Chapter 4: Trick or Truth?
Sikan, an Omaticaya hunter in his prime, prowled along the jungle canopy with all the stealth of a hunting palulukan. He was the one tasked to watch the mutants this day and he took especial care not to be seen or heard as per the Olo'ektan's instructions. It was a fair trek to the place the mutants who had not moved in with the Dreamwalker Clan had begun to settle. Sikan instantly knew he was in the right place when he found it though; a large clearing halfway between New Hometree and Hell's Gate, with tall blue-grey rock walls on one side and forest on the other.
Today, the mutants were constructing some kind of shelters near the protection of the rock walls. To make a shelter they took four great long poles of wood, the two nearest the rock wall longer than the two in front, and drove them into the ground, lashing cross-members to them to make them strong and solid to support a structure. Then they lashed four shorter poles to the four corner poles to form a square frame roughly three-quarters of the way up. To these poles they lashed more short poles to form a floor. To the top of the structure, they lashed a frame made of slender wooden poles, through which they wove tautral leaves and covered with the naturally water-proof leather of yerik hide to make a slanted roof. The walls of the hut were also made from yerik leather secured to the poles and cross-members and a door curtain of woven grasses completed it.
Sikan watched as they built roughly fifty of the shelters and noted that they carefully harvested the materials they needed. They had already obviously hunted a fair number of yerik, but no more than what they needed for food as well as leather and other materials. They never took more than the bare minimum amount of wood from a given area and they never over-harvested the grasses and leaves they used for their weaving.
"Do they know I am watching and so play the part of keeping the balance? Or do they truly live this way? No other Sky People have lived so, not even in pretense," thought Sikan as he continued to watch. Soon, he noticed something else odd about the mutants. "They wear no foot covers! They go about with their feet as bare as the People!"
It was true. Every one of the mutants in the village was barefoot and clothed in only shorts and tank tops. This promoted personal comfort in the jungle climate and mobility in the lower gravity and denser atmosphere of Pandora. That shocking discovery aside, Sikan fell to watching the mutants go about their lives. He saw some of them go to the stream that flowed through one side of the clearing to gather water for the cooks and clay to make pottery. Those who gathered the clay took it back to their respective shelters and in the spaces under the huts 'set up shop,' so to speak. Sikan watched the potters for a while in fascination.
Apparently, those who were of the potter's profession had made simple pottery wheels from large flat round stones. Each potter would take a lump of clay and cast it onto their wheel, spinning the wheel with one hand, while shaping the clay with the other. If the clay began to get dry, there was a wooden bowl of water nearby that they would scoop a handful out of to keep their work wet and workable. Once the vessel took shape and they were satisfied with their work, the potters would carefully set the pot or cup or whatever they had just formed onto a drying shelf in the sun, then go to work on the next piece. After watching them for some minutes, Sikan's attention drifted to another group.
This group was at work among several fire pits nearer the stream than the shelters. They were the cooks, busily preparing the midday meal as well as organizing what stores they had. It was then that Sikan noticed another structure being built nearby. It too was on poles, eight of them, with many cross-members, and it was much longer and not a little deeper than any of the little huts. This structure had a wooden floor also and its roof was the same as the huts, but its walls were made of woven tautral leaves and it had two doors (one at either end) made of wooden frames with more tautral leaves woven through them and swung on rope-vine hinges. These doors were also secured shut by wooden poles that slid through wooden brackets, to prevent any animals from getting in.
Once it was completed, several people began carrying bundles of food to it. Carry-nets of fruit, bunches of other edible plants, strings of cured fish, slabs of cured meat… all that was not needed right away was carried to the long shelter and left inside. This was obviously the storehouse, but it was not only for food stuffs, but healing plants and herbs as well, for Sikan noticed some people carrying bunches of plants the Na'vi used for healing to the door on the other side from those carrying the food.
"They must have divided the storehouse into two parts. One for food, the other for medicine. That's actually not a bad idea," Sikan mused before turning his attention to the shadows, which told him the time of day. "Iee! I'm going to be late for the midday meal if I don't pick up my tail!"
The next day, a new Na'vi hunter was perched in the canopy near the mutant village after midday. Peyral settled onto the branch she had chosen, relaxed but still ready to bolt at a moment's notice. She saw all that Sikan had described; the funny little huts on poles, the storehouse, the potters and cooks going about their work… but these held no particular interest for her other than a passing glance. What drew Peyral's attention almost immediately was the archery ground.
On one side of the clearing, facing away from the huts, but right into a section of rock, where a series of targets. Some were the size and shape of a human, with the head and a fist-sized spot on the chest marked in red. Others were simple round targets the size of a human fist. There were several mutants lined up side-by-side practicing their skills on these round targets.
At first, Peyral was impressed with their skill, for not one arrow missed its mark. Then she noticed something different about the way the hunters shot. They held their bows in the opposite hand and held the string with three fingers from the opposite side from what the Na'vi did. Also, they wore arm guards on both arms and their bows were shorter. Not just proportionally shorter, but rather shorter than a human sized Na'vi bow should be. But still, the bows where powerful, for the shooters stood further back than any Na'vi archer and their arrows went deeper.
Once the stationary practice was over, the mutant hunters engaged in a drill that Peyral had never seen before. They shot their bows while running! From one end of the line of targets to the other they ran, one behind the other, shooting two arrows at each target in turn, but never stopping once 'til they reached the end of the course. Then they'd switch hands and do it again going the other way, hence why they wore arm guards on both arms. During this exercise, an arrow occasionally missed its mark and struck the rock, bouncing off harmlessly.
Tearing her curious eyes away from the scene, Peyral turned to observe another interesting sight. Some of the mutants were sitting under their huts making weapons. Most were crafting bows, but some were crafting arrows. The bow-makers started out with a piece of sturdy, flexible wood, which they shaped and polished. Then they took pieces of strong, flexible bone and shaped and polished that. The bone was used to strengthen and add power to the limbs of the short bows and was molded over them and secured with strong, glue-like plant resin and yerik sinew. The string was made of sinew as well, with a small bead marking the rough center.
The arrows were crafted more or less the same as those of the Na'vi, with one important exception. One type had heads made from diamond. One or two of the mutants could produce diamond at will and in any shape they wished, so they crafted slender, needlepoint arrowheads designed to pierce and penetrate, perfect for combat against armored warriors. However, these arrows seemed to be stored away for later use and only the ordinary stone broad-heads and 'bird' points were used in everyday life.
As Peyral watched, she also noticed that every mutant carried a metal knife. They all seemed to be hunting knives, though they were stout enough to be used in battle at need. Some of the knives had ornate sheaths or intricate designs on either blade or hilt, and appeared to have been handed down through generations as great family treasures. Others were simple and plain. Some were long, others were short, and some were clearly old, but just as sharp and useful as ever. One thing was abundantly clear though; these people clearly valued their knives, for they took care to never be without them and used them only at need.
A flash of color and movement caught Peyral's eyes and she looked over. In the clearing a group of ikranay had landed and the archers were walking towards them, their bows on their backs. What happened next made Peyral's mouth drop open and her ears stand up in shock. The mutants mounted the ikranay and took off on a hunt! How they managed to tame the beasts without tsaheylu was a mystery, but one that would have to wait for another day. It was nearing time for her to return, so Peyral silently made her way home.
After this, Jake had hunters and scouts follow the mutants on their hunts as well as watch the village, to see what they did. Jeyna, a young female hunter with a real talent for tracking while remaining undetected, was following a lone mutant hunter who was headed out on foot one day. Despite her talent, Jeyna found it difficult to keep pace with the little huntress, as she moved through the trees on swift and silent bare feet.
After tracking the mutant for some time, Jeyna saw her slow up, sniffing the air as well as scanning the forest floor. Soon the mutant stopped and took an arrow from the quiver on her back. Jeyna watched as she nocked it, drew the fletching to her ear, and slowly exhaled, releasing her arrow as she did her breath. A single scream of shock came from below and a herd of yerik scattered.
As soon as the mutant dropped down to her kill, Jeyna moved to where she could see what went on below. Apparently the mutant was a deadly shot, for the yerik below was dead, obviously dropped the instant the arrow struck it. Before she field dressed the animal, the mutant spoke some words over it in her native tongue. "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who giveth life to all things. Thanks be to You for Your provision this day. May Your blessings ever flow upon Your people. Amen."
Jeyna understood little of what was said, but she got the distinct impression that the mutant was praying. Though the words were for the most part foreign to her, Jeyna couldn't help feeling this was a clean kill, though it was clear the mutant wasn't thanking the yerik for its gifts, but someone much higher, though the name of Eywa was never mentioned.
"I must speak with the Tsahik about this as well as the Olo'ektan. At once," Jeyna thought as she left for New Hometree.
When Jeyna came in to make her report, she found the others who had been sent to watch the mutant hunting and foraging parties had arrived as well. All had similar stories to tell. The mutants apparently worshiped a deity of some sort and this puzzled the Na'vi. Mo'at turned to Jake.
"I thought you said the Sky People had no one like Eywa to watch them," she said, a small smirk on her face as a theory took shape in her mind.
Jake's face was one of puzzlement. "They don't. At least, I thought they didn't."
Mo'at smiled. "Perhaps you have forgotten your Maker."
Jake thought for several minutes, but no matter how hard he thought and searched his memories, he just couldn't remember ever hearing about a God that humans could actually talk to like the Na'vi could with Eywa. But at the same time, in the back of his skull was a nagging feeling that there was such a God and that Mo'at was right, they had forgotten Him.
"In fact they killed Him."
Jake blinked in surprise at the thought that literally popped into his head. It hadn't come from his memories, but distinctly came from outside himself. He got a serious, but not angry or hostile look on his face. "We need to pay a visit to the mutant village. Soon."