Avatar: Rebirth Chronicles
A Novel By: A.R. Fredrick
Based on the characters in Avatar, Created by: James Cameron
Archive: With Permission Only
Chapter Rating: PG
The Forage's Reap
.:Data Stream Open:.
.:Transmission Data Status: Highly Encrypted and Compressed. Limited To Text Only. :.
.:Transmission Origin: Alpha Centauri Star System - Transmission Mode: Civilian Sub-light Channel. :.
.:Transmission Origin Continued: Signal Originates From Pandora – Seventh Moon Orbiting Planet Polyphemus. :.
.:Personal Log: Sully, Jake T. :.
.:Classification: Na'vi/Human Hybrid. :.
.:August 27th, 2154 - Terran Calendar. :.
Though I've spent a great deal of time in my body during the Avatar Program, inhabiting it without a computer-aided connection is a totally different matter. Before, while connected within the POD, there was always a little feeling of disorientation. I had the feeling of being split, inhabiting two places at once. Though RDA research and development scientists may try to deny it and claim that no such connection issues are possible, I'm telling you that they are. This feeling was most pronounced each time I was forcibly disconnected during my POD-link and I became very aware of it during my battle with Colonel Miles Quaritch, when he breached the hull of the research structure my POD inhabited and the alien atmosphere started to poison my then human lungs.
Since I've transferred my consciousness into my Avatar with the help of the Omaticaya and the blessing of Eywa, I've been able to fully appreciate the splendor of the Na'vi body. Their senses are far superior to those of the average human. Hearing, sight, smell and sense of touch are much more precise than that of the Terrans.
Spellman thinks I am biased, but I know the truth. To breathe with Na'vi lungs, to feel my pulse race and my heartbeat quicken, is to know the natural strength of my new body. He cannot see, feel, taste, or touch things through the link in the same manner that I do now. I can sense the energy and life around me. The song of the wind passing through the leaves now holds more meaning to me than it ever did before.
I do not expect Terrans to understand this the way I do, nor do I anticipate that it will matter much to them. Though as a Human I was more technologically advanced than I am as a Na'vi, I've gained an understanding of nature and life that most Human eyes cannot ascertain.
Mo'at is the spiritual leader of the Omaticaya, she is a powerful and graceful woman who knows more than she alludes to, and I have learned much from her during my time on Pandora. Often she speaks in riddles, sometimes only providing bits and pieces of the bigger picture, then allowing you to fill in the blanks for yourself. When I first met her, she told me that the Omaticaya would do the best they could to cure my of my insanity, at the time I thought her to be naive, unintelligent, and brash. However, now I can grasp the insanity which she speaks of.
To live, consume, and conquer without regard to other forms of life is insanity. To try and force your way of life and mindset onto others is depraved.
.:Transmission Ends:.
Though it is just past the wee hours of the morning, Neytiri has already left on a foraging expedition with some of the younger members of the clan. They are hoping to return with herbs and berries which will help provide sustenance and heal some of the elderly left within the Omaticaya.
I am sitting high above the jungle floor, my feet dangling carelessly from the branches of the same tree that Neytiri and I had hung our hammock from the night before. Below me, the people of the Omaticaya were busy with their morning tasks. Though some were still slumbering, most were preparing breakfast, rearing their children, conversing with their peers, or weaving various things.
Each and every one of them had lost something when the hometree was destroyed, family heirlooms and trophies from battles previously won, ceremonial clothing and jewelry, but most importantly family and loved ones. However the strength of the Na'vi is their ability to adapt to changes in life and the wilderness and continue to thrive. They take comfort from the knowledge that the spirits of the people lost will find a place with Eywa, that no life truly ends, it only continues by other means.
The laughter of children chasing woodsprites in the meadow below me and songs from the river where warriors are bathing are part of the melody of life for the clan, though I am not currently engaged with them in conversation or other forms of companionship, I do not mind. I'm hungry, but not dreadfully so, and am content to set here and try to relax a little. Am I crazy for doing so? Maybe, but sitting quietly helps me to think more clearly.
Though things are progressing smoothly for everyone, the logistical side of rebuilding the clan has yet to be ironed out completely. Then there is the question of what will happen to Spellman and the rest of those left behind. Though they have rations and water to last for a few months, their supply is not unlimited and plans will have to be made for their care, or for their self-efficiency. I have been trying to sort everything out, but I've never been much of a deep thinker, I usually tend to act first and then question later. Things have changed though, and I no longer have the luxury to charge through life without a plan.
Mo'at seems to believe that with the deaths of Eytucan and Tsu'tey, Neytiri and I are best suited to lead the clan. Though I sympathize with her in terms of needing to appoint new leaders, the idea of becoming one of them has me scared shitless. I'm a grunt, someone who does the dirty jobs, the ones that nobody else can stand to do, not the type of person to take charge and tell others to do them.
Before, in the heat of battle, I lead the clan because a fierce warrior was needed, someone who could symbolize courage in the face of fear, and defiance in the eyes of oblivion. I stepped up to the challenge because I had to, because nobody else could, not because I wanted to.
"Damn" I muttered to myself.
Let's be serious, who in their right mind wants to be responsible for the fate of an entire clan of people? It is a burden that should not be undertaken lightly, or without serious thought. The fate of hundreds of lives would rest upon my shoulders, each decision I make could have an adverse impact on who lives and who dies. I'm not the type of guy to overindulge in melodrama, but all of this crap is seriously giving me a headache.
Even more troubling to me is the thought that many members of the clan look at me as if I am a walking legend, a bonafide hero or some akin to a knight. The Na'vi do not record their history in great journals, or chronicles of the written word. They tell stories and sing songs. While some people may look at this method as archaic or verbose, I find it to hold more magic and insight then traditional modes of Human education.
Lately, their songs have turned me into a bit of a recluse, as they have focused on the trials of the great and powerful Jakesully, who was transformed from a blind Dreamwalker into the Toruk Makto of the Omaticaya. Jakesully the man whose strength knows no equal and who conquered the metal giant Quaritch with a cunning sense of wisdom and a powerful bow. Never mind that it was Neytiri who took the final shots and saved my life, to them I was the hero.
It's unnerving to me and I wanted to correct them regarding the proper series of events, Neytiri convinced me to hold my tongue, knowing that while they already had something to believe in with Eywa, they needed the tale of a powerful warrior to inspire their strength. She did not aspire to the title and happily declared that I was stuck with it.
What joy...
Thunderous hooves roused me from my thoughts, as well as the cry of returning scouts, I heard Neytiri's call among them and my pulse ran cold. Her voice was strong, but tense, something had happened.
I opened my eyes and was on my feet in the space of a heartbeat, the rough bark of the tree branch I had settled upon was coarse under my feet, but I still welcomed the sensation with a manic sense of glee. It was better than feeling nothing at all.
Below me was a trio of direhorses, each with a Na'vi mounted upon them, all six beings communicating in tandem thanks to tsahaylu. Neytiri was in the lead with her bow slung across her back and her eyes alive with urgency. Between the other two horses a makeshift gurney had been fashioned, the body of a Na'vi warrior lay prone upon it.
The dewy mist which hung in the early morning air obscured my view of the man, but from what I could tell he was a warrior and had been covered with the silk leaf of a sek'ra blossom, the silk leaf acted as a natural blanket, large enough to cover the man fully and keep him comfortable.
I judged the distance to the ground to be well over forty feet, but I was not daunted by such a small challenge. A vine fell from the leafy upper canopy, to the lush bluish-emerald ground below, just five feet in front of me. With little more than a passing thought and a deep breath I jumped from the tree branch, my left arm outstretched to grasp the vine.
I caught it successfully in the upward arc of my jump, wrapped my legs and tail around it to better stabilize my center of gravity and slid down. Mere seconds later I disengaged myself from the vine, fell three feet and landed in a crouch upon the forest floor.
Neytiri and her party had already moved past my location, heading for the Tree of Souls, I turned to follow them, running as quickly as my legs could carry me. With luck I would be able to close the distance between us, as they would have to slow their gallop to allow a pathway to clear. Na'vi which had previously been engaged in the start of a new day, now scattered to allow the direhorses passage, though they appeared somewhat dismayed in their wake. Perhaps they were afraid as I was, I didn't have time to hazard a guess. Neytiri was my only concern.
She appeared to be uninjured, but there was no telling what the hell had happened to them out there. Anything was possible, they could've encountered a mine, an IED, or some other type of unspent ordinance.
Who knows what the hell the RDA left strewn about?
But it could've even been something much more innocent. A random encounter with a hungry beast, or even a bit of rowdiness gone extremely wrong.
As I ran, I prayed to Eywa that nothing sinister had taken place.