A wave of dread rippled throughout the rainforest, startling the creatures before a tense silence ensued. Even the trees seemed hesitant amongst the change in atmosphere. Something was wrong and they could sense it.
With large, watchful eyes, the Omaticaya surveyed Home Tree. It had been a long and arduous journey for most, but a grieving and painful journey for all. Above them, their Ikran soared and screeched sadly into the horizon. The battle against the Sky People was over, but so many had lost their lives and even now, wounded were carried by the Pa'li and Ikran.
They had returned after only a day to find so many of their loved ones limp, skewered or missing completely. The cries of a child gave the only hope for the people and they found her little body trembling violently in the arms of her dead mother. The sight was worse than an arrow through the heart.
The lost people were resting by the river, the only clean place left in such a desolate space. They looked about them painfully where Home Tree lay dead and broken across what must have been kilometres of thriving forest. Though most of it was now charcoal and embers, it's higher branches remained unscathed and healthy. Perhaps there may have been a sliver of hope, but not anymore. Home Tree was gone.
Jake stood at the head of his people with Neytiri by his side. They both turned around to face the sorrowful clan as hundreds of lost faces stared up, looking for leadership and guidance.
"Jake?" Neytiri's soft voice was as comforting as the hand she placed on his shoulder. Her brilliant golden eyes searched his face for the hero, the man she fell in love with under the branches of the Vitraya Ramunong, the Tree of Souls. He gave her a reassuring smile and she brightened immediately before noticing a group of men and women approaching them. They were representatives of sister clans and one stepped forward, touching his hand to his forehead.
"Brother, much sadness this is. We have decided to stay with your clan, until you have found a new home." Each of them stepped forward in turn, placing their hand to their forehead and pledging themselves to the Omaticaya. Jake knew each of them well and treasured the comradery they shared from battle.
"We cannot express our gratitude, my brothers and sisters." Jake rested his hands on the shoulders of the one who had spoken to him first. He breathed deeply and said to them with greater confidence, "We will find a new home. I know that there is a place for us somewhere.
"Since you are staying with us, I ask you to take to the skies, Uai. Take as many riders as you like and help us in our search. Maybe there is another Home Tree for us yet." Uai embraced Jake, followed by his companions Paru and Hal'ia and left to call their Ikran. They came from the clan who lived on the sea cliff and their Ikran were used to enduring flights for long distances at a time over the ocean.
Jake paused before returning to face the Omaticaya with a brave face. He could see the anguish from those eyes fall upon him, pressing him into the ground with an oppressive weight. Both Eytukan and Tsu'tey were now dead and that left him, Neytiri's mate, to take the role of Clan Chief.
It was going to be hard, he knew, and no one would want to live in the poisoned land near the human's mine, but that was the only place he knew they could go. At least for the time being. Jake looked back to his mate and then to her mother, Moat, who nodded her approval of his announcement to the people.
As he called to them, an expectant silence made him feel conscious and he had to clear his throat. He spoke just as he had to them in the tense moments before the ambush on the human cargo hauler. With Moat speaking for him, Jake revealed his plan.
"You all know that Home Tree is no more and that we cannot dwell on the past. We shouldn't be suffering in our grief and loss. If you will follow me, we can go to the place of the Sky People. We can stay there until we find our new home." His words were lost in an uproar of fearful disagreement from many of the Na'vi. Sneers and hissed curses were spat at him and though he knew they were upset in the face of this disaster, he could see that the threats were empty, simple pent up grief.
He pressed on, still determined to convince them it would work for the best. "We will search the skies and the land for this new home and rebuild our clan, our way of life. I can lead you with the help of Moat and Neytiri. I cannot replace Eytukan or Tsu'tey, but I will fight for you, beside you. You have all seen this." Jake held his hands out to them, his expression remaining strong and steadfast though he felt vastly the opposite. He had to be the brave face for his clan.
"It will be the choice of the people." With his last words he left the gathering, satisfied he had done his best, though still a little deflated. Yes, they had saved their homeland, but not their home.
"They will follow you, Jake. You are Toruk Makto and their Chief and we are together." Once again he smiled, if only to reassure himself as much as she always did for him. She was a voice of reason in times when he needed it and he was hers when her emotions overcame her. But every time he looked into her eyes, he saw the spirits of her father and Tsu'tey amongst the thousands of others who paid with their lives in the Battle for Vitraya Ramunong.
Jake took her in his arms and cradled her to his chest. She breathed in his scent and smiled warmly to herself, looking up and kissing him on the lips. He ran his hands down her arms slowly to rest softly upon her abdomen.
"I see you," he whispered to the little life already stirring within Neytiri's womb.
Far away, surfing the rolling waves of the Eastern Sea, a lone Na'vi lay unconscious aboard a magnificent ocean creature. They came from a far off land dotted by islands and were seeking the help of the one that the stories named Toruk Makto. He stirred as the beast beneath him sighed a harmonious tune from deep within its being. His hand gently patted the creature and it increased its pace across the swell even though it was exhausted. It was like the Ikran, but instead of leathery wings, strong flippers propelled them through the water. Its long neck arched over its rider every few minutes to make sure he was not going to slip into the ocean's depths. Unlike the Ikran however, its nature was far more passive and inquisitive. The Na'vi called him Paoang and his rider Paoang-tsawl Makto. To a select few however, the rider's name was Cha-othi.
Jake woke with a start, his breathing rapid and heavy and stared out into the darkness. Neytiri stirred beside him and he brushed a plait away from her pristine face. He wondered why it was so difficult to see her when she was right beside him. Jake rubbed his eyes in the dim light of the glowing coals and squinted out into the nothingness where the others were laying beside them, but they could barely been seen. As he leant down to brush a fern growing close to their bedroll, he noticed it didn't light up. There was no glow, no bright colours painting picturesque forest landscapes.
He nudged Neytiri awake and hardly noticed her shocked cry, waking up others in turn until a chorus of fearful outcries and shouts echoed into the dark night. Neytiri clutched Jake by the arm, her face desperate. "It is Eywa! Jake, something is wrong with Eywa!"
Jake immediately stood tall, "Calm down! Everybody!" His voice carried out and brought some peace, though many of the children continued to whimper in the dark. The dark was something alien and kept hidden the unknown. Jake knew that fear of the dark was very common in human children back on his home planet, Earth, and noticed that fear of the unknown was definitely something to be afraid of. How can you defeat an enemy without knowing what it is?
Then he frowned; the memories of his home were fading. Even though his old world could never compare to the beauty and life on Pandora, a sliver of homesickness ebbed at the back of his mind constantly since the banishment of the Sky People.
Of course, there were still a few humans remaining, like Norm. His decision to stick with his human body was based on his avatar's death but it also meant that the old team stayed behind as well, including the other avatar drivers. They stayed at the compound where an Embassy was to be erected and a treaty formed between the two races. This was all just talk so far, and Jake doubted that action would take place any time soon.
Suddenly their ears pricked up and in the distance they all heard the whir of helicopter blades and a set of lights appeared from downriver. The Omaticaya allowed the humans to keep a single flight regiment newly named Rogue T after Trudy in honour of her sacrafice.
Rogue Alpha circled once before coming to a halt near where Jake stood. He placed his fingers to the communicator on his neck as Na'vi moved away from where the copter began to land, "Norm? Is that you?"
A small figure tripped out of the copter, landing heavily onto his back with a groan and Jake stepped over to him, pulling him up to his feet. Norm brushed his clothes of dust and shook Jake's huge hand.
"Hi Jake, is everything okay? The darkness is new huh?" His inquisitive nature drew him to various plants that would normally be glowing brilliantly.
"Yeah, I know Norm." Jake looked back into the darkness again, his eyes beginning to adjust to the dark.
"It is Eywa; she has a sickness," Neytiri said sorrowfully.
"Is that why it's so dark? It's like the plants have lost their life source," he wondered. "Jake, Grace said something before about the trees here while we were studying the root systems. You remember the day that Thanador chased you off a cliff?"
"Shut up, Norm," he laughed.
"Well she discovered the closest interconnection of neural biology known and I think that-"
"Norm, just say it without the quacking."
"When Home Tree was destroyed, the connections it had to other trees might mean that they'll die with it, it's like a virus," he added, his expression turning grave. "That's why we came here, because the same thing is happening back at the compound."
"This is happening in more places?" Neytiri drew closer to him, fear and worry for Eywa and her children clearly etched into her face.
"It's happening within a thousand mile radius of Home Tree and spreading. Neytiri, I think you need to go with Moat to Eywa and see if there are answers there."
"It would seem," Moat added, "that the fight for our land has only just begun. We will go to Eywa, but expect nothing. It is a deep wound the Sky People have cut, and now it is infected. This will only bring badness."
Jake left the others once Mo'at finished. He was angry at the human part of him, at humans in general. He hated how they had brought the destruction and desolation they had wrought on Earth to his new home. He was frustrated that all he seemed to do was fly in circles, forever gliding closer and closer to the ground. He was scared for his people and for Eywa, but he didn't know what to do.
"Jake," Neytiri came over to stand by him as he stared into the river. "I can feel your pain. It will be okay. Everything happens the way it happens. That is the will of Eywa."
"Yeah, but I bet Eywa wasn't expecting us, was she?" Jake snapped. Neytiri pulled away, hurt and she noted that Jake said 'us'.
"What do you mean?" she ventured.
"Humans! Without me, the people would all be dead and the Tree of Souls destroyed. Eywa wouldn't have acted without my asking. Who conquered Toruk? It took a human to do this."
"Jake..." His words cut her, making her feel as though she was bleeding from an invisible wound and her eyes stung from the tears that threatened to fall.
His shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry, Neytiri. I didn't mean that. My actions were nothing in comparison to the bravery of the people. It's just that I feel so useless. The people need someone to lead them through this and I'm still learning. I'm not the right man for the job."
"I'm not sure I understand, but I do know this: a hunter cannot learn to hunt his prey through the tales of a storyteller. He must make the kill himself and become the hunter in doing so." She placed her hand on his face and leaned in to kiss him softly on his forehead. "I believe in you, Jake. We all do."