Brotherhood Chapter 36
XD I'm putting up only one of these a day, I don't wish to be blamed for the loss of an ENTIRE day's work, after all ;)
Plugging right along, this is the last of the "pre-battle" chapters, really. Sure, the next chapter doesn't start the battle itself at the beginning of the chapter, but things are taking to the air by the end, and the battle itself will run through to chapter 40. I tell you all this to give you fair warning of how many chapters of insane, edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger type stuff you're going to have to put up with. Not that we don't already pretty much know how the battle will go but there WILL be some changes to certain events, so keep your eyes open.
In the meantime, enjoy! Oh, and there's a tiny shout-out to an amazing fellow hidden within these words, he'll know it when he sees it ^_~
Brotherhood Chapter 36: Setting the Stage
In the ikran roosts around the bowl of the valley of the Tree, the two ikran, the blue/green mottled male and the green-blue female the colour of precious stones, sat close together, preening, sunning themselves, and just generally relaxing. Or so it would have seemed to an outsider watching them. Anyone familiar with ikran habits and moods, however, would have quickly corrected the watcher. They weren't relaxed, they were...
"Bored," the male complained. "Leftbehind so boring. Sunning boring, preening boring. Veryveryveryverybored."
"Yourpartner fault," the female kreeled at him, "yourpartner fault mypartner notfly with me, youfix."
It was the second lightanddark cycle since their partners had flown off on the back of the bigredone, and neither one of them was in anything resembling a good mood. Ikran were meant to fly, not to sit around doing nothing for long stretches of time. Suddenly the male raised his head.
"Wewillfly," he said, "we race, youandme!" And without any further warning than that he took to the sky.
The female screeched her objection to the lack of warning, but she was very quickly aloft as well and winging after him as fast as she could. Just because their partners weren't there, it didn't mean they couldn't fly, after all!
After her "talk" with Grace, Mo'at had gone in search of Trrudi, and it hadn't taken her all that long to find the tawtute woman. She had been reluctant at first to talk about her history, but Mo'at had promised to listen without judging until she was finished, and that seemed to reassure her. Norrmspellman, the sometimes awkwardly formal uniltìranyu who was her yawnetu had offered to help with translation of confusing words, but, surprisingly, Trrudi had shaken her head, sending him away. She wanted to stand on her own two feet, she said, and if anything got really confusing they could always call him back. He had seemed a little hurt at first, but then had knelt down to look her in the eyes and seemed to have seen something that reassured him, because he smiled, stroked her shoulder, and stood again to walk off in the other direction, picking up a book Mo'at had often seen him using to make images and sitting down once he was out of earshot.
That had been some length of time past, and now here Mo'at sat, nodding thoughtfully to herself as she listened to the kunsìp makto - the pilot, to give her the proper title of her kind - explain about the people of her birth and the differences and history between many of the clans of sawtute back on their home. It was truly remarkable. Always when they learned a little more about these strange people from the skies, many more questions were conceived than were answered. It was reassuring to know, though, that they were not incapable of loving their home - their mother - just that so many had been raised away from her that they had forgotten how.
"So, anyway," Trrudi was saying, "when I came here, and even after I'd arrived, I'd had to hide the truth of who and what I was for so long that I had almost forgotten most of the lessons of my father. So much so that even after I'd started to remember the truth of what my father had wished for me I almost did something...unforgivable..."
Mo'at watched the tawtute woman's gaze fall to her hands, examining them almost as though she wasn't quite sure they were a part of herself. She clenched them into fists and looked up again.
"In the end, though, I came to my senses and pretended there was a problem with my baby - er, that's what I call my kunsìp," she explained quickly, "and returned to Hell's Gate without firing. When I found out they'd locked up Norm and the others it was just the final straw. I mean, it was the last thing that made me change my mind for good," she clarified, "I had to get them out of there. And so here I am, a deserter and damn proud of it."
Mo'at smiled at her, and couldn't quite resist the urge to pat the woman's head as though she were the child of the People she resembled. "It is good you have come to See yourself again," she said, "your story gives me much to think on, but I do not believe you are a threat to any of the People. You may wish, though, to speak with a few of the tsampongu leaders when they return. It is best if fellow warriors trust and understand each other, after all, and although all will do as Jhake - as Toruk Makto - tells them, it is difficult to trust simply because you are told you must. Trust can be gained much easier through understanding the other." She shook her head, "which also makes me remember there is another who must be shown to the People as worthy of trust, or rather, three young ones. I had better show they are safe before any of the People find them and misunderstand."
"Right, the thanator - um, palulukan cubs. The kids told me about them on the ride in here," Trrudi nodded, "you go ahead, I'll be fine here. I guess I have a lot to think about, coming up with how best to tell my story to the warriors."
"You will, I'm sure, have the support of your new clan, the ayuniltìranyu," Mo'at encouraged her.
Trrudi smiled and nodded. "I'm sure," she agreed, looking over to where her yawnetu was still sitting making pictures. Mo'at decided that she was well enough in her mind to be left on her own (delving into sad memories could, after all, be difficult on a person, whether they were of the Omatikaya, the...Maya, as Trrudi had named herself, or even the sawtute, and Mo'at would not want to abandon one who needed her council. That was her duty as Tsahìk, after all.
She gently brushed the top of Norrm's shoulder as she passed by to catch his attention, then gestured back over to Trrudi with her chin, not saying a word, but letting her actions speak for her. The oddly formal uniltìranyu showed his intelligence as he nodded silently to her in return, tucked his book under his arm and strode of casually back in the direction of his yawnetu. She would be just fine in his care, Mo'at knew.
As for her own destination, Mo'at headed for the strange metal building where the uniltìranyu hid their small bodies. That was, after all, where she knew Taka and his children had gone to keep themselves away from the hustle and bustle of the Omatikaya and the Na'vi of other clans who had begun to arrive.
When she got to the clearing where the metal building was, Mo'at was amused to find that the three children were lying in a pile just below the stairs, and neither Taka nor Louise was anywhere in sight. Although the pxefalulukan seemed to be sleeping, it didn't take long for one set of quills to be raised, followed by a drowsy-looking head. She couldn't be sure which of the children it was who had noticed her, but that one quickly nudged the other two, and they untangled themselves from their sleeping puddle of dark bodies and stretched languidly before trotting over to her and kneeling. It had been some weeks since she had last seen them, and they had grown quite a bit in that time, but they were clearly still the adorable little cubs they had been, at least in their attitudes.
«It is good to see Grandmother again. Sano hopes Grandmother happy,» the male cub purred as she linked to him, «Daddy is busy, and Mommy is busy, and Uncle Carlos is sleeping his empty sleep, does Grandmother want to play?»
"I cannot play right now," Mo'at shook her head gently, "but I was hoping to introduce you to the rest of the clan, so that they will not fear you."
«You can make others not make fearsmell to us?» he asked, «That is good, fearsmell is not that good a thing. Makes everyone feel notgood until it is fixed.»
"Truly," Mo'at agreed. "Come, I will show you to the clan now, and show them that they do not need to fear."
«Okay,» Sano leaned affectionately against her, «Mommy and Daddy will not miss us if we are back before darktime. Daddy said it would be darktime before they came back from their privacytime.»
Mo'at had to smile at that. "Then we should go now and be back before they worry."
Keeping her link with Sano, and with the two girls flanking them, Mo'at quickly walked down into the bowl of ayVitraya Ramunong, taking up a position on the raised dais below the tree. She didn't even have to raise her voice to get the People's attention. Just the simple action of standing there flanked by three palulukan cubs was more than enough to have every eye turning her way, and not a few cries of shock and fear.
"You do not need to fear for me," she reassured them quickly, "These pxefalulukan are the adopted children of Taka and Luuisì. As you can see they pose no threat. They are still young, but they have already helped save seven of our people who were trapped beneath our fallen Kelutral. They are treasured friends of the Omatikaya, and I hope you will all realize there is no need to fear them."
The fear sounds were already beginning to fade, changing to intrigued murmurings, and Mo'at was pleased. She knew at least a few of the People had met these children already, and that was probably helping as well.
«I see/smell Kenet-cousinbrother! We can go play?» Sano asked, wriggling with excitement.
"I will take you to him," Mo'at nodded. She led them down from the raised area and let Sano lead her toward the child they apparently knew. They led her right to a young boy, the son of one of the midwives, she remembered. "Do not play too late," she reminded them, "you do not want to worry your father."
It was evening by the time Jake and Neytiri arrived at their last stop before returning to Vitrautral, and the light was quickly fading from the sky. He brought his toruk in for a landing through an opening in the trees where a river carved its way next to the hometree, and felt Neytiri's arms tighten around his waist just before they touched the ground. Goddamn she smelled amazing, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to just spend the rest of the night wrapped around her, taking every second to make her feel incredible, but he knew he had to push it down - the urge, that was - and concentrate on just doing what he had to do. When this was all finished, though...
"This timing really sucks," he muttered under his breath. Before he could do what he truly wanted to, he hopped down from the back of his mount and strode quickly into the treed area away from the riverbank, walking with purpose toward the home of this clan. Neytiri had told him the name of the clan but right now his brain was too fogged with hormones to remember what it was, although he did remember it had seemed familiar.
"What is it that troubles you?" she ran her hand over his shoulder as she moved up beside him.
He could feel the muscles under his skin shiver at her touch. "Nothing," he shook his head, "I just wish we had more time." He turned and smiled at her, "You smell incredible," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and burying his nose in her hair.
She let out one of those low purring moans that made his knees go weak, and he almost would have just said "friggit" and put off going in to talk to the clan for a few minutes (hours) but just then he heard someone nearby clear their throat to get his attention.
"I am surprised at you Tom," he heard a man's voice and the level of anger in it had even him paying attention, "I had thought her heart was safe with you, and yet here you are with another woman. I should drive a knife into your heart for her myself."
It took Jake a moment to collect his slightly scattered attention enough to realize how the young man he was now looking at had addressed him. "Not Tom," he grinned, "you got the wrong dreamwalker."
Neytiri elbowed him in the side and he realized he should have tried to say that in Na'vi, rather than English. He really was distracted!
"I am sorry for the misunderstanding, ma tsmukan," Neytiri said politely, "but my mate is not Tomsuuly. Rather, this is his twin brother, Jhakesuuly. Tom is still among the Omatikaya, having only just been rescued from being trapped beneath our fallen Kelutral with his new mate, Ninat."
"His..." The confusion on the other man's face was clear, and Jake couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him. Obviously there was some sort of history between him, Tom and Ninat, and he couldn't seem to decide whether the news that in fact Tom hadn't "changed his mind" and decided not to make Ninat his mate was good news (since then he had not hurt Ninat) or bad news (since now Ninat was forever off the available shelf). "I had heard of the fall of your Kelutral," he said finally, seeming to come back to himself and schooling his features into a proper sort of sympathetic look, "and there have been rumours also of a new Toruk Makto who rides the skies, drawing the clans together to drive away the sky people who have done such a horrible thing. Oh," he managed a wry smile, "I am Zolan, future High Singer of the Anurai people. I should welcome you to our home."
"It is good to see you again, Zolan," Neytiri nodded, "I remember you from the time you visited our people a few seasons ago. I hope you have been well."
"I have been," Zolan nodded, "but, tell me, what is it that brings you to us? Is it perhaps that the rumours are true, are the Omatikaya rallying the clans?"
Jake smiled over at Neytiri, who smiled back at him. "If you come to where we landed, you see," he said, making the effort to remember that the people here didn't speak any English at all.
"You are such a child" Neytiri sighed, and he could see she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "It is true we are rallying the clans," she said, "we have come to speak of the new Toruk Makto..." she was interrupted by the very animal making a loud kreel behind her, and Jake watched with an admitted flash of pride as Zolan's eyes went wide.
"You are..."
"I am," Jake nodded, dropping the humour of a moment ago.
"I will bring you to the Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk," Zolan said. He was visibly unsettled, and kept glancing back over his shoulder at the area where he had heard the toruk, but he pulled himself together admirably and led them into the inner circle of the Anurai Hometree.
Quaritch frowned as he tucked back a mug of almost glutinous coffee and stared at the orbital images on his computer screen. The numbers around the "Tree of Souls" area at the center of the flux vortex didn't seem to have changed substantially, but... He panned out, widening the view and then searched back over the past day, grabbing wideview orbital images every half hour or so. He swore. The evidence was unmistakable. The natives were massing; huge numbers heading in toward the central location, and they were moving fast. He was going to have to do something about this - something big - or he'd be overwhelmed in a week. He might have the technological advantage by like a million years or so, but technology was worth dick-all when you were outnumbered a hundred to one. He might be able to improve the odds a bit if he conscripted the miners, but even then, he was going to have to make some kind of massive preemptive strike if he didn't want to lose more assets than he was willing to part with.
"Damn Sully," he growled to himself as he opened a new window and started checking resources. This really was "kill or be killed", and he was going to use whatever he could get his hands on in order to keep his people safe and keep things running the way they were supposed to. He smiled as he read some of the figures on explosive compounds available on-base, then pressed the intercom button.
"Get me Kater," he snapped, "and tell him to be quick about it."
Jakob Kater, head of mine ops for the Hells Gate unobtanium mine, tried not to frown as he rubbed at the headache situated just behind and between his ears. "Stupid moffie," he muttered, "What I care what he wants to do with th'explosives. Won't be my problem soon'nuf."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. After all, getting worked up about shit like this only made him hurt more. Goddamned planet. He'd survived almost twenty years in the mines of his native South Africa, from superdeep gold mines always at risk of collapse to open-pit diamond mines, and he'd never gotten so much as a sniffle or a week off for silicon exposure - the RDA had insisted on rigorous health screening before putting him into cryo and they hadn't found anything to cause any problems, but after only ten years here he was dying, his body riddled with cancer.
Oh, he'd heard the rumours that lots of the men who returned from Pandora didn't live all that long after they made it back to Earth, but then, miners never expected to live long lives; he'd always figured they'd already burned up most of their lives in other mines before they got recruited, and spending ten years going across the galaxy and back, plus all the time spent working in yet another hellhole of a mine, had probably just made that problem worse. Within the first few years here, though, he'd started to see the truth. This mine wasn't like any other mine he'd ever worked in, and it wasn't because of the difference in atmospheric density or the difference in gravity - both of those pretty near cancelled each other out, in any case. The difference was that there was something in the soil here - perhaps it was the unobtanium itself, perhaps some other toxic compounds - that killed the men who worked with it. No matter what kind of protection they wore (and many didn't wear enough. It was goddamned hot and humid sometimes, even for someone raised in Africa) somehow the toxins got through. Less than half of the miners who arrived in each ship from Earth would ever return there, and that had little to do with the fact that some chose to stay for an extra rotation.
Jakob rubbed a weary hand over his eyes as he closed the door to his tiny room behind him. He was one of those men who had been greedy and chosen to work one more rotation before returning to Earth, after all, it wasn't as though he had a family to return to, so what did it matter an extra six years? Well, he knew what it mattered now. He had two more years on this rotation, and even with the care of the doctors he knew he'd never see the shuttle meant to bring him home. They'd given him six months to a year, and that had been five months ago. The tumors had grown to the point that even if he had wanted to break his contract and return early, he never would have survived being put into cryo. He'd come to accept that, though. He knew he was dying, and the only thing he really still cared about now was making sure his workers were taken care of, and that they didn't make his mistake. He wanted as many of them to live as possible; live, and make it back to Earth well enough to enjoy the fruits of their labours.
With a deep sigh he settled himself onto his bed, lying back in the closest thing to a comfortable position that his body could still manage, and closed his eyes, breathing slowing in through his nose until his breath filled his chest and then letting it out again. The meditation one of the doctors had taught him was better even than the pills for helping to manage his pain, and it had the lovely side effect that it brought a sense of peace with it as well. He wondered to himself, just before abandoning conscious thought, what might happen to his immortal soul when he died here, so far away from the land he was born. He vaguely pondered whether the Goddess of the Na'vi would be willing to trouble herself with giving peace to one who had scarred her flesh, or whether, instead, she was already punishing him for his transgressions.
He didn't know quite how to take it when, deep in the emptiness of his meditative trance, he heard a voice.
"Mawey, ma 'itan," it said, "all will be balanced again soon."
That night was another spent away from the clan for Neytiri and Jake. They had been offered a place to sleep by 'Anansi, the Anurai tsahìk, not only because of Jake's newly-exalted position, but also due to their fond remembrance of Tom's visit not that long before. They had finished their dinner, and been shown where their nivi was, and now they were sitting in a quiet alcove they'd found, just reveling in each other's company. It had been an interesting visit. Neytiri had lost track of the number of times she'd had to correct people that this was her Jhake, not his brother who had visited them before. At least they had been gracious about being constantly corrected, some of the potters even jokingly asking if his brother had sent along images of 'Rrta pottery he had promised them. Jhake, of course, made jokes about the situation, and made faces and was his generally jovial self, but Neytiri could tell the press of people was wearing on him, that he needed some quiet time alone, and so she had found this small space for them to...not hide precisely, but to rest together before they went to sleep and Jhake's spirit deserted her once more.
Now she was leaning back against the inner wall of the space, her back supported by wood rubbed smooth by the countless Anurai who had rested here before her, and Jhake was lying stretched out with his head on her lap, gazing up at her as she played with his hair. She tugged at the small, unruly braids and frowned. He still dressed his hair as a child, and yes, of course, she had not had time before to do anything about it, but she had time now, and he really ought to look more the fierce warrior he was.
"Ma Jhake," she said, her fingers tracing along the edge of one sensitive ear, "I think I should fix your hair for you to be the hair of tsamsiyu, of a warrior. I will braid it newly for you, but do you have any wish how it should look?"
"Hmm..." Jhake mumbled thoughtfully, "yeah, you know, a new look might be just the thing," he agreed, "Maybe something with the sides shaved. On Earth we would've called that a "Mohawk". For the old Native tribe who used to do their hair just like that. Well, that's how I heard it anyway. They were pretty awesome, really. No fear. I mean, literally they couldn't feel fear at all! Or anyway that's what I remember being told when I was a kid. They were kick-ass fierce, I wouldn't mind looking like that," he smiled up at her. "At least while there's a war to fight."
She smiled back down at him, closing her eyes briefly to try to imagine him with his hair in the narrow fashion, and she thought perhaps it might suit him well. "That is how I will fix it for you then," she said, "but I will need a sharp blade and oils, and I will have to go fetch those, so you will lose the resting place of your head for a little while."
"I'll survive somehow," he grinned, rolling off her lap and sitting up, "don't be gone too long though, I...need you close."
"I will be quick," she nodded, resisting the urge to lean over and kiss him as she stood, running her fingers along the strong planes of his chest instead. If she let herself bow to temptation and kiss him she would never leave the alcove, and his hair wouldn't get fixed that night, for sure! As it was they had already found quiet moments almost every chance they got. Jhake was...insatiable. Not that she minded. She rather liked the constant attention, actually. She knew she was wearing a little secret smile as she headed in the direction of the central fires, thinking there she might find someone willing to help her find what she needed.
And indeed it didn't take her long to find someone who could help her. She had barely made it into the range of the light of the fires when a young woman approached her.
"Is there something you were seeking, tsmuke?" the woman asked. Neytiri wracked her brain for a name - she was sure this was one whom she had met in the constant corrections earlier.
"My mate is in need of attention to his hair," she said with a smile, "and thus I am in need of a comb, a sharp blade and shaving oils. Do you know where I might find them?"
"Of course," The young woman - Marrya? Meniya? - took her hand and headed across to the far side of the fires, "Our weavers keep their hair-tending supplies here, they will not mind if we use them now, since most do not wish their hair fussed with after dinner."
"Yes, well, it has been a busy two days," Neytiri shook her head, "we must take time when it comes to us."
"I have no doubt of that," Me'lina, that was the girl's name, patted her arm, "I was not criticising. It may be good, also, to ensure he and Tom look a little more different. It will reduce confusion when the two are together."
"It will do that," Neytiri laughed.
The two women were chatting quite amiably by the time they arrived back at the alcove where Jhake was waiting, Neytiri having decided a little help in this project would not go amiss. Especially since the presence of the other woman would help keep her mind on what she ought to be doing, rather than getting distracted by the delicious prospect he presented halfway through and leaving him with hair only half-fixed. That wouldn't do at all!
They set down the beads (and some brightly-coloured bits of 'angtsìk crest Me'lina had assured her the clan's wavers would be only too glad to gift to so worthy a recipient as the new Toruk Makto) as well as the blade and the oil, armed themselves with a comb each, and got Jhake to move out and sit where they both had room to work on him. When they were done, he would look like a true warrior of the People. He would become a living banner that all would follow into a battle that would (she prayed) change the fate of the People forever.
The next morning, after spending another night curled up with Norm in her hammock (and why she hadn't thought of doing that sooner she had no idea. SO much better than sleeping alone in a tiny narrow bunk. Seriously.) Trudy checked on his bandages, fixed a few of them, and then headed out to see what was up. It wasn't long before Big Blue Norm caught up with her, and not long after that there was a big commotion as literally hundreds of ikran riders started to fly in. It was the Omatikaya warriors returning from their task of gathering the clans, but more than just the Omatikaya. Clearly Jake's message had managed to reach plenty of folks, because the skies were literally dark with banshees. Dark with banshees, and one much bigger birdie... Trudy raised an eyebrow as everyone moved out of the way at the first sound of the terrifying toruk.
"We should probably go welcome Jake home," Trudy tugged on Norm's hand, "c'mon."
"Are you sure you don't want to wait?" Norm hesitated, "I mean, he's sure to be mobbed with people, and not all of them know not to trip over you."
"Hmm, good point," Trudy frowned, "although I don't like the implication that I'm short." A sly smile spread across her face as she looked up at him, "In fact, I think it's very un-chivalrous of you to mention it, so you know what that means?"
Norm's ears drooped and his tail twitched nervously, both of which tells she quite enjoyed seeing. "What does it mean?" he asked, "and can I say sorry now for phrasing that wrong and avoid my punishment?"
"Too late," she grinned, "it means we are going down there, and you have to carry me on your shoulders so nobody will, as you put it, trip over me."
And thus it was that soon after Jake arrived, he looked over the crowd to see Trudy waving enthusiastically at him.
"Hey!" she said, grinning as he pushed his way toward them, "That's a new do, isn't it? Suits you, though. It looks like quite the party you've got going here, you really did invite everyone, didn't you?"
"Yup!" Jake grinned back, "and thank Neytiri for the hair, it was mostly her idea. Hey, speaking of inviting everyone, there's some folks you really ought to meet. You're gonna be flying with us, after all, so they need to know you and you need to know them. Not that you'd be likely to make a mistake and fire on any of the Na'vi, but they might unless they're told not to. Don't worry," he smiled a little more gently, "I won't make you show yourself off to every single warrior, just the head honchos. That way they can tell their own warriors about you, and everybody'll be good."
"We should probably put some kind of identifying marks or something onto her Sampson, too," Norm pointed out. She wondered if he realized his thumb was rubbing the inside of her right ankle, having worked its way under her pants. She wasn't going to comment or complain about it, though.
"Definitely," Jake agreed, then he turned and made a sharp whistle for attention. "War leaders to me," he said, "We need to start discussing strategy."
Having checked for probably the fifth or sixth time this morning on her patient (who was presently sleeping, thank Eywa for small miracles) Prrala went in search of the tawtute woman she had spoken to yesterday. Generally Prrala was a well-behaved young woman, stern when she needed to be, certainly, and she never let her patients cadge concessions out of her that would possibly endanger their full recovery, but she did have one (small) vice. Prrala was intensely curious. Usually her curiosity could be assuaged through her own thoughts - if she just thought about how something could be, she could often use logic to explain it - but sometimes her logic wasn't enough, and she had to ask questions. Such was the case this morning.
It didn't take long to find her - after all, it wasn't as if there were many tawtute women among them. In fact, Prrala thought it was likely Trrudi was the only one. When Prrala found her, she was climbing upon the back of her kunsìp, and she seemed to be doing some sort of fussing with its metal skin.
"Oel ngatì kameie, Trrudi," she gestured politely, "what is it you do?"
"Oh!" Trrudi turned to look at her and almost lost her footing, but showed dexterous skill almost as strong as that of a Na'vi as she managed to catch herself, using her hands to balance as she sat down cross-legged atop the metal beast, "damn, every single one of you walks like a frickin' cat! You startled me. You're...Prrala, right? Tseo'ong's healer friend?"
"Healer, yes," Prrala nodded, "I do not say friend, perhaps."
"Right, gotcha," Trrudi nodded, smiling and blinking one eye in what Prrala vaguely remembered from her school days to be some sort of tawtute gesture of insinuation. "So what can I do for you, Prrala? Need a lift somewhere to get special herbs or something? I gotta conserve fuel, but I could take you if it's really important."
"Lift..." Prrala frowned as she puzzled out the woman's words, "No," she finally said, "I do not need to fly, I merely am...curious. My mother said being always curious is my bad habit," she smiled a little to reassure the tawtute woman.
"Ah," Trrudi nodded, "well whatever you're curious about I'll try to answer if I can. I know how curiosity can make you itch to get the answer until you finally give in. I'm a fairly curious sort of girl myself sometimes, although I'd tried to train myself out of the habit, so ask away," she said, making a wide, expansive gesture with her arms, "seems like I'm in "explaining" mode today anyway, so you might as well take advantage while I'm available."
"You are kind," Prrala thanked her, "what my curiousness asks is... Is it usual among the sawtute or the uniltìranyu for a strong warrior woman such as yourself to choose the courting of a..." she searched for the word, but she couldn't remember it. It had been too long since she needed to use 'Ìnglìsì. "...of one as your yawnetu, Norrm. Among the Omatikaya it is usual that if a woman choose the warrior path she also choose a warrior for her maybe mates someday."
"Ah," Trrudi nodded, "Don't worry, I know what you mean. We get lots of surprised looks, not to mention Normy gets lots of congratulations from the other guys. Well, that or disbelief. Or they figure I'm just stringing him along," she frowned. "Er, I mean that I'm letting him think I've chosen him to amuse myself. It's not true," she quickly added, "I mean, yeah, he doesn't seem like my type, but you can't always judge a book by its cover, and I'm talking about me there, not Norm. He's pretty much what you see is what you get. Well, mostly anyway. I suspect there's hidden depths to him I haven't seen yet, but that's true of any person really. With me it's more..." She hesitated, then smiled again, "you know, I feel kinda weird sitting up here talking down, gimme a sec and I'll just hop down and sit in the cargo bed so we can see eye to eye.
Before Prrala had a moment to decipher what exactly all the words Trrudi had said meant, the tawtute woman was hopping adeptly down from the top of her kunsìp, using hand-holds to slow her descent, then hopping down to the ground, moving around to the side and hopping back up again into the open area of the back where Prrala had ridden as they left the site of the fallen Kelutral.
"There," she said, crossing her legs and leaning back comfortably against the inside wall, "now, I was explaining about Norm and me. I guess...well, it all started the first day I flew him out in his avatar...his, um, uniltìrantokx," she began, and Prrala settled herself down to listen to the story, "He was just so...enthusiastic. I mean, there was this kinda...almost innocence in his happiness, you know? Plus he's got that gangly look of a puppy that hasn't quite grown into his body yet."
"Puppy?" Prrala couldn't help but interrupt. She had been able to mostly follow the rest of Trrudi's explanation, but she had no idea what a "puppy" was.
"Hmm...Like a baby nantang I guess," Trrudi said thoughtfully, "All big feet and floppy ears and tail and kinda goofy but sweet?"
"Ah," Prrala nodded. She'd seen baby nantang once or twice, and she thought she could see what Trrudi was describing as it related to Norrm. The uniltìranyu certainly seemed to have a young, somewhat unfinished look to him at times.
"Yeah," Trrudi nodded, "so anyway, after that I saw him around a little bit, but the next time I really got to spend any time around him was when I took Grace and the boys up to the mountains. He was just so...adorable!" Trrudi's eyes shaded with memory and affection, and Prrala thought to herself that she almost wished she had someone who made her eyes turn so liquid with warmth. "He was really excited about getting to see the mountains, and he called shotgun...um, I guess you'd say he requested the seat next to mine, in the front, so he'd have the best view," she explained, "I warned him if he sat up front it meant he had to have a flying lesson, but he didn't mind that at all, in fact, he was really enthused, which only made me more inclined to like him. See, if you like my baby here," she patted the floor she was sitting on, "you're more'n alright in my books. So anyway, he was a real quick study, and...well maaaybe I kinda gave him a few...hints...that I might be willing to be closer to him in a more...physical way, if you know what I'm saying."
"Ah," Prrala nodded.
"And okay, maybe I wasn't meaning it to be anything more than just a little physical fun at first," Trrudi admitted, "but that didn't last long. I couldn't just... Something about him just wouldn't let me keep things from going deeper than I'd meant them to. I mean, I'm glad about it now," she said, glancing over to where Norrm's empty uniltìrantokx rested, the man himself having some sort of strange tawtute things he had to do inside their metal tent, she supposed, "but it took a little getting used to, the idea that I might actually have found someone I wanted to spend time with for sex and for getting into weird, crazy talks at all hours. Plus, he found out my secret," she added. "I'm...well, I guess you'd say I'm the daughter of the Olo'eyktan of a clan that's different from most of the other sawtute that come here - actually, the same type of people had my father killed, and I've been in hiding most of my life, not even telling anyone what my true clan was, and he's the first person ever to actually figure it out without needing to be told. Just came up to me one night and started talking to me in my childhood language. Shocked the hell out of me," she laughed, "and I almost didn't tell him he had it right but...well, I couldn't ignore those sappy eyes of his. Besides, he'd come to me first, he hadn't said anything to anyone else, so I knew I not only liked - no, loved him, I also knew I could trust him."
"It is...truly it is a story of true beloved ones," Prrala couldn't help but stare, although with a smile. "I did not know..."
"Well, I guess so," Trrudi shrugged, "but I'd appreciate if you kept it to yourself, hmm? I mean, the whole world doesn't need to know I'm a big sap, right?"
"It is not my story to tell," Prrala assured her, "and I should check on probably my patient again. It has been a bit of time we are talking and he maybe would misbehave again."
That made Trrudi laugh. "Right," she agreed, "you'd better check up on him and make sure he's behaving himself. Tell him hi from me, would you? And that I said he'd better listen to you or I'll stand over him and poke him every time he moves to make sure he stays still."
"I will speak to him of your greetings," Prrala smiled, "and your also warning. Eywa ngahu, Trrudi."
"Eywa ngahu," Trrudi waved, getting to her feet and hopping down again, only to climb back up where she had been when Prrala found her, back to fussing with whatever it was that needed fussing with on her kunsìp.
Truly, sawtute were odd, but, Prrala thought, perhaps in some ways not all that different from the People after all.
Ninat frowned to herself, beginning to feel a seed of concern sprout within her. True, everyone was spread out, and with the influx of warriors from all the other clans beginning, it was becoming more and more difficult to find individuals if you didn't already know where they were camping, but she should have been able to find one young singer by now. She wanted to thank Ama' again for sitting with her when she had been unwilling to leave the singers' alcove with Tom, and more than that she wanted to thank the girl for bringing the food and water that had kept her strong while she waited for Tom to wake and then for them to be rescued, but the girl was seemingly nowhere to be found. Ninat had wanted to track her down on her own, but it was getting to be late in the day, and she didn't want to go to sleep tonight without speaking to Ama' so she headed over to where her mother and father had set up their small encampment. If anyone knew where the singers and apprentice singers were it would be her father, after all.
Partway along her journey she encountered Tom, who had been helping his brother with something earlier and had left her to her hunt.
"No luck yet?" he asked, a concerned frown crossing his face.
"Nothing," she shook her head, "I go now to speak to Father and find out if he knows where she might be."
"I'll come with you," Tom said, taking her hand in his reassuringly. It didn't really help, though. It only made her worry worse. After all, if he was concerned also, then her worry couldn't be as baseless as she was hoping.
"Oel ngatì kameie, ma Sempul," she said as she found both her parents talking to one of the other older singers, "I am wondering if you know something."
"What is it, ma 'ite?" Kxawn'e asked, walking a little apart to speak to them privately.
"I have been looking much of the day for young Ama' who comforted me before the fall of Kelutral," she explained, "I wished to thank her."
"Ah," Kxawn'e sighed, shaking his head, "if you wish to speak to her you will have to go to the Tree of Souls, ma 'ite; Ama' did not escape Kelutral's fall. I am sorry."
"She...but I watched her dash away," Ninat protested, "I made her run to safety!" She felt Tom's arms come around her in comfort but she was only barely aware of him. "It is my fault," she moaned, "I should have sent her away when she first came to sit with me, I should never have let her stay!"
"It was Eywa's will," Kxawn'e shook his head, "Ama' will not blame you for what happened, and she would not want you to blame yourself either."
"Kehe," she shook her head, "it is my fault!" She blazed with a sudden flash of anger, although whether the anger was at her father for trying to reassure her or at herself for her own foolishness she couldn't quite tell. The anger quickly drained away, though, and all that was left was an empty, hollow sadness. She keened with the pain in her heart and swayed on her feet, and then she had been turned, her face pressed into Tom's shoulder, and he was stroking her hair.
"I'm sorry, love, I'm sorry," he said, gently rocking her as he lowered them to sit on the ground, "let it out, she wouldn't want you to be sad too long."
"I told her to be safe," Ninat whispered between sobs, "to keep herself safe for the man who would someday be hers. She...she had someone, there was a young man courting her though she would not give his name. What will I say to him when he learns her death was my fault."
"He won't blame you," she felt Tom shake his head, "he will put the blame where it belongs, on the crazed sawtute who brought Kelutral down...and so should you, love, so should you. Truly, only the sawtute are to blame in this."
Ninat closed her eyes and just shivered in his arms, her tears having run dry for the moment, at least. She knew they were not gone for good, however. For now her anger at all the sawtute had done kept them at bay, but she would likely dampen Tom's shoulder again before the night was out.
Sitting with Louise, Carlos and all the rest of the Avatars - even Jake - for his first real Omatikaya-hosted dinner, Taka couldn't stop looking around and taking in the scene, almost to the point where he was forgetting to eat. Thank goodness Louise was there to poke him in the side or shove teylu against his mouth until he opened it to let her push them in (and if he happened to suck on her fingers just a bit while she was doing it, well, it was all her own fault anyway for putting her fingers so close to his mouth in the first place) It was just so remarkable being in such a group. He was at once reminded of both the cafeteria back at Hell's Gate, and something far more primordial, more primeval. He almost thought he could understand the draw of becoming an anthropologist. Well, almost, he laughed to himself and shook his head at his whimsy.
The thing was, though, as he looked around, he didn't see natives to be studied, he saw people. People whose entire way of life was threatened, people who didn't deserve what had been done to them, and more than anything else, people who needed to be protected. The battle was coming, soon, although they still didn't know exactly when, and Taka had decided he was not going to be some kind of passive observer. He was going to do what he could, whatever it took, to keep these people safe.
When dinner was over, he caught Jake's attention and motioned him over to speak privately.
"What's up?" the ex-marine and current Toruk Makto asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Whatever happens in this battle that's coming, I'm going to help," Taka said, "Both Carlos and I brought the rifles we had for protection back at Site 12 when we started our rescue mission, and the chibi-tachi can be my better eyes and nose."
Jake sighed. "I shouldn't take you up on that, I mean, the cubs're still so young, they shouldn't have to see shit like what's probably gonna go down tomorrow, but..." he shook his head, "I can't turn down any offers either. How about this. I assign you to helping guard the perimeter of the bowl. The battle probably won't come to you, but at the same time, you'll be able to take out anyone who actually does make it in this far."
"I can live with that," Taka nodded, "I'm not eager to have to take a life, after all, or to be too far from my Louise, but needs must, as they say."
"Exactly," Jake nodded, "couldn't've put it better myself."
After dinner, while warriors and leaders planned strategy for the upcoming battle, Mo'at retired to a quiet corner. It had been an interesting day, and she wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but she knew there would be more "interesting" days to come. Grace had once told her there was a curse spoken by some sawtute for one to "live in interesting times", and she felt she could truly appreciate it now. Someday long after she had joined her mate and their older children in Eywa's embrace, songs would be sung about this time that would have everyone from the youngest child to the oldest of the elders leaning in to hear every word, even if they had heard them already a thousand times before. She suddenly felt as though she could sympathise with those who had known the men who had become Toruk Makto before. Certainly their lives had been interesting as well.
She heard her daughter's soft footstep nearby, and she smiled as she looked up and caught Neytiri's eye.
"Come, sit, ma 'ite," she said, patting the space next to her, "I have not seen you for two days now. You are looking well; it would seem mated life agrees with you." In fact, Neytiri was quite literally glowing with happiness, and it eased the pain in her heart just a little to see her daughter so much at ease with herself and the world in a way she had not been since Sylwanin's death.
"It...does indeed, ma Sa'nok," Neytiri's sanhì flushed brightly, "but I wonder...is it usual for a male to...mmm...to wish to take private time together so often? I do not mind it," she quickly added, "it just seems to me I do not remember others disappearing for privacy with their mates so many times in one day as Jhake seems to desire. Not that I'm complaining!" she added again, and Mo'at had to laugh.
"I did not think you were, ma 'ite," she said, "You have the look of a well-satisfied woman about you. But how often is "often"? After all, for some, once in every day would seem excessive."
"Once in a day? Oh, no," Neytiri shook her head, "these past days it has been more likely to be four or five times in the day, and again before we sleep at night. Not that it troubles me I just..."
"Wonder if it's normal," Mo'at laughed again, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There are things I had not spoken of to you yet," she said, "things which I would have warned you about before your mating, had I had the chance. Tell me, does he comment on your scent particularly during these...frequent private moments?"
"My...scent? I suppose," Neytiri frowned thoughtfully, "I had not thought anything of it. After all, Jhake has always commented that as one of the People his sense of smell is more acute than when he is tawtute. I have always thought this must make him more aware of scents and more overwhelmed by them."
"That may be so," Mo'at nodded, "but I think it more likely something else is at work here. When Eywa has chosen to bless a woman, she makes subtle changes to the woman's scent. Most are unaware of them, but the woman herself may notice a faint sweet scent about herself, and her mate will become extremely aware of the change in her scent, even if he does not know what it means."
"You mean, I..." Neytiri's eyes went wide.
"It is likely that you are to be blessed by Eywa soon, if your mates efforts have not already brought about that outcome," Mo'at nodded, and then she could not contain her smile, "Of course it is too early to know for certain, and Jhake may have simply been making up for the time the two of you lost when you were separated by the fall of Kelutral."
Neytiri shook her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep, careful breath. "Perhaps I smell sweetness," she said, "I...do not know if I am now simply imagining it since you told me what to look for. I think I need a walk to clear my head. Thank you, ma Sa'nok, for sharing your wisdom with me."
"There is always more to share," Mo'at embraced her baby daughter, then pushed her gently away, "now off for your walking and thinking, I will sit and think, and perhaps imagine what a grandchild might be like. I find myself hoping he or she takes after you, ma 'ite," she teased.
That made Neytiri throw her head back with gleeful laughter, and she squeezed Mo'at's hand as she stood. "You must tell me how you imagine my children might be," she said, "I love you dearly, ma Sa'nok."
"And I, you, ma 'ite," Mo'at whispered as Neytiri strode away, no doubt in search of her mate to share this most precious news.
With three of the other "Science Guerrillas" guarding the doors, Max opened the channel to Site 26's new location. Just the thought of what he'd seen, what the others had seen, was enough to make his stomach want to curl itself into a little tiny ball and eat itself in its own acids.
"Jake, it's crazy here," he hissed as the interior of the link-mod became visible on his monitor, "it's full mobilization; they're rigging the shuttle as a bomber! They've got huge pallets of mine explosives, it's for some kinda "shock and awe" campaign."
He heard Chacón mutter something about "daisy-cutters" and frowned. She'd obviously encountered these kind of tactics before, and none of the small group gathered around the screen on the other end of the connection seemed to be anything but grim at his news.
"Quaritch's taken over. He's rollin' and there's no stoppin' him." Max tried to convey the level of crazy the Security Chief had reached, but it was impossible to truly comprehend without seeing it yourself.
"When?" was all Jake asked, his military straightforwardness strangely reassuring.
"Oh-six-hundred tomorrow," Max said, then he heard Nala behind him.
"Max!" she warned. Someone must be coming, he was going to have to cut this short.
"I gotta go," he said, flicking the communications off immediately, leaving only the Solitaire game Bailey had programmed into the one-touch "employer privacy safeguard" program he'd set up on the computer.
Max turned around in the chair as casually as he could, putting a smile on his face. There was someone in military-looking duds coming through the door, and he didn't want to do anything to tip the fellow off.
"Were you looking for something?" Nala asked the man, "or did you take a wrong turn or something? I always get lost here even though I've been here for over three years now. It's all the sameness in the hallways," she shrugged, trying to distract him from anything he might have seen.
"No need ta fash yourselves on my account," the man smiled at them, "I'm something of on your side, really. Jaime Ricketts," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to Max, "Comm-ops, ex-Patricia, and firmly of the belief that Quaritch needs to get his head from out his arse and not keep digging us an even bigger hole than we're already in."
Max let out a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding and took the man's hand in his own. "Good to meet you, Jaime, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"Thought we might do a little mutual planning," Jaime grinned a wolfish sort of grin, "and figured even with my iffy shoulder you could do with a crack shot and a sniper on your side."
"Definitely," Max agreed, "Now, here's what we've figured so far..."
Her head still buzzing with everything her mother had explained, Neytiri went to find her mate. She knew he had been out of his uniltìrantokx earlier in order to speak with their allies back at the home of the sawtute but she thought he should be finished with that now. Certainly he was not where he had laid down to "un-link" as he called it. She bent over the empty bed of moss and peered at the ground, sorting out the mess of tracks to find his most recent ones. It looked as though he had headed toward Vitrautral, so that was where she went as well, all her senses alert for a sign of his presence.
When she saw him, he was just in the act of kneeling down, addressing the tree, and even though she knew she ought to give him his privacy, she moved a little closer, hoping to hear what it was he prayed for, this night before the battle they all knew would come tomorrow.
"Probably...just talking to a tree right now," he said, and she sighed, rolling her eyes a little. Every time she thought he had begun to truly See, she realized just how far from a true understanding of Eywa he really was, "but if you're there, I need to give you a heads-up." She watched as he linked his tswin to the frond as she, herself, had taught him just before their mating, and she smiled a little. Maybe there was hope for him after all.
"If Grace is with you look into our memories, see the world we come from," he continued, and she moved a little closer. He tried to keep that world hidden from her when they bonded, she knew he did. Not because he didn't want to share everything with her, but because he knew it disturbed and upset her, "There's no green there," he insisted, "they killed their Mother, and they're gonna do the same here!
"More Sky People're gonna come. They're gonna come like a...a rain that never ends," she heard as she crept ever closer, drawn by the need to be with him, to comfort him in his obvious distress, "unless we stop them.
She was standing directly behind him now, but he still wasn't aware of her, too deeply directed into his tsaheylu with the great tree. "Look, you chose me for something," he said with passion, "I will stand and fight, you know I will, but I need a little help here." He lowered his head then, breaking the bond, and she came over to comfort him, her own excitement of a few minutes ago almost forgotten.
She placed her hands on his shoulder, telling him without words that she would always be at his side, and she sighed as she raised him to his feet. "Our Great Mother does not take sides, Jhake," she reminded him, "she protects only the balance of life."
He directed his gaze up into the boughs of the tree, alive with light, atokirina' dancing within it, and then with a deep sigh he turned his eyes back to hers. "It was worth a try," he said.
She took his shoulders in her hands, wordlessly pulling him toward her until their foreheads and noses pressed together. Now would be the time to tell her news, and yet... She took a deep breath, almost opening her mouth to speak, but then she stopped herself. If he knew, if he even suspected she might be carrying their child, he would never allow her to fly into battle tomorrow, and she needed to be there, at his side. There would be few enough warriors as it was; many of those who travelled to Vitrautral to join the gathering of the clans were still some days' travel away. Every bow would be needed tomorrow, and she could not allow him to make himself conflicted any more than he already was about her flying at his side. She would tell him tomorrow, after everything was over and they had emerged victorious. He would be angry, she was sure, but he could not stay angry for long, not in the wake of such a miracle.
Well! Some familiar scenes from a slightly different perspective, and emotional stuff all over the map, yikes! Hope you all enjoyed the happy bits, at least.
As to what our dear Mr. Kater called Quaritch, I'm not going to translate it, but suffice it to say it's a mildly nasty word in Afrikaans, and I have the Alternate Dictionaries to thank for it. Such an awesome resource of...er...colourful language in other languages, I must say!
And now, onward to Vocab:
ikran - Banshee
tawtute / sawtute - sky person/people, human(s)
uniltìranyu / ayuniltìranyu - dream walker(s), avatar(s)
yawnetu - beloved one, boyfriend/girlfriend
kunsìp makto - my guess for "pilot" from "Gunship" and "rider"
tsampongu - war party
Toruk Makto - Legendary figure who calls the Na'vi together in a time of great sorrow
palulukan / pxefalulukan - thanator/ three thanators. The Na'vi have different prefixes for two, three and many (me, pxe and ay respectively)
Tsahìk - spiritual leader
ayVitraya Ramunong - Well of Souls
Kelutral - Hometree
Vitrautral - Tree of Souls
toruk - great leonopteryx
tsmukan - brother
Olo'eyktan - clan leader
nivi - sleeping hammock
'Rrta - Earth
tsamsiyu - warrior
tsmuke - sister
Oel ngatì kameie - I See you, standard Na'vi greeting
'Ìnglìsì - English
uniltìrantokx - dreamwalker body, avatar body
nantang - viperwolf
Eywa ngahu - Eywa be with you, equal to "goodbye"
Sempul - Father
teylu - edible beetle grubs, aparrently quite tasty, especially "Grandma's Teyly" ^_~
sanhì - stars or, in this case, bioluminescent freckles
'ite - daughter
Sa'nok - Mother
tswin - queue
tsaheylu - the bond
atokirina' - seeds of the sacred tree, messengers of Eywa
Plugging right along, this is the last of the "pre-battle" chapters, really. Sure, the next chapter doesn't start the battle itself at the beginning of the chapter, but things are taking to the air by the end, and the battle itself will run through to chapter 40. I tell you all this to give you fair warning of how many chapters of insane, edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger type stuff you're going to have to put up with. Not that we don't already pretty much know how the battle will go but there WILL be some changes to certain events, so keep your eyes open.
In the meantime, enjoy! Oh, and there's a tiny shout-out to an amazing fellow hidden within these words, he'll know it when he sees it ^_~
Brotherhood Chapter 36: Setting the Stage
In the ikran roosts around the bowl of the valley of the Tree, the two ikran, the blue/green mottled male and the green-blue female the colour of precious stones, sat close together, preening, sunning themselves, and just generally relaxing. Or so it would have seemed to an outsider watching them. Anyone familiar with ikran habits and moods, however, would have quickly corrected the watcher. They weren't relaxed, they were...
"Bored," the male complained. "Leftbehind so boring. Sunning boring, preening boring. Veryveryveryverybored."
"Yourpartner fault," the female kreeled at him, "yourpartner fault mypartner notfly with me, youfix."
It was the second lightanddark cycle since their partners had flown off on the back of the bigredone, and neither one of them was in anything resembling a good mood. Ikran were meant to fly, not to sit around doing nothing for long stretches of time. Suddenly the male raised his head.
"Wewillfly," he said, "we race, youandme!" And without any further warning than that he took to the sky.
The female screeched her objection to the lack of warning, but she was very quickly aloft as well and winging after him as fast as she could. Just because their partners weren't there, it didn't mean they couldn't fly, after all!
After her "talk" with Grace, Mo'at had gone in search of Trrudi, and it hadn't taken her all that long to find the tawtute woman. She had been reluctant at first to talk about her history, but Mo'at had promised to listen without judging until she was finished, and that seemed to reassure her. Norrmspellman, the sometimes awkwardly formal uniltìranyu who was her yawnetu had offered to help with translation of confusing words, but, surprisingly, Trrudi had shaken her head, sending him away. She wanted to stand on her own two feet, she said, and if anything got really confusing they could always call him back. He had seemed a little hurt at first, but then had knelt down to look her in the eyes and seemed to have seen something that reassured him, because he smiled, stroked her shoulder, and stood again to walk off in the other direction, picking up a book Mo'at had often seen him using to make images and sitting down once he was out of earshot.
That had been some length of time past, and now here Mo'at sat, nodding thoughtfully to herself as she listened to the kunsìp makto - the pilot, to give her the proper title of her kind - explain about the people of her birth and the differences and history between many of the clans of sawtute back on their home. It was truly remarkable. Always when they learned a little more about these strange people from the skies, many more questions were conceived than were answered. It was reassuring to know, though, that they were not incapable of loving their home - their mother - just that so many had been raised away from her that they had forgotten how.
"So, anyway," Trrudi was saying, "when I came here, and even after I'd arrived, I'd had to hide the truth of who and what I was for so long that I had almost forgotten most of the lessons of my father. So much so that even after I'd started to remember the truth of what my father had wished for me I almost did something...unforgivable..."
Mo'at watched the tawtute woman's gaze fall to her hands, examining them almost as though she wasn't quite sure they were a part of herself. She clenched them into fists and looked up again.
"In the end, though, I came to my senses and pretended there was a problem with my baby - er, that's what I call my kunsìp," she explained quickly, "and returned to Hell's Gate without firing. When I found out they'd locked up Norm and the others it was just the final straw. I mean, it was the last thing that made me change my mind for good," she clarified, "I had to get them out of there. And so here I am, a deserter and damn proud of it."
Mo'at smiled at her, and couldn't quite resist the urge to pat the woman's head as though she were the child of the People she resembled. "It is good you have come to See yourself again," she said, "your story gives me much to think on, but I do not believe you are a threat to any of the People. You may wish, though, to speak with a few of the tsampongu leaders when they return. It is best if fellow warriors trust and understand each other, after all, and although all will do as Jhake - as Toruk Makto - tells them, it is difficult to trust simply because you are told you must. Trust can be gained much easier through understanding the other." She shook her head, "which also makes me remember there is another who must be shown to the People as worthy of trust, or rather, three young ones. I had better show they are safe before any of the People find them and misunderstand."
"Right, the thanator - um, palulukan cubs. The kids told me about them on the ride in here," Trrudi nodded, "you go ahead, I'll be fine here. I guess I have a lot to think about, coming up with how best to tell my story to the warriors."
"You will, I'm sure, have the support of your new clan, the ayuniltìranyu," Mo'at encouraged her.
Trrudi smiled and nodded. "I'm sure," she agreed, looking over to where her yawnetu was still sitting making pictures. Mo'at decided that she was well enough in her mind to be left on her own (delving into sad memories could, after all, be difficult on a person, whether they were of the Omatikaya, the...Maya, as Trrudi had named herself, or even the sawtute, and Mo'at would not want to abandon one who needed her council. That was her duty as Tsahìk, after all.
She gently brushed the top of Norrm's shoulder as she passed by to catch his attention, then gestured back over to Trrudi with her chin, not saying a word, but letting her actions speak for her. The oddly formal uniltìranyu showed his intelligence as he nodded silently to her in return, tucked his book under his arm and strode of casually back in the direction of his yawnetu. She would be just fine in his care, Mo'at knew.
As for her own destination, Mo'at headed for the strange metal building where the uniltìranyu hid their small bodies. That was, after all, where she knew Taka and his children had gone to keep themselves away from the hustle and bustle of the Omatikaya and the Na'vi of other clans who had begun to arrive.
When she got to the clearing where the metal building was, Mo'at was amused to find that the three children were lying in a pile just below the stairs, and neither Taka nor Louise was anywhere in sight. Although the pxefalulukan seemed to be sleeping, it didn't take long for one set of quills to be raised, followed by a drowsy-looking head. She couldn't be sure which of the children it was who had noticed her, but that one quickly nudged the other two, and they untangled themselves from their sleeping puddle of dark bodies and stretched languidly before trotting over to her and kneeling. It had been some weeks since she had last seen them, and they had grown quite a bit in that time, but they were clearly still the adorable little cubs they had been, at least in their attitudes.
«It is good to see Grandmother again. Sano hopes Grandmother happy,» the male cub purred as she linked to him, «Daddy is busy, and Mommy is busy, and Uncle Carlos is sleeping his empty sleep, does Grandmother want to play?»
"I cannot play right now," Mo'at shook her head gently, "but I was hoping to introduce you to the rest of the clan, so that they will not fear you."
«You can make others not make fearsmell to us?» he asked, «That is good, fearsmell is not that good a thing. Makes everyone feel notgood until it is fixed.»
"Truly," Mo'at agreed. "Come, I will show you to the clan now, and show them that they do not need to fear."
«Okay,» Sano leaned affectionately against her, «Mommy and Daddy will not miss us if we are back before darktime. Daddy said it would be darktime before they came back from their privacytime.»
Mo'at had to smile at that. "Then we should go now and be back before they worry."
Keeping her link with Sano, and with the two girls flanking them, Mo'at quickly walked down into the bowl of ayVitraya Ramunong, taking up a position on the raised dais below the tree. She didn't even have to raise her voice to get the People's attention. Just the simple action of standing there flanked by three palulukan cubs was more than enough to have every eye turning her way, and not a few cries of shock and fear.
"You do not need to fear for me," she reassured them quickly, "These pxefalulukan are the adopted children of Taka and Luuisì. As you can see they pose no threat. They are still young, but they have already helped save seven of our people who were trapped beneath our fallen Kelutral. They are treasured friends of the Omatikaya, and I hope you will all realize there is no need to fear them."
The fear sounds were already beginning to fade, changing to intrigued murmurings, and Mo'at was pleased. She knew at least a few of the People had met these children already, and that was probably helping as well.
«I see/smell Kenet-cousinbrother! We can go play?» Sano asked, wriggling with excitement.
"I will take you to him," Mo'at nodded. She led them down from the raised area and let Sano lead her toward the child they apparently knew. They led her right to a young boy, the son of one of the midwives, she remembered. "Do not play too late," she reminded them, "you do not want to worry your father."
It was evening by the time Jake and Neytiri arrived at their last stop before returning to Vitrautral, and the light was quickly fading from the sky. He brought his toruk in for a landing through an opening in the trees where a river carved its way next to the hometree, and felt Neytiri's arms tighten around his waist just before they touched the ground. Goddamn she smelled amazing, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to just spend the rest of the night wrapped around her, taking every second to make her feel incredible, but he knew he had to push it down - the urge, that was - and concentrate on just doing what he had to do. When this was all finished, though...
"This timing really sucks," he muttered under his breath. Before he could do what he truly wanted to, he hopped down from the back of his mount and strode quickly into the treed area away from the riverbank, walking with purpose toward the home of this clan. Neytiri had told him the name of the clan but right now his brain was too fogged with hormones to remember what it was, although he did remember it had seemed familiar.
"What is it that troubles you?" she ran her hand over his shoulder as she moved up beside him.
He could feel the muscles under his skin shiver at her touch. "Nothing," he shook his head, "I just wish we had more time." He turned and smiled at her, "You smell incredible," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and burying his nose in her hair.
She let out one of those low purring moans that made his knees go weak, and he almost would have just said "friggit" and put off going in to talk to the clan for a few minutes (hours) but just then he heard someone nearby clear their throat to get his attention.
"I am surprised at you Tom," he heard a man's voice and the level of anger in it had even him paying attention, "I had thought her heart was safe with you, and yet here you are with another woman. I should drive a knife into your heart for her myself."
It took Jake a moment to collect his slightly scattered attention enough to realize how the young man he was now looking at had addressed him. "Not Tom," he grinned, "you got the wrong dreamwalker."
Neytiri elbowed him in the side and he realized he should have tried to say that in Na'vi, rather than English. He really was distracted!
"I am sorry for the misunderstanding, ma tsmukan," Neytiri said politely, "but my mate is not Tomsuuly. Rather, this is his twin brother, Jhakesuuly. Tom is still among the Omatikaya, having only just been rescued from being trapped beneath our fallen Kelutral with his new mate, Ninat."
"His..." The confusion on the other man's face was clear, and Jake couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him. Obviously there was some sort of history between him, Tom and Ninat, and he couldn't seem to decide whether the news that in fact Tom hadn't "changed his mind" and decided not to make Ninat his mate was good news (since then he had not hurt Ninat) or bad news (since now Ninat was forever off the available shelf). "I had heard of the fall of your Kelutral," he said finally, seeming to come back to himself and schooling his features into a proper sort of sympathetic look, "and there have been rumours also of a new Toruk Makto who rides the skies, drawing the clans together to drive away the sky people who have done such a horrible thing. Oh," he managed a wry smile, "I am Zolan, future High Singer of the Anurai people. I should welcome you to our home."
"It is good to see you again, Zolan," Neytiri nodded, "I remember you from the time you visited our people a few seasons ago. I hope you have been well."
"I have been," Zolan nodded, "but, tell me, what is it that brings you to us? Is it perhaps that the rumours are true, are the Omatikaya rallying the clans?"
Jake smiled over at Neytiri, who smiled back at him. "If you come to where we landed, you see," he said, making the effort to remember that the people here didn't speak any English at all.
"You are such a child" Neytiri sighed, and he could see she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "It is true we are rallying the clans," she said, "we have come to speak of the new Toruk Makto..." she was interrupted by the very animal making a loud kreel behind her, and Jake watched with an admitted flash of pride as Zolan's eyes went wide.
"You are..."
"I am," Jake nodded, dropping the humour of a moment ago.
"I will bring you to the Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk," Zolan said. He was visibly unsettled, and kept glancing back over his shoulder at the area where he had heard the toruk, but he pulled himself together admirably and led them into the inner circle of the Anurai Hometree.
Quaritch frowned as he tucked back a mug of almost glutinous coffee and stared at the orbital images on his computer screen. The numbers around the "Tree of Souls" area at the center of the flux vortex didn't seem to have changed substantially, but... He panned out, widening the view and then searched back over the past day, grabbing wideview orbital images every half hour or so. He swore. The evidence was unmistakable. The natives were massing; huge numbers heading in toward the central location, and they were moving fast. He was going to have to do something about this - something big - or he'd be overwhelmed in a week. He might have the technological advantage by like a million years or so, but technology was worth dick-all when you were outnumbered a hundred to one. He might be able to improve the odds a bit if he conscripted the miners, but even then, he was going to have to make some kind of massive preemptive strike if he didn't want to lose more assets than he was willing to part with.
"Damn Sully," he growled to himself as he opened a new window and started checking resources. This really was "kill or be killed", and he was going to use whatever he could get his hands on in order to keep his people safe and keep things running the way they were supposed to. He smiled as he read some of the figures on explosive compounds available on-base, then pressed the intercom button.
"Get me Kater," he snapped, "and tell him to be quick about it."
Jakob Kater, head of mine ops for the Hells Gate unobtanium mine, tried not to frown as he rubbed at the headache situated just behind and between his ears. "Stupid moffie," he muttered, "What I care what he wants to do with th'explosives. Won't be my problem soon'nuf."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. After all, getting worked up about shit like this only made him hurt more. Goddamned planet. He'd survived almost twenty years in the mines of his native South Africa, from superdeep gold mines always at risk of collapse to open-pit diamond mines, and he'd never gotten so much as a sniffle or a week off for silicon exposure - the RDA had insisted on rigorous health screening before putting him into cryo and they hadn't found anything to cause any problems, but after only ten years here he was dying, his body riddled with cancer.
Oh, he'd heard the rumours that lots of the men who returned from Pandora didn't live all that long after they made it back to Earth, but then, miners never expected to live long lives; he'd always figured they'd already burned up most of their lives in other mines before they got recruited, and spending ten years going across the galaxy and back, plus all the time spent working in yet another hellhole of a mine, had probably just made that problem worse. Within the first few years here, though, he'd started to see the truth. This mine wasn't like any other mine he'd ever worked in, and it wasn't because of the difference in atmospheric density or the difference in gravity - both of those pretty near cancelled each other out, in any case. The difference was that there was something in the soil here - perhaps it was the unobtanium itself, perhaps some other toxic compounds - that killed the men who worked with it. No matter what kind of protection they wore (and many didn't wear enough. It was goddamned hot and humid sometimes, even for someone raised in Africa) somehow the toxins got through. Less than half of the miners who arrived in each ship from Earth would ever return there, and that had little to do with the fact that some chose to stay for an extra rotation.
Jakob rubbed a weary hand over his eyes as he closed the door to his tiny room behind him. He was one of those men who had been greedy and chosen to work one more rotation before returning to Earth, after all, it wasn't as though he had a family to return to, so what did it matter an extra six years? Well, he knew what it mattered now. He had two more years on this rotation, and even with the care of the doctors he knew he'd never see the shuttle meant to bring him home. They'd given him six months to a year, and that had been five months ago. The tumors had grown to the point that even if he had wanted to break his contract and return early, he never would have survived being put into cryo. He'd come to accept that, though. He knew he was dying, and the only thing he really still cared about now was making sure his workers were taken care of, and that they didn't make his mistake. He wanted as many of them to live as possible; live, and make it back to Earth well enough to enjoy the fruits of their labours.
With a deep sigh he settled himself onto his bed, lying back in the closest thing to a comfortable position that his body could still manage, and closed his eyes, breathing slowing in through his nose until his breath filled his chest and then letting it out again. The meditation one of the doctors had taught him was better even than the pills for helping to manage his pain, and it had the lovely side effect that it brought a sense of peace with it as well. He wondered to himself, just before abandoning conscious thought, what might happen to his immortal soul when he died here, so far away from the land he was born. He vaguely pondered whether the Goddess of the Na'vi would be willing to trouble herself with giving peace to one who had scarred her flesh, or whether, instead, she was already punishing him for his transgressions.
He didn't know quite how to take it when, deep in the emptiness of his meditative trance, he heard a voice.
"Mawey, ma 'itan," it said, "all will be balanced again soon."
That night was another spent away from the clan for Neytiri and Jake. They had been offered a place to sleep by 'Anansi, the Anurai tsahìk, not only because of Jake's newly-exalted position, but also due to their fond remembrance of Tom's visit not that long before. They had finished their dinner, and been shown where their nivi was, and now they were sitting in a quiet alcove they'd found, just reveling in each other's company. It had been an interesting visit. Neytiri had lost track of the number of times she'd had to correct people that this was her Jhake, not his brother who had visited them before. At least they had been gracious about being constantly corrected, some of the potters even jokingly asking if his brother had sent along images of 'Rrta pottery he had promised them. Jhake, of course, made jokes about the situation, and made faces and was his generally jovial self, but Neytiri could tell the press of people was wearing on him, that he needed some quiet time alone, and so she had found this small space for them to...not hide precisely, but to rest together before they went to sleep and Jhake's spirit deserted her once more.
Now she was leaning back against the inner wall of the space, her back supported by wood rubbed smooth by the countless Anurai who had rested here before her, and Jhake was lying stretched out with his head on her lap, gazing up at her as she played with his hair. She tugged at the small, unruly braids and frowned. He still dressed his hair as a child, and yes, of course, she had not had time before to do anything about it, but she had time now, and he really ought to look more the fierce warrior he was.
"Ma Jhake," she said, her fingers tracing along the edge of one sensitive ear, "I think I should fix your hair for you to be the hair of tsamsiyu, of a warrior. I will braid it newly for you, but do you have any wish how it should look?"
"Hmm..." Jhake mumbled thoughtfully, "yeah, you know, a new look might be just the thing," he agreed, "Maybe something with the sides shaved. On Earth we would've called that a "Mohawk". For the old Native tribe who used to do their hair just like that. Well, that's how I heard it anyway. They were pretty awesome, really. No fear. I mean, literally they couldn't feel fear at all! Or anyway that's what I remember being told when I was a kid. They were kick-ass fierce, I wouldn't mind looking like that," he smiled up at her. "At least while there's a war to fight."
She smiled back down at him, closing her eyes briefly to try to imagine him with his hair in the narrow fashion, and she thought perhaps it might suit him well. "That is how I will fix it for you then," she said, "but I will need a sharp blade and oils, and I will have to go fetch those, so you will lose the resting place of your head for a little while."
"I'll survive somehow," he grinned, rolling off her lap and sitting up, "don't be gone too long though, I...need you close."
"I will be quick," she nodded, resisting the urge to lean over and kiss him as she stood, running her fingers along the strong planes of his chest instead. If she let herself bow to temptation and kiss him she would never leave the alcove, and his hair wouldn't get fixed that night, for sure! As it was they had already found quiet moments almost every chance they got. Jhake was...insatiable. Not that she minded. She rather liked the constant attention, actually. She knew she was wearing a little secret smile as she headed in the direction of the central fires, thinking there she might find someone willing to help her find what she needed.
And indeed it didn't take her long to find someone who could help her. She had barely made it into the range of the light of the fires when a young woman approached her.
"Is there something you were seeking, tsmuke?" the woman asked. Neytiri wracked her brain for a name - she was sure this was one whom she had met in the constant corrections earlier.
"My mate is in need of attention to his hair," she said with a smile, "and thus I am in need of a comb, a sharp blade and shaving oils. Do you know where I might find them?"
"Of course," The young woman - Marrya? Meniya? - took her hand and headed across to the far side of the fires, "Our weavers keep their hair-tending supplies here, they will not mind if we use them now, since most do not wish their hair fussed with after dinner."
"Yes, well, it has been a busy two days," Neytiri shook her head, "we must take time when it comes to us."
"I have no doubt of that," Me'lina, that was the girl's name, patted her arm, "I was not criticising. It may be good, also, to ensure he and Tom look a little more different. It will reduce confusion when the two are together."
"It will do that," Neytiri laughed.
The two women were chatting quite amiably by the time they arrived back at the alcove where Jhake was waiting, Neytiri having decided a little help in this project would not go amiss. Especially since the presence of the other woman would help keep her mind on what she ought to be doing, rather than getting distracted by the delicious prospect he presented halfway through and leaving him with hair only half-fixed. That wouldn't do at all!
They set down the beads (and some brightly-coloured bits of 'angtsìk crest Me'lina had assured her the clan's wavers would be only too glad to gift to so worthy a recipient as the new Toruk Makto) as well as the blade and the oil, armed themselves with a comb each, and got Jhake to move out and sit where they both had room to work on him. When they were done, he would look like a true warrior of the People. He would become a living banner that all would follow into a battle that would (she prayed) change the fate of the People forever.
The next morning, after spending another night curled up with Norm in her hammock (and why she hadn't thought of doing that sooner she had no idea. SO much better than sleeping alone in a tiny narrow bunk. Seriously.) Trudy checked on his bandages, fixed a few of them, and then headed out to see what was up. It wasn't long before Big Blue Norm caught up with her, and not long after that there was a big commotion as literally hundreds of ikran riders started to fly in. It was the Omatikaya warriors returning from their task of gathering the clans, but more than just the Omatikaya. Clearly Jake's message had managed to reach plenty of folks, because the skies were literally dark with banshees. Dark with banshees, and one much bigger birdie... Trudy raised an eyebrow as everyone moved out of the way at the first sound of the terrifying toruk.
"We should probably go welcome Jake home," Trudy tugged on Norm's hand, "c'mon."
"Are you sure you don't want to wait?" Norm hesitated, "I mean, he's sure to be mobbed with people, and not all of them know not to trip over you."
"Hmm, good point," Trudy frowned, "although I don't like the implication that I'm short." A sly smile spread across her face as she looked up at him, "In fact, I think it's very un-chivalrous of you to mention it, so you know what that means?"
Norm's ears drooped and his tail twitched nervously, both of which tells she quite enjoyed seeing. "What does it mean?" he asked, "and can I say sorry now for phrasing that wrong and avoid my punishment?"
"Too late," she grinned, "it means we are going down there, and you have to carry me on your shoulders so nobody will, as you put it, trip over me."
And thus it was that soon after Jake arrived, he looked over the crowd to see Trudy waving enthusiastically at him.
"Hey!" she said, grinning as he pushed his way toward them, "That's a new do, isn't it? Suits you, though. It looks like quite the party you've got going here, you really did invite everyone, didn't you?"
"Yup!" Jake grinned back, "and thank Neytiri for the hair, it was mostly her idea. Hey, speaking of inviting everyone, there's some folks you really ought to meet. You're gonna be flying with us, after all, so they need to know you and you need to know them. Not that you'd be likely to make a mistake and fire on any of the Na'vi, but they might unless they're told not to. Don't worry," he smiled a little more gently, "I won't make you show yourself off to every single warrior, just the head honchos. That way they can tell their own warriors about you, and everybody'll be good."
"We should probably put some kind of identifying marks or something onto her Sampson, too," Norm pointed out. She wondered if he realized his thumb was rubbing the inside of her right ankle, having worked its way under her pants. She wasn't going to comment or complain about it, though.
"Definitely," Jake agreed, then he turned and made a sharp whistle for attention. "War leaders to me," he said, "We need to start discussing strategy."
Having checked for probably the fifth or sixth time this morning on her patient (who was presently sleeping, thank Eywa for small miracles) Prrala went in search of the tawtute woman she had spoken to yesterday. Generally Prrala was a well-behaved young woman, stern when she needed to be, certainly, and she never let her patients cadge concessions out of her that would possibly endanger their full recovery, but she did have one (small) vice. Prrala was intensely curious. Usually her curiosity could be assuaged through her own thoughts - if she just thought about how something could be, she could often use logic to explain it - but sometimes her logic wasn't enough, and she had to ask questions. Such was the case this morning.
It didn't take long to find her - after all, it wasn't as if there were many tawtute women among them. In fact, Prrala thought it was likely Trrudi was the only one. When Prrala found her, she was climbing upon the back of her kunsìp, and she seemed to be doing some sort of fussing with its metal skin.
"Oel ngatì kameie, Trrudi," she gestured politely, "what is it you do?"
"Oh!" Trrudi turned to look at her and almost lost her footing, but showed dexterous skill almost as strong as that of a Na'vi as she managed to catch herself, using her hands to balance as she sat down cross-legged atop the metal beast, "damn, every single one of you walks like a frickin' cat! You startled me. You're...Prrala, right? Tseo'ong's healer friend?"
"Healer, yes," Prrala nodded, "I do not say friend, perhaps."
"Right, gotcha," Trrudi nodded, smiling and blinking one eye in what Prrala vaguely remembered from her school days to be some sort of tawtute gesture of insinuation. "So what can I do for you, Prrala? Need a lift somewhere to get special herbs or something? I gotta conserve fuel, but I could take you if it's really important."
"Lift..." Prrala frowned as she puzzled out the woman's words, "No," she finally said, "I do not need to fly, I merely am...curious. My mother said being always curious is my bad habit," she smiled a little to reassure the tawtute woman.
"Ah," Trrudi nodded, "well whatever you're curious about I'll try to answer if I can. I know how curiosity can make you itch to get the answer until you finally give in. I'm a fairly curious sort of girl myself sometimes, although I'd tried to train myself out of the habit, so ask away," she said, making a wide, expansive gesture with her arms, "seems like I'm in "explaining" mode today anyway, so you might as well take advantage while I'm available."
"You are kind," Prrala thanked her, "what my curiousness asks is... Is it usual among the sawtute or the uniltìranyu for a strong warrior woman such as yourself to choose the courting of a..." she searched for the word, but she couldn't remember it. It had been too long since she needed to use 'Ìnglìsì. "...of one as your yawnetu, Norrm. Among the Omatikaya it is usual that if a woman choose the warrior path she also choose a warrior for her maybe mates someday."
"Ah," Trrudi nodded, "Don't worry, I know what you mean. We get lots of surprised looks, not to mention Normy gets lots of congratulations from the other guys. Well, that or disbelief. Or they figure I'm just stringing him along," she frowned. "Er, I mean that I'm letting him think I've chosen him to amuse myself. It's not true," she quickly added, "I mean, yeah, he doesn't seem like my type, but you can't always judge a book by its cover, and I'm talking about me there, not Norm. He's pretty much what you see is what you get. Well, mostly anyway. I suspect there's hidden depths to him I haven't seen yet, but that's true of any person really. With me it's more..." She hesitated, then smiled again, "you know, I feel kinda weird sitting up here talking down, gimme a sec and I'll just hop down and sit in the cargo bed so we can see eye to eye.
Before Prrala had a moment to decipher what exactly all the words Trrudi had said meant, the tawtute woman was hopping adeptly down from the top of her kunsìp, using hand-holds to slow her descent, then hopping down to the ground, moving around to the side and hopping back up again into the open area of the back where Prrala had ridden as they left the site of the fallen Kelutral.
"There," she said, crossing her legs and leaning back comfortably against the inside wall, "now, I was explaining about Norm and me. I guess...well, it all started the first day I flew him out in his avatar...his, um, uniltìrantokx," she began, and Prrala settled herself down to listen to the story, "He was just so...enthusiastic. I mean, there was this kinda...almost innocence in his happiness, you know? Plus he's got that gangly look of a puppy that hasn't quite grown into his body yet."
"Puppy?" Prrala couldn't help but interrupt. She had been able to mostly follow the rest of Trrudi's explanation, but she had no idea what a "puppy" was.
"Hmm...Like a baby nantang I guess," Trrudi said thoughtfully, "All big feet and floppy ears and tail and kinda goofy but sweet?"
"Ah," Prrala nodded. She'd seen baby nantang once or twice, and she thought she could see what Trrudi was describing as it related to Norrm. The uniltìranyu certainly seemed to have a young, somewhat unfinished look to him at times.
"Yeah," Trrudi nodded, "so anyway, after that I saw him around a little bit, but the next time I really got to spend any time around him was when I took Grace and the boys up to the mountains. He was just so...adorable!" Trrudi's eyes shaded with memory and affection, and Prrala thought to herself that she almost wished she had someone who made her eyes turn so liquid with warmth. "He was really excited about getting to see the mountains, and he called shotgun...um, I guess you'd say he requested the seat next to mine, in the front, so he'd have the best view," she explained, "I warned him if he sat up front it meant he had to have a flying lesson, but he didn't mind that at all, in fact, he was really enthused, which only made me more inclined to like him. See, if you like my baby here," she patted the floor she was sitting on, "you're more'n alright in my books. So anyway, he was a real quick study, and...well maaaybe I kinda gave him a few...hints...that I might be willing to be closer to him in a more...physical way, if you know what I'm saying."
"Ah," Prrala nodded.
"And okay, maybe I wasn't meaning it to be anything more than just a little physical fun at first," Trrudi admitted, "but that didn't last long. I couldn't just... Something about him just wouldn't let me keep things from going deeper than I'd meant them to. I mean, I'm glad about it now," she said, glancing over to where Norrm's empty uniltìrantokx rested, the man himself having some sort of strange tawtute things he had to do inside their metal tent, she supposed, "but it took a little getting used to, the idea that I might actually have found someone I wanted to spend time with for sex and for getting into weird, crazy talks at all hours. Plus, he found out my secret," she added. "I'm...well, I guess you'd say I'm the daughter of the Olo'eyktan of a clan that's different from most of the other sawtute that come here - actually, the same type of people had my father killed, and I've been in hiding most of my life, not even telling anyone what my true clan was, and he's the first person ever to actually figure it out without needing to be told. Just came up to me one night and started talking to me in my childhood language. Shocked the hell out of me," she laughed, "and I almost didn't tell him he had it right but...well, I couldn't ignore those sappy eyes of his. Besides, he'd come to me first, he hadn't said anything to anyone else, so I knew I not only liked - no, loved him, I also knew I could trust him."
"It is...truly it is a story of true beloved ones," Prrala couldn't help but stare, although with a smile. "I did not know..."
"Well, I guess so," Trrudi shrugged, "but I'd appreciate if you kept it to yourself, hmm? I mean, the whole world doesn't need to know I'm a big sap, right?"
"It is not my story to tell," Prrala assured her, "and I should check on probably my patient again. It has been a bit of time we are talking and he maybe would misbehave again."
That made Trrudi laugh. "Right," she agreed, "you'd better check up on him and make sure he's behaving himself. Tell him hi from me, would you? And that I said he'd better listen to you or I'll stand over him and poke him every time he moves to make sure he stays still."
"I will speak to him of your greetings," Prrala smiled, "and your also warning. Eywa ngahu, Trrudi."
"Eywa ngahu," Trrudi waved, getting to her feet and hopping down again, only to climb back up where she had been when Prrala found her, back to fussing with whatever it was that needed fussing with on her kunsìp.
Truly, sawtute were odd, but, Prrala thought, perhaps in some ways not all that different from the People after all.
Ninat frowned to herself, beginning to feel a seed of concern sprout within her. True, everyone was spread out, and with the influx of warriors from all the other clans beginning, it was becoming more and more difficult to find individuals if you didn't already know where they were camping, but she should have been able to find one young singer by now. She wanted to thank Ama' again for sitting with her when she had been unwilling to leave the singers' alcove with Tom, and more than that she wanted to thank the girl for bringing the food and water that had kept her strong while she waited for Tom to wake and then for them to be rescued, but the girl was seemingly nowhere to be found. Ninat had wanted to track her down on her own, but it was getting to be late in the day, and she didn't want to go to sleep tonight without speaking to Ama' so she headed over to where her mother and father had set up their small encampment. If anyone knew where the singers and apprentice singers were it would be her father, after all.
Partway along her journey she encountered Tom, who had been helping his brother with something earlier and had left her to her hunt.
"No luck yet?" he asked, a concerned frown crossing his face.
"Nothing," she shook her head, "I go now to speak to Father and find out if he knows where she might be."
"I'll come with you," Tom said, taking her hand in his reassuringly. It didn't really help, though. It only made her worry worse. After all, if he was concerned also, then her worry couldn't be as baseless as she was hoping.
"Oel ngatì kameie, ma Sempul," she said as she found both her parents talking to one of the other older singers, "I am wondering if you know something."
"What is it, ma 'ite?" Kxawn'e asked, walking a little apart to speak to them privately.
"I have been looking much of the day for young Ama' who comforted me before the fall of Kelutral," she explained, "I wished to thank her."
"Ah," Kxawn'e sighed, shaking his head, "if you wish to speak to her you will have to go to the Tree of Souls, ma 'ite; Ama' did not escape Kelutral's fall. I am sorry."
"She...but I watched her dash away," Ninat protested, "I made her run to safety!" She felt Tom's arms come around her in comfort but she was only barely aware of him. "It is my fault," she moaned, "I should have sent her away when she first came to sit with me, I should never have let her stay!"
"It was Eywa's will," Kxawn'e shook his head, "Ama' will not blame you for what happened, and she would not want you to blame yourself either."
"Kehe," she shook her head, "it is my fault!" She blazed with a sudden flash of anger, although whether the anger was at her father for trying to reassure her or at herself for her own foolishness she couldn't quite tell. The anger quickly drained away, though, and all that was left was an empty, hollow sadness. She keened with the pain in her heart and swayed on her feet, and then she had been turned, her face pressed into Tom's shoulder, and he was stroking her hair.
"I'm sorry, love, I'm sorry," he said, gently rocking her as he lowered them to sit on the ground, "let it out, she wouldn't want you to be sad too long."
"I told her to be safe," Ninat whispered between sobs, "to keep herself safe for the man who would someday be hers. She...she had someone, there was a young man courting her though she would not give his name. What will I say to him when he learns her death was my fault."
"He won't blame you," she felt Tom shake his head, "he will put the blame where it belongs, on the crazed sawtute who brought Kelutral down...and so should you, love, so should you. Truly, only the sawtute are to blame in this."
Ninat closed her eyes and just shivered in his arms, her tears having run dry for the moment, at least. She knew they were not gone for good, however. For now her anger at all the sawtute had done kept them at bay, but she would likely dampen Tom's shoulder again before the night was out.
Sitting with Louise, Carlos and all the rest of the Avatars - even Jake - for his first real Omatikaya-hosted dinner, Taka couldn't stop looking around and taking in the scene, almost to the point where he was forgetting to eat. Thank goodness Louise was there to poke him in the side or shove teylu against his mouth until he opened it to let her push them in (and if he happened to suck on her fingers just a bit while she was doing it, well, it was all her own fault anyway for putting her fingers so close to his mouth in the first place) It was just so remarkable being in such a group. He was at once reminded of both the cafeteria back at Hell's Gate, and something far more primordial, more primeval. He almost thought he could understand the draw of becoming an anthropologist. Well, almost, he laughed to himself and shook his head at his whimsy.
The thing was, though, as he looked around, he didn't see natives to be studied, he saw people. People whose entire way of life was threatened, people who didn't deserve what had been done to them, and more than anything else, people who needed to be protected. The battle was coming, soon, although they still didn't know exactly when, and Taka had decided he was not going to be some kind of passive observer. He was going to do what he could, whatever it took, to keep these people safe.
When dinner was over, he caught Jake's attention and motioned him over to speak privately.
"What's up?" the ex-marine and current Toruk Makto asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Whatever happens in this battle that's coming, I'm going to help," Taka said, "Both Carlos and I brought the rifles we had for protection back at Site 12 when we started our rescue mission, and the chibi-tachi can be my better eyes and nose."
Jake sighed. "I shouldn't take you up on that, I mean, the cubs're still so young, they shouldn't have to see shit like what's probably gonna go down tomorrow, but..." he shook his head, "I can't turn down any offers either. How about this. I assign you to helping guard the perimeter of the bowl. The battle probably won't come to you, but at the same time, you'll be able to take out anyone who actually does make it in this far."
"I can live with that," Taka nodded, "I'm not eager to have to take a life, after all, or to be too far from my Louise, but needs must, as they say."
"Exactly," Jake nodded, "couldn't've put it better myself."
After dinner, while warriors and leaders planned strategy for the upcoming battle, Mo'at retired to a quiet corner. It had been an interesting day, and she wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but she knew there would be more "interesting" days to come. Grace had once told her there was a curse spoken by some sawtute for one to "live in interesting times", and she felt she could truly appreciate it now. Someday long after she had joined her mate and their older children in Eywa's embrace, songs would be sung about this time that would have everyone from the youngest child to the oldest of the elders leaning in to hear every word, even if they had heard them already a thousand times before. She suddenly felt as though she could sympathise with those who had known the men who had become Toruk Makto before. Certainly their lives had been interesting as well.
She heard her daughter's soft footstep nearby, and she smiled as she looked up and caught Neytiri's eye.
"Come, sit, ma 'ite," she said, patting the space next to her, "I have not seen you for two days now. You are looking well; it would seem mated life agrees with you." In fact, Neytiri was quite literally glowing with happiness, and it eased the pain in her heart just a little to see her daughter so much at ease with herself and the world in a way she had not been since Sylwanin's death.
"It...does indeed, ma Sa'nok," Neytiri's sanhì flushed brightly, "but I wonder...is it usual for a male to...mmm...to wish to take private time together so often? I do not mind it," she quickly added, "it just seems to me I do not remember others disappearing for privacy with their mates so many times in one day as Jhake seems to desire. Not that I'm complaining!" she added again, and Mo'at had to laugh.
"I did not think you were, ma 'ite," she said, "You have the look of a well-satisfied woman about you. But how often is "often"? After all, for some, once in every day would seem excessive."
"Once in a day? Oh, no," Neytiri shook her head, "these past days it has been more likely to be four or five times in the day, and again before we sleep at night. Not that it troubles me I just..."
"Wonder if it's normal," Mo'at laughed again, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There are things I had not spoken of to you yet," she said, "things which I would have warned you about before your mating, had I had the chance. Tell me, does he comment on your scent particularly during these...frequent private moments?"
"My...scent? I suppose," Neytiri frowned thoughtfully, "I had not thought anything of it. After all, Jhake has always commented that as one of the People his sense of smell is more acute than when he is tawtute. I have always thought this must make him more aware of scents and more overwhelmed by them."
"That may be so," Mo'at nodded, "but I think it more likely something else is at work here. When Eywa has chosen to bless a woman, she makes subtle changes to the woman's scent. Most are unaware of them, but the woman herself may notice a faint sweet scent about herself, and her mate will become extremely aware of the change in her scent, even if he does not know what it means."
"You mean, I..." Neytiri's eyes went wide.
"It is likely that you are to be blessed by Eywa soon, if your mates efforts have not already brought about that outcome," Mo'at nodded, and then she could not contain her smile, "Of course it is too early to know for certain, and Jhake may have simply been making up for the time the two of you lost when you were separated by the fall of Kelutral."
Neytiri shook her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep, careful breath. "Perhaps I smell sweetness," she said, "I...do not know if I am now simply imagining it since you told me what to look for. I think I need a walk to clear my head. Thank you, ma Sa'nok, for sharing your wisdom with me."
"There is always more to share," Mo'at embraced her baby daughter, then pushed her gently away, "now off for your walking and thinking, I will sit and think, and perhaps imagine what a grandchild might be like. I find myself hoping he or she takes after you, ma 'ite," she teased.
That made Neytiri throw her head back with gleeful laughter, and she squeezed Mo'at's hand as she stood. "You must tell me how you imagine my children might be," she said, "I love you dearly, ma Sa'nok."
"And I, you, ma 'ite," Mo'at whispered as Neytiri strode away, no doubt in search of her mate to share this most precious news.
With three of the other "Science Guerrillas" guarding the doors, Max opened the channel to Site 26's new location. Just the thought of what he'd seen, what the others had seen, was enough to make his stomach want to curl itself into a little tiny ball and eat itself in its own acids.
"Jake, it's crazy here," he hissed as the interior of the link-mod became visible on his monitor, "it's full mobilization; they're rigging the shuttle as a bomber! They've got huge pallets of mine explosives, it's for some kinda "shock and awe" campaign."
He heard Chacón mutter something about "daisy-cutters" and frowned. She'd obviously encountered these kind of tactics before, and none of the small group gathered around the screen on the other end of the connection seemed to be anything but grim at his news.
"Quaritch's taken over. He's rollin' and there's no stoppin' him." Max tried to convey the level of crazy the Security Chief had reached, but it was impossible to truly comprehend without seeing it yourself.
"When?" was all Jake asked, his military straightforwardness strangely reassuring.
"Oh-six-hundred tomorrow," Max said, then he heard Nala behind him.
"Max!" she warned. Someone must be coming, he was going to have to cut this short.
"I gotta go," he said, flicking the communications off immediately, leaving only the Solitaire game Bailey had programmed into the one-touch "employer privacy safeguard" program he'd set up on the computer.
Max turned around in the chair as casually as he could, putting a smile on his face. There was someone in military-looking duds coming through the door, and he didn't want to do anything to tip the fellow off.
"Were you looking for something?" Nala asked the man, "or did you take a wrong turn or something? I always get lost here even though I've been here for over three years now. It's all the sameness in the hallways," she shrugged, trying to distract him from anything he might have seen.
"No need ta fash yourselves on my account," the man smiled at them, "I'm something of on your side, really. Jaime Ricketts," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to Max, "Comm-ops, ex-Patricia, and firmly of the belief that Quaritch needs to get his head from out his arse and not keep digging us an even bigger hole than we're already in."
Max let out a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding and took the man's hand in his own. "Good to meet you, Jaime, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"Thought we might do a little mutual planning," Jaime grinned a wolfish sort of grin, "and figured even with my iffy shoulder you could do with a crack shot and a sniper on your side."
"Definitely," Max agreed, "Now, here's what we've figured so far..."
Her head still buzzing with everything her mother had explained, Neytiri went to find her mate. She knew he had been out of his uniltìrantokx earlier in order to speak with their allies back at the home of the sawtute but she thought he should be finished with that now. Certainly he was not where he had laid down to "un-link" as he called it. She bent over the empty bed of moss and peered at the ground, sorting out the mess of tracks to find his most recent ones. It looked as though he had headed toward Vitrautral, so that was where she went as well, all her senses alert for a sign of his presence.
When she saw him, he was just in the act of kneeling down, addressing the tree, and even though she knew she ought to give him his privacy, she moved a little closer, hoping to hear what it was he prayed for, this night before the battle they all knew would come tomorrow.
"Probably...just talking to a tree right now," he said, and she sighed, rolling her eyes a little. Every time she thought he had begun to truly See, she realized just how far from a true understanding of Eywa he really was, "but if you're there, I need to give you a heads-up." She watched as he linked his tswin to the frond as she, herself, had taught him just before their mating, and she smiled a little. Maybe there was hope for him after all.
"If Grace is with you look into our memories, see the world we come from," he continued, and she moved a little closer. He tried to keep that world hidden from her when they bonded, she knew he did. Not because he didn't want to share everything with her, but because he knew it disturbed and upset her, "There's no green there," he insisted, "they killed their Mother, and they're gonna do the same here!
"More Sky People're gonna come. They're gonna come like a...a rain that never ends," she heard as she crept ever closer, drawn by the need to be with him, to comfort him in his obvious distress, "unless we stop them.
She was standing directly behind him now, but he still wasn't aware of her, too deeply directed into his tsaheylu with the great tree. "Look, you chose me for something," he said with passion, "I will stand and fight, you know I will, but I need a little help here." He lowered his head then, breaking the bond, and she came over to comfort him, her own excitement of a few minutes ago almost forgotten.
She placed her hands on his shoulder, telling him without words that she would always be at his side, and she sighed as she raised him to his feet. "Our Great Mother does not take sides, Jhake," she reminded him, "she protects only the balance of life."
He directed his gaze up into the boughs of the tree, alive with light, atokirina' dancing within it, and then with a deep sigh he turned his eyes back to hers. "It was worth a try," he said.
She took his shoulders in her hands, wordlessly pulling him toward her until their foreheads and noses pressed together. Now would be the time to tell her news, and yet... She took a deep breath, almost opening her mouth to speak, but then she stopped herself. If he knew, if he even suspected she might be carrying their child, he would never allow her to fly into battle tomorrow, and she needed to be there, at his side. There would be few enough warriors as it was; many of those who travelled to Vitrautral to join the gathering of the clans were still some days' travel away. Every bow would be needed tomorrow, and she could not allow him to make himself conflicted any more than he already was about her flying at his side. She would tell him tomorrow, after everything was over and they had emerged victorious. He would be angry, she was sure, but he could not stay angry for long, not in the wake of such a miracle.
Well! Some familiar scenes from a slightly different perspective, and emotional stuff all over the map, yikes! Hope you all enjoyed the happy bits, at least.
As to what our dear Mr. Kater called Quaritch, I'm not going to translate it, but suffice it to say it's a mildly nasty word in Afrikaans, and I have the Alternate Dictionaries to thank for it. Such an awesome resource of...er...colourful language in other languages, I must say!
And now, onward to Vocab:
ikran - Banshee
tawtute / sawtute - sky person/people, human(s)
uniltìranyu / ayuniltìranyu - dream walker(s), avatar(s)
yawnetu - beloved one, boyfriend/girlfriend
kunsìp makto - my guess for "pilot" from "Gunship" and "rider"
tsampongu - war party
Toruk Makto - Legendary figure who calls the Na'vi together in a time of great sorrow
palulukan / pxefalulukan - thanator/ three thanators. The Na'vi have different prefixes for two, three and many (me, pxe and ay respectively)
Tsahìk - spiritual leader
ayVitraya Ramunong - Well of Souls
Kelutral - Hometree
Vitrautral - Tree of Souls
toruk - great leonopteryx
tsmukan - brother
Olo'eyktan - clan leader
nivi - sleeping hammock
'Rrta - Earth
tsamsiyu - warrior
tsmuke - sister
Oel ngatì kameie - I See you, standard Na'vi greeting
'Ìnglìsì - English
uniltìrantokx - dreamwalker body, avatar body
nantang - viperwolf
Eywa ngahu - Eywa be with you, equal to "goodbye"
Sempul - Father
teylu - edible beetle grubs, aparrently quite tasty, especially "Grandma's Teyly" ^_~
sanhì - stars or, in this case, bioluminescent freckles
'ite - daughter
Sa'nok - Mother
tswin - queue
tsaheylu - the bond
atokirina' - seeds of the sacred tree, messengers of Eywa