This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have corrected every mistake yet. As the story keeps getting bigger, it is possible that inconsistencies may appear. If they do, let me know and I will correct them.
Yes indeed, another chapter has finally come. I have been very busy the last few months, but it looks like I'm going to have some more time to write from now on. So don't worry, this story is not dead. Enjoy as always!
Chapter 21: The hunt
The Na'vi of the Uvora clan, especially Wukan and Ney'ite, had noticed that John's behavior had changed somewhat during the last few days. He had become more eager to learn how to use a bow and arrow and he had even asked if he could practice some spear throwing. Ney'ite was as willing as always to help improve his skills. However, when he asked if he could come along on a hunt, she had to disappoint him. According to her, the forest had not yet given him permission to kill. John didn't quite understand. He wanted to point out to her that the invaders killed every creature they encountered indiscriminately, and left the bodies to rot, yet he wasn't allowed to make even one kill, even if the purpose of that kill was to feed the clan. But he did not say this out loud to anyone. Instead, he realized that he had begun to think far more aggressively than he had ever believed himself to be capable of. Perhaps the pressure was getting to him. The pressure of knowing that the machines could attack randomly, or the pressure of preparing the dangerous mission to Shadow, or the pressure of living two separate lives in two separate bodies. Or maybe all three of those. John knew he had to calm down his mind in order not to overstrain himself.
Although John was not allowed to come along on a hunt yet, it appeared that some Na'vi of the Uvora clan had already come to trust John enough to ask a favor of him. Several days ago, the first of the migrating Sturmbeest herds had been spotted a few hours away from the village. That meant that the annual Great Hunt was about to commence. Many young couples would be away from the village during those few days, and they would often leave their children in the care of the elders. However, a few young parents had taken notice of John's interactions with their children and had deemed him also suitable to watch over their children in their absence. When they asked him, John realized what they were asking of him was considered a great honor and so he accepted without hesitation. This could be considered yet another burden, but John believed that it was essential in ultimately gaining the trust of the entire clan, even Selyat and the clan leader Ranu'ut.
The following week, John was working at full capacity, but also tried not to overexert himself. He would get up early in the morning and have a quick breakfast before linking up to his Avatar. Once linked, he would spend the morning and the afternoon watching over several children, while simultaneously trying to keep learning more about Uvora clan and their way of life. In the late afternoon, he would practice some fighting skills in his own way. After the evening meal, he would tell a story as usual and when he had done that, he would put his Avatar to sleep. Then, he could spend the remaining time of the day in his human body to continue building the pressure suit. It was John's intention to finish it this week, so that it would be ready when they would go to meet Joseph again. The only drawback of this daily schedule was that his human body only got about five to six hours of sleep every night.
A day before the meeting would take place, John was unexpectedly approached by Ranu'ut, while he was roasting some Hexapede meat. John had absolutely no idea why the clan leader had come to him. Ranu'ut revealed that he had thought about some of the things that Joseph had said, which Selyat had recited to him. First of all, the information about the weak points of the invaders was very useful, but that wasn't the reason he wanted to talk to John. Ranu'ut asked John to confirm that they were going up to the sky to one of those little spheres up there to hunt down and kill the invaders. John nodded and told him that that was one way of putting it. Then, he asked John with that familiar smirking expression on his face, if he believed he could do this without Selyat accompanying him. John paused for a moment, not knowing what the motivation behind this question was. Then he tried to carefully explain that he didn't mean to defy him by not allowing anyone who Ranu'ut really trusted to come along. It was not like that at all. Ranu'ut now interrupted him and told him that he had already had a feeling that this hadn't been the reason. John was suddenly relieved.
Ranu'ut explained that he only wanted to know why John wouldn't want Selyat assisting him, as she was a very capable warrior who had experience in battle with the invaders. According to John, the journey they would be making would to totally incomparable to anything the Na'vi were used to. As a human, he had experience with space travel, and Joseph had traveled in space as well. Someone with no accurate training or experience in space travel would likely become stressed and disoriented and thus unable help anymore. On top of that, it would also be a very dangerous journey, even for a trained and experienced person. John claimed that no Na'vi needed to sacrifice him or herself for a mess that they hadn't caused. Ranu'ut remarked that that was a very noble gesture of him. He could see that John wanted to take responsibility in his own hands. Then, he asked when they were planning to make this journey. John admitted that the exact day had not yet been chosen, but that he and Joseph would have a meeting tomorrow to discuss this. Ranu'ut nodded and told him that he wasn't planning on interrupting Selyat while she was occupied with Great Hunt. He also told him that this meant that he was allowed to go to Joseph without any supervision. Before John could think of anything to say, Ranu'ut got up and went back to his daily activities…
Deep in the jungle, a heavily armed and armored bulldozer tank was clearing a path. It was escorted by about a dozen Type 400 machines. They were not the only ones there, however. The Type 1000 was stalking the tank, leaping from tree to tree in a parallel path. It was following the tank in the hopes some Na'vi would attempt to halt it. Although this hadn't happened yet, the Type 1000 had kept itself busy during the journey by hunting other targets. Aside from Na'vi and rogue machines, its favorite type of target had become the Prolemuris. These monkey-like creatures were very quick and agile, and so the Type 1000 also considered them worthy to hunt. Still though, it preferred the larger and stronger Na'vi as its opponents. It was especially interested in important Na'vi individuals, such as clan leaders. The Type 1000 had kept the skull of Marun, the previous Olo'eyktan of the Uvora clan, as a trophy. Now, it was already looking forward to the next opportunity for expanding the collection.
The Type 1000 decided to stop the chase for a moment in order to get a good view of what was up ahead. It searched for the highest tree in the area and started climbing it all the way to the top. Once there, it had a magnificent view of the surroundings. A large mountain could be seen up ahead. The Tree of Souls, a Na'vi stronghold, was located on the other side of it, according to MT-NET's most recent information update. The Type 1000 would eventually be allowed to go there, when MT-NET had built up an army that was large enough to conquer it. At the present time, however, no machine was allowed to go there. The machine now looked to the direction from which they had come. A wide path separated the jungle into two halves. Several hundred meters behind the tank and the other machines, there was a four-wheel drive buggy. The driver was none other than Mark Dodgson. His wound was still healing, but that didn't stop him from joining another one of MT-NET's missions.
When Mark had returned to Hell's Gate, he had given MT-NET proof of what had happened. A small camera with a microphone had been hidden in his jacket and had been recording the whole time he was at the outpost. It didn't matter to MT-NET that Mark had failed to kill John. This hadn't even been a mission goal. John's Avatar would ultimately meet its demise when MT-NET would attack the last village of the Uvora clan. John's human form would be no threat and he would be doomed to remain at his outpost until his supplies ran out. MT-NET had been satisfied with Mark's accomplishments. It was beginning to favor him as it had once favored Joseph. MT-NET didn't see him as an ally though. It looked at him more like a pet. Nevertheless, as a reward for his accomplishments, MT-NET had given its pet a new toy. Several relatively unscathed buggies were stored in one of the warehouses at Hell's Gate. Mark received the largest and most powerful one. It had probably belonged to one of the base commanders, as it was a heavily modified vehicle. It even had an old-fashioned gasoline powered V8 engine. Now, Mark was tasked with guarding the rear side of the bulldozer tank, but it seemed he was bored. He was testing the buggy's performance and was driving in circles behind the tank, producing a lot of noise and dust…
Late in the afternoon, John was practicing some spear throwing on his own. Several of the elders had relieved him of his task of watching over the children. John had left the village to venture to a quiet spot he knew about, which was near a rock wall. Just when he was about to throw a second spear, he could hear someone's voice behind him. He was a bit startled by this, but quickly found out that there was no need to, as it was only Ney'ite. She told him that she had come to see how he was doing. John threw the spear towards one of the targets and admitted that despite everything that was going on right now, he was quite alright. When he went to retrieve the two spears, Ney'ite quietly asked him if there had ever been anyone special in his human life. John was confused for a moment, not knowing what she meant. She rephrased the question and asked if he had ever had a human mate. John revealed that long ago there had once been such a person, but in the end, she was only interested in money, which he apparently didn't have enough in her opinion. Ney'ite wanted to know what 'money' was and asked John if he could describe it. It was a materialistic and most irrelevant thing according to John.
Ney'ite continued the conversation by saying that she didn't want him to go away all by himself to this place called Shadow. John wanted to tell her that he wouldn't be alone as Joseph would accompany him, but he was interrupted midsentence by Ney'ite. She asserted that Joseph, despite his kindness and willingness to help them, was not a real individual like them. He had no heart, which she could see in his eyes. Therefore, she wanted to go with John to Shadow. John instantly said that she could not come. The journey would be dangerous and Shadow was no place for a Na'vi. On top of that, he had already told their clan leader why he didn't want any Na'vi to come and he didn't want to contradict this statement. Ney'ite didn't say anything in response and merely looked at him with her large and dreamy eyes. It was already dusk, and so very little light reached through the thick canopy of leaves and branches above them. This caused her pupils to dilate, making her eyes even dreamier than usual. That made John melt in a figurative sense. He sighed and allowed her to come along, but strongly underscored the fact that the experience wasn't going to be pretty. However, Ney'ite simply claimed that she was up for a new challenge…