After she stormed away from a confused Ngeha with disbelief bubbling inside of her she wandered around aimlessly. Her head was spinning, her stomach was twisting and turning, everything was so confusing. Grace, her best friend who was supposed to tell her everything, neglected to tell her that Jake was a spy. She could take that, but the fact that Jake was spying for Quaritch was just the cherry on top, or the final drop of water that made a massive dam break. Grace knew what Quaritch had done to her and was still doing and she still didn't tell Awa that Jake was spying on her (And the omaticaya) for that same man. Grace never protected her against Quaritch, she was never there when something happened but even after Awa finally broke down and told her all about it Grace did nothing. That was what hurt so much, that not only did Grace do nothing while Quaritch destroyed her but now that Awa was finally free Grace came clean about Jake spying on her for said man. She didn't blame Jake for it, she understood that he was only following orders but it still stung, as much as she hated to admit it she was warming up to him. Of course she was still mad at him, and a little bit scared of the information he might have given Quaritch, but it wasn't the same kind of anger that she had towards Grace.
"Jake!" She called out when she saw the man walking in his Avatar body just a few meters ahead of her. "I need to talk to you!"
"Awa?" Jake answered surprised. He was surprised that she was approaching him and that she would even want to talk to him after everything he's done. A bit of guilt grew inside of him when he thought of what he's been doing and sweat began forming at the thought of her knowing.
"Come on, we need to talk" Awa demanded as she passed him with her tail smacking him on the chest and her eyes narrowed into slits.
"Where are we going?" Jake asked after he began following her into the hometree with his tail clumsily swinging.
"You'll see" Was her final words to him before she began climbing up a shortcut Tsu'tey had shown her after noticing how much she hated the usual route.
Awa walked a bit ahead of Jake, her steps fast but yet quiet and graceful. Jake's steps were clumsy and louder than Atxa's snoring. Who for the record once woke up the whole clan one night when he snored particularly loudly. They walked inside the hometree and instantly everyone inside the first 'room' turned to stare at Jake with mixed feelings, some of them with curiosity and some with anger. Much more friendlier reactions than she got from them for a very long time but she warmed them up to the idea of a dreamwalker being a good soul, she remarked smugly. It had taken her a long time and a lot of effort but at last they had embraced her and loved her as she first envisioned. Jake got the privilege of reaping some of the benefits from that. Of course it made her a little big angry to see him having a much easier time than her but she was the one who made it all possible, so it made her proud too.
Awa took a left right by the exit and didn't look back to see if Jake followed her, would be his loss if he decided not to. She was giving him a chance to explain himself but if he didn't want to do that then she'd be fine either way. This part of the hometree wasn't as crowded as the rest of it, mainly because there was no real reason to be there except if you knew about the shortcut. BY the stomping footsteps behind her she knew that Jake was still following her so she didn't bother with looking back at him before jumping up on a platform made out of braided branches that had grown together over time.
This time she looked down on him, seeing the puzzled look on his face when he stared back up at her, and jumped to the second platform that just like the first was made out of strong branches that made up the hometree. Awa heard the thud of his failed landing below her and her lips turned into a mixture of a grin and a tired frown.
The rest of the short climb to the Ikrans went by fast and Jake only fell down twice, which she considered almost impressive for a new dreamwalker like him. She didn't help him up though and she didn't stop to wait for him. She climbed up the last platform and then pushed herself to her feet with a small smile, they were there. She could see all of Pandora spreading out around her, the small bodies of water that was the source of life on Pandora, the trees that stretched towards the sky with beautiful leaves, some big enough that two of her could lay stretched out next to each other and never touch the ends and some smaller ones that many animals ate. She could even see some of Pandora's bigger animals moving around in their respective territories.
Awa walked out on the main branch that held so many memories for her with a bittersweet smile on her lips. Once again this place would be where she had negative discussions with someone, she had just as many bad memories there as she did good ones. Still she hoped that this one would have a happy ending to it, maybe after he explained himself her anger would ebb away to the anger she had before. Or he could make it all worse and make her anger flame even higher than before. It could go either way.
"Do you know why I brought you up here?" She asked while walking to the branch where she knew her ikran was hiding. Her voice came out strong and confident.
"No" He answered honestly. "I don't"
She shook her head slightly. "It would make it easier if you knew but maybe your confidence in your own abilities fooled you" Awa whispered, her words carried by a gentle breeze over to a confused Jake. "I know what you've done, Jake"
She heard him take a few steps forward, she couldn't make out if it was steps out of anger or confusion. Normally with other Na'vi you could understand more of what they were saying by body language or steps, but Jake wasn't tuned in with his body functions or body language so she had to dig up all her old human interaction knowledge.
"What do you mean? What have I done?" He asked with a frown on his face.
"You've been spying on us" She declared and turned around, her face void of any emotions. "What have you been telling them?"
"Spying? I have no idea what you're talking about" He laughed and rubbed his neck but his eyes were wide with surprise.
"I don't like liars." Awa spat and took a few strides towards him with her shoulders squared up and a snarl marring her face. " . .Them?"
"Listen, I don't know what you think you know but-" He started but a growl from Awa quickly shut him up.
She leaned down slightly but the snarl and the coiled up muscles were still very noticeable. "No, you listen to me! I know what you've done. I want to know what you told them and why"
"I've only told them the basic things, like how the tree is structured, the rest they've gotten from my logs" He finally admitted after being silent for a few seconds and his voice came out shaky and rushed. He looked on her guilty with ears pressed slightly forward and his head bowed. "I-, at first it was order but with time I've fallen in love with Pandora. You have to believe me! I haven't done a log in a long time. I've changed!"
"That's what they all say" She muttered in response but a part of her was gladdened that he didn't report to them any longer but she couldn't be too sure that he was telling her the truth yet. Most people would lie to save their skin and she was sure he would do the same. "Let's say you have changed and fell in love with Pandora just like I did and you're all about the Na'vi now. What will you do when Quaritch confronts you? Will you tell him that you're not his little bitch anymore?"
"Hey!" He protested with an offended look on his face. "It's true. At first I was only doing it so I could go back home and get my legs fixed but that doesn't matter anymore. This is my life now."
"You didn't answer my question" Awa noted with a glint of suspicion in her eye. "Answer me"
"I don't know what I'll do" He responded and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I haven't thought that long. Too busy living my new life, I suppose"
"I know that feeling." She chuckled and leaned up from the aggressive stance she held. She would take a different approach to this, Jake didn't seem like the guy to crack under pressure or fear. Maybe he would respond better if she appeared... understanding of his...situation"You know I had this big speech planned where I confronted you about being a spy and being a big fraud. But... but my anger blinded me again and I didn't realise that you might have fallen for Pandora just as many of us have, that maybe you've stopped."
"Hey, it's okay. No harm done." He tried to console her. "You've been angry a lot lately?"
"Too much" She whispered honestly, this anger wasn't like her but so many bad things had happened lately so she was always ready to fight. She hated it. "Something is changing, I can feel it in the wind. Something big is coming."
"So am I forgiven about the whole reporting to Quaritch thing?" Jake asked with a cocky grin on his face.
"No." Awa shot back, she wasn't even close to forgiving him. A few sweet words from him wasn't going to sway her that easily. "You have to prove yourself to me and then I might consider it."
She turned her back on him and did her own version of a ikran calling that she had trained her ikran to respond to. With a soft grunt her ikran climbed out in all its glory and walked up to the Na'vi with careful steps, the animal's full attention was on her rider and she was ignoring Jake entirely. Her ikran was a stunning baby blue with white details on the wings and body, Awa had affectionately named it Lilo after her sister who she had left behind.
"Hi" She cooed softly and reached under Lilo's chin to gently scratch there, making the big animal coo happily at the sensation. "Want to go on a flight?"
"What are you saying?" Jake called from behind her.
"Hear that, Lilo? The ignorant human can't understand us. He thinks I believe him, but I'm not that easily fooled or swayed by a few words. I need more information before my next move, at least I know he did it now." She whispered to her ikran while staring Jake in the eye, her gaze challening which made him avert his eyes almost immediately. "But don't tell him, I want to see if he's honest or not without him being suspicious of me"
"I-uh- I have training with Neytiri so I have to go" Jake excused himself with an uncomfortable cough. "Good talk though, don't tell Neytiri!"
"I won't" Awa promised before making tsaheylu with her winged mount who shrieked softly but then relaxed and allowed her to climb on top of it. She shifted slightly to get into a better position and put her feet in the right position for a comfortable flight.
She waited until Jake left the area before she commanded Lilo to fly, and the bird-like creature did so by leaning backwards until they fell off the branch, a move that she had taught the loyal mount. The two fell down towards the ground and Awa whooped happily when she felt the strong wind in her hair and the adrenaline flowing in her body. All of her negative emotions washed away from her in the wind and for the first time in a while she felt light and purely happy. When they got closer to the ground she told Lilo to straighten up and the ikran did so almost immediately.
It wasn't long before Tsu'tey joined them on his own Ikran and with a laugh with a challenge in it the two shot off in a race.