Awa frowned and pushed away the barely-started bowl she was braiding before glaring at the green leaves that flopped as it hit the ground. She heard some of Neytiri's friends giggle but when she looked in their direction they immediately quieted down and went back to their gossiping. No matter how many times she tried to make a simple bowl, one that was supposedly so easy even the children did it without a problem, and each time the object looked more and more like butchered leaves.
"Gentle, Awa, gentle." Neytiri reminded her and gestured towards Awa's broken creation. "Try again."
The dreamwalker sneered at it in frustration, itching to stand up and throw it to the end of the world. The mere look of it disgusted her and made her want to go and hide somewhere no one would find her. At the end of her internal tantrum she reluctantly reached down with red, sore hands and picked up her shame before grabbing one of the unused leaves in between Neytiri and her.
"I'll never finish it. Could you imagine that? I'm being taught the way of the Na'vi people by the best teacher but can't even weave a simple bowl." She mocked herself with a deep scowl and a hint of tears to her eyes.
"It comes with practice." The Na'vi princess shot back and curled her lip into a slight grin as she bowed her head to hide the snicker. Neytiri had at least five of the bowls finished neatly by her side and her friends ten each that were stacked together.
"Practice my ass." Awa muttered under her breath and harshly grabbed the leaf that was supposed to be weaved in next. Half of it stuck out in the line she was doing but she was beyond caring about how it looked, she was not made for this kind of work- she was a warrior, a hunter, not a weaver of baskets or such matters.
"What does 'ass' mean?" Neytiri's friend Lu'o asked with a slow blink. "English is a bad language, not like na'vi."
"Ass." Awa translated with a mocking smile as she blinked back at the friend. "Na'vi is beautiful indeed. " The dreamwalker deliberately had her pronunciation off on most of the words to spite the young Na'vi woman who was sneering at her.
"Be kind." Neytiri said to no one in particular, most likely directing it at both Lu'o and Awa, both of them were staring incredulously at their common friend before they furiously glared at each other. "I can see that. Don't make me get Atxa to lecture you, Awa, and you Lu'o I will get Tru'ha!"
"No, Neytiri." Both of them churosed before going back to their separate weaving, Lu'o's being as beautiful as ever and Awa's looking worse than ever. Now the entire thing was being weaved in the opposite direction and the bottom was beginning to unravel as her hasty fingers barely ghosted the structure of it before building the height.
Her eyes glared daggers into it and her tail swished in an agitated manner behind her. She let out a groan that had a slight of a hiss to the end of it, like a petulant Na'vi child not getting another bite of syaksyuk offal. Awa was tempted to throw it away again but she knew better than to mess with Neytiri's patience, already she could see a slight down-pull of her lips and a hint of a glare when her eyes danced over to meet hers. No, it was better to do what she was supposed to and then leave the small group of weaving Na'vi women.
"Tsu'tey would like it if you gifted him the bowl." Neytiri commented off-handedly and then looked back down on her bowl as if she had not just said what said. Awa caught just a glimpse of the teasing look on her face and though she was trying to hide her fondness for the mighty warrior of the blue flute clan she couldn't help the smile that grew on her lips and the flutter in her chest.
"I don't think so, it's ugly." Awa muttered and gestured to her failure of a bowl, now wishing that she had done it better so she could have given it to Tsu'tey as a peace gift.
Neytiri shook her head and grabbed the bowl from her hand before fixing the mess up in a matter of seconds. Her fingers moved in a blue blur and Awa's eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she got the bowl back, now just as pretty as the others compared to the mess of leaves it used to be that resembled more of a random pile of broken leaves than a bowl.
"Thank you." She whispered before weaving in the last layer of leaves to the tall bowl, feeling tingles in her fingers as she thought about the gift it would make, and if he would accept it or throw it back in her face. "Do you honestly think he'd like it?" Awa held it up in front of her eyes as she twisted and turned the green object with a scrutinizing gaze.
"If it came from you he would." Awa's friend's eyes twinkled and Neytiri smiled before once again turning back to her own creation. "You overthink, it's simple."
"What's simple?" Awa put down the bowl to focus on the news she had gotten.
"You do not know?" Neytiri chuckled and added a pink leaf to her bowl to add a bit of color to the otherwise dark green.
"Know what?!" The dreamwalker sighed in frustration and rubbed her forehead. "What is it with you Na'vi and always speaking in riddles?"
"It's not a riddle." To Awa's surprise it was Kaa that snapped at her this time. "It is obvious, to most." The pregnant Na'vi woman smirked and looked like she was going to speak again but she looked down at her thirteenth bowl with the smirk still on her lips.
"Neytiri." Awa whined with pleading eyes. "What do you mean?" She didn't dare hope that Neytiri was talking about her and Tsu'tey. Awa didn't want to get her hopes up if he was going to keep smashing them as soon as she showed her face anywhere near the angry male. She wondered sometimes if he was holding a personal grudge towards her or if this was just his hate for humans and dreamwalkers- or humans in a false Na'vi body as most Na'vi called them. Demons, was a common one too. The only one that called her bug was Tsu'tey himself and it had almost become something of a nickname at this point.
"Nothing." Neytiri gave Awa a sparkling smile but didn't say anything else even when Awa pressed her for further information. Her mind had been made up and only Eywa knew Tsu'tey and Awa's path.
"Uh huh." Awa gave her a sour look before finishing up her bowl and lifting it up in the air. "At least this thing is finished."
"Great," Neytiri looked up from her nearly finished bowl and looked over to a figure approaching them. She continued, "Now go give it to Tsu'tey. He's walking over there." The Na'vi woman pointed at the approaching figure and Awa looked over with her mouth drawn into a thin line.
Awa got up from her seat in the circle and brushed off her butt and loincloth before walking in the direction she could vaguely see Tsu'tey in. His steps looked slow and relaxed, unlike the fast, rapid and angry strides he took around her. Awa couldn't see the look on his face yet but she could bet that the frown was gone and a half-there grin or smirk was pulling at his lips with mirth and amusement dancing in his big, yellow eyes. She inhaled sharply, her hands sweating and the bowl feeling like it's a thousand pounds. Was this a good enough gift for the best warrior in the clan? Was this gift good enough to melt some of his ice cold hatred for her kind and for him to see her as her own person? There had been a slight change in him, that she could see, but still he held onto the hatred like a security blanket- too afraid to let go.
The dreamwalker exhaled and forced her feet to move towards him. "Tsu'tey!" She called out to him with hope painting her words.
"What do you want, demon?" He barked at her, not slowing down or stopping even when they were close, he kept on walking past her. "I do not have time for your insanity."
"I-I have a gift for you." Awa stuttered in the beginning but her words grew confident towards the end as she glanced at Neytiri. "I made it myself. Hope you like it." She said and thrusted the green bowl in his arms before frowning when he didn't grab it but instead let it fall to the ground. Awa's face fell but courage burned bright in her chest, if he didn't want to fight then she will. She will fight for him, fight so that he has no choice but to see her.
Awa squatted and picked up the bowl before brushing it off and racing after the male. She was softly panting but her training with Atxa had worked wonders for her cardio, and her feet had grown tough and strong, able to run for long distances without a break and without pain. Her fingers had grown calluses at the tips and scratches was standing out from her skin but the pain only meant that she was learning.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd at least take it." Awa muttered once she caught up to him. "It's not going to bite you."
"You touched it." Was his only explanation and Awa hissed at him.
"So what?" Her tail flared and eyes narrowed. "My insanity isn't contagious."
He glared down at her, the tips of his canines peeking out from behind his slightly curled lip. "No, but who knows where your hands have been." A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes before he blinked and it was gone as quick as it came.
She chuckled and grabbed onto the edge of the bowl, already knowing how to get him to take it. Awa took a long step towards him and before he could protest she had stuck the bowl under the string of his loincloth. She stepped back with an amused look on her face as she regarded the scandalous look on his face, as if he had been deeply violated.
"There," she said and pointed towards her work. "Now you can take it since you touched it too."
Awa's jaw dropped and her eyes widened comically much. He grinned at her. Tsu'tey grinned at her, he grinned, an actual full on grin. Not a smirk, not a taunting smile, a grin. An amused grin.
"Why do you look like that?" He asked before his bright grin dropped. Awa immediately missed the look on his face, the happiness and how his eyes lit up.
"No reason." She couldn't help the absolutely overjoyed smile from growing on her face. "No reason at all."
The warrior scoffed and stormed off towards the forest, something he seemed to be doing a lot when he needed to be alone. Awa followed him, still glowing from the grin she had gotten and her steps felt light as a feather. Her smile was stretching her cheeks uncomfortably but she didn't mind.
Some of the Na'vi stared at them but Awa for once paid their stares no mind and instead focused on not losing sight of the angry warrior. A part of her was weary of following him after seeing how his mood had switched and a part of her was angry with herself for ruining the moment they had. She hesitated for a second at the edge of the forest and placed a hand on one of the large trees guarding Pandora. Awa pushed a braid behind her ear before taking the first step inside the forest and after that she walked briskly to catch up to him.
It took maybe five minutes of jogging in the confusing forest before she found him sitting on one of the larger branches in a tree that was taller than its neighbors and probably had a glorious view of the forest and sky. The sun was setting but the air was still warm and a warm orangey light was cast over the sky and before long all the nocturnal hunters would come out the play and Pandora would light up in the most enticing neon colors.
"Why are you here?" He whispered, not looking down at her.
"Because you are here." Awa whispered back as she began climbing up the tree. She was unused to climbing up trees, mostly her and Atxa jumped up fallen trees to get to the higher branches but sometimes she had to climb- that was after he throw her down the trees.
"I don't want you here." Tsu'tey angrily responded.
"But I am here." She shot back and sat down next to him, seeing the rigid posture and tightly clenched jaw. "You don't need to be afraid."
He glanced at her, his gaze frustrated. "I'mnotafraid."
"Then why won't you let me in?" Awa responded and tugged her hair. "It's been weeks, Tsu'tey, and your hostility isn't changing. What is it with me that you hate so much? What have I done to you because this goes beyond humans." She pointed at herself, angry and hurt tears building up in her eyes.
"I do not hate you, Awa." He muttered and looked away.
"Then why do you act like this?" She cried out, her plan about going about this with a calm and soothing attitude flying out the window as her emotions once again got the best of her. "I don't understand why you treat me like this!"
He stood up and turned away from her, back tensed and tail flickering behind him. "I don't want to talk about it."
"But-" She tried to protest before he turned his burning eyes towards her and stepped closer to her shivering frame.
"But nothing, demon! I do not want to talk about it!" He snarled and showed his sharp fangs. "Stop trying to pick my head! This is not right," Tsu'tey made a sweeping motion in between them. "I do not want you near me, can you not understand this?! Your people hurt mine, I have loyalty to mine. How can I trust someone who abandoned her people? Sky people have done this before."
"I abandoned them because what they're doing is wrong! I don't support what they're doing so I left." She shouted at him and pushed at his chest, tears rushing down her cheeks.
"Do not touch me, dirt. You have no right to put your dirty hands on me! I am Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan!" Tsu'tey screamed back at her, his eyes flashing red and chest heaving.
Awa opened her mouth to respond but suddenly felt herself stumble and wind rushing through her hair. A scream tore its way through her throat and the last thing she saw before her world went black was the panicking Tsu'tey reaching down for her and her own hand stretching up towards his but coming nowhere close to getting his.