Auroral storms were common enough on Pandora. On many nights, gently floating waves of color could be seen from the top branches of Hometree. But with the vast, pulsing ocean of light in the forest below, the sky seemed almost drab in comparison. From that, it wasn't surprising that the Na'vi took little interest in the heavens – they had never taken that first step down the path of questioning what was beyond, from wonderment to expansion, to domination. It seemed that was a human failing.
Not that I'm complaining, Jake Sully thought, watching Neytiri ascend the steep cliff ahead of him. She was practically floating up the sheer face while he cursed and scrabbled for purchase at the clinging vines.
Neytiri looked over her shoulder and smiled at his difficulty. "You must learn to climb, Jake!" she called. "When it is time to choose your ikran, you must climb to their den – it is more difficult than this."
"It'd be nice if the way wasn't always straight up," Jake grunted. He heard her amused snort as she continued to climb. He shook his head and focused on the task at hand. They were nearly halfway there now, and he occupied himself with looking ahead for the best hand holds, trying to follow Neytiri's route.
It was quiet for a few minutes, but as they ascended, he began to hear in the distance the heavy hum of an engine. The sound grew rapidly louder, and he was suddenly cast in shadow and buffeted by a blast of air as a Samson flew by overhead. He caught a glimpse of Grace hanging out the door, faintly heard her call something to him before they disappeared over the lip of the cliff. Out of sight, the whine of the motors tapered and spun down as the Samson began to land.
Neytiri made a strange chirping call and picked up her pace, quickly disappearing over the top edge with a flip of her tail.
Jake grunted and sped his own climb, faintly hearing calls of greeting in Grace's strong Na'vi. Finally, panting like a lion, he pulled himself over the top.
Up here it was flat and grassy, rather like the site of their remote lab, and wide enough to accommodate the Samson easily. He could see Trudy in the cockpit fitting an exopack over her face while Norm went to work covering the intakes. Grace and Neytiri were talking a little further away.
Grace caught his eyes as he approached. "Hey marine," she said, "how was the climb? You're looking a little winded!"
Jake shook his head and put his hands on his knees, trying to breathe deep and slow. "Figured I wanted the full experience of the climb, doc," he said. "Not like I have a Samson to cart me around this moon."
Neytiri laughed, coming to stand by him and putting a light hand on his shoulder. "He did well – it is a difficult climb. I am tired from it as well."
"That's good," Norm said, joining them, carrying an enormous basket with a cloth thrown over the top. "Means you'll be hungry, and we brought lots of food!"
Neytiri leaned back, ears twitching, nose automatically scenting at the air. "Where did you get this from?" she asked, eying the basket.
"Hell's Gate," Grace said. "Some humans are studying the Na'vi food culture. We thought this would be a good chance to see how they're getting along."
Neytiri leaned towards basket. "It smells good," she admitted.
Trudy had finished her post flight operations and was approaching the foursome of Na'vi somewhat cautiously, looking thoroughly out of place. As a soldier, Jake understood. She'd been trained to think of the Na'vi as enemies, even if she didn't fight against them directly. And Neytiri had grown up knowing humans as defilers and beasts.
They two strong women studied each other frankly.
"I'm Trudy," the pilot said at last, stepping forward and extending her hand.
Neytiri paused, glancing at Jake for direction, but he only cocked his head down at the human. He'd explained to Neytiri beforehand what to expect. With another hesitant glance, the Na'vi squatted down and extended a fist.
Trudy looked from the fist to Neytiri's face and laughed, grinning now. She bumped her smaller fist against Neytiri's, and much of the tension left the group. The Na'vi woman looked a little embarrassed, smiling down at her feet as she straightened. Something simple and primal passed among them all, Jake could almost hear the click of the five of them falling together.
There was comfortable silence as they studied the area and the sky.
"I've never felt this short before," Trudy said.
They all laughed, and Norm even ruffled Trudy's hair, earning a hard glare. He grinned disarmingly at her, looking almost comical – Norm just didn't make an intimidating figure, even when he was almost ten feet tall and had fangs.
Jake stretched elaborately. "Height has its drawbacks," he said, "But it's the cross we men bear, being tall and strong - "
"And good-looking," Norm added.
"And good looking," Jake agreed, nodding. "It isn't always easy."
The three women shared a look that transcended species. Neytiri smacked Jake in the back of the head, and Norm only stopped laughing when Trudy did the same to him, settling for a slap to his chest.
"Anyway, it's almost time," Grace announced. She'd been fiddling with a small device that she'd taken from her waist pack. It beeped in her hand. "Once Pandora begins to pass by Polyphemus's magnetic pole, we're in for a show." She was grinning widely, and Jake couldn't help smile himself. She was normally so serious.
"So how many times have you seen this?" Norm asked, looking up into the dusky sky.
"This'll be my fifth time," Grace said. "But I've never been able to watch it in my Avatar."
"The Omaticaya will be watching also," Neytiri said, coming to stand close to Jake. She shifted as though to put a hand on his shoulder, but caught herself and paused awkwardly. She shifted slightly away, glancing at the others.
"I didn't figure the Na'vi to be the partying type," Trudy said, smiling wryly.
Neytiri and Grace were nodding, and both opened their mouths to speak. The Na'vi princess glanced at Grace in surprise, and the biologist grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm too used to explaining things about the Na'vi."
Neytiri smiled. "No, it is good that you know so much." She turned to Trudy. "The Na'vi have many celebrations. Tonight, there will be a ceremonial hunt. If it is successful, the celebration will last many days."
"Party time, Doc," Jake said.
"I don't suppose explaining to you the mythic origin of the event will do much to make you take it more seriously." Grace frowned at him.
Jake shrugged. "Probably not. Besides, I learn best by doing."
Trudy snorted at that, glancing from Jake to Neytiri. "I bet," she said. There was a moment of shocked silence, and then Grace and Norm erupted into laughter.
Jake cleared his throat, feeling the heat in his face. "Let's eat," he said loudly.
It took some time for the sky to darken appreciably on Pandora – with multiple moons shining brighter than the stars, and Polyphemus's own ethereal glow, it only ever got as dark as Earth's summer dusk.
Neytiri had pronounced the meal a success, evidencing surprise at her first small bite, and later having seconds. Grace made a mental note to pass on that ego boost to the cooks – humans had little taste or appreciation for most Na'vi cuisine. Trudy was among them, and she had brought steak and salad for herself. Humans could palette most Na'vi food, but it was what Grace called a "character building" experience.
It wouldn't be long before the aurora flared up in earnest, and it would last for hours. It was a sight not to be missed, and she was looking forward to seeing it again, but to Grace the real show was the Na'vi pair sitting at the edge of the clearing, beyond which was a drop into a sheer rock slope.
They sat with their backs to the others. Neytiri was pointing at something in the sky, some star, and Jake was evidently not catching on quickly enough. With a frustrated noise, Neytiri grabbed his arm and used it to point, moving closer and leaning her head in to his to sight down his finger.
"The Homestar," Grace heard her say. "We may use it to find our way."
"Yeah, I get it," Jake said. "We have one on Earth we call Polaris, and it always points north."
Their talk turned to other matters, though Grace saw they remained sitting closely together. She looked over her shoulder at the Samson, where Trudy was helping Norm get some Na'vi-sized chairs out. They would be a novelty to Neytiri, at least. The Na'vi weren't disposed to sitting like humans, preferring to hunker down. In her book, she had posited that it was an evolutionary trait, and allowed them to always be ready to leap into flight from Pandora's dangerous fauna.
She sighed, suddenly melancholy, and gave one last glance to the pair. Pandora's animals were dangerous, but surface wounds healed quickly. Jake was setting himself up for something inevitable and more fundamentally dangerous.
When she realized she was dangerously close to waxing poetic, she automatically reached to her pocket for her cigarettes. Realizing she'd find none, she muttered a curse and went to help the others unload the Samson.
Here, among friends, under the warm sky, it was easy to imagine things would work out beautifully for everyone. And perhaps it would – for a time.
She heard Neytiri laugh at something Jake said. In the years she'd spent teaching her, she'd rarely known the serious girl to laugh.
Above, the aurora began to glow to life. It would be a dazzling demonstration of the beauty that could be found on Pandora. But the beauty would be only fleeting, and before long it would fade. In its absence, the night would seem darker than ever.