Once again this took longer than I had hoped. I apologize. I'm nearing the end of my program in school and that doesn't help any, but I'm determined not to let things sit for too long between chapters.

I beg your patience, all of you, and please continue to enjoy the fic. I know I am XD


Brotherhood Chapter 10: Acolyte

That night, when he hauled himself out of his link bed, Tom found Dr. Grace waiting for him.

"I need to talk to you, Sully," she said, "come on, there's a quiet spot in the medical lab where nobody's going to bother us at this time of night."

Tom nodded, resisting the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. He was pretty sure he knew what this was about, and she probably wasn't going to be entirely pleased when she heard the rest of his news. He hadn't told any of them yet about his meeting with the singers tomorrow, and they were going to need to know.

Once they were both seated, Grace leaned forward to stare him down. "Just to make sure, you know not to make any moves on the local girls, right? I mean, both you and that twin of yours are reasonably well-put-together young men, I'm sure you've had your share of sexual adventures growing up, but you know the Na'vi are off the menu, right?"

Tom could feel his face heating. "I know that," he nodded seriously. "I know how it looked, me spending the whole day with Ninat today and most of yesterday as well but I assure you what is between us is purely research. On both sides, actually. I'm as much her research subject as she is mine."

"Research..." Grace frowned, "and that's all?"

"Oh um..." Tom couldn't believe he was getting this flustered, but something about Grace Augustine just scared the ever-living shit right out of him, especially when she did that "staring through you" thing. "I suppose research and maybe friendship. She seems the type to insist on becoming my friend. She...she's given me an amazing opportunity," he said, "and don't worry, there will be plenty of chaperons around, not that I would ever be stupid enough to make a move on her or any other Na'vi girl. She says it's wrong for Jake to be learning to be Omatikaya and me not to be. Something about twins and separation and some of their legends, so she wants me to meet with her father tomorrow. She talked about training me to become a singer."

He glanced over at Grace and relaxed slightly. She wasn't staring through him anymore, instead, she seemed to be eying him as though he was some kind of plant that had just started whistling "God Save the King" or something.

"She wants to train you as a singer?" she asked carefully. "Not just help you to work on your Na'vi, but to actually become a singer?"

"That's what she said," Tom nodded, "is there something strange about that? I thought that's what they did for Cathy before?"

"No," Grace shook her head "or at least, not completely. They agreed to teach her how to teach their children, the beginning songs and tales the children needed to know, but that isn't the same thing as training as a full singer. Of course, there's no way to know for sure what Kxawn'e will agree to, or if he'll even want to take you on," she pointed out, "but it's quite the opportunity."

"I know," he nodded seriously, "I'm fully aware of how important it is I make a good impression."

"It's not just that," Grace shook her head, "I'm no anthropologist, God knows, but even I can read political situations well enough to know that the singers have a great deal of pull in clan decisions. To have their backing is...never a bad thing. Eytukan will listen to Kxawn'e and Tìyana, his mate, longer than he would listen to the arguments of any other except Mo'at; even his elite hunters."

"That makes sense," Tom nodded, "The singers are the history-keepers, I would imagine that is a position with quite a bit of political pull. It often tends to be, especially in non-literate societies."

"As I said, you're the anthropologist," Grace shrugged. "You're going to need to be more subtle and circumspect about all the time you spend around Ninat though, or take Norm with you if you aren't visiting them in Hometree. In this society, scuttlebutt rules, and if scuttlebutt has you "shagging the local tail" or some other such horrible euphemism, you'll never convince them otherwise."

"Understood, loud and clear," Tom sighed. "I'll work on my sneaking skills for the rest of the time we have an audience. I'm going to be very glad when it's gone."

"Now that's something we can agree on," Grace said, and her expression might almost be called a grin if it wasn't so predatory. "Now you'd better go shower and eat, preferably eat first, that way you won't forget."

"Right," Tom hopped up from the chair and went to get the door for her. She might be scary enough to make his every hair stand on end but he also respected the hell out of her.

"I'm way too old for you, kid," she laughed and shook her head, "go find a cute girl your own age to get out your chivalric tendencies on." She opened the door herself and headed off in the direction of the cafeteria, leaving him standing rather stunned in front of the now-open door.

Finally he shook his head. He might be trained to puzzle out the intricate details of cultures, but individuals still tended to baffle him. Just when he thought he'd parceled everyone into their neat little boxes they up and changed on him again.

It occurred to him just then that Grace shouldn't even be here. Wasn't she supposed to be up at Site 26? He counted the days in his head and blinked. Right. Tomorrow morning was a progress meeting! That meant Norm and Jake were here too! He quickly hurried toward the cafeteria, hoping to catch them before they passed out (in their own beds or, in Norm's case, maybe in someone else's). Just because he saw them in their avatars all the time didn't mean he didn't want to see them in the flesh.


When he got to the cafeteria, he found Norm, Jake and Cathy all sitting together and grinning at him.

"What?" he protested, giving them a weird look as he set down his plate of...whatever it was that he didn't want to think about as he put it in his mouth, and sat down.

"Oh, nothing," Norm said, "we were just comparing notes."

"Comparing notes about what?" he frowned.

"Why, you and the pretty singer you've been following around like a little kitten follows string," Norm blinked innocently.

"Look guys, keep it down," Tom glanced around at the thankfully mostly empty room, "I already got the lecture about keeping scuttlebutt at bay, I don't need you adding to it."

"I tried to tell them there's nothing to it," Cathy said, "at least not yet, but for some reason they don't entirely believe me."

"There's nothing to it," Tom said firmly. "At most we're becoming friends, and that's all it's going to be. That's all it can be."

"Sure, whatever you say," Jake shrugged. He knew better than to argue when his brother got into that kind of mood, but he also knew Tom and he knew Tom's type of women, and he could already tell his brother was in danger of loosing that resolve of his. Jake wasn't going to try and tell him off for it, but he was ready and willing to be supportive once Tom realized what was going on and inevitably started angsting over it.

"Let's discuss something else," Tom said, "like this party you guys were all raving about when I got back to camp."

"Ah yes, the party!" Norm grinned. "Cathy's genius idea! Inviting the Na'vi to our newly completed house can only help cement relations between us."

"A traditional housewarming then?" Tom asked, "at least on our part?"

"It seems like the right thing to do," Cathy nodded, "I mean, good communication means teaching the Na'vi about us just as much as it means learning about them. Right Tom?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly," Tom nodded. "After all, that's what I just spent the whole day doing."

"And from what I understand, they're just as willing to enjoy a good party as we are," Norm smiled.

"Oh definitely," Cathy laughed, "The Omatikaya love a good party. Any excuse, really."

"So starting tomorrow we should get things ready," Norm said, "I can come up with seating areas and such, and maybe Tom can..."

"Sorry," Tom shook his head, "I'm going to be busy tomorrow."

Jake looked at Norm and raised an eyebrow.

"You aren't exactly making us believe you when you tell us it's nothing," Norm pointed out to Tom, "Not with you spending all day every day with her."

"Did I say I was spending the day with Ninat?" Tom sighed, "She's gotten me a meeting with her father, she says the singers should train me." He grinned at Jake, "She thinks I might be feeling left out since you're having so much fun running around with your ass out learning about the jungle, so she wants to help me keep you company."

"You mean staying at Hometree and all?" Jake grinned.

"I don't know, it's possible," Tom shrugged, "I'm trying not to have any expectations."

"It'll be good to have the company if you do stay," Jake said, "a little sanity break."

"Pfft," Tom laughed, "nothing I do could make you sane, you've been nuts for longer than I can remember."

"Come on," Cathy yawned, "we've got meetings early in the morning and you two, it looks like, have important things to do back at Kelutral, so you'd better get at least a little sleep."

"Srane sa'nu," Jake rolled his eyes, pushing back from the table and turning to wheel off toward his room, "night."

Tom, Norm and Cathy looked between each other, slightly surprised.

"His accent's improving," Cathy noted.

"Well I'd hope so," Norm said, "We've been working on it enough. I didn't think he'd pick it up so fast though, I mean, it's not like he's multilingual or trained in language acquisition or anything like that."

"Not trained, no, but we've both been bilingual since we were kids," Tom grinned, "even if he probably doesn't think that way. Besides, he's in a pretty immersive environment a lot of the time, anybody'd start picking things up after a month and a half."

"Bilingual? What do you mean?" Cathy looked at Tom. "You never mentioned growing up bilingual."

"We have our own language," Tom shrugged, "common enough with twins when they're little, we just happened to keep ours up."

"Seriously?" Cathy leaned in, "I'd love to study it sometime."

Tom laughed. "Ah, so the researcher is still hiding in there," he said, "I was starting to wonder."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a maybe, we'll talk about it some time later," Tom shook his head. He pushed away the last of his inedible dinner and stood up, "I think he has the right idea, though. It's definitely time for bed."


After a predictably frustrating morning meeting, Tom and Jake both linked up. Jake, Norm and Grace would return to their outpost that evening, but for now they were to use link beds at the compound.

"Took long enough," Jake grumped as he laboriously hauled his legs up into the link bed, "Neytiri's gonna wonder what the heck I'm doing."

"She'll wait for you," Tom said, "it's not like she can make you wake up, after all."

"No, but she can make it uncomfortable for me once I do," Jake sighed, "Seeya when you get there. Good luck with the singers."

He pulled the top of the link bed down over himself and Tom watched as the coffin-like pod disappeared into the wall, Jake's "sleeping" face popping up on the assigned monitor.

Tom shook his head and laid back down into his own link bed. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He was feeling unexpectedly nervous, but he fought it down. If it was decided that he wasn't right for the opportunity then there wasn't much he could do about it, after all, so he would just have to put his best foot forward. And in order to do that he was going to have to link up. He shook his head and laughed silently at himself before closing the lid down over himself and feeling the by-now-familiar sensation of his consciousness switching bodies.

He "woke up" in his avatar, sat up and stretched, looking around to see who else was up. He'd seen that some of the link beds were already in use, and he wondered what his fellow scientists were working on. It was only a thought in passing as he got dressed, though. There was still that discernible gap that existed between the social scientists and the "pure" scientists; nobody here except Cathy would really understand how excited he was about the day's activity.

"Their loss," he shrugged to himself as he checked his hair in the mirror, tucking the braids behind his ears. At least in this form he could skip having to shave. He wondered what Ninat would say if he tried to explain human male facial hair, and the thought made him laugh. No doubt she'd screw up her face and ask whyever such a silly thing had come about, and why, if it grew naturally, so many men worked so hard to get rid of it all the time.

He was in a much better mood by the time he made it to the transport, his earlier nervousness almost forgotten. He could totally do this! He was a trained anthropologist with a PhD and plenty of field experience, he could make a good impression if he just put his mind to it!


Back at Kelutral, Ninat was thoroughly amused. She had noticed that Neytiri seemed to be delaying her usual departure time for Jake's training run, and she'd wondered why, but it soon became obvious that Jake was still sleeping and would not wake. She knew about that - the sleep uniltìranyu could not be woken from, where they remained an empty uniltìrantokx waiting for its soul to return - and she would have been a little concerned except that Neytiri did not seem to be. Instead, the future Tsahik was busying herself in gathering pigments usually used to decorate bodies and faces for special hunts and dances. Ninat did not think, though, that this was going to be their use this morning, and she quickly knew she was right. She watched as Neytiri slipped down into the nivi with Jake's sleeping form and began to cover it in little dots of colour, making him look quite ridiculous. That was funny enough, but when he woke up halfway through, with Neytiri's tail resting on his nose, and the two of them almost fell out trying to re-orient themselves into a position that didn't put one or both of them into a very compromising situation, she had to cover her mouth with both hands to keep her laughter from betraying the fact that she was watching.

If Jake had woken, that meant that Tom was on his way as well. Once the commotion in Jake's nivi had died down, Ninat quickly got ready, and grabbed the small gift she'd made for him last night. Sempul had not specified a time for their meeting, but the earlier they got started, the better, really. She debated with herself briefly about sneaking into their house, but she did not want one of the tawtute builders to find her first, so she decided waiting just out of sight again would probably be the best plan.

She wasn't sure if he would have had a chance to eat, so she picked up a few fruits and stashed them in a carry-basket. Once Sempul and he began to talk, she was sure they would both forget about eating, so she wanted him well prepared beforehand.


Once he'd landed, Tom quickly ducked into the house. He'd stayed "normally" dressed on the way out, of course, but this time he wasn't going to carry his clothes around with him. In order to make the right impression of wanting to blend in with the Omatikaya, he was willing to take the blow to his dignity in good grace.

Still, though, when he stepped out the door and the wolf-whistles started, he turned and glared. He refused to give them the satisfaction of blushing, not that the workers would necessarily know the change in fluorescence would mean he was blushing.

"I see you're ready to go," Cathy grinned.

"Figured I should at least look the part," he shrugged, "Sorry about leaving you with all this," he gestured at the pieces of chairs and beds she was taking into the house to put together.

"Don't worry about it," she shook her head, "I'll make Norm do most of the work when he gets here."

"Just keep an eye on him," Tom laughed, "he's been known to put the wrong things in the wrong slots when he's distracted."

Cathy raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think you quite meant that like it came out," she said, "or else I'm not the one you ought to be warning."

Tom snorted. "I meant when assembling pre-made furniture," he said, "not...other things. You have a bad mind, ma tsmuke."

"I have a sharp mind, alert to linguistic anomalies, there's a difference," she laughed, "now off you go, I can see your guide peeking out of the trees at you over there."

Tom turned his head to see where she was looking and nodded, "I'll be back later," he said, "I don't know how long this is going to take but I'll let you know whatever happens."

"Have fun," Cathy waved after him as he loped off in the direction of the trees, only too happy to disappear into them and get away from the snickering comments coming from the workers.

Ninat smiled at him as he ducked behind a tree. "I see you dressed correctly today," she said, "That is a good thing. Come, you can eat while we walk back to meet with Sempul." She handed him a fruit from her basket and he took it gratefully.

"Thank you," he said, "I did not have a chance to eat yet this morning, or at least, not in this body."

"I suspected that might happen," she nodded, "your brother overslept this morning, so your later arrival did not surprise me." She giggled. "It is a shame you were not here this morning also to see what I saw."

"Oh?" he cocked his head at her as he walked, "What did you see that has you so entertained?"

"Neytiri decided to punish Jake's oversleeping by painting him with dots," she grinned, "He woke with her crawling all over him in his nivi. I do not think either of them will be able to look the other in the eye for the rest of the day, most likely. Hands went places they really ought not to have, in both cases. Completely innocently, of course," she added when she saw Tom's frown. "It was funny! You should laugh!"

"I have told him not to act inappropriately," he said, "especially around Neytiri. He knows he has no right..."

"Oh, you thought..." Ninat shook her head, "They do not act as those who will mate, although perhaps they act more friendly to each other lately. But do not worry, Neytiri is a wise one, even though she is young, as I am. She will be Tsahik one day, she knows how to listen for the will of Eywa."

That, for some reason, was not as reassuring to Tom as he knew Ninat had meant it to be, but he shook his head.

"You're probably right," he said, "and I shouldn't underestimate Jake's intelligence. He knows better than to flirt with a girl who's taken."

"Taken?" Ninat shook her head, "She is not yet mated, even if it is likely she and Tsu'tey will mate. We do not refer to any person as "taken" by another in that way."

"Not even when two people are like your brother and Cathy?" he asked.

"Oh, certainly then, but it is obvious those two will be mated, sooner or later," she shook her head.

"But I was under the impression that Neytiri and Tsu'tey were to be mated?" Tom said, feeling very confused now.

"That is the intention, yes, and usually the Tsahik and Olo'eyktan are a mated pair, at least in the Omatikaya, but it is not always so. Tsu'tey and Neytiri do not...well, they do not treat each other as two who will be mates, and always Eywa has the final say if a pair will be mated forever. It does not happen often that she rejects a pair but..." Ninat stopped herself, "But I say too much and forget myself. Gossip is in very bad taste, especially when you do not know all those involved."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have asked, that was rude of me also."

She patted his hand. "Perhaps you will have the chance to observe for yourself. You have keen eyes to See how people act with each other, and you have a strong mind to understand what you See." She smiled at him, then. "I have something for you," she said, changing the topic.

"That is very kind of you," he blinked, "I apologize I do not have any gift for you in return."

"We do not ask for exchange of gifts as tawtute do," she shook her head, "We give gifts because we desire to see the one we gift to happy." She carefully dug under the fruits piled in her basket and pulled out a small armlet made with three bands of beads. "I made this for you to wear, to show that you have my friendship."

"I...am honoured," Tom said, not quite knowing what else to say, "I will wear it gladly knowing you put your effort into making it for me. Um...will you put it on for me?" he asked a little hesitantly, "I'm not quite sure how."

"Of course," she laughed, "even with your silly extra finger, tying knots on your own arms is usually fairly difficult, is it not?"

"It is," he agreed. He found himself fighting a very disconcerting inclination to blush furiously as her fingers brushed delicately against the inner skin of his upper arm as she tied three small knots to hold the armlet on firmly, then turned it to how she thought it looked best.

"There," she nodded, "now you begin to look more properly attired. And I was right, those colours do suit you quite well."

Tom found himself quite tongue-tied as she took his hand and led him out into the clearing around Hometree, heading in the direction of one of the larger alcoves tucked into the inner columns.


Ninat sat Tom down near Ka'tsi tsmuke's usual spot and told him to wait while she went to fetch Sempul. She could see that he was a little bit nervous, but really that didn't surprise her. She supposed in a similar situation she would be nervous as well. He really was a sweet little boy in some ways; she could see why Neytiri always referred to Jake as a child. There was a certain innocence to both the twins, and she supposed that was a part of why the atokirina came to them. Or there could be some other reason. She was not tsahik-trained, it was not for her to interpret the will of Eywa.

"Have you brought the uniltìranyu then, 'ite?" Kxawn'e smiled as he saw her walking toward him.

"I have, Sempul," she nodded, "he is waiting for you. A little nervous, but I believe he is ready."

"Good," Kxawn'e nodded, "you should prepare also, your sa'nok will be returning today."

"Oh! I had forgotten it was today!" Ninat nodded, "I will go look out for her but...please let me know how your talk with Tom turns out."

"Of course I will," Kxawn'e patted her head lightly, "Now go, you have much to get ready for the trade delegation's return."

"Yes, Sempul," Ninat smiled and dashed off. She was actually a little glad of the distraction, otherwise she, too, would be tempted to sit and worry over how Tom was doing in being evaluated.

Kxawn'e watched her go with a slightly worried expression. So much was changing now, with the advent of the tawtute and their influences, and the songs did not hold insights into them. He supposed, though, that before the first songs the Na'vi had to manage without their wisdom, and they obviously managed then, they would manage again. One thing that would never change; all the songs spoke of the importance of flexibility, and perhaps now that would be the most important thing, to be flexible enough to bend before the wind of the tawtute and stand strong again once it had passed.

And that flexibility definitely meant learning from and about tawtute, and accepting those who were willing to learn and allowing them that opportunity. Ka'tsi had been the first, then Jhakesuuly, who was learning from Neytiri, and now he would examine Tomsuuly. He was inclined to trust his daughter's instinct. He had taught her himself, after all, but he still had to be sure, and in order to do that, he would have to see the boy for himself.

He ducked into the alcove and smiled. "Greetings, Tomsuuly," he said, "my daughter speaks well of you."

"I am honoured by her words, High Singer," Tom started to stand.

"No need to get to your feet," Kxawn'e shook his head, "We will begin by speaking together, and that may be done just as comfortably when seated as standing."

"As you say, High Singer," Tom nodded, but he smiled as well, and was rewarded with a pat on the shoulder.

"Please, you need not be so formal. We are two men simply discussing things, please call me Kxawn'e," the older man smiled.

"Then you must call me Tom," he grinned, "I greatly anticipate our discussions."


It was around noon when the trade delegation arrived at Kelutral, and Ninat was eagerly awaiting them with a bowl of food for each. She greeted them formally, but as soon as all the delegates had dismounted and given their food, and the trade goods had been unloaded and were being taken into the central area to be shown to the Olo'eyktan, she ran over to her mother and hugged her.

"I have missed you, Sa'nu," she said, "and there is much news since you left!"

"I have missed you as well, ma 'ite," Tìyana smiled, "Why don't you give me an update as we walk? It is always good to be aware of what is going on."

"Ah, Sa'nu, you would not believe it," she said, "We have an uniltìranyu warrior living among us, learning our ways. His name is Jake Sully, and his twin brother Tom Sully is with Sempul right now, on my recommendation."

"Oh? So Eytukan has relaxed his edict forbidding contact with the uniltìranyu? That should make Antsu happy."

"You have no idea," Ninat grinned, "Tom Sully brought Ka'tsi tsmuke back to us, tsmukan is overjoyed. I believe he was only waiting for you to return from your trip before making things official."

"It would make my heart happy to see at least one of you children mated," Tìyana laughed. "So tell me more about this Tomsuuly. You say he is meeting with Kxawn'e, is he a learner of language as Ka'tsi 'ite is?"

"No, he is something quite different," Ninat shook her head, "He is like you and me, ma sa'nu, he studies the ways of tribes and what has come before, and how it creates what will come."

"Ah, so the tawtute do have singers!" Tìyana blinked, surprised, "from the way they have always acted I thought for sure they did not, that it was just one more thing they lacked."

"I think perhaps they have forgotten to listen to their singers," Ninat explained, "He did not say as much, but Tom seems very frustrated sometimes with his own people. Many times when I asked him about tawtute and why they did this or that, he would sigh and say it was not always so."

"That is sad," Tìyana sighed, "to have forgotten the importance of the songs dooms those who ignore them. No wonder the tawtute are so sick in their heads. I think I would like to meet your Tomsuuly."

"Well, we could check to see if Sempul has made a decision yet," Ninat suggested quickly, "It has been some hours they have been together, after all."

"We could indeed do that," Tìyana nodded, noting to herself how anxious her daughter seemed. "You like him, don't you?"

"I hope we will come to be friends," Ninat nodded, "and I admire his quick mind, even if he does do strange tawtute things sometimes, like covering himself with far too many clothes."

Her mother nodded slowly. "As you say, ma 'ite," she said soothingly, "Let us go rescue your "friend" from your father now. It is time both of them ate the noon meal, after all."


Tom, deep in discussion with Kxawn'e, was startled when there was suddenly a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Ninat lowering herself to sit next to him. He hadn't even been aware that anyone had come in, and yet not only was Ninat here, but an older woman as well, who smiled at him and gestured with two fingers across her lips, which he took to mean "be silent". He gave Ninat a confused look and she shook her head with a smile.

"I do not wish to interrupt, ma sempul, but it is time for eating," she said, drawing Kxawn'e's gaze to her.

"Ah, is it already, ma 'ite?" he blinked, "I had not realized so much time had passed already."

He made to get up, but Tom noticed the older woman had moved so that she was behind him, and her hands came down over his shoulders.

"I will serve our guests," she said, "as is my right and privilege in our home."

Tom watched with amusement as the older man's head spun around, and with a speed which in a human might have been surprising, given his age, he turned and jumped to his feet.

"You are home finally," he said, "I hope the trade mission was a success."

Tom found himself averting his eyes as the couple embraced, leaning their foreheads together affectionately. It was clear that even though they had been together for many years, the love was still strong between them.

"Has Sempul decided about your situation yet?" Ninat leaned over to whisper to Tom while her parents were busy with their greeting.

Tom nodded. "I am to be trained," he said, and grinned excitedly, "I am to stay here starting today, if the Olo'eyktan agrees to it."

"Oh Tom! It is just as I hoped for you!" Ninat said excitedly, "But we had better get some lunch in you first. Facing the Olo'eyktan is nerve-wracking at the best of times, let alone on an empty stomach."


And now for everybody's favorite part of the fic...vocab!

kelutral - Hometree
Srane sa'nu - "Yes, mommy" XD Trust Jake to pick up something like that. He'd better watch what he says to Neytiri, if he said this he'd get whacked on the back of the head. Again.
uniltìranyu - Dreamwalker, the Na'vi word for an avatar
uniltìrantokx - dreamwalker body - an empty avatar when its driver is otherwise occupied
Tsahik - matriarch, interpreter of the will of Eywa
nivi - familiar word for sleeping hammock
Sempul - Father
tawtute - sky people
tsmuke - Sister
Olo'eyktan - Clan leader
atokirina - seeds of the holy tree, pure spirits
'ite - daughter
sa'nok - Mother
tsmukan - Brother

Someone asked me where I get my translations. My resource is the wonderful material on learnnavi dot org. They really are quite amazing!