Spirit Fliers
I gratefully acknowledge one of the foremost creative geniuses of our times, James Cameron, for conceiving the lush moon Pandora and the "noble savages," the Na'vi, that inhabit it. This story uses the setting he created and several lines of dialog from his movie, Avatar. I have not received any money for my work based on Avatar. (If I did, I would use the money to get counseling to try to overcome my obsession with Pandora.)
This story contains all original characters and situations, set in two Na'vi clans not necessarily appearing in the movie. It is a triptych by which my ideas about ikran are presented. I have spent way too many hours reading Avatar fan fiction, and have not been satisfied with the ideas on communicating with and training an ikran. I apologize in advance if these ideas are already extant but not encountered by me.
My original intent was to learn the Na'vi language and write hunting stories in that language. When I started, the Na'vi language did not contain words for many items and concepts seen in the movie, such as clothing, hair styles, and hunting. It appeared that the language committee could not or would not approve proposals for such words. They spent their time making abstract or contemporary words like lawyer (pängkxoyu lekoren) or nonsense tongue-twisters like prrkxentrrkrr. IMHO, the Na'vi language is useless if it cannot express the everyday life of the Na'vi, or even describe what is visible on the movie screen. For that reason, I will write Avatar fan fiction in American English until the Na'vi language becomes useful. Finally, as of August 2011, some words for clothing have been coined, so there is hope that the language eventually will become useful for expressing hunting stories. I will use Na'vi idioms I understand wherever they fit, e.g., little hunter from the Na'vi taronyutsyìp.
As this story is independent of humans, the animals are identified using the Na'vi names. Here are the human names and Na'vi equivalents for these animals: direhorse is pa'li, banshee is ikran, great leonopteryx is toruk, hexapede is yerik, tapirus is fwampop, arachnoid is kali'weya, and brainworm is eltungawng. In all cases, the plural is formed by prefixing the Na'vi word shown with 'ay'. Unlike English, where the number of the subject and verb must agree, the Na'vi language eliminates that redundancy. In one draft, I used the Na'vi plural where needed to make the numbers agree, but it looked very ugly. Taking my lead from Na'vi, I used the singular form of these animal names everywhere, and let the number come from the context. Yes, it is more complicated than that, but please bear with me. Sorry if you find this confusing, just think of this approach as a baby step towards learning Na'vi.
This chapter is very short, the remaining chapters are much longer. Happy Birthday, Jake (watch the last video log at the end of Avatar).
Chapter One - Birth Clan
One afternoon, a messenger from a neighboring forest clan flew into the village of a pa'li clan on the plains. He landed in the central clearing, and jumped off his ikran. Immediately, villagers, mostly children, surrounded the pair. In a loud voice, he said, "Please, do not look into the eyes of my ikran." Since the children were the offenders, the adults shooed them away from the front of the ikran, but most found places beside or behind where they could stare at the unusual beast without causing trouble. As is customary when a messenger arrives, the villagers gave both rider and ikran food and water while gathering the elders to receive the message. As these messages were verbal, it was important to have as many people hear it and question the messenger as possible, so misunderstandings are avoided.
One small boy ran out of the crowd, yelling, "Rider, can I pet your ikran?"
The face of the rider softened as he looked at the boy and replied "Little hunter, I have a son a little older than you, and he dreams of becoming an ikran rider. Your clan does not have ikran because these plains cannot support them, so I am sure you are very curious about my flying partner. Come here."
The rider bonded with his ikran, who leaned forward to bring his back lower to the ground. The rider lifted the boy up and sat him on the saddle. The boy's feet could not reach the foot bar, but did find natural places to settle on the spiracles. He could not reach the handhold harness between the antennae, so the rider gathered the antennae together and the boy grabbed hold of them. The boy beamed a brilliant smile that made all adults watching him smile in response.
"Is riding an ikran the same as riding a pa'li?" the boy asked.
"No. When riding a pa'li, you sit on its back the whole time. When riding an ikran, you can sit only during straight and level flight. You must stand at all other times, so the ikran can feel your movements and respond to them. The ikran moves much faster than the pa'li, so the rider must be much quicker to control the ikran, and that can only be done while standing."
"I See. The ikran follows the movements it feels from its rider's body. Much the way adults do when they dance and mate."
Although a few adults looked shocked, most were laughing uproariously. "You are a very observant little rider. Yes, part of the training a rider gives his ikran is teaching the ikran to understand how to change its flight based on the movement of the rider. That way is much faster than giving commands through the bond. Now, I must get to work, as your elders have arrived." The rider helped the boy down, and broke the bond. The whole time the discussion lasted among the visiting messenger and clan elders, the boy stood against the ikran with both hands petting its body, oblivious to the talk while pondering how to train an ikran as big and beautiful as this one.
Even before the boy sat on the messenger's ikran, he dreamed of flight. Like all children of the plains, his parents gave him a toy shaped like a pa'li, but he pretended his toy soared over the village. After sitting on the ikran, he told his playmates he was an ikran rider, but they did not play along and sometimes teased him by calling him ikran sitter. However, nothing stopped his dreams of flying.
Some days later, a traveling party from the same clan as the messenger arrived at the village. That night, they were the guests of honor at a feast held in the gathering place. The clan leader stood, and first introduced the escorts that were returning home the next day. The leader of the escorts rose, said some pleasantries about the warm welcome, the good relations between the neighboring clans, the clan gathering that was about half a year away when both clans would again meet, and the feast that was being prepared as he spoke. The boy did not hear many of these words, daydreaming about what he would be doing if they had brought an ikran just for him.
The clan leader rose again, introducing more newcomers, one family and three adolescent hunters, who would stay at least until the clan gathering, and let each of them speak. The father of the family is a healer, the number two healer in the forest clan, here to complete the training of the new leader of the healers after the premature death of the previous leader. He introduced his mate, a crafter of leather and jewelry, and their child, a baby girl. The visiting healer mentioned his desire to learn about the medicinal plants found on the plains, and his mate's desire to share techniques in working leather to create useful items and adornments. The first adolescent is a hunter and singer apprentice who is here to learn whatever songs are new to her, and to teach the songs she knows that the singers here do not know. The second is a hunter wanting to learn more about pa'li, how to care, treat, and train them. Since her clan requires each hunter to capture and train an ikran, the pa'li do not get as much attention. This clan has no ikran and relies solely on pa'li, so she knows she will learn more about pa'li here, and will have more time to do so as she will not have to train or care for her own ikran. The boy heard this and thought, "You can keep your pa'li. Give me your ikran." The third is a hunter and warrior who rather sheepishly admitted he has always been afraid of nothing, but gets shaky while experiencing heights. He can run aerial trails and climb trees, but does not think he can fly an ikran without difficulty. He wants to prove his value to this clan so that he can become a member and live out his life here, avoiding the stigma attached to his vertigo. These words stunned the boy, as this hunter could not fly because of his reaction to heights. The boy could think of nothing better than rising high above the plains that seem so flat and dull.
The clan leader rose again and said they may ask to join the clan after they have lived here for some time and have demonstrated their value. The final decision will be made by the clan elders, but the newcomers should know in their hearts by the gathering. Hunting on the plains is very different from hunting in the forest, so they are not expected to know those skills, and will be taught starting tomorrow. Before that, though, all but the baby must demonstrate their bola, spear, knife, archery, and pa'li skills in the morning after the traveling party departs. They will be introduced to their respective specialty groups after the demonstrations, who then will take them to the mid-day meal. After the meal, they will all meet with the leader of the hunters to plan their training. Life here will be very full and busy.
Finally, the clan leader introduced two adolescent hunters from this clan that were going to the forest clan to learn how to hunt in the forest and fly ikran. The clan leader spoke how everyone will miss them, and how everyone hopes to see them again at the clan gathering. Unspoken was the fact that, if successful, these two hunters would join the forest clan, and most likely would have little contact with this clan after the gathering. The crowd applauded the travelers, and got down to the serious work of partying as the food was being distributed. The boy, however, was lost in the thought that the forest clan welcomes hunters from this clan, and that seemed the most promising way to get an ikran of his own.
Later that evening, the boy went to the clan leader and Tsahik, and asked if they would let him join the travelers in the morning so he could learn to fly an ikran. The Tsahik explained that he was much too young to leave his family, and the forest clan would not accept him until he became an accomplished hunter. The clan leader said that the climb to where the wild ikran lived was very arduous, and he must be strong enough to make the climb if he wanted to capture his own ikran. He is too young now, but if he joins the warrior training when he is old enough, that would be the best preparation this clan could give him. The clan leader pointed out that the two hunters from this clan leaving in the morning were also in warrior training, and did so for the very same reason. The boy was disappointed that he could not leave with them, but resolved to become a hunter and warrior when he is old enough.
The next morning, the Tsahik informed the parents of their son's request. They knew he was keenly interested in ikran, but never guessed that he was willing to leave family and clan at this time to pursue his dream. The Tsahik knew she had much work to do with this family, as the path Eywa has for some of her children can be very difficult for their families. She explained to the parents that several from each generation leave for other clans, and several from other clans come here to join this clan. This mixing of bloodlines makes all clans stronger, at the cost of leaving loved ones behind. It also allows the restless ones to fulfill their dreams, and that is simply following the call of Eywa. All Na'vi are expected to do what pleases them the most, as that makes for the greatest happiness and productivity in both the individual and the clan. The parents still hoped their son would outgrow his desire to fly an ikran, but promised the Tsahik to guide him as best they could to achieve his goal as long as he pursued it, with the help of Eywa and the clan elders.