Life went on regardless of everyone's tension. The daily routine of life at New Hometree, blessed for its very normalcy, did a lot to keep Jake on an even emotional keel.
On one morning when Neytiri was nearly eight months pregnant he found her snickering when he brought food over to his little family at first meal. He automatically lifted the leaf-plate out of An'ts'it's reach as the boy grabbed for the fruit he knew would be there. Mo'at helped by taking it herself and holding it invitingly. Her grandson willingly settled into her lap in exchange for the treat, leaving Jake and Neytiri to eat in relative peace.
"What's so funny?" the Olo'eyktan asked as he handed his mate a leaf-wrapped parcel of steamed teylu grubs.
Mo'at answered for her daughter, "I saw A'lai on my way down the Tree this morning. She told me that Neytiri will have some new company when the pregnant women gather in the child-watchers' place today."
Jake couldn't imagine whose pregnancy would be cause for such mirth. "Oh? Who?"
Neytiri snickered again and answered "Faralla."
The Olo'eyktan drew a complete blank. The name teased at his memory. He knew he'd heard it before, but the identification stayed just out of reach.
His woman reached for a piece of raw vegetable and filled in the blank for him, "You know, Me'retan's mate."
It took just a moment for Jake to recognize the name of the crippled Na'vi, and then a big grin creased his own face. "And what does Me'retan have to say about that?"
Mo'at snorted, though she was wearing a smile, "What do you think? He's strutting around as proud of himself as a young nantang with its first litter."
Jake laughed, pleased that the former hunter's life was full once again.
Right after they finished breakfast, Jake and Neytiri walked to the center of the cavern under New Hometree while Mo'at took An'ts'it off to wash up and go play. The Olo'eyktan was taking a group of hunter trainees to Ikinmaya this day.
Neytiri got a pleasant surprise when she saw the group of waiting Na'vi. "Natan!" The young man grinned and waved as the tsahik approached. "You have made a clean kill already, then?" she inquired delightedly.
Teekan appeared behind his adopted son and answered, "Several, actually. He's been practicing nearly nonstop for months. Hates to interrupt his target shooting even to eat, and I can't tell you how many times he's fallen asleep with his bow in his hands at night." The man couldn't resist boasting, "He's an even better shot than I am now." The proud father ruffled the young man's head affectionately. "He's ready to take his place in the clan, aren't you my son?"
Natan ducked his head, as pleased and embarrassed as any young man having to endure a publicly crowing parent.
"Well, let's see what we can do about that, shall we?" was Jake's answer as he led them towards the others.
Norm woke up in his avatar just as Jake and his hunter-candidates were heading out for Ikinmaya. He was both cheerful and a bit grumpy. He had to spend a little bit of time in his avatar daily of course, but his visits were frequently a lot shorter than he preferred. I know the administrative stuff is absolutely necessary, but it takes up so much time! Today he had decided to 'treat' himself to a full day's shift in his avatar. And please, God, he prayed, don't let anyone do something stupid enough to get me recalled, just for this one day, please!
The scientist trotted down the center spiral, eager to eat and get out in the field. He'd been promising to accompany Tanhi on a lati-gathering trip for days. He felt a proprietary interest in those trips, since his mint sauce was the primary reason they were needed so frequently. Norm smirked as he sat down and bit into a leaf-wrapped piece of roasted meat. Everyone knows that picking today means sauce tonight, which means there's going to be a good run on dinner!
He wolfed down his breakfast and went to the healers' enclave where the Na'vi was waiting for him with a couple of apprentices. They slung fine carry-nets over their shoulders and headed out, picking up an obliging scout to stand guard for them as they left New Hometree. Diligent teaching by his adopted kin had finally cured the scientist of his habit of sounding "like a herd of rampaging antsik" as he moved, and they reached an unharvested area of lati bushes after a reasonable amount of time.
Tanhi made assignments, sending pairs to work each clump of bushes. She paired herself with Norm, as usual. Both of them got to work, picking leaves and carefully depositing them in the carry-nets. Conversation was normal during these trips; the scouts would not allow any gatherers to go into an area where large predators had been spotted, and the sound of a number of Na'vi voices was normally enough to make smaller ones go elsewhere.
"So," the healer commented, "you have been spending a great deal of time at the uniltiratokx clan-home recently."
"Yeah," Norm responded as he plucked the end of a branch off, "there's been a lot of work to do there. I haven't been able to spend as much time here as I'd like."
"An Olo'eyktan has many responsibilities. You certainly have more than usual, since your people are being hunted by your own kind, and cannot breathe the air or drink the water here," Tanhi said noncommittally.
The scientist had to fight the urge to give in to instant depression. "You're right, it's hard, but I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end." He smiled at the Na'vi, "We'll get things taken care of and then the tawtute will stay away for good and the Na'vi won't have to worry about them ever again."
Tanhi's ears twitched back, "You do not sound so sure of that," she observed.
Norm shook his head and smiled ruefully, "Can't get anything past you, can I? Well, let's say that we're going to do our best to make sure of it."
The healer's next statement rocked him back. "And what will you do if you succeed? Will you take your clan back to your injured home and never come back to the Na'vi yourself?"
He blinked in startlement. "Actually, I haven't thought that far ahead. Defeating the tawtute is enough to think about, isn't it?"
She tsk'ed at him. "An Olo'eyktan must think past the hunt, past the battle. He is responsible for the continuation of the clan into the next generation, not for just the immediate problem. You must provide for your clan's future after the tawtute battle so that they will live and stay strong. The life of the clan is everything. Without the clan, no one survives," she concluded firmly.
Norm was quiet for a while. He knew the great importance of the clan to Na'vi society. He knew that group living was necessary on this hostile planet. There were simply too many dangers here for an individual to be able to survive long alone. Something in the healer's tone though made him conscious for the first time of the difference between people who identified themselves as individuals first and those who identified themselves as members of a group first. The simplicity of it stunned him. My God. Cohesion. Na'vi clans react to things that are – to facts. Facts are the lowest common denominator, for a group. Humans react to things saying 'this is the way I want it.' Facts and desires don't necessarily coincide. That's why the Na'vi say things like "It is decided" when referring to group-affecting issues, instead of us saying "I have decided!" The thought was huge. Enormous. He froze with the impact, his mind racing to trace all the implications of the idea.
Tanhi quickly noticed his immobility, "Norm'an? Are you unwell?"
He shook off his paralysis and resumed picking even though his thoughts were running a mile a minute. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thought of something that I want to do later, that's all."
The healer was satisfied with the resumption of activity and went back to her own picking. "We will have a fine batch of lati when we are finished here. You should invite some of your uniltirantokx friends to come eat with us so that they can try it. Is the new one able to speak our language yet?"
Norman was still bemused by the sudden insight and was only paying half attention to the conversation, "No, not yet. She's been spending most of her time teaching my people how to fly the small ship, so she hasn't had a lot of time to learn the language so far."
He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice Tanhi freezing in turn as she asked in a carefully controlled tone of voice, "She?"
There was a celebration that evening when the Olo'eyktan brought four new ikran macto home with their new mounts. Neytiri gave Natan a huge hug as she admired his golden-bronze new friend.
Teekan was over the moons with glee as a group of Omatikaya brought food and drink for the new taronyu and their beasts. Jake and Neytiri stayed to celebrate with the new riders for a while, but retired early so that the very pregnant tsahik could get some rest.
When the still-boasting parents were well occupied with each other it was the young Na'vis' turn to come admire their peers' accomplishment. All the new hunters were bonded to their mounts to reassure the still nearly-wild animals, so they were of necessity a bit distracted.
Natan was patting his ikran's neck when he heard a girl speak admiringly. "Your friend's color is very beautiful. He is quite wiry, too. I bet he is very agile in the air."
The new hunter turned, pleased by the compliments for his new friend. A young woman wearing the necklace of a healer-apprentice stood before him admiring the ikran. "He is very agile, yes. I am sure that he will be very good when we fly together in the ikran-games."
The girl smiled shyly, "He will enjoy them greatly, I have no doubt."
Her expression was so warm and appreciative that Natan was charmed without realizing it. "I am Natan, adopted son of Teekan. You must be A'lai's new healer-apprentice?"
She nodded with warmth in her eyes, "Yes, my name is Talli."