"Welcome back to the land of the humans, Awa" Grace grinned when the Na'vi approached her. They had devised a mask for her so that she would be able to breathe the air inside of the base. Awa thought she looked ridiculous with it on but it was something she had to do. She was just happy she didn't have to change her clothes before coming back, the humans seemed to have a problem with the outfit choices the Na'vi had.
"It's not good to be back I must say, Grace. I'd much rather stay cuddled up with Tsu'tey" Awa grinned back with a shake of her head, making her braids shake with the motion and the decorational pearls cling and click against each other. "You know damn well I only come here for you"
"Say what you want but I think you enjoy training these skxawngs once every week" Grace chuckled and gestured to the lined up dreamwalkers that stood behind her, all of them displaying the typical nervous signs like eyes averted to the ground, their tail either laying stiff or snaked around their leg, and ear flickering back and forth. They all wore the avatar sized human clothes that the RDA liked so much; a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of shoes. Awa snorted, whatever would they need those for. They all also had the same default braid that all of the Avatars had with Awa's being the only exception. Of course she never considered it an Avatar body or a replica of a Na'vi one, she had always regarded it as her true body and therefore refused to wear the braid like that.
"You know you'd drop this in the blink of an eye if the clan asked you to join us" Awa responded, tearing her eyes away from the humans she had no doubt would piss themselves if she continued to observe them. And Grace thought her batch was weak when they first came here, she thought to herself, reminiscing about the past. She shouldn't be so hard on them though, she was just as nervous her first time being in her new body, even though she had spent most of her actual training in the simulator. She quickly got over all that though, both with the help of Grace and her vigorous training and her Na'vi clan. She owed everything she had and am to them. Eternally in their debt and an eternity of gratitude for the Na'vi to have overlooked her past and instead looked at her as a person. Awa suspected her ability might have helped her a bit but she was quickly accepted into the clan as one of the people, and before long she had completed her training and was considered an adult by them. Her bow made from the hometree hung on her back, it was light but she knew it was there, ready to defend her. "So what are the plans for today?"
"First of all these drivers don't know na'vi as good as you and I so we need to speak english" Grace begun, her voice strong and with the usual cold tone in it. The older woman was in a business mode or as Awa liked to call it a Grace mood. Grace was simply being Grace, teaching the only way she could, she never lost the harsh words or cold tone until she was certain the driver would survive. Grace had learnt the hard way to not form attachments to people that may not survive their first week, luckily for Awa, Grace had made an exception for her.
"Let's get right to it then, no time to lose. I've got a hunt to catch in 3 hours, chop chop kiddos!"Awa marched up to the lined up drivers and barked out the order with an authoritative tone in her voice. This wasn't her rodeo and definitely not her last. "How many hours did you have in simulation? You begin" She point at the dreamwalker in the middle, she had developed a bit of an accent from only speaking na'vi and the occasional phrase in english. Good, she thought to herself when the newbie began physically shaking from nervosity and fright, they need to get over this quickly or Pandora will eat them alive.
"200 hours" The girl whispered, her cheeks turning into a darker shade of cyan as she twisted her hands together.
"Awa" Awa corrected with a cold tone, she wasn't here to be their friend and they had to understand that. Her job was to once a week come to base and train the drivers to better use their avatar bodies. The rest of the training was taken care of by Grace, which Awa appreciated a lot because that meant that she could spend all that other time with her mate and clan. She hoped that she would soon be able to quit all together. "My name is Awa and you will address me as such"
"Yes, Awa" They chorused, all intimidated by the ex dreamwalker in front of them. When Grace had told them that an old student of hers was going to teach them they had expected a dream walker just like them, imagine their surprise when the Na'vi walked up to them, dressed in Na'vi clothes and her hair decorated in traditional Omaticayan braids and pearls. They hadn't expected this Na'vi that was so intimidating to them that they could barely speak. They could only imagine how it would be to meet a native Na'vi if they thought Awa looked wild and strong. Stronger than they could ever be, more graceful than they could ever dream of and they could see that she was thriving in the Pandora climate and with the clan.
"Good" She nodded, her tail was swishing from side to side as she walked along the line, inspecting all of the dream walkers. Their movements were all clumsy, their steps unsure and they didn't have any control over their tail or ears. They were too human. Awa never felt human so for her it was easy to adapt but these ones didn't feel the same as her, it was glaringly obvious. If they wanted to as efficiently as possible use these bodies, because that's all they saw them as, just extra bodies, they had to learn how to use it like a Na'vi. And Awa was the best to teach them that, being a part of a Na'vi clan and all that. It would be hard training these but she could do it. " Now you, how many hours?"
The questioning continued until the last one had informed her of their hours spent in simulator, most of them being below 300 hours. Lazy, she spat in her head. "What training do you have planned today?" She asked the woman behind her without turning around. She was still circling the newbies, she wanted to see how long it would take until her movements stopped making them nervous. She needed them to stop being nervous over everything and instead build confidence, because on Pandora you either learn or die, as her old trainer used to tell her.
"They're still not used to their bodies, they can't run fast or jump high. I've only taken them on small walks and some basic climbing in the training yard" Grace chuckled, tugging a hand along her braid.
"Today we're going to go through that obstacle course over there. Don't look at me like that, that's a baby course compared to the real thing, you should be glad I'm not giving you the Na'vi training." Awa snorted at the scared looks they sent her, the course wasn't big at all or high up. It was a course that a baby Na'vi would easy walk through without any trouble, these drivers on the other hand would fall more than a thousand times. After a while they would get through it with smooth movements and decent speed but until then that is what they'll be doing. "Don't be scared to fall because you will fall. Over and over again, and then after a while you won't and the bruises will be but a faded memory."
She lunged at one of them to test their reflexes and just as she expected they all jumped out of their skin. Another thing to fix, they couldn't be so obvious with their fear, and most of all she had to teach them how to overcome that instinct of fear that would without a doubt make them freeze and die.
"Begin!" She barked out when the group just continued to stare at her with their mouth almost touching the ground.
The avatars almost fell on their faces in their hurry to get away and to the obstacle course, making Awa burst out laughing at the scene. "They're even more clumsy than that Jake you lost in the forest"
...
"I'm exhausted" Awa complained as she plopped down on the branch a short distance away from the actual base fences. "It's been awhile since they were that annoying"
"You made progress, you should be proud, child. You have more patience than many in the clan, even the ones in care of the youngest children" Her old mentor joker with a grin on his face. Her having patience with people was the furthest thing possible from the truth, she had almost no patience whatsoever with people and he knew it. "I particularly enjoyed the lecture you gave the short one after they refused to jump from the ledge"
"Ha, ha, you're so funny. They need to learn to trust their instincts and their bodies or they'll never survive." She defended herself even though the older Na'vi had meant it only as a joke. Awa is a very defensive person, she can't help it. "It's not like I can throw them down trees like you did to me, or leave me alone in the middle of nowhere and expecting me to find my way home in an hour"
"Good times" Atxa sighed with a smile on his face. "I remember when we first got you and you were like a baby pa'li taking its first steps. You were my best student, and my last"
Awa let out an aw and threw her arms around her former trainer. They had so much good memories together and he was her first real friend. She would always love the older Na'vi, he held a special part in her heart that no one could replace. "I love you too you old man. Now why are you here? I thought you and Tsu'tey was preparing for the hunt."
He perked up at the 'hunt' part of her sentence, no matter how old he got he still loved hunting as much as he did as a youngling. "First of all who said anything about love, second of all he's waiting for us with the other hunters back at the hometree."
"Then what are we waiting for, old man" Awa laughed and pushed herself down from the high branch and rushed in the direction of the hometree with Atxa on her heels. "Last one there has to serve the other tonight"