I remember the first day I met him. Mother brought me from our Kelutrel of the Tipani clan, to that of the Omatikayan. She told me that we were meeting with an old friend of hers and fathers.
Once we reached the new home tree, we were greeted by two Na'vi, one tall and female, like mother, the other only a little bit taller than me and male. I shyly hid behind mother as we got closer, lightly gripping her tail.
" Eyaye, this is Tsu'tey of the Omatikaya and his mother." introduced my mother, her deep alto voice full of humor.
I shyly looked from behind my mother, seeing a young Na' vi boy my age, who was staring back at me, eyes full of curiosity. I quickly did the proper greeting, touching my forehead, while staying silent. My mother and the other woman giggled lightly and started to walk somewhere. I tried to stay with mother but she quickly put a stop to that.
"Eyaye, stay here with Tsu'tey, maybe you could go to the tawtute school with him and the others."
My eyes brightened at hearing that I could go to the Sky People's school that I've been wanting to go to for the longest time. I quickly looked back to Tsu'tey, who was still staring at me, but now with a small smile, with his mother, who was standing next to him, waiting patiently for my mother, also smiling at me.
" Okay mother, I'll go with him."
" Thank you my child."
She quickly kissed my forehead and left with Tsu'tey's mother. I shyly let my eyes meet Tsu'tey's again and jumped a little when I found him to be a lot closer than I first thought.
" H-hello." I stuttered out, giving him a small smile, which he returned as he said,
" Hello Eyaye, mother said that you had permission to come with me and the others to the School…"
I nodded my head and he grabbed my hand, quickly pulling me behind him as he ran to a group of Na'vi, who apparently were all waiting for him. They all greeted him then turned to me, curiosity in all their eyes.
" This is Eyaye of the Tipani clan everyone, she's visiting today and will be coming to School with us today."
Everyone just nodded their heads and started walking. Within a short time frame we reached a metal like cave? Tsu'tey says it's called a 'building' and that is where the school is. I grew slightly nervous as Tsu'tey told me about Dr. Grace Augustine, the teacher of the school and a dream walker, or a tawtute in a body similar to ours. What happens if I'm not supposed to be here? Or she doesn't like me? My hand tightened its grip on Tsu'tey's hand, making him look at me before simply saying,
" It will be okay."
I stared at him before slowly nodding my hand and entered the School before him. I quickly found a seat next to a window and sat down, Tsu'tey following and sitting next to me as everyone else came in and sat somewhere. Everybody was talking quietly, waiting for the teacher to come.
It suddenly went quiet as the door opened and in came a Na'vi woman, despite her weird clothing, or that's what I thought until I saw that she looked different from us, from mother.
" Hello everyone," the woman greeted in Na'vi, doing the traditional to us as we did to her. She quickly looked around the room, counting and seeing who was here and who wasn't, when her eyes landed on me.
" Well well, it seems as if we have a new student."
She quickly walked up to me and knelt down next to my chair and asked,
" And who might you be little one?"
I was silent for a few seconds, debating on whether or not to tell her, but sighed in the end.
" My name is Eyaye of the Tipani clan." I whispered out to the woman, watching her like an ikran does its prey. Her eyes widened at my name but then she smiled, saying,
" My name is Dr. Grace Augustine, and I am the teacher here at this school."
She stood back up and walked to the front where she started to teach us the tawtute language.
But it didn't last long.
We had only been in school for a short time when my ears caught an unnatural sound. I ran to the window, catching the attention of Tsu'tey and Dr. Augustine, who both followed me. All three of us looked out and saw shiny monsters and Sky People, all carrying weapons and heading towards the school. The doctor quickly pulled us away from the window and yelled at everyone,
" Leave! Leave now!"
Everyone started to panic, and that is when chaos struck.
I could hear loud noises come from the monsters and tawtutes, causing holes to appear in the walls, they were shooting something at us, causing me to fall to the ground in a fetal position. Dr. Augustine ran out when they had paused, yelling at them to stop shooting, but they did not listen. One of the monsters took a hold of her, not allowing her to do anything. They then aimed their weapons at the school again, with wide eyes I turned and saw that most of the young Na'vi had escaped, including Tsu'tey, but there was some laying on the ground, bleeding. I could feel tears gather in my eyes as I saw fellow Na'vi children, around my age and slightly older, lying dead on the ground. My ears twitched as I heard sobs coming from somewhere. I quietly got up and crawled over to two Na'vi, most likely siblings. The one who was crying was my age and female, she was laying over another female's chest, crying hysterically.
I lightly touched her shoulder, causing her to jump and hiss at me which in turn made me jump back from her. Once she realized that I was Na'vi, she stopped and whispered,
" She is dead! My sister is dead!"
I gave her a sad look and quietly told her,
" I am sorry for your loss, but we need to leave."
She shook her head ' no' and gripped her dead sister's body tightly. I quickly looked around, hearing the loud footsteps of the monsters getting closer and Dr. Augustine yelling and screaming outside the now destroyed school. I then quickly turned back to the girl and whispered harshly,
" You need to leave now! Your mother cannot lose another child!"
That got her attention and she immediately went quiet, nodding her head she quickly kissed the dead Na'vi's forehead and followed me to the back exit apparently used for adult Na'vi and their ikran.
I crawled to the side and allowed the girl to pass me, where she was met by none other than Tsu'tey.
" Tsu'tey!" cried the girl quietly, tightly embracing him and she told him what happened, making his eyes go wide as he turned to me to confirm her story, all I could do was nod my head.
It was then that the door to the school was kicked in by the giant monster. I turned to the two and quietly said,
" Run!"
And they did, but I did not follow. They needed time to escape and I would give it to them. Tsu'tey had noticed that I did not follow and turned back, meeting my eyes filled with both sadness and determination. This made his own eyes widened and he hissed out,
" NO! You cannot do this!"
" Yes I can, now go, tell my mother that I love her and I will see her when she joins Eywa…"
I roughly pushed him, making him go. I smiled sadly at the two then I slowly turned back to the school entrance, allowing my eyes to slowly run across each dead Na'vi. Each dead body only angered me more.
I heard the monsters and tawtutes come in, talking in their language and laughing. My eyes narrowed as they kicked the dead bodies and lunged at the closest tawtute, grabbing and snapping his neck, instantly killing him. Unfortunately this caught the attention of the others and they came after me. I crouched and hissed at them, not noticing the monster coming from behind me until it had grabbed my queue and yanked me up.
I screamed in pain as I dangled by my queue, immense pain coming in waves. The tawtutes and monsters laughed at my pain as they brought me out of the school. I could hear Dr. Augustine scream something in their language, but it did little to help me. I was suddenly thrown down to the ground harshly, causing me to hiss both in relief of the monster no longer having his hold on my queue, and in pain as I felt the bone in my arm snap and break. As I laid on the ground the monster had drawn his knife out along with another weapon that I did not know what it was called.
I slowly stood up and glared at him and hissed out deadly,
" Eywa will protect me and our home! You will die by our hands!"
The monster said something angrily and pointed one of his weapons at me, causing Dr Augustine to scream over and over again. There was then a bunch of loud noises sounded off from the weapon and I felt immense pain all throughout my upper body. I screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground, my breathing became labored as I coughed and choked on the blood that was filling my mouth..
" NO!" screamed Dr Augustine, trying desperately to get out of the monster's grip but failing miserably, tears falling down her face like a waterfall.
I slowly turned my head to her and gave her one last smile while saying,
" Thank you Grace."
The monster once again picked me up by my queue and tossed me over to another one, along with his knife. The other monster caught the knife and pinned me down with his free hand, brining the knife up to my throat. The monster said something, his voice filled with anger, as he slowly slid the knife across my throat, cutting it deeply.
I immediately felt blood gush out of the new wound, joining my other wounds in a pool of blood on the ground around my body. My world started to go in and out, blackness trying to take over my mind, but I would not allow it. The monster once again picked me up and tossed me in the dense plant life, hiding my body from every one.
I could hear the monsters and tawtutes walk away and Grace sobbing hysterically as they carried her with them. I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head painfully towards the sky. If I die I want the sky to be the last thing I see. I saw nothing but the sky and the moons for what felt like the longest time, then I felt my ear twitch weakly towards the sounds of flapping and heavy footsteps. I smiled softly, knowing that the Omatikayans had come for their fallen.
I heard some cry out in anguish, finding the dead children in the school, some belonged to the warriors present, others were of close family, all though, were mourned. I could vaguely hear some familiar voices as they talked nearby.
" Have you found her yet?" asked a young male's voice. ' Tsu'tey…'
" Not yet, her mother is looking amongst the dead for her…"
" This is horrible! They just came and killed innocent children! And the Tsahìk's eldest daughter! She was killed as well, poor Neytiri, saw the whole thing…"
It sounded like the two female and Tsu'tey were walking close by, why haven't they seen the blood yet? I heard a gasp as Tsu'tey said,
" Look! There's blood all over this area!"
Quick footsteps came even closer to where I was lying, and I quietly groaned in pain, hoping to catch their attention. It did. I could hear them say something and push through the plants, unfortunately my world started to get blacker.
The last thing I heard was a gasp as someone yell for my mother and hands on me, trying to help as much as they could. Then I could no longer see, hear, or feel as my world became permanently black, pain and death swallowing me up.
My final thought was,
' Please Mother Eywa, help your people…'