We present to you the first chapter of what will be a lovely frolic through the acid trip of a world we all know as Pandora. OCs on your right, Jake's tight little butt on the left, and watch where you step.

Mira cast the bones and read them with a curious look. Ah. They were coming today. She knew they would eventually- the destruction ravaging her people would surely have caused Neytiri to recall that she was alone and might have been hurt. She giggled to herself and quickly set about her small dwelling; making sure things were tidied up. Wouldn't do to have Toruk Makto and the tashik seeing things in disarray like this.

Neytiri looked up at the tall tree, sizing the climb like she always did. It wouldn't be hard for her, or Ilyana, but since Jake was still adjusting to being permanently in his body, it might be a little harder. "Come, you two." she called, smiling a little as Jake quickly leapt onto the root beside her.

"Tree climbing," Ilyana muttered, and leaped past Jake. Trees like this one were easy after the cliffs on the coast. There was no slippery algae to watch out for, no balls of stinging spines tucked into crevices, and so many places to hold onto that it was almost laughable. Easy.

Jake made it up past the root, grabbed the wrong vine to pull himself up, and slid his full height down the trunk. "You still haven't told me what we're doing here," he grunted, too busy working his toes onto a tiny edge to notice which language he was using.

"We are going to see a friend of mine." Neytiri replied, her English sounding concise and clear. "I had forgotten that she was alone here, and might be in trouble." She held out a hand to help, knowing Jake would probably not take it.

Perched on a branch above the pair, she stifled a giggle and watched. Jake was fun to watch, for all that he was Toruk Makto and a whole strong of other things. When doing the simplest things, he was simply an amusement, one of the few good things about being here with the Omaticaya.

"Since when do any of the Na'vi get in trouble just by being alone?" He considered taking her hand or not, then sighed and took it. "Little kids can do this. I should be able to do this."

She pulled him up and nuzzled his cheek. "Don't worry, My Jake. It is a hard climb. And as for Mira, well... she is a special... what is the word..." she thought for a moment and then switched back to Na'vi. "Case?"

Mira put the pot of water (it was really a helmet from one of the Sky People; she had found it when she was out 'collecting') over the fire and settled down to wait, her pendant bumping against her chest. Things were going to be good again.

"Hard climb my freaking tail. Ilyana went up it like its flat ground. I can't move that fast going /down/ the tree, let alone up it. You're just being nice." He nuzzled back with a little smile. "What kind of special case?"

"Must we stop for cuddles?" Ilyana called down. "I am not fond of being a spectator to things best left until after dark."

Neytiri looked up at Ilyana. "We are coming, sister." She grabbed Jake's hand. "Come, I will help you." She hopped up onto the next branch and held her hand out again. "Mira is what Norm would call an 'oddball'."

"Really? I didn't know it could get any weirder for us. She's not...dangerous, is she? I'm not along as backup, am I?" He gauged the distance, and then leaped. It took a little ungainly scrambling, but he made it without assistance.

"I can see that. But I was hoping to be finished here before night."

Neytiri sighed. She liked Ilyana, found her to be a good warrior and a loyal companion. But ever since her ikran's body had been found, she had become distant. Neytiri knew that feeling, after losing Zeze, but she had found something to fill the void. Ilyana had not, even when Jake had offered to take her to Iknimakaya.

Ilyana sighed, moved to a new branch, and lay down, dangling one hand over the edge. The air here didn't move as much as it did in the open sky over the sea. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"You didn't answer the question." He continued past her, knowing she'd overtake him in moments and be waiting at the next branch, just like always.

"Mira is not dangerous." Neytiri told him. "When she was young, her entire clan was killed by the Sky People. Sylwanin found her covered in blood and crying. Sempu would not let her stay with us, so we built her a home here. She did not take the death of her clan and family well, so she is... odd."

"Okay, all of that makes sense until I try to figure out where Ilyana fits in all of this. Why's she coming along?"

Talk, talk, talk. Honestly, she had never met a man who talked as much as Jake did.

Neytiri smiled, knowing Jake still had a tiny bit of skepticism when it came to Eywa. "Would you believe me if I said Eywa willed it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I'd still ask what bringing her here is going to accomplish. She's not a...a people person."

"There are molds that grow more quickly than the pair of you can climb!"

"I do not know. All I know is Eywa told me to bring her with us." She called up to Ilyana on the branch above them. "Patience!"

"Goody. See, this is why I'm not always all gung-ho about just leaping to do whatever she suggests."

"I have patience, sister. But not even a stone can wait forever."

Mira was anxious now. Why was it taking so long? Surely they should have been here by now...

Neytiri crawled past Ilyana, eyeing her. "Yes, but it is water that wears away the stone, as impatience wears away at you."

"I'm waiting, aren't I?" She watched Neytiri pass her, and then waited for Jake to do the same. Mmm. Mated or not, the view was a good one.

"I am taking forever," Jake pointed out. "She's not the only one bothered by that."

Mira's smile brightened. Ah, here they came.

The dwelling was small, nestled in the fork of a tree and made of branches bound and lashed together. The front was decorated with feathers, and... Was that a lunch tray from Hell's Gate? Ilyana eyed the dwelling. "Are you sure we should be here?" she asked. "Before, we left those who became one with the sea to themselves. They prefer it."

"People who were /what/?" Jake asked. The word was not one he was familiar with. Dialects. He hated them.

Neytiri shook her head. "We have nothing to fear from Mira. She is a gentle soul." She stepped forward and called out. "Mira, sister, are you here?" She was worried. What if something had happened?

The cloth pulled away from the door, and there stood a female Na'vi. Small for one of the people, she wore beads and feathers in her hair, and on closer inspection one would notice there were also human buttons, nails, screws and other oddities. She was wearing what looked like an old set of army fatigues, properly cut and modded into Na'vi fashion, while also bearing the painted marks of her clan.

"Perhaps for now," Ilyana muttered. When Mira stepped out, she gave her a cursory once-over. Clearly a scavenger, and attracted to things that gleamed, as varied as the contents of a tide pool.

"Whoa. Uh...at least someone's been back to the old base."

"Neytiri!" Mira whooped, leaping into the older Na'vi's arms and hugging her tightly. "You are not harmed! The bones showed me what happened, I was worried for you!"

Neytiri laughed, hugging her back in relief. "Yes sister, I am not hurt."

"As the Sky People say," she said under her breath, "{I rest my case}."

"I might agree with you if I knew what you were talking about."

Mira laughed once more, hugging Neytiri tighter. She pulled away, and her eyes, round, expressive and... Green... watched her intently. "However, there has been great sorrow. Eywa weeps for the loss of many of her people."

She placed her hand on Neytiri's heart. "I am sorry for the loss of Eyukutan and Tsu'tey. Good men, they were."

"To become one with the sea means to be...what Neytiri calls an odd ball. To be changing and unpredictable. To have depths not even you can dive to."

"Oh. Yeah. That sounds about right."

Mira looked over her shoulder. "Where is Dr? Did she not come with you today?"

Neytiri swallowed. Dr. Augustine held a special place in her heart for Mira, and often brought her things from the base to add to her collection. "She... she has joined Eywa, little one. Surely you knew that?"

Jake winced. The kids had taken Grace's death hard. He hadn't known there were many adults who felt the same way.

"I keep hearing about this doctor," Ilyana murmured. "The more I hear, the more I wonder if she was not a Na'vi inside, like you."

Mira's face fell, and she nodded. "I had hoped the bones had lied. I had so many new things to show her." She held up what looked like a pair of glasses, still attached to the chain, adorned with beads and feathers too. One lens was cracked. "She would have liked these better than her other ones; I made them beautiful for her."

"What?"

Ilyana shrugged. "I've heard all about how the Dream Walkers behaved. But you were not like them. And neither was this doctor, or so I hear. Eywa must have misplaced you both."

Neytiri nodded. "I think so too, Mira." She turned and gestured to Jake and Ilyana. "But I have brought new people for you to meet."

Mira looked over at the two, and immediately her demeanor changed from sad to inquisitive. She walked up to Ilyana and gazed at her intently. "Eywa has taken something from you too."

Jake stepped back to let Mira and Ilyana get to know each other. Wonderful. Two crazies.

"Nawmo," she said quietly. "My ikran. And in doing so, my home."

"I am sorry." Mira searched her eyes, almost like looking for something. "And now you feel lost, and unsure."

"I am not lost. I am simply going somewhere else, now. Somewhere that there is no sky."

She then looked at Jake, and her eyes widened, gasping. "You. Toruk Makto." She dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

Ilyana chuckled. She had been impressed when Jake had come to her clan, but by this point viewed him with little more respect than she gave anyone. It was hard to after you saw him fall off something, which he still did often.

"Uh...yeah. But...I'm not anymore. There's no need to be. I'm just Jake."

Mira looked up, and if she had eyebrows one would be arched. "But you still are, to Eywa. And Eywa speaks to me." She stood up, and instead of greeting him in the traditional way, she held out her hand like one of the Sky People. "I am Mira."

He shook her hand, a little dazedly. "Nice to meet you Mira. Um...that's Ilyana. I'm not entirely sure why we're all up here."

"For a visit!" she chirped happily. "Now, come inside, I have made soup." She grabbed both Ilyana and Jake by the hands and pulled them into her hut. Neytiri shook her head, highly amused, and followed them inside.

Not expecting the pull, Ilyana walked face-first into the low roof of the hut. Jake did the same.

"Oh! I am sorry." Mira looked embarrassed. Neytiri by this point had doubled over with laughter.

"Ow," Jake mumbled. "Didn't see that one coming."

"This is the trouble of having short companions," Ilyana agreed.

Neytiri wiped the tears from her eyes. "Ducking would be helpful."

Mira, meanwhile, her embarrassment abated, set about trying to find her bowls. She knew she had them somewhere... they could be anywhere within the piles of neatly ordered junk she had.

"I would have if I had had any kind of warning!"

"This is an argument you will lose, Jake. I would leave it be." Ilyana stepped into the hut and blinked, adjusting to the light.

Neytiri kissed Jake's cheek. "My Jake, I agree with Ilyana."

"Aha! Here they are!" Mira held up four finely carved wooden bowls. "We shall eat with these, and honor Tsu'tey's memory." she turned to Jake, "For he made them."

"Of course you do." Jake examined one of the bowls. "Wow. I didn't know he did things like this."

"He was to be the next leader. He should have been able to do a great many things."

Neytiri nodded, smiling wistfully. "He thought it was a silly talent for a warrior to have, so he did not use the skill often."

"No, actually...a lot of the guys in my squad did things like this. Tsu'tey just never struck me as a guy who had the patience to sit down and do something so intricate."

"The waters we cannot see through are often the ones that hide the greatest bounty," Ilyana said simply. "He was a warrior well worth remembering."

Mira ladled out servings of the concoction, grinning. "I made it this morning; it has been simmering since then. I added a bit of that strange white mineral I found in the Sky People's home... it tastes like the ocean."

Ilyana accepted the bowl eagerly, wanting to taste. She knew what Mira spoke of, though they had never named it.

"It's called salt," Jake murmured, taking his bowl and resisting the urge to peer into it.

Neytiri accepted her bowl and sat down. "I am sure it's fine, Mira." She took a sip of the broth, and nodded. "It is delicious." Mira grinned proudly.

Ilyana closed her eyes. "It tastes of home," she whispered.

Jake grinned. So she could feel.

"I am pleased you like it--" Suddenly Mira stopped. Her eyes went huge, and she quickly dropped her bowl, the soup spilling everywhere as she dove for the space she slept. "No, no, no, not now."

The sudden movement startled Jake into moving as well; to go after Mira and see what was wrong. Ilyana grabbed his wrist and stopped him short.

"Leave her. Eywa speaks when she chooses."

Neytiri stood, though she was still cautious. "Little one, what is it?"

Mira emerged a moment later, cradling a small bag to her chest. "Eywa speaks. I must listen."

She opened the bag and took out what looked like on first glance a bunch of small pebbles. On closer inspection, it was a set of ikran bones, inscribed with characters in the Na'vi language. Muttering to herself, she knelt in the spilled soup, cleared a space and tossed the bones into the air, starting at them intently as they landed.

"Sit down. Both of you. Eat your soup." Ilyana sat back down and picked up her bowl. "There is nothing you can do."

"But-"

"Nothing. Sit."

It seemed hours before Mira finally spoke. "There is something coming. Something... something that is..." She groaned and put her head in her hands. "Oh, why can I not see it?"

"Perhaps it is not yet close enough," Ilyana murmured. "Or perhaps you try so hard to see that you are blinded."

Mira looked up, eyes now all white. "Quiet." Her voice was eerie, and she looked like something not of this world.

Neytiri leapt up, knowing exactly what was going on- she had seen her mother in a trance enough times to know what it was. "What do you see?"

"Oh, for- get back /down/." She pulled Neytiri down on her other side and put the soup in her lap. "Eat."

Jake tried to ask a question, and was rewarded by Ilyana slapping her hand over his mouth.

"I will speak in time." Mira sat back and looked upwards. After a moment, she said "One is coming. One who is black as night, but one of the people? He harbors great sorrow in his heart."

"Mrph?"

"You could let me- ee!" She jerked her hand back and rubbed it on her leg. "I did not need to be licked. I was moving my hand."

"Is he dangerous?" Jake asked.

"I do not know."

"Black as night? What do you mean Mir-- I mean, mouth of Eywa?"

Mira gave a mighty shudder. Her head fell forward, and she sat limply for a moment, so long that Neytiri wondered if she had passed out.

"We will know in time," Ilyana said firmly. "You do not ask questions of those who did not ask to speak for Eywa. You simply listen. The questioning is for the Tasha."

"Are there other clans out there that come in other colors?" Jake suggested.

Neytiri shrugged, still eyeing the small one. "If there is, I do not know of them. We will ask Mo'at if she knows."

Mira suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry, what was I saying?" She smiled, "Oh, I made a mess. No matter." She walked over to a shelf and grabbed a cloth, wiping her knees. "I must pack."

"We were talking about the soup."

"Where are you going?" Jake asked. He made to get up, not entirely sure why- probably some long forgotten manners- and was pulled back down again.

"With you, of course." She said happily, grabbing what looked like an old army duffel bag, and beginning to throw what seemed like random items from her piles into it.

Neytiri watched her, thinking this over. Sempu had not liked Mira- he felt she was a threat, something to be looked down on because she was weak and had not died bravely with the rest of her clan. He found her abilities to be frightening and strange and her fascination with Sky People dangerous.

"That would be a lot more helpful if I was actually going anywhere. Which I'm not, so....where are we going?"

Ilyana snickered and finished her soup. "The Sky People have no one to speak for the heart of their home, do they?"

Neytiri looked over at Jake. "She means back home with us." she said quietly. Mo'at would not be happy. She also did not like Mira, but only for her daughter's sake had she allowed them to befriend her.

Mira went back to her sleeping space and rummaged around a bit more, mumbling. "I will need this, and that, and.... ooh, how about this, and some more of these, and..." She emerged with a backpack, tossing it beside the duffel, "Oh, and the important things. Bowls, sleeping mat, bow, spear, arrows..." she rattled off the rest of the list in some strange dialect of Na'vi that none of them recognized, adding them now to one more bag.

"No. Not for a long time." He looked quizzically at Neytiri. "Why? There's nobody black there."

"Then you wouldn't know that it is best to nod and agree with them. You will understand their purpose in time."

"I am coming with you the new home tree. I will find a place for me to sleep, and stay until Eywa tells me to go home." Mira said simply, pulling an old over coat- it looked like another thing that had belonged to Grace (in fact, it had her name on the pocket).

"And I will carry these things for you," Ilyana said. She plucked the bag from Mira's hands. "You are too small to carry something so big."

"Why do I get the feeling that people are /not/ going to be happy about this?"

Mira laughed. "People are often not happy because I tell them the truth."

Neytiri took the duffel bag. "If it is the will of Eywa, the people will be forced to understand."

Ilyana took the bag from Neytiri. "Let me. You need both hands for your Jake."

"Hey!"

Mira pulled on the back pack, smiling widely at the two. "Now we can go. I am looking forward to seeing Mo'at." She put out her cook fire, and put the remnants of the stew outside the door. "For anyone who is hungry and passes this way."

"Of course. Lead the way. I will come behind and watch Jake trip over himself."

"I do not," Jake huffed.

Neytiri laughed. "Yes you do."