Hi EVERYONE! Okay, first off, I'm reallyyyyy sorry that I didn't update for quite a few days. I'm REAAAAALLLYYYYY sorry. I just was really busy this week. (See, this coming school year we'll be off to high school!) Anyways, i'm kinda ranting on right now so, in this chapter I decided to do more of a character development than any action. Sorry, but I realized that some of my OC's were as blank as a chalkboard... and I mean a blank chalkboard :D Thanks again for putting up with the wait, and here ya go!
-NW :3
Pinky Promises with Five Fingers
Kya'quela's Story
All four of them decided to take a break. It was a hard training afternoon, and all they wanted to do was to relax for a bit. The day had tired them out, especially Seze and Mua'seto because of their near-death experience. Pandora was like that. Watch your back because death was always at your doorstep was probably its motto. There must have been a million ways to die on Pandora. You could die of getting shot, or getting eaten, trampled over, falling, breaking something, stranded, lost, poisoned, maybe even forest fires, though it didn't happen usually. Really, the list could have gone on forever. The race for survival, it was the circle of life. But that didn't mean you couldn't help each other get to the place where everyone wanted to be; the top. The place where nothing could touch you. At first, the Na'vi felt they were the ones at the top, that is, until the humans came.
Humans were living creatures the Na'vi thought they would never understand. Humans were so different from each other in every way. They spoke differently, they dressed differently, the looked different from each other, and they would judge each other at different levels based on what they were on the outside. Like the colour of their skin, some were very dark like tree bark, other's had skin the colour of rich soils, and some had pale pink-ish skin like sand or some fruits. Power was a big thing with humans. Who ever had power, they would lead and be the best. Humans would level themselves to get what they wanted, not what they needed. Even between genders, humans would rank amongst their own kin of who was better than the rest.
Eywa had taught the Na'vi to do the exact opposite of that. She showed them to respect all that lived and surrounded them. They were all her children, and the land belonged to no one. It was their place to borrow, not take. Even the energy that lived inside them was only borrowed. It was something all living things could have access to, but never obtain for themselves. When they spoke to Eywa they would be able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch what Eywa showed them. They understood their world better and learned to live in it without getting hurt, or even having to struggle too much. They learned to love. They learned to cry. They learned what lose meant, and what finding was. They learned to trust. They learned to have hope and keep faith. They learned to communicate. They learned to value and appreciate what they had. They learned what they wanted was not what they needed to survive, and they learned to accept that crucial fact.
But not the humans. No, the Sky people did not see what was around them. Maybe the Sky people did see what was around them, but did not accept it as a way of life. Maybe they didn't want to accept it. They could have been too lazy, or too greedy, or unhelpful and decided to change the world they saw into what they wanted to see. It seemed really dumb, but that was the Sky people for you. It was probably because they couldn't communicate with their Eywa on Earth the way the Na'vi could. Maybe they didn't believe that the things on their planet were part of their Eywa's creation. They saw their surroundings as things to conquer. To obtain. To own. They saw the land as something to claim, as well as the animals were something to sell and trade for things they wanted that other Sky people might have. Their world seemed so wrong and difficult. They made all sorts of sacrifices to have what they desired. Why couldn't they just accept what was before their eyes instead of going the long way around the problem?
Seze lifted the long cloth underneath her stomach a bit. She sighed as the water cooled her feet and ventured farther into the lake until the water was at her thighs.
Humans sure were strange. It was hard to believe her own father once was a human. A Sky person and a Dream walker. But now, he was the clan leader. It just didn't make any sense. Or maybe all the humans weren't what she thought they might be. Perhaps not all Sky people were as corrupt as others.
"Gahh! Aki'te, stop splashing me! I'm all wet now. Look at me!"
Kya'quela stood at the water's edge, not daring to move any closer to the water than she had to.
"Come on in, Kya! The waters great!" Seze called.
Kya'quela stared at Seze for a moment, then turned to the clear waters with a petrified gaze. She shook her head.
"Why not?" Mua'seto asked curiously, he too, was in the water and having fun.
Kya'quela shook her head once more and said, "I don't like water."
"Then how do you survive? You need to drink water." Aki'te pointed out the obvious.
"It's not the drinking I don't like, it's the swimming part. The part where you immerse your body in it."
"Why don't you like it?" Seze inquired quietly, having curiosity nipping her heels as well.
Kya'quela's eyes were suddenly overflowed with fear. Every muscle in her body tensed, every bone shivered, her mind filled with the haunting memory of her past. She could not speak.
"Kya'quela?" Aki'te waved a hand in front of her face, but he got no reaction.
The world spun around in Kya'quela's head. It was all too confusing. The sky, the ground, it all looked the same. The warmth and the coldness felt like it was in union. Everything was going too fast for the poor girl to understand, and before she knew it, she was on the dirt, hugging her knees in a tight ball and crying her eyes out.
"Wow, Kya? You okay?"
"She doesn't look too good. Maybe we should tell an instructor?"
"Yeah, by the time someone comes around it will be, like midnight. Nobody comes this far in the forest, and the instructor is probably admiring the best group's work or something. You do know our part of the forest is the farthest from Home tree, right?"
"Do you guys think we should carry her back?"
"No way, she looks really hurt. I mean emotionally. What happens if we touch her and she goes out of control?"
"Aki'te, you have such an imagination."
"Well, I'm sorry Mr. Dirt Drawer, did I offend you in some way with my creative thoughts?"
Seze got down on her knees and rubbed Kya'quela's back in an effort to calm her down. She sighed as she listened to Aki'te and Mua'seto's ranting in the background.
"Guys, can you please shut up? I'm only going to say this once."
The boys muttered something at each other before becoming completely silent.
"Hey, Kya, it's okay. We've got your back. Literally." Seze smiled nervously as she rubbed the upset girl's back some more. "Just take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, then let it out. Trust me, the exercises help me calm down when I'm stressed or really mad." Then she added, "At least most of the time."
That got a tiny wry smile from Kya'quela. After a few of those breathing exercises, Kya'quela felt normal again.
"So, what exactly happened back there? You looked like you had a mental break down or something."
Seze whacked Aki'te on the head with a small tree branch. "She just recovered from feeling like the world was ending, you big idiot."
"Right," Aki'te rubbed his head. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay, really." Though Kya'quela didn't sound too sure herself. "Just some bad memories, that's all."
"What bad memories?" Again, Aki'te got another slap with Seze's tree branch. "I'm sorry, but curiosity is in my nature!"
"I don't really mind telling anyone actually." Kya'quela said quietly, with a little bit of doubt in her voice. Her heart screamed to keep the secret, but she felt like she had been running away from what was her greatest fear. Telling someone her fears.
The rest of the members in her group waited patiently for the quiet girl to start her story.
"It all started with my father." Kya'quela forced herself to talk. "He was a good warrior, and always so full of himself. He admired himself over all. Though at times he would be proud of my mother, because she is the best healer of our clan, or he would be proud of my older brothers for doing good deeds, or getting a good kill from hunting. But he never really was proud of me. Then one day, our family went on a hunting trip together, and we rested by the forest near a lake. For a refreshing respite, my father suggested we take a dip in the lake. And we agreed. But as soon as the water was at my hips, I got this scary feeling of something tugging at my legs, making me want to go deeper. I couldn't swim, so I just stood there with the water at my hips. Everyone else was older, taller, stronger, and faster than I was. My mother told me to come and join them, but I refused. Knowing I didn't know how to swim, my father got this idea to teach me. But he was rough. He ordered me about like I was nothing but a Pa'li or a pack of Nantang. And that made me mad. I decided to ignore my father. I decided to rebel and do the opposite of what he asked. I wanted him to be angry and frustrated. And angry and frustrated he was. He struggled with me, and shouted, and beated me with his fist, until the next thing I knew, I was…"
Kya'quela gulped.
She was scared to say the next of her story. Everything was easy at first, but now that she was coming to the part where she felt pain, panic and anxiety, it began to hurt just to remember.
"You were what?" Seze asked softly.
"I was... p-pulled into the w-water. I began to d-drown." She gasped finally, like she was drowning at that very moment.
Her experiences, everything. She had been scared to death. Before, she was a happy and cute child, enjoying her life like it was a paradise. But ever since she stared to fear the depths of the water, she began to change. Change in a way she never felt before. She started to grow apart form her friends as well as her family, she started to hide from prying and curious eyes, and she started to feel like she didn't fit in anymore.
But now, being with her group members, she felt as though her past had come back. The good part of her past. The way she had been before. It made her happy to feel like she was wanted, needed. She hadn't felt that way in a long time. Not just happiness in a smile on her face, but truly happy inside of her. With contentment in every bone and muscle, they would shout for joy if they could.
Now that Kya'quela had revealed her dark secret, calmness erupted out of her like a tranquil waterfall. She felt relief in her pounding heart that when the time finally came, she was able to overcome her greatest fear.
"Didn't your dad notice you were drowning?" Mua'seto's question brought Kya'quela back to Pandora.
"Not really, he was too consintrated on teaching me to swim." Kya'quela said with a sigh. "I wish he had noticed. He never fully understood me, because I was the first girl in his family to be born."
"Where is he?" Aki'te's growl made everyone turn in surprise at him. "I want to make him feel sorry."
"He is already sorry," Kya'quela stated. "Or he was very sorry." Though Aki'te's expression was unpredictable, Kya'quela couldn't help smiling at his protective and revengeful thought.
"Was?" Everyone asked at the smiling girl.
She nodded. "Ever since the day he had drowned me, every time my mother had another child, they were all girls. He would be furious and storm out of the house. My poor father, I feel sorry for him sometimes. He thought this was Eywa's way of punishing him for his selfishness and trying to harm me. One day, he couldn't take it anymore. On the day my sixth sister was born, he disappeared into the forest and threw himself off a cliff. Nobody saw him again."
Everyone was quiet.
"I didn't know he was dead. I'm sorry Kya." Seze whispered.
She shook her head. "It's okay. The event was helpful in a way. Not that I'm saying his death was good―"
"It's good for me!" Aki'te exclaimed, seeing everyone was staring at him for his outburst again, he added apologetically, "Eywa bless him."
"The event was helpful in a way," Kya'quela continued. "It made me realize I had to take care of our family now that my father was gone. My brothers had to work harder to gather food without him and my mother taught me healing so I could take her place when she retired."
"Will you be a healer when you grow up?" Seze asked curiously.
"Most likely, but I really don't know."
"Well, I'm going to be the best hunter!" Aki'te exclaim in triumph.
"I'm going to be a…" Mua'seto paused to think.
"Dirt examiner?" Aki'te teased, and jumped out of the way before Mua'seto punched him.
Seze's heart suddenly filled with sadness.
"What's wrong Seze?"
Seze looked up to see Kya'quela looking at her with concern.
"It's nothing. I'm just thinking about what I'll be when I grow up."
"But you don't have to think about that. You're going to be the next Tsahik." Aki'te pointed out. Everyone else nodded.
Seze sighed in defeat. "That's the problem."
Dun dun dun DUUUUN!
Seze seems disappointed with the fact that she's going to have such a responsability. Tune in next time to find out exactly why!
So, what do you think of Kya? I tried my best to explain her, and for those readers who still don't get it, at least I tried. I'm not exactly good at doing character development, but I really like the way it came out. So to summerize it for you, Kya is a type of girl who used to be like one of those girls you'd see in puffy dresses and cute little pig tails (in Na'vi form of course XD) but after that day when her dad almost made her drown to her death, she started to be afraid of things she didn't notice before. But since all the hard insults her father told her, she started to feel like she couldn't tell anyone about her fears or trust anyone. That's why she was hesitant to tell her group members. Sorry if her dad sounds like some kind of proud jerk, but thats what he is. Although you may find his personality very human, isn't it possible for a Na'vi to be like that? I think the Na'vi would occasionally have a clan member like that...
Anyways, he suisided. What an idiot. Glad I could get rid of him *bricked* OWW! Sorry, I mean I'm sorry he died, :( yeah I'm so sad my heart is breaking...
PLEASE, I BEG YOU, PLEASE REVIEW!
Until next time (i update),
-NW :3
