Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Slightly shorter chapter than usual, but I'll try to get the next part up soon.
The clan did reach the Tree of Souls shortly before he, his mother, and Jake did, but it wasn't by any great amount. Unfortunately, Tsu'tey realized as their ikran circled the Tree of Souls that they had a slight problem. They hadn't brought Jake's wheeled chair along—he hadn't even thought about it, since Jake should have no need it after this—and if he landed Denan with the other ikran, Jake would have no way to get to the base of the tree.
He certainly wouldn't be able to drag himself that far…it might have been possible, albeit slow, if he wasn't sick, but as hard as it was for him to even move into his chair now, such a distance would be impossible. Tsu'tey could carry him, of course; it wasn't as though he was particularly heavy, and while the crutch would make it more awkward, it wasn't impossible. But that assumed that Jake wouldn't fight him about it, and Tsu'tey didn't think that he could get guarantee of that. If the clan wasn't present, maybe, but with so many observing them, Jake would not want help. It was understandable—if their situations were reversed, neither would he—but if he had to force the issue it would not be pleasant.
Sessis dove in for a landing, but Tsu'tey asked Denan to circle the tree again. It was somewhat improper, but he could land Denan in the clearing. It made for a much shorter carrying distance, and Jake was going to be stared at anyway.
"What's wrong?" Jake twisted to look back at him. "I think we're supposed to be headed down there."
"Yes, b—" Tsu'tey broke off, baring his teeth in a grin as he caught sight of Neytiri in the clearing below. With a tolerable amount of space surrounding her. It was not a nice idea that he had, but it should work reasonably well.
"Tsu'tey?" Jake asked.
Tsu'tey broke Jake's grip on his wrist easily and shifted his hold from around Jake's waist to around his chest, pinning his arms to his sides, before sending Denan into a steep dive. Jake yelled something that might have been a curse, but he ignored it, barking sharply get Neytiri's attention as they approached. Not that a rapidly-approaching shadow shouldn't be warning enough, but one never knew.
Denan flared her wings and inverted, sweeping across the clearing at just above head-height, and Tsu'tey released his grip and dropped Jake about an arms-length down to Neytiri. It was a greater distance than he might have liked, but any closer risked Denan clipping Neytiri or one of the others who stood around. Neytiri caught Jake with a surprised squeal, and Jake gave another shout that was more than half-surprised as well. Tsu'tey grinned and left them both behind as Denan righted herself—with a definite sense of satisfaction—and swept upwards again before dropping back down to land where the other ikran rested. And Toruk, who was sitting on a conveniently-sized boulder and ignoring the commotion going on around him. Including the hiss that Denan aimed in his direction. Now that Neytiri had Jake, she could worry about carrying him wherever he needed to go. Tsu'tey suspected that she'd get much less of a fight about it.
His mother gave him a more than slightly unamused look as he swung down off Denan, but from his perspective, he'd just saved them all a lengthy argument so he wasn't going to worry about it. Half a dozen of the ikran makto were standing on a boulder overseeing the clan's activity, and he unhooked his crutch from its attachment on Denan's harness and went to join them. It took more work than he would have liked to hide the ache in his good leg, but he managed.
/I See you,/ he greeted the group.
/I See you, Olo'eyktan,/ Eykir returned, his words echoed by the others.
/The clan has all made the journey safely?/ Tsu'tey checked.
/For the most part. There was some difficulty at the second river crossing. The water is running higher than usual from the recent rains, and a large branch came downstream too quickly for us to signal a warning and swept several pa'li under. They were all able to recover and reach the opposite bank with their riders, but there were several who took minor injuries. Including the Tsahik./
/Mo'at?/ Tsu'tey's ears flicked back. He hadn't seen her with Neytiri, but then, he hadn't looked particularly closely. He'd simply assumed that she was around. /How badly is the Tsahik hurt?/ It was not a good sign, her being injured immediately before such an important ceremony.
/Not severely. Kayin?/
/I saw the cuts on her arm myself,/ the youngest of the group said, stepping up beside Eykir, /and none were deep. The healers say that several of her ribs were bruised as well, but none are broken, and she is expected to recover fully./
/That is good. Thank you for your report./ Although he was still not pleased to hear that she'd been injured at all.
/That is really Jakesully?/ Eykir gestured towards the raised roots near the tree trunk where Jakesully's soulless Dreamwalker body lay and Neytiri sat fussing at Jake himself. Trying to get him to take off his Sky Person garments and running out of patience with his protests, if their gestures and her twitching tail were any indication. /He is very…small,/ Eykir continued after a moment. /And he has no queue./
/None of the Sky People do./
Eykir curled his lip at that and a few of the others muttered under their breath, and Tsu'tey couldn't entirely blame them. He might be used to seeing Jake and Norm and Max and Carla and the others at the Sky People's place now, but that didn't change the fact that they were still decidedly odd looking.
Apparently Neytiri won the argument because Jake finally tugged his shirt off, and Tsu'tey shook his head and turned back to Eykir. /You have set up a perimeter around the Tree of Souls?/
/Of course. Do you wish to walk it?/
Tsu'tey nodded and gestured for Eykir to precede him. The clan might be planning to hold an important ceremony tonight, but there was no expectation that Pandora's predators would respect such a thing, and although the ikran and pa'li would alert them if anything particularly dangerous approached—unlikely, given that Toruk was still with them—a Na'vi guard was a necessary precaution.
The sky's light had almost fully died by the time the entire clan was settled and Jake was prepared for the transfer. At Mo'at's signal, Tsu'tey broke of his conversation with two of the scouts and stepped into his position, trying not to think about the last time they'd done this. The time that had failed. Toktor Grace's body—bodies, technically—had been fully absorbed by the tree and no sign remained, but Jake still seemed paler than he should be, and the wound on the back of his leg was…not pleasant to look at.
Jake shifted to look at him. "You know, that was—" he broke off coughing for a moment, muttered a curse when he tried to put his hand to his mouth and bumped it against the mask instead, and then shook his head and continued speaking. "That wasn't funny, earlier. I could have landed on my head."
Unlikely, considering that Neytiri had been right there. He tried to smirk, although that cough didn't ease his worries. "I found it funny. And Denan enjoyed it as well." His grin widened, becoming almost real as Jake muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'she would.' "Besides, I believe the healers would agree that your skull is far too thick to be damaged."
"You're one to talk."
Obviously he was speaking, and Tsu'tey was about to ask what that particular ridiculous Sky Person phrase meant when Mo'at hissed at them both to be silent. She looked well, at least…he'd noticed when he'd spoken to her earlier that she was favoring her ribs on one side somewhat, but the cuts on her arms were better described as scratches than anything else, and only two had been bandaged. She'd assured him that she would be 'fine,' which would have made him laugh if the circumstances hadn't been so serious.
Jake gave him a quick grin as she signaled for the clan's attention, and there was perhaps something that Tsu'tey should have said then, just in case, but those kinds of words had never been his strength. He settled for a short nod. Jake returned it and then turned to say something quietly to Neytiri. Who managed a smile, at least, and then he closed his eyes and laid his head down on the stone.
The rest of the clan had already linked their queues into the Tree of Souls through the roots that ran just above the ground, and Tsu'tey could only watch as Mo'at began to speak. As the clan leader, it was not his place to join in with the prayers and songs. His duty was to keep watch over the clan while they made their pleas to Eywa. But Jake was his friend, and he very much wanted to participate.
Mo'at's words as she entreated Eywa to hear their prayers rang out across the clearing, and the clan cried out in response to her pleas as glowing tendrils grew up from the ground, finding purchase in the base of his skull and down his spine. The same glow surrounded the clearing as well, emanating from the roots, and Jake's expression twitched as the tendrils connected. His eyes didn't open again even as the cries grew louder, though, the clan moving in time with their words and raising their arms to the sky. Tsu'tey could see a few Atokirina floating about, glowing in the faint light, and took it as a good sign, but most of his attention was on Jake.
The clan's chanting continued for several iterations, the strands increasing in number with every moment that passed, and then, almost too quickly, Mo'at lowered her arms and called for quiet. All went silent as the previously-glowing tendrils faded into darkness again.
Jake didn't move, his eyes still closed, and Neytiri kissed his eyelids and then moved to crouch over his still-motionless Dreamwalker body. "Jake? My Jake?"
Author's Note: Snicker. That was kind of evil. But it was a good breakpoint.
