I do not own Avatar. Any distribution of this fanfic outside the contest is under the discretion of the author.
*This is my second fanfic ever and i'm trying to improve my writing, so PLEASE COMMENT, specially if you have constructive critics or didn't like it...
*Talioang is the na'vi name for the Sturmbeests.
The Hunt
A young na'vi flew slowly mounted on an ikran, contemplating pandora's beautiful sunrise. The cold dawn wind gently blowing against his body and waving his hair. A few meters down, the dense forest was calm and still awaking.
In their way, from a tree ahead, a big flock of Tetrapteron birds lifted flight making its common noisy hiss and painting the sky with dozens of violet points. The ikran made a warning hiss and the birds flew away. The na'vi smiled to himself and patted the neck of the ikran.
The trees under them begin to scarce and soon they reached a large and shallow river. On the crystalline water the fishes swam away from their shadow.
The na'vi looked back and saw the Hometree as just a small and distant silhouette on the horizon.
"We are already too far from the Hometree," the na'vi said. "It's time to go back my friend."
Said that, the ikran started making the curve to go back to the Hometree.
From the forest upstream a dust cloud was raising. The na'vi noticed that and decided to check.
The ikran changed course again and flew in direction of the dust. Soon they reached the place and found out what was causing the dust to rise. A sturmbeest herd near the margin of the river.
"Eywa has gifted the Omaticaya again!" he said. The na'vi laughed out loud.
The ikran kept circuling the place. The Sturmbeests were around eating, drinking and some of them watching a fight. Near the margin of the river two male Sturmbeest had had a serious fight and one of them was fallen on the ground, bleeding profusely, immobile while the other was preparing for its final assault.
"It's already dead Talioang," the na'vi said to himself inexpressive.
The winner male struck his final blow at the enemy raising more dust. He roared triumphant. As the fight ended the herd begun to move, leaving the dead body behind.
"We must hurry," said the na'vi. "The predators will be here soon."
The ikran flew back fast to the Hometree. Half way to the Hometree the na'vi saw a small pack of Viper Wolfs heading in direction of the corpse.
On the Hometree the excited na'vi dismounted the ikran and ran tree down searching for the elder hunters to tell the news.
"I found a Talioang herd! Call the hunters!" he screamed to everyone on his way tree down, leaving behind a trail of excited looks and happy smiles.
He found the chief hunters, told what happened and all went to the main chamber on the base of the tree. When they reached the base of the tree a small crowd had already formed and an animated chattering was in progress.
Neytiri and Jake had just came back from the forest when a na'vi passed near them screaming to everyone he"d found a Talioang herd. Neytiri laughed.
"That's great!" she exclaimed. She took Jake's arm and pulled him "Come Jake! Come!"
"OK," said Jake." But what is going on?"
"The Big Hunt Jake! This is a very important moment for every Omaticaya specially the young hunters," she explained pulling Jake fast tree down.
"What's so special about that hunt?" he asked.
Neytiri smiled. "Being on The Big Hunt means you have a strong heart. Means the Hunters and the Omaticaya can count on you as part of the whole and that you can provide food and protection to the people and?" she made a pause slowing the pace and gave him a quick side glance, ?" and to your family," she concluded releasing his arm.
"I'm on it," said Jake smiling softly. "But what is a Talioang?"
"Come, come." She said. "They will explain later."
When they reached the main chamber the hunters were walking outside the Hometree, followed by a mass of na'vi cheering them.
"We lost the leaders speak." Neytiri said. "But that is not too bad. The chief hunters will speak now. Come." They followed the hunters.
The hunters met on a semi-circle outside the Hometree all facing the chief hunters. Jake, Neytiri and the new hunters on the center close to the chief hunters. Not too far people were watching the reunion.
In the center of the circle, one of the chief hunters begun to spoke in na'vi directly to the new hunters.
"It's a great honor to participate on the Big Hunt. For a hunter it's the final test to prove yourself to the Omaticaya and especially to your fellow hunters. But it's a dangerous test, some have died before?" He made a pause and looked at his feet uncomfortable just like some of the older hunters.
"But may Eywa let no unnecessary death happen today," he said. "Both for the na'vi and for the Talioang."
Neytiri was translating everything to Jake in a low voice, and he was very focused on his words, although he didn"t understand most of them.
"You all heard stories of how The Big Hunt happens, but none of you was there, so we are going to tell you what to do," he concluded.
Another chief hunter begun to spoke.
"The Sturmbeest can be as high as a na'vi when mounted on a pa'li and it's much heavier. Most na'vi clans hunt when the Sturmbeest herds pass in the terrain near there homes, so we will focus on hunting the males only, they are the biggest animals," he said.
"The male has a horn on its head and there is a bone on its back so thick that arrows and spears barely can pierce it. The best way to make the kill is shooting between the head and the shoulders or in its belly." He made a pause and pointed in his own head where the point would be.
"We know that there will be predators around, but this time they might be busy fighting for the dead animal. The Ikran riders will fly ahead to prevent the pa'li riders to face the predators so take attention on the orders and inform what you see," he gestured with his hands simulating how it would happen.
An explanation of how the hunt should happen and how the animals would behave went on. After that, two groups formed and each took different directions to find its respective mounts.
Jake and the ikran riders reached the branches of the Hometree where the ikrans used to rest and each hunter called their own mount, in a few minutes they were flying fast, forming a loose pattern. On the ground, far behind, the pa'li riders galloped cloaked by the forest density.
The ikran riders were leading the way as planned when the sky hunters found the dead Sturmbeest body. It was surrounded by a pack of viperwolfs feeding on its flesh. The leader of the sky hunters signaled to another hunter with the head, who turned back and flew in direction of the hunters on the ground to warn them.
Following the trail the herd left behind, Jake got impressed with it's impact on the forest. The ground was muddy, the high grass and a few trees once exuberant were now cast on the ground, lots of puddles of water had formed where the beasts had trod and animals were everywhere feeding on the insects and smaller animals disturbed by the herd passage.
As they approached the herd, the ikran riders flew lower and the pa'li riders got closer to each other. As soon as the na'vi were spotted the herd begun to run. Dust rose as rainy clouds at the rear of the stampede. The roar of their heavy steps on the ground resembled the sound of thunders. The herd galloped over the ground, dividing like a flow of water around rocks.
The pa'li riders galloped fearlessly amongst the sturmbeests, they pricked the animals and screamed at them trying to isolate them from the herd, while the ikran riders tried to get a clear shot. The sturmbeests roared and invested against the riders kicking with its back hoovers, trying to get closer to the main mass.
Finally one of the sturmbeests got separated by the pa'li riders. Without all the dust and the other sturmbeests pushing each other to disturb the aim, an ikran rider finally got a clear shoot a dozen meters far form the main mass. The first sturmbeest fell, an arrow stuck in the base of its head. Proud the na'vi smiled raising his arms in triumph and the others screamed and waved their spears in commemoration.
Scared by the first death, the stream of sturmbeests begun to divide itself in smaller groups, most of them ran to trails through higher trees. The hunters also divided in smaller groups and followed their preys.
The leader's ikran entered the tree line and flew between the trees skillfully, followed by the others. Jake tighted the grip of the spear, took a deep breath and dove in the forest followed by Neytiri.
In the forest around the river lots Hexapedes and Prolemuris were running from the sturmbeests path. Some of the smaller trees that were in the path of the stampede were falling, Jake could hear the sound of their trunks braking and see their tops sinking into the dust cloud.
Jake flew low over the sturmbeest he was hunting. He zigged and zagged through the trees, trying to get a clear shot. He dodged trunks and branches as the herd poured like a torrent through narrow channels in the brush.
The pa'li riders leaped fallen logs and small scrubs, having a hard time to keep up with their targets. A moment later one of them was hit by a sturmbeest, he fell from his pa'li and both rolled on the ground. The na'vi got up fast and was taken by an unarmed pa'li rider. A dozen meters behind them another sturmbeest tumbled, still alive and roaring, a spear spiked in its neck. A flying hunter quickly ended its pain delivering a deadly arrow on the base of the head.
Jake, Neytiri and two pa'li riders pass through them pursuing another sturmbeest. Jake was trying to aim. Lots of leaves were falling from the big trees and the Sturmbeest ran through them, while the pa'li raiders one on each side tried to keep it on a straight line poking its sides with the spears. Jake tried a shot with his spear but missed the spot, quickly switching to his bow. Neytiri also missed her first shot with the spear.
Jake's ikran was flying very fast and low, when suddenly it emitted a short sharp shriek and braked strongly, as if it had seen a wall centimeters ahead, so did Neytiri's ikran. Jake lost his balance and had to drop his bow to hold the reins and avoid the fall. The ikrans rose above the tree line by themselves. They had reached a dead end, the downside of a water fall, and as the ikran, the sturmbeest was forced to stop.
Cornered, the beast charged against one of the pa'li riders. The pa'li scared tipped the na'vi on the ground, and ran away. The other pa'li hunter tried a desperate distance shot but his spear hit the sturmbeest back bone and fell on the ground.
Immediately the fallen hunter stood up and begun to run towards a mangrove-like tree roots that could give him a chance of surviving. Deranged the sturmbeest hit the tree roots missing the na'vi for centimeters, it kept roaring and thrusting furiously against the roots, breaking large pieces of it.
Neytiri and the other pa'li hunter tried shots with their bows but missed the spot, their arrows falling on the ground. The beast jumped and made erratic movements making it harder to aim. Jake unarmed watched the scene helpless.
Flying close to the ground Jake crouched far forward on the back of his ikran, stretched his arm and recovered the spear from the ground. He stood on four in the back of his ikran and when it enclosed the sturmbeest he jumped to the back of the angry animal. Still in the air he gathered all his strength on a fast thrust and threaded the spear deep into the right point between the neck and the head. Jake slammed his head on the sturmbeest back bone and fell to the ground near the animal. The beast roaring still reared and threated to crush Jake, but then it staggered to the side and fell to the ground. Jake's strike had been deadly.
Still thrown on the ground Jake could barely believe on the insanity he just made. Neytiri quickly dismounted her ikran and ran to the hunter on the roots with the other pa'li rider.
"I'm okay," said breathless the hunter in the roots, the other hunter helping him out.
Jake was laid on the ground breathless with a vague look on his face.
"What about you!" she asked apprehensive running to Jake and helping him up.
"I'm good," he said. A small stream of blood dripping from his forehead.
"Are you sure?" asked Neytiri examining the wound in his head.
"Sure. Never been better," he smiled wide.
"Skxawng," she said smiling fondly.
The other hunters walked to Jake.
"Thank you," said in na'vi the saved hunter putting his hands on Jake's shoulders. "I see you brother."
"And I see you brother," said Jake.
Later still in the forest the hunters honored their fallen preys, in a small ceremony.
*This is my second fanfic ever and i'm trying to improve my writing, so PLEASE COMMENT, specially if you have constructive critics or didn't like it...