Hello again.
Disclaimer: NO I Don't own any character place or thing that is from the original Avatar movie or games.
Author notes (I love being able to say that.): Or should I say movies since Avatar 2 has been announced? Yippee! Yes I'm doing a happy dance. No you really don't want to see it. Just to let you know before it happens my writing on this site might be a bit spotty as my life is more than a little hectic. Hospitals, travel, work, classes, ect. I'm sure everyone's life is like that so you'll understand. I will attempt to have a chapter posted per week if nothing else. I've just been suffering from logorrhea lately so you're seeing the written results. But at the moment I'm writing around a chapter a day. So yippee for everyone!
No fluff in this chapter. Sorry.
Okay now you know the drill. Read, if you love or even halfway like it, let me know so the muses keep doing happy cartwheels in my head. If you think something might make it better, talk to me so I can make this a more enjoyable story for you. If you think it sucks majorly, please tell me where I screwed up!
Chapter 4 Running and Training
Her long strides carried her quickly back to Hometree and the, what now felt like an illusion, security and safe haven it provide. By now people were used to her racing everywhere at top speed so they didn't even look up from their work as she sped by.
Neytiri found her strapping on her quiver and bow hastily, muttering curses as her bolo tangled itself and she wasted precious seconds pulling it apart. Her hands shook with emotion, stressed tears dripping onto her hands as she worked feverishly at the strands. "Rayne." Neytiri took the woman's hands into her own, stilling her. "What has happened?"
Rayne shook her head. "Nothing."
"Do not lie to me." Neytiri said, her voice soft with worry. "Sister, tell me." She begged.
Rayne looked to the tree's entrance, sunlight streaming in an unbroken ribbon through the opening. "It's time I left." She pulled her hands gently from Neytiri's grasp going back to the bolo, and with a final tug the knot loosened.
"You weren't planning on telling anyone were you?" The others silence as she coiled the rope of the bolo was all that answered her. "You were just going to let me worry." Neytiri accused.
The pain in Neytiri's voice was all that stopped her from turning to leave as soon as her things were collected from her hammock. "I couldn't risk that you would stop me."
"Why?" A figure appeared in Hometree's arched entrance and the hammock shifted beneath them as Rayne froze. Neytiri looked to see who it was and saw Tsu'tey looking up at them. His eyes dark in the shadow he cast with his back toward the sun. "Oh." Was all she said as pieces began fitting together. "Come." Neytiri ordered, pulling on Rayne's hand.
As the top branches of Hometree were scaled Neytiri stopped and took a seat waiting for an explanation that wasn't forth coming. Rayne's eyes didn't leave the horizon as she sat, straddling the thick limbs. "What happened?" Neytiri asked, growing impatient. "Did Tsu'tey do something? Did he hurt you?"
Rayne's eyes cut to her at that. Did Neytiri know the gentle giant so little? "Nothing important. No. And no to answer everything."
"You're lying again."
It was true, at least in part. She was lying that nothing happened. And yes he did do something, but she didn't even attempt stopping him. In fact she had welcomed him and what he did, returning it with enthusiasm. "I just feel trapped here." She sighed, taking the round about way of explaining. "In this clan I'm a child. I have no standing. Out there," she motioned to the forest beyond Hometree, "I've lived almost entirely on my own for fourteen years. Here I'm not allowed to go far outside Hometree without protection. I can't take a mate. I can't ride an Ikran. Palulukan are not welcome so I can't train or ride them. I'm no longer aloud with the Pa'li." Rayne shrugged. "I don't fit and I have nothing to do so I may as well leave."
For the longest moment Neytiri was too shocked to speak. "Why did you not speak of your restlessness before?" And why did I not see it? She asked herself.
"Mother taught me to be grateful for what I had."
Neytiri laughed. "You and I both know, Grace would never have hesitated saying something."
Rayne admitted it. "No she wouldn't." She shrugged, the branch slowly swaying under her weight. The slight wind that rocked, her pushing her hair back along her skin, reminding her of Tsu'tey's fingertips making her shiver."Perhaps I should have said something. It just wasn't that bad until today."
"What makes today different?" When no answer came, Neytiri pushed. "You were at the river."
Rayne swallowed several times before picking up where her friend left off. "I went to think about if I should leave. And he came out to check on me I guess."
"He?"
"Tsu'tey. We talked for a second or two then I jumped in the water." Rayne's hands showed the motion. "And we played around, pushing each other under the water, that kind of stuff." She paused as a woodsprite drifted toward her. "Then he kissed me." Neytiri's breath caught. "And when I finally opened my eyes, we were covered in these." She held the small seed aloft in the palm of her hand and watched as it drifted away as lazily as it came. "I saw them and came back here."
"Why do I have the feeling you are not telling me everything?" Rayne didn't answer. "How long?"
Rayne's eyes cut to look at Neytiri's fine boned features. She looked exasperated at the slowness of the answers. "How long what?"
"How long did you two kiss?"
"It didn't seem that long." Rayne answered. "But it must have been longer than I thought." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "A lot longer than I thought. Apparently." She groaned, hiding her head in her hands.
"You like him." Neytiri laughed patting her shoulder. "And his eyes follow you everywhere." Rayne jerked at the revelation. "And Eywa has blessed you both." She clapped her hands with joy. "I'm so happy for you!"
"I don't see why." Rayne muttered, sullenly.
Neytiri smiled knowingly. Rayne needed a push. And Neytiri was well known for her shoves. Maybe she could convince Jake to nudge Tsu'tey along as well. "If I talk to Jake about you training to be an Ikran Makto, will you stay?" It must be her motherly instincts kicking in. But she was understanding Rayne's sigh of resignation like she understood Jake's many growls, groans, grunts, and sighs. Half of his conversation wasn't in words.
"Perhaps." Rayne answered after some thought. "I guess I should think about this some more."
"Please do. I will have an answer for you tonight at dinner."
For the rest of the day Rayne stayed close to the Ikrans, cooing to the large predators as if they were kittens, and avoiding Tsu'tey. But the Ikrans were not as helpful as usual. Normally they screeched as someone approached but Tsu'tey neared her without a whisper. The Ikran only purred as she scratched behind his jaw.
"Kraxxis generally doesn't like other people." Tsu'tey murmured not wanting to startle the pair. Honestly he had never seen someone who was as kind without expecting anything in return. Being kind was a principle of Eywa. But being so utterly selfless, that was special. "You must be special." He walked to the pair and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I heard what Neytiri asked Jake."
He turned her around to face him. "Why didn't you ask me yourself?" His voice was soft, something that it normally wasn't. Rayne glanced up at him before returning to the Ikran. He growled, impatient that she wasn't answering. "Why?"
"What happened before. . ." Rayne began. Tsu'tey looked as if he wanted to say something but a single finger on his lips stopped him mid thought. "No let me finish. What happened before, happened. We didn't dream it up. Although that might be easier. You and I have no ties to each other. No claim on the other. So what ever your feelings are, what ever mine may be, until I complete the Iknimaya and the Unitaron and gain standing in the clan, you and I are nothing."
Tsu'tey's eyes filled with hurt and anger as she went on. "Nothing more than two people who live in the same tree and occasionally speak to each other." She reached as high as she could to scratch between the Ikran's two queue.
"Is that really what you want?" Tsu'tey growled.
"You and I both know the rules." She answered evenly. "I suggest we play by them."
Tsu'tey found himself at the practice targets yanking arrows out of the woven target not too long after their conversation. And he stayed at the practice area, peppering the targets with holes until one fell apart, shredded, sometime after dinner.
He walked back to the hundred yard line, griping the arrows like he was choking the life out of them. He stopped on the line and turned toward the target, pulling the bowstring back in one fluid motion, sucking in a stilling breathe. His arm was ridged as he aimed for less time than the space of a breath, over and over, forcing out his frustration with each twang of sinew string.
That was where the Olo'eyktan found him. His brow furrowed, mouth open in a snarl as he concentrated. Jake chuckled as the phlegmatic male showed signs that his unflappable control was failing him. He even missed the target, more than once. Tsu'tey grumbled at the arrows as he pulled them free once again. Turning, he started catching sight of Jake watching him. "Did you need something?" He strode back to the firing line and took his stance. This time he lined up his shot carefully and overshot the target sending the arrow into the tree.
"If that was a yerik, the clan would be going be going hungry." Jake said dryly. "You have a new trainee."
"You agreed then?" Tsu'tey shot another arrow. Missing again which fully infuriated bow string unhooked itself as it rebounded, snapping a welt across his forearm.
"It isn't like you to miss evening meal. Distracted?" Jake asked, stringing his bow. Tsu'tey glared without a word. "Anything you want to talk about?" Tsu'tey restrung his bow with a grunt. "I'm guessing it's a certain female." Tsu'tey's bow string snapped off again as he hauled back on it too quickly. "You may as well tell me." Tsu'tey cocked an eyebrow in question. "Neytiri knows. She refuses to tell me." Jake groaned as nothing crept past the stolid males lips. "Throw me a bone already." Still nothing. "I can make it an order since it's obviously going to cause problems."
Tsu'tey groaned, knowing Jake was like a viperwolf with a fresh carcass. He wouldn't let go unless every bit of juicy information was spread out like a feast before him. "In the river we kissed." He looked up into Hometree's leaves. "Up with the Ikrans she told me not to act on what happened."
"What exactly was said?"
"Until she becomes a makto and gains standing in the clan we should follow the rules." Tsu'tey leaned against the tree he had just pulled arrows from with a sigh.
Jake smirked knowingly. She hadn't said no. "Well with any luck she'll bond with an Ikran with the next group and one of the other males that follow her around will catch her eye. Then I will not have to deal with males asking for my blessing and you will get rid of a head ache." Tsu'tey's face went black as the Pandoran night at the thought of another male bonding with the stubborn female. At the thought of another male waking up with her in their arms, his heart filled with fury.
"I tell you," Jake went on seeing the change in Tsu'tey's face. "I don't see her accepting any of the males in our clan. They will all give her time to think, instead of rewriting the rules." At the startled look on his friend's face, Jake surmised that he hadn't thought of either of those options. The first left the taste of bile in his throat, and the second took it away again. No he hadn't thought of them. But he was going to use the thoughts that filled his skull now.
Today was the day, Tsu'tey mused. The day when he played by the rules. Because until she rode that Ikran, no one but him could get. . . He stopped the thought in the middle of its sentence. Who was laughing at this time of the morning? He tapped the side of his hammock, telling it to pull back. He peered over the swinging beds side to see Rayne shaking with laughter. One of the young males was cavorting around her like it was mating season for the Strumbeests. She held her sides as she shook. Her face was split with a radiant smile.
And Tsu'tey was furious. He sprang from the hammock and hit the floor with a thud, pain exploding from his feet as they met with the floor. But Rayne stopped laughing at the male and looked at him. Surprisingly her smile didn't fade. "Why are you two awake?"
Rayne didn't miss a beat in answering, while the male nearly shrank from Tsu'tey. "Maga needed fire wood. We offered to get it for her so she didn't have to leave the fires."
"We?" Tsu'tey questioned, turning his attention to the cowering male. Was this her taste? "Your name male?"
"Kyrn." He squeaked.
He hasn't even gone through his own coming of age ceremony, Tsu'tey realized. Well I feel silly, he thought. "Kyrn." Tsu'tey confirmed. "Your teacher is Lag'na. Go find him." The young male nodded, scampering off eager to get out of Tsu'tey's sight. At least some one followed orders. "I'm teaching you. Jake's orders."
Rayne smiled sweetly stepping closer to him, coming within six inches of him and tilting her chin up to look at him. "Scaring him was entirely unnecessary." She slammed her foot down on his then spun toward the forest disappearing into the leaves. Her face poked out of the greenery, annoyance furrowing her brow. "Are you coming?" When she ducked back in, he heard crashing.
He smirked. Tsu'tey limped into the woods after her. That hurt, he thought proudly. At least she didn't argue Jake's orders.
Okay yes a short chapter. I'm sorry but I wanted to get to the next chapter where there's (spoiler alert!) THANATOR ACTION!