weak, I should have known something like this might happen. Don't worry, I'll clean it up for him and then I'll go get him some more food. We'll just have to make sure he eats slower this time." He looked up to see that Louise had already gotten two buckets of water and was gently washing down the male cub, who was nuzzling weakly against her. "Thanks, Mommy," he leaned over to kiss the top of her head before tackling the unenviable but familiar task of cleaning up after young animals.
After they'd gone over the events of Jhake's iknimaya three or four times, making sure no details had been missed, it was time for lunch, and after lunch, the new hunters had to fly again, to learn more of the intricacies of the bond between each of them and their ikran. For now, Neytiri left the teaching to Tsu'tey, as she had a different, also very important project to complete before tomorrow night's ceremony. Jhake needed a visor, and she had quickly offered to be the one to make it.
She was...confused, though, and she wished there was someone she could talk to. Initially she had been furious about being forced to teach Jhake, then accepting of the burden placed upon her by both her mother and Eywa, but now... Jhake was no longer a burden; he was becoming a strong, competent man, even showing signs of being an exceptional hunter, and somehow spending time with him had become a pleasure rather than a chore. She could see the man he would become after uniltaron and the thought of him choosing a woman made her feel extremely edgy. She knew, of course, that he could not choose her - that would be wrong, and she would have to refuse him if she did such a thing. Whether she liked the idea or not, she was promised to Tsu'tey, and she did not want to upset the balance, but at the same time, if she had been free...
She shook her head. Thoughts like that were foolish and did noone any good at all. She was not free, and so he would not choose her. She would just have to keep her eyes open to find some...other woman...to suggest to him. She was taking the place of parent for him, after all, and as parent her role was to guide him into a happy and balanced mating... She just wished the thought of that did not hurt so much.
Neytiri forced herself to turn her thoughts, instead, to Txom. Ninat was clearly on the hunt, and she hoped the apprentice singer would return her friend's feelings. Neytiri could see that they would make a wonderful match, although she suspected their tendency to get lost in the details of things might mean they sometimes forgot to eat a meal or three. She laughed. Poor Txom was as jumpy as a half-grown yerik fawn every time Ninat touched him. She was going to have to ask what could have possibly caused that. After the ceremony though. Before then Ninat would be far too busy coaching him and practicing the song he was to sing. She had to admit she was curious what his voice would sound like when he sang. She had never heard a male uniltìranyu sing before, only the females...well, actually, really only Ka'tsi. The songs Ka'tsi sang were different from those of the Na'vi, but they were similar as well. And hauntingly beautiful, especially when she sang in that language that was not Ìnglisi. What did she call it again? Oh yes, Ngailìke.
Formation flying was done for the day, which made Jake glad, frankly, since Tsu'tey insisted on flying next to him, and that made him edgy, which made his banshee edgy, which wasn't a good thing. Instead of flying in formation, Tsu'tey had told them they could each fly out on their own, but that they were to stay within sight of the big floating mountain where the majority of the banshees hung out. Luckily that particular chunk of levitating rock just happened to be very obviously visible and the clouds were high today, which meant that Jake could also see the sunlight (or should that be centaruilight or something? Whatever. It was a sun, if not the sun, he could still call it "sunlight" if he wanted) glinting off the side of the shack where his body was sleeping. He figured Trudy'd appreciate the awesomeness of flying more than anyone else he had to talk to just now, so he looked in that direction and gave his banshee the suggestion that it looked like an interesting spot to explore.
He figured he really ought to give the big flying lizard-thing a name, but nothing had come to him yet, and an awesome creature like he was deserved an equally awesome name. He'd think of something eventually, these things just took time.
They did a circuit over the flat area where the shack was, and Jake could see that Trudy was bent over something on the forward part of her Sampson, doing repairs or maybe just fiddling and tweaking. He brought his banshee in for a landing between her and the shack, startling Trudy, who spun and started to reach for her gun before she recognized him.
"Damnit, Jake!" she swore, "a little warning would've been nice so I didn't almost shit myself thinking one of those wild banshees had decided I looked like a nice afternoon snack."
Jake laughed and hopped down, although he didn't disconnect his queue. He didn't want to chance his boy getting spooked from being around a human and human machines and that kind of stuff. "How d'you like my new ride?" he asked, grinning unrepentantly.
"Not too bad," Trudy shook her head, "if you like that kind of thing. How's he handle in the air?" she asked, coming a little closer.
"Like a jet fighter," Jake said proudly, stroking a hand over the banshee's head. "You might wanna be careful though, don't look at him in the eye, they get pissed when you do that, and you'd be just a light snack to him if he decided he didn't like the look of you."
"Well no shit," she rolled her eyes. "That why you're still all hooked up to him an' whatnot?"
"Yeah, I figure we've only known each other a day or so, he's still gotta learn to trust my judgment," Jake shrugged. "Can't say I blame him, I'm only a little batshit insane sometimes."
That made Trudy laugh. "Only sometimes, hm? Whatever you say, blue boy. So how d'ya like flying on your own?"
"It's awesome," Jake sighed, "really incredible. I mean, it's like I was born to fly! An' he's showing me all kinda stuff about air currents and stuff like that, it's weird, but it feels incredible. Especially yesterday when Neytiri showed me how to do barrel rolls. You'd love it Trudy, the wind in your hair, the negative G's... Maybe when this guy and I know each other better I'll take you for a ride or something."
Trudy glanced over at the banshee and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah thanks for the thought," she said, "but I think I'll stick to my baby here. No offense but I kinda prefer to be the one in the pilot's seat."
That made Jake laugh. "Yeah, sure," he said, "but just think about it, the offer's always open." He saw a flash of cobalt blue out of the corner of his eye and looked over to see that Tsu'tey had found him and was gesturing back toward their base of operations with a scowl on his face. He rolled his eyes, but remounted, waving to Trudy. "Anyway looks like I'd better get going," he said, "seeya later." He gave the command to fly and with two strong wingbeats his banshee was aloft again and turning to follow close behind Tsu'tey's.
That night when Jake woke out of link Grace was still in her Avatar working on some experiment that needed to be done in the dark for some reason, and Norm was sitting at the table with two plates of something that pretended to be called food, clearly waiting for him.
"So Trudy said you dropped by today," Norm started as he tucked his 'chair in close and poked at the pseudofood with a fork.
"Yup," Jake nodded. "Had some flying practice so I figured I might as well say Hi and stuff."
"I would've liked to see that," Norm grinned, "I'm still stunned the ikran didn't just eat you instead of letting you ride it."
"Him," Jake corrected, "and what can I say, I've got this winning personality, everybody loves me." He fluttered his eyelashes at Norm, who just rolled his eyes. "You wanna tell me the favour now, or did you wanna flirt some more first?"
"Favour?" Norm blinked at him.
"Well it's obvious you were leading up to something," Jake pointed out, "and I highly doubt you're suddenly bored with girls and macking after me for some kinda sordid homo thing, so I figured you must want a favour."
Norm had unfortunately just lifted his glass of water to his mouth and taken a sip as Jake spoke, and he spluttered and coughed out the water he'd accidentally inhaled, and had to take a moment to get his powers of speech back. "It's not so much a favour as a suggestion," he said finally. "I was thinking... Trudy'd really love to see Hometree, and maybe you could ask if she could come for your hunter induction ceremony as a guest."
"You think she'd want to?" Jake looked surprised. "I could ask I guess. Worst that could happen is they say no. It'd be cool to have her there, I mean, of all you guys here she's the one that really knows what it's like to fly, you know?" He nodded slowly to himself. "Yeah, I think I'd really like to have her there. Well, both of you, but you know you were already invited, right?"
"Thanks," Norm flushed slightly, "I'd hoped I could come but I know I'm not...as close with the Omatikaya as you are."
"Sorry," Jake said, "I know you'd planned to be the one who got relations going again, and I kinda kicked that plan all to hell on you without even meaning to."
"Naw," Norm shrugged, smiling, "it wasn't your fault. Frankly, if it'd been me with the thanator chasing me I would've just been dead, rather than lost and then found by Neytiri. You really were the right man. For that job, anyway."
That made Jake laugh. "Alright. First thing tomorrow morning I'll go talk to Mo'at and find out if Trudy can come hang with us for the party."
"Thanks," Norm grinned, "now you'd better eat then do your log or Grace'll wake you up when she unlinks and make you do it then."
"Right," Jake took a forkful of goop and shoveled it in, swallowing quickly so he didn't have to really taste it.
Somewhere around the middle of the night, Louise drifted awake to the awareness of movement around her as Taka slipped into her bunk beside her.
"Thank you," he whispered, "for helping with the babies." He smoothed her hair out of the way and placed a light kiss just below her ear.
"I didn't mind," she chuckled as she rolled over to look at him, "like I told you, they're my babies too, they even said so."
"Still, they did interrupt something," he stroked her back.
"Did they?" she yawned, "I hadn't noticed."
"No?" His fingers tickled against the small of her back as he slowly drew her nightgown up, and then his hand smoothed over her now-bare backside. "I think you might not be being entirely truthful, koi."
"What would make you think that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. It wasn't an easy task, though, not with the way his hand was moving.
"Oh, I just have this strange suspicion," he shrugged and let his fingers dip between her legs.
She bit her lip to keep from moaning. "Taka," she whispered, "the others are just on the next room over."
"Well then we'll just have to do this like any new parents," he laughed lightly, "really quietly in the moments we can steal."
That made her laugh as well. "I'm still not quite sure how we ended up as parents to three deadly predators," she said.
"Enough talking," he shook his head, leaning in to kiss her and then rolling them carefully so she was on her back
Louise felt her heart start to race as she returned his kiss with a low groan, staying as quiet as she possibly could.
"You deserve better than having to hide this," he sighed as he trailed kisses over her neck and collarbones.
"Yeah well blame the company," she said ruefully, "not my policy we're flying in the face of here."
"Shh..." he kissed her on the lips, "the only people in this bed are you and me, no RDA allowed."
"You got it," she smiled brightly up at him, even though she knew he wouldn't really be able to see her expression, given that the only illumination in the room came from the window at the far end that was lit by the faintly glowing bioluminescence of the forest outside.
As he continued to kiss her, he gently rearranged her legs so that her knees were bent and her hips cradled his own. It was only then that she realized there were no boxers getting in the way between them. He must have stripped before even getting into bed, and she'd been so hazy from sleep she hadn't even noticed. "Are you ready to be rewarded for placing your trust in me?" he breathed against her ear, making her shiver.
"I am so ready," she whimpered softly, "Please, Taka."
"And you realize this is not just for fun," he pointed out as she felt him ease into position, although he didn't push forward yet, "I am doing this because I treasure what is in our pasts, what we share now, and what we can build together in the future, not just as a mindless release."
"If I wanted a mindless release," she giggled quietly, "I wouldn't bother with a man, I'd be digging out my joystick. I appreciate that I'm not just yours, that I mean more to you than just...release."
"So much more," he agreed as he sank into her with a groan, "so very much more you have no idea, koi."
As she rode the waves of escalating pleasure they were creating between them, Louise felt something she hadn't felt since her first fumbling explorations with a boy when she'd been fifteen...love. They weren't just obeying biological imperative here and having sex, they were making love, and she realized now that the difference was...immense.
Curled up in her nivi high in the branches of the Kelutral of the Anurai clan, a young woman was sleeping peacefully. Her dreams were the calm, uneventful dreams of any unmated female, and there was a soft smile on her face...until an atokirina floated over to her, landing delicately on the tip of her ear and pulsing faintly.
The young woman frowned as her dream shifted, becoming strange and unfamiliar.
She was walking through the forest, but it was a changed place, the air filled with a lingering scent of smoke and the ground covered in a thick blanket of ashes. She looked down at her hands and realized she was carrying a pottery vessel. It was badly cracked, and from those cracks a sort of luminous silvery smoke was leaking, spilling over her fingers and clinging to them. It seemed almost liquid except that it had no substance, and as it fell toward the ground it simply disappeared.
She made as though to dash the cracked vessel against a nearby burned-out tree limb - after all, a piece so badly damaged was of no use to anyone, and would be better off being re-purposed into mosaic tiles or beads, but as she looked at it she realized that to shatter such a beautifully made piece would be a sadness far greater than any she had felt in her life. The sides, where they were not marred by the cracks, were as smooth as volcanic glass, and the glaze was all done in rare colours the Anurai almost never used due to the difficulty of working with and obtaining them. They had to be traded for, as the minerals which produced them were not found in Anurai territory, and those clans who did possess them had to go to great lengths to find and secure them, so their price in trade was high.
The mottled coppery-vermilion shade of the vessel was highly glossed, so much so that she could almost see herself reflected within, her face distorted by the convex curve of it, and she felt tears trickling down her cheeks. It was heart-breaking! A vessel so well-made should NEVER have been allowed to be damaged like this! If she found the one responsible, she was going to take her clay-knife and sink it deep within their heart for so disrespecting the work of a master of her craft! Perhaps even with such cracks, though, the vessel could still serve some decorative purpose, or maybe it could be used as a teaching tool, to show the young apprentices what true craftsmanship looked like.
She ran her thumbs regretfully over the cracks, and was stunned to realize that everywhere she caressed, the cracks began to seal over as though they were never there. The glaze showed where the smoke/water/substance had touched it, but the silvery whorls only added to the beauty of the vessel, and when every tiny hairline fracture was erased, the woman cradled the vessel close against her bosom, an incredible sense of both relief and responsibility washing over her. She would treasure this vessel, using it with care and ensuring it was never abused as it so clearly had been before.
"Srane," a voice spoke upon the wind, stirring the ashes to reveal a badly damaged but still living bough of utral aymokriyä. "I See you, heart-sister," the voice said, "and I entrust him to you. You will know when the time is right what to do. Your heart already waits for him, as his waits for you without knowing, but...his healing will take time."
The woman felt the vessel pressed against her chest begin to flow and change, and when she held it out to see what was happening it wasn't pottery at all, but a beating heart. She almost dropped it in shock, but when she blinked momentarily it shifted again and there was a man standing before her, tall and proud. She did not know him, but when he took her in his arms that didn't seem to matter. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him in turn, feeling, for the first time in her life, that there was some purpose for her beyond the everyday. She drew in the scent of the man, committing it to memory, so that if she ever met him again she would know him. He never spoke, never made a sound, but she felt him tuck her head under his chin and nuzzle against her, and her heart almost broke for the second time as the dream began to fade, turning to insubstantial wisps of smoke around her.
She whimpered and rolled over as the atokirina left, floating away on the breeze back to wherever it was meant to go. Her eyes opened in time to catch it leaving, although, hazy from sleep, it didn't occur to her what had happened until she closed her eyes again to try to recapture the dream and the man who had been in it. She found that she couldn't remember his features at all, or any detail about him except to say that he had been tall, and his arms had been strong. She had no memory of his face, but she desperately wanted to remember. She knew it was important, somehow. In the morning, she decided, she would have to speak to the Tsahìk. There had been something different about that dream, something that stank of things only a Tsahìk-trained should know, and she might be many things, but she was not that.
As she slipped again into sleep, she realized there was one thing about the man that was still clear. His scent. She breathed deep and it seemed to surround her again, as though he was her nivi, his arms encircling her and urging her to sleep. Slowly she drifted away again, back to her usual calm, uneventful dreams, but the scent still tingled at the edges of her awareness, and it was...right.
Whew! An intense chapter, that one! But never fear, next chapter we have a bit of a party coming up (although with big stress for poor Tom. He'll survive though, even though he might think his head will explode from the nervousness of singing in front of everybody)
Anyway, you aren't here for me to pontificate at you, you're reading this far because you want the vocab!
so here it is:
Vocab:
Na'vi:
iknimaya - "stairway to heaven", rite of passage to become a hunter
ikran - "walks the heavens", big lizard/bird the Na'vi ride
uniltaron - "dream hunt", rite of passage of adulthood
yerik - hexapede, the Na'vi deer
uniltìranyu - "dreamwalker", avatar
Ìnglisi - English language
Ngailìke - This one I made myself, obeying Na'vi conventions, it's Irish Gaelic or, more properly "an Gaeilge"
nivi - hammock
Kelutral - Hometree
atokirina - Eywa's little messengers ^_~
srane - yes
utral aymokriyä - Tree of Voices, where the Na'vi go to speak to their ancestors and pray directly to Eywa
Tsahìk - spiritual leader, priestess, interpreter of the will of Eywa
Japanese:
bakemon-chan - an affectionate pet name, literally means something close to "my little monster"
bakemono - monster/spirit/ghost
koi - love
I'm off to Montreal for my brother's wedding in a very few hours, so I'll see you all on the flipside!
Be warned, this chapter is the farthest I've gotten into the actual "M" rating thus far, so younglings, avert your eyes.
Anyway, enjoy!
Brotherhood Chapter 18: Boys and Girls
"Wait, now lemme get this straight," Tom frowned, "you grabbed the banshee, tried to hang on, and completely forgot about making the bond with it?"
"I didn't completely forget," Jake interjected.
"No, but it just "slipped your mind" initially." Tom shook his head, "Do you know how much the adrenaline rush scared the shit outa me? I thought you must be falling to your death! I was sitting there just waiting to feel the horrible wrenching pain of you hitting the ground thousands of feet below!" By the time he had reached the end of that sentence his normally level voice had gained several decibels, and he was feeling the distinct desire to hiss at his brother.
Jake pinned his ears back. "Geez, man, you don't need to scream, I heard you. But...seriously? You actually felt that?"
"Well, yeah," Tom nodded, "I was concentrating pretty hard though, just in case."
"Do you think it has something to do with the avatars?" Jake asked, "I mean, could the twin thing be strengthened somehow from the transferring thing?"
"How would I know? Not my area of expertise," Tom pointed out, trying not to lose track of the original topic.
"Well, we could always test it," Jake pointed out.
"How do you propose we do that?" Tom wondered, distracted, for the moment, from the good head of mad he'd been working up to.
"Oh, I think I have an idea," Jake grinned evilly as he picked up a nearby stick and poked his twin hard in the kidneys. "Ow!" he frowned, "I did feel that!"
"Dummy, of course you did!" Tom slapped the stick away. His mad was back now. Definitely back. He shoved Jake backward. "What the hell were you thinking? That really hurt!"
"I was testing a theory," Jake shrugged, "isn't that what you science geeks love to do?"
"Oh is that what you were doing? Well then, why don't I test it too?" Tom pinched both his brother's ears. "Aw shit! That hurt! Well this sucks, there's no point brawling any more if it's only gonna hurt both of us."
"I can ignore pain," Jake laughed, tugging at his brother's braids, "can you?"
"It's just mind over matter," Tom pointed out, "I wonder, though, if you can ignore...this!" His hands quickly got busy on all the sensitive spots he'd always known, trying to tickle his brother into submission.
Ninat and Neytiri had been sitting chatting since both their charges were busy preparing for the upcoming celebration when Ninat suddenly frowned.
"They are making far more noise than they should be," she said to Neytiri, "Do you think we ought to check on them?"
"Perhaps that would be best," Neytiri agreed. "Even though they look like adults they really are still children."
"They are males," Ninat laughed, "All males are eternal children. That is why Eywa created females; to ensure that the males did not all simply kill each other through foolish accidents."
Once they came within view of the area, the two quickly hid themselves to watch. The boys were rolling around on the ground, both laughing helplessly and both tickling each other.
Ninat giggled as she watched, then turned to Neytiri. "We had better reign them in," she pointed out, "and I think we had also better put on our stern faces. Our amusement would only encourage them, and they do have work to do."
"Stern faces would be best, I agree," Neytiri nodded, then schooled her features before stepping into the clearing.
"What are you boys doing?" Ninat sighed as she stepped out as well. "You were supposed to be discussing iknimaya, not rolling around on the ground."
Neytiri leaned over and gripped Jake by the ear, firmly. Both Sully boys yelped, and Jake quickly stood to relieve the pressure.
"Do you need constant supervision?" Neytiri said, "I could take you to where the mothers watch over the young children, if you wish."
"Tom!" Ninat hissed as she dragged him to his feet as well, "Look at the mess you have made of your hair! Now I am going to have to fix it again."
"I'm okay, I'm okay," he said quickly, "you don't have to fix it just now, wouldn't it be better to wait until tomorrow just in case it gets messed up again?"
"No that is quite alright," Ninat sat him down, "I will fix your hair while Jake tells his story, and Neytiri will make sure he does not do anything foolish, since apparrently he still needs supervision."
Neytiri grinned. "And of course I will correct any details he forgets," she added.
Ninat quickly assessed Tom's hair once she had him sitting and decided that only the front braids really needed fixing. She sat behind him and angled his head back, her fingers working quickly to fix them before Tom became too agitated, and Jake took up the tale again from where he'd left off.
Getting back to Site 12 with three sickly thanator cubs hadn't been easy, but they had managed it. Taka carried the male the whole way, and the two females traded off, one walking while the other was carried in Louise's arms until the one walking got tired and needed a rest. Then, of course, once they'd reached the research site a place had to be found for the cubs to sleep. For now, they had been put in the hut where the avatars rested when they were empty, although it had taken some fast talking to get Carlos to agree to that. It was only when Taka explained that their teeth weren't strong enough to even cut flesh properly yet that he'd conceded...for now, but he was fiercely protective of his avatar body and didn't want to chance losing it to baby predators, even if only through something accidental.
Taka and Louise had very carefully explained to the babies that they were going to lie down and go to sleep, and that when their bodies slept the babies would not be able to wake them quickly, so if they needed anything they were to cry loud enough that they could be heard inside the modules. They didn't try to actually explain mind transferrence, but they did say that if the babies linked to them while they were sleeping they would seem empty, and that they had other bodies they went to while they slept. It was a little like trying to explain the concept to three-year-olds, but they at least succeeded in reassuring the cubs that they wouldn't be "meat" and that they would "wake up" if they were needed, and ultimately that was all that mattered.
Once they were out of their link beds, however, Louise grabbed Taka by the arm and spun him toward her.
"What the HELL were you THINKING?" she railed at him, "What if you'd nicked a vein and bled out! How would that have helped anything?"
"I wouldn't have nicked a vein," he shook his head, "I deliberately avoided the undersides of the arms for that very reason."
"But you still could have!" she shook her head, "and what if I hadn't been able to find you in time? What then?"
"But you did find me in time," he said calmly, advancing on her in such a way that she instinctively backed up. It took only a few steps in the cramped quarters before she hit the outer wall of the module. "I've told you before, bakemon-chan, I'm not going anywhere, so you had better just get used to that idea."
He leaned in to kiss her and she pushed him away. She was still furious with him, after all. It didn't work for long, though. He just caught her arms and pressed them back against the wall as he leaned in again and kissed her until all the fight melted out of her. He really was damned good at kissing, she had to admit. And somewhere along the way he had discovered her weakness for a little light bondage; a weakness she wished he didn't know, as he took advantage of it every chance he got.
Unfortunately as her anger waned, the fear she'd been using it to cover came to the fore, and she started to shake. It was embarrassing, quite frankly. She pulled out of the kiss by turning her head away, closing her eyes and refusing to look at him. She didn't want him to see the fear and - worse than that - the need that she was sure was obvious in her expression right now. Not that it wasn't clear he had apparently already guessed what her major problem was - had always been - with men. They left. Whether they left because they got bored of her or they left because they got hurt (or died...but she didn't want to think about that), they always left eventually. She'd gotten so tired of people she cared about leaving that she had decided years ago to always make sure to be the one to leave first, or drive them away before she cared enough for them to really get into her heart, so nobody else could ever hurt her like that again. He was...making it really hard not to want him to stay, and that scared the shit out of her.
He shifted his grip so that both her wrists were pinned together by one hand and turned her face very gently back toward his, although she still kept her eyes closed, refusing to look at him.
"I promise I'll do my best not to frighten you like that again," he breathed softly against her ear, "but you have to promise me something too. You have to promise to trust me, Louise."
The way he said her name made her shiver slightly. God! How did this man know how to push all the right buttons so well? If he wasn't so frickin' adorable it would really piss her off.
"Do you promise to trust that I know what I'm doing?" he pressed, leaning in so close against her she didn't dare move.
She bit her lip and moaned softly in helpless frustration before she finally conceded. She...actually did trust him, as crazy as that was. "I promise," she nodded, mortified to realize there was a tear or two rolling down her cheeks.
"Good," he nodded, "and I promise one more thing. You aren't going to be able to scare me off. I've already seen what the bakemono can do, and none of it would ever make me want to leave. But then what can I say? Clearly I have a possibly less than sane fondness for terrifying monsters who need me." He gently thumbed away her tears and kissed her into submission again, taking full advantage of the fact that he had her in a very compromising position against the wall as he ground himself against her.
Although they'd been...well, she supposed she might say "going out", for weeks now, and had even slept together in the same bed, they still hadn't properly slept together, and the anticipation was driving Louise nuts. Which was probably entirely his intention. Taka, she had quickly learned, was a sneaky manipulative bastard of the very best sort. He'd figured out all her usual tricks and stubbornly refused to fall into any of the traps she set for men. It was...impressive. But still very, very frustrating. Especially at moments like these when she could feel how hard he was against her and could only imagine how good that hardness would feel sinking into her. Frankly, she'd wanted him inside her from that very first night of the party, but he stubbornly refused to budge on the issue, insisting the "time was not right" every time she almost had his boxers down.
Still, that didn't stop her from grabbing every opportunity she could. Letting him support her balance momentarily she brought one leg up around his hips, half-wishing she was in her other body right now so she could use her tail to pull him even closer.
"I've been very hard on you, haven't I, koi," he purred as he let go of her hands to rub her thigh instead.
"You're driving me to distraction to the point of going insane," she nodded, "God, Taka, please! Don't I deserve a reward for everything you put me through today?"
"Hmm..." he mumbled thoughtfully as he slid his hands back up her thighs and under the waistband of her pants, "I don't know about that, but a reward for trusting me? That I can agree to." He cupped his hands under her ass and lifted her other leg off the ground as well, and she wrapped it around him, clinging to him as he carried her from the link module into the sleeping module they shared.
Taka was so distracted by kissing his way down Louise's body that he almost didn't realize what the yowling sound outside meant. Groaning softly, he leaned his forehead against her hip. "Wouldn't you just know it," he sighed.
"Welcome to parenthood," she said, slumping back on the bed before pushing herself up. "We'd better go see what they need, but you owe me, "Daddy" and you'd better not forget that."
"You don't have to come out with me," he kissed her forehead before getting to his feet.
"Hey, I'm Mommy, it's my job too," she laughed as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head, not bothering with putting her bra back on.
"If you say so, Mommy," he grinned, pulling her against him from behind and slipping his hands up her top for one last squeeze before pushing her toward the link beds.
Once they were linked up, he rolled off the side of the cot his avatar slept on and went to see what was wrong. It was the male cub. He'd been sick on the floor and was looking very dejected and apologetic.
"What happened?" he asked the more adventuresome female when she stepped close to link up with him.
«Brother made sick-up,» she said, «and he said is thirsty. And he sorry he made bad-smell sick-up in den. He made sick-up too fast to go outside.»
"It's not his fault," Taka soothed, "You're all still very weak, I should have known something like this might happen. Don't worry, I'll clean it up for him and then I'll go get him some more food. We'll just have to make sure he eats slower this time." He looked up to see that Louise had already gotten two buckets of water and was gently washing down the male cub, who was nuzzling weakly against her. "Thanks, Mommy," he leaned over to kiss the top of her head before tackling the unenviable but familiar task of cleaning up after young animals.
After they'd gone over the events of Jhake's iknimaya three or four times, making sure no details had been missed, it was time for lunch, and after lunch, the new hunters had to fly again, to learn more of the intricacies of the bond between each of them and their ikran. For now, Neytiri left the teaching to Tsu'tey, as she had a different, also very important project to complete before tomorrow night's ceremony. Jhake needed a visor, and she had quickly offered to be the one to make it.
She was...confused, though, and she wished there was someone she could talk to. Initially she had been furious about being forced to teach Jhake, then accepting of the burden placed upon her by both her mother and Eywa, but now... Jhake was no longer a burden; he was becoming a strong, competent man, even showing signs of being an exceptional hunter, and somehow spending time with him had become a pleasure rather than a chore. She could see the man he would become after uniltaron and the thought of him choosing a woman made her feel extremely edgy. She knew, of course, that he could not choose her - that would be wrong, and she would have to refuse him if she did such a thing. Whether she liked the idea or not, she was promised to Tsu'tey, and she did not want to upset the balance, but at the same time, if she had been free...
She shook her head. Thoughts like that were foolish and did noone any good at all. She was not free, and so he would not choose her. She would just have to keep her eyes open to find some...other woman...to suggest to him. She was taking the place of parent for him, after all, and as parent her role was to guide him into a happy and balanced mating... She just wished the thought of that did not hurt so much.
Neytiri forced herself to turn her thoughts, instead, to Txom. Ninat was clearly on the hunt, and she hoped the apprentice singer would return her friend's feelings. Neytiri could see that they would make a wonderful match, although she suspected their tendency to get lost in the details of things might mean they sometimes forgot to eat a meal or three. She laughed. Poor Txom was as jumpy as a half-grown yerik fawn every time Ninat touched him. She was going to have to ask what could have possibly caused that. After the ceremony though. Before then Ninat would be far too busy coaching him and practicing the song he was to sing. She had to admit she was curious what his voice would sound like when he sang. She had never heard a male uniltìranyu sing before, only the females...well, actually, really only Ka'tsi. The songs Ka'tsi sang were different from those of the Na'vi, but they were similar as well. And hauntingly beautiful, especially when she sang in that language that was not Ìnglisi. What did she call it again? Oh yes, Ngailìke.
Formation flying was done for the day, which made Jake glad, frankly, since Tsu'tey insisted on flying next to him, and that made him edgy, which made his banshee edgy, which wasn't a good thing. Instead of flying in formation, Tsu'tey had told them they could each fly out on their own, but that they were to stay within sight of the big floating mountain where the majority of the banshees hung out. Luckily that particular chunk of levitating rock just happened to be very obviously visible and the clouds were high today, which meant that Jake could also see the sunlight (or should that be centaruilight or something? Whatever. It was a sun, if not the sun, he could still call it "sunlight" if he wanted) glinting off the side of the shack where his body was sleeping. He figured Trudy'd appreciate the awesomeness of flying more than anyone else he had to talk to just now, so he looked in that direction and gave his banshee the suggestion that it looked like an interesting spot to explore.
He figured he really ought to give the big flying lizard-thing a name, but nothing had come to him yet, and an awesome creature like he was deserved an equally awesome name. He'd think of something eventually, these things just took time.
They did a circuit over the flat area where the shack was, and Jake could see that Trudy was bent over something on the forward part of her Sampson, doing repairs or maybe just fiddling and tweaking. He brought his banshee in for a landing between her and the shack, startling Trudy, who spun and started to reach for her gun before she recognized him.
"Damnit, Jake!" she swore, "a little warning would've been nice so I didn't almost shit myself thinking one of those wild banshees had decided I looked like a nice afternoon snack."
Jake laughed and hopped down, although he didn't disconnect his queue. He didn't want to chance his boy getting spooked from being around a human and human machines and that kind of stuff. "How d'you like my new ride?" he asked, grinning unrepentantly.
"Not too bad," Trudy shook her head, "if you like that kind of thing. How's he handle in the air?" she asked, coming a little closer.
"Like a jet fighter," Jake said proudly, stroking a hand over the banshee's head. "You might wanna be careful though, don't look at him in the eye, they get pissed when you do that, and you'd be just a light snack to him if he decided he didn't like the look of you."
"Well no shit," she rolled her eyes. "That why you're still all hooked up to him an' whatnot?"
"Yeah, I figure we've only known each other a day or so, he's still gotta learn to trust my judgment," Jake shrugged. "Can't say I blame him, I'm only a little batshit insane sometimes."
That made Trudy laugh. "Only sometimes, hm? Whatever you say, blue boy. So how d'ya like flying on your own?"
"It's awesome," Jake sighed, "really incredible. I mean, it's like I was born to fly! An' he's showing me all kinda stuff about air currents and stuff like that, it's weird, but it feels incredible. Especially yesterday when Neytiri showed me how to do barrel rolls. You'd love it Trudy, the wind in your hair, the negative G's... Maybe when this guy and I know each other better I'll take you for a ride or something."
Trudy glanced over at the banshee and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah thanks for the thought," she said, "but I think I'll stick to my baby here. No offense but I kinda prefer to be the one in the pilot's seat."
That made Jake laugh. "Yeah, sure," he said, "but just think about it, the offer's always open." He saw a flash of cobalt blue out of the corner of his eye and looked over to see that Tsu'tey had found him and was gesturing back toward their base of operations with a scowl on his face. He rolled his eyes, but remounted, waving to Trudy. "Anyway looks like I'd better get going," he said, "seeya later." He gave the command to fly and with two strong wingbeats his banshee was aloft again and turning to follow close behind Tsu'tey's.
That night when Jake woke out of link Grace was still in her Avatar working on some experiment that needed to be done in the dark for some reason, and Norm was sitting at the table with two plates of something that pretended to be called food, clearly waiting for him.
"So Trudy said you dropped by today," Norm started as he tucked his 'chair in close and poked at the pseudofood with a fork.
"Yup," Jake nodded. "Had some flying practice so I figured I might as well say Hi and stuff."
"I would've liked to see that," Norm grinned, "I'm still stunned the ikran didn't just eat you instead of letting you ride it."
"Him," Jake corrected, "and what can I say, I've got this winning personality, everybody loves me." He fluttered his eyelashes at Norm, who just rolled his eyes. "You wanna tell me the favour now, or did you wanna flirt some more first?"
"Favour?" Norm blinked at him.
"Well it's obvious you were leading up to something," Jake pointed out, "and I highly doubt you're suddenly bored with girls and macking after me for some kinda sordid homo thing, so I figured you must want a favour."
Norm had unfortunately just lifted his glass of water to his mouth and taken a sip as Jake spoke, and he spluttered and coughed out the water he'd accidentally inhaled, and had to take a moment to get his powers of speech back. "It's not so much a favour as a suggestion," he said finally. "I was thinking... Trudy'd really love to see Hometree, and maybe you could ask if she could come for your hunter induction ceremony as a guest."
"You think she'd want to?" Jake looked surprised. "I could ask I guess. Worst that could happen is they say no. It'd be cool to have her there, I mean, of all you guys here she's the one that really knows what it's like to fly, you know?" He nodded slowly to himself. "Yeah, I think I'd really like to have her there. Well, both of you, but you know you were already invited, right?"
"Thanks," Norm flushed slightly, "I'd hoped I could come but I know I'm not...as close with the Omatikaya as you are."
"Sorry," Jake said, "I know you'd planned to be the one who got relations going again, and I kinda kicked that plan all to hell on you without even meaning to."
"Naw," Norm shrugged, smiling, "it wasn't your fault. Frankly, if it'd been me with the thanator chasing me I would've just been dead, rather than lost and then found by Neytiri. You really were the right man. For that job, anyway."
That made Jake laugh. "Alright. First thing tomorrow morning I'll go talk to Mo'at and find out if Trudy can come hang with us for the party."
"Thanks," Norm grinned, "now you'd better eat then do your log or Grace'll wake you up when she unlinks and make you do it then."
"Right," Jake took a forkful of goop and shoveled it in, swallowing quickly so he didn't have to really taste it.
Somewhere around the middle of the night, Louise drifted awake to the awareness of movement around her as Taka slipped into her bunk beside her.
"Thank you," he whispered, "for helping with the babies." He smoothed her hair out of the way and placed a light kiss just below her ear.
"I didn't mind," she chuckled as she rolled over to look at him, "like I told you, they're my babies too, they even said so."
"Still, they did interrupt something," he stroked her back.
"Did they?" she yawned, "I hadn't noticed."
"No?" His fingers tickled against the small of her back as he slowly drew her nightgown up, and then his hand smoothed over her now-bare backside. "I think you might not be being entirely truthful, koi."
"What would make you think that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. It wasn't an easy task, though, not with the way his hand was moving.
"Oh, I just have this strange suspicion," he shrugged and let his fingers dip between her legs.
She bit her lip to keep from moaning. "Taka," she whispered, "the others are just on the next room over."
"Well then we'll just have to do this like any new parents," he laughed lightly, "really quietly in the moments we can steal."
That made her laugh as well. "I'm still not quite sure how we ended up as parents to three deadly predators," she said.
"Enough talking," he shook his head, leaning in to kiss her and then rolling them carefully so she was on her back
Louise felt her heart start to race as she returned his kiss with a low groan, staying as quiet as she possibly could.
"You deserve better than having to hide this," he sighed as he trailed kisses over her neck and collarbones.
"Yeah well blame the company," she said ruefully, "not my policy we're flying in the face of here."
"Shh..." he kissed her on the lips, "the only people in this bed are you and me, no RDA allowed."
"You got it," she smiled brightly up at him, even though she knew he wouldn't really be able to see her expression, given that the only illumination in the room came from the window at the far end that was lit by the faintly glowing bioluminescence of the forest outside.
As he continued to kiss her, he gently rearranged her legs so that her knees were bent and her hips cradled his own. It was only then that she realized there were no boxers getting in the way between them. He must have stripped before even getting into bed, and she'd been so hazy from sleep she hadn't even noticed. "Are you ready to be rewarded for placing your trust in me?" he breathed against her ear, making her shiver.
"I am so ready," she whimpered softly, "Please, Taka."
"And you realize this is not just for fun," he pointed out as she felt him ease into position, although he didn't push forward yet, "I am doing this because I treasure what is in our pasts, what we share now, and what we can build together in the future, not just as a mindless release."
"If I wanted a mindless release," she giggled quietly, "I wouldn't bother with a man, I'd be digging out my joystick. I appreciate that I'm not just yours, that I mean more to you than just...release."
"So much more," he agreed as he sank into her with a groan, "so very much more you have no idea, koi."
As she rode the waves of escalating pleasure they were creating between them, Louise felt something she hadn't felt since her first fumbling explorations with a boy when she'd been fifteen...love. They weren't just obeying biological imperative here and having sex, they were making love, and she realized now that the difference was...immense.
Curled up in her nivi high in the branches of the Kelutral of the Anurai clan, a young woman was sleeping peacefully. Her dreams were the calm, uneventful dreams of any unmated female, and there was a soft smile on her face...until an atokirina floated over to her, landing delicately on the tip of her ear and pulsing faintly.
The young woman frowned as her dream shifted, becoming strange and unfamiliar.
She was walking through the forest, but it was a changed place, the air filled with a lingering scent of smoke and the ground covered in a thick blanket of ashes. She looked down at her hands and realized she was carrying a pottery vessel. It was badly cracked, and from those cracks a sort of luminous silvery smoke was leaking, spilling over her fingers and clinging to them. It seemed almost liquid except that it had no substance, and as it fell toward the ground it simply disappeared.
She made as though to dash the cracked vessel against a nearby burned-out tree limb - after all, a piece so badly damaged was of no use to anyone, and would be better off being re-purposed into mosaic tiles or beads, but as she looked at it she realized that to shatter such a beautifully made piece would be a sadness far greater than any she had felt in her life. The sides, where they were not marred by the cracks, were as smooth as volcanic glass, and the glaze was all done in rare colours the Anurai almost never used due to the difficulty of working with and obtaining them. They had to be traded for, as the minerals which produced them were not found in Anurai territory, and those clans who did possess them had to go to great lengths to find and secure them, so their price in trade was high.
The mottled coppery-vermilion shade of the vessel was highly glossed, so much so that she could almost see herself reflected within, her face distorted by the convex curve of it, and she felt tears trickling down her cheeks. It was heart-breaking! A vessel so well-made should NEVER have been allowed to be damaged like this! If she found the one responsible, she was going to take her clay-knife and sink it deep within their heart for so disrespecting the work of a master of her craft! Perhaps even with such cracks, though, the vessel could still serve some decorative purpose, or maybe it could be used as a teaching tool, to show the young apprentices what true craftsmanship looked like.
She ran her thumbs regretfully over the cracks, and was stunned to realize that everywhere she caressed, the cracks began to seal over as though they were never there. The glaze showed where the smoke/water/substance had touched it, but the silvery whorls only added to the beauty of the vessel, and when every tiny hairline fracture was erased, the woman cradled the vessel close against her bosom, an incredible sense of both relief and responsibility washing over her. She would treasure this vessel, using it with care and ensuring it was never abused as it so clearly had been before.
"Srane," a voice spoke upon the wind, stirring the ashes to reveal a badly damaged but still living bough of utral aymokriyä. "I See you, heart-sister," the voice said, "and I entrust him to you. You will know when the time is right what to do. Your heart already waits for him, as his waits for you without knowing, but...his healing will take time."
The woman felt the vessel pressed against her chest begin to flow and change, and when she held it out to see what was happening it wasn't pottery at all, but a beating heart. She almost dropped it in shock, but when she blinked momentarily it shifted again and there was a man standing before her, tall and proud. She did not know him, but when he took her in his arms that didn't seem to matter. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him in turn, feeling, for the first time in her life, that there was some purpose for her beyond the everyday. She drew in the scent of the man, committing it to memory, so that if she ever met him again she would know him. He never spoke, never made a sound, but she felt him tuck her head under his chin and nuzzle against her, and her heart almost broke for the second time as the dream began to fade, turning to insubstantial wisps of smoke around her.
She whimpered and rolled over as the atokirina left, floating away on the breeze back to wherever it was meant to go. Her eyes opened in time to catch it leaving, although, hazy from sleep, it didn't occur to her what had happened until she closed her eyes again to try to recapture the dream and the man who had been in it. She found that she couldn't remember his features at all, or any detail about him except to say that he had been tall, and his arms had been strong. She had no memory of his face, but she desperately wanted to remember. She knew it was important, somehow. In the morning, she decided, she would have to speak to the Tsahìk. There had been something different about that dream, something that stank of things only a Tsahìk-trained should know, and she might be many things, but she was not that.
As she slipped again into sleep, she realized there was one thing about the man that was still clear. His scent. She breathed deep and it seemed to surround her again, as though he was her nivi, his arms encircling her and urging her to sleep. Slowly she drifted away again, back to her usual calm, uneventful dreams, but the scent still tingled at the edges of her awareness, and it was...right.
Whew! An intense chapter, that one! But never fear, next chapter we have a bit of a party coming up (although with big stress for poor Tom. He'll survive though, even though he might think his head will explode from the nervousness of singing in front of everybody)
Anyway, you aren't here for me to pontificate at you, you're reading this far because you want the vocab!
so here it is:
Vocab:
Na'vi:
iknimaya - "stairway to heaven", rite of passage to become a hunter
ikran - "walks the heavens", big lizard/bird the Na'vi ride
uniltaron - "dream hunt", rite of passage of adulthood
yerik - hexapede, the Na'vi deer
uniltìranyu - "dreamwalker", avatar
Ìnglisi - English language
Ngailìke - This one I made myself, obeying Na'vi conventions, it's Irish Gaelic or, more properly "an Gaeilge"
nivi - hammock
Kelutral - Hometree
atokirina - Eywa's little messengers ^_~
srane - yes
utral aymokriyä - Tree of Voices, where the Na'vi go to speak to their ancestors and pray directly to Eywa
Tsahìk - spiritual leader, priestess, interpreter of the will of Eywa
Japanese:
bakemon-chan - an affectionate pet name, literally means something close to "my little monster"
bakemono - monster/spirit/ghost
koi - love