I'm on a roll right now -- it's the weekend and I got time. Thanks for all the feedback, guys!

Also, to kartracer76: Don't worry. What's a good Avatar fic without Norm? XD (Just kidding -- there are plenty of excellent fics here without him, but I love the guy so he's gonna be in here at some point -- though he may not play a big part.)

--Phanny

Endyna had turned out to be like something that Mosyk's father described to him not too long ago -- what was it? Oh, a drill sergeant.
A really, really tough, impatient, sociopath of a drill sergeant.

"H-how long…have we…been…running?" Mosyk panted, his chest heaving with the effort. His feet hurt and his legs and arms felt like they were held together with limp, wet vines instead of actual muscle.

"Not long enough, apparently," Endyna huffed, "I don't like this any more than you do, so just do what I say and we won't have a problem."

Mosyk had been chasing her through the trees for what seemed like hours, tripping over vines and plants on his way, and once almost stepping on a poor sleeping fan lizard. The only thing that kept him going was how she kept throwing cruel taunts at him as they ran, making him want to catch her even more -- he just had to get close enough to yank her tail and she'd go down and he'd win, he told himself repeatedly.

But somewhere along the way -- maybe it was when his legs started aching, or when his lungs started burning, or when his entire body seemed to freeze, telling him "just stop it, idiot." -- but whatever it was, he let himself fall to the ground, wheezing, and waiting for Endyna to notice that he was no longer running.

"Come on, get up," Endyna tapped her foot in the dirt impatiently, "you need to exercise, and we don't have all day."

"I have exercised," Mosyk moaned, "more than I wanted to. Can we start, uhm, slower? Really, really slow?"

"And when will we have time for that, hm?"

"When the feeling in my legs comes back…?"

Endyna sighed, "fine. It's getting late anyway. We'll work on your stamina tomorrow."

"Can you try to leave all of your crazy at home next time?" Mosyk hissed, trying to stand, "ow, ow, ow, ow…how far is home from here?"

"Do you need me to carry you, Tenderfoot?" Endyna taunted as she ran ahead again. Mosyk seethed as he limped after her, his legs burning like fire -- as was his temper. Never in his life had Mosyk wanted to hit a girl as much as he did right now.

"I hate her," Mosyk repeated to his mother and father as they all prepared for bed, "I really do."

"You barely know her," Jake said, "Endyna's a nice girl, a little independent, maybe a little--"

"Crazy," Mosyk interrupted, rubbing his sore legs, "no, a lot crazy. She had me chasing her through the forest for no reason! And she kept calling me names while we ran so I'd wanna catch her and just…I just wanted to--ARGH!" Mosyk made a frustrated noise and a strangling motion with his hands, but his mother tried to calm him.

"You remember what happened last time you thought things like that?" Neytiri said seriously, "as much as I'm sure Y'enit would enjoy your company, I don't want to have to punish you again."

"Then punish Endyna!" Mosyk moaned, "if I did lose my temper again -- which I won't -- it would be her fault! Just, you know, a precautionary punishment. For her safety!"

"Mosyk, go to sleep," Jake sighed, and Neytiri flicked his forehead when he couldn't stifle a chuckle, "maybe if you get started early in the morning none of the crazy will have time to build up."

Mosyk shook his head, "I can't go to sleep! What if she kidnaps me, ties me up with bolas and makes me climb that really tall tree!? Can't be too careful!"

"You should go to sleep," Jake restated, "otherwise your mother and I can't have our alone time…"

Mosyk's eyes widened, "you wouldn't do that stuff in front of me would you?" His face wore an expression of disgust and horror.

"Are going to sleep?" Neytiri asked.

"Yeesh, fine!" Mosyk hurried into his own hammock, far away from theirs, "I know you're mated and stuff, but don't act like it until I'm asleep!"

Jake and Neytiri waited until they could hear their son's quiet snores before they both burst out in quiet laughter.

"I swear, he gets it from you," Neytiri said, before resting her head on Jake's chest and drifting to sleep. Jake soon followed.

Every day the next week, Mosyk came home battered and bruised from Endyna's rough training of him. Though she didn't kidnap him and tie him up with bolas, she still made him climb one of the tallest trees in the forest (taking great care in choosing the one with as few branches as possible, so he had to rely on pure strength and balance to reach the top) and he had yet to make it all the way up, and it didn't help that an angry prolemuris inhabited said tree, and kept throwing fruit at him when he came to close to the top.

Every day, though, he got a little higher before he fell to the ground, and every day the pain from the fall became greater as he fell from greater heights. He swore he was actually developing some muscle mass now, though Endyna wouldn't admit it. She hadn't taught him how to use his bow and arrow, and she wouldn't until he reached the very top of the tree, which Mosyk believed wouldn't take much longer.

"Almost there, Tenderfoot!" Endyna called from the ground. Mosyk wanted to see her expression, but he dare not look down. He knew he was pretty high, but knowing exactly how high would probably make him nauseous and even more nervous. "Don't stop now!"

Mosyk kept his eyes on his destination, only to freeze when he saw a familiar ape-like creature stare at him from deep in the leaves.

"Don't you dare," he said nervously, but the prolemuris squealed and hurled a brightly colored utu mauti right at his face. The fruit was only available this high up, and because of that it was usually a treat -- Mosyk wished he could enjoy it. "When I get up there I'll take all your stupid fruit!"

"Don't take all of it!" Endyna called up, "it's better than what it could be tossing at you!"

Mosyk couldn't help but shudder at the thought and continued to climb. He could almost reach one of the branches at the top when the prolemuris struck again.

"Stop that!" He new the creature didn't understand him, but it looked quite smug at the fact that it was annoying him -- the tone in Mosyk's voice had revealed that much. Driven by his irritation, Mosyk took a risk and jumped to reach one of the branches and pull himself to the top. Now he could get closer to the thing and really look at it.

What was it his mother taught him? The children of Eywa, animals and everything, were merely trying to live. If he should harm a creature, she said, he should make amends with it -- or if he killed one for food, he should show his respect for how it gave its life to feed The People.

"I did not come to harm you," Mosyk said gently, "I have come to grow stronger, and I have, and you helped." After the prolemuris stared at him for a moment, it plucked another piece of fruit from it's tree and held it out for him. Mosyk nervously took it after making sure it wouldn't be thrown at his already sticky face. "Thank you. I would pet you if I didn't think you'd bite me."

He was prepared to take the utu mauti back to Hometree to show it to everyone, and he cautiously plucked another. Maybe he could share his luck.

He looked around the tree and his eyes widened.

"Endyna?" He called to his teacher.

"What?"

"…How do I get down?!"

...He'll figure out how...eventually.

Utu mauti, as it read in the Activist's Survival Guide, is "banana fruit," and is usually only available really high up and is therefore a special treat for the finder. I think Mosyk deserves it for all the crap Endyna's putting him through XD. But I think she really is proud of him for sticking with it and getting up there.

I tried to find the Na'vi name for the prolemuris, but I couldn't find it, so that's probably the scientific name I guess.

And Neytiri and Jake didn't have their alone time that night -- Mosyk kinda ruined the mood. :|

I'll describe Endyna more in depth later, and she'll get more tolerable.