Author's Notes : Sorry about the slow update. Wow, I guess I need to check the word count is MS before even bothering to upload the chapter. Another incident of where 4 pages only turns out to be under 2,000 words...obviously I've added more but still. Sorry about the wait, and I hate to say that the next chapters won't be up too terribly quickly. Classes have started and between classes and working full time I don't have much time for anything else. I will still try to get chapters up a quickly as I can. Good news is that at my current job, if its slow, I can still work on chapters but I am currently looking for a new job and if and when I get that new job that will probably change. Also, after watching Avatar again, I found myself fighting the urge of starting another fanfiction but I am trying to hold off until I get this one completed.
By the time Imeadi returned, Za'au was itching to leave. He was tired of babysitting Zoey and needed to get out and blow off some steam. Zoey was slowly nodding off to sleep on the hammock after she had finally quenched her thirst and got her tummy full. The Oloeyktan, Mor'Aek was accompanying his wife, Imeadi when she entered the den. Za'au stood up from where he was sitting on the floor and greeted his parents in Na'vi, "Hello Mother. Hello Father. Are you done with your duties for today?"
Mor'Aek frowned, "Only for a moment, your mother thought it necessary for me to hear what this Dreamwalker has to say."
Imeadi smiled at her husband and placed a hand momentarily on his shoulder before smiling at her son, "For now I am. We must find out more about our young guest, has she said much?"
Za'au shook his head, "No she has not said anything about where she has come from or how she got lost here. She did however have a horrible dream, like the ones small children sometimes get."
Imeadi murmured something to herself before responding, "Did she speak of the dream?"
"No, the only thing she really spoke of was her thirst and hunger. Speaking of which, she ate you out of your fruit. I will go and bring you more once I am done here."
Mor'Aek snorted, "let us get our answers from her quickly; I cannot ignore my duties, especially because of this stranger."
Imeadi hissed at her husband, he could be so childish, "You of any should show more interest of what this girl will say. She could hold clues to what may come and clues to Eywa's will. You are the Oloeyktan! This matter should be of great importance to you! Stop your complaining."
Mor'Aek looked into his wife's golden eyes. Through her eyes, he could see her passion on the matter. She was serious about thinking that this girl may hold important information and she was right. This girl may know of a possible upcoming attack or other information regarding the Sky People. He smiled briefly at his wife, "Go on with it then. I will listen to what is said."
Imeadi held her head just a little higher with satisfaction, the corners of her thick lips turned up ever-so-slightly in a hidden smug smile, "Very good."
"Mother? If you are here for a while, may I leave now? This girl is tiresome and I need to go hunt."
"In a moment, Za'au. As the future clan leader, you must hear this as well."
Za'au growled and his tail whipped around in annoyance, "As you wish Mother."
Imeadi walked over to the slumbering girl and shook her lightly and spoke to her in English, "Wake up child."
Zoey moaned and reluctantly opened her eyes and stared up at Imeadi. She felt like crying again, it was going to take time to get used to waking up to these blue people. After sitting up, Zoey scratched her head and stretched, looking at the three people (if that's what you call them,) standing in front of her. There was the woman with a long, thick braid in front and the ornate head dress; the young man with green eyes that had brought her to this place from the swamp and had brought her food and water, and then there was the older green eyed man, with a bone piercing through his cat-like nose. This man's head was completely shaved, save for a strip of small braids on top of his head which combined with his long braid. That seemed to be part of the hairstyle all the people here had, Zoey wondered if that had some significant or if it was just the current 'fad.'
Imeadi spoke first, "What is your name child?"
"Zoey." She was feeling a little scared all of a sudden; her voice was small and unsure. Here she was, surrounded, these strange beings staring down at her, judging her.
"How many years old are you?"
Zoey's brow furrowed as she remembered what seemed to be a dream of her calling out for her in sleep but unable to wake up. She remembered the brief moment she saw her mom, she said that she had been sick. "Um, thirteen…" Something in Zoey's gut told her she was wrong about her age.
The family trio looked to each other for a moment. Their eyes relaying the same question, that she couldn't be just thirteen. Mor'Aek spoke first, "You cannot be that age, you have at least been born for seventeen years."
"That's really how old I am," she paused, "I think."
Za'au chimed in, "You think? How can you not know your own age?"
Zoey whimpered, "I-I just don't!"
Mor'Aek snorted, "Useless, dumb creature."
Tears began to well up in her eyes again. How could they be so mean to her? Why couldn't she be sure of her own age? Zoey's chest heaved up and down faster and faster as she tried to keep her tears back.
Imeadi hissed at her husband and son , "ftang!" She turned back to Zoey and smiled comfortingly, though her tail still showed signs of annoyance at her family, "Can you not remember your age?"
Zoey shook her head, "No, it's not that I don't remember. I was sick for a long time; I really don't know how long I was sick. It was like I was in a dream the whole time." She paused thinking of her mom, she choked back tears, "I woke up for a little bit, before I woke up in the forest. I saw my mom, she told me that I had been sick for a very long time but everything was going to alright now, but then I blacked out."
"So you do not remember how you even got to be in the forest?"
A snicker escaped from Za'au.
The eyes of Imeadi and Zoey fell on him and his mother spoke expectantly, "Za'au, my son. You would not know anything would you?"
Za'au frowned, "Well I do not know what they were doing in the first place, but we were doing scouting on our ikrans and spoted the Sky People flying in two of their flying ships. We attacked to drive them off and she fell from one of them."
Zoey cried out thinking her mother must have been killed, "Y-you killed my mom! That's why she didn't come for me!" Her face went hot, she wanted to avenge her mom, she lashed out at Za'au, "Why! She didn't do anything! You took her from me!" She tried to kick him and hit him but Mor'Aek had grabbed her before she could land any blows, not that she'd do any damage. She fought against his grip, screaming and sobbing at the same time.
Za'au exclaimed, slapping Zoey's hands away from him, "We did not kill anyone! If someone died it was because of their own clumsy weapons."
Imeadi stood there calmly, letting Zoey run herself out on energy, "Zoey you must stop this silliness at once. Your arm needs rest." As she had probably expected, Zoey's energy soon hit empty. Her shoulders slumped over and Mor'Aek allowed her to slide out of his grip to the floor into a sobbing mass; her black hair sticking to her wet cheeks. The Tsakìk sighed, "Come, stop this crying. You mother is fine and probably does not know you are missing. I do not know much about Dreamwalkers but I do know that they are not their true bodies. Your mother probably does not know you are in this body still. When she realizes that, she will come looking."
"D-do you think she'll find me?"
"That I do not know. The land here is very unforgiving, even if she looks for you, she may never find you."
"Can't we find her?"
"We cannot. Unless you know where you were heading, we have no way to find her. Best thing is to stay with us. Here you will be safe."
Once again, the feeling of hopelessness washed over her. She felt defeated and alone once again. Zoey did still have one glimmer of hope, her mom was alive and once she finds out that she's out here, her mom will come find her. A cloud of doubt hovered above her though, what if her nightmare had truth in it? What if her mom didn't want to find her? What if she was dumped here for a reason? Zoey forced a convincing smile as she had done so many times before in her life, "What do I do now?"
Imeadi smiled, "You will live here with us. You will be taught our ways and how to live off what Eywa provides. It will be hard for you at first, but you are young and will learn quickly."
"Are you going to teach me?"
Imeadi turned to her husband, "You may leave us now." She smiled to her husband and he returned it has he left. "Not you, my son." She looked at Za'au has he was trying to edge to the door himself, "You need to stay for a moment longer. Imeadi turned back to Zoey and helped her to her feet, "I do not have time to teach you. My role is too great to put aside for the lessons of one person, my son however has plenty of time to do so."
Za'au and Zoey groaned in unison. Zoey's first impression of Za'au hadn't been the best. Not only did he absolutely terrify her in the swamp but he attack the aircrafts her and her mom were in and caused her to fall in the first place. So in her eyes, her current predicament was all his fault. Za'au on the otherhand thought Zoey was a pathetic crybaby. She was a child and his role was not to babysit; she should be put with the rest of the younglings. If she was at the same level as thirteen year old Na'vi then he would not be so upset but from what he has seen of humans, a thirteen year old human is about as helpful as a four year old na'vi. At least Na'vi children know what plants are poisonous. Za'au tried to reason with his mother in Na'vi, "Mother, I cannot take this child on hunts and I am needed too much not go on them. Can she not learn with our children? She does not even know the basics of survival."
"My Son, I do not expect you to take her everywhere with you, but her mind will never mature if she is kept with our children. She must be exposed to the ways of adult life as well."
Za'au grumbled but his mother did make sense. His mother always did. "Alright, I understand and I will do as you wish."
Zoey was frustrated, how rude it was for them to talk amongst themselves about her. She couldn't understand them but she could tell by their looks and glances that it was her they were discussing. They could at least speak in english.
Imeadi smiled and spoke to Zoey in English, "Zoey, go with my son and listen to him well. He may be thick skulled but he is smart, strong and a good teacher."
An hour had passes since the discussion in the Tsakìk's Den, Za'au was silent as he made his way through the village, Zoey trailed behind him trying to keep up with his long strides. It was obvious that he was trying to make things difficult, she frowned, he was moving so quickly that when he pointed out the purpose of specific areas that she hardly had time to see what he was referring to. "You're going too fast! Can you slow it down a little bit."
Za'au stopped in spun around to face her, causing her to almost run into him. His ears were laid back against his head, "I am not going too fast, you are going too slow." An iratated growl rumbled from his throat, "You don't even know how to move from one place to the next. You walk as if your legs are tied together at the knees, taking such clumsy and small steps. You have long legs, use them. Take.."he paused to think of the proper english words to use, "..long steps."
Zoey had taken a few steps back from Za'au after nearly running into him, she flustered, "I do not walk like that!" She placed her hands defiantly on her hips, tail whipping wildly behind her "You're the one walking like you're trying to get rid of me! You don't even give me time to look to see what you're talking about, how am I suppose to remember anything that you're telling me?"
Za'au snorted, he was going a little faster than what he would normally, but it was not because he was trying to lose her, "If I wanted to lose you, I would lose you. I would not waste time letting you follow me. The purpose of these places should be plain to see, I should not even have to tell you. If you weren't blind to what went on around you, you would see."
She was steaming, "I'd rather be blind then be a big jerk like you!"
That word puzzled him and angered him, he may not know the meaning but he could tell by the way she used it that it was an insult. Za'au growled grabbing Zoey by her upper arm and shook her firmly, "You better learn to show respect, Dreamwalker. This is not your home; Outsiders have been known to be killed for such insolence."
Wincing, Zoey cried out as Za'au grabbed her arm. She gazed up at him, her golden eyes wide with fear as the Na'vi male's green eyes burned holes through her. She whimpered, "Please let go. You're hurting me. I won't say anything again, I promise."
He released his grip with a grumble, "Hmph, you're mother probably grew tired of you and let you fall on purpose!"
Those words shook her to the core, "Don't say that."
"I only speak the truth, I have only just met you and I already wish you gone. I bet she just wants to teach you a lesson.
She clenched her eyes shut, pushing a few tears down her cheek and she covered her eyes with her hands "Don't say that."
He paused, perhaps he had gone too far, he sighed, regretting what he had just said, "I am sorry," he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder, "that was not something I should have said."
She opened her eyes and looked at him, she must have looked like the Pandoran equivalent of a kicked puppy because he expression changed very quickly to a flabbergasted look. Zoey sighed and wiped the few tears from her cheeks, "Promise me you won't talk about my mom like that again."
Za'au recovered from the look Zoey had on her face. He couldn't explain the feeling he got from that look, it had made his chest feel tight. Her cheeks were flushed and dewy from her tears and her eyes were so full of innosence. It was almost attractive in a way. He cleared his throat, "I promise.
Zoey nodded, "Ok then, let's just try to start over. I promise that I'll try to not be burden if you promise that you'll try to be patient with me."
He nodded, her terms were agreeable enough and he hadn't really given her a chance to learn anything, "Agreed."
