Chapter 2: Shisike om ketri tzi
Silvri led Nata'ir into the Hometree and sat him by the fire, pushing some grubs his way, he smiled his needle-toothed grin and nodded as he took the leaf.
"Naana ato mala tor." May this meal bless us.
She sat next to him and drank in his odd details, his strange cyan eyes and his tail, which matched the end of her queue with the neural connectors. It never stopped moving, she had seen other Tzi kaah when she was young and his movement seemed... out of place and his neural connectors seemed somehow dead.
"If you don't mind my saying you look... different to the other Tzi kaah I've seen." she looked away, not wishing to offend him.
"It's a long story, Silvri." he said dismissively
"I have time."
"The reason for this... difference..." he said the word as though it were offensive to him "Is that I am Shishike om ketri tzi, or Wanderer of endless night. My people tend not to venture above ground because here, like you coming down to us, we are cut off from the stone, that is the eyes, but my change came about for shameful reasons. When I was young, I was the eldest son of our Kaah'dizhin, or Stone watcher. So much was expected of me, and I rebelled. My people are connected at all times through a... sort of communal link that's always active. We work as one huge mind with many bodies. If you commit a horrific crime you are voted upon and exiled... they cut you off from the Hivemind. I have been cut off for three years, so my skin goes gray... my markings black. I get thinner as I lose the will to live. This has shamed my family... my mother resigned as Kaah'dizhin, begging them to exile her as well... They chose to be "merciful" and not condemn an innocent.
"The first few months are the hardest, being cut from the hive is hard. After that it gets easier, and you begin to think for yourself and you almost forget what it's like to have a part of your head devoted to the rest of your tribe." He finished and swallowed another grub, his cyan eyes keeping on the floor.
"What did you do?" she asked tentively
"Nothing." he said quickly, softening as he looked into her orange eyes "As I say, we are all connected, I was thinking of coming aboveground bfore my initiation as Dusha'shishi. This is a terrible crime, as if you are unprepared you will die and the whole tribe would feel it as though they died themselves. So, they take away your link to the Stonemind and let you go."
"That sounds horrific... but you seem to speak Na'vi fluently." she said, putting a hand on his thin shoulder.
"Dusha'shishi is a Foerst wanderer... I was almost through with my training when the trecherous thought crept into my head. I do not blame my people, so stuck in their traditions." He made a sign with his free hand and ate another grub. "The Na'vi always astounded me, I always wanted to meet one."
"Well, at least you have." she smiled "I'm sure my people would have accepted you here, whether or not you were..." she paused and scrunched up her face in thought "Ducha'shichi."
"Thank you... I always believed the Na'vi were more forgiving than my own people. It is getting late, I am sure I should be going."
"After three years of loneliness surely one day of company would be good?" she asked, her eyes wide and pleading.
"Where would I stay? I do not wish to be a burden..."
"You will not be, there is a spare hammock in my family's part of Hometree, you may sleep there."
"Naana ura ditila mala tora." May your kindness bless you. "Thank you."
"You are most welcome. Come, sleep."
Nata'ir dreamt he was with his people, his skin was green and his markings brown. He could hear them all the way he could when he was of the Hivemind, all the petty grievances and all the laughter. He flexed his fingers and thumbs, touching both thumbs on his left hand together. He walked, but it was as if no one else could see him, or hear him... he was a ghost. As he had been when his Exile became official, but this was different. He could feel himself connected to the hive. He heard a voice in his mind... the newly opened part.
"Nata'ir? My son?"
"Mother?" he asked, shocked.
"Yes, my son... How did you get into the Hivemind? You have been gone for three years... your father held a private funeral for you... Praise the Stone you are safe. I have a message... pass it on to the Na'vi if you see one... The stone is screaming. Something is coming." He could feel the connection vanishing as he awoke.
"But mother..."
"No buts, my dear, brave boy... You are leaving. I love you." And the connection severed and he felt the utter desolation of his exile as if it were fresh.
"I love you too..." he whispered to the night sky, realising he would not sleep again that night. He sat up and looked around, he would warn Silvri before leaving. the Na'vi would know what to do... as he closed his eyes his breathing slowed and he fell gratefully into a dreamless sleep.
Pretty sure none of you guessed it... :) if you like this story... Review! if you don't... Review! if you're completely indifferent... Review! it only takes a minute to write a short note.
Just in case anyone's wondering, I'm assuming the english words are in Na'vi and any wierd ones are in Tzi kaan to keep it simple. Thanks for reading. :)
