First Impressions
by TeeJay
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Summary:
How Jake ended up with the loincloth and an organic bandage around his arm. Missing scene from the movie when Jake is first taken to Hometree after being captured by Tsu'tey and his followers.
Author's Note:
This is just a little something that came to me as I was watching the movie again on Sunday. (Hey, only one to go to the 10x mark!) I hope you like. :o)
With regard to the Na'vi language used in this story, I tried to stay as true as possible to what learnnavi [dot] org offers. I'm no linguist, so should you be fluent in the language, please forgive me if my Na'vi may not be a 100% correct. I am listing the words I used (and their translations) at the end.
Disclaimer:
The characters or situations of this story or the movie aren't mine. They are property of James Cameron, Twentieth Century Fox, Lightstorm Entertainment or other copyright owners. No copyright infringement intended. Mr. Cameron, it has been a blast, playing in your sandbox. I hope you don't mind.
Rating:
Rated K+ (PG)
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'This was it,' Jake thought. The next moments would decide what was going to happen to him, here, among this strange people that he knew nothing about.
Mo'at's scrutinizing eyes were on him. "What are you?"
He tried to think fast, to come up with something that could explain to them that he wasn't exactly like the other avatars they might have met. "I was a Marine. A, uh... a warrior of the... Jarhead clan."
Nervously, he watched the male Na'vi who had captured him earlier. He looked like he was more important than the others. He said something that Jake couldn't understand, but it sounded like a snide statement. Or a challenge.
The hand of the father of the woman who had turned out to be his savior held the young Na'vi back. The father addressed the people around him in Na'vi. Jake could only watch as first the father spoke and then the mother. Her daughter didn't look at all happy with what her mother was telling her.
Addressing him in his own language, albeit with a heavy accent, the mother approached him. "It is decided. My daughter will teach you our ways. Learn well, Jakesully. Then we will see if your insanity can be cured."
Jake nodded once, indicating that he both understood and accepted the offer. The eyes of the Omaticaya all around him were all still on him—the strange man from the sky who had five fingers and was wearing fitted cloth to cover most of his body.
"Nnnngrrrr," the beautiful, young Na'vi woman next to him growled under her breath. Jake could still hear it.
He felt her studying him briefly, her brow creasing in contempt for a second. "Come with me," she told him.
"Where are we going?" Jake asked.
"You will see."
On nimble feet, she ran up the inner spiral of Hometree. Jake tried to keep up, but he was having a hard time with his bulky boots.
"Hey, wait up," he called after her. "You never told me your name."
She stopped and turned around, her expression impatient and her tail flicking to and fro behind her. "You are very clumsy."
"Thanks," Jake answered sarcastically. What the devil had he gotten himself into?
On the second level, Neytiri took him to a platform to the right behind which several hand-made materials and equipment was hanging. She started going through them, picking out a few things.
When she was satisfied with her selection, she held the items out to Jake. "If you want to learn our ways, we start with what to wear. Take off your clothing."
Jake looked around nervously. There was nothing where he could hide behind or have some privacy. He noticed a few Na'vi were going about their business on this level, but no one seemed to pay special attention to him.
"Here?" he asked.
She gave him a look that seemed to say, 'Where else?'
"Okay, okay," he relented, turning around to get rid of his dirt-smeared and torn clothes. Even after having put on the red Na'vi loincloth, he felt very naked and exposed.
Neytiri looked him up and down when he finally turned around. She started to adjust the straps of the loincloth. Was it possible for an avatar's face to blush?
"This will do," she muttered in Na'vi.
Her eyes fell across the wound on his upper arm. Dried up blood marked the reddish brown path where it had trickled down his skin. Her four-fingered hand felt for his arm and brought it up to study the wound closer.
"A nantang bite. Tawtsngal should help make it heal. Come."
Jake had no idea what she was talking about but he followed her anyway. It felt very strange to walk around with almost no attire on, even though the air was pleasantly warm and humid. Going down one level of the tree, he had to get used to walking on bare feet. While he silently relished the feeling of the wood and moss beneath his soles, his skin there was soft and sensitive to sharp objects protruding from the ground. He bit his tongue and tried not to wince when another piece of bark dug into the sole of his foot.
Neytiri guided him to a corner of this level's hand-built platform, but Jake didn't have eyes for the skillful craftsmanship the Na'vi seemed to possess.
"Sit," Neytiri simply commanded and Jake sat down on one of the logs that had been put there.
With something between fascination and apprehension, he watched her fetch something from baskets and gourds that were standing nearby in some sort of storage area. She came back with a collection of elongated leaves and something that looked like amber colored goo in a cup-shaped hollowed out fruit of some kind. She went back to get another bowl with water and something that looked like a purple-hued natural sponge.
She didn't speak at first when she started to clean his wound, but after she had washed away most of the dried blood, she said to him, "Neytiri."
Jake frowned. Was that supposed to mean something to him? "What?"
"You asked my name."
"Neytiri," he relished the way her name rolled on his tongue. "Where did you learn to speak English?"
Her big, golden eyes looked at him briefly before turning her attention back to his arm. "Grace was our karyu. Teacher. I went to her school."
"Ow!" he suddenly flinched. Neytiri had started to apply the yellowish brown goo to his wound and it burned like hell.
"Hchss," she hissed. "Such a baby."
"Yeah, easy for you to say! What is this stuff?"
"Sa'ìwul from the Tawtsngal plant. I don't know the word in English. It is like water that collects in the flower. It helps heal wounds."
"Nectar?" he asked, trying to gauge what she might want to say.
She shrugged. "Maybe."
Putting away the spoon-like instrument she had used on the wound, she picked up one of the larger leaves and started to wrap it around Jake's upper arm, fastening it with other, lighter green, string-like leaves—a natural band aid. Jake tried very hard not to flinch again when she tightened the tying leaves around his bicep. He had been humiliated enough today.
They fell quiet again and a very strange noise suddenly interrupted the soft sounds of the Omaticaya's natural habitat. There was a rumble in his stomach and Jake wondered if this was how it sounded for an avatar's stomach to growl.
"You are hungry," Neytiri confirmed his thought and he tried to think back to when he had last eaten. The day before, at the compound?
"Yeah, I guess I am."
"The Clan has already gathered to eat, let us join them." She paused, considering a moment whether to elaborate. She thought of Grace, and how much fun it had been to learn new things, to learn this new language from a world no one even knew existed until the Tawtute came in their tawsìps. She hadn't thought about Grace in a long time.
She was Jake's karyu now, a task she had been given by her sa'atenuk, so the smart thing would be to get over her reluctance and fulfill her obligation.
Helping Jake up, she told him, "We share what the taron-yu bring back from the hunt. Beyral killed a Yerik today and it has been prepared by the Yom Tutee for the People. This way."
They changed levels of the giant tree again, going up once more to where a large group of Na'vi were gathered round a fireplace. Organic lanterns with firefly-like insects buzzing around them bathed the scene in an eerie, green glow.
The loincloth's strings felt very uncomfortable, especially where they bit into his skin below his tail. He almost stumbled over a protruding root as he tried to adjust the bothersome attire. Neytiri walked among the crowd to find a seating position for the two of them.
As Jake approached, the voice of the Yom Tutee fell silent and the hubbub of the feasting group died down to the point where you could hear a pin drop. Jake was painfully aware that everyone was staring at him—the newcomer, the stranger.
"Good evening," he said to conceal the awkwardness with a short, nervous laugh. "Please don't get up."
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Na'vi words used in this story:
karyu = teacher
nantang = viperwolf
sa'atenuk = mother
Sa'ìwul = nectar
skxawng = moron
taron-yu = hunter
tawsìp = "Sky Ship" (spaceship)
Tawtsngal = Panopyra plant
Tawtute = Sky People
Yerik = hexapede (deer-like animal)
Yom Tutee = "Eating Woman" (the Na'vi equivalent of a cook)