Chapter 5
I bow to no male. Especially not an idiot and selfish bastard like you.
The morning Opal was going hunting, which would later spiral into one of the final tests before becoming a hunter, dawned dreary and rainy. Grace gave her a small smile at breakfast, a groan leaving her niece as she bit into another piece of fruit.
'You seem tired, Opal. Did you not sleep well?' Peyral asked, her attention diverting from the conversation that was held, and instead, focusing on her young charge.
Opal shook her head, grabbing her hair and braiding it back so it would not get in the way later. 'There is someone calling in my dreams. It is not a voice I know but somewhere, it makes me feel at peace.'
Opal missed the look Peyral, Grace and Neytiri shared, filing the information away for later. Neytiri would have to take it up with her mother for sure.
'Are you ready to go hunting?' Jake asked, stepping from foot to foot as they both waited on their instructors. 'Well, if I can actually shoot something, that would make my day.' The ex-marine laughed softly, squeezing her shoulder.
'You'll do fine. Try to focus and not think about anything else. A clear mind helps. At least, it does for me.' His friend nodded, giving him a grateful smile for the tip. She mouthed a 'Good Luck' as he followed Neytiri into the forest, Peyral giving her the signal to follow her.
The hours blurred together as they tracked an animal in the woods, the rain still softly falling around them. Though Opal did not really like to get wet, the sound of the drops splashing on the trees and plants, the distant sounds of living animals, ...
That she absolutely did love. It was so vastly different from here than on planet Earth, and she wondered how she ever could go back to her home, having known this.
'Focus, Opal. Do not lose the tracks from your side.' Peyral instructed silently, knowing her friend had a tendency to get lost in her own head.
Opal would only later notice, when all was said and done, that she had been given the lead over their hunt today. Another thing she failed to notice.
But looking back, she was glad she had not known. Had she known it was one of the final tests to see her skills, she was not sure if she would have done so well.
'There it is.' Opal muttered, crawling behind a small bush. Her mentor nodded, whispering a 'Remember what I taught you.'
The blonde managed to get her bow and arrows out without falling, which was a feat in itself. She stood up, nocking her arrow.
Clear your mind.
The arrow flew, the hexapede's lips going back as the animal snarled a warning. His snarl changed into a cry of pain, Opal's heart squeezing together in sadness. She did not like killing, but she did have to eat, did she not?
She quickly ran over to the animal, whispering the prayer Peyral taught her, so she could stop the animal's pain. The hexapede's eyes slowly closed, Grace's niece letting out a slow breath as her arrows and bow fell to the ground.
Her mentor came closer, silently assessing the kill. 'You are ready.' Peyral softly said, sitting down next to her. 'WHAT?' Opal screeched, jumping to her feet and stumbling back.
'This was the last step before your final test. If you manage to get through the final test in a few days, you will be a hunter. ' The girl looked at her, face black, her eyes blinking slowly like an owl that just woke up.
'Excuse me?' Peyral grabbed Opal by her arm, telling her to calm down. 'I knew if I told you, you would be too nervous, and you would make mistakes. Hunters sometimes fail, and that is alright. No one is perfect. But today, ...'
A blinding smile appeared on Opal's face, her friend grinning excitedly back. 'You did great!'
Jake was waiting at the fire that night, tail anxiously swishing in anticipation. Did Opal pass? His friend stumbled out moments later, Peyral trying to stop the giddy woman from stumbling over her own feet.
'I think she passed the test.' Grace dryly said, but her eyes were twinkling with something akin to pride.
That night, Opal went to sleep with a heart full of hope, not knowing the hardest was still to come.
Another stone fell from the side of the cliff, Opal groaning again when she looked down. She felt nauseous and dizzy, and for the umpthiest time, wondered if she did the right thing.
'How are you doing?' Jake asked, looking back to Grace's niece. She bit her lip, ears flat against her head and tail moving around in fear. Even the other Na'vi were giving her worried looks.
'Why, oh why, did I think this was a good idea? Why!' Opal sniffed to herself, gaze trained on Jake's head, her world still spinning.
'We leave the horses here. Start climbing!' Tsu' tey called out, as he started to go up.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Opal cursed, taking a step back, unconsciously reverting to the Na'vi language. 'Fuck this, I am staying right here. I am not doing this!'
Jake turned around, giving her a veiled look. 'Than it ends here for both of us.' Opal stopped in her tracks, the other Na'vi staying behind to watch the scene unfold.
'What? No, Jake, you need to go!' The ex-marine crossed his arms over his chest, giving her an unimpressed look. 'Not without you, Opal. You choose.'
The girl cursed again, heart hammering in her chest. 'I am scared of heights, Jake. What if I get dizzy and fall off? I cannot do this.' She pleaded, tail still moving around anxiously.
'I am not moving as long as you aren't, Opal.' The others looked at her, Tsu'tey calling something out from above. 'Come on, you can do this.' The other Na'vi girl said. 'You did not come all this way to stop here.'
Grace's niece bit her lip again, wringing her hands together but then sighing. 'Fine, but if I die, I am coming back to haunt all of you!' she bit out. The other girl, named Alyara she would later come to learn, gave her a small nod.
So Grace's assistant tried to calm her pounding heart as Jake went in front of her, and Alyara after her. She did slip a few times, and more often than not, she grabbed Jake's tail for support. He snorted at that, but said nothing else.
'You can open your eyes, Opal. We have the ground underneath our feet.' The girl opened her eyes, giving her new friend a sheepish smile. 'I am sorry.' Alyara laughed, shaking her head. 'Hey, you will probably be the first Na'vi who rides an ikran but is also scared of heights.'
Opal could not stop a laugh from leaving her as well, the atmosphere much lighter than before. A cry of an ikran made her look up, Peyral coming to meet her. Her teacher and friend nodded at them, giving everyone a nod.
'You got this far I see.' Peyral smiled, Tsu'tey muttering underneath his breath. 'Barely.'
Opal turned around, fuming. 'Oh shut up! Please do not pretend you are not a selfish bastard who takes great pleasure in making fun of Jake and me.'
A silence fell over them, Tsu'tey's gaze becoming cold as ice as he gave her an unimpressed look. 'Are you done? Since you are such a great judge of character, you who is barely able to hold yourself in a fight and is a coward through and through, you can go first.'
Peyral hissed a warning at the soon-to-be leader of their people, Opal ignoring the stab of pain and doubt in her heart.
'I know all that. But rather a coward than being such an idiot and selfish bastard such as you!' Opal bit out, throwing her bow and arrows on the ground.
Peyral followed the rigid female, lips turned back into a sneer at Tsu'tey. 'Do not let him get to you.' Her friend nodded, shaking her head, so her suspiciously wet eyes did not leak.
'Do not forget. You must choose an ikran, and they must choose you.' Opal turned, doubt shining in her eyes once more. 'How...?' Peyral winced, squeezing her shoulders before letting go.
'They will try to kill you.' 'Great!'
Grace's niece heart hammered once again, stepping into the ikran nest. She wondered how she had not yet succumbed to a heart attack. They all looked at her, some flying up but none attacking her outright.
What if she really was not good enough? What if...?
'Opal, look out!' But Peyral's cry came too late. Opal flew back, landing harshly on the ground. While she was going down into a spiral of doubt and fear, the ikran before her had started hissing in warning.
The banshee opened her wings, throwing Opal back. 'Make the bond!' Peyral screamed, as her student stood up and spit out a bit of blood, anger boiling.
'You want to be a bitch? Fine, so will I be.' What followed was a blur to the others. Jake would recall it seemed very much like a deadly version of tug of war, as Opal tried to bond with the ikran before her, trying to hold onto the banshee's head.
Eventually she practically slithered around the ikran's face as a snake, legs and her left arm holding onto the animal for dear life.
She managed to connect with the ikran before everything went to shit. The ikran backed her off like a wild horse would a cowboy, an instinctual response. Opal's eyes widened as she lost her footing, stumbling over the edge of the cliff.
Peyral and Jake called out her name, but it was too late. Opal was falling, falling, the surrounding sky distancing itself at great speed, the ground coming closer and closer.
I am dying, dying, dying, ...
A screech was heard from above her, the green ikran with ocher wings and tail diving behind her.
Opal's eyes widened as her fall was broken with a harsh tud, her arms instinctively grabbing onto a bowed neck.
The ikran had followed her and basically saved her life. She kept on flying slowly, giving Opal time to sit up and try to turn. Eventually she sat forward, grabbing her queue and connecting it to the banshee.
And finally, the chaos in her mind cleared. It was like a second presence was in her head, but at the back, not intruding.
They flew around a bit, Opal getting used to directing the banshee with her mind.
Then, she heard someone calling her name. 'Maybe we should go and show them we are fine.' The ikran underneath her seemed to agree, giving a soft sound, turning around and flying up.
Later, when she had a moment before the festivities, her mind wandered. Her feet fell over the branch, a soft sound making itself known. She could see the fires in the distance, and even up here, she could hear the excited chattering and music that was starting.
But up here, the most prominent sound was the rustling of the group of ikran sat in the branches above her. Her eyes closed as she smiled softly, the rustling of her ikran behind her alerting her to her companion's and lifelong friend's presence. 'We did well, did we not?'
Opal turned to her ikran, who sat next to her, bowing her head. Their gazes crossed, a grin widening the smile on Opal's face. The ikran seemed to hum in agreement, lying her head down in Grace's assistant's lap, eyes closing as her rider scratched her head calmly.
'Mowan.'