Well its been a long time since i've poked at this story and the others i have up. I've not really been able to write much in the last few years due to personal problems but now i am at least able to start getting stuff down. So without further adue i give you the long awaited Chapter 3 of On Silver Wings! Please Enjoy ^_^.
Disclaimer. I do not own Avatar. Only my OC's!
Italics: Thoughts.
Bold Italics: Speaking in Na'vi.
Chapter 3: What to do?
Jake stared at the woman for a moment before he slowly straightened up, his tail flicking gently behind him as his eyes took in the woman hiding partly behind the trunk of the tree. Suddenly he realized that there was something wrong. She wasn't wearing a Exomask, she was actually breathing the air as if she was born to. He shallowed back the grunt of surprise at this, storing away the flood of questions this raised in another part of his mind as he carefully put away his knife, making sure she could see him doing this. He took a few steps forward and held out his hand, his lips turning up into a slight smile as he spoke softly, "It's ok. No one will hurt you." As he spoke the woman came out from behind the trunk fully, her eyes darting between him and Tu'cay behind him. Jake signalled for the hunter to lower his arrow, hoping that this would encourge the woman to trust them. His eyes took in what was before him, trying to make sense of the human. "At least i think she's human", Jake thought to himself as he looked her over. She was 5", average height for a human woman. Her clothes comprised of a dirty, torn t-shirt, a pair of jeans in the same condition and a pair of trainers. Her oval shaped face was steaked with dirt except where her strange tears had flowed down her cheeks, a small nose and mouth suited her face. But what set it all off was her eyes, They were a strange silver colour, one Jake had never seen before and he was sure they were slightly glowing in the shade of the tree. Her body was small and slim which fit her height. It was then that the sun decided to move in the sky and a flash of silver was shone in Jakes eyes. He squinted, shading his eyes with his hand to see what was causing the flash. This time he did make a noise of surprise because there, just as the young hunter had told him and Neytiri, was a pair of silver wings. And not like the wings of the Ikran but like the birds of Earth, soft feathered wings that fanned out behind her as if she was going to take flight at any moment. Jake couldn't help the unbidden thought that whispered in the halls of his mind "An Angel?"
Nat had watched the males quietly, her tears having dried quickly after the first male spoke. Her surprise at hearing english, her own tongue, from a native of another world stunned her for a few moments. She caught movement and watched the male put his knife away before he moved closer, speaking to her again. Trying to decide wither he was trust worthy or not she moved out from the protection of the trunk, revealing herself more fully to their eyes. And while they studied her she took a closer look at them. Her initial assessment that they looked like her people was changed as she got a better look at them. First off they were taller, a lot taller then she first thought. Forget 7" they were more like 9" and thin. But not sickly thin but toned thin, not an inch of them was wasted on fat. They were built for a life of hunting and living in this dense jungle. And she bet her best hunting bow back home that they were strong, far stronger then a normal human. The first male didnt wear much in the way of clothing, just a loincloth cover his groin. But his waist had a guard of somekind wrapped around it and his chest had a knife belt. His black hair was braided into many thin braids with decorative leaves and other things she didn't recognize and a main thick braid that had slipped over his shoulder. Suddenly the sun shone through the trees and on to her wings, reflecting the light on the male who had spoken, causing him to shield his eyes. She heard the noise he made and then heard the thought that whispered through his mind. She smiled at it, keeping the automatic reaction of answering his thought outloud. She had learned a long time ago that answering the thoughts of others when they nothing about her and her abilities could cause her undue trouble. Finally she decided that hiding wouldn't help her anymore and with a quick flick of her wings she glided down to the floor, carefully not to jostle Obs as she landed a few feet away from the males. Seeing them up close made her take a few steps back, just so that she didn't have to crane her neck so much to look them in the face, but she still have to bend her head back quite a bit to look the first male in the eye as much as she could. Taking a small breath she smiled softly, hoping to look as unthreatening as possible to them. "My name is Natalie...", She said, making a gesture that was so natural to her. Her fingers touched her forehead, then her lips before sweeping out in front of her. She then waited for the male to reply, her eyes watching their response carefully.
As his clan leader spoke to the stange Sky Person in the tree Tu'cay kept his arrow trained on her until his Leader signalled him to lower it. Her apperance to him was no different then other Sky People but her wings were something new. He had never seen feathers before so knew not what they were. There was nothing that he had seen in his time upon this world that he could compare it to except maybe the end of his Tswin, the part he use to Tsaheylu with his Pa'li. When finally she came down from the tree she did not climb down but flew down, startling Tu'cay and causing his Pa'li to take a few steps back from the thing that cause her rider such distress. He quickly calmed her, looking at his leader when he saw the signal to dismount. He obeyed, sliding from his mount and moving up to stand beside him. He had been one of the lucky ones to go to the School that the Karju Grace had made for them and thus had learned english, though not to the extent of some of the younger ones. So when the strange Sky Person spoke he understood what she said but kept quiet, leaving it to his Leader to interact with her.
Jake turned to aknowledge Tu'cay when he stood beside him before turning his attention back to the woman before him. He nodded his head, smiling back at her, "Hello Natalie. My name is Jake. I'm the Olo'eyktan, the clan leader, of the Omatikaya Clan." He let this sink in for a moment before he spoke again. "May i ask what a Sky Person is doing in this part of the forest, so far away from Hell's Gate?"
Nat tilted her head in a gesture that the males found familiar, for there own did the same thing when considering something. She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it, shaking her head before trying to speak again. "I'm afraid i don't know what you mean. I know nothing about any Hell's Gate or Sky Person." Her gaze moved around her, at the beauty of the jungle. At the way everything around seemed to pulse with life and purpose. Her eyes turned back to the males before her, sighing softly. "I'm unsure as how i came to be in this paradise you call home. The last thing i remember was going out to tend to my friends when suddenly i felt dizzy and i think then i must have passed out because the next thing i know i woke up here, aching everywhere and unable to breathe properly." She shook her head and held her free hand out in a gestue of helplessness. "When finally my body adjusted to the air of this world i found this little one not far from me, scared and in pain." She looked down at Obs, who was still blissfully asleep wrapped up in her coat. "I tended to her as best i could before going to find some water to try and clean myself up with. And then you came and thats it."
Jake listened to the woman story, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he took in her words. He would like to call her out on her tale but the fact that no new ships from the RDA were due to arrive for another year and all the staff that had stayed behind has been accounted for. For now he had to take her word that she was telling the truth but what to do with her until he could verify her story. His tail flicked about behind him, showing his indecision about how to procede from here. On one hand she didn't seem to be a threat. She carried no weapons that he could see and she had cared for the wounded Nantang. On the other hand he recalled Tu'cay saying she caused fire to come from no where. So he decided to use this as a test for her. "Tu'cay says that you called fire from thin air. Is this true?"
Nat blinked at the question before replying, "Well yes. I used it to burn some of my feathers as the ash has healing properties in it. Why?"
Jakes eyes narrowed as he moved closer to her, his hand on his knife. "How are you able to do such a thing? You can't make fire without tools of some kind" He felt the growl slip from his lips, a voice in his mind whispering of danger.
Upon hearing the growl from the male Nat answered with one of her own, standing her ground against the much larger male. Iit is something that all my clan are taught to do at a young age. Calling and using the four basic elements is the first test we must pass before going on to the next set of trials. I'm sure your people have their own tests and trials that they have their Young face as they grow and become adults" she snorted, before shaking her head to stop herself from hitting the male. If this was one if her clan she would have knotted his tail for growling at her but she had to remember that she was far away from her home and family, at the mercy of a strange race on an even stranger world.
Having a human growl at him suddenly made Jake blink and even Tu'cay tilted his head and flicked his ears, uncertain of what to do. He looked to his Leader, who looked a bit confused to be quite honest. Jake got back his composure and took his hand from his knife, rubbing his hand over his face. "So what you are saying is you are not a Sky Person?". Nat nodded and sighed softly. "I don't know what a Sky Person is nor have i ever heard of the term before". Jake looked her over yet again, everything in him, every sense he had, told him that this was a Sky Person, a human, standing before him. But the things he had seen and heard were telling him differently. "Eywa if your listening please help this skxawng out?", he thought to himself as he tried to figure out what to do with this woman yet again. Suddenly, as if the great spirit had heard him a single Atokirina floated down from the canopy and slowly made its way to the woman. Nat held out her hand almost on instinct, watching the small, white feather like thing land lightly on her skin. Smiling at the light touch that she felt flutter over the outer thoughts of her mind, as if seeking permission to look further she opened the barrier that protected her inner mind just enough. She felt was she thought was a feeling of satisfaction before the feeling of something fluttering around her mind left and the small thing floated away from her hand, letting the wind carry it off to where ever it was taken. Looking up at the two males she couldn't help but chuckle at their looks of awe as they watched the small thing float away. The male, Jake she has to remind her self that he had a name, turned to her and shook his head before letting out a small laugh. "Well its seems Eywa has given you the a'ok for now", He moved close before kneeling down to the woman's height and held out his hand. "I will take you back and our Tsahik will tell us what will happen to you from here".
Nat stared at the offered hand a moment before taking it carefully, her eyes looking into Jake for falsehoods or lies. Seeing none though she took his hand more frimly, a smile gracing her lips. " Then i shall give you my full title seeing as you gave me yours." Her eyes began to glow, as if lit from a fire within and her wings spread themselves a little more, making the light catch on them. She knew she was showing off but she couldn't help herself. " I am Nataliya Elmira, Silver Winged Guardian of Gaia and adopted Daughter of the Elmira clan."
At that moment Obs decided that waking up sounded like a great idea and wiggled about, kicking Nat in the stomach and making her double over with a yelp. Jake and Tu'cay stood rock still for a moment before both burst out laughing, unable to help themselves. Nat on the other hand gave Obs a mock glare as the Creature looked up at her with a calm eye before closing it and going back to sleep, unaware of what she had done. Looking over at the males, Nat couldn't help but join them in the laughter, the tension that had been hovering at the egdes of the group the whole time fading away as they all chuckled over the terrible timing of her little friend.
After catching his breath Jake laided his hand on her shoulder gently and smiled, this time a genuine one. "Come. I shall take you to the clan and we shall see what Eywa has planned for you. I'm sure my Mate and her mother can help with this task". Looking around Jake frowned, wondering if she could handle being on a Pa'li behind one of them. Almost as if she could read his mind Nat patted his arm and flicked her head towards her wings. "I will follow you. I can fly just above you easily enough" Jake couldn't see a problem with this so after warning her about the Forest Ikran that hunted the skies around them he remounted his Pa'li along with Tu'cay and begain the trek home. "Eywa only knows what Neytiri is going to think about all this, let alone Norm and all the others back at Hell's Gate". With that thought the Na'vi and Nat slipped quietly into the forest, leaving behind a single silver feather as the only sign that anyone had every been there.
Well what do you think? I'll start working on the next Chapter soon but i won't post it up until i get some reviews on this one. Please R&R!