Jake was kept very busy over the next few months. His own ikran makto were determined to adapt nantang-ball to the air themselves when he informed them of what the Ikran Clan warriors would be working on; they weren't about to wait for anyone else to teach them how to do it.
Perrat's riders were galvanized at the proposal and threw themselves wholeheartedly into the project. That wasn't entirely surprising, given the big fat bullseye the Ikran Clan had painted on their backs. She had managed to convince her warriors that Toruk Makto had entrusted them with the greatest of all the traps, that of drawing off a sizable portion of the enemy's forces. They were proud of being given such a great honor and were determined not to let Jake down.
Awkey's pa'li makto had the same reaction to Jake and Norm's proposal that the Ikran Clan's riders did. When the Olo'eyktan was presented with a style of game and combat that was uniquely adapted to his pa'li riders, he could barely contain his own enthusiasm long enough to listen to the entire explanation. His camp was shortly emptied of off-duty warriors, who ran to go find sticks suitable for polo mallets as fast as they could. By the time the Omatikaya left a couple of days later, the Horse Clan warriors were deeply into debates about mallet construction, styles, and what pa'li were best suited to this mode of combat.
At this point they had one year to go before the Venture Sun's scheduled arrival. Even though this was not supposed to be one of the dangerous ships, the Venture Nova had impressed on all the Na'vi the fact that their peril was not over. Everyone was taking even this 'harmless' ship seriously, to the marine's great relief.
It was during this time that Jake discovered an important facet of the nantang- ball game that he hadn't considered before; because it was a game, it prevented the Na'vi clan homes from becoming war camps. Yes, the games were necessary, and yes, everyone took it seriously, but at the same time the fact that it was a game kept everything in perspective. The truly important thing was life, and living it. Learning how to fight in a coordinated manner – even the battles they knew lay ahead – were simply things to be dealt with so that life could continue for as many Na'vi as possible. They never lost sight of that, which he was both amazed by and grateful for.
So training continued, the games were adapted to ikran and pa'li, Sara Evans taught her novice pilots, the scientists at Hell's Gate kept searching for answers, and day to day life went on.
Jak'itan soon learned to sit up by himself, and Neytiri warned her mate that this meant their son would soon be crawling and need careful watching. She, Jake, or Mo'at brought the baby to the child-watchers' area every day so that the boy had a safe space and many attentive eyes supervising his efforts.
The caretakers were well-practiced in monitoring little ones who were just beginning to learn locomotor skills. The area reserved for the smallest of little-tails held a number of sturdy branches of various thicknesses for the babies to crawl over, on, and around. A tumble off of a six inch log on the ground held much smaller consequences than a fall from a branch high in the Tree, and taught a body-awareness that would be critically needed later. The logs could also be used as strategic barriers to keep the least-experienced of the crawlers safely away from areas they shouldn't be in.
One morning about a month before Jake's fourth clan gathering he stopped in at the child-watchers' area after the first training to spell Neytiri. He saw her wave a greeting from where she was sitting on a log. It was plain that she'd been laughing a moment ago, and he asked "What's so funny?" before kissing her cheek and sitting down next to her.
She pointed out into the crawling-area and grinned, "Your son!"
The Olo'eyktan looked to the spot his mate indicated and saw the baby stubbornly attempting to go through (rather than over or around) a log many times his mass. The child was frustrated that the object wouldn't move aside for him. He reached up and pushed at it with one hand, then with two, and squealed in indignation when his efforts went unnoticed by the obstacle. Jak'itan dropped back down onto all fours and promptly put his head against the log and tried to push his way through it, sending both his parents into gales of laughter.
Jake had to wipe laugh-tears out of his eyes, "He's as stubborn as a little bull…" he was about to say bulldozer but caught himself, knowing that the word had a very different connotation for the Na'vi than it did for humans, "angtsik," he finished.
Neytiri looked at her mate as though he'd uttered something profound and her face lit up. "Yes! That's it!" She jumped up and pulled her son away from his shoving match with the log and whirled the baby high in the air.
Her mate was surprised. "What's it? What did I say?" He got up and walked over to his wife and son.
The tsahik was cooing to her little boy, who was crowing with pleasure at this game his mother was playing. She rubbed noses with the baby, saying gleefully "That is exactly who you are, a stubborn little bull, aren't you? That is your name – An'ts'it!"
Jake was startled at Neytiri's declaration, But it's not bad, as far as names go, he thought to himself. Then he snorted at himself in amusement for such a human-centric reaction. Hell, I bet 'Jake' sounds a lot weirder to the Na'vi than 'An'ts'it' does. And he *is* as stubborn as a little bull, so why not?
Neytiri held one of the baby's hand and waved it, "Kaltxi, An'ts'it! Let's go see Aunt Janni and tell her your name and she can take your necklace ornament and carve a little angtsik into it! And we will go see your grandmother and tell her, and she will sing the naming-song so that your grandfather and aunt will hear it from within Eywa and be happy for you."
His mate was so pleased that Jake couldn't help but smile, And after all, I did come up with the name. Sort of, he thought with satisfaction. He took his son's other hand and play-nibbled on it to make the boy laugh, and put his other arm around Neytiri's waist. "Come on, let's go see Aunt Janni!"