Before I start with the story, I would like to make a couple of things clear.
I will post the general information to make things clearer on my profile, or you could look this story up on Archive of Our Own and just read the first chapter where I compounded all the same needed info.
I do not mean any disrespect with this story and will do my research before posting anything, however keep in mind that Avatar is situated in the future and every culture changes over time, and so I will tweak some things to better suit my needs. I may also just take my artistic liberty and create completely new cultures if I do not find one in the present (or past) that best suits my need.
Also, seeing as this story is put in an Alpha/Beta/Omega world, I will put animalistic behaviour in it.
At the beginning of each chapter I will inform you of which song I used (if any) and if this chapter has hints of another fandom or not.
Song: Tak ustroen etot mir
Artist: Dima Bilan
A/N: I used the English version of the original Russian song as a liberal translation as a foothold for its use in this chapter.
(2017/06/22) I edited some grammatical errors and added a few phrases here and there, but otherwise it's still the same.
(2019/01/10) After a helpful comment from a Russian reader, I have changed the Russian names for Tom and Jake. Also found a few typos I read over, but otherwise it's unchanged.
Jake had just finished his first day under Neytiri's teaching and he still couldn't completely grasp the concept of fully functional legs. But most of all, he couldn't comprehend what happened to his twin. Tommy, the eldest by ten minutes and fellow omega, dead. And for what, a few pieces of paper in his wallet. The emotional pain is unbearable and probably always will be. It doesn't feel like six years already past; more like a fifth tequila shot and an emotional ass-kicking. You just learn to numb the pain, like they say.
Deciding to take a breath of fresh air even though he was already outside in the big wild jungle of Pandora, Jake got up from his place at the border of the fire and went to exit Hometree. However, his escape into the wilderness did not go unnoticed. An angry and foreboding shadow followed him, while he remained unaware of the possible danger. In his heartbreaking and overwhelming sadness, he wandered further and further from safety, while taking an old, weathered and yellowing photograph out of a side pocket of his pants. He had opted to wear his dark, sleeveless shirt and his heavy duty pants for two reasons mainly. First, because it was easier to train in them than to get used to the loincloth at the same time as trying to learn something. Second, while the Omaticaya seemed to grasp the basics of human culture, they most definitely do not know the finer points of having a society with no less than six different genders. And, while he wasn't - and never would be - ashamed of being of the perceived 'weaker' sex, he didn't want to explain to virtual strangers why he had a working vagina and a - kind of - defective penis. That wasn't to say that he couldn't cum like any other guy, it just meant he couldn't father any children as opposed to carrying them.
Anyway, back to his cause of suffering; the death of Tommy. As he looked at their last picture together with their parents, before he left for Venezuela and came back more pathetic than ever. Nikita, their male omega bearer, wanted them to have a Russian name too and had an enormous row with their sire, Alexander, about it. In the end, it was decided on that very day, that they would let their children choose. Both choose names based on their meaning, so that it would reflect who they were. Tommy chose Anatoly, seeing as it means 'sunrise' as a totem to a part of their origins while Jake chose the quite feminine - to some - name Alexei, 'defender'. It could be used to describe him in a loose way, considering soldiers were seen as the first line of defence in old times and he did spend a lot of his time protecting his brother from dickheads. The next logical step would be to connect that tidbit of information with his starting career as a marine. Their bearer looked like any typical Russian soldier; big and beefy with a well maintained, dark blond, short beard and mustache. He suited his namesake of 'unconquered' and 'unconquerable' quite well, since only their sire was able to conquer his mind, body and soul. If their bearer was thought of as big, then their sire was absolutely gigantic with his cropped black hair, dark green eyes and swimmer's build. Both he and Tommy had inherited their bearer's height, while Tommy stayed lanky, he bulked up quite a bit after joining the Marine Corps.
Just thinking about his bearer's rich baritone and his sire's smooth tenor as they sung in the kitchen preparing the day's meal, made him melancholic. Still watching the picture with unseeing eyes, he opened his mouth and let the words of their own song escape his vocal cords.
"Ha razbityh mechtah, ne razvesti vnov' ogon'..."
"Pravda pdna - "Net" ili "Da"..."
"Chto imeem - ne hranim, no tak ustroen etot mir..."
Unbidden, tears began to flow from his glazed eyes. His shoulders hunched a bit as he dry sobbed and squeezed his eyes shut to prevent more tears to escape, but to no avail. The floodgates had opened, and it was impossible to stop them till they ran dry. He ignored them, and continued to sing his heart out to the still jungle around him, as if all the creatures in it heard his pain.
"Po razbitym serdtsa, vozmozhno, mozhno idti..."
"Otvet', skazhi..."
"Ne nahodim otvet..."
Meanwhile, the foreboding shadow had reached him and was observing him in silent curiosity and confusion from the branches above the grieving ex-marine. The language seemed alien to him, more than that damned English, but he could understand the emotions conveyed in his voice and facial expression perfectly. Heedless of his all encompassing hate towards the Sky People, he felt a touch of concern enter his hardened heart at the sheer heartbreaking sadness surrounding him. Taking no note of his presence, Jake dropped to his knees when his legs gave out under him and continued to sing his lullaby of despair to any who would hear it.
"Kak zhe dal'she smozhem my zhit'..."
"Tak ustroen etot mir..."
"Da" ili "Net", tysyachi let..."
"Ne nahodim otvet..."
An oppressive silence lingered between them as he finished his courting with Grief, only to be interrupted by the rustling of leaves above and to the right of his current position as his shadow was revealed to him.
''Which demonic language did you use, Jakesully? Did you cast a curse over this forest to spite Eywa? Did you?'', his shadow asked him in a constantly angry tone, his frown deepening when Jake didn't answer him directly after.
''I didn't curse the forest, Tsu'tey, I wouldn't even know how,'' Jake began, his earlier sadness forgotten in the face of 'danger'. ''I was singing in Russian, it's one of my native tongues. Didn't you learn with Grace that Earth is divided in many different countries?''
''No, Jakesully,'' Tsu'tey answered, visibly reluctant to admit to a perceived weakness. ''I did not. Tell me more of this 'Russian'.'' As if he had already answered, Tsu'tey turned to return to Hometree.
''Wait, how about I teach you about more than just Russia? Like, I could take a select few of you back to Hell's Gate, to the science courtyard, and we, that is to say the humans, could show you different cultures found on Earth and you could show us some of yours. This way, we could learn from each other and come to understand each other better. What do you say?''
Tsu'tey had stopped walking after his first few words and seemed to be thinking seriously about the offer he made. While Jake would readily admit Tommy was the egghead of the family, it didn't mean he was just a dumb mass of heavy muscle. ''Olo'eyktan will have to decide on your proposition. I will relay it to him. If we suspect at any moment this is a trap, you will be executed together with your accomplices. You understand, don't you, Jakesully?''
''Thank you, Tsu'tey,'' Jake began, already feeling a weight disappear from his shoulders. ''I will relay the message to Grace.''